How Long Is “Kangaroo”?

Based on the novel by D.H. Lawrence, this tale presents a famous author's experience living in Australia for a short period after World War I. Richard Somers (Colin Friels) and his wife Harriet (Judy Davis) have had a difficult time living in Cornwall during the war. He refused to enlist because of his political beliefs and his novels have been banned as pornographic while his wife was shunned for her German heritage. By 1922, the couple decide to relocate to Australia. Once established in a Sydney suburb, they become close friends with the couple next door, Jack and Vicky Calcott (John Walton and Judy Nihill). Somers' literary reputation precedes him and he and his wife are sought after by the society around them. Jack is associated with a right-wing, fascist militia group headed by the aggressively gay "Kangaroo" (Hugh Keays-Byrne). Both this group and a socialist trade-union leader on the opposite side of the political fence are after Somers to join their cause. Powered more by ideas than the eroticism that made D.H. Lawrence famous, this is an excellent, well-acted drama.