Where the Green Ants Dream

A decent film. Bruce Spence seems capable of playing more interesting characters than this, though (I've only seen him in a couple of Mad Max films besides this...I think he was one of the Strangers in DARK CITY, too). I'd like to see him do another film with Herzog.

Too many clichés to count. The script goes from culture clash comedy of manners to staid, boring courtroom drama, all the while patronising people who Herzog clearly sees as noble savages, who can't believe the stupid ways we live, what with our scary traffic and elevators that break down every time you use them. Herzog's direction can't quite make up for weak material this time, though as always it's worth watching.

People think Herzog has a strong personality, but it wasn't strong enough to resist the gravitational pull that drags Australian cinema down into a pit of utter mediocrity. Not totally without poignancy, but quite tedious really. On the other hand, an incredible thing happened: I was halfway through watching this when my neighbour, whom I never see, knocked on my door to explain his worries about ants on our property, showing me where he had begun to poison them. Oh you whitefella, you is lost.

It's like There Will Be Blood but just the scene where the old stubborn guy refuses to sell drilling rights to Plainview. It's called drainage Eli, just go around. The culture clash is interesting for a minute but on some level it turns into the Simpsons bit with the hacky observational comic - black people drive like this, white people drive like this. It's true, we're so lame!

Alarmingly mainstream for Herzog. One can imagine Paul Newman in the Bruce Spence role, or maybe Jeff Goldblum. It's got some of Herzog's usual fascinations (ethnography, nature, airplanes) but you might not guess it was one of his movies if you didn't know beforehand. Not that there's anything wrong with a director trying to break out of his style, but it's jarring (and somewhat disappointing) to see him tackle such a conventional "message" movie. Kind of ho-hum but it has moments.

Herzog cast many actual Aborigines non-actors, and you can really tell; often they will struggle to remember their lines as they're speaking. But the main problem here is that the events aren't very interesting. One of the things I love most about Herzog's films is the fascinating characters. This movie doesn't have that, nor does it have a compelling story or interesting message. The whole thing is too straight forward and doesn't quite feel like a Herzog movie.

I suppose this is a traditional sort of narrative for Herzog [it's certainly no Heart of Glass / Even Dwarfs Started Small], but he doesn't exactly handle it in the simplest way. Aborigines are also something of an interesting topic for me so this had little room to go wrong.

This is a totally relevant Australian story told with all its importance retained, yet this succeeds so much as a comedy, the cultural differences got funnier and funnier as the film went on until the riot of a conclusion. A great mix of facts and created mythology (by both the Aborigines and Herzog), a cracker of an Aussie script, and the beautiful, yet devastated scenery make this a classic film about this land directed from an outsider.

It shows both sides and builds a gripping story with some astonishing scenery shots.

Beautiful to look at but iffy to think about

74.500

Mediocre Herzog film that doesn't feel at all like a Herzog film should.

69.000

As good a showcase for all of Herzog's strengths and weaknesses as any of his films, really.

The Last Wave meets Local Hero. Werner Herzog style. A beautiful and ponderous movie.