Red Hill (2010)

How to start ... it's the most "shocky" movie I've seen lately. I'm probably repeating myself when saying that I'm not really a fan of the Australian cinema. Something doesn't work ... don't know ... The only exception up to this moment was "Balibo", but that one has the historical basis that matters the most. Well, the second exception for me seems to be "Red Hill".

As starting point we have our main character, Shane Cooper, young officer in the Australian police, who just arrived in the middle of nowhere = town of Red Hill, due to a transfer request. Why ? Because his pregnant wife needed a more peacefully and less stressful environment considering her husband's job (well, it's probably already obvious that it won't be like this ...). So ... the movie is focused on the first work day of the newest local legal enforcement employee. And the day begins with him late at work and without his gun, lost between his luggage. This pays with a harsh observation from the sheriff, not a very friendly guy, who afterward assigns the first work duty for the new recruit. To investigate what scarred the cattle of an old farmer who has the ranch on the other side of the hill ... and of course, our young officer must reach the other side of the hill to do that .. and the only mean of transportation available for him due to his colleagues kindness seems to be a nobody's horse wandering constantly in front of the police station. Well, the "vehicle" seems to be useful after all, getting him at destination where he finds out that the old farmer is suspecting ... a panther for the damages (reminder: the action takes place in Australia). Meanwhile, not very far from town an explosion happens at a maximum security prison. Among the fugitives seems to be a dangerous criminal caught for killing his wife some years in the past by the Red Hill sheriff. The escape seems for some reason to put fire on the daily plain program of the local forces who start preparing for a real assault being convinced that the (only one ..) guy will try to prove his aborigine descent by hunting them with a boomerang one by one (or of course with a shotgun when it's a more comfortable option).

Don't worry. I didn't touch the essence of the movie's subject in what's above. Although the way the action goes on becomes quite clear after the intro (but, believe me, it has a pretty important twist from what you might think). What's above may sound slightly comic, and I can say that the movie has its moments of humor (especially dark humor). But from the first gunshot it's quite clear that's a bit more serious as a genre. As a warning I can say that it's R rated (not the horror level like "Saw" for instance, but with enough bloody moments). What's interesting is that despite being an indie movie (something like 3 million $ budget was written somewhere) it gives you the impression of a normal production except maybe some moments when pretty bad CGI is used. For the rest you have a very nice cinematography which fully benefits from the outdoor setting. Add to this the soundtrack that's brilliantly composed and mixed to fit the scenes in front of your eyes. Actually this, the incredible of the moments and actually all the script which actually has some hidden reference to "Pulp Fiction" at some point, can make you think a bit about Tarantino and probably there are some influences in the directing style.

What else to say ... It's pretty difficult to put this movie in a well defined category because I pretty much disagree as main genre with everything that IMDb says, alphabetically as usual: Crime | Thriller | Western. Crime ... I always thought that the definition for that is something implying some criminal investigation, let's say as in "Poirot" after Agatha Christie or at most "Seven" by Fincher .. and the category doesn't have very much in common with "Red Hill". Thriller ... the movie has a bit too much action and lacks some depth to be called a thriller = you can see the end quite fast (although this doesn't spoil anything). Western ... it's placed in Australia, present days ... and this seems to get a bit far from the classic western definition ... but, from the three of them it's probably the most close to the truth = simple revenge story, lots of action. The interesting part is how this story is carried to the end by the movie, and less the story itself. And even if it has some obvious hard too believe exaggerations even in a context with pretty large boundaries, it deserves a look for the originality at least ( let me remind you : panthers in Australia :-p ).

Rating: 4 out of 5