THE EYE OF THE STORM

    SUMMARY

Veteran Australian Director Fred Schepisi brings Patrick White’s Noble Prize winning novel to the big screen, recruiting an all-star cast featuring. In a Sydney suburb, two nurses, a housekeeper and a solicitor attend to Elizabeth Hunter as her expatriate son Sir Basil and daughter Dorothy convene at her deathbed. Estranged from a mother who was never capable of loving them, Sir Basil - a famous but struggling actor in London - and Dorothy - an impecunious French princess - attempt to reconcile with one common goal: to leave Australia with their vast inheritance. In dying, as in living, Mrs Hunter remains a formidable force on those around her and will now determine her most defiant act as she chooses her time to die.

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DAVE G'S THE EYE OF THE STORM REVIEW:          

 Sometimes you see a brilliant film and can only feel sad when you realize that the amount of people that see it will be very low. New Australian film, Eye Of The Storm is one such film. There is very little wrong with it as a film but you can’t help but wonder just how many people will want to go and see an Australian period-piece in the vein of Pride And Prejudice.

Hailing from a rich family, Elizabeth Hunter (Charlotte Rampling – Melancholia, The Mill and the Cross) could hardly be called a good mother. It seems that throughout her life her lust for men has overshadowed her motherhood skills, so much so as she lays dying she has not had contact with her two children for years. Instead she is looked after her staff including, Flora (Alexandra Schepisi – Matching Jack, The Boys Are Back), Lotte (Helen Morse – Lost, TV’S City Homicide) and her diligent lawyer, Wyburd (John Gaden – Right Here, Right Now, TV’S Rake). However with Elizabeth on her deathbed her two children, the famous theatre actor, Basil (Geoffrey Rush – Green Lantern, Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides), and her daughter, Dorothy (Judy Davis – Page Eight, Diamonds) who is a Princess, ‘by title only’.

Legendary director, Fred Schepisi (Empire Falls, In Runs In The Family) really has created a masterpiece with Eye Of The Storm and the film does deserve the glimmer of Oscar hope that it is generating. As  far as period pieces go the film looks visually spectacular, although you can only wonder why Schepisi chose to film it in Melbourne when it is set in Sydney, especially when it is obvious at times that it’s not being filmed in Sydney. Schepisi also sets out the film well, although I can easily understand why some people would say that it is a long, dry watch.

As you would expect with such a stellar cast the acting performances are brilliant with Rampling, Rush and Davis also deserving some Oscar talk. The big surprises however are Alexandra Schepisi who really announces herself in a memorable role. Her performance was made even harder by the fact that she had to perform sex scenes while her father directed. Schepisi certainly deserves a big career as her performance is faultless and she holds her own within a cast of legends. The other amazing performance is by Colin Friels (A Heartbeat Away, Tomorrow When  The War Began) who plays a politician named Athol Shreve who must have been based on former Australian Prime Minister, Bob Hawke.

Eye Of The Storm is a demanding watch but is well worth the effort. Along with Face To Face, this is one Australian film that could cause a major stir come Oscar night. If you love serious cinema then this is the one film that you shouldn’t miss in 2011.

RATING:- **** (out of 5)

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