Bert, la lucha de un hombre contra todo

"A Fortunate Life" is based on the bestselling biography of A.B. "Bert" Facey (1894-1982). This moving four-part television mini series covers the first part of the book. The mini-series stays true to the form of the book: it is somewhat unsophisticated and perhaps overly direct in its storytelling. The series ends with the year 1915, (the book finishes in 1976) after having shown a great deal of Mr. Facey's struggle to survive during hard times.

I would have liked to have seen a bit more of Mr. Facey's return to the life of Western Australia after enduring the punishingly realistic scenes of the Battle of Gallipoli: I thought that the "we lived happily ever after" voice-over at the end was a bit of a cop-out; after all the appeal of the show is the characterization of Bert as a tough, yet moral and easygoing man. The show paints an excellent picture of a typical tough "cobber", and it gives insight into the Australian people of the time.