"The Violent Earth" (1998)TV mini-series

Director:

Michael Offer

Writers:

Jacqueline Sénès (novel) and
Tony Ayres (written by)

Release Date:

1 September 1998 (Portugal)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Child Murder | Family | Murder Of Family | New Caledonia | Demonstration

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Karina Lombard	...	Anna Temaru
Claudia Karvan	...	Jeanne
Laure Killing
Claire Nebout	...	Hélène
Joe Petruzzi	...	Vincenzo Scarpinato
Andrew McFarlane	...	Tom Sutton
Arnaud Giovaninetti
Simone Kessell
Jay Laga'aia	...	Jean-Christian (as Jay Laga'Aia)
Jeremy Callaghan	...	John Sutton
Bernard Verley	...	Hippocrates
Bill Hunter	...	Campbell
Ian Wilmoth	...	Customs Officer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Rodney Bell	...	François
Manu Bennett	...	Wanatcha DuValier (as Jon Bennett)
Brittany Byrnes	...	Helene, as a child
Alex Cassaretto	...	French Convict
Daniel Daperis	...	Tom (10 years)
Bill Fell	...	Photographer
Frank Gallacher	...	Father Moissan
Mark Gerber	...	Roland
Elise Bole Hillaireau	...	Clarisses Mother
Alexander Kiloh	...	Brother / Victor
Leonard Landicho	...	Wanatcha (7 years)
Peter McCauley	...	Theroux
Andrew McKaige	...	Gendarme Captain
Sarah Michail	...	Jeanne (7 years)
Rosaline Nachero	...	Clarisse
Peter O'Brien	...	Yann Chevalier
Pierre Pudewa	...	Chief Pore
Justine Saunders	...	Aunt Junie
William Takaku	...	Magnus
Charles 'Bud' Tingwell	...	Bishop Guiart
Cecilia Trandang	...	Chinese Woman
George Zavadsky	...	Chef de Gendarmes

Also Known As:

Terre violente (France) (dubbed version)

Runtime:

France:90 min (3 parts)

Country:

Australia | France

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

Crawfords Australia

Could do better

The plot and characters are hardly worth commenting on - you have seen them before. The performances are competent and the sets adequate for a low budget drama. The most noteworthy thing about this series is that it was meant to be set in large part in the country now called New Caledonia. This is a French territory in the south west pacific which has a troubled history, largely as a result of colonial occupation and which is still unstable. The real history of those islands is interesting and dramatic. This mini-series reduces it to dull cliches. It is rendered even more unwatchable by the main characters having to preface what they say to each other by phrases like, "You are melanesian...." They have to say things like that because they so obviously have not the slightest drop of melanesian blood in their bodies. Perhaps they assume that the audience for this will be too stupid or ignorant to know the difference. There are many fine melanesian actors - the makers should have made an effort to use some of them here. A sad waste of celluloid devoted to what could have been in interesting subject - as colonial in its attitude as the colonialism it attacks.