TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

GamerTab That was an excellent one.

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Tymon Sutton The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

doug_park2001 Although A CRY in the DARK may be a little slow-moving for some tastes, this docu-drama realistically shows the complexities of how a wrongful prosecution for infanticide can occur due to media distortion, misinterpretation of basic evidence, bias against a religious group and the accused's demeanor/personality, etc.While far from Hallmark, it is surprisingly tame considering the subject matter. Streep and Neill both give commendable performances, and there is also some wonderful scenery. Set in '80, filmed in '88, it's a nostalgic experience for those of us old enough to remember those times, not that I notice any really glaring differences between then and now. American audiences may find the Australian brogues a little hard to follow without subtitles.

markgraham280 It was one of the most intriguing mysteries of the twentieth century. On 17 August 1980, Lindy and Michael Chamberlain were on a family camping trip to Uluru (Ayers Rock), when their nine-week-old daughter, Azaria, disappeared. The couple maintained that she had been taken by a dingo, but circumstantial evidence, which included Lindy's confrontational personality and the family's religious beliefs, led to the perception within Australia that Azaria had been murdered by her mother. As many readers will know, Lindy was convicted of the crime after a trial that received unprecedented media coverage (rivalled only by Madeleine McCann's disappearance in 2007) and served three years in prison, before new evidence emerged which exonerated her.Hearing the news this morning that, at long last, an Australian coroner has served the Chamberlains with a death certificate confirming that Azaria was killed by a dingo, reminded me of how brilliantly the family's struggle for justice was portrayed in A Cry in the Dark.Quite often, the courtroom drama, so popular in the 1980s, can be a very formulaic film genre. The undoubted tension of real-life courtrooms rarely translates into exciting films; some exceptions being, I believe, Primal Fear (1996) and Jagged Edge (1985). The success of those films, like that of A Cry in the Dark, is chiefly down to their having an eerie, highly ambiguous mystery at their hearts which keeps the audience gripped. Indeed, Fred Schepisi's film focuses on conversations between anonymous characters throughout Australia in order to reflect the circus-like attention the Chamberlain case received.Meryl Streep's performance is key to maintaining the central ambiguity. In the film, Lindy is both a common housewife who is simply determined to prove her innocence and a potentially sadistic murderess. Despite your sympathy for her, the nagging doubt that Lindy might be guilty persists until the final scenes, and this prevents A Cry in the Dark from becoming predictable - even though you know the outcome.Like so many times in her acting career, Streep fully transforms herself into the human being she is portraying: accent immaculate (to my untrained ears at least), mannerisms, everything. She is Lindy Chamberlain - a hard person to like in some ways, but someone whom you instantly admire for her courage and conviction. Though nominated for the Best Actress Oscar, Streep uncharacteristically (and unjustly) didn't win on this occasion, although perhaps I should applaud this fact, given my last blog entry about Biopics.Sam Neill puts in, arguably, his best performance as Michael Chamberlain, Lindy's loyal but weaker husband. His struggle to defend his family's honour from the lawyers and reporters seemingly intent on breaking it apart is truly poignant, especially as even he must quash those nagging doubts regarding Lindy's innocence. It's not just the acting that makes this a great film, however; the razor-sharp script helps Streep and Neill along, the musical score (so 80s) is suitably mysterious, and the judicious editing makes for an intelligent and smooth viewing experience.A Cry in the Dark is a film that doesn't outstay its welcome. It begins, it delivers its emotive story, then it ends. It's about family loyalty and the often-malevolent influence of the press, an issue which is more relevant today than ever. Those of you who haven't seen this film should, and those who haven't seen it in awhile should reappraise it.Culturally significant and thoroughly entertaining.For more film reviews: http://ins-kino.blogspot.co.uk/

Red_Identity A Cry in the Dark is a solid film, one that could have easily gone off the tracks but is instead well directed and written. The sentimentality feels honest and true, as it is in real life. As much as the film makes you think about the actual case, it's also a vehicle for Streep's incredible performance. I'm still amazed to this day how well she can play in different accents. Here, she shows at first her grief, but also her resentment and her anger towards what is happening to her. I don't know much about the real woman, but Streep plays this character incredibly. She's very resistant to showing emotion to the media, but you can see her true sadness and exhaustion. Overall, a worthy piece to the case.

annemarieko Spoilers Following: I picked up the book "Evil Angels" when it first came out knowing nothing of the case. Just to give the press and the Austrialian people a break here, I was quite far into it before I began to question the Chamberlain's guilt. The author obviously intended the reader to understand why the public jumped to the conclusions they did. John Bryson told the story just as it was presented to the jurors (and picked up by the press) of the arterial spray, the actelone (??) plates, Dr. James Cameron's certainty that the collar was cut with scissors, that a baby could not be taken whole from her clothes with the buttons still done up, bloody hand print, etc. all quite convincingly. After all, these were experts in their fields who were testifying with no apparent reason to lie, and the fact that the evidence was completely wrong wasn't apparent to me at all. It was also highly technical evidence, difficult for a layman to understand. To this point, beyond some hearsay testimony in the trials, hardly anyone had ever heard of a dingo attacking a human; people didn't believe it was possible. The public was suspicious of the Seventh Day Adventists, whose origins made them appear to be a cult, and all sorts of wild beliefs about them contributed to the appearance of guilt. Were it not for dedicated, selfless lawyers who worked relentlessly to investigate and counter the trial testimony, finding Azaria's clothes later would not have been enough to get Lindy out of jail. The book shook me for that reason, and I've been reluctant to come to a conclusion about anyone's guilt ever since (excepting OJ of course). I was thrilled that a movie was going to be made about the case and don't think it could have been done better. I've always liked Sam, who I could identify with completely, and Meryl was perfect as always. Beautiful photography, haunting music. I think it's not only a very good, but a very important, movie. Too bad it didn't receive more publicity at the time it was released.