Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Cast: Jamie Dornan, Danielle Macdonald, Shalom Bruce-Franklin, Damon Herriman, Alex Dimitriades, Olafur Darri Ólafsson, Kamil Ellis, Damien Strouthos, Greg Larson, Victoria Haralabidou, Geneviève Lemon, Alex Andreas, Jeanette Cronin, David Collins, Rhonda Doyle, Simon Gligora, Ansuya Nathan, Stephen Hunter, Renee Lim, Lasarus Ratuere, Mark Fantasia, Kyle Robertson, Willian Rodrigues, Jasper Bagg, Brett Blake, Maria Mercedes, Natasha Wanganeen.
If only we could walk away from all we have inflicted on others and start afresh, if we could do all that and only keep the good in our hearts, retain the information of how we treated others well, then life perhaps would not be one of constant and terrible regret. Even when we manage to convince ourselves that our course of action was right, something in the back of our mind insists it would be better for our sanity if we could just wipe the event, the moment, from our minds.
Amnesia brought on by an accident is a tougher call to come to grips with, your memory wiped without your say, against your will; it is as if Time and circumstances have beaten you to the point of aggressive oppression, for no matter who you may have been in a previous life, you will actively search out who you were, and the repercussions of being seen as The Tourist in your own existence is too heavy a burden to bear.
The drama encased within The Tourist is one that finds itself at ease within the concept of modern Noir, and from the initial setting of the accident that has a touch of Stephen Spielberg’s direction in the classic Dennis Weaver film Duel from 1971 about it, the six-part series becomes compulsive viewing.
Whilst Jamie Dornan will be the most recognisable actor for British viewers to hang their support onto, it is to the hugely expansive cast and Australian setting which inspires the drama to motor along, the feeling of disconnection as the viewers finds empathy for the plight of Mr. Dornan’s character of The Man as he struggles to remember just exactly who is, and just why it seems that everyone in the country wants him dead.
To forget who you are can be a boon, but the moment your life is under threat because of your previous actions, whatever peace you may have found suddenly becomes a dangerous commodity, and the allies that you find could soon turn distant friends when they find out exactly who you were before. It is a premise that is captured beautifully by Jamie Dornan as The Man’s life spirals out of control, the sense of despair is overwhelming, and with sense of withdrawal and the suspension of disbelief heightened in later flashback scenes, The Tourist is a rollercoaster ride of threat, risk, and possible redemption, and with a supporting cast that includes Danielle Macdonald, Damon Herriman, Olafur Darri Ólafsson, and Alex Dimitriades in complicated but generous roles, the six-part series is a driving, attention grabbing modern Noir that doesn’t releases the accelerator until the last possible second.
No one should be a sightseer to their own misfortune or mistakes, but sometimes closing your eyes and hoping to lose all your own memories for fear of the sins against others is the only way to be more than a tourist of the mind.
Ian D. Hall