Film Review: Red Dog

Red Dog. Rated PG (mild themes, coarse language and sexual references). 92 minutes. Directed by Kriv Stenders. Screenplay by Daniel Taplitz. Based on the novel by Louis de Bernières.

The feelings upon leaving the cinema after seeing this fantastic Australian film are countless. You’ll probably be feverishly wiping away the tears and forcing out uncontrollable laughter. That will be when you are not wondering why on earth it took someone so long to bring this story to the screen – before, at some point, breathing in deeply and remarking how they just don’t make films like this anymore. Because – put simply – they don’t.

Almost drowned in the film distribution cycle of slap-down, international blockbusters, Red Dog is a quintessentially Australian film. The Pilbara-based locations – Dampier, Karratha, Mount Tom Price and beyond – all star in this great yarn about a lovable red kelpie (played to heart-melting perfection by Koko) whose particular brand of loyalty to his one true master brings the disparate, hard-working folk of a remote mining community together.

Stenders elicits fine performances from his cast (which includes John Batchelor, Noah Taylor, Rachael Taylor, the late Bill Hunter, Josh Lucas and Luke Ford), while Taplitz’s flashback-based screenplay neatly incorporates the ambitions and aspirations of the people who work for Hamersley Iron as they recall how Red Dog came into their lives. Rohan Nichol is particularly impressive as the grieving ‘Jocko’ – and it is impossible to deny the impact of his Great Australian Dream speech in the local pub.

Cinematographer Geoffrey Hall (Dirty Deeds, Chopper) and editor Jill Bilcock (Strictly Ballroom, Muriel's Wedding) are obviously right at home in this territory – although my only minor disappointment was that we didn’t get to linger a little longer in some of the mighty locations. Ian Gracie’s (Art Director for X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Australia, Moulin Rouge!) production design showcases the 1970s to perfection – providing the film with a memorable and distinctive Australian charm that is difficult to resist.

But dog-lovers be warned. No feats of ordinary human resistance will be possible.

This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspaper Group.