User reviews

Mary (Romola Garai) is starving and steals food from a lady on a picnic. She is transported to the penal colony of Botany Bay in Australia along with other petty criminals like Will Bryant (Alex O'Loughlin). Idealistic Lt Ralph Clarke (Jack Davenport) takes pity on Mary and takes care of her. She lets out that she's pregnant from another jailer and he's taken aback by rumors of possible moral impropriety. At the colony, Will becomes the only fisherman and marries Mary. Together they start a family. However the colony is hit with riot, rapes, drought and starvation. Mary seduces Ralph in a plan to steal the only sea-worthy boat and supplies as the group of outlaws escape the colony under Gov. Phillip (Sam Neill)'s harsh rule.

Mary Bryant is a wonderful character daringly performed by Romola Garai. I'm conflicted about the story. It's not correct historically and I don't think it works dramatically. It would flow better to fictionalize the story even more. The first part is amazing. The last half of the second part struggles with various turns and slower parts. It's a great character in a historical drama.

Before I start I would like to say Australia has THE BEST MINI SERIES, for example some great Aussie mini series are: Blue Murder, The Day of the Roses, Jessica and this Mary Bryant to name a few while the Americans had crappy ones like the 4400 and Battlestar Gallactica which I was looking forward to but was disappointing. I think the secret to Aussie mini series success is because some are based on true stories and are interesting to learn some true events, they are realistic, you can relate to the characters, the locations show how beautiful Australia is and in these mini series there is a chance that the viewers of these shows have been to the location where it happen and know the area like in The Day of the Roses Granville.

Mary Bryant (based on a true story) shows the life of Mary Broad a young seventeen year old pregnant girl who is on the first fleet sent to Australia for stealing food for her starving family, on the journey over she meets and befriends a man by the name of Wil Bryant who she later marries when they reach land. Sick of their life at the colony they plan to escape with five others and Mary's children to Timor. This is a great story that has a great Australian and international cast who play their roles perfectly. This is another great Aussie mini series that should not be missed just like the other Aussie mini series highly recommended!

Mary Bryant is a true achievement considering it is made for television. During the last few years, the Australian film and television industry has been suffering enormously due to lack of funding and lack of good screenplays. After having watched Mary Bryant last night it has restored my faith in the Australian industry.

Mary Bryant is a true Australian tale, telling the story of young Cornish girl Mary Broad, who is transported to New South Wales, to Sydney Cove after stealing a bonnet. on the way over she meets two men, Will Bryant who she marries and Lt. Clarke a soldier in the Queen's naval army who takes a liking to her and ultimately falls in love with her the feeling being returned.

The realism of the conditions the convicts faced in 1788 when trying to build a new colony for themselves is very well done - the best I've seen for a long time. The scene where the male convicts go crazy and take advantage of the women convicts is terrible, not so much in that the film makers expose us too long to the scene, but the very fact that the soldiers, including Governor Phillip (played by Sam Neill) just watch, until one of the solider's quips 'the whores had it coming to them' and Governor Philip saying 'we'll just let things run its course.' Having been a fan of Romola Garai's since seeing her in 'I capture the castle' and 'Daniel Deronda', her performance did not disappoint. She is an excellent actress. It was quite liberating to see her break out of her good girl English rose role she always plays - from the sweet innocent Cassandra in 'I capture the castle' to the sweet innocent friend of Becky Sharp in 'Vanity Fair'.

Jack Davenport's portrayal of Clarke was done very well, brilliantly under played and you got a sense of a man who, like in 1788, became very different if living in primitive conditions on a new land, like the first fleet had to endure when arrived in New South Wales. A clear example is when Mary starts to live with him (in order to help her family escape to Timor - seen in part two) and at times he handles her roughly when kissing her (mixing dominance with pleasure) and beds her at every possible opportunity...a far cry to what he would have done in England. But in those times in Australia, it would not have been an improbable romance.

Sam Neil's portrayal of Phillip did disappoint me a bit, as you did not get a sense of the person behind the title, but you did however get the sense he was a strong character, but that was all. At times the story did tend to slow down a bit, but not enough to make real difference to the story.

An interesting insight into the part of history, which we don't get to see much on Australian television screens and I hope Australia will begin to produce as many high quality dramas as Mary Bryant.

8/10

'The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant' tells the breathtaking tale of Cornish convict Mary Bryant (Romola Garai), convicted for stealing a bonnet and bread and sentenced to England's new Colony on the other side of the world in Australia. Mary, who had never been more than 5 miles outside of her village, made the journey with the first fleet in 1787, on the boat commanded by Captain Clarke (Jack Davenport). Clarke has a vision of reform for the convicts, an idea which clashes with the beliefs of Governor Arthur Phillip (Sam Neill) who sees no hope for England's trash. Clarke has particular hope for the wide-eyed angelic Mary; raped while in jail in England, Mary was pregnant during the voyage and the birth of her baby girl in the horrendous conditions of the boats is miraculous in itself, but Mary's journey doesn't end there. Arriving at the new colony in New South Wales in 1788 Mary marries Will Bryant, another Cornish convict they and other newly-wed convicts reap the benefits of their marriage as they are granted permission to build a house. Mary and other female convicts are outnumbered by the men 5:1, a gory scene of rape, pillage and plunder harshly depicts exactly how terrible the colonies conditions were for the women of 1788. Not only that, but water is scarce and crops do not grow in the poor soil. Mary, now with 2 children, proposes a plan with her husband to escape from the island prison, by stealing the colonies cutter boat and sailing 4 thousand miles to Timor with 5 other male convicts. But, as Governor Phillip exclaims; "the burden of carrying a woman, and children, no - even if they survive the sea, they'll never survive each other" – so begins Mary's truly incredible and heart-breaking journey.

This is a truly spectacular Australian mini-series, and no surprise since it had a budget in excess of $15 million and is the largest television mini-series ever made in Australia. Directed by Peter Andrikidis and shot over 12 weeks in 22 locations, 'Mary Bryant' is a real accomplishment. The sets are spectacular; from the claustrophobic, sickening hull of the convict ships, to the stifling and scorching colony; every set perfectly evokes the atmosphere of the times and adds to the grandeur of the mini, aided with the beautiful music score of Iva Davies. Of course 'Mary Bryant' isn't always historically accurate, but it's practically impossible for it to be; there are few records of the first fleet's journey and following the events depicted in this mini, Mary Bryant all but vanished from the face of the earth. And despite Mary and Clarke being on the same ship in the first fleet, there is no evidence that they ever had a tumultuous love affair. But where there were plot-holes in history, writer Peter Berry adequately fills in angst-ridden characters and suspenseful plot.

The characters for this larger than life tale are perfectly cast. Romola Garai stars in her first epic role but is no stranger to period pieces; having starred in 'Nicholas Nickelby' and 'Vanity Fair'. Despite Garai's milk skin and doe eyes, she brings sharpness to Mary's strong-willed character; sometimes you resent her, but Garai knows when to make you sympathize and warm to her, and you do. Alex O'Lachlan is a NIDA graduate and his character of Mary's husband, Will is his first big role. He has charm and like Garai, can evoke feelings of bitterness towards the character which gives Will more depth. Jack Davenport rounds out the major leads as Captain Clarke; like O'Lachlan and Garai, Davenport portrays a complicated and multi-faceted character. We see tender moments of real love on Clarke's behalf when Mary seduces him as apart of her plan to escape; one criticism may be that the storyline and lengthy character development between Mary and Clarke means that the audience sees more reason for Mary to be with him, rather than Will. Just as quickly Davenport evokes bitter resentment as Clarke's obsession with Mary destroys and devastates. Even the minor characters deserve praise; Abe Forsythe's innocent charm and adorable looks stir sympathy as Sam, and Sam Neill's stony demeanor perfectly suits for the unsympathetic Governor Phillip assigned the almost impossible task of creating a new society on the barren Australian land.

This is a truly spectacular Australian mini-series, an accomplishment on all fronts, and what makes it truly amazing is it's derived from a true story.

This was an excellent and entertaining movie, with convincing costumes and settings. The depiction of the horror of the sea voyages, the appalling nature of life in the convict settlement (scarcely better for the overseeing officials then for the convicts) and the relative luxury and colour of life in the Dutch colony of Timor were all powerfully vivid and evoked a strong sense of place and time. However, too perfect teeth are a recurring difficulty in period movies! The casting of the main characters was first rate, with Romola Garai as Mary shedding the fragility and innocence we saw in 'I Capture the Castle', and displaying considerable depth and emotional strength. Jack Davenport's outstanding performance as one of the marine officers was characterised by moral ambivalence and confusion in someone half a world away from his cultural certainties. Alex O'Loughlin as Will Bryant was a very effective counterweight to Davenport, giving a compelling account of a convicted Cornish smuggler and fisherman struggling within his own clear if unconventional moral framework. This fine team were supported by equally strong performances from the rest of the cast. Authenticity of detail of costume and setting was not however matched by authenticity of narrative – the script takes liberties with events, relationships and the fates of some characters. Although much is not known about Mary's life, some known facts were abused! However the main thrust of Mary's story retains its integrity and the movie provides a welcome testament to an otherwise neglected extraordinary figure from English – and Australian - history.

This 2 part series was spectacular. I was surprised it was not made into a movie and shown at the cinema. I loved Mary's character that was portrayed brilliantly by a very talented actress. As a great fan of period dramas, I would definitely consider this one of the best I have seen and would highly recommend it. All the characters were portrayed well and the quality of acting was Superb. The scenery and settings were spot on. Having read books on the topic of convicts in Austalia. I found this incredibly real to what life must have been like for those who traveled on such ships. Mary's will to live and the story of her journey was remarkable. Sam Neil is fantastic as the Admiral and 'Will' was played, again superbly, by yet another talented actor. By the end I was in tears and couldn't sleep for thinking of this fantastic mini-series. I will definitely buy this on DVD and no doubt watch it again and again.

I only had a chance to watch this programme today, however I thought it was absolutely fantastic. The voyage of a young woman to Australia as a convict was amazing. Not only was this film based on facts and true stories but it also showed compassion. You got the chance to look in on Mary's feelings. I felt so sorry for Mary, she was convicted for stealing money, but knowing her social class, you could understand that she was trying to provide for her family, even if it was the wrong way to go about it.

Romola Garai played Mary very well. You could see all sides of Mary's personality, her compassion and love for her two children and husband, but also her more cunning side, using Lt Ralph Clarke on two occasions, the first being to avoid the conditions on the boat. The second time she used him was worse, she lead him on to believe that she had feelings for him (and as you would have already found out) and he has feelings for her. Both Jack Davenport (Lt Ralph Clarke) and Alex O'Loughlin (Will Bryant) performed their roles very well. Jack Davenport shows the audience how sensitive he is towards Mary and how easily he can fold for her, yet as a Lt he can be a hard/tough person.

I would highly recommend watching this i thought it was brilliant

The reaction to the British miniseries 'The incredible journey of Mary Bryant' seems to be a sign of the times: Whereas the accolades poured in for the portrayals of Mary and her husband, the masterfully portrayed character of Officer Clarke was misunderstood / brushed over and his complex relationship with Mary largely ignored. In my book Mary was a selfish b..., solely driven by the will to survive, with little regard for the feelings of others except those of her immediate family. Officer Clarke, on the other hand, is a much more complex character: The product of a morally strict and repressive upbringing, he is basically a decent, kind man who ends up acting mercilessly (within the framework of the cruelty sanctioned or even demanded by his job) when his pride is wounded. That is his Achilles' heel. He suffers intense humiliation when Mary, in pursuit of her own selfish agenda, at first liberates him from his inhibitions and then betrays his trust and makes a fool of him in front of his peers. The realization of her callous exploitation of his kindness and his feelings seriously wounds his whole identity. Nevertheless, he can't get himself to kill her when he has her at his mercy (in his musket's visor): Twice he lets her escape; it's only the third time that he finally 'delivers her to justice' - and had Mary not once again revealed her falseness to him by sidling up to him again, he probably would have let her escape once more. All the time he finds himself in the struggle to keep his dignity. Jack Davenport's superb portrayal of this emotionally rich and complex character deserves the highest praise. To me it was the actual focus of the film. Barbara N.

A truly phenomenal film which has restored my faith in the Australian Film Industry. However, it was too good to be a telemovie - I wonder why they did not give it a go at the cinemas.

It is going to clean up at the AFIs - I hope it does.

Everyone's acting was fantastic, the plot was incredible and everything about it made me question how Australia could possibly have made it. I mean we are notorious for creating crap films and then telemovies like 'Jessica' and 'Mary Brant' come along and you just go "aaaaah, thank god!" A well deserved 9/10, I hope channel 10 get the ratings and accolades they deserve for this.

this was a really fantastic drama. the passion shown by the cast - most of whom were unknown to me - was amazing and the story was spellbinding and heartbreaking. i don't really mind that some think it was an inaccurate portrayal of real life, the tragedy of each part of the story was accurate for some poor soul at the time. every unnecessary death pained me, and set against such a beautiful but unforgiving backdrop this really stirred me. i would recommend this to all, and would strongly suggest it as compulsory viewing for history students to see just what life was like 250 years ago. i hope that the cast - particularly Mary and will go on to do more great things

I think its a pretty darn good TV movie hey.... although as always the aboriginal roles are relegated to absolute nothing which I wish I wish I wish COULD BE CHANGED!

But anyways...its about Mary's story..and its pretty realistic about the anarchy, the dirt the grime, the sexually charged atmosphere of depravity..as the Aboriginal elders and young uns watched this cesspool of white convicts raping and killing each other...who were the savages again? It questions many things about Australia as a penal colony journeying with this character of Mary.

But the film really depicts as many sides to the story as possible and with Jack Davenport playing against his type in the Brit- hit series "Coupling", mix that with a real ball-cruncher of Romola Grai and you've got something thats definitely meant to liven up the dreary boring Sunday night TV. Plus the "soft porny" stuff pretty spiff as well!

This miniseries managed to capture the absolute desperate living conditions that not only the convicts but at times, the officers had to endure in sailing to Australia and attempting to set up a colony (particularly given the initial organisation skills of the latter was lacking). I appreciated the realism portrayed - the starvation, unbearable heat, lack of comfortable living conditions, the overcrowdedness etc etc - not to mention watching the uniforms of the officers going from pristine white and red to a dirty, shabby dull as the story unfolded. From these circumstances arises the sheer determination of Mary Bryant to somehow escape from this life - using whatever means necessary to do so. I thought Jack Davenport was the stand out in this film and Romola Garai certainly portrayed a determined, high spirited character, even if there were times it was hard to like her very much. Recommended if you want to glean some understanding into the life and times of convict settlement.

I sat through Mary Bryant and I was completely bored. It was a totally overblown and long drawn out saga, heavily padded with long, lingering, meaningless close ups and many trivial mistakes. Without those close ups which added nothing, the piece would have been half as long which would have been better. It was also totally unrealistic and laughable to watch.

In the very first scene Mary (Romola Garai) robbed a women in an isolated wood in Cornwall and then, from nowhere, up came two men and arrested her. That was just funny. It looked for all the world as if the robbed woman had called the police on her mobile. Where did they come from? How did they get there?

Then Mary was sentenced to go to Australia, and the appalling conditions on the boat were depicted in great detail. People were starving and dying of disease, the lucky ones survived.

Mary's baby was born on this boat and then arrived at Sydney Cove fit, clean and healthy. Yes, Mary's baby truly did survive this voyage, presumably fed by Mary, but if Mary herself was starving, how was the baby so bouncing? In spite of the desperate hunger and hardship the baby then grew up to be quite a sturdy little girl (Charlotte).

At Sydney Cove there was one scene where a character wrote a list of supplies with what looked suspiciously like a ball point pen, it could have been a fountain pen, but it certainly wasn't a quill pen. The quills appeared later.

Then Mary Bryant had another baby. This one also thrived and stayed healthy looking throughout the drama never losing any weight during it's long 3,000 mile journey in a boat with few supplies and what did they do for water? In fact none of the actors lost so much as an ounce on that long journey. They did have signs of scurvy at one point but that miraculously disappeared in sight of land. Also realistically their white skins would have been terribly burnt in that open boat. Why was that not shown?

The scenes in Timor were just ludicrous. Jack Davenport (as Lt. Ralph Clarke) is always worth watching, but even his endless close-ups began to pall, and Mary Bryant's husband (Alex O'Loughlin) was very handsome in a 2006 way and had cosmetically perfect, shiny, white teeth which helped very much with his close-ups, but added not atouch of realism to the drama.

Romola Garai was great in "I captured the Castle", but I did get tired of staring at close ups of her. Her expressions were rather blank as well.

As befits British people arriving in Australia the convicts all had British accents, bar one, actor David Field, who had an Australian accent, however he was one of the few convincing looking convicts. I don't expect accents to be uniform, but uniformly British would be desirable.

As this was a true story I stayed with it in order to see what happened to Mary.

At the end Mary Bryant all dressed up, clean and looking not a minute older, returned to Cornwall. Presumably she had received financial assistance, however she had absolutely no luggage. With nothing in her hand at all, she walked cheerfully down to her village, which we never see (and in which she was originally starving) and then we do not know what happens to her. Not even a little hint in the credits at the end.

I think when actors are portraying great suffering they should miss a few meals on location and perhaps a smaller baby could be used to show malnutrition. I also expect more from the make-up department. I do not expect the children to be starved for the role, but perhaps less bonny looking children could be used, and less obviously well fed actors.

A lot of money went into this production but God is in the details and the details weren't there.

My husband's comment was "Well I'll sleep well tonight!"

The story starts with Mary running up the grassy hill in her town of Cornwall (We see nothing but grassy hills, no town no people just Mary running). The story ends with her returning to that same hill only walking downward and again we see no town, no people just her, but wait was that a small house way in the distance on both beginning and end ? What I am saying i that it would have been nice to identify where she came from even if it was a small house it would have been nice to at least see it! Other then that the movie was as close to flawless as movies get. Someone eluded to the historical references in the movie as being incorrect. I am not a historian so I will overlook that since I am commenting on the movie itself. The deaths in the movie were probably as near to the way a real life story would play out where the heroic and innocent die while lesser people live. (After all that is real life isn't it!) Some people make reference that this movie was good for an Australian production. I will say that this movie is great no matter what country you put it up against or what budget you put it up against! I may render to say that this is the best movie I have seen period!

The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant is a period piece mini-series that is unlike most period pieces you'll see. Most period dramas are romantic and glossy, or they are gothic and dark, or they are whimsical and fun. This one is just gritty and real. It's loosely based on the life of Mary Bryant and British girl convicted of theft who's sent to the Australian Penal Colony. It's disturbing, interesting,and well-acted (Romola Garai is fantastic as usual).

Mary Bryant was a simply brilliant portrayal of a young woman's strength, vitality, courage and determination. The story encapsulated her desires for love and lust in a new world of discoveries and unforgiving hardships.

From a historical perspective I felt I was there, a truly realistic picture of English on foreign soil, bringing their flag of imperialism progressivist ideals, and ethnocentricities. Going back in time the story revealed the capacities of the unrelentless human spirit, pushing the boundaries in both mind and body.

Being a young woman myself the character of Mary Bryant truly inspired me, as I thought I have endured hardships. This realistic account of a woman's tale lived 200 years ago discloses how spoilt our lifestyle has become.

I am a patriotic Australian and very proud of the blood sweat and tears of our forefathers that made this country. I have placed the movie in my top three movies of all time. The script and the actors were fantastic.

I haven't seen this mini series yet but from what I have seen on the trailers shown on UK TV it looks great. I do not like however that the Australians seem to think that the mini series was totally done by them, the UK network did some of it as well so the UK should be mentioned. it may of been made in Australia but it has good British cast. and is well made. so if any Australians are out there please remember that the British had a hand in making the production as well as Australia it makes me mad that a mini series that is done outside of the UK is not mentioned and only the country that it is being made is mentioned. but I think the British will love this mini series as well as the Australian's did.

The show was entertaining, so I guess on that, it is something of a success. But, I read the book , and followed up with some private research because I had never heard of Mary Bryant or what she had notoriously achieved. But the movie is riddled with "artistic licence". Way too much for my liking, And such a pity because no-one in my circle of friends or acquaintances has heard of her which is a pity because in my opinion, what happened is part of history that merits more awareness in the Australian public, howver notorious, and almost falling into the category of folkore something slightly along the lines of Ned Kelly but not quite, So for a program that can offer some education to the public about our history, it falls dismally short. I don't encourage people to watch it, unless you are well aware that there are numerous flaws. Read about her at least on Wikipedia and learn how fascinating her story truly is/was.Or better still read the book.