Was

Spoiler.

When I first saw this film, I was totally caught up in the gruelling, exhausting seemingly endless struggle that Sandy has to get her lovers body into the back of the SUV. Although difficult to watch, it seemed absolutely necessary as a realistic example of what might be faced by a woman alone in the brutal Australian wilderness. But...several years after this first viewing, I finally got the chance to see the film again and to my surprise, it seemed this scene was cut to a ridiculously shortened version which completely betrayed the tone of the film.

It trivialized what the heroine went through and somehow betrayed the strength of the story. This film in it's original edit should have been called Australian Story, not Japanese Story. It wasn't about the couple, it was about the country and how brutal it could be. So by editing out some of the longer physical scenes, the film was re duced to it's weakest element - the somewhat cliched romance.

So does anyone know how and why these edits were justified? Also, is there any way I can see this in it's original version? I've checked it out every time it's on tv and it's always been the butchered version!