Programmer's Note

Burning Man is a reckless, haunting, funny and ultimately life-affirming love story, all of which is reflected in the film’s short opening scenes: a lovely empty garden, a car crash, a woman crying, a world in flames. Intriguing and slightly bewildering, the potency and beauty of this initial sequence raises ques­tions yet still portends answers.

When we meet Tom (Matthew Goode), it’s clear that he’s a good man, but behaving badly. He’s the principal chef at a casually chic restaurant overlooking Bondi Beach (where he doesn’t respond well to criticism from the clientele); a devoted, if mercurial, father to eight-year-old Oscar (Jack Heanly); and a man more attractive to women (lots of them) than he is to himself. Whatever is going on with Tom, his actions seem to be tolerated by those around him. But every­thing comes to a head when he prepares a birthday party for his son at a beachside park. His anger erupts and he finds himself in police custody — not much of a birthday for Oscar. As Tom descends into darkness, gem-like fragments of the story behind his current state of mind start to emerge. With the passion of his past and the emotional turbulence of his present beginning to merge, he recognizes that the women in his life, and Oscar, are all playing a part in pull­ing him back together.

Although Burning Man is a work of fic­tion, it is based on Teplitzky’s own life experience, and this undoubtedly explains much of the film’s depth and emotional punch. Stunningly photographed by Garry Phillips, Burning Man contains a host of on-point performances, none more mov­ing than those by Goode (A Single Man) and Heanly. Goode suffuses every frame with an openness characteristic of the finest screen actors, and Heanly matches him with an emotional maturity unusual in so young a performer. Bojana Novakovic is also stellar as the woman who ultimately means the most to Tom. Brave and uncompromising, Burning Man promises a rewarding journey into love and loss, and back to love again. Jane Schoettle