A worker at a plutonium processing plant is purposefully contaminated, psychologically tortured and possibly murdered to prevent her from exposing worker safety violations at the plant.
Sophie is the survivor of Nazi concentration camps, who has found a reason to live with Nathan, a sparkling if unsteady American Jew obsessed with the Holocaust.
Respected liberal Senator Joe Tynan is asked to lead the opposition to a Supreme Court appointment. It means losing an old friend and fudging principles to make the necessary deals, as well... See full summary »
Based on the true story of Lindy Chamberlain. During a camping trip to Ayers Rock in outback Australia, she claimed that she witnessed a dingo stealing her baby daughter, Azaria, from the family tent. Azaria's body was never found. Police noted some apparent inconsistencies in her story, and she was charged with murder. The case attracted a lot of attention, turning an investigation into a media circus, with the public divided in their opinions.Written by
Murray Chapman <muzzle@cs.uq.oz.au>
Lindy Chamberlain refers to a case in which expert testimony wrongly sent three boys to prison. She's referring to the 1972 murder of Maxwell Confait in southeast London. Confait, 26, was strangled, and the building in which he lived was burned down. Eighteen-year-old Colin Lattimore, 15-year-old Ronnie Leighton, and 14-year-old Ahmet Salih were arrested and charged with murder and arson. All three had alibis, but three prominent forensic pathologists testified to the time of death. One, Dr. Cameron, changed his mind on the stand, and said Confait could have died at a time when the boys were not covered by their alibis. The boys were convicted and sentenced to prison. Two years later, the convictions were overturned. It turned out that Confait had been dead for more than 48 hours before the fire, and the forensic pathologists were wrong about the fire speeding up the on-set of rigor mortis. In 1980, Douglas Franklin was found to be the true murderer. See more »
Goofs
In the end credits, the movie's copyright year is 1988. In Roman numerals, it would be MCMLXXXVIII. Instead, the year is MCMLXXXIII, 1983. See more »
Quotes
Cliff Murchison:
Was that Michael's brother?
Lindy Chamberlain:
Can you believe it, the rumours are in New Zealand already!
Cliff Murchison:
A lie goes 'round the world while truth's still putting its boots on, sweetheart.
See more »
When I first saw "A Cry in the Dark", I had no idea what the plot was. But when I saw it, I was shocked at what it portrayed. When I saw it a second time in an Australian Cinema class, I realized a second point: communication issues. You see, when a dingo snatched Lindy Chamberlain's (Meryl Streep) baby, she and her husband Michael (Sam Neill) were grief-stricken but didn't show it. As Seventh Day Adventists, they believed that God willed this to happen, and so they couldn't mourn it. But when people all over Australia saw their lack of sadness, everyone started believing that Lindy did it herself.
The point is, the wrong message got communicated to the public, and it turned people against Lindy. Even though this was a pure accident, it still happened. It may be one of the biggest disasters resulting from the existence of mass media, regardless of any media outlet's political views.
As for the performances, Streep does a very good job with an Australian accent (no surprise there), and Sam Neill is equally great. You will probably get blown away just by what you see here. Definitely one of Fred Schepisi's best movies ever.
18 of 25 people found this review helpful.
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When I first saw "A Cry in the Dark", I had no idea what the plot was. But when I saw it, I was shocked at what it portrayed. When I saw it a second time in an Australian Cinema class, I realized a second point: communication issues. You see, when a dingo snatched Lindy Chamberlain's (Meryl Streep) baby, she and her husband Michael (Sam Neill) were grief-stricken but didn't show it. As Seventh Day Adventists, they believed that God willed this to happen, and so they couldn't mourn it. But when people all over Australia saw their lack of sadness, everyone started believing that Lindy did it herself.
The point is, the wrong message got communicated to the public, and it turned people against Lindy. Even though this was a pure accident, it still happened. It may be one of the biggest disasters resulting from the existence of mass media, regardless of any media outlet's political views.
As for the performances, Streep does a very good job with an Australian accent (no surprise there), and Sam Neill is equally great. You will probably get blown away just by what you see here. Definitely one of Fred Schepisi's best movies ever.