Bondi Tsunami (2004)

User Rating:

5.2/10   

Director:

Rachael Lucas

Writer:

Rachael Lucas (screenplay)

Genre:

Music | Comedy | Documentary | Adventure | Drama

Tagline:

The first Japanese surfing road movie in Australia

Plot:

Shark and Yuto are on a road trip around Autralia, surfing, smoking and drinking. They meet up with Kimiko and the mysterious Gunja Man before driving to many famous Australian landmarks. |

Plot Keywords:

Surfing | Cult | Japan | Road Movie | Australia

Cast

Taki Abe	...	Shark
Keita Abe	...	Yuto
Miki Sasaki	...	Kimiko
Nobuhisa Ikeda	...	Gunja Man
Monique Wright	...	Barmaid
Tomomi Minamisawa	...	Kitchen Staff
Junko Wakabayashi	...	Kitchen Staff
Yuta Inoue	...	Kitchen Staff
Barton Lynch	...	Surfer at Bar
James Blyth	...	Drag Queen
Luke Bullock	...	Tattooist
Harry Cox	...	Farmer

Runtime:

Australia:88 min | 91 min (theatrical version)

Country:

Australia

Language:

English | Japanese | Japanese | Japanese

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:M

Filming Locations:

88 Hume Street, Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia

Company:

Burlesque Productions

Trivia:

The four stars were Japanese students on a trip to Australia, asked at random by director Rachael Lucas, "Would you like to be in a movie?" None of them have any previous acting experience.

Movie Connections:

References The Doors (1991)

Uninspiring - there is a reason this wasn't funded by the FFC, AFC & FTO!!!

"Bondi Tsunami" is perhaps one of the most uninspiring pieces of "cinema" that I have seen. I highlight "cinema" because it should be read in a sarcastic and/or dull tone.

The film is more like an extended music video, who's cinematography engages you in the first five minutes, during the opening credits, but then gets old, fast. And because there is no narrative (in ANY form) to engage you, you find your eyes wandering over to watch the grass grow. Grass is pretty cool! And yes, it may have sold to a few countries, but so have our cattle. It is by no means a measure of artistic integrity, but merely a current marketable item- manufactured to fit a niche- perfect the the Japanese market! Oh, that is sooooooo "original" (sarcastic/dull again).

Anyone could have "directed" this! No character development, no plot development, no 'real' story... It would have been more interesting to see an opposite of "Lost in Translation" perhaps, where these Japanese surfers are discovering Australia and its beaches through their perspective and discovering different things about themselves in the process... evolving perhaps? Even one element of change or difference would have been interesting, but noooooooo! All that was served up was 2-dimensional mash. Developing these characters would have taken too much effort and thought, and because it is essentially a music video, I guess it was not required.

If I wanted to watch music videos for 2 hours, I'd tune into ABC's "RAGE" on Saturday morning!

The only persons I'd recommend this film to, are those who are not interested in watching a "film"; or those who cannot get good reception on their TV for the ABC!

Rating: 0.5/10.