I read over some of the comments written about this movie prior to actually seeing it myself and after seeing the movie I wonder if some of these people saw the same movie I did. I kept reading about the movie and hearing about the nudity and the sex scenes between Grace and East and about Russell Crowe never the main character himself. The movie is not about Russell Crowe's Character, East it is about Alan and the coming of age of a crippled boy and how he deals with his handicap, girls, maturity, family, friends and sex. East is his idol and actually plays a small role in this film. Personally I think this was a very well done film about Alan with Russell (East) and Charlotte (Grace) playing great supporting roles. I would recommend this movie to anyone interested in a very well done and at times humorous film about a boy coming of age. And for those people concerned about the brief skinny dipping scene in the beginning. You can not see everything on Russell Crowe and the one sex scene between Russell (East) and Charlotte (Grace) is nothing more than you would see on any of the daytime Soaps.
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bhlakel24 April 2001
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SnoopyStyle6 September 2021It's 1910 rural Australia. Alan Marshall is a boy crippled by polio who worships local hunky horse trainer East Driscoll (Russell Crowe). He is befriended by new English arrival Grace McAlister (Charlotte Rampling). She and her husband have brought ostriches from Africa. Alan is taken with her and then he catches her with East.
It's an Australian film based on a book. It's an old style tragic romance and coming-of-age. It's a bit pulpy and melodramatic. The production is better than TV but isn't quite epic enough to be cinematic. More than anything, Alan needs to be more. The young actor is not the most charismatic but even that could be fixed with a more compelling character. He is supposed to be crushing on Grace. He needs to be spying on her as much as possible. More can be done. The story is a bit slow. What it does have are two big time actors doing a smaller project. They do well but at the end of the day, this is Alan's story. He needs to be more. A more compelling move would be for him to have a crush on East. Either way, this kid may not be up to the task and his character should be better anyways. -
jmgannon15 July 2001I wonder if "Hammers Over the Anvil" author Alan Marshall could conceive there would one day be a film version of his book that opened with a grinning pubescent version of himself watching a grown man with a Peter Pan complex frolic naked in the water with horses, intermittently straddling and splaying himself across their backs. On the other hand, it gives hope to actresses like Traci Lords that they might one day go on to achieve success in legitimate films, like Russell Crowe, despite this naked exposure, has done.
Seriously, I chose to rent this video because of Crowe's inclusion in the cast, and knew ahead of time there was some nudity, but jeesh! The opening scene was tame compared to the rest of the film. Have these Aussies not heard that less is more? How about some subtle lighting and shadow play? I may as well have been standing in a barnyard watching a bunch of rutting farm animals have at it. The grunting and groaning alone sufficed; the viewer didn't need to be hit over the head with the visuals.
The secondary plot of young Alan trying to overcome the challenge of his polio inflicted legs so he could one day mount a horse was lost. Instead, the muck masquerading as an adolescent's "coming of age" became the focus of this movie. A shame for a work by a classic author like Marshall. -
Sam-8010 July 2000Beautiful, passionate rites of passage film. Ann Turner, the director, chose her actors well. Charlotte Rampling's cool femininity and Russell Crowe's intense masculinity created a special chemistry on screen. Ann Turner had some very delicate scenes to direct and used an subtle and artful touch. The opening scene was glorious and a joy to see an actor (or anyone) so comfortable in their own skin.
The young boy who played Alan Marshall (Alexander Outhred) was absolutely wonderful. There was a magical, childlike wonder and innocence about the love scene between East & Grace that Alan witnesses and another reason why this film is so good. I don't want to spoil this for anyone who is able to see it... I'll just say this could become one of my favorite films. It's possible that this will be released on VHS soon. -
It's an exceptionally well done film with a great storyline, beautiful photography and brilliant acting by the main characters, Russell Crowe (as East), Alexander Outhred (as Alan) and Charlotte Rampling (as Grace). It is one of those movies which I like better each time I watch them. I bought the movie on DVD for my Russell Crowe collection and watched it on five evenings in a row. Each time I discovered more subtle details, more subtle facial expressions. It is a drama and has a very sad ending but there are still so many pleasant and even humorous scenes in this film that make watching it so enjoyable. My score is 10 out of 10.
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etherealtb5 August 2000The film begins with a young Alan Marshall describing his hero, East Driscoll who is the local he-man horse breaker. East is a bit of a loner in town and Alan and the other children seem to be his only friends. It is implied that East may keep to himself because he is embarrassed by his "roughness" and lack of education (he cannot read or write).
In the first scene, as Alan describes friend, we see East bathing nude while washing his horses in a river. This scene sets the character of East as a child of nature and something of a Greek God who is worshipped, not only by Alan, but all of the young women in town, whom East barely seems to notice. East is everything the young crippled Alan wants to be; strong, brave and independent. Even though he is crippled, Alan is still determined to be like his hero, East, by never giving up in his quest to learn how to ride.
Alan develops a school-boy crush on Grace McAlister, who along with East, is one of the few people in town who treats Alan just as if he were a "normal" healthy boy. There is a very charming scene where Grace and East are bargaining over the price of hiring East's prized stallion to stud Grace's mare and it becomes apparent that the two are bargaining over more than just horses. It seems inevitable that Alan's two favorite people will get together and become illicit lovers.
Since we are seeing the film through Alan's eyes, we only gradually realize that something is going on between Grace and East. One of the highlights of this film is the sequence where Alan spies on Grace and East as they make love in a barn. This is handled with great tact; the lovemaking is not shown as repulsive and shocking to the young Alan, but as beautiful and natural. In a way, it mirrors Alan's own growing sexual awareness. Grace and East quickly realize they can trust that Alan not to tell anyone about their affair and Alan starts to become part of this strange surrogate family.
One of the subplots is about Alan's father, who in his younger days was a horse breaker like East. In Alan's eyes, his father gave up horse breaking for the less "manly" job of a storekeeper. Part of Alan's fascination with East, is the fact that East represents what Alan's father used to be.
The tragedy begins when East starts to insist that Grace run away with him during the local ball/dance; in spite of the fact that Grace has already told him she will not leave her husband. This is one of the most touching parts of the film, to see this "tough" man completely loose it and fall to pieces over this one woman. He has put all of his hopes and dreams for the future into Grace and is incapable of giving up. (We've also seen in earlier scenes that his determination and refusal to give up is what makes him such a good horse breaker.)
East has been drinking heavily the whole evening of the ball, obviously nervous about what Grace would decide to do. At the ball, Grace still refuses to leave her husband and go with him. East loses control at the dance and creates quiet a scene that is witnessed by the whole town. Tragedy seems to be inevitable as East leaves the dance rejected, hurt, and in a drunken stupor.
This is Russell Crowe at his best; the pain, humiliation and disillusionment on his face, when he realizes his whole world is coming to an end, is completely heartbreaking. Charlotte Rampling also gets one of the rare chances in her career to play a sympathetic, understanding character. The confusion and anguish she shows on her face as she helplessly watches East's manly exterior begin to crumble before her eyes is truly touching.
(Spoiler Warning!)
We know things are not going to turn out well, when Alan sees East ride past his house at full canter and is barely able to stay atop his horse in his drunken state. (This is in stark contrast to the many earlier scenes of East riding past Alan's house as gracefully as a professional jockey.) Therefore, it is no surprise when Alan finds East the next morning, barely clinging to life, hanging from the stirrup of the saddle of the horse. Alan bravely manages to detach East and is dragged for miles by East's horse to get help.
While Alan is in the hospital, he sneaks into East's room and quickly finds out why no one has allowed him to see East. East was dragged about so much by his horse, that he is brain damaged and reduced to nothing more than a vegetable. To see this beautiful young man he admired so much and who was so full of life reduced to this state, is one of the great tragedies of Alan's young life. The contrast between the happy child of nature East was in the beginning of the film and what has become of him is unbearably sad. Ironically, East finally gets what he wanted. Grace takes responsibility for her actions by leaving her husband and taking East to England where she will take care of him.
The film ends with a touching sequence that shows that through this tragedy, Alan has earned the respect of the "grown up" men in the town pub. Before, they would barely notices him and even inadvertently knock the crippled boy over; but now they respect his brave attempt to save East and they respectfully let him pass and even invite him into the pub for a drink! With sensitivity for the weaknesses in us all, this film shows that growing up is an extremely painful process, but a necessary evil we must all go through. -
boyesbo17 February 2009As this year's films slip into the annals of film history, joining all the other visual works of man, the collective aesthetic speaks its choice.
"Hammers Over The Anvil" is destined to be one of those classics that is cited again and again as defining the genre.
The film is depthful, heart-breaking and heart-warming -- a lush visual journey, timeless in its insights. "Coming to manhood" is an essential human theme, and this film portrays it honestly and memorably, leaving the viewer with much to think about, deeply moved.
While successful U.S.-distributed movies "borrowed" their themes and content from this film, eight years in the making, and undercut its distribution potential in the early 1990's, they can never diminish or replace its unique brilliance.
Had its original distribution not been botched, it is my opinion that American movie goers would even now be citing this film along with "Gone With The Wind", "The African Queen", and "It's A Wonderful Life".
Today's film-goers have an insatiable appetite for excellence, whetted by the substance-less salads offered as main entrées. They will find this classic and devour it, again and again.
Final words... gorgeous, warm, chilling, real, unforgettable. This one will not go away.