Release Date (UK DVD) – 23 May 2011
Certificate (UK) – PG
Country – Australia
Director – Henri Safan
Runtime – 86 minutes
Starring – Greg Rowe, Peter Cummins, David Gulpilil, Judy Dick
Based on a children’s book by Colin Thiele, this month sees the re-release of 1976 Australian film Storm Boy on UK DVD. The film follows the life of the young boy Mike Kingsley (Greg Rowe) the aptly named ‘Storm Boy’ of the film’s title, as he spends his days living the life of a recluse with his father ‘Hideaway’ Tom. After a pelican is shot by hunters Storm Boy rescues three chicks, which he rears by hand until the day his father orders him to release the birds. While two of the three birds fly off never to return, one bird returns — Mr Percival. The film follows Storm Boy’s relationship with this bird as well as the exiled tribesman Fingerbone (David Gulpilil) as the young boy yearns to be free of his isolation and go to school like every other child his age.
The first thing that needs to be said about Storm Boy is that it isn’t for everyone. In this modern era of film-making with animated masterpieces such as Toy Story setting the benchmark for films aimed at the younger market, Storm Boy is certainly boring by comparison. The plot is slow, and there are periods of long silence in which nothing of great significance happens. While the concept itself still stands up to the discerning film lover, to many young people these days, Storm Boy’s narrative of loneliness and isolation might just cause them to switch off.
Of course this isn’t to say that viewers shouldn’t persevere with the film. Storm Boy’s growing relationships with the exiled tribesman Fingerbone and the pelican Mr Percival are both heart-warming examples of how friendship can be found in the most unexpected of places, and the film raises a number of important moral and ethical issues that become increasingly obvious as the film progresses.
An interesting aspect to the film for example is the behaviour of the boy’s father, Tom. Living a life isolated from the outside world, Tom forbids his son from listening to the radio or having contact with other individuals. He imposes his own exile upon his son, and we are led to wonder which of the two — father or son — is ‘trapped’ to the greater degree.
Seen in a modern light Storm Boy is a very difficult film to judge. While the film’s slow pacing and ponderous nature makes it a film difficult to access by modern standards, Storm Boy is certainly a film that rewards perseverance. What is for sure is that the film certainly won’t be to everyone’s tastes. Fans of independent cinema, and movies set ‘off the beaten track’ will certainly take far more from this film than more ‘mainstream’ film lovers, who will most likely find Storm Boy a difficult, tedious journey. If films that require a little more effort than average are your sort of thing, then Storm Boy is definitely worth a look.
Storm Boy is out on DVD now – order it here
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