Rent The Sundowners (1960)

Bush Western. - The Sundowners review by Steve

Leisurely rural drama set in the Australian bush which owes plenty to the American western but captures enough local culture and landscape to maintain a separate identity. The roving inhabitants of the outback are colourful, though perhaps the film delivers idealised portrayals of these characters and their tiny, remote settlements.

The Sundowners is still convincing. The costumes and interiors don't feel cleaned up at all.  The terrain is shot on location and the story is realistic. In fact the narrative feels like reportage: the 2-up, the bushfires, the sheep shearing contest and the horse racing.  

The performances of Robert Mitchum and, especially, Deborah Kerr feel surprisingly authentic. They are a married couple working as drovers, steering sheep between the country towns of Jindabyne and Cawndilla. She and their son want to buy a farm and settle down but he wants to carry on drifting.

There is fine ensemble support from familiar British and Australian character actors (including Chips Rafferty). But most of all we gather an impression of the vastness of the Australian interior and its scattered communities. Of rural loneliness and the vulnerability of isolation, but also of a resilient frontier spirit.