The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce
| The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster for The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce | |
| Directed by | Michael James Rowland |
| Written by | Michael James Rowland Nial Fulton |
| Produced by | Nial Fulton |
| Starring | Adrian Dunbar Ciarán McMenamin Dan Wyllie Don Hany Chris Haywood Bob Franklin |
| Cinematography | Martin McGrath |
| Edited by | Suresh Ayyar |
| Music by | Roger Mason |
| Distributed by | Hopscotch Films |
Release date |
|
Running time | 60 minutes |
| Countries | Australia Ireland |
| Language | English |
The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce is a 2008 Australian-Irish film directed by Michael James Rowland starring Irish actors Adrian Dunbar as Father Philip Conolly and Ciarán McMenamin as bushranger Alexander Pearce and an ensemble Australian cast, including Dan Wyllie, Don Hany and Chris Haywood. The film was shot on location in Tasmania and Sydney between April and May 2008.
The film was nominated for the 2010 Rose d'Or,[1][2] Best Drama at the 6th Annual Irish Film and Television Awards,[3] Best Drama at the 2009 Australian Film Institute Awards,[4] won Best Documentary at the 2009 Inside Film Awards[5] and the director Michael James Rowland was nominated in the Best Director (Telemovie) category in the 2009 Australian Directors Guild Awards.[6]
Plot
[edit]The film follows the final days of Irish convict and bushranger Alexander Pearce's life as he awaits execution. In 1824, the British penal colony of Van Diemen's Land is little more than a living hell. Chained to a wall in the darkness of a cell under Hobart Gaol, Pearce is visited by Father Philip Conolly, the only Catholic priest in the fledgling colony and a fellow Irishman. Pearce wishes to relate to the priest the horrors he endured in the three months spent traversing the wilderness of Van Diemen's Land. Conolly struggles to reconcile his desire to grant absolution to the convict with the story Pearce tells him. The title of the film comes from the interaction between Conolly and Pearce in the days before Pearce is executed. The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce is presented as a psychoanalytical historical epic.
The underscored aspect of Pearce's crime and confessions is the murder of fellow escapees and his alleged cannibalism.[7]
The film details the convict's relinquishing psyche as he finds himself succumbing to the inevitability of his imminent execution. The circumstances and motives of Pearce's execution are put into question by Rowland.
Production
[edit]Producer and co-writer Nial Fulton began developing The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce in Ireland in 1998 and production began on the project in Australia in the summer of 2006. The film was commissioned and financed by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, RTÉ, BBC Northern Ireland, Screen Australia and Screen Tasmania.
The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce was inspired by the true story of an escape from the infamous Sarah Island penal settlement in Macquarie Harbour, Van Diemen's Land in 1822 by Irish convict and bushranger Alexander Pearce and the subsequent confession he made to the Hobart priest Phillip Conolly days before he was executed for the murder of fellow convict Thomas Cox.
Script
[edit]Written by Michael James Rowland and Nial Fulton, the script draws on all four confessions made by Alexander Pearce, but principally on the confessions he made to Commandant John Cuthbertson and the final confession made to the priest Phillip Conolly. In many places the script uses the exact words written down in these confessions.
Principal cast
[edit]- Adrian Dunbar as Philip Connolly
- Ciarán McMenamin as Alexander Pearce
- Dan Wyllie as Robert Greenhill
- Don Hany as John Mather
- Bob Franklin as Matthew Travers
- Chris Haywood as Reverend Robert Knopwood
Van Diemen's Land / Tasmania
[edit]Shot over five weeks on location in Tasmania and Sydney in 2008, the film used locations around Derwent Bridge, Lake St Clair, Nelson Falls, the Huon Valley, Mount Wellington and Callan Park, a former asylum in Rozelle. Many of the filming locations were selected as they were places Alexander Pearce may have passed through on his escape from Sarah Island.
Critical response and reviews
[edit]The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce received positive reviews internationally from film critics. Empire, The Sunday Times and The Sydney Morning Herald all gave the film 4/5 stars.
- The Age[8]
- The Australian[9]
- Sydney Morning Herald[10]
- Jackson Free Press[11]
- The Independent[12]
- Filmink[13]
- BBC[14]
- Inside Film Magazine[15]
- Belfast Telegraph[16][17]
- Sunday Mirror[18]
- Tasmanian Examiner[19]
- The Northern Star[20]
Accolades
[edit]See also
[edit]- Cinema of Australia
- Macquarie Harbour Penal Station
- Van Diemen's Land
- Tasmanian Gothic
- Alexander Pearce
- County Monaghan
References
[edit]- ^ "Rose d'Or - History: Nominees 2010". Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 10 March 2011.
- ^ "Rose D'Or Nomination for "The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce"". RTÉ News. 24 June 2010.
- ^ "Home". ifta.ie.
- ^ "2009 AFI awards nominees". The Australian. 28 October 2009.
- ^ "2009 Inside Film award winners". The Sydney Morning Herald. 19 November 2009.
- ^ "ADG - Australian Directors' Guild Home".
- ^ see Alexander Pearce#Escape and cannibalism for interpretations of the multiple confessions
- ^ Molitorisz, Sacha (12 February 2009). "The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce". The Age. Melbourne.
- ^ Denholm, Matthew (24 January 2009). "Demon of Van Diemen's Land put his fellow fugitives on the menu". The Australian.
- ^ "Cannibal magnetism". The Sydney Morning Herald. 19 January 2009.
- ^ "Questioning Human Nature | Print View". Archived from the original on 11 January 2011. Retrieved 10 March 2011.
- ^ Marks, Kathy (29 December 2008). "The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce: Australia's cannibal convict". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022.
- ^ "The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce | Filmink Review". Archived from the original on 7 March 2011. Retrieved 10 March 2011.
- ^ "A priest, a confession and a conscience". BBC News. 20 February 2009.
- ^ "IF Magazine".
- ^ "Fermanagh men sink teeth in Tasmanian Cannibal film". Belfasttelegraph.
- ^ "Ulster takes bite of cannibal legend - Local - Belfast Newsletter". Archived from the original on 3 October 2012.
- ^ McMahon, Victoria (22 February 2009). "Australian actors playing Irish roles using fake Irish accents was". Sunday Mirror.
- ^ "Top award for Alexander Pearce film". 20 November 2009.
- ^ "Irish ambassador loves convict film | Lismore TV Guide | Lismore Television, Australia | Northern Star". Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 10 March 2011.
- ^ https://www.iftn.ie/news/?act1=record&only=1&aid=73&rid=4283138&tpl=archnews&force=1
- ^ https://www.ifta.ie/awards/iftawinners2009
- ^ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Australian_Film_Institute_Awards
- ^ https://www.screendaily.com/adam-elliot-wins-best-feature-at-australian-directors-guild-awards/5005497.article#:~:text=Film%2Dmaker%20Adam%20Elliot%20has,struggling%20to%20raise%20two%20sons.&text=Meanwhile%2C%20veteran%20auteur%20Paul%20Cox,the%20story%20of%20Aboriginal%20Australians.
- ^ https://www.examiner.com.au/story/488400/top-award-for-alexander-pearce-film/
- ^ https://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-11-03/sounds-of-balibo-scoop-awards/1126942
External links
[edit]- 2008 films
- 2000s historical films
- APRA Award winners
- Australian historical films
- Films about cannibalism
- Convictism in Australia
- Films set in colonial Australia
- Films set in Tasmania
- Films shot in Tasmania
- Films set in 1824
- History of Tasmania
- Films scored by Roger Mason (musician)
- 2000s English-language films
- English-language historical films