Literary Adaptations – Australia V.2 (Umbrella Entertainment/PAL Region Zero/0/Free/DVD Import with Dimboola & Fringe Dwellers)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: B-     Films: B-

 

 

PLEASE NOTE: This DVD set can only be operated on machines capable of playing back DVDs that can handle Region Zero/0/Free PAL format software and can be ordered from our friends at Umbrella Entertainment at the website address provided at the end of the review.

 

 

Umbrella entertainment continues their compilation releases of key films from their home country with Literary Adaptations – Australia V.2, featuring five more films they consider modern classics and sourced from key literary material.  We previously covered three of the five in the larger Australian Cinema Collection, Volume One, including the underrated Puberty Blues, Monkey Grip and Don’s Party.  You can read about them at this link:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/9250/Australian+Cinema+Collection,+Volume

 

 

The new-to-us entries are Dimboola and The Fringe Dwellers, with the former a comedy with no laughs and the latter a surprisingly good drama.

 

Dimboola (1979) comes from director John Duigan, later known for overrated fare like Flirting, Wide Sargasso Sea, Sirens and The Parole Officer.  This takes place in the country during the events leading up to a wedding.  Unlike the American “hick” prototype, the comedy here is down to earth and offers less of a class division that you would have in the U.S equivalent now and then.  I was amused at best, but it may show that there is an Australian humor as distinct as British humor.  The cast is a plus and this was shot in real anamorphic Panavision, making the locations look good.  There seems to be a double DVD set of this sold separately, but this DVD includes trailers for this and other Umbrella DVDs, plus a cast/crew audio commentary.

 

The Fringe Dwellers (1986) is based on a 1961 book about aboriginal teens growing up in white Australia and the friction and conflict that results.  Bruce Beresford tried to return to the territory he did so well with in Puberty Blues and this makes for a very interesting flipside to that film, also included here.  Well done, it holds up very well and is one of Beresford’s most underrated works.  Justine Saunders, Wilkie Collins and Ernie Dingo star and the Director of Photography Donald McAlpine took a break from his Hollywood fare to lens this one.  Extras include cast/crew interviews, cast/crew audio commentary, stills, novel profile, trailers for this & other Umbrella DVDs and a nearly hour-long profile on Dingo, who turns out to be a popular star down under.

 

 

As noted above, you can order this PAL DVD import set exclusively from Umbrella at:

 

http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo