Van Diemen's Land is a 2009 Australian thriller set in 1822 in colonial Tasmania. [1] It follows the story of the infamous Irish convict, Alexander Pearce, played by Oscar Redding [2] and his escape with seven other convicts. The voice-over and some of the dialogue is in Irish.
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The film takes place in 1822 in Tasmania and is loosely based on a true story. A group of transported convicts, suffering brutal treatment at the Sarah Island penal settlement on Van Diemens Land, as Tasmania was then known (until 1856) escape into the wilderness in hopes of reaching the settlements to the east. [3] Their enthusiasm and bravado soon give way to hunger, which saps their strength and causes them to despair. [4] Former urban dwellers, the English, Irish and Scottish convicts realize that not only are they lost, [5] but they do not even know how to hunt or fish. Hunger and despair forces the group to switch to cannibalism, and the band is separated by a difference in opinion on this. Some of the group members separate from the group and walk to their imminent death. The men do all in their power to keep moving, watch their back and avoid sleep, lest they be the next meal. [6] [7]
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Van Diemen's Land was released in Australian cinemas on 24 September 2009, and was rated MA15+ for "strong violence and coarse language". [9] It received mostly positive reviews, and earned an 80% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 10 reviews with an average 6.6/10 rating. [10] During the opening weekend, the film grossed $39,939 at the 9 theatres it played ($4,438 average). [11] The film won 2 awards in 2009: Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival(New Visions Award - Special Mention) and Torino Film Festival award for Best Script - Special Mention.
Van Diemen's Land grossed $289,858 at the box office in Australia. [12]
Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania used by the British during the European exploration and colonisation of Australia in the 19th century. The island was previously discovered and named by the Dutch in 1642. Explorer Abel Tasman discovered the island, working under the sponsorship of Anthony van Diemen, the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies. The British retained the name when they established a settlement in 1803 before it became a separate colony in 1825. Its penal colonies became notorious destinations for the transportation of convicts due to the harsh environment, isolation and reputation for being inescapable.
Bushrangers were armed robbers who hid from authorities in the bush of the British colonies in Australia. The earliest use of the term applied to escaped convicts in the early years of the British settlements in Australia. By the 1820s, the term had evolved to refer to those who took up "robbery under arms" as a way of life, using bases in the bush.
The Macquarie Harbour Penal Station, a former British colonial penal settlement, established on Sarah Island, Macquarie Harbour, in the former colony of Van Diemen's Land, now Tasmania, operated between 1822 and 1833. The settlement housed male convicts, with a small number of women housed on a nearby island. During its 11 years of operation, the penal colony achieved a reputation as one of the harshest penal settlements in the Australian colonies. The former penal station is located on the eight-hectare (twenty-acre) Sarah Island that now operates as a historic site under the direction of the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service.
The Pieman River is a major perennial river located in the west coast region of Tasmania, Australia.
Alexander Pearce was an Irish convict who was transported to the penal colony in Van Diemen's Land, Australia for seven years for theft. He escaped from prison several times, allegedly becoming a cannibal during one of the escapes. In another escape, with one companion, he allegedly killed him and ate him in pieces. He was eventually captured and was hanged in Hobart for murder, before being dissected.
The West Coast of Tasmania has a significant convict heritage. The use of the west coast as an outpost to house convicts in isolated penal settlements occurred in the eras 1822–33, and 1846–47.
Between 1788 and 1868 the British penal system transported about 162,000 convicts from Great Britain and Ireland to various penal colonies in Australia.
Michael Howe was a British convict who became a notorious bushranger and gang leader in Van Diemen's Land, Australia.
Nial William Fulton is an Australian film and television director, producer and writer. Focused on social justice issues, his works include investigative documentaries Revelation, Hitting Home, Borderland, The Queen & Zak Grieve and Firestarter: The Story of Bangarra.
Tasmanian Gothic is a genre of Tasmanian literature that merges traditions of Gothic fiction with the history and natural features of Tasmania, an island state south of the main Australian continent. Tasmanian Gothic has inspired works in other artistic media, including theatre and film.
The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce is a 2008 Australian-Irish film directed by Michael James Rowland starring Irish actors Adrian Dunbar as Philip Conolly and Ciarán McMenamin as bushranger Alexander Pearce and an ensemble Australian cast, including Dan Wyllie, Don Hany and Chris Haywood. The film was shot on location in Tasmania and Sydney between April and May 2008.
Dying Breed is a 2008 Australian horror film that was directed by Jody Dwyer and stars Leigh Whannell and Nathan Phillips.
A Fringe of Leaves is the tenth published novel by the Australian novelist and 1973 Nobel Prize-winner, Patrick White.
The Colony of Tasmania was a British colony that existed on the island of Tasmania from 1856 until 1901, when it federated together with the five other Australian colonies to form the Commonwealth of Australia. The possibility of the colony was established when the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the Australian Constitutions Act in 1850, granting the right of legislative power to each of the six Australian colonies. The Legislative Council of Van Diemen's Land drafted a new constitution which they passed in 1854, and it was given royal assent by Queen Victoria in 1855. Later in that year the Privy Council approved the colony changing its name from "Van Diemen's Land" to "Tasmania", and in 1856, the newly elected bicameral parliament of Tasmania sat for the first time, establishing Tasmania as a self-governing colony of the British Empire. Tasmania was often referred to as one of the "most British" colonies of the Empire.
The Tourist is a 2010 American romantic thriller film co-written and directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck and starring Angelina Jolie, Johnny Depp, Paul Bettany, and Timothy Dalton. It is a remake of the 2005 French film Anthony Zimmer. GK Films financed and produced the film, with Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions releasing it in most countries through Columbia Pictures. The $100 million budget film went on to gross $278.3 million at the worldwide box office.
James Goodwin was a convict escapee and explorer in Van Diemen's Land. In March 1828, he escaped from the notorious Sarah Island prison with fellow convict Thomas Connolly, and the two were the first white men to pass through the Lake St Clair region. Assuming Goodwin was then taken on to Hobart, he is the first white man to have traversed Tasmania from west to east.
The Frederick escape was an 1834 incident in which the brig Frederick was hijacked by ten Australian convicts and used to abscond to Chile, where they lived freely for two years. Four of the convicts were later recaptured and returned to Australia, where they escaped the death sentence for piracy through a legal technicality.
Crime in Tasmania has existed since the earliest days of the European settlement in 1803. Laws creating criminal offences are contained entirely in statutes, statutory regulations, and by-laws, common law offences having been abolished by the Criminal Code Act 1924 s 6. Most offences are enforced by Tasmania Police, although a small category of offences are prosecuted by other statutory authorities such as local governments, and the Tasmanian branch of RSPCA Australia. All offences are prosecuted through the Tasmanian justice system, and sentences of imprisonment are administered by the Tasmania Prison Service. Some crime statistics for Tasmania are provided on the Tasmania Police website.
Van Diemen's Land is the former name for Tasmania.
Arthur Angel is an Australian film, television and stage actor of Greek heritage. He has appeared in films including Metal Skin (1994), Ghost Rider (2007), Van Diemen's Land (2009), The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010), Red Dog (2011), The Legend of Ben Hall (2016), That's Not Me (2017), West of Sunshine (2017), My First Summer (2020) and the upcoming Fear Below (2024).