Beneath Clouds
Ivan Sen | Australia 2002 | 87 min
Lena has an absent Irish father she longs to see and an Aboriginal mother she finds disgusting. When she breaks away, she meets up with petty criminal Vaughn who’s just escaped from low security prison to reluctantly visit his dying mother.
Blonde and light-skinned, Lena remains in denial about her Aboriginal heritage; Vaughn is an angry young man with a grudge against all whites. An uneasy relationship begins to form as they hit the road heading to Sydney, taking them on a journey that’s as emotional as it is physical, as revealing as it is desperate.
Initially the two reluctant travelling companions are suspicious and wary of each other, but their journey, mostly by foot and the odd life, builds an understanding between them.
Ivan Sen’s masterstroke is casting first time actors Dannielle Hall and Damian Pitt, who perfectly reflect their character’s youthful honesty yet guarded emotions, making the slow thaw of their tough exteriors all the more tender.
Eloquent, rich in humanity and deeply affecting, Beneath Clouds is a profound Australian film by an authentic and strong new voice in world cinema.
