This is a well-acted film combining talents from the US and New Zealand to produce a work that creates an interesting sense of period and the clash of cultures during a time of extreme circumstances. Fox and Goldwyn play a Kiwi public health nurse and US marine officer respectively who unwittingly find themselves in the midst of dangerous political intrigues being played out between their nations against the background of the war in the Pacific in 1943, with the truth lying hidden within the seemingly unconnected murder of an American soldier and the sudden outbreak of an unusual strain of a sexually transmitted disease. From this odd-sounding premise, director John Reid fashions an evocative story of disenchantment and disharmony amongst servicemen and civilians alike that contrasts convincingly with glossier treatments of wartime. This is a deliberately-paced work that paints moving portraits of people caught up in larger events but who still long to find a few moments of warmth and companionship within the madness that surrounds them, and the production as a whole does a wonderful job of communicating the uncertainty of the time and it's accompanying hopes and fears.
Review of The Last Tattoo
