The title of this Australian western refers to a literal furnace that the characters are seeking out in order to melt down stolen gold, but it also evokes the hellish and dangerous West Australian landscape they must travel across. And then it conveys the idea of a violent melting pot where people from many cultural backgrounds have been brought together, and not completely harmoniously. A defining aspect of The Furnace is how successfully it includes characters from ethnic groups that throughout the history of Australian film and television have rarely been recognised as being a part of our heritage. For this reason alone – and there are others – this debut feature film by writer/director Roderick MacKay is worth paying attention to.
CINEMA AUTOPSY 