Kings in Grass Castles
Picture:
C+ Sound: B- Extras: C Show: B
In
another interesting, untold story of the Irish struggle, Kings in Grass Castles (1998) offers us a tale based on a true
story. The Durack family leaves Ireland, only to find themselves
indentured servants under an arrogant landlord Longman (James Fox) in Australia.
Young Patsy (Stephen Dillane) is a rebel through and through. He rebels against his father, who has pride
and prejudice to spare, and then cannot take it anymore when the landlord
doubles the indentured years from four to eight.
He tries
to get money to but out the contract, but Longman refuses, so he runs
away. While Longman continues to screw
up his family, he gets involved the gold rush.
Patsy also befriends Burrakin (David Ngoombujarra), an Aborigine who
knows how ugly things are under current 1880s Australian law and rule. In all this, a complex representation of
hatred and divisions of class and oppression are exposed and dealt with very
well.
Fox is in
yet another thankless role he does so well, while we get another solid cast of
actors with Essie Davis, Fionnula Flannigan, Des McAleer, and Susan Lynch among
them. Director John Woods should get
much credit for making this work, when so many such Irish tales have not
clicked as well as this one. No myths
here either, as the Tony Morphett/John Goldsmith teleplay adaptation of Dame
Mary Durack’s book is good work. This
covers several decades of their lives.
The full
frame image is slightly hazy, but that cannot totally stop cinematographer
Roger Lanser, A.C.S., and his fine camera work.
It looks more authentic without being overly dirty like many a feature
film, or too clean, like many a bad TV production. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has respectable
Pro Logic surrounds, with a good score by Sean Davey. Extras include text-only profiles and
production notes, plus the documentary Mary
Durack – A Profile of the Author of Kings
in Grass Castles. This runs
under a half-hour and also adds to the history being told in the main four-part
program.
This all
adds up to one of the most interesting and informative DVD sets about the Irish
experience to date. You would hardly
ever see anything like this from U.S. TV production. Even if you are not Irish, you will be sure
to find Kings in Grass Castles
compelling to the end.
- Nicholas Sheffo
