MOVIE: VAN DIEMEN’S LAND

This is the brutal and tummy-turning tale of Australia’s other most notorious criminal; Alexander Pearce. It’s 1822 and eight convicts make a daring escape from Macquarie Harbour, Van Diemen’s Land (otherwise known in prisoner lore as ‘Hell’s Gates’) into a nightmare even more hellish than could be imagined. A motley gang of Scottish, Irish and English thieves, they set out into a wilderness whose beauty (captured by the cinematographer in haunting shades of gunmetal green) means nothing to them, and in turn is indifferent to their plight. Hunger besets them, but it is bloodthirst that overtakes them. One by one, they fall to the axe as they are consumed by paranoia – and each other. Not only is Van Diemen’s Land not for the squeamish, it’s not for the plot-hungry either. Trading more in atmosphere than in actual character development or story arcs, it’s a convincing and oddly beautiful study of cannibalism and the inhuman things humans are capable of – but for historical or psychological insight, perhaps you’d be best off dining elsewhere. (AB)