Soft On The Centre
Sydney Morning Herald
Friday September 10, 1999
It's just as well the Australian outback is so vast. The long list of films shot there increases again this month when filming of The Red Planet, a Hollywood production about a reconnaissance mission to Mars, starts at Coober Pedy.
But there have been plenty of recent Australian films - often road movies - shot in the backblocks, too. We've had The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and Welcome to Woop Woop, both directed by Stephan Elliot. Then there was Bill Bennett's Kiss or Kill, following on from his earlier Backlash. Not to mention Paperback Hero, Heaven's Burning, Back of Beyond ...
And now there's Siam Sunset, which glows with the colours of the desert around Coober Pedy as a comically motley bus tour takes the road to nowhere - leaving you wondering whether Australian film-makers are overusing the location. Whether all that striking red desert and the symbolism generated by planting characters in such
a harsh environment is at risk of losing its cinematic potency.
John Polson says he had no qualms about heading into this territory. As a first-time feature director who knows the importance of getting the script right, he questioned just about everything except taking his characters into the desert.
"It was such an integral part of the journey. A guy goes to the middle of nowhere - to what could be seen as hell - and finds peace," he says.
"We do have a tradition of that but at the same time it's 90 per cent of our country. It's not surprising that it features in movies. And it's also so cinematic out there."
Polson believes it's not something that film-makers should shy away from.
"In terms of this particular story, it felt right that he starts in one of the most urban places on Earth - England - and ends up in the middle of nowhere."
New Zealander Danielle Cormack, who stars in the film, says she loved filming in the outback.
"It was incredible, right from the minute we arrived in South Australia and decided to drive up to Coober Pedy until the moment I left Coober Pedy in a little plane.
"It was stunning to be in a completely different place, with an incredibly different energy to living in the city and coastal area."
© 1999 Sydney Morning Herald
