One of my daughters' favourite writers at school was John Marsden. Youngest in fact went to a writer's session at his farm near Melbourne. Both like the Ellie/Tomorrow series, so there was considerable excitement when they found out that the first book in the series was to be filmed. Now the movie is scheduled for release on 2 September.
For those who don't know the story, the series centres on a group of teenagers caught up in an invasion of Australia by an unspecified foreign power. The novels are told in first person perspective by the main character, a teenaged girl named Ellie Linton, who is part of a small band of teenagers waging a guerrilla war on the enemy soldiers in their fictional hometown of Wirrawee.
This is one Australian movie that is likely to be a major commercial success. Not only does it start with an exciting book, but it has a huge fan base among the young and at least some of their parents. This has allowed what is essentially a viral marketing campaign well in advance of release.
This may seem some distance from New England. However, the film was shot in Maitland, Raymond Terrace and Dungog, as well as the Blue Mountains.
I have made the point a number of times on this blog that one of our problems is that New Englanders do not have proper access to their own past, including visual imagery in films that shows the area in which we live. There have in fact been quite a lot of films shot in New England or which link to New England life and history. We just don't think of them as New England films.
I am going to enjoy the film not just for its own sake, but also playing spot the location!
Some time ago, I began an entry page for New England films. Looking at it, its time to update it.
For those who are interested, the current trailer follows.
2 comments:
Great post! I loved this book. I look forward to seeing the movie and taking in the scenery.
Regards.
Hi LL and thanks. One thing that worried me about the film was that it involves an overseas invader and this might be interpreted as Indonesia. If you look at the posts on my strictly personal blog, you will see that I am very pro-Indonesia. Then, I thought, what the hell, it's a great yarn.
One of the problems with so many Australian films (my perception)is that they don't tell stories that people want to hear, that will interest them.
If this film is half as good as the books, it should mark a new start. And then, of course, there is the New England connection!
Post a Comment