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Heaven's burning
Threat advisory: High - High risk of entertaining activities
Movie propaganda
Midori (Youki Kudoh), a reluctant Japanese bride, fakes her own kidnapping whilst honeymooning in Sydney, but a failed rendezvous with a former lover sends her plans for a blissful future awry. Alone and bewildered in a strange country, she finds herself taken hostage in a bank robbery masterminded by thug Mahood. An unwelcome witness, Midori faces death only to be saved by Colin (Russell Crowe), the getaway driver, whose penchant for crime does not extend to senseless murder. Unfortunately, Colin kills Mahood's younger brother whilst rescuing Midori, incurring the wrath of Mahood and his sinister father Boorjan. Pursued by this vengeful duo, as well as by Midori's grief-crazed husband Yukio, the pair flee across the country in their quest for freedom. Along the way, they fall passionately in love.
Intelligence analyst
Special Agent Matti
Theatrical report
A damn fine film: Pulp fiction meets Romper stomper meets Mad max, all combined in a zesty melange that is deliciously Australian, and I don't just mean the landscape.
The humour (black as they come) is outstanding, painful, outrageous and piquant. The characters are flawed and desperate human beings, at once controlling and being controlled by the culture that surrounds them. The characters and the violence range from two-dimensional (in a good, comic book kind of way) to infinitely deep, from shallow to tragic.
Heaven's burning captures a part of the Australian soul on celluloid. Watching it is like walking out the front door and looking around. You bewdy! Russell Crowe is suitable for his tough and independent yet sensitive and loving character, but I imagine that it was no huge stretch for him. Youki Kudoh, however, is not only gorgeous but traverses a huge arc in presenting midori's character. From newlywed, to adulterer, to hostage, to lover, to tourist, to gun moll, she is brilliant, just brilliant.
Watching this film was like taking a breath of fresh air after being trapped in the middle of a bus with a hundred people and no windows open. I liked it!
Security censorship classification
MA 15+ (Medium level violence)
Surveillance time
99 minutes (1:39 hours)
Not for public release in Australia before date
VHS retail: Undated August 2001
Disc: 4 August 2010
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