Rolf de Heer Movies

An eccentric but brilliant early 19th Century scientist attempts to convince the Prime Minister that the world will end in 2008 in director Rolf de Heer's silent, monochromatic tribute to the slapstick classics of Mack Sennett and Hal Roach. Dr. Plonk (Nigel Lunghi) may be living in the year 1907, but he has recently discovered that mankind's time on planet Earth is about to expire. As Dr. Plonk's mute assistant Paulus (Paul Blackwell) lumbers around the lab doing his best to keep the various experiments moving along, Mrs. Plonk (Magda Szubanski) drives her overworked maid (Phoebe Paterson de Heer) to the point of exhaustion and the family pooch does his best to simply stay out from under everyone's feet. Upon discovering that the world will end in exactly 101 years, Dr. Plonk makes an unsuccessful attempt to convince unbelieving Prime Minister Stalk (Wayne Anthoney) that something must be done before it's too late. In a desperate bit to back up his findings, Dr. Plonk constructs a time machine that will allow him to travel into the future and bring back irrefutable evidence of mankind's ultimate demise. Though their misadventures through time at first find Dr. Plonk and Paulus appearing in the free-love era and nearly turning up as dinner for a tribe of hungry cannibals, the pair eventually gets it right and makes it to Adelaide of 2007. Though the public at large seems hopelessly clueless about the impending destruction that's plain to see for anyone willing to open their eyes, Dr. Plonk beliefs himself fortunate when he scores an exclusive one-on-one with 21st Century Prime Minister Short (South Australian Premier Mike Rann). Unfortunately for Dr. Plonk, and perhaps all of mankind, clueless officials immediately deem the genius time traveler a terrorist suspect and attempt to capture him for questioning before he makes the leap back to 1907. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A man teaches his younger brother an important lesson through an ancient fable in this period comedy-drama shot in Australia, and the first feature film made in the Aboriginal language of Ganalbingu. As narrator David Gulpilil Ridjimiraril Dalaithngu sets up the story, we watch a group of tribesmen led by elder Minygululu (Peter Minygululu) set out on an expedition to gather bark for canoe building and collect the precious eggs of the magpie geese. It has become clear to Minygululu that his younger brother Dayindi (Jamie Dayindi Gulpilil Dalaithngu) is infatuated with the youngest of his three wives, and Minygululu wants to be sure Dayindi doesn't do something he'll regret later on. To teach his brother a lesson, Minygululu shares with him a long story about Ridjimiraril (Crusoe Kurddal), a warrior who finds his brother Yeeralparil (also played by Jamie Dayindi Gulpilil Dalaithngu) has become a rival for the affections of his bride. However, while Minygululu's story caries a clear message for his brother, it also goes on long enough with enough twists, turns and digressions that it gives Dayindi little opportunity to get into mischief during the trip. Ten Canoes received its world premier at Australia's Adelaide Arts Festival, and was first screened in North America at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Rolf de Heer's psychological thriller Alexandra's Project captures a turning point in a very unhappy marriage. Steve (Gary Sweet) and Alexandra (Helen Buday) have two children and numerous grievances against each other. After a birthday in which Steve received a birthday cake and a raise at his job, Steve arrives home to find his family is gone and a videotape awaiting his viewing. On the tape, Alexandra lists all of her frustrations and begins to strip for the camera. She then reveals that she suffers from breast cancer. Before the now emotionally reeling Steve can recover, he learns that Alexandra has paid to have the neighbor he hates change the locks in the house. Steve is trapped inside with little to do but think about what he has done to his wife, and his only company is the video that continues to provide disturbing information. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Based on the novel by Luis Sepulveda, this drama stars Richard Dreyfuss as Antonio Bolivar, an elderly man who lives in a small village along the Amazon River. Many years ago, Bolivar and his young wife came to the village as part of an effort to colonize the area; the couple was welcomed by Nushino (Victor Bottenbley), leader of the native tribes, but after a fever took the life of his spouse and attacks by fortune seekers caused the natives to turn their backs on the white settlers, Bolivar has been virtually alone, with only one close friend in the village, an aging dentist named Rubicondo (Hugo Weaving). Bolivar passes his time by reading florid romance novels passed along to him by Josefina (Cathy Tyson), Rubicondo's mistress who works as an aide for the village's mayor, Luis Agalla (Timothy Spall). Agalla, not an especially scrupulous man, has been selling illegal hunting permits to visitors hunting big game, and one of his customers made the mistake of killing and skinning a pack of jaguar cubs; the mother of the cats found the hunter, and tore him to shreds. Now likely to attack any human she sees, the mother jaguar is roaming the jungle near the village and must be found before she can kill again, and Bolivar steps forward to help with the dangerous assignment of finding and capturing the vicious cat. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In 1996, Australian director Rolf de Heer made The Quiet Room about a mentally retarded boy locked in a room by his mother. He continues to explore challenges to the human spirit, teaming here with cerebral palsy victim Heather Rose whose small role in de Heer's Bad Boy Bubby (1993) led to her interest in filmmaking. The wheelchair-bound Rose, who cannot walk, feed or dress herself, communicates via her computerized electronic voice synthesizer. She overcame these obstacles to collaborate with writer Frederick Stahl on this drama, created the lead role of Julia for herself, and brought the project to de Heer. Julia's sympathetic lesbian sister Rix (Rena Owen) is not in a position to take care of her sibling's needs. Instead, Julia depends on an abusive, short-tempered caretaker Madelaine (Joey Kennedy), who calls Julia a "spastic," abandons her on the toilet, leaves the wheels locked on the wheelchair, and devises further torment by forcing Julia to watch her intimacies with a parade of boyfriends. This pattern heads in a different direction after Julia bumps her wheelchair into Eddie (John Brumpton), who becomes her companion. But Julia wants love and sex, not just companionship -- and Madelaine is jealous. The 30-day shoot sometimes worked around Rose's usual routines, as de Heer explained, "Lunch takes her two hours, and there's no way you can make it go faster...The nature of response is different, the nature of physical handling is different, the nature of set-up time is different...It's impossible to overstate the courage of the performance you see on the screen. Rose somehow found the means to respond on cue, to maintain the concentration, to move in the desired direction, all the myriad of acting fundamentals we take for granted as normal things in our normal lives." The result brought a standing ovation at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival, where it was shown in competition. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Dutch-Australian director Rolf de Heer's second film is a vision of a quickly dissolving marriage as seen through the eyes of a seven-year-old child. Chloe Ferguson (de Heer's real-life daughter) stars as a nameless little girl who withdraws completely into herself and refuses to speak as the level of animosity between her mother (Celine O'Leary) and father (Paul Blackwell) moves them inexorably closer to divorce. The girl's voice is heard, however, as narration, in which she describes her increasing alienation from the squabbling adults who are becoming more self absorbed, and more childish, than their child. Her only refuge is her blue-walled room, a fantasyland of goldfish and Barbie dolls that don't bicker, where she can remember happier days when she as three, or dream of a pet dog and a house in the country. The theme of an immature soul trapped by family within the confines of a home thematically mirrored de Heer's more controversial previous film Bad Boy Bubby (1993), which did not find North American distribution. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

This Australian cult film draws extremely dark humor from the story of Bubby, a man who has spent the first 35 years of his life locked in a disgusting basement by his abusive, controlling mother. Having been taught that the outside air is poisonous and that leaving home is sinful, he only realizes the truth when his long-absent father returns to disrupt the already twisted family unit. A tragic confrontation follows, forcing Bubby into the real world. Knowing nothing about life, and undoubtedly suffering from mental disturbance, he stumbles about the city, speaking in a rambling monologue made up mainly of overheard phrases. His behavior is interpreted in different ways by the people he encounters: some think him insane, while others equate his strange speech and erratic behavior with brilliance. The edgy lead performance by Nicholas Hope is key to the film's success, managing to make Bubby a figure that is both sympathetic and at times quite frightening. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Horror and hard-rock meet head on in Encounter at Raven's Gate. On the eve of hosting a music concert, a tiny Australian town is plagued by a series of unexplained occurrences. Most of these involve electric appliances and the failure of same. Far more disturbing is the suddenly violent behavior of many of the citizens. When the explanation comes, it's every man (and woman) for him(or her)self! The "Vincent Gill" in the supporting cast is not the famed country western star. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide