The Narrow Road to the Deep North adaption acclaimed at Berlin Film Festival
Source: Prime Video
The much anticipated streaming adaptation of Richard Flanagan’s Booker Prize-winning novel The Narrow Road to the Deep North has been universally acclaimed after a preview screening at the Berlin Film Festival.
Starring Jacob Elordi (Euphoria, Salt Burn) as Australian World War II soldier and prisoner of war Dorrigo Evans, the limited series was described by the BBC by as a “remarkable adaptation” of Flanagan’s novel from director Justin Kurzel (Snowtown, Nitram).
“He brings an auteur’s confidence to everything here, creating a seamless symphony of visuals, editing and music,” the BBC’s Hugh Montgomery gushed.
“The Narrow Road to the Deep North feels like a searingly ‘true’ account of war, indeed, but also one founded on the finest artistry, if that’s not too much of a contradiction,” he added.
Adapted by screenwriter Shaun Grant, The Narrow Road to the Deep North tells the story of doctor, Evans, who is haunted by memories of a love affair with his uncle’s wife Amy (Odessa Young) and of his subsequent experiences as a prisoner of the Japanese working on the Burma Railway.
The aging Evans, played by Northern Irish actor Ciarán Hinds (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Belfast) finds his growing celebrity at odds with his feelings of failure and guilt.
The first two episodes of the five-part series premiered at the Berlin Film Festival last week.
The Hollywood Reporter described the showing as “big, bold and strikingly cinematic”.
“Based on the first 90 minutes, The Narrow Road to the Deep North has potential to stand alongside films like Peter Weir’s Gallipoli and Bruce Beresford’s Breaker Morant as a nuanced and compassionate study of Australians at war,” THR chief film critic David Rooney said.
Flanagan wrote in 2013 that his father’s experience as a Japanese prisoner of war influenced him to write the book, which won the Booker Prize in 2014.
In-demand Australian actor Elordi plays the central character. Photo: Curio Pictures
He said the central character of Evans was partially based on the Australian hero and doctor Edward “Weary” Dunlop, who struggled with overwhelming odds to care for the prisoners during construction of the Burma Railroad.
Elordi told Variety that he and his co-stars had to lose a significant amount of weight before filming the PoW scenes.
He said the experience helped forge a sense of mateship within the group.
“There was a peace that sort of came over all of us. And you kind of reach a level of love that goes beyond what you’re used to, because everything gets stripped away and you come down to the bare bones of, ‘Is my mate OK? Am I OK? How can I help?,” Elordi said.
As well as Elordi and Young (Mothering Sunday), The Narrow Road to the Deep North stars Olivia DeJonge (Elvis), Heather Mitchell (Fake), Heather Mitchell (Heartbreak High), Show Kasamatsu and Simon Baker (The Mentalist, Breath) as Uncle Keith.
The Narrow Road to the Deep North will premiere on Prime Video from April 18 in Australia
