Unfinished Sky (2007) User Reviews

Wake in Fright - You're in Wolf Creek

[Philby-3 · 8/10 · 15 July 2008]

Yet another small Australian movie made with government money with lots of outback (or at least country) photography featuring laconic Aussie blokes (or one anyway) faced with something strange and sinister. Its origins are in fact Dutch - it is a re-make by Peter Duncan ("Passion" and "Children of the Revolution") of a 1998 Dutch film "The Polish Bride". Sheepfarmer John (William McInnes) has his solitary breakfast interrupted by the arrival of Tahmeena (Monic Hendrickx), a distraught woman who speaks no English. As he suspects she might be an illegal immigrant he takes her in and attempts to communicate with her. He also happens to hear of the disappearance of a cleaner from the pub in the nearby town. Without giving too much away, he finds some longstanding local acquaintances of his have been up to no good, and this leads up to a suspenseful climax.

One common complaint about Australian films is the weakness of the scriptwriting. The writers here have given us some very spare dialogue. Tahmeena speaks only her own language and John doesn't speak much anyway. But both main characters have interesting back stories which are revealed gradually through the film. I'm not sure about the ending - there are one or two loose ends flapping about, but it's reasonably upbeat.

William McInnes is just superb as farmer John, a man just going through the motions of existence before the exotic Tahmeena arrives at his place, and then jolted into caring for someone again. As an actor he has a good range - compare this performance with the rugged urban type he played in "Look Both Ways" a couple of years ago. Monic Hendrickx, playing 10 years later the same role as she did in "The Polish Bride", is completely convincing as the desperate refugee. David Field as the local cop also gives a good performance and I also must mention Elvis the dog, one of the more personable canines seen on screen lately.

This struck me as a reasonably commercial film, like "Wolf Creek" and I'm not sure why one of the TV networks wouldn't have made something like this. There's a story, suspense, good acting, and plenty of gum trees. As an art house movie release, it's not going to get a big audience.

Whoah! This one really packs a punch

[jgmcghie · 8/10 · 1 November 2009]

I'm a sucker for romance. No, I didn't give Legally Blonde a ten, but I'm pretty tragic: I watched Notting Hill three times.

That's what I thought I was getting this time. I was wrong.

I recorded this, and it was a few months until I got around to watching it.

It helps if you don't know that it's a remake: but by now, you do. Or of what... If you've seen the other movie, you can watch this one too: trust me, you have NOT seen it before! When I watched it, I didn't know it was a re-make; I didn't even know it was Australian. I take the point of the poster who said this is two stories compressed into the one movie: it is. He believes that's over-doing it. I respectfully disagree: in Australia, we often find the "one idea" Hollywood treatment of a story quite unsatisfying.

This movie had me in from the opening scenes. It's one of the few movies I wouldn't pause to take a phone call. That's my highest accolade, and this one earns it.

Notice the high ratings the Australian posters are giving it? That's not entirely because we like our own films. It's also because this has an authenticity that is utterly compelling, if you happen to speak Australian. If you do speak Australian, you will realise that the power of this story is in what is NOT said. Which tends to be the way rural Australians communicate! Outback Australia really is like this: particularly the north of the country.

Not Your Everyday Hollywood Remake

[Seamus2829 · 8/10 · 27 July 2008]

Normally, I tend to avoid re-made films like the plague. I had no prior knowledge that 'Unfinished Sky' was a Australian re-make of a 1998 Dutch film entitled 'The Polish Bride',about two damaged souls being thrown together by chance. In this case, it's about a sheep farmer who finds a wounded Afghan woman on his property,who has escaped from a life most nasty (she was brought into the country as an illegal alien to work in the sex industry). Little by little, the lives of the two begin to come together,despite the fact that neither speak the others language. Despite this, they overcome the usual obstacles. The film does manage to gloss over some details about the woman (actually played by the same actress that played in the Dutch original),but does wear it's heart on it's sleeve,rather nicely. As this film has no U.S. distributor, it may be a bit of a find. Worth taking a look at (especially if you've seen the original version).

A migrant mystery romance.

[Marcus-Aurelius90 · 6 September 2017]

I spent a few years living in Australia and while improving my English, I developed a love of this country's cinematic tradition. This film has stuck in my mind ever since. While seeing it with foreign eyes probably helped, anyone that enjoys a good romance film will find something to like about it.

This film follows a widowed farmer that seems fairly happy living the life of on the land alone with only his faithful dog to keep him company. Enter one mysterious, scared and battered woman into his life and you have the makings of a good mystery romance.

The acting is excellent and while the plot is predictable, the mystery subplot was a bit under-cooked, its heartwarming where it needs to be and serious at the right time too.

Unfinished Screenplay

[ppgooding · 7/10 · 24 August 2014]

This is a good movie, and might have been an almost great movie if a rather large story element had not been left unresolved at the end. I won't spoil it with details. However the film is well worth watching just for the terrific portrayals by the two principals in the story. The plot is part love story and part crime story, and the love story works to near perfection. The crime story needs either a more complete ending, or a little re-work. Even with this flaw I give it a 7. Well worth the 90 minutes of your time. Ms. Hendrickx and Mr. McInnes have beautifully understated a pretty powerful story line and are totally believable as the reclusive, troubled rancher, and desperate woman being tracked by some pretty bad people. At least one reviewer here has complained loudly about the use of flashbacks, but I think the strategy works, because it lets the play center around what is going on between the two main characters, with the flashbacks being used to provide some needed background to her plight.

Good relevant story which could be real.

[opo-86921 · 6/10 · 23 April 2021]

Good slow build up and a good story. Really enjoyed the film but then it was too much of an abrupt ending where you had to guess really what would happen afterwards. But nevertheless well worth a watch.

The Afghan bride

[jotix100 · 8/10 · 24 December 2009]

When Australia cinema decide to make good films, no one can beat them! Not only are their stories inspired, but they make excellent movies. Take Peter Duncan's "The Unfinished Sky", which we were fortunate to catch recently. This film and Ray Lawrence's satisfying "Jindabyne" are two of the best movies that have come out form Down Under lately. Mr. Duncan, who is also the adapter of the original Dutch film, "The Polish Bride", written for the screen by Kees Van Der Hulst, transferred the story to Australia's Queensland, a great idea because of the type of farmers that live isolated lives in that area of the country.

John Woldring, a lonely widower, lives in his sheep farm. He blames himself for the death of his wife, who evidently has died in an accident, but John feels he killed her. When John spots a battered and wounded woman running near his house, he goes out to see what's going on. He is shocked by what he sees because she has been given quite a beating. In spite of turning her to the police, John keeps her home. The stranger is deeply traumatized.

The local police officer comes to inquire whether John has seen the fleeing woman. John lies because even though he doesn't know the circumstances that made the woman run away from an unknown situation. To make matters worse, this wounded stranger speaks no English. When he shows her a map, she points to Afghanistan as to the country she came from. That makes it almost impossible for him to know what she is trying to communicate to him.

Little by little she reveals her name, Tahmeena. She tries to illustrate what happened to her by drawing a sort of family tree in which someone's name shows an arrow that points in Australia's direction. John warms up to Tahmeena by giving her clothes from his late wife's closet. Tahmeena, in turn, begins to straighten out the mess John has made of the house. John resents Tahmeena's cleaning, but he realizes she wants to pull her weight. She hates his sausages, which she considers to be dog food. She wants to teach him to eat right!

One thing John doesn't appreciate is the way Tahmeena figures how to solve an abandoned jigsaw puzzle depicting a blue sky with some clouds rests unfinished on a table. We figure this is something left from the time his wife was around; John just wants to cling to something from his former life. The secret John has been carrying with him is revealed, when the grateful parents of a young man John and Tahmeena have found wounded on the road pay a visit. They want him to come to a party they are giving, but he prefers to stay away. The couple tells him he can't go on grieving his wife forever because she had an accident and didn't kill her.

Things come to a head one night when the owner of the pub in town and his son, who have suspected all along John is hiding the woman, come to get her. They are in for a surprise! The same goes for the local policeman, who is also part of the puzzle that got Tahmeena hurt. The real reason behind Tahmeena's beating becomes clear. The bad policeman has a lot to say about what really went on at the hotel.

Peter Duncan's direction got excellent performances of the two stars. William McInnes plays the taciturn John Woldring with conviction. The same can be said of the understated performance of Monic Hendrickx, the original actress in the Dutch original. Both Mr. McInnes and Ms Hendrickx are the reason for watching this satisfying movie, which they make a winner. Robert Humphreys captures that part of Australia in vivid detail. The music score of Anthony Partos is another asset in the film.

John

[nicol19 · 7/10 · 7 February 2014]

John Woldring is an honest Australian Outback sheep-farmer and he leads an isolated life. Suddenly an exotic women turns up at night, armed and frightened out of her wits. He takes her in, grumpily resists her romantic overtures but allows her to become his housekeeper.

Gradually he finds out she's an Afghan refugee, looking for other illegally emigrated relatives.

He tries to help her quest, but they soon experience the human traffickers are on her track, and better connected then John could guess.

Good movie. Liked the cast.

Well done

[nanapeaches · 8/10 · 4 March 2008]

Interesting concept. It was quite well acted, it had captivating cinematography at times, and I found it entertaining, humorous, and humane. Overall a good, solid movie without the usual boring script. I was surprised, as I usually find independent movies a total hit or miss experience. This one, shockingly, had a clear ending with only a minimal cheesy factor :) I vacillated between feeling compassion for the characters and respect for the director/script writer. I would whole heartedly recommend the watching of this movie and look forward to see how other individuals react. I would be interested in knowing if there was an alternate ending to the movie.

Great film-right up to the end, almost

[birck · 7/10 · 20 April 2014]

I agree with most of the comments on this film-it is very Australian, in spite of its Dutch/Polish roots, the acting is spot-on, with one possible exception, the chemistry between the two leads is palpable, and there are no false notes right up to the end. One quibble another reviewer had is about the cop that shows up unbidden every time something unusual goes down at the main character's house which is, to say the least, off the beaten track and not on anybody's nightly rounds. That happens two or three times in the film. The connection seemed pretty clear to me from the first. Another reviewer mentioned the tacit acceptance of human trafficking in the local metropolis (Boonah and/or Beaudesert, near Brisbane). There's your answer. The only problem I had with the film is its ending. It wraps up one major story point, but opens up two or three new ones, then leaves them unresolved: After a life-and-death struggle (I won't say with whom) the two main characters are left alive, reunited and intact at the end, all dressed up-he's wearing a suit for the first time-but in what is clearly a jail or detention center of some kind, although they are not behind bars. Who is "inside" and who is out is not made clear. Where did this come from? True-she's an undocumented alien, and now that her main concern has been resolved, maybe she's just planning to leave Australia for home, but none of that has come up before, and why is he wearing a suit? What is about to happen? Are they getting married, or what? The two main characters have been bonding slowly until this point-and suddenly it's all over? There may be a simple answer, but the scene was so unexpected that it seemed like a damaged print. That startling non-ending is my only reason for giving the film a "7" instead of a 9 or 10.

Flawed socio-romantic drama

[Balthazar-5 · 4/10 · 18 April 2008]

This film demonstrates how fragile film aesthetics are. Quite possibly as a novel, which takes time to read and allows us to accommodate shifts in our emotions, it could be fine. But here we have, essentially two conflicting stories that are jammed onto one another with destructive results.

One story is a tough, indeed brutal, issues movie dealing with justice, male dominance and humanist sentiments, the other is a touching romance about two vulnerable people trying to heal each other from their emotional scars. Neither of these is very original and the one, in my view, emotionally precludes the other. When we are steamed up about injustice, we cannot access the very fine-tuned emotions associated with love.

One of the greatest things about the film medium is its ability to twist time and integrate the past into the present. But here, that is the film's undoing. If the story had been told chronologically, we would at least have been able to get the nastiness out of the way and empathise with the romance, but the threat and extremely crude depictions of the 'horrors of the brothel' keep bursting back in, destroying any subtle emotions that have been generated.

Give it a try - great film.

[dlldeano · 8/10 · 29 June 2009]

i thoroughly enjoyed this film. history would suggest Aussie made films aren't generally of the highest caliber - mad max(mad max 1 that is) aside. But as an Aussie myself i will allow myself to be critical of Aussie movies. so to watch this film was a delight. this film had a great back drop - rural Australia - and didn't under or overplay that aspect of the film. Was a lot of money spent making this movie - no - but that would be true to the film - a gritty and very good Australian film. The film also contains a little something for most, with an element of romance and suspense thrown into this drama. The plot tag also suggests she flees a brothel which sounds very cliché but isn't accurate in relation to where she is fleeing from at the beginning of the film. Give it a try - great film.

Well done story but difficult to watch at times

[Jackbv123 · 7/10 · 3 March 2023]

This is a story about pure evil and men at their worst, but also a man who muddles through to what is right.

The refugee woman Tahmeena speaks almost no English at the beginning of the movie. Some of her backstory is explained through pictures and some the viewer can only guess at until the end. But since she shows up at the farm obviously the victim of some violence, the viewer can surmise that either she is herself a vicious criminal, which seems unlikely, or she has suffered a great deal.

There isn't much dialogue for half the movie because of the language barrier. Some of the story is told by quiet action. I won't say the story drags, but it develops slowly.

There are many sequences where the viewer sees flashes of action and there are quite a few dark scenes.

Finally the climax begins with John doing the famous good deed that can't go unpunished. The events that take place in the present and flash back to the past really dive into the sewer of human depravity.

The ending is hopeful but open ended.

It was okay.

[bostonclubber · 5/10 · 2 October 2014]

I came across this movie on Netflix. I had no idea it was a remake. Funny story. You know how at the credits of a movie/show, how Netflix will give you recommended similar movies? Well, I started watching the original "Polish Bride" from there not realizing it was the original. I'm kind of slow. Anywho, the movie was sweet. I generally love watching movies where we get to observe how a character goes through his day so the beginning was perfect. Being the perv I am, the moment I saw how pretty Tahmeena's character was I was really looking forward to an epic love scene only to be left with a short interrupted make out session. I think lacking a love scene and the ending is what didn't make this movie great for me. The ending left us with so much unanswered questions. Also, Monic is sooo much hotter 10 years later. I mean did you see her hair and eyebrows in the original? Yikes!

A brilliant, moving and oh, so Australian film.

[diane-34 · 10/10 · 14 July 2008]

I do not think another country in the world could make Unfinished Sky; it is a film rooted in this country and to try and replant it somewhere else would simply kill it.

Diane and I watched it in Perth at Paradiso this morning and we both were moved by it and thought the film provoking and demanding of our attention. It is a worthy successor to, what now has become an Australian genre, such films (in no particular order) Japanese Story, Oyster Farmer, Peaches, Paperback Hero: in short, films that examine Australian life with no apologies to anyone. Offhand I cannot recall other countries whose cinema so carefully dissects its own people as our filmmakers do regularly. This examination does not focus on the Big Pictures of human existence; rather they examine the minutia of people's existence; the events that do not involve car chases or fights or explosions but whose existence presupposes an individual examination of small events that cause huge reverberations on the individuals involved. And isn't this what happens day in and day out to all of us? People might think my comments daft after viewing a film involving illegal aliens, shootings, road accidents (unseen) accidental death(again unseen)as being a little over-the-top for your average suburban dweller. However, only a casual reading of the newspaper will give more examples of these all too human events than this movie contains. I, nor my wife, saw anything in this story that was too much for reality. Rather we saw superb actors bringing a sad story to the screen that, as I said, provided ample script to chew on after the credits rolled.

Hendrickx and McInnes acted so well; the movie is worth seeing just to watch their portrayal of two people thrown together and living now with each other's difficult pasts. The symbolism of the empty sky, as alluded to in the movie's title, plays a particular role in the story and, as I am sure the viewers will appreciate, becomes increasingly important as glue by which the entire film holds together.

I am sure any viewer will be captivated by this film and will have been grateful to have seen it.

The sky goes on forever

[wilsp-25512 · 10/10 · 9 February 2020]

And a great story has no end! Watch this one. It's excellent!....Nuff'Said!

An above average film, with some issues

[TomasMErnst · 11 July 2008]

I really wanted to like this film because of the fascinating story line of an Afghani woman and a rural Australian farmer. These really are two worlds that should not collide, and so the premise based on a collision of these two characters should make for a compelling narrative. However, when I walked out of the cinema I left with the feeling the film was satisfactory but nonetheless failed to deliver.

The chemistry between the two main actors was evident, and the powerful feature of the film was the beautiful silences between them. For aspiring screenwriters Peter Duncan and Mr. der Hulst prove that films light on dialogue make for fascinating stories, because we can evaluate the characters based on what they do, not on what they say. This is not an easy accomplishment in screen writing, as the tendency is to write cheesy dialogue that suffocates story. Moreover, most actors seem to choose scripts heavy on dialogue with the hope it contains that one memorable line. Unfinished Sky is truly a story told in pictures.

The veracity of the story is believable, and no Australian should doubt the possibility that an almost an entire rural community could be complicit in the knowledge that certain "businesses" employ and exploit illegal immigrants, particularly females. Now, I think the most unbelievable aspect of the story was the community police officer and his relationship with the town and the main character John. He suddenly just seemed to show-up throughout the film, and I couldn't help feel the Director was throwing him into the scenes for the purpose of maximizing dramatic value. It didn't work, and Roy Billing is forced into overacting.

Flashbacks – another screen writing vehicle that either works or doesn't. I think there were other ways they could have structured the narrative, perhaps in a more chronological order, as opposed to inserting flashbacks throughout. Sadly, Unfinished Sky is a film that incorporates flashbacks to the detriment of my viewing experience. It slowed the action down; there were other ways to reveal insights about these characters.

My last critique was the blue sky as the chosen motif for the film. Personally, if the title of the film is Unfinished Sky then the film's key motif should NOT be the same! Surely! The Director frequently portrayed John working on an "unfinished puzzle" depicting a blue sky. Then John and T. working together on the puzzle. I felt at times choking on metaphors; not an ideal cinematic experience. More subtlety is required.

Finally, one reviewer made this comment about the film "When we are steamed up about injustice, we cannot access the very fine-tuned emotions associated with love." I whole-heartedly disagree with that. This line says a lot more about the individual viewer than it does the quality of the film.

Good Movie

[sjschafer · 9/10 · 1 December 2021]

I know, having read the reviews, that this is a remake of another movie, but I didn't read those reviews until after I'd seen the movie. I'm glad I didn't know, as I don't like the distraction of making comparisons instead of enjoying myself.

I thought the character of John was portrayed splendidly as a man in despair after the death of his wife, as he has kept her clothes and belongings for six years, and one of those things is a puzzle of the sky that she did not get to put together.

When he finds a woman who has been beaten and abused, he takes her in, though you can tell he doesn't want to share his life-at first. Little by little, you can see these two people opening up to each other. The woman has been brutalized, her husband killed by the Taliban. Her daughter has been kidnapped by a man whose daughter was also killed by the Taliban. The woman has presumably come to Australia to try to find her daughter, but has been trafficked instead.

The movie does a good job of showing the cold, hard world that some individuals find themselves in. They end up in impossible situations because of their immigration status and can easily be judged by others as "illegals who need to be deported." After we see that this woman has a good heart and is a good person, we find out that there are those who do not want to let her escape to tell her story. It is a reminder of the people who are being trafficked and the danger they live with daily-without being preachy.

It wasn't until the end that I realized that John had been a police officer at one time. I guess I missed that point in the beginning of the movie. But it's obvious that he has had authority before. Of course John saves the day, but it is not altogether predictable.

At the end, it seems they are in a detention center for undocumented immigrants and John has been able to get the daughter through legal channels. I like how the movie hints that there was a legal solution to her situation instead of deportation. When she says "Come home, soon?" He answers "I hope so." She is saying she wants to come back home with him and he is saying he wants her to.

When they had talked about how John's deceased wife had not had the time to put the Sky puzzle together, they had taken the puzzle apart again, not wanting to take away something that had belonged to her. In the end, John says he has gotten a new puppy to replace the one killed by the bad guys and name her Priscilla, signifying that he is now able to move on from his wife's death. He will not forget her, but he will not be stuck in the past. The camera moves on to a shot of the sky, which is now finished and whole.

One scene stands out

[lanechaffin-964-63190 · 9/10 · 16 March 2023]

Unfinished Sky is a well crafted film that will draw you in and there is one scene where they dance that is perhaps one of the best music+scenes i have ever seen on film, too bad that it was abruptly ended it was so good it should have been allowed to go on longer but then again that is the title of this movie, Unfinished Sky. Both male and female leads were spectacular. I really like Monic Hendrickx in this. There could be some minor qualms about some things in the movie and the ending in particular that might have made it a little better, thats the only reason i'm not giving it a 10. The ending isn't a gamechanger, i still think its an above average movie but i sort of agree with another review that would have preferred to see a more definite end scene. Viewers may draw their own conclusion. Are they already married? Obviously they are together and leaving together as a family would. Why is Tahmeena in prison anyway though if they are married. Wouldn't marriage grant her citizenship? Perhaps there is still some legality requiring a short stay in the justice system. But all in all the ending is good enough. The dance scene though was so good, so perfect for that short time.