I couldn’t make it to the lecture to see ‘End of the Line’ but after looking up what clips I could online this is what I could gather:

‘End of the Line’ seems to have been designed to provide a look into what it is like to live in isolation. The film attempts to show the outback’s cruel harshness that is suggested to be greatly underestimated. The documentary’s shock factor in relation to this notion was successful, however it also offered an insight into the central character. It was from the perspective of this person, a strong and assertive older woman with deep religious faith, that the film became a more personal portrait of the nature of living.

The way that the documentary in places implies that ‘city people’ are ignorant and preoccupied with trivial matters seemed somewhat alienating and perhaps even cliche. The breadth of the people featured seemed narrow and did not cover a very wide demographic, which in turn leads to a somewhat limited view of the lives in Broken Hill. Nevertheless, the film’s visual elements did well to reinforce the isolated nature of the location and helped to build up a clear, if perhaps biased, picture of it.