If you thought the magic land of Oz was all glorious sunny beaches and endless rolling plains, think again. The Oz small country town, like its American counterpart, has achieved mythical status in literature and cinema as a universe all its own. This series grapples intelligently with this myth, both confirming it and questioning it at the same time. There's not a sunlit landscape in sight. The vast majority of outdoors frames are seen through the windows, literally, of gloomy interiors in which the inhabitants seem to spend most of their time. And such outdoors scenes as there are, are usually rendered in that gloriously overcast and pregnant greyish hue that is meteorologically such a daily event in the Oz 24-hour weather cycle. This brilliantly conceived framing and cinematography create a dark atmosphere for the triumphs and failures that are the lives of the characters. They wander about almost like ghosts, in houses and gardens of total delapidation. There's physical and spiritual malaise here aplenty. Of course there was a catastrophic flood here a year earlier, floods and fires being the defining catastrophic natural events of the Oz outback. Out of which life usually re-emerges, the Phoenix that won't die.
But something weird is happening now, a life giving plant unseen before growing out of the muddy earth with life giving properties for those brave enough to ingest it. Or is it? Watch and find out. Watch WHERE it grows.
A superb slow burn series that mesmerizes with its cinematic mood. The acting is off the scale, both the legends and the newer cast creating characters with that superb Aussie understatement. No histrionics here, just totally low key credible performances. The storyline becomes secondary to this powerful mood. The small country town is a unique place all its own AND a microcosm of humanity everywhere. Life can thrive after a catastrophe. Or can it?
Review of Bloom
