Marleen Gorris was a trailblazer when her movie Antonia’s Line won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film. Before her victory, no movie directed by a woman had claimed the award. The retrospective of the Dutch writer-director’s first three films shows how she grew to be able to give such fine film on her fourth outing. While her first movies showed the dark side of life in Holland with A Question of Silence taking place a courtroom and lady’s dress shop and Broken Mirrors giving us a brothel and a serial killer’s torture chamber, Gorris went to sunnier climate to give a story about people pushed to an extreme and snapping. The Last Island shows how an unexpected visit to the beaches of Trinidad and Tobago can go completely wrong.
The beach of the tropical island is cluttered with the wreckage of a recently crashed passengers plane. The survivors consist of five men, two women and a dog. The only clue as to what went wrong is that the engines just cut out in the middle of the night. The survivors have no idea what island they’re stranded upon. Even worse is that the plane’s communications devices can’t reach anyone. Even the regular radios can’t pick up any stations. They are completely removed from the world. While they figure someone will come looking for them, they have to take care of the dead before things get too nasty with decaying bodies. Since there’s a lot more dead than the living, they don’t have time to bury them in the sand. They have a mass cremation on the beach. The seven survivors work together but are sizing things up. Nick (Empire Strikes Back‘s Kenneth Colley) is a retired soldier who still fits in his uniform. He takes over the hunting duties after they find a few guns in the luggage. Sean (Raiders of the Lost Ark‘s Paul Freeman) and Frank (Return to Snowy River‘s Mark Hembrow) are a couple that upset the disapproving Nick. Jack (Bates Motel’s Ian Tracey) comes off as a complete frat boy who seems less concerned about survival than hooking up with Joanna (The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles‘ Shelagh McLeod). Pierre (Farewell’s Marc Berman) tries to do the right things to survive until rescue. Mrs. Godame (The Never Ending Story‘s Patricia Hayes) is an old woman who is viewed as a drain on their supplies by a fellow survivor. Things are pretty good between them for a bit as the seven work together to build a boat in order to escape. The island and the ocean refuse to let them escape so easily. Things get a bit nastier as there is a sense that the reason the plane engines stopped, and the radios won’t work is something really horrible happened to the rest of the world. Can these seven people exist under the burden of being the last hope for humanity?
The Last Island reminds me of the TV series Lost except without all the distractions like the smoke monsters, the polar bears, the other people, the lucky numbers and the completely disappointing final season. While there might be strange mysteries revolving around Gorris’ survivors, they don’t need outside elements to heighten the drama. Things get really nuts when fear sets in that the rest of the world might be gone. There’s immediate talk of how Joanna needs to start pumping out kids to keep humanity going. Little do the men care if she’s up for becoming the new Eve.
Unlike her previous films, Gorris made The Last Island in English with an international cast. This language swap doesn’t lessen her feminist viewpoint. Joanna and Mrs. Godame aren’t there to merely serve the male survivors. She doesn’t create all the men to be horrible although it doesn’t take too many Type A personalities ready to force their will on others to ruin the scene. While The Last Island wasn’t a big success in the international market, the movie isn’t a failure. The finale when everything goes out of control is intense. It feels like how such a situation would devolve in nature. Norris delivers a tight castaway film. The Last Island caps off a much-needed Blu-ray retrospective to give us a sense of what Norris made before her profound Antonia’s Line.
The Video is 1.85:1. Cult Epics made the transfer off an original 35mm print with the English audio. The transfer was cleaned up, but there are rough spots which adds to the rescued off an island effect. The Audio is LPCM 2.0 Stereo so you can hear the island sounds as the survivors lose it. There’s also a DTS-HD MA 2.0 tracks. The movie is subtitled in English.
Introduction by Dick Maas (0:28) has the producer talk about getting the script from Gorris.
Audio Commentary by film historian Peter Verstraten has him get into the various cast and crew. He has a great story about what the producers went through to get permissions to bring the airplane wreck to the beach.
Interview with Politca Columnist Annemarie Grewel (11:37) seems to be the Dutch version of movie review show. Grewel gets into her feelings about the movie.
Behind the Scenes (16:51) shows the plane being taken apart and transferred to the location to look like a wreck. The crew has to cover their tracks to make sure the island doesn’t look too populated. The cast and crew have a bit of fun on the beach in between the tension filled scenes. Dump trucks are used for the boat on the stormy sea shots.
Promotional Gallery includes posters and lobby cards.
Dutch Theatrical Trailer (3:06) opens with the smoldering wreckage on the beach. The survivors are introduced so you sense the tension.
Cult Epic Trailers include A Question of Silence, Pastorale 1943, The Debut, Mysteries and Julia.
You can order The Last Island directly from Cult Epics.
Cult Epics present The Last Island. Directed by Marleen Gorris. Screenplay by Marleen Gorris. Starring Paul Freeman, Shelagh McLeod, Patricia Hayes, Kenneth Colley, Mark Hembrow, Marc Berman & Ian Tracey. Running Time: 101 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Released Date: October 10, 2023.
