Steineded How sad is this?

MamaGravity good back-story, and good acting

Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Humphreywashere Thank you Shirley Barrett for writing and directing this movie because you have created a masterpiece. I begin to live in 1928 when I watch this movie. I feel I can step into the screen, help Meredith unpack her belongings and set-up my room in that lovely old house, put the kettle on, and walk outside in that bitterly cold air. I wear the scratchy woollen coat that Meredith wears, the hand knitted woollen vest, the skirt, and loose thick stockings bunching up at the ankles. I look at Mr Fleet (the exceptional Marton Csokas) and am drawn to his shy wounded persona, his awkwardness, and his pain. This movie is astonishing because It draws me into the time of these characters (like no other movie can). I have watched this movie about 8 times and I never tire of it. It was in this movie that I first saw Csokas. I couldn't believe how surpub his performance was. I asked, who is this incredible actor? I have since watched him in many movies and his capacity to express vastly different personalities in every role is just stunning. What an observer of human behaviour and non-verbal communicator! The isolation, the cold, the children, the lonely residents, and those who choose to be alone - the depiction is so real and so true, you feel like you are intruding in conversations. The pace is right, and the music so suited to the telling of the story, and so sublime, that I bought the soundtrack too. I wrote this review because there are so many award winning movies that are appalling, ('la la land' comes to mind), yet masterpieces like this one are overlooked. If you enjoy a love story with warm, gentle characters who are very real (imperfect), if you enjoy the thought of isolation and staring at the wind-swept seascape like in a Bronte novel, and if you like to gently explore the personality of someone you find increasingly fascinating - this movie is truly for you.

spencer-52 South Solitary is an Australian story told on a small canvas - a lighthouse off the Victoria coast. The cast of isolated characters makes for often intense, often comic, interactions overlaid by the propriety of 1920s manners. The domineering father and lighthouse keeper played by Barry Otto tries to impose his will on his niece and domestic servant Meredith (Miranda Otto) and on the two assistant keepers. The story revolves around Meredith as her back story is slowly revealed. Her growing friendship with the war damaged assistant keeper, Fleet, consumes the second half of the film but there is no Hollywood ending here. There is superb acting even among the children. The Ottos are two of Australia's finest actors but don't get the recognition overseas they deserve because they do not seek "stardom". Miranda did, however, play in the Lord of the Rings. The music is a character in the story on its own setting the mood without overwhelming.We were playing the CD long before we saw the movie.

bohemiafilms If you don't mind watching a film populated with flawed but easy to identify with characters, then I urge you to check out South Solitary. I enjoyed this film very much, particularly the performance of Miranda Otto as Meredith, as it would be very easy to find this character unlikeable if it had not been handled as beautifully and sympathetically as Miranda does. It was also interesting to see the inner workings of an operational light house from that period as I new very little of the life of a light house keeper going into the screening. The sound design is also brilliantly weaved throughout helping to add a lot of emotion within the probably smallish budget. I found South Solitary both wryly funny and human in just the right proportion and for the right audience it will be a pleasant surprise.

gregking4 The new Australian romantic drama South Solitary is beautifully filmed, nicely acted, but is ultimately a rather dull and vaguely unsatisfying experience. This is the first film from director Shirley Barrett in over a decade. Barrett's debut film Love Serenade was a vaguely disappointing story of love, loneliness and desperation set in rural Victoria, and established her reputation. There are a few thematic similarities with her third film, South Solitary, which is a claustrophobic tale of love, loneliness and desperation set in on a remote windswept island off the coast of Australia in 1927. Wadsworth (Barry Otto) is a veteran of the lighthouse service who has been sent to the remote South Solitary lighthouse to bring the staff into order after several complaints have been lodged by passing ships. He is accompanied by his niece Meredith (Miranda Otto), an unmarried 35-year-old woman, who has never found a man in her life since her fiancé perished in WWI. The family living on the island are initially resentful of their presence because they assumed that Harry (Rohan Nichol) would be automatically promoted. However, the isolation soon begins to take its toll on the desperate, love-lorn Meredith and her demanding uncle. Psychologically damaged World War One veteran Fleet (Marton Csokas) is another regular worker at the lighthouse, and he does not quickly warm to the pair either. And Meredith's affair with the womanizing Harry further complicates the dynamics of the small group. The performances of the key cast are very good. This is the first time that Barry Otto and his Miranda Otto have appeared together on film since Dead Letter Office in 1998, and their dynamic adds to their relationship. Miranda is strong as the psychologically scarred and love-lorn Meredith. Csokas is good as the withdrawn Fleet who has his own emotional baggage to deal with. Barrett's low-key direction keeps everything understated here. South Solitary is deliberately paced, and not a lot happens in the first hour and the running time could have been trimmed by at least 20 minutes. There are few dramatic moments to hook the audience in. Nor does the film really tap into the psychological implications of the isolated setting for the characters. The film has been stunningly shot on location at lighthouses near Point Nelson and Cape Otway, by cinematographer Anna Howard. These isolated locations certainly help underscore some of the film's main themes. But the film is ultimately something of a disappointment. While not quite another typically down beat and grim local drama, South Solitary is nonetheless a moody and largely low key drama that will struggle to find an audience.