Cargo (Blu-ray) (2017)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama/Horror	Featurette-Cargo: Shaping a Fragile Future (17:24) Featurette-Cargo: Maternal Combat (5:48) Interviews-Cast & Crew-(42:03) Featurette-Q&A – May 9 2018, Melbourne GPO (28:59) Short Film-Tropfest 2013 Short Cargo (7:17) Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	2017
Running Time	103:36 (Case: 105)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Yolanda Ramke Ben Howling
Studio Distributor	Umbrella Entertainment	Starring	Martin Freeman Simone Landers Susie Porter Anthony Hayes Caren Pistorius Natasha Wanganeen David Gulpilil
Case	Standard Blu-ray
RPI	?	Music	Daniel Rankine

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Cargo is an Australian post-apocalyptic story. An unexplained virus has infected most of the population turning humans into zombie like creatures, called in the film Virals, who feast on human flesh and infect those they bite. Once bitten, the victim has 48 hours until the virus takes hold.

     Andy (Martin Freeman), his wife Kay (Susie Porter) and their one month old baby daughter Rosie have escaped on a houseboat up river into the outback, hoping to outrun the spread of the Virals. When Kay is infected Andy refuses to leave her and, in turn, is bitten and infected by Kay. This leaves Andy only 48 hours to try to find a safe place, with uninfected people, to leave Rosie. Young Aboriginal girl Thoomi (Simone Landers) is searching the scrub country for the Clever Man (David Gulpilil) who she believes will be able to cure her infected father. The paths of Thoomi and Andy intersect when Andy meets the brutish Vic (Anthony Hayes), a man who has figured out not only a way to survive but how to make a profit from the Virals, and his downtrodden woman Lorraine (Caren Pistorius). With time running out for Andy and with Rosie on his back, Thoomi will be Andy’s last chance to find sanctuary for Rosie with Thoomi’s people, especially Thoomi’s mother (Natasha Wanganeen) who leads a hunting party ridding the area of Virals.

     Cargo started life as a seven minute short film by writer / co-director Yolanda Ramke and co-director Ben Howling at Tropfest in 2013. The short film received a lot of notice and with financial backing the pair expanded their original concept into the feature film, adding considerably more detail to the plot as well as the Indigenous themes. This made sense; as one character notes, the Earth has become sick and where modern western society fails the Indigenous peoples with their connection to the land and older culture have a chance to survive. Not that the film explains this, or indeed anything else; there is no background or explanation of the infection, the film just starts on the river and in the bush. Cargo is a very narrowly focussed personal drama, leaving aside the trials of the wider population and the cities. So while there are beautifully constructed widescreen vistas of the outback, the red earth stretching for miles, the film concentrates only on Andy and Thoomi, and the parallel themes of fathers and daughters.

     Martin Freeman is tremendous in a different type of role for him. Andy is out of his depth and rather pig headed, making decisions that are frequently not the right ones and end badly. But Freeman always retains our sympathy, playing the physical and emotional deterioration of his character to a tee. First timer Simone Landers is a revelation with her big, expressive, sad eyes which helps to make the relationship between Thoomi and Andy, and their increasing interdependence upon each other, poignant and believable. Anthony Hayes is also good, giving a violent and unlikeable man enough depth that one can understand where he is coming from; he has worked out a way to survive although his methods are the complete opposite of those of the Indigenous people who surround him. In a small role Caren Pistorius also makes an impact.

     While Yolanda Ramke and Ben Howling may be first time filmmakers they were supported by experienced people, including cinematographer Geoffrey Simpson who won AFI Awards for The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey (1988), Shine (1996) and Oscar and Lucinda (1997). Shot in the Flinders Rangers and the Murray River of South Australia, in his hands the wide expanses of the outback look stunning although other images, such as the cage in the dark lit by a single flickering light, also stay in the memory.

     There is no shortage of post-apocalyptic films at the moment, even Australian ones, but Cargo is a worthy addition. It takes a different approach and while there is certainly gore and action that are well done, nothing is gratuitous. Instead, Cargo is an intense drama about a father trying to find a safe haven for his young baby before he himself turns into one of the things they have been trying to avoid and harms his baby. This gives Cargo a humanness, sadness and poignancy that most zombie films lack.

Video

     Cargo is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, in 1080p using the MPEG-4 AVC code.

     This is a beautiful looking print with the vibrant colours of the outback; the red earth, blue sky, dull grey / green leaves of the scrub, the muddy rivers. Other images stay in the mind; Andy silhouetted against the red setting sun, the cage in the darkness with one flickering light, the kids around the campfire with solid blacks and excellent shadow detail. Detail is strong, both widescreen landscapes with small figures in the wide bush and the close-ups of faces. Skin tones are natural, contrast and brightness consistent. I did not notice any marks or artefacts except minor motion blur against rocky backgrounds or trees.

     English subtitles for the hearing impaired are available.

Video Ratings Summary

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Shadow Detail
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Audio

     Audio is English DTS-HA MA 5.1.

     Dialogue is clear. Effects such as gunshots or engines have depth but this is really a film where the stillness and silence of the outback is paramount, enhanced, however, by the beautiful, haunting score by Daniel Rankine P.K.A. Trials with support from Dr G Yunupingu (to whom the film is dedicated), Michael Hohnen and Johnathan Mangarri Yunupingu that aptly supports the visuals. The subwoofer is used infrequently to give depth to the music, shots and engines.

     There are no lip synchronisation issues.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Cargo: Shaping a Fragile Future (17:24)

     Writer / co-director Yolanda Ramke and co-director Ben Howling talk about coming up with the image of a zombie with a baby on its back, the Tropfest short film based on that image, developing the story for a full length feature including the Indigenous angle, their intention to give the zombie genre a different slant, including not calling the infected ones “zombies”, finding the cast. With some film clips and on set footage, this is a decent extra that is well worth a look.

Cargo: Maternal Combat (5:48)

     Actor Natasha Wanganeen speaks about her audition, getting the part and enjoying her role as a strong Indigenous woman, a mother and a fighter.

Interviews with Cast & Crew (42:03)

     This extra is almost 30 minutes of interviews followed by 14 minutes of unstructured on set behind the scenes footage without comments or text. The interviewees answer after a text screen gives the question. Most of the answers are quite short. Questions include how they got involved, working with other actors, the relationship between Andy and Thoomi, their favourite image or moment; the co-directors also answer questions about the development of the project and the Indigenous themes of the film while the specialist crew talk about their specific fields. Interviewees are:

• Martin Freeman (Andy)
• Samantha Jennings (Producer)
• Yolanda Ramke (Writer / co-director) & Ben Howling (Co-director)
• Simone Landers (Thoomi)
• Heather Wallace (Costume Designer)
• Beverley Freeman (Hair & Make Up Designer)
• Larry Van Duynhoven (Prosthetics Designer)
• Jo Ford (Production Designer)

Q&A – May 9 2018, Melbourne GPO (28:59)

     Natasha Wanganeen, Yolanda Ramke and Ben Howling front an audience in Melbourne after a screening of the film. There is nothing much here that has not been covered elsewhere in the extras but this is one of the funniest Q&As I have seen and, as well, the questions from the audience are better than is usual in these things. A hoot.

Tropfest 2013 Short (7:17)

     The Tropfest short film by writer / co-director Yolanda Ramke and co-director Ben Howling and staring Andy Rodoreda that started it all.

Theatrical Trailer (2:16)

     This release from Umbrella is the only version of Cargo currently available.

     Impressive cinematography, good acting, a haunting score and an interesting plot that focusses on the drama of choices rather than killing and action means that Cargo is a different slant on the zombie genre, specifically because the infected creatures, the Virals, are not just the threating adversary – they are, in fact, us. With a muted environmental message as well, Cargo is an excellent, inventive first film from Yolanda Ramke and Ben Howling that is well worth a look.

     The video is stunning, the audio very good. The extras are worthwhile.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall