Review of Kylie Minogue: Sample People

Introduction

This is an ugly, tacky little movie about the seedy Rave culture of Australia. Shot on the extreme cheap - to the extent it looks like a film student`s project - the movie is as rough in quality as it is in subject. (Peter Jackson`s Bad Taste looks big budget compared with this, and that`s saying a lot!) God only knows how Kylie Minogue got involved in this film populated with lowlifes. I can only think she might have lost a bet or something.

It`s pretty turgid stuff. Poorly written, badly photographed and reeking of every-expense-spared, had it been made in the UK, it would have FilmFour stamped all over it. Just for once, I`d like to see something where "independent" doesn`t mean cheap, and in this case c**p.

The shocking thing is this film was made by the South Australian Film Corporation and has a credit list the length of your average Hollywood blockbuster. So where`s the quality?

Video

Presented in anamorphic 1.85:1, the picture is distinctly soft-focus to start with, and not deliberately. The titles show a distinct softness that may be the fault of the master that the disc has been struck from. There is little artefacting that I could discern, or quality problems such as dirt or scratches. The movie`s director and director of photography are adventurous types, not afraid of using the full gamut of tricks available to music video and commercial producers. There is much use of high-contrast, enhanced colour effects. There are a lot of hand-held, shaky shots, strange angles and and fast, jerky cutting techniques. There are also a lot of natural-light shots where frame-weave plays havoc with the dvd compression and details come unglued from the background. I`m all for adventurous camera use, but not where it detracts from the story-telling. Unfortunately the story being told isn`t particularly worth being told.

Audio

There is a Dolby Digital credit at the end of the movie, but the soundtrack is resolutely Dolby 2.0, or plain Stereo. Apart from the rave music soundtrack, there is little of note on this disc.

Features

There are simply no extras to speak of on the disc, with the exception of a handful of stills of Kylie Minogue in the "stills gallery". Menus are static, offering only scene access, the stills or to play the movie. There are no subtitles available.

Conclusion

This is the sort of movie that the highbrows cheer on as "adventurous" filmmaking, but I personally see as being what has caused the demise of the British Film Industry. I know this is an Australian picture, but I`d expect more common sense from them as they still know how to make decent bums-on-seats movies. Modern non-Hollywood film-making seems to consist of either rarified period-piece drama or thick-ear "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" grittiness. Outfits like FilmFour and movie Godfathers such as David Puttnam and Alan Parker have encouraged young film-makers to steer away from making bums-on-seats movies and make the sorts of pictures they are passionate about. Unfortunately nobody wants to see the movies when they`re finished. Where are the comedies? Where are the modest little thrillers? Why do we have to see so many movies where some characters end up on the floor having his spleen ruptured by a well-aimed boot? I`m sick of "gritty". The only thing that needs to be gritty is Tarmacadam, not entertainment.