Country: Australia
Director: Jonathan auf der Heide
Starring: Oscar Redding, Arthur Angel, Paul Ashcroft, Mark Leonard Winter, Torquil Neilson, Greg Stone, John Francis Howard
Music: Jethro Woodward
Cinematographer: Ellery Ryan

A few months back I was trolling through a bookshop and I saw Bloodlust by Nick Bleszynski. Unfortunately at the time, I didn’t have the money to purchase it – which I would have because I enjoyed Bleszynski’s You’ll Never Take Me Alive which was about bushranger Ben Hall. The story in Bloodlust which is about the notorious ‘Cannibal Convict’ Alexander Pearce, held a certain fascination for me, because I have always enjoyed (I don’t know if that is the right word) Weddings Parties Anything’s song, A Tale They Won’t Believe, from their CD, The Big Don’t Argue (anyone who has seen the band live will tell you it’s a crowd favourite). I have always been curious as to the backstory behind the song. I have embedded a Youtube clip at the foot of this post, for those interested. Back to Bloodlust, as so often happens with Australian authors in Australian bookstores, the book disappeared off the shelves pretty quickly and at the time of writing, I still have not acquired a copy (I think I’ll have to do some scrounging on the net).

'Bloodlust' - The Unsavoury Tale of the Cannibal Convict

However, prior to this, a film slipped completely under my radar called Van Diemen’s Land which also tells the story of Alexander Pearce. To be truthful, firstly a twenty-one minute short film called Hell’s Gate slipped past me. Hell’s Gate was made in 2008 by film student Jonathan auf der Heide, and as you’ve no doubt guessed it was the story of Alexander Pearce. It was a story that auf der Heide had been planning to tell for years. The short was well received (it was voted the Best Student Film at the Melbourne International Film Festival). It’s reception was so positive that practically everyone involved moved forward on putting together a full length motion picture expanding upon the short film’s subject matter. Much of the cast from the short returned to work on Van Diemen’s Land.

The first thing I will tell you, for those not familiar, is that Van Diemen’s Land is the early name for what is now known as Tasmania at the south-east foot of Australia. If you believe Australia is all red sandy desert with kangaroos hopping around, you will be in for a bit of a shock with this.Van Diemen’s Land is a staggeringly beautiful film, almost in its way, hypnotic film to watch. But it is cold, wet, and covered in an impenetrable forest wilderness. The clouds over head are grey and ominous, and what light filters through the thick canopy of trees is broken up and fractured. It’s almost as if the world is in a constant half-light. The cinematography, filmed on location in Tasmania and in Victoria’s Otway Ranges, by Ellery Ryan is breathtaking – but at the same time, with the colour bleached from the film it is also rather foreboding.

To the story. The film opens in 1882, at Macquarie Harbour penal settlement, and an eight man working detail are sent into the forest to chop down trees. Amongst the convicts are Alexander Pearce (Oscar Redding – who co-wrote the screenplay and appeared as Pearce in Hell’s Gate), Robert Greenhill (Arthur Angel), Matthew Travers (Paul Ashcroft), Alexander Dalton (Mark Leonard Winter), John Mathers (Torquil Neilson), William Kennerly (Greg Stone). That evening at supper, the convicts overpower the guard and make a break for it into the harsh dark wilderness.

Their plan appears to be to circle back to the bay during the day and board a ship which will take them away from the island, but as they return they are spotted by guards who open fire. The convicts return to the relative cover of the wilds and formulate a new plan to trek across the country side until they get to another port. This seems feasible enough – eight rugged men, equipped with axes (from their tree lopping) and a modicum of food. What the convicts didn’t count on, was how hostile the environment was.

After several days the food runs out. Without guns, there is no way they hunt for food, and there axes aren’t really a practical weapon for catching live game. The days wear on, and the men grow weaker. Two men, believing that they are heading no where depart the group, leaving six, tired, starving men struggling further into the cold, damp landscape.

One evening, a group of the men branch off and begin talking amongst themselves. They begin to formulate a plan. As plans go, it is pretty brutal, but one, that they figure – as a group – they need to do to survive. The next morning, armed with an axe, Alexander Pearce kills Alexander Dalton as he sleeps by the fire. They bleed him, and then – thankfully it isn’t shown – they chop him up and put him in their tucker bags as food. The convicts believe sacrificing Dalton will buy them ten days, and by that time, they should have made the next port – and ultimately freedom.

Of course, it isn’t quite that easy. The story continues with the numbers of the convicts dwindling as the days progress – and while that description may make the film sound like a by-the-numbers murderous rampage – the historical equivalent of a stalk ‘n’ slash film, it actually isn’t like that at all. It becomes a psychological battle as the numbers diminish. The only currency and power is the axe, and it only benefits the man who holds it. Sleep too – becomes the enemy. Falling asleep at the wrong time can cost you your life. Falling ill, likewise can cost you your life. Any weakness, in fact will mean death.

Van Diemen’s Land, with its subject matter, could not be considered ‘light viewing’. It is a pretty intense film, and if you were to compare it to an action film, or a horror film, then you could come away a little disappointed. There are horrific moments, but they aren’t horror moments, and while they are brutal, they are fairly tastefully shot. I know that sounds like a contradiction, but auf der Heide, and his editor Cindy Clarkson know when to cut away – just before things get grisly.

In a world of CGI, jerky hand-held camera, rapid-fire editing, and commercial pop soundtracks, I found Van Diemen’s Land to be a refreshing change – and at the risk of sounding like a wanker – I would say it is almost pure cinema. It’s about acting in the environment you are in, or more precisely watching the actors act in the environment they are in. It couldn’t have been an easy shoot – and in some small way, that echoes the journey these convicts took (without the cannibalism, naturally).

This film will not be everyone’s cup of tea, and it’s certainly not a film you could watch time and time again, but it is a very good film, and I am glad that films like this can get funding and are still being made by dedicated film-makers.

For those of you who are pressed for time, A Tale They Wont Believe, by Weddings Parties Anything condenses the story down into eight minutes forty seconds of glorious musical madness [up loaded to Youtube by musicinhistory].