Spirits of the Air: Gremlins of the Clouds

Director of Photography : David Knaus - ACS,

Editor : Craig Wood,

Art Director : Sean Callanin,

Sound design : Peter Miller,

Producer : Andrew McPhail. Shot on location around Broken Hill, Australia, this film was the first feature length film by director Alex Proyas after he completed film school. Filmed at more or less the same time as the music video 'Kiss the Dirt" by INXS with the same film crew and equipment. 'Spriits of the air gremlins of the clouds' is better known as simply "Spirits". Spirits was produced on a super low budget, but none the less the crew did get the minimum wage, and it was much fun to shoot. It was shot on 16mm,and all of the special effects were shot in-camera, including a night scene where a flock of Bats fly past the full moon. Actually tea leaves floating in a fish tank, shooting into a light as the full moon.

Worth watching.

Filmmaker Alex Proyas is probably best known for movies like The Crow, Dark City, and I Robot. I think Spirts of the Air, Gremlins of the Clouds was his debut feature, and if you can get past the clunky title, there's a fair bit to like here.

It's sort of a post-apocalyptic story set in the Australian outback, centring on a mysterious stranger who starts living in a remote house with a brother and sister and alters their lives in various ways, but the plot's pretty loose overall, and not too important.

It's a really beautiful looking and sounding movie. So many shots are very bold and visually striking, and many look as though they could be album covers (in a good way of course). I thought the musical score was excellent too.

Less can be said about the acting and some of the dialogue. I guess it's okay for a smaller movie like this, but they definitely pale in comparison to the look and sound of the film.

It might've been better as a short film, as it does feel pretty slow and drawn out at points. Also, it peaks in the opening credits, where the music and visuals take centre stage, but it remains a pretty good watch throughout thanks to the well-realised vision.

Proyas was already a very confident director even this early in his career, and this film works pretty well despite its flaws.

It's like concept art of a post-apocalyptic wasteland graphic novel come to life. One of the most unique films I've seen, visually stunning with some incredible performances which I found captivating. I wouldn't call it a crowd pleaser but it is engaging, beautiful and unique with amazing artistic direction - including costuming. I'm not great at writing reviews but I felt this film deserves a lot more attention not only in the Australian film world but the arthouse and dystopian circles as well.

I gave it a 7/10 because it is obviously low budget and the plot is somewhat thin but if I was rating for enjoyment alone it would be 10/10.

This film has some of the most beautiful imagery and haunting music ever. (Not to overstate it or anything) A three hander set in a post apocalyptic Oz outback (but one which is wildly more fantastical than Mad Max), Spirits of the Air tells the story of Smith, a stranger on the run who happens upon Felix and Betty, far into the desert.

All around them are amazing images of cars buried into the ground like totems, huge flags blowing madly in the desert wind and their house itself is of the old oz pioneer style but decorated everywhere with crucifixes. Felix is an inventor obsessed with flight and making a glider, an obsession which has already left him in a wheel chair. Betty is one of the truly great film characters, just an absolute tripper - I can't describe her but the performance is a delight.

This is not a fast film, it is not action packed but is intense - the imagery and art direction are beautiful, the writing is distinct and very Australian but still universal, the soundtrack is haunting (a lot of windsound montages with a simple tune used to great effect) and the performances are both real and surreal.

Until you see this film (and for those who have enjoyed the increasingly brilliant work of Alex Proyas, you really should) you won't know what you are missing.

(By the way, to the @$#%ing mongrel who stole my Japanese import copy of the soundtrack on CD may you be locked in a room with Betty for a very long time)

Okay, let's be clear about this. There are only 355 people that rated this movie and I guess that at least eighty percent of those rates are from people that know somebody that was involved in this movie, friends or family, and that's why it has a ridiculous high rating. Before me there are three other reviewers, one called davidknaus1 and one called drella-3 and both reviewed exactly one movie with a perfect score, guess which one? The third reviewer colsim reviewed four movies so I guess we'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Personally I don't have much to write about Spirits Of The Air, Gremlins Of The Clouds besides it has a ridiculous title, the story is slow and done without any budget, and the acting is terrible especially from Melissa Davis. In other words, a complete waste of time.