WARNING:SPOILERS THROUGHOUT!!!!

There are few movies as horrifyingly moving and tragic as "Shame", a story about a female lawyer road traveling who stops in a small town in Australia when she has bike problems. She forms a friendship with a young girl from the town who has been gang raped and nobody in town seems to care or believe her.The lawyer becomes intent on getting justice done and also begins to notice how the boys in town seem to have free reighn to do pretty much anything they want to anyone without any objections from the townspeople. To the contrary, the townspeople seem to blatantly favor the boys and when the 2 females unite together their lives become at risk.

I saw this a long time ago and have never forgotten it. This movie is perhaps the most difficult to watch of anything I've ever viewed. I don't think anyone can argue that this movie, tragic as it is, is a little known masterpiece. I myself had never heard of it originally.

The ending to this movie is perhaps the darkest and most tragic I've ever seen-and I've seen a lot of movies. I can guarantee if you haven't seen this movie and you decide to, it will affect you for a long time to come and you may even regret having seen it because of how much it WILL upset you. Still, I think anyone who really appreciates a brilliant, well done film and who can appreciate a film that maybe tragic from start to middle to finish would probably benefit from seeing this though there is probably not 1 minute of true cheerfulness in the film. It is still brilliant though and I'm sure will leave you absolutely stunned-and horrified. I wish this film was better known but I'm not surprised that the people who HAVE seen it reviewed it so positively because this movie conforms to no stereotypes.

...this is director Jodrell's best work. Also known for some HALIFAX instalments, Jodrell has created a near-brilliant masterpiece from what is essentially an unoriginal story which could have easily been made into a non-consequential telemovie (notably, similar themes are dealt with in NATURAL JUSTICE: HEAT, a 1996 telemovie starring Claudia Karvan as the motorbike-riding lawyer based on the series of the same name). Furness, while not perhaps the best choice to play the lead role, ends up fitting nicely, with her tough-looking exterior (and shocking 1980's hair!!). She's a barrister, roaming the outback on her motorbike, when she comes across a small town which is hiding a shocking secret: seems the town's "lads" have been having more than a little "fun" with some teenage girls. Thing is, the local constabulary would much rather sweep it under the carpet than have to lock his mates up, and the girls have enough trouble convincing their own families of the truth, let alone the parents of the "nice, good boys" who have "never been in any trouble." Stereotypes abound here, but that's okay, it actually adds a dimension to the story and really lets us get angry at the characters. And just when you think you're hooked, Jodrell manages to pull in a bit of THE CARS THAT ATE PARIS and even MAD MAX to spice things up a bit... SHAME is an unconventional, highly emotive and stunning piece of work from a little-known director who, by these standards, deserves to be up there alongside Peter Weir and Scott Hicks as the most successful Australian filmmakers. Rating: 8/10.

In a remote Western Australian town packs of gang rapists go around harassing and assaulting the local girls while nobody (not even the law) lifts a finger. That is, not until lawyer Asta (Deborah-Lee Furness) comes limping into town on her broken motorcycle. When she discovers what is going on, the fiery counsellor is determined someone will pay.

As the heroine who takes on the town, Furness fits the bill convincingly, while Simone Buchanan is suitably vulnerable as one of the latest victims, Lizzy. Tony Barry is strong as her tormented, scared father, and the support cast do well.

"Shame" is one of those aggravating movies that makes you want to take a straight razor to the 'fun-loving lads' and perform some delicate surgery. In this light it has similarities to "The Accused" (though it has nowhere near the power of that shocking film). Director Steve Jodrell easily generates compassion for the young girls and hatred for the boys, and he has no trouble upsetting and infuriating his audience. Unfortunately he cuts himself off with a poor ending which leaves his viewers hanging. We don't see the perpetrators brought to justice, which leaves our thirst for vengeance unquenched. It's also hard to believe that so many women in the town would chose to ignore the problems. This point, coupled with the ambiguity of some pivotal characters, such as the police sergeant, take away from the picture's effectiveness.

Western Australia is well photographed by Joseph Pickering.

Saturday, July 15, 1995 - Video