Lucky Miles (2007)

Three mismatched blokes are stranded in the Australian desert.

Director:

Michael James Rowland

Writers:

Helen Barnes, Michael James Rowland

Stars:

Kenneth Moraleda, Rodney Afif, Sri Sacdpraseuth

8 wins & 16 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Kenneth Moraleda	...	Arun
Rodney Afif	...	Youssif Al-Samer
Sri Sacdpraseuth	...	Ramelan (as Srisacd Sacdpraseuth)
Don Hany	...	Private Greg Plank
Glen Shea	...	Sergeant O'Shane
Sawung Jabo	...	Muluk
Arif Hidayat	...	Abdu
Deborah Mailman	...	Lisa (voice)
Majid Shokor	...	Saleh
Osamah Sami	...	Fiark
Edwin Hodgeman	...	Coote
Gillian Jones	...	Chris
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Majed Abbas	...	Hussam
Asaad Abdulrazak	...	Abbas
Don Barker	...	Pub Regular #1

Storyline

An Indonesian fishing boat abandons a group of Iraqi and Cambodian men on a remote part of the Western Australian coast. Told there is a bus over the dunes, the men are abandoned to a desert the size of Poland. While most are quickly rounded up, three men with little in common but their history of misfortune elude capture and begin an epic but confused journey drawn on by their hopes amplified by the empty desert. Pursued by an army reservist unit more concerned with playing ball sports and music, our three protagonists wander deeper into trouble, searching desperately among the harsh beauty of the Pilbara for evidence of a western, liberal democracy. Or the promised bus.

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Plot Keywords:

desert | remote | journey | iraqi | indonesian | 

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Taglines:

They started as strangers, by journey's end they'd nearly killed each other

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund [Australia]

Country:

Australia

Language:

English Khmer Gumatj French Arabic Indonesian

Release Date:

19 July 2007 (Australia)

Also Known As:

Célegyenes

Filming Locations:

Coffin Bay, South Australia, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

AUD 3,100,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Puncture Pty. Ltd., Blink Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When director and co-screenwriter Michael James Rowland began researching the Iraqi story-line for this film in 1999, he visited an overcrowded apartment in Fairfield, home of Fiark Hany, cousin of actor Don Hany ( who played Private Greg Plank), and five other Iraqi refugees all just released from detention centres. Fiark was an important contributor to the Iraqi narrative and one of his flatmates present on that first night, Assad Abdulrazak, went on to take on the role of Abbas in the film. His friend and fellow refugee Toma Isho also joined the cast as Firas.

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Quotes

Ramelan: And your mother?
Arun: She die before I was born.

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Connections

Referenced in Lucky Miles: 'At the Movies' Interview with Michael James Rowland (2007)

User Reviews

A unique, fascinating picaresque journey

This film is a major leap forward from recent Aussie films, thankfully getting away from drug-raddled Western suburbs teenagers and quirky comedy clowns. The film-makers are willing to take on a big subject, a major global theme, that of displaced people and the extraordinary acts of quiet courage that so-called "boat people" are often required to perform simply to survive. It is very well directed, skillfully guiding an almost entirely unknown and inexperienced cast by not relying on too many long, challenging acting scenes but flick-passing from one story to the next in a way where the limited acting skills of the cast are best served. This is not a perfect film, it is too long at some points, and once in a while commits the cardinal sin of letting the audience get ahead of the film in knowing full well what will happen next. Another careful and unemotional edit, trimming eight to ten minutes of splashing in billabongs, tinkering with utes and trudging through scrub could only help. But these are minor quibbles in a film that achieves so much, that aims high and gets there. This and "Clubland" are without doubt the best two films so far in2007.