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clip 1Clip description
Young Bert (Kevin Jones) is caught up in the dream to build a huge church and a religious community in the middle of nowhere. He’s willing to give his all without realising that the dream is demented and Brother O’Neill (Bill Hunter) is mad and dangerous.
Curator’s notes
This is a great example of how a story told through moving image can manipulate the viewer’s emotions by juxtaposing one scene with its complete opposite.
The quiet intimacy in the first half of the clip is emphasised through close-ups of the two actors with no other distractions. The very simple set and lack of added sound, other than crickets, throws our attention onto the words they share. We are cleverly seduced and lulled into their conversation before being purposely thrown into a brutal scene of child labour.
This shattering scene is shot in bleached monochrome to convey a sense of heat and dirt. By positioning the camera at child height, the viewer is cleverly immersed into the scene and can more readily feel the pain and anguish of the children.
