Well, it's not exactly the same story, but a straight remake was unnecessary; it was done perfectly the first time.
Giving it a little re-imagining was the right way to go. The story is updated to now, and the motivation of nearly all the characters has changed; Jack Thompson's character becomes a scary female kick boxer and the booze is supplemented by amphetamines. The denizens of the 'Yabba' are a bit more sinister this time around and you can't be sure how it will end.
I don't think the story is necessarily all that Australian any more. Except for superficial reference points and the accents, the whole thing could be happening in a dusty town off a highway in Texas or even somewhere in "Straw Dogs" country.
With that said, Sean Keenan makes a good John Grant, you can almost feel his hangover.
He is an Aussie as he was in Kenneth Cook's book. In Canadian Ted Kotcheff's 1971 film, Englishman Gary Bond played Grant. He brought a sense of the outsider view to proceedings, starting with an air of superiority that ends up as near insanity. Sean Keenan picked up on that quality and it works for him too.
David Wenham had a tough act following Chips Rafferty's police sergeant, but he gives an edge to the copper who is hard to read.
The evolution of Donald Pleasance's 'Doc' Tydon to Alex Dimitriades' 'Doc' Tydonas is the biggest change. However, in an era where the "Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras" is a major event, the scene in the 1971 film where 'Doc' jumps on John Grant's semi-conscious bones wasn't worth dwelling on in this outing. It's no longer the crunch point that tips John Grant over the edge; other things do that here; lots of other things; the revelations just keep coming.
This version misses the vibe of Bundanyabba. Kotcheff's film was shot at Broken Hill, outraging the citizens who felt it had defamed them. However it projected the feeling of an isolated city that was big enough and insular enough to be the source of the inordinate pride that so bemused John Grant.
Admittedly, this 'Yabba' is portrayed as past its best.
The 1971 movie turned out to be a piercing outsider view of aspects of Australian culture, even more so than Kenneth Cook's book. However, comparisons aside, this reworking delivers an unusual and taut little drama in its own right.
