Herald
Sun
WED 17 MAY 2006
By ROBERT FIDGEON
ACTION
Answered By Fire, M
ABC, Sunday,
Drama set in
Duration: 2 x 85 minutes
Local stories, well told. It's just what the Australian industry needs, David Wenham tells Robert Fidgeon
BEAUTIFUL one day, perfect the next. That's what the ads would have us believe
about
But on this particular day someone forgot to tell the person in charge of this daily
dose of perfection -- it is bitterly cold and wet. About as
far removed from perfect as weather can be.
We are on location with the ABC/Canadian co-production Answered by Fire, a
two-part drama starring David Wenham and Isabelle Blais
as Police officers working for the United Nations in
Wenham plays Aussie Mark Waldman, alongside Blais as
Julie Fortin, a Canadian on her first overseas mission.
Their job is to oversee the
The UN promised the East Timorese it would stay after the vote -- a promise it
didn't keep.
The bloodshed and broken promises haunt Mark and Julie, who try to make amends
to the East Timorese they tried and failed to protect.
"The project appealed to me because it was history I was very familiar
with,'' Wenham says.
"I'd become interested in the plight of the East Timorese people after I'd
seen a documentary called Death of a Nation.
"I joined the Australia East Timor Association, purely to get information
about what was happening up there and inform myself as much as possible because
it both moved and angered me.
"It was history . . . and I felt honoured to be
a part of telling it.''
One of
"I've just come back from
"They are not there seeking fame and fortune, they're there for bread and
butter because there is no work here in
Wenham is disappointed about the diminishing of Australian culture on our
screens.
"Long term, I think we'll look back and rue the day we didn't treasure it
and put more money into it, and give people more incentives to invest in the
industry.
"We can't develop the industry without money.''
He believes government subsidy would be "great'', but feels there isn't
much incentive for investment.
"People go on about the state of Australian drama and the quality of it,
but if you only produce 10 things a year, all of those 10 aren't going to be
winners.
"We have to be permitted the right to fail every now and then. It's ludicruous to expect everything we do will be a winner.
"The moment we accept we'll have a few bad ones, but every now and then a
gem, I think we'll be on the road to recovery.''
More quality television drama like Answered by Fire can only aid this recovery.
Well-written, the story moves at a cracking pace, has superb cinematography and
great performances, particularly by the East Timorese actors, most of whom had
never previously acted.
"They are stunning,'' Wenham says. "All the
Indonesian militia are played by East Timorese, and
some of the actors had been tortured by the militia members so it was very
emotional for them.
"Isabelle, too, is great. There's a wonderful innocence about her
character -- a young Canadian police officer thrown into a world that is so
alien to her own.
"The hard thing in terms of pitching this project, and trying to get
people to watch it, is the fact that it isn't a dry piece of social or
political drama.
"It's a ripper story that you can't help but be affected by.''