Friday 7 January 2011

Van Diemen's Land

Van Diemen's Land was the name given to Tasmania by early European settlers, and is also the title for a harsh and dark 2009 Australian film, renamed (rightly I think) in Spain to Tasmania. Based on true events, tells the story of seven English, Irish and Scottish convicts that scape from the brutal penal settlement where they were convicted.

A story where initial hopes and comradeship give way to despair, distrust and murder, showing us the worst parts of the human condition. Attempting to survive in the wet, mountainous, unpopulated west part of Tasmania while making their way to the East turns into an almost impossible task.

Thought both films are set in very different time periods and the initial circumstances have little in common, I think it's easy to find that it bears a strong resemblance to The Road. Both films share the same unsettling gloomy atmosphere, the scape to nowhere feeling and the resort to cannibalism thing.

All in all, I pretty recommend this film, and once you've watched, it would be a good idea to read a bit about the real main character.

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