Please don't judge its quality until you see the original 194 minutes long film maker's edition. The current edition on Region-1 disc, released in 2004, is tragically abbreviated. It is no better than a 103-minutes-long-teaser of "After the Deluge".
As for the original 194 minutes edition of "After the Deluge", it richly delineates the conflict and reconciliation among the family members of the Kirby's through a lot of overwhelming episodes such as traumatic memories of war, memories of a beloved woman, the onset of geriatric Alzheimer's Disease, infertility, grief of sinking into oblivion, breakdown as a family man and a business man, and something like Oedipus complex. These are so skillfully interwoven beyond time and place that all of them are indispensable to lead to the finale that is rather bitter but serene and merciful.
FYI, it was the original edition that won several Australian Film Institute Awards in 2003. Hope that it will be fully released worldwide and immerse us in brilliant flood of emotion with its quality of a universal theme, an elaborate and elegant plot, beautiful music, and wonderful ensembles of performers.
As for the original 194 minutes edition of "After the Deluge", it richly delineates the conflict and reconciliation among the family members of the Kirby's through a lot of overwhelming episodes such as traumatic memories of war, memories of a beloved woman, the onset of geriatric Alzheimer's Disease, infertility, grief of sinking into oblivion, breakdown as a family man and a business man, and something like Oedipus complex. These are so skillfully interwoven beyond time and place that all of them are indispensable to lead to the finale that is rather bitter but serene and merciful.
FYI, it was the original edition that won several Australian Film Institute Awards in 2003. Hope that it will be fully released worldwide and immerse us in brilliant flood of emotion with its quality of a universal theme, an elaborate and elegant plot, beautiful music, and wonderful ensembles of performers.