The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant aired in Portugal on one of the public television channels, RTP2, on December 27, 2009 and Notícias TV published a great two-page spread in their December 25-31 issue, including two stills of Alex O’Loughlin as Will Bryant, Mary’s husband! The role earned him an Australian Film Institute nomination in 2005 for Best Lead Actor in Television as well as a Silver Logie nomination in 2006. The TV guide is a supplement of Diário de Notícias, a national newspaper.

I’ve uploaded a larger version of the article to the gallery, where the stills are also available.

I’m not really a fan of period pieces, although I do have to remind myself that I have two versions of Pride and Prejudice in my DVD collection! Recently I expanded it with The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant and I’m very glad I did.

Set in the late 18th century, this three-hour Australian miniseries from 2005 chronicles the trials and tribulations Mary Bryant experiences over the course of several years. It is based on actual events. Caught stealing, the young woman from Cornwall is one of the first group of convicts sent to the British penal colony at Botany Bay, an area that is now part of Sydney, Australia. During the horrendous nine-month journey, she draws the attention of Lt. Ralph Clarke, a marine traveling on the same ship to help establish and oversee the penal colony as well as that of Will Bryant, a young fisherman caught smuggling. Under the same appalling conditions all convicts face, she also gives birth to her first child, a daughter she calls Charlotte, who is the result of a rape by a prison guard.

At the time of filming, The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant had the largest budget ever for an Australian miniseries. It was shot in Australia on 22 different locations.

Romola Garai is excellent as Mary, who is an incredibly strong woman who is first and foremost a survivor and a mother who puts her children first. Children, you ask? Yes, when the ship finally makes it to Botany Bay, she and Will marry and they later have a son together, Emmanuel.

Will Bryant is, of course, portrayed by Alex O’Loughlin. We know he does a flawless American accent and now we also know he does a great Cornish one as well, but then I may not be the right judge… the last Cornish accent I recall is that of Ross Poldark :-). Although Will is certainly no wimp, it really is Mary who is the driving force behind their family. When crops fail yet again, and the threat of starvation looms, she convinces Will that they have to escape and that they should do it in the governor’s cutter. The objective is to reach Timor, an island then governed by the Dutch and that is now part of Indonesia, lying north-west of the Australian continent. It’s a daunting journey to say the least and the prospect of traveling 3,000 miles in an open boat in the open seas with two children on board or risk being hung if they are caught, is enough to stop anyone in their tracks. Everyone except for Mary: “If we do nothing, we’re already dead.” In order to make preparations, she calculatingly moves with the children into Lt. Clarke’s cottage. The lieutenant has never lost interest in her and takes her in willingly.

What then follows is the roller coaster ride of their escape, which takes place with the help of others although not all are friends. The harrowing journey to Timor starts with six adults and two children, but only four adults and the children make it to the island. Lt. Clarke and his intrepid marines remain close on their heels throughout the journey.

Because some of the scenes are very graphic, the miniseries would probably not be considered suitable for the entire family in all countries. The only criticism I have is that there are no extra features on the DVD and living in The Netherlands myself, I also noticed that the actors portraying the Dutch in Timor are not native speakers.

That’s all I’m going reveal about The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant as anything I add would be a spoiler. I found it to be a gripping and moving tale of courage and determination as well as love, friendship and betrayal. And it’s certainly no hardship to watch Alex O’Loughlin in period clothing, even if he doesn’t get to go shirtless :-). That Alex is wonderful as Will Bryant goes without saying. Proof of his acting skills are his Australian Film Institute and Silver Logie nominations for the role. I would have still enjoyed the DVD even if he wasn’t cast, but lucky for us he was and he gets plenty of screen time… More Alex for us to enjoy!

[tags]alex o’loughlin, alex o’lachlan, mary bryant, will bryant[/tags]