Kaarin Fairfax Movies
The Darcy family continues their struggle to build a new and better life despite the forces lined up against them in this sequel to the popular made-for-TV film Harp in the South. It's the early '50s and the Darcys have managed to find a little home for themselves in Sydney. Father Hughie (Martyn Sanderson); his wife, Mumma (Anne Plelan); and their younger daughter, Dolour (Kaarin Fairfax), live in the downstairs half of the house, while older daughter Rosie (Anna Hruby) stays in the upstairs apartment with her husband, Charlie (Shane Feeney-Connor), and their own little girl, Moira. Charlie's drinking problem has made Rosie's difficult life all the more troubling, and life remains an uphill climb in the Irish-emigre community of Surry Hills, but as bad luck, illness, and romantic discord make their presence known, the Darcys find that what they need most to survive is one another. Part of Poor Man's Orange was filmed during the shooting of Harp in the South, in order to reduce the budget of the show's potential sequel. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Australian singer and songwriter Paul Kelly stars in (and wrote part of the musical score for) this unusual musical, which combines folk and country influences with the aboriginal sounds of the Outback to tell the story of a lost child and the divergent efforts to find her. A simple farmer (Paul Kelly) and his wife (Kaarin Fairfax) are the proud parents of a beautiful little girl (Memphis Kelly). One night, Father tells the girl a bedtime story in which dreamers answer the siren song of the moon; fascinated by the story, the restless girl wanders out of the house in the night to follow the moon, and in the morning her parents discover she is gone. After the father reports his daughter missing, the authorities put together a search party, including Albert (Kelton Pell), an Aborigine police offer with remarkable tracking abilities. The farmer, however, is a prejudiced man, and objects to having a black man on the search team, no matter what his abilities may be. Offended, Albert leaves the police force behind, and sets out to find the girl on his own; soon, the girl's mother joins him, convinced that Albert's knowledge is more valuable than her husband's ignorance. Produced for Australian television, One Night the Moon received its American premier at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Paul Kelly, Kaarin Fairfax, (more)
One family's search for a better life leads them away from the land of their birth to a new and different place in this made-for-TV drama. The Darcy family -- father Hughie (Martyn Sanderson); his wife, Mumma (Anne Plelan); and daughters, Dolour (Kaarin Fairfax) and Rosie (Anna Hruby) -- are, like many working-class households, struggling to make ends meet in the face of crushing poverty in Ireland after the end of World War II. Believing that pastures are greener elsewhere, Hughie strikes upon the idea of moving the family to Australia, but the Darcys quickly learn that life isn't much easier for them down under, and as the family struggles to keep body and soul together, they learn they can rely on little but one another. Originally aired as a miniseries, Harp in the South was popular enough to spawn a sequel, Poor Man's Orange. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Belinda (Deanne Jeffs) is a 16-year-old Australian girl who wants to become a ballerina. To make ends meet, she takes a job as an exotic dancer in a scrungy Sydney cabaret. Eventually she is able to pursue her original goal, but not before experiencing (and enduring) humanity at both its best and worst. Director/writer Pamela Gibbons reportedly based Belinda on her own early life. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Deanne Jeffs, Mary Regan, (more)
The life of legendary scientist Albert Einstein is re-imagined as a slapstick farce in this comic fantasy. Changing Einstein's country of origin from Germany to Tasmania, the film shows the scientist's eventful youth as he creates rock & roll and discovers the secret of splitting the beer atom. Director and star Yahoo Serious loads the film with slapstick comedy, absurd sight gags, and even sneaks in a romantic subplot in which Einstein courts Marie Curie. The film was a huge hit in its native Australia but a major box-office disappointment in the United States, where audiences largely ignored the display of nonstop silliness. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi
- Starring:
- Yahoo Serious, Odile Le Clezio, (more)
Australian Allan Penney must not only endure the encroaching exigencies of old age, but also the indignities perpetrated by his unfeeling wife Diana Davidson and his bragadoccio ex-business partner Rob Steele. Davidson bundles Penney off to a nursing home while she embarks on an around-the-world tour. Hoping to ferret out Penney's secret bank account, his avaricious sons Philip Quast and Kelly Dingwell bring the doddering, all-but-blind old man home, feign concern for his well-being, and stage a "world cruise" in Penney's backyard! Their charade extends to a shopping mall, which stands in as both an airport and Las Vegas. Though in the early stages of senility, Penney eventually figures out he's being hoodwinked, but decides to keep mum, seeing just how far his sons are willing to go for his "benefit." Entering into the spirit of things, he demands geisha girls upon "arriving" in Japan. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Philip Quast, Allan Penney, (more)
Star Struck is a light, frothy pop-culture musical comedy from Australia, where Jackie (Jo Kennedy) dreams of becoming a singing star and her cousin Angus (Ross O'Donovan) thinks he has what it takes to be a successful manager. After a spot at the hip club in town (wearing a kangaroo suit) fails to win Jackie any paying gigs, Angus enters her in a major talent competition to be held on New Year's Eve. If Jackie wins, her career is assured, and the $25,000 grand prize will help keep her parents' cafe open. But can Jackie stand the pressure? Will the band get it together in time? And will Angus ever get a girl? Star Struck plays like a mid-1980s "New Wave" variation on an old "Let's Put On A Show!" teenage musical, with tunes by Phil Judd and Tim Finn of the popular New Zealand band Split Enz. Keep your eyes peeled for a bit part played by Geoffrey Rush, 14 years before he would win an Oscar for his work in Shine. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jo Kennedy, Ross O'Donovan, (more)







