CACTUS
Australia, 2008, 90 minutes, Colour.
Travis Mc Mahon, David Lyons, Bryan Brown, Shane Jacobson.
Directed by Jasmine Yuen Carrucan.
Cactus is a road film, the road being west of Sydney towards the Bathurst area and beyond. While the film has some city sequences, most of the action is in the open road and the Outback.
Travis Mc Mahon portrays a young man who abducts another at night and drives him out into the countryside, to a rendezvous with an unknown person. Bryan Brown portrays the local policeman – who is more involved in the case than might at first be thought. Shane Jacobson plays a truck driver who becomes involved in the situation and is killed.
The film is rather enigmatic at times, the audience not knowing much about the kidnapper or the person abducted. As they drive through the countryside, with great antagonisms, we learn more about them – the plight of the kidnapper, wanting money for his ill wife, the mystery of the young man who has been taken. Eventually, they band together, under attack from the policeman.
While the film is well acted, it lacks a dynamic impact, suffering perhaps too much from the enigmas of the characters and their situation. It has a sense of menace, akin to that in such films as Wake in Fright and the oppressive Outback. The film was written and directed by Jasmine Yuen Carrucan who had worked in the camera and electrical department in a range of films including Babe, Pig in the City, Holy Smoke, The Quiet American and the two Kill Bill films.
1. Audience interest in the themes, the characters, the mystery?
2. The title, the New South Wales Outback, the location photography? The open roads, the vast plains? Desert conditions? The trees and scrub? The towns? The contrast with Sydney at night and the abduction? The musical score?
3. The opening, the abduction during the night, the mystery of John and his pursuit of the man, taking him, in the car, blindfolding him and tying him?
4. The introduction to Rosco, the policeman, the Outback, his power and influence? His arrogance and way of life?
5. Thommo, the truck, the trucking company, the no through road? His becoming involved in the pursuit, the accident, his death? The reaction of Rosco? The members of the company? The mystery of the road?
6. The character of John, during the journey, his antagonism towards Eli? His not knowing anything about him? The contract, the money? The delivery? His contact with his wife, her illness, needing the money? The greater bonding with Eli, coming to understand him? Their banding together, under threat, the gunshots, the car, the attempted escape?
7. Eli, abducted, the mystery, his not understanding what he had done, his speculation about the women, the relationship with John? The gradual dependence on each other? Pit stops? The attempts to escape? The violence? The finale, the bond between the two, under threat, support?
8. An Australian road film?
