John Winter Movies

An aging drag queen contemplates giving up his alter ego for good. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

After directing a number of major motion pictures in the United States, Australian-born filmmaker Phillip Noyce returned home to make this remarkable adventure-drama, based on a true story as well as a lamentable period in his nation's history. When European settlers first arrived in Australia, there was an almost immediate conflict between the recent arrivals and the nation's indigenous people, whose rich cultural heritage which bore little resemblance to that of the Europeans. By the mid-19th century, when white settlers had gained political control of the continent, many aborigines found themselves removed from their lands and their children taken from them, under the belief that the youngsters would be better off in a more "civilized" environment. Through most of the 20th century, it was official government policy that half- or quarter-caste indigenous children were to be taken from their families and raised as "white" children in orphanages, where they would be trained to work as domestic servants or laborers. In 1931, Molly (Everlyn Sampi) and her younger sister Daisy (Tianna Sansbury) and cousin Gracie (Laura Monaghan) were three half-caste children from Western Australia who were taken from their parents under government edict and sent to an institution, where they were subject to physical and emotional abuse as they were taught to forget their families, their culture, and their lives up to that point and re-invent themselves as members of "white" Australian society. Gracie and Daisy cling to Molly for support, and Molly decides they need to return to their parents. Molly plans a daring escape, and the three girls begin an epic journey back to Western Australia, travelling 1,500 miles on foot with no food or water, and navigating by following the fence that has been build across the nation to stem an over-population of rabbits. A.O. Neville (Kenneth Branagh), the government functionary in charge of relocating Western Australia's aborigines, takes a special interest in the case of the three girls, and brings in a veteran tracker, Moodoo (David Gulpilil) to help find them, secure in the belief he's acting in their best interest. Rabbit-Proof Fence was based on the acclaimed book by Doris Pilkington Garimara, whose Aunt Daisy was one of the three children who made the extraordinary journey and helped her with the research for the book. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Unrequited love and mistaken identity are the lynchpins of this romantic comedy from Australia. Ruby Vale (Claudia Karvan) is a pretty but no-nonsense young woman who lives in a small village in the Aussie outback, where she runs the only diner in town. She's engaged to marry Hamish (Andrew S. Gilbert), who is pleasant but dull, and spends much of her free time with her good friend Jack (Hugh Jackman). Jack secretly aspires to be a writer and has in fact published a novel, but since the book is a frothy paperback romance, to avoid embarrassment he decided not to use his own name and instead credited Ruby Vale as the author. The book becomes a best seller and suddenly Ruby is forced to pose as the writer of a book she hasn't even read, and when the publisher flies her to Sydney to discuss her next project, confusion is the result. Leading lady Claudia Karvan was formerly a popular child actress in her native Australia, while her co-star Hugh Jackman makes his screen debut after establishing himself in musical theater, starring down under in major productions of Beauty and the Beast and Sunset Boulevard. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This often ironic, metaphorical drama offers insight into identity questions faced by many contemporary Australians. The story centers on the expatriate Tessa who has come back to her country after a long absence. She originally left the country when her father found out that she was pregnant and that the father of the child was an Aborigine. She later had the child aborted. Now her mother has died and she has returned to the family home to pay her respects. Living in the home is her sister and their volatile father who has given up control of the house. The sisters fight over ownership of the house. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In Perth in 1957, teen-aged Ken seems like the nearest thing to an expert on sex that even his uncle (who was given the task of delivering a "birds-and-the-bees" speech to him) has seen. It goes without saying that he's never actually engaged in any sexual activity with a woman. His much vaunted exertise is based solely on his being very interested in the subject. He lives with his single mother and a twin sister, and goes to school until he is expelled for selling girlie pictures to his classmates. After that, he is put to work at his uncle's garment factory. He makes a bunch of pals, and while is mother is experiencing a romantic interlude of her own, the guys head off to find a whorehouse in a mining town so that the virgins of the group can surpass that obstacle, and the rest can have a bit of fun. They accomplish their objectives without much ado; in this case getting there is most of the fun. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi