Constructing Australia (2007)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Documentary	None
Rating
Year Of Production	2007
Running Time	165:00
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Franco di Chiera Simon Nasht
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	None Given
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	?	Music	James K. Lee Lawrie Silvestrin

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (384Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    A few years ago, the BBC produced a documentary series entitled The Seven Wonders of the Industrial World. Spanning the globe it looked at some of the great engineering marvels of the last 200 years.

The three part documentary series Constructing Australia seeks to achieve the same effect as the BBC series by looking at three of Australia's landmark engineering projects. Like Seven Wonders, the series features, where possible, archival footage as well as dramatic reconstructions. In an interesting step, each of the three episodes comprising Constructing Australia has been produced by Film Australia but utilising local funding from the three featured States. Unlike Seven Wonders these shows are more about the struggle to get the go-ahead to build the structure rather that the trials and tribulation of the construction process.

Each of the shows is expertly narrated by Wendy Hughes.

The shows are:

The film not only looks at the endeavour of Bradfield to see the project through, but also the political squabbles that continually simmered beneath the surface and threatened to derail the project at any time.

It is a story undercut with tragedy as O'Connor took his own life before he saw the water flow.

This was no overnight task. It took the courage and determination of two very different men, the precise and demanding South Australian Superintendant of Telegraphs, Charles Todd, and John McDougall Stuart , the hard-as-nails Scot who led 6 expeditions through the most rugged territory in Australia without ever losing a man.

The expeditions were literally soul destroying as Stuart braved the elements for long periods only to return to Adelaide and drown himself in drink. Once Stuart had done his work it was for Todd and his sometimes rebellious workers to string the telegraph line through desert and swamp.

These programs didn't have the budget of the BBC series but they still make a good fist of the stories. In fact, politics play a large part in the creation of these landmarks. Far more troubling than hordes of mosquitos and flash floods was the constant threat of political change and shelving of the projects. The stories are really told as duologues - Bradfield and Ryan, O'Connor and Forrest and Stuart and Todd.

The acting performances are fine. It must be hard to get into period costume for a rapid shoot and have to try to pretend to be an historical figure without sounding corny. There are a few recognisable faces but I would venture that one of the key virtues of this production is the way that it brought work into each state.

Whilst the shows are not exactly earthshaking they are interesting snapshots of early endeavour and deserve to be viewed from that standpoint alone.

Video

  Constructing Australia is presented on DVD in a 1.78:1 transfer consistent with the original aspect ratio for TV transmission.

The series was shot on digital video. The productions were by no means high budget which is reflected in the generally good looking but not superlative video quality on offer. There is some noise about and the sharpness of the talking heads interviews is not precise but, overall, they are eminently watchable. There is also some mild aliasing to be seen and the occasional burst of edge enhancement.

As might be expected, there are no physical problems with the transfer. There are artefacts on the historical footage however these tend to enhance rather than detract for the overall affect.

There are subtitles which give a good account of onscreen action.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

  The three documentaries comprising Constructing Australia are all presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 running at 384K/bs.

There are three dialogue sources - the voice over of Wendy Hughes, talking heads interviews with various academics and other relevant people and the recreations. These are in audio sync.

All the dialogue sources are handled well in the transfer. Wendy Hughes manages to infuse the commentary with the right level of admiration and solemnity.

Music for each is an effective accompaniment to the episodes.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    This DVD is only available in Region 4.

    Constructing Australia comprises three interesting and varied documentaries about great Australian engineering projects. The transfers are satisfactory without being as awe inspiring as the projects themselves.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall