Category: Anthology drama
Directed by: Kriv Stenders
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In my review for The Last Days Of Chez Nous, I bemoaned Australian cinema for either producing movies by wankers for wankers, or for making movies whose primary purpose is to castigate the audience for living in a country tainted by a past based on racism/sexism/colonialism/etc. And with this movie, I walked into it good and proper - castigation aplenty! However, criticism of Australian society is not without warrant as there are definitely horrible people around, and indigenous people have been at the rough end of the justice system.
However, what I've never understood is why anti-racism crusaders make anti-racism movies trying to guilt racist people for being racist - the people that need to be reminded to not be racist don't usually sit down to watch anti-racism crusade movies made by anti-racism crusaders.
Anyway, about the movie itself. Australia Day is an ensemble story - much like Dragged Across Concrete - in that it presents three different plots that connect in the end, so I'll sum it all up as best I can given that the story jumps back and forth.
The plot:
Terry Friedman (played by an aged, but definitely not diminished Bryan Brown) is driving down a Brisbane road on a stinking hot Australia Day when an Asian woman (Jenny Wu) running away from a warehouse flags him down. She then helps herself to the passenger seat and implores Terry to drive off as fast as possible while an Asian man (Zhou, played by Kee Chong) looks on in frustration and disbelief.
