Burke & Wills

Review by William Barker

If you walk into the cinema thinking you're going to be in for a great historical treat with the retelling of the Burke and Wills tale, the pair of famous Australian explorers, you'll be in for quite a shock.

This Burke and Wills, by writer/director duo Matt Zeremes and Oliver Torr, is a modern day tale of a couple of Aussie blokes, one on the dole, the other working at a cafe. And though it starts off in a fairly happy-go-lucky vein, by the end of the film there is one clear parallel to be drawn between the Burke and Wills of this movie and the two famous explorers.

As well as writing and directing this indie film - it's in black and white - the duo of Matt and Oliver also fill the lead roles of Burke and Wills. 

The story begins as Wills - who is currently out of work and on the dole - is called a 'leach' by his girlfriend's mother and is promptly asked to leave her house.

He respects his girlfriend's request and chances across Burke's advertisement for a room to rent in his house. And hence the modern day tale of Burke and Wills begins in earnest. The pair develop a relationship of sorts - Wills is always talking, always thinking, always wishing he were something more - while Burke is the more subdued of the two, and the more enigmatic at that.

To categorise the film as a drama is not entirely correct. Granted, it has many dramatic elements. There's love, betrayal, angst, there's joy and there's sorrow. But it's also a rather amusing tale with a number of thought-provoking laughs courtesy of Wills' endearing character. His attempt at breaking the shackles of the dole - which is described in honest detail in the film - finds him going for a job at a mobile phone shop, but when Wills has to please the finicky owner, things get a little intense.

For the first two thirds of the film we are privy to the world that many young Australian men experience. A shared house. Beer. Overdue bills. Girls. Relationships. Sex. It's very easy to watch this film, but never really feels as though it's going anywhere for the first two thirds. But in the end it does go somewhere very unexpected, and for this reason it will stick in your mind long after you've left the cinema. 

'Confronting' is one way to describe it.

Burke and Wills is impressively shot and looks superb in black and white, and manages to depict the modern day Sydney suburbs with warmth, and as we discovered after the film (the men behind the production appeared for a quick question and answer session with the audience at its Melbourne launch at ACMI) some of the scenes were improvised. While there was a direction that these scenes had to take, the actors were given a relatively long leash with which to explore, and it works well. The spontaneity is real.

Costing the filmmakers an incredible $20,000 to make - where most modern day features require millions of dollars to be made - it shows that you don't need big bucks to tell a good yarn. Australian cinema is certainly not without creativity as this film so proudly proves, and though shocking in many respects, it's also a very honest film.

4 out of 5

Burke & Wills
Australian release: 12th April, 2007 (limited national release starting Chauvel cinema, Sydney)
Cast: Matt Zeremes, Oliver Torr, Elizabeth Richmond, Ashley Lyons, Hannah Durrack, Bianca Biassi
Director: Matt Zeremes, Oliver Torr
Website: Click here.