Search - After the Deluge on DVD

We should appreciate the original edition.

sunami-66 | Japan | 11/23/2004

(2 out of 5 stars)

""After the Deluge" is the tale of four men of the Kirby family.
This film is about brothers,father and sons, and partnership.
There are excelent actors like Hugo Weaving, David Wenham,Ray Barrett. This film is very emotional and witty.
I love this drama.

But,This edition;released from BfS Entertainment/Mu is not good.
"After the Deluge" had aired on Australian TV Channel Ten. Original film(Australian edition) is 194 minutes drama, but this edition is only 103 minutes drama.
This "BfS Entertainment/Mu edition" is shorter than that original Australian edition for 90 minutes.
Many important sequences were cut down.
Since the film become short,four men's conflict and struggle are fewer. And their Joy and happiness are fewer too.
The emotional impression has decreased.
This edition is too short for telling the Kirby's story.

I very regret that the edition shortened in this way was released in the United States.
We should appreciate the original edition. I wish that Amazon.com deals with the original edition."

Beautiful..... Except for one major thing....

Monszter | New Jersey USA | 08/29/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I posted a review before this DVD was released, because I had seen the Australian version and had assumed they would keep it intact. Hence the 5 star rating. Now that I have seen the US version, I can't change the 5 star rating, but I can edit my review....

Why?

The region 4 (Australian) After the Deluge is an additional hour and a half long. It originally aired on TV as a mini-series in two parts, a total of 3 hours.

This version (region 1, USA) has chopped the movie in half, and in doing so has changed some of the story, especially David Wenham's (Alex Kirby), changing his plot into one where he seems more like a cad, rather than a man learning from his mistakes.

Hugo Weaving's (Martin Kirby) plot is the one that's most intact.

This film has a lot going for it. Fantastic actors like Hugo Weaving (Lord of the Rings, The Matrix), David Wenham (Lord of the Rings, Van Helsing), and Rachel Griffiths (Six Feet Under), fabulous cinematography, an incredible soundtrack and a story that will touch the hearts of everyone.

The movie is about four men and their struggles in life. Cliff (Ray Barrett) is suffering from Alzheimers. The one stern and strict father of Marty (Hugo Weaving), Alex (David Wenham) and Toby (Samuel Johnson) has now changed before them. In his mind are memories he's never shared of a love he lost many years ago.

Meanwhile, Cliff's sons have to deal with their father's illness and the scars he gave them during their childhood. Alex's life is turned upside down when his marriage crumbles. After turning his back on his family and relationships, Marty has to come to terms with the reality that he can never be what he wanted all his life. Toby, the once neglected child, wants to prove he can be a good father, but he his wife has to get pregnant first, and they're having trouble with that.

This movie won several awards in Australia, including best actor (Ray Barrett) and best soundtrack. David Wenham was also nominated as best actor.

I want to recommend this movie, but I was so disappointed at the hack job it got. The original is a fantastic piece of work. However, if you can't see the original, then definitely see this one. Just keep in mind that you might feel a little confused due to the holes in it.

If given a chance to change my rating, I'd give it 2 1/2 stars. The story is strong, but it's got a lot of holes in it thanks to someone who thought US audiences wouldn't sit through a 3 hour movie. Explain that one to me."

They cut it to shreds!

Maritas | PA, USA | 07/05/2005

(1 out of 5 stars)

"If you've seen the original broad cast - it's nearly 3 1/2 hours long, they cut this so bad that it jumps from scene to scene and it's hard to even watch. This release is 103 minutes not even 2 hours long!

I cannot understand WHY they would cut it like they did. If you have any interest what so ever in seeing this wonderful movie - do not buy the US copy - get it somewhere else. I wouldn't even waste my money, I serioiusly regret spending the money on it."

"You play by the rules and still lose"

M. J Leonard | Silver Lake, Los Angeles, CA United States | 04/14/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Set in Melbourne, and using the city's bohemian café society to great effect, After the Deluge is notable for its fine acting, direction, and intelligent look at a family undergoing profound change. The ensemble cast is terrific, with a script is intelligent and thought provoking that presents Australian middleclass dysfunction and angst with an astonishing realism and integrity. Originally made for Australian network television, After The Deluge has been getting good reviews all over the world. There's a lot going on here: a marriage break up, faded career dreams, tormented father son relationships, and a man who has been afflicted with a terribly debilitating disease.

The story begins with a terrifying battle scene of World War 2, but it soon becomes clear that the skirmish is all in the mind of the aging and imposing patriarch Cliff Kirby (a terrific Ray Barrett). Cliff is trying to piece together parts of his life. Flitting repeatedly between reality and hallucination he remembers his three sons Alex (David Wenham), Toby (Samuel Johnson), and Marty (Hugo Weaving). Cliff is haunted by his memories of the terrifying World War II battles and often-painful recollections of a love lost. A talented violin player, but damaged by the war, the young man could no longer reach his potential.

As Cliff has steadily turns into a vulnerable, helpless old man, his three sons decide to commit him to a nursing home. However, they also have problems of their own: Alex is a hugely successful but somewhat reticent architect, he's a fanatic workaholic, who is oblivious to trouble in his marriage. When his unhappy wife (the compelling Catherine McClements) unexpectedly asks him for a divorce, Alex is absolutely flawed, he loves her deeply and never expected she would betray him. For the sake of their two young children, he becomes desperate to win her back.

Marty, once a child violin prodigy turned violin-burning rock guitar legend, is now a burnt-out and unsuccessful session musician. He's a cynical and wasted forty something man who - between attempts to revive his lackluster music career and bed girls half his age - is trying to win the attentions of a feisty, damaged café owner Annie (a superb as always Rachel Griffiths). Toby, the quietist and youngest son, is distressed by his failed family peacekeeping and is desperately trying to have kids. He's a good, decent bloke, happily married and anxious to repair his old family and bring his two brothers and father together.

There's no doubt that the film is gorgeously acted and manages to bring together the many interconnected themes of remembrance, love, loss, and familiaral duty. Cliff's memories of the war, his passionate love affair, and his relationships with his sons, are all bought together by his love of music. In some instances, it is the only way the three children can connect with the father.

But Cliff was often a distant, stern, and disapproving parent. His demanding and cold nature made him unlovable and pushed his son's away for decades. Marty has not seen his father for over 20 years; he had inherited his father's unique talent. But in an act of teenage rebellion and against his dad's wishes, he joined a rock and roll band, choosing to play the guitar instead of the violin and forever instilling the fury of his father.

Director Brendan Maher manages to delve inside Cliff's fracturing mind very effectively with a disorienting mix of characters and set elements from past and present. Cliff's fantasies often occupy the same physical space as the real world of his old age, and his confusion is imaginatively shown as he fluidly moves between the two worlds. But is it is not just Cliff's world that is merging into a confusing and bewildering bubble. As his son's face his illness, they must also face many of their own demons and insecurities.

In observing the fractured relationships of fathers and sons, men and women, After the Deluge is saying that accepting things as good, even though life is not without flaws, is perhaps the only way to live happily. This is a powerful Australian drama of familiaral reconciliation and its deep themes of finding meaning in one's life reverberate through with a palpable compassion. After the Deluge is a powerful, disturbing, and also quite moving drama that will resonate with the viewer long after the film has ended. Mike Leonard April 05.
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