Beautiful Kate (2009)

Ned Kendall (Ben Mendelsohn) has come back to the family home with young wannabe actress Toni (Maeve Dermody) after 20 years of absence. He must come to terms with his dying father Bruce (Bryan Brown), and resolve the death of his twin sister Kate (Sophie Lowe). There he finds his sister Sally (Rachel Griffiths) dutifully taking care of their mean spirited father in their old crumbling farm that is soon to be lost to the bank. Much of this movie goes into flashback mode. It's a much more compelling story in the past due mostly to Sophie Lowe's enigmatic performance. The present story is much more depressed, and it struggles under the weight of buried anger. There is a mystery of the family's past. There are deaths not talked about. The present day needs some more energy.

A writer returns to his family home at the behest of his sister, to bid farewell to his dying father. Coming back to this remote and isolated place, he starts getting flashbacks of his childhood; and more specifically, memories of his beautiful twin sister. Soon, the memories awaken long-buried secrets from the family's past.Australian cinema isn't something I've explored very much, but the country has produced a lot of great actors, some of which are on show in this very emotional, intensely-charged drama. Just by reading the synopsis above, you can see that this isn't a light, fluffy movie; it's far from it. We're talking about repressed emotions, shouting matches, slow-burning tension, the works. All that could be done to heighten the drama, director Rachel Ward did it.Ward is an actor herself, which probably goes some way to explaining why she gets such good performances out of her cast. In particular, Mendelsohn (as Ned) is brilliant – there are many shades of grey to the character, and he expresses it all very well. You've also got Rachel Griffiths in there (of Six Feet Under fame) and she's predictably awesome.The big problem with this film, though, is that it just drags too much sometimes. Yes, it's all being done to highlight the monotony and isolation of the place (and their emotions), but it gets a bit much sometimes. The central story is very intense, and I wanted them to get through it. Suddenly, everything slows down and I'm left wanting.However, there's enough here to satisfy an audience member and, if you're able to put up with the slow pace, you'll appreciate the payoff. It's a well-acted, solidly-directed movie. Worth a look, I think.

British actress, screenwriter and director Rachel Ward's feature film debut which she wrote the screenplay for, is an adaptation of a novel from 1982 by American author Newton Thornburg (1929-2011) and was shot on location at Flinders Ranges, the largest mountain range in South Australia. It tells the story about Ned Kendall, a writer who returns to his childhood home in Wallumbi, a farm in the Australian countryside, with his young girlfriend Toni, an aspiring actress, in order to reconcile with his estranged father Bruce who is living at the farm with his daughter who takes care of him. Ned and Toni are warmly welcomed by Ned's sister Sally, but Ned's dying father is not as enthusiastic about his son's arrival. After having settled in Ned continues to write on his memoirs, but when secrets from the past reaches the surface and Toni learns about the strange relationship Ned had to his sister Kate, she leaves him. Rachel Ward's engaging directorial debut, an Australian production, which was produced by the director's husband Bryan Brown and Leah Churchill-Brown is a character-driven psychological drama about a man haunted by memories of his adolescent years living at an isolated farm with his brother Cliff, his twin sister Kate and his strict father Bruce. With an efficient flashback narrative, this well-written independent film draws a vivid and intimate portrayal of an Australian family separated by a past which is converged with the present when a family member who abandoned his family several years ago returns to confront himself and his family with that still lingering past. This atmospheric mystery which is set against the backdrop of the stately Flinders Ranges which becomes a significant character in this family tale, examines themes such as family relations, coming-of-age, sexual awakening, guilt, incest and reconciliation and is reinforced by the compelling cinematography by cinematographer Andrew Commis and the empathic acting performances by Australian actors Ben Mendelsohn and Bryan Brown, Australian actresses Rachel Griffiths and Maeve Dermody and newcomers Josh McFarlane and Sophie Lowe in their first feature film roles. A well-paced and in-depth study of character which gained, among other awards, the AFI Award for Best Supporting Actress Rachel Griffiths at the Australian Film Institute Awards in 2009 and the FCCA Award for Best Supporting Actress Rachel Griffiths and Best Supporting Actor Bryan Brown at the Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards in 2010.

No one involved in this production has put a single foot wrong in bringing this profoundly moving and overwhelmingly beautiful film to the screen. It is as fine a film as has ever been made.Don't be put off by any comments claiming it is a dark or depressing film. It is not. Rather, it is poignant, tender and uplifting. At its heart it is illuminated by love and forgiveness. Do not miss this haunting and rewarding cinema experience.Twenty years after his sister's death and his brother's suicide, a man returns to his childhood home in the remote Australian outback. He has come to see his dying father who is being cared for by his remaining sister. He brings his much younger fiancé with him. The visit brings back memories of long ago and for the first time the man fully comprehends the key tragedy in the lives of himself and his family.After the early death of their mother, a father, who is ill equipped to show his love and affection, has raised four children in the remote and demanding outback. It is a tough life that lost its emotional anchor with the loss of the mother. Educated at home via the school of the air the children, and their father, are truly isolated from the wider world and from other human contact. Elder son Cliff has been subjected to "toughening up" treatment, younger sister Sally, though only a child, is aware of the currents within the household, while middle children, Ned and Kate have the deep and interdependent connection often observed in twins.Within this isolated, oppressive and emotionally constrained environment, the children's need for love, affection, and for models for their developing sexuality and for human relationships goes unmet. Normal adolescent confusion and uncertainty mutates with tragic consequences when Kate's fear of growing into womanhood, with its concomitant morbid fear of her mother's breast cancer, finds resonances with Ned's primary emotional connection to her and his emerging sexuality.Kate's fear of loosing her twin by them both growing up and by Ned finding a girlfriend is compounded by Ned's recognition also that the love between the twins is the single most important thing in each other's life. Love, fear, confusion and the desire for a physical manifestation of love propel their relationship into sibling incest. Ned's rejection of this results in the tragedy at the core of the film, when Kate seeks to both punish Ned for his rejection and to bind herself to her other brother Cliff in an escalation of emotional turmoil that was bound to be destructive. The effect is immediate and by night's end two of the siblings are dead.This film is about love, and by the end, it is love that triumphs for the man, his sister and their father who dies surrounded by it.The South Australian Flinders Ranges location for the film is absolutely stunning. Every frame of this film is perfect. Every performance is rich with understated nuances of character and emotional depth. Intelligence, understanding, compassion and empathy shine from this film and it is just a pity that these qualities are lost on some of the audience.