An Australian movie that is about to hit the big screen is an adaption of the popular John Marsden teen novel, Tomorrow When The War Began. It’s the story of 7 teenagers who go away on a camping trip and return to find their families missing and the town deserted.
The novel is considered so good that it is required reading for the subject of English in Australian high schools in years 8 or 9. Tomorrow When the War Began is the first in a series of seven books, and once that first book is read, you are just itching to read the next one to see what happens to the characters.
In the telling of the story John Marsden has the reader turning the pages quickly in order to find out what the teenagers are up against next. You are taken on a journey through their fears as well as their victories and Marsden does a great job in drawing out each character’s strength and ingenuity as they try to cope with the very harsh conditions in which they find themselves. We can only hope the movie does the book justice and is as compelling as the novel.
The movie was filmed in the Hunter Valley area of New South Wales, Australia, and Fox studios in Sydney, with Aussie Stuart Beattie writing the screenplay as well as directing the movie. The cast consists mainly of young Australian actors, two of whom previously had roles in popular Aussie television soapies “Home and Away” and “Neighbours”.
The main female character, Ellie, tells the story through her own perspective of how she and her friends come back from their camping trip to find her home deserted; the animals are dying from starvation and lack of water; and there’s no power or phone line connection. They visit each other’s homes and find the same conditions. What they discover soon after changes their lives forever.
Tomorrow When The War Began is an action/adventure story, with bits of romance dotted throughout. This is a movie that will appeal to young and old alike as the story of courage, survival, comrade and adventure pulls the audience into its spell, just as it has the many readers of this very popular book.