Finally managed to get a DVD of Badland and I'm so glad. It's a brave rendering of how war can torment those who have experienced it and how life is never the same once a veteran is back in 'normal life'. How this film has been passed over by 'mainstream' movie watchers is beyond me because it's incredible.
The cast is excellent, Jamie Draven is outstanding as Jerry and deserves no end of credit for taking on and shining in such a hard hitting and powerful main role. You feel for Jerry the whole way through, despite every decision he makes, everything he does and doesn't do. It's a long film but the character is so strongly played you cannot stop watching and physically need to know how it turns out. Joe Morton and Grace Fulton also deserve accolades in their roles.
The writing is great, the story is consistently strong and this film deserves to be seen. In addition, the scenery is beautiful.
The speech Jerry bellows at Max under the tree is harsh but seems to be pretty close to the mark...what better excuse is there? It happens over and over. I imagine that this is part of the reason a lot of people seem to have missed out on this amazing film - do critics feel this is too honest for the mainstream? Sad if so because there's a lot of unworthy ego-rubbing films that are seen by millions. Will we ever learn?
