lost-in-limbo
Re-watching this again, goes onto consolidate how confronting, humiliating, intense and haunting John Hillcoat's nightmarish prison drama is. The unsparing atmosphere is so clinically cold and you really do feel imprisoned in this confined maximum security prison, as we watch the numbing existence of these prisoners through daily routines (where rules are virtually non-existent) and eventually the mental breakdown that occurs when what they hold close to keeping them sane is taken away by the prison administration. Then you have the prison guards (who are no better themselves) fearing for their own lives, because they sense its only time when the frustration boils over and its taken out on them.The controversially cerebral material (penned by Gene Conkie, Evan English, John Hillcoat and Nick Cave) is well-developed and profound, holding an unforgettable and gripping edge. It's a frightening, primal and brutal portrait, without over doing it or reverting to bad taste. It's a wicked look at the use of violence, despite those being inside are there for committing it. Even the ending leaves it opened to the true state of the criminal. Healed or not... do we really care? The central industrial prison is located in the middle of nowhere and has been locked down due to the spate of uncontrollable acts of aggressive violence. Soon it flashes back to open up the events that have caused this violent outbreak, and show the truth behind the system's polices and unusual acts to provoke it's prisoners and guards.The guerrilla style camera-work can become alienating, and Nick Cave's simmering score is sparsely used to put you off balance. Hillcoat's consistently slick direction is visually piercing and tightly constructed, invoking many dark and violent passages. The performances are mainly adapt with a solid central turn by David Field, but it's a blindingly compulsive performance by Nick Cave (who explosively hit's the screen almost a good hour in) as a downright maniac brought in to cause a ruckus.A powerfully nail-biting, ambitious and uncompromising slice of prison life.
Troy
I was incarcerated at Parklea Prison the time this movie was screened. The movie portrays exactly what the administration and guards did to the prisoners prior to the great riot the year after at the prison. What a sense of irony that this movie should show what was happening in the prison system in NSW Australia at the time. The movie reflected the actual happenings down to the transfer of inmates that would cause trouble, and the taking of property to stir up trouble. Talking about de-ja-vu. The Australian movies of this type of genre(Prison), truly reflected the bastardisation of prisons. Other movies like Stir which starred Brian Brown also showed the extremes of what was happening behind the walls of gaols. I totally enjoyed the movie. They actually showed the movie in Parklea prison until the part of the beating of the prisoner, then they turned it off....I wonder why?
tbyrne4
Virtually plot less, somewhat documentary-style film about life inside a high-tech maximum security prison in Australia. Easily the scariest film I've ever seen about prison life, certainly the most claustrophobic, thanks in part to Nick Cave's chilling, drone-like score, which is a piece of work all by itself.It's funny - most of the prison life you see portrayed in film just doesn't seem "real" (never having been in prison myself I cannot say for sure, of course). But it just never seems real. In watching "Ghosts...of the Civil Dead" I was reminded of Roger Ebert's review of the original "Jaws". When talking about the shark Ebert said "...the illusion is complete. It just plain feels like a real shark." That's what I can say about this film. I don't know how much of it is real (which of the characters was played by an actual con, or whatever) but it just plain feels like real prison life. And this is the only film I've ever seen that I can say that about, which is also the highest praise that I can give it.This probably one of the most menacing films I've ever seen. Although there is not a lot of violence shown, the odor of violence all but oozes from the screen. Every word and every frame drips with the possibility of violence and brutality.The film basically shows the events leading up a "lockdown" in this prison. There aren't any main characters (the prison is the main character, as Cave points out in an interview on the DVD) although there are a few little subplots here and there. Mostly the film just lurches at you in heavy gasps and you sit and watch in horror. I know I did.I recently watched a documentary about life inside a maximum security prison in Utah, and it looked stunningly like what is shown in this film.Highly recommended but be warned, this is a heavy film.
nboldock
I saw this movie years ago when it was shown as part of Channel 4's "Down Under" season. I don't think it has been shown on UK TV since - to be honest I am surprised it was shown even once.A great movie to be sure, brilliantly scripted, and of course Nick Cave's manic performance is truly astonishing. This movie is notoriously hard to get hold of, especially in the UK, however! I have recently purchased a (new) copy of the Collectors Edition DVD from an Australian retailer (EzyDVD). It is all-region PAL format so I can play it no problem on my UK player. Dirt cheap it was as well. There are a whole host of extras too so all-in-all a top DVD.I thought I would pass the information on as I had been trying to buy the film on Ebay for ages but the prices were going too high when there were any copies on there. Then lo and behold the Net came to the rescue. I got it shipped from Oz in just over a week.
AD
