Cinema Papers No.83 May 1991

ANTHONVHOPKI NS IN MARK JOFFF S SPOTSWOOD

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MAY 1‘9V91 NUMBER 83 INCORPORATING FILMVIEWS

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BRIEFLY

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THE MAKING OF SPOTSWOOD ANDREW L. URBAN

ANTHONY HOPKINS

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INTERVIEW BY ANDREW L. URBAN

JONATHAN DEMME: THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS

12 C0VER:'ANTH0MY.H0RKINS;ASrTIME-AND,M0X!0N'6XPERT-WALLACE IN MARK JOITE''S;SPÓTSWOOà «EE PAGÉ 4: :

INTERVIEW BY ANA MARIA BAH IANA

18

THE LAST DAYS OF CHEZ NOUS •A ND REW ij! URBAN

EDITOR S cott Murray

THE MAKING AND RE-MAKING OF FLYNN

24

KATHERINE TULICH

A D M I N I S T R A T I O N

Debra Sharp T E C H N I C A L

E D IT O R

Fred Harden

29

AUSTRALIAN FILMS AT CANNES

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HUZZAH PRODUCTIONS’ DEAD TO THE WORLD REPORT AND INTERVIEW BY PETER GALVIN

DESIGN Ian Robertson

JANE CASTLE: CINEMATOGRAPHER

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INTERVIEW BY PETER GALVIN E D I T O R I A L

A S S I S T A N T

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Ross Dim sey, N a talie M iller, Chris Stew art L E G A L

DIRTY DOZEN

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FILM REVIEWS

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PRODUCTION SURVEY

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FILM CENSORSHIP LISTINGS

CIN EM A PA PER S, IS PU BLISH ED WITH FIN A N CIA L A S S IS T A N C E FROM THE A U STR ALIAN FILM COM M ISSION AND FILM V IC TO R IA

COPYRIGHT 1991 MTV PUBLISHING LIMITED and not necessarily that of the editor and publisher While “ very care is taken with manuscripts and materials supplied to the magazine neither the editor nor the publisher can accept liability for any loss or damage which may ari e This magazine may not be reproduced in whole or part without the express permission of the copyright owners Cinema Papers is published (approximately) every two months by MTV Publishing Limited, 43 Charles Street, >' '

Abbotsford, ¡Victoria, Australia 3 0 ® i Telephone (03K429 5 5 ® ;V a x (03) 427 9255 Reference ME ME 230

a n a m a r i a b a h ia n a

is a Brazilian film writer based in Los Angeles;

writer on film based in Sydney; JOHN

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is"a freelance writer on film based in Melbourne;

lectures at the College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales;

reviewer fpr The Melbourne Report;

peter

ja n e p s t e in

is film1**; ”

G a l v in is an M.A. student at the University of Technology,

Sydney; GREG K ER R is a freelance writer specializing in the -entertainment industry; B r ia n McFARLANE is an associate professor in the English Department of Monash Unjversity; K a t h e r in e journalist and writer; ANDREW L. Ro b e r t

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YOUNG is series producer of

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is the Australian correspondent for Moving Pictures International;

Behind the News for the ABC and lectures part-time at the Royal

Melbourne Institute of Technology; R a y m o n d part-tiifie tutor at the University of Sydney.

y o u n is

is a freelance writer o.n film and •

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FILM FINANCE CORPORATION FU NDI NG DE OSIONS JANUA R Y - MA R CH 1991

OSCAR 14 F E B R UA R Y FEATURE STRICTLY BALLROOM M&A Film Corpora­

tion. Producer: Tristram Miall. Director: Baz Luhrmann. When a young ballroom cham­ pion defies the all-powerful Federation by dancing his own steps, his dream of winning the Pan Pacific Grand Prix is shattered. His career seems in jeopardy until help comes from an unexpected quarter. Adapted from a stage play.

26 F E B R UA R Y FEATURES EIGHT BALL (90 mins)

Meridian Films. Ex­ ecutive producers: Bryce Menzies Jill Robb.

Producer: Timothy White. Director: Ray Argali. Scriptwriters: Ray Argali, Henry Kircher. An unlikely friendship develops between two characters who have run away from responsibility to end up on the con­ struction site of a giant Murray cod.

REDHEADS (90 mins) Roxy Films (Queens­ land). Producer: Richard Mason. Script­ writer-director: Daniel Vendramini. Cast: Claudia Karvan. A young delinquent is be­ friended by her lawyer after a murder at­ tempt.

2 5 MA R C H FEATURES MAP ÔFTHEHUMANHEART (110 mins)

Map of the Human Heart Limited. An AustraliaCanada-UK-France co-production. Produc­ ers: Tim Bevan, Vincent Ward. Co-producer: Timothy White. Director: Vincent Ward.

Scriptwriters: Louis Nowra, Vincent Ward.

An eskimo journeys into the world of the white man, only to find himself caught up in the Second World War and in a love affair with a woman.

TELEVISION GOOD VIBRATIONS

(2 x 2-hour mini-series) Lynn Bayonas and Southern Star Group.

Executive producer: Kim Williams. Produc­ ers: Lynn Bayonas, Rod Allan. Scriptwriters: David Phillips, Morris Gleitzman, Lynn Bayonas. A mini-series about two families that move to the country together, little realizing what the future holds in store.

THE MIRACULOUS MELLOPS (20 x 30-min children’s mini-series) Circus Productions.

Executive producer: Posie Graeme-Evans.

Co-producer: Andrew Blaxland. Director: Karl Zwicky. Scriptwriters: Anthony Ellis, Ray Harding, Maureen Ann Moran, Richard Tulloch, Alister Webb, Paul J. Hogan, Richard Tulloch. Moonlings meet the Mellops; mayhem results.

SIX PACK (6x 1-hour tele-plays) Generation Films. Producer: Bob Weis. Scriptwriters: Andrew Bovell (“Piccolo M ondo”); Christopher Lee (“Afternoon”), Tony Ayres (“Loveless”); Joanna Murray-Smith (“Mimi Goes to the Analysts”); Tony Maniaty (“Loula”). Three women meet for lunch at Piccolo Mondo. On the menu is: marriage, infidelity, friendship and betrayal (“Piccolo 2

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WI NNER

Mondo”). Who is the 20-year-old who has moved in with Drew’s family on the day of his father’s funeral? (“Afternoon”). A drama about Oedipus gone wrong (“Loveless”) .The patient before her at the analyst becomes the object of Mimi’s obsession (“Mimi Goes to the Analyst’s”). From childhood, Chaim has been attending funeral services, moving closer each time to the front of the chapel. It is 1952 and Michael’s proxy bride arrives from Greece; things will never be the same at the Blue Bird Cafe (“Loula”).

DOCUMENTARIES ISLANDS IN THE SKY (55 mins)

Sky Visuals.

Producer: Gary Steer. Director: Gary Steer.

Director of photography: Rory McGuinnes.

Scriptwriters: Rebecca Scott, Gary Steer, Tim Flannery. A zoological expedition in search of animals “marooned” on mountain peaks in the cloud forests of New Guinea.

TALES OFTHESOUTHPACIFIC (13 x 30 mins) Juniper Films. Executive producer: Anne Basser (SBS Television). Producer: John Tristram . D irector: Jam es Wilson.

Scriptwriter: Nadine Amadio. An anthology of true tales of the bewitching South Pacific.

TRUST FUND 22 F E B R UA R Y 1 9 9 1

The results of the second FFC trust fund competition have been announced. Five projects were selected from the reported 178 entries, with ten finalists having been inter­ view by representatives of the FFC and Be­ yond Films, the proposed films’ Australian distributor and international sales agent.

DEAN SEMMLER, W IN N ER OF THE 1991 ACADAM Y AW ARD FOR BEST CINEM ATOGRAPHY FOR HIS W O RK ON KEVIN COSTNER'S DANCES WITH W O LVES.

FILM V IC TO R IA

Michael Mitchener has left his position as Film Victoria’s director, according to chairmanjohn Howie, to “pursue other interests”. Chris Fitchett, Film Victoria’s projects manager, will fill the vacancy until a new chief executive is appointed.

TH IS IS S U E

Due to space restrictions, the obituary on Jacques Demy promised for this issue has been held over to the next.

CAME BACK TO SHOW YOU I COULD FLY

Producer: Carol Hughes. Scriptwriter-direc­ tor: Richard Lowenstein. An introverted 11year-old meets the effervescent but drugaddicted Angie. The relationship offers strength to each and helps them face the truth about each other and themselves.

THE GREAT PRETENDER Producers: David Elfick, Nina Stevenson. Director: David Elfick.

Scriptwriter:John Cundill. Artistic, bespecta­ cled 15-year-old with a rampant libido tries to lose his virginity, with disastrous results.

HAMMERS OVER THE ANVIL Producers: Richard Mason, Peter Gawler. Director: Ann Turner. Scriptwriter: Peter Hepworth. A young, disabled man faces adulthood. Based on Alan Marshall’s volume of short stories.

THE NOSTRADAMUS KID Producers: Roger LeMesurier, Roger Simpson, Terryjennings.

Scriptwriter-director: Bob Ellis. An over-sexed and hyperactive youth with a fundamentalist upbringing has two encounters with the end of the world.

SHOTGUN WEDDING Producers: Charles Hannay, David Hannay. Director: Paul Har­ mon. Scriptwriter: David O’Brien. Released police informer, Jimmy Becker, heads for the country with his pregnant girlfriend, but the man he fears most pursues him, and a siege begins that will capture the nation’s attention.

A U S TR A LIA N N ES S

In the continuing debate over what constitutes Australianness, Senator Michael Baume has called for the “federal government [to] end the farce of the Australian Broadcasting Tribu­ nal’s continuing refusal to accept governmentfunded Australian film co-productions as Aus­ tralian content for television purposes”. Baume said it was vital that the government inquiry into Australian content rules result in the re­ moval of “this ludicrous anomaly that seriously disadvantages Australian film co-productions”.

He continued: At the moment, it is possible for a film co­ production financed by the Australian govern­ ment with Australian actors to receive no status as an Australian product for television pur­ poses.

We have the ridiculous situation where the policy of one body, the Australian Film Com­ mission, backed by the Department of Arts, Sports, Environment, Tourism and Territo­ ries, has been totally rejected by another, the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal...

The government should have got its act together on this years ago. But it is vital that it be resolved quickly now that Australia has en­ tered into co-production treaties with such nations as the UK and Canada, and has a memoranda of understanding with France and New Zealand.

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The INDEPENDENT FILMMAKERS' FUND is a Film Victoria initiative which aims to assist emerging filmmakers in the areas of narrative drama and/or documentary film. Only applicants from Victoria are eligible to apply.

The Fund is aimed at developing directing and producing skills, however people with proven ability in other areas such as cinematography and screenwriting, who wish to move into direction, may apply.

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• 3

TRODDEN OFFICES OF,BALL'S MOCCASIN :

SPOTSWOOD, INEFFICIEN'GYAND MISMAN A-GEMENT IS THE NORM.^VIR BALL (ALWYN

CHANGING TIMES SINCE 1 9 5 8 , WHEN THE COMPANY LAST MADE A PROFIT. THAT’S

TIME-AND-MOTION e x p e r t , c o m e s in TIME-AND-MOTION PEOPLE WERE ALL THE H |M

THE @ Ü p M ip |g D E R S TO THE

STAFF, BUT PILLARS OF REFORM TO THEIR iÉLÏENTS klH ËfR REPORTS WOULD SLASH •

JOBS AND TEAR DOWN YEARS OF COMFORT ABLE, IF INEFFICIENT, WORK PRACTICES THEY WERE PEDANTIC; THEY WERE NOT MUCH LIKED; THEY WERE MOROSE

Producer Tim White explains why Anthony Hopkins was chosen for the lead role: Wallace is an introverted, uptight sort of character and called for an excellent actor. He was underwritten in the script, so we wanted someone who was able to say a lot without words.

White says that the role benefits from the actor’s being a foreigner: Being non-Australian reinforces the idea that he is an outsider. Being an alien also assists in establishing the notion of there being a certain naïveté in the post-war, mid-’60s Australia, when anything from the outside seemed like a good idea at the time.

With these thoughts, White, the writers, Max Dann and Andrew Knight, and director Mark Joffe approached Anthony Hopkins, who was filming in Mexico at the time. ‘We sent his agent the script, expecting the process to take a few m onths”, says White. W ithin three weeks we had a deal via fax.”

Hopkins confirms that it was the script which appealed to him, and the fact that it was to be a comedy, something he had never done before. H e’s certainly not doing it for the money: at $3.5 million, this is not a big-budget Hollywood movie. It is a much more intimate saga, “a tragedy of comic proportions”, says Joffe.

It’s the irony that is so important. This is a character-based comedy, not a sitcom. That’s why we chose actors who would interpret 6

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character. The characters are interesting and unusual human beings, and we’re pursuing things in subtle ways.

The situations are there in the script, of course, but we’ve been flexible in character interpretation relative to the script. Naturally, a director has to have an overall perspective, and my perception is focused. But there is a range within that focus.

Richard Brennan, who is producing the film with White, stresses that, while Spotswood is a comedy, it is essentially deadpan and laconic in style. Joffe emphasizes the point: We’re certainly not playing it for laughs. So, in a way, it’s a question of playing against the script, against the notion of what is interpreted as comedy. The parallel is perhaps with the Ealing comedies of the ’50s, or things like Bill Forsyth’s Local Hero.

Joffe has a reputation for being prepared, focused and inven­ tive. Russian bom , he began his career with Crawford Productions in 1978, and from 1980 to ’84 he directed more than eighty hours of Crawfords’ top television dramas, including Carson’s Law, The Sullivans and Special Squad. In 1985, he co-directed the mini-series The Great BookieRobbery and, in 1987, he made the theatrical feature Grievous Bodily Harm. It was followed by the mini-series Shadow ofthe Cobra and the tele-feature Toy Soldiers.

Joffe worked with the writers on Spotswood for 18 months: I was sick of getting offered projects to direct that weren’t ready to be filmed. There are too many being made at second- or third-draft stage. The script, to me, is the mostvital element, followed by casting.

The casting took three months. Hopkins’ co-stars include Ben

Mendelsohn as Carey, the hapless young man whom Wallace enlists as his assistant; Russell Crowe as a slimy salesman; Bruno Lawrence as the big-hearted Robert; Angela Punch McGregor as Mrs Wallace; and Rebecca Rigg as the boss’ daughter, Cheryl.

There are also newcomers Toni Collette and Dan Wyllie.

As for Ball’s moccasin factory, that is being doubled by a deserted old Richmond (Victoria) warehouse. It has been trans­ formed by the anarchic imagination of production designer Chris Kennedy. The decor is from the school of chaos, with leather, fur and grey lining matter scattered with abandon on the floors. Some of the detail with which Kennedy has dressed the set is of the naive, early ’40s style, “Look at his / Balls / moccasins”, with a sketch of two smiling women in the comer. Kennedy says, “I really felt that Ball’s moccasin factory was a character in itself. I had people scouring Melbourne for unusual moccasins.”

Inside the factory, one meets the workers under Mr Ball’s careless care, for whom moccasin manufacture is a trivial interrup­ tion to the vital routine of gossip and ch at- and the occasional lusty advance.

But immediately on his arrival, Wallace sees only incompe­ tence and waste. To him, the solution is simple enough: sack the staff and stop making moccasins; import the blasted things. Or, at least, that’s what he first intends todo. But this frigid watch watcher finds the silken threads of friendship and camaraderie tighten around him, and his professional judgem ent becomes clouded.

Joffe had a storyboard in his head and a style he describes as

A BO VE LEFT: STAFF SEE THE FACTO RY AS A PLACE OF FUN RATHER THAN A W O R K P LA C E. CENTRE: BALLS W O RK ER S RON (JEFF TRU M A N ), ROBERT (BRU N O LA W REN CE), K EV IN (G A R Y A D A M S), CA REY AND GO RDO N (JO H N FLA U S).

CA REY AND CHERYL (REBECCA R IG G ), THE B O S S ' DA U GH TER. RIG H T: ROBERT AND W ALLACE IN THE FACTO RY TRU CK. SPO TSW O O D .

“earth-oriented, or organic”. What he means is thathe didn’twant it to be an acting showcase, but natural and fresh looking. When the camera is shooting in the modem factory, there is more camera movement than in the older establishment, where the actors move in the frame more and the camera is more rigid.

But, Joffe hastens to add, he hopes this will be quite a subtle element. Also subtle will be the quiet message about Australian industry, which is an advocacy for restructuring. “There is far too little manufacturing in this country”,Joffe believes. “But, basically, I aim to engage the audience in an unusual and entertaining way.”

Spotswood, due for release later this year, is one of first five feature films financed entirely by the Film Finance Corporation under its pilot Film Fund programme (which has since acquired the unkind nickname in the industry of “the chook raffle”) . This programme was created to locate those scripts that were unlikely to have foreign distributors queuing up with cash, but which nevertheless have a quirky, unique quality that could translate into commercial success - unlike Ball’s moccasin factory.

■ 1. Ed.:In the great Australian signwriters’tradition, the advertising in the film reads “Balls Moccasins”, without the apostrophe.

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CONSIDERING HIS STATURE AS AN ACTOR, ANTHONY HOPKINS TAKES A VERY LOW PROFILE

BY HOLLYWOOD STANDARDS. THERE IS AN ENGLISH MODESTY ABOUT THE DIMENSIONS OF HIS CARAVAN ON THE SET OF SPOTSWOOD. A HOMELY COAT HANGER RACK SERVES AS HIS PRIVATE WARDROBE, AND A TINY RED HEATER IS BILLOWING HOT AIR INTO THE SPACE NOW OCCUPIED BY TWO, BUT MEANT FOR ONE.

$3.5 m i l l i o n , Spotswoodis one of tiie lower-budget films Hopkins has made. But h e’s not in this one for the W h e n e v e r money, nor the glamour. “I loved the a director wacky, ambivalent, ambiguous script”, he says.

Hopkins is not big on dramatic revelation, and one has to listen care­ fully to catch the significance of things charming. he says. Not that he isbland;justunfussy.

• ■or cute, Very English, too, perhaps, although he was bom in Wales, in Port Albert I;throw up. (which is also Richard Burton’s home town). f f Spotswood is set in the mid 1960s, when time-and-motion experts were in abundant supply. Hopkins plays such an expert, called to the archaic factory of old Mr Ball (Alwyn Kurts). Ben M endelsohn plays the young romantic lead.

For the first time in his illustrious career, Hopkins has been asked to simply play himself. It also happens to be his first comedy role, although neither he nor anyone else in the cast is playing it for laughs. That would kill what everyone involved has called a remarkably fine script. They are not even calling it a comedy. “It’s a sweeping saga of two suburbs”, reads the ironic sub-tide.

Hopkins had wondered how h e ’d play this character, Wallace, on the plane to Australia. W hen he got here, director M arkjoffe’s request to “play him self’ bemused the actor. Hopkins: at

The only way I can do it is by being very straight and deadpan.

Whenever a director asks me to be charming or cute, I throw up.

Playing myselfwas difficult at rehearsals. But then, on thefirstday of the shoot, I said to myself, ‘All right, I’lljustbe me.’ It’s the first time I’ve dared.

Just learn your lines. Stop complicating it. You are the part. Don’t add anything. Don’t take away, either; but don’t add anything.

Hopkins took the advice to heart (no more lists) and his work has never been better.

THE EVIL ONES

Among the many monsters he has played, Hopkins has a special fondness for Captain Bligh in Roger Donaldson’s The Bounty. It is a good example of how he brings a sympathetic reading to characters that growl on the screen. Hopkins: Bligh had to get across that filthy great ocean in a tub and maintain discipline. He was not a real monster; hejust lived by the rules. He was too rigid, too aloof and foul-mouthed, which really demoralized the men. But, remember, he lobbied against the cat-o-nine-tails, even though he used them. He had to.

Hopkins’ Emmy award-winning performance as Hitler in the CBS tele-movie, The Bunker, is another case in point. The American producer, who had been watching some scenes, came over to Hopkins during a break and said, “It’s chilling. But perhaps you should make him less hum an.” To this Hopkins replied, “I can’t make him less human: he was hum an.”

As he recounts this story, Hopkins shrugs his shoulders ever so slightly. “I played Hitler as a hum an being, not a stereotype.”

In The Silence of the Lambs,Jonathan Demm e’sfilmic adaptation of the Thomas Harris novel, Hopkins co-stars with Jodie Foster, with whom he had an easy rapport: “She works like me: she learns her lines, does her work and goes hom e.”

Hopkins plays Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist, who also happens to be a psychopath, locked up in an institution for the criminally insane. He earned his nickname of “the Cannibal” because he tore people’s faces off with his teeth. > O P P O S IT E : A N T H O N Y H O P K IN S A S DR H A N N IB A L LECTER, THE B R ILLIA N T

Years ago, Hopkins would have analysed everything, writing lists of objectives in a very earnest way, “Like a caterpillar learning to walk, putting one foot in front of the other”.

A friend of his, the late John Dexter, finally set him straight: 8

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A N D SA D ISTIC P SY C H O P A TH , IN JO N A T H A N D EM M E'S THE S ILEN C E O F THE L A M B S .

IN SE TS : H O P K IN S A S W A LLA C E , C EN TRE, P LA Y S SLO T CA RS W ITH TW O EN T H U S IA ST S. M A R K JO F F E 'S S P O T SW O O D . A N D , H O P K IN S A S W ILLIA M B L IG H , R IG H T, SETS OUT W ITH JO H N FR YER (D A N IEL D A Y -L EW IS ), LEFT, A N D LO Y A L CREW -M EM BERS FOR A N O P EN -B O A T C R O SS IN G O F THE P A C IF IC . R O G ER D O N A LD S O N 'S THE B O U N T Y .

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A n t h o n y H o p k in Foster plays a rookie FBI agent, whose boss sends her to interrogate Hannibal, in the hope he may help them catch a serial killer who has m urdered and mutilated several women in a particularly ghastly way. As the interviews progress, the FBI agent and the psychopath discover “a mutual, subterranean attraction” for each other. She becomes, as Hopkins puts it, “slightly obsessed with him ”.

Hopkins now thinks that Hannibal Lecter is perhaps the most fascinating of these evil characters.

I don’t know why. If you are going to play a vicious, evil character, you have to play him as attractively as possible. I think I’m attracted to them. I don’t like cruelty, but maybe it’s better to accept that darker side of your nature than to suppress it.

The great villains of literature were motivated by all kinds of complex, deep stirrings. And their loneliness helps to make them fascinating.

Hopkins also feels that often the political despots have a sense of history (“They are like primitive seers”) and regards Holly­ wood’s usual approach as too simplistic (“It’s the white hats-black hats syndrome”).

In his time, Hopkins has played a wide range of characters, researching much history and literature. Does he feel he has gained in wisdom and tolerance?

Yes, perhaps, but the wisdom I have is that I know nothing. You go on accumulating information.

I have a ‘sugar pill to history’, as Olivier called it. When he played Richard III, he was trying to fight through the complexity and de­ cided to concentrate on Richard’s magnetism, on how sexy he was.

He built everything else on top of that. That was what he called the ‘sugar pill’.

OTHER ROLES

When Hopkins is asked to check his filmography, he is visibly surprised: “God, have I done all that?” He reads the two pages of film, theatre and television titles, exclaiming: “I certainly do have some credits! ” A nother recent one is Desperate Hours, a remake of the 1956 Hum phrey Bogart film about an escaped convict who takes a family hostage. The new film is a very violent version, directed by Michael Cimino and co-starring Mickey Rourke. Hopkins: Mickey Rourke is a behaviouristic actor, and moody. We occasionally exchanged a few words, but he doesn’t say much on set. He’s very violent and uses physical violence to get going. I’d respond and fight back, hoping I wouldn’t get any bones broken or have my face readjusted. But I did get a few bruises.

Hopkins relates the experience with little enthusiasm. Rourke and Hopkins were not soul brothers, so Hopkins just got on with learning his lines and doing his job. But he does add that “Rourke can work whatever way he wants to.”

As for director Michael Cimino, Hopkins says: Cimino communicated okay with Rourke, but he was very tense. So I got out of the tension and went to my dressing room, had a coffee.

It gets to you after a while.

But Michael’s a very good director, and very fast.

Hopkins likens Cimino to a New York street-smart survivor.

Then, holding his arm at waist height, he adds, “H e’s that high ... and Napoleonic. ” 10

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Cimino never made the fatal mistake of shouting at Hopkins.

Hopkins had long ago made a quiet little rule: “No shouting, or I leave.”

I can’t work with tension. It’s a nightmare. I won’t mention names, and most directors have been good. [Joffe,hesays, “is dead easy”.] But if anyone rants and raves they have to get another actor.

Hopkins means it. He has walked off two big films for that reason. He doesn’t regret it, though he won’t say which ones (“It could get nasty...”) The last time it happened, he just quietly got into a cab and went home. “I won’twork with people who are cruel, either to others on the set, or to m e.”

POSTSCRIPT

Hopkins came to Australia and Spotswood after making three films in the U.S. in the previous year, one for Home Box Office and two for big studios. His wife, Jenni, likes to be out of his way when he is working. “She was here for a week, but she has gone back now.”

Does he find travelling around so much a strain?

There is no problem: I am resdess and love to travel. Things get more tense ifJenni is with me when I work ... it’s too hard. She likes to be at home; I like to travel. It works out well.

But Hopkins also likes to keep a life separate from his work. He lives quietly, he says, “poodling about in bookshops”. He is not a recluse, he hastens to point out, but he does like his relaxation to be solitary.

If he occasionally goes out with people, he prefers small groups, and avoids Italian and French restaurants. (“Hate nouvelle cuisine - like water colour on a plate. ”) He ends up going to Indian or Chinese restaurants, “otherwise eating is boring. I like to have spicy foods.” He also loves hotels and being looked after.

At the end of the day’s filming, his driver takes us back to the elegant old Windsor Hotel. Hopkins gets out, says goodbye, and walks unaccompanied, unmobbed, understated, into the hotel, where he will dine alone, read, have an early night and get up early for a session in the gym. “I feel so much more relaxed these last couple of years.”

ANTHONY HOPKINS - FILMOGRAPHY

1967: The Lion in Winter 1968: The Looking Glass War 1969: Hamlet, Eight Bells Tolled, 1970:Young Winston 1972: A Doll’s House 1973: The Girl from Petrovka 1974: Juggernaut 1976: A Bridge Too Far 1976: Audrey Rose 1977: International Velvet 1978: Magic 1979: The Elephant Man 1980: A Change of Seasons 1983: The Bounty 1986: 84 Charing Cross Road 1987: The Old Jest 1988: A Chorus ofDisapproval 1988: The Tenth Man 1989: Desperate Hours 1990: The Silence of the Lambs, One Man’s War, Spotswood [NB: Year stated is that of production.]

Hopkins has an extensive list of theatre credits, and has appeared in leading roles in 29 major television drama productions.

AWARDS

1972: BAFTA (UK) Best TV Actor - War and Peace 1976: Emmy Award (US) BestActor- 7he Lindbergh Kidnapping Case 1981 : Em my Award (US) Best Actor - The Bunker 1984: Variety Club Film Actor Award - The Bounty 1985: Variety Club Star Actor Award - Pravda; British Theatre Association Best Actor Award - Pravda; Laurence Olivier Awards (The Observer Award for Outstanding Achievement) - Pravda 1987: Presented with CBE; Mos­ cow Film Festival Best Actor Award - 84 Charing Cross Road

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D R ,FR ED ERIC K CHILTO N (A N T H O N Y HEALD) A N D DR H A N N IB A L "TH E C A N N IB A L " LECTER (A N T H O N Y H O P K IN S ) IN JO N A T H A N DEM M E'S T H E S IL E N C E O F THE L A M B S .^ B ELO W : JO N A T H A N DEMME. ^

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THE SILEN C E OF THE LAMBS WAS A HARD MOVIE TO GET MADE AND, IN SPITE OF ITS R e l e n t l e s s p a c e , i t s m a s t e r f u l s u s p e n s e a n d e x t r a o r d in a r y PERFORM­ ANCES, IT 1$ A HARD MOVIE TO WATCH: TOO.MANY RAW NERVES ARE TOUCHED, FROMHORRIFYING, MÉTHODICAL CRIME TO À CHARMING MONSTER WHO DEFINES THÉ NOTION OF EyiL AS A REPU LSIVE ENTITY. IT IS IRONICAL, THEN, THAT THE SILEN C E OF THE LAMBSI JONATHAN DEMME’S RENDITION OF THE.THOMAS HARRIS B EST S ELLER , IS CURRENTLY ONE OF AMER-

ICA’S TOP BOX-OFFICE S U C C E S S E S , HAVING AMASSED ALMOST $60 MILLION IN ITS FIRST FOUR W EEKS AND PUSHING DEMME DEFINITELY BEYOND THE CULTUR­ ALLY SMART BUT COMMERCIALLY FAILED STATUS. HE IS CURRENTLY JUGGLING

JONATHAN DEMME

SEVERAL FILM PROJECTS, INCLUDING A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT HIS COUSIN, A MINISTER IN A TOUGH NEW YORK NEIGHBOURHOOD, AND ANOTHER THOMAS HARRIS NOVEL, FEATURING ONCE MORE THE TWO MAIN CHARACTERS FROM LAMBS, FBI AGENT CLARICE STARLING AND SUAVE PSYCHOPATH HANNIBAL LECTER.

INTERVI EWED BY ANA MARIA BÀ CIN EMA

P

JONATHAN

DEMME

“ The Silence o f the Lambs was a v that it didn’t have comedy in it ¿.j of the comedy discipline. It is fie« and not ‘Is it real and is it funny?

This is not bad for someone who, admittedly, “stumbled into film” from a not-too-promising career as a movie critic in Miami, and a studio publicist in New York. And who, until now - in spite of a long and gruelling apprenticeship with schlockmeister Roger Corman, and a suspense thriller that no one saw {Last Embrace) - was imprisoned within the walls of the hip and cutesy niche with films such as Stop Making Sense, Something Wild and Married to the Mob. As a m atter of fact, when Demme’s name came up at Orion Pictures as a possibility for directing The Silence of the Lambs - after actor Gene Hackman, who had fought to acquire the rights to the book, bowed out of directing it, apparently due to the amount of violence in the story - many frowned: would he have the guts and sensibility to put on the screen the unlikely tale of an FBI trainee trying, with the help of an imprisoned ex-psychiatrist (who used to kill, cook and eat his patients), to catch a serial m urderer who shoots and skins his victims?

Demme proved he had. With the help of a couple of astounding performances byjodie Foster as Starling, the FBI trainee, and Anthony Hopkins as Dr Hannibal “the Canni­ bal” Lecter, he fills the screen with a gradual but implacable descent into the halls of hell made in USA: sickness, violence, displaced desires, death.

The Silence of the Lambs seem s such a huge departure from the style that p eop le usually associate with you: light-hearted, hip stories told in bright, sun-washed colours. What prom pted you to embark on a project like this?

From my perspective, the only true consistency in the movies I have done so far is that, hopefully, they have had good scripts. As you know, the vast majority of movies are dreadful and I think the reason for that is that there are so few good screenplays. The terrible crisis in the motion picture industry is that it is an industry laden with talent in all categories except writing. If I am lucky enough to read a good script, I want to make the movie. That is what drew me to my other projects, like Something Wild and Married to the Mob. The Silence of the Lambs was a very good script and I was delighted that it didn’t have comedy in it. Making a good picture is incredibly hard work, but making a good picture that is also funny is even harder. I felt liberated by the absence of the comedy whip, of the comedy discipline. It is beautiful tojust go “Is this scene real? ”and not “Is it real and is it funny?”

And these are not very funny times, are they? Who is in the mood for laughing nowadays? It is important to see movies that help us get even more upset than we are from reading the newspapers.

Part o f the pow er o f The Silence of the Lambs is its dramatically som bre, even Gothic, visual style. H ow did you conceive such a harrowing style?

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fry good script and I was delighted ■I felt liberated by the absence of the comedy whip, mtiful to just go ‘Is this scene real?’ i> **

Well, first of all [director of photography] Tak Fujimoto and [production designer] Kristi Zea were as involved in the conceptualization of the look of the movie as I was. It was a real heads-together kind of situation, as it should be in these matters.

Visually, it is inevitably a big departure from anything I have done before, because the nature of the material is such a gigantic departure. First you read a great book like The Silence of the Lambs and then you get a screenplay and you respond to that stuff. An idea that appealed to all of us was the idea of the stone - clinical, kind of lifeless, as it were - reality of Quantico [the FBI Academy in Virginia]. The FBI situa­ tions contrasted with the rest of the film, especially those Lecter is in. With him, we could have gone for a more m odem kind of clinical, mental-institution penitentiary kind of feel, but we wanted to push the emotional potential of the more Gothic kind of look.

As for a character like Gumb [the serial killer], how do you explain the unexplainable? He is a movie character that behaves in away that, tragically, some people in so-called real life behave. Can you explain that kind of behaviour? The people who work in the Behavioural Science unit of the FBI are trying to explain it, to understand it.

Since Gumb doesn’t take a lot of screen time, our best chance to give clues and impressions as to what constitutes the character was in the environment. And from our research and here we go into this awful subject of serial killers - it is apparent that true serial killers do have a certain kind of cycle they work to. It is a cycle of stalking, abduction, preparation and execution, followed by the worst kind of depression and self-loathing. And the whole thing funnels into an escapiststyle fantasy life. Serial killers always have a fantasy room.

Almost everything is very strictly from the book, but that particular idea of the fantasy room, and Gumb’s making a video of himself, comes from our research and from our dialogue with the people in Behavioural Sciences.

You also chose to use a very sp ecific camera syntax, with shots that begin in close-up and end in extrem e close-up. What was your m otivation for this?

The close-ups are at the centre of a lot of scenes. But the idea doesn’t involve only close-ups - it is close-ups in a subjective camera kind of situation.

O f course, one of the classic usages of subjective camera is as a device to put the audience into a character’s shoes, not for ajoke, but for a thrill; to try’ to get the audience to identifV as much as possible with the character. > FA CIN G P A G E : JO D IE FOSTER AS CLARICE S T A R LIN G . DEM ME: "T H IS [IS] THE FIRST PART . . . THAT D ID N 'T REQ U IRE [FO STER] TO M A SK HER IN TELLIG EN CE . . .

JU ST W A TC H IN G HER USE THAT M IND OF HERS IS V E R Y IN T O X IC A T IN G ."

THIS P A G E : DR H A N N IB A L LECTER, THE IM PRISO N ED E X -PS YC H IA TR IS T W H O IS NO W H ELPIN G CATCH A SER IA L M URDERER. THE SILEN C E O F THE LA M B S .

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"Th is picture is cle a rly anti-violence.

It is a m ovie th a t m akes you dread vio le nce and, w hen it rears its ugly head, it w a nts you to confirm tha t vio le n ce is a w fu l.”

So, with The Silence of the Lambs, which is a story first and fore­ most about a character, Clarice, who lives and will succeed or fail by her senses, I felt it was really necessary to force the audience into Clarice’s shoes as much as possible. I thought it was a gift for the audience to identify as much as possible with Clarice. So, we used the subjective camera in every single scene Clarice is in.

And, at a certain point, when she gets into these intense head sessions with Dr Lecter, it is like when you are in an intense conversation with somebody and you are so gripped you get swept away; at a certain point, it is like you do go inside their head. And the best way for us to try and capture that from a photographic point of view was to push the camera in, closer and closer, on Dr Lecter and then, indeed, to match that in the reverse because he would be going inside of her head during these sequences. That is why we did it.

It was a stylistically dem anding kind of choice and one that directors love to make. If you have actors who are really fantastic, you want to get in there with close-ups whenever you possibly can.

And these were actors who could re-defme the potential of closeups for me.

T h ere is, o f course, another, extrem ely pow erful, strength o f The Silence of the Lambs: the spectacular perform ances o f A nthony H opkins and Jod ie Foster. H opkins’ character, Dr Lecter, m ust have b een particularly dem anding: a bright, sophisticated and terrifyingly fascinating evil m an. W ho should on e credit fo r his final design: H opkins or you?

Well, to begin with, I can tell you that Tony’s quite mad and that is the fundamental thing. I thought of Tony Hopkins very, very early on. I have adm ired him for a long time.

Tony, I felt, would be fantastic for Dr Lecter for two basic reasons. One is that he is a person who projects extreme intelli­ gence. There is something about him that makes you feel he is a man who is a lot smarter than you are. And, of course, that is fundam ental to Lecter: someone who is, indeed, brighter than almost everybody else he ever encounters. Perhaps one of the things that appeals to him about Clarice is that she has a m ind with high potential.

The other quality that I felt is so fundamental to Tony is his great humanity and compassion. That is especially apparent in The Elephant Man. So, it was this intense humanity coupled with the intense intelligence that made me feel he would be impossible to beat as Dr Lecter.

In terms of characterization, and where that came from, it is very simple: he showed up like that. I had very, very little to do in terms of talking to him about the character, other than going, ‘T h a t’s wonderful; thank you.” He just showed up with Dr Lecter.

As a m atter of fact, I have spoken to him a few times recently and he is still Dr Lecter. I am a little distressed about that, but that’s Tony. I like to think that Tony got the joke about Dr Lecter in away that nobody, save perhaps Tom Harris, may have gotten.

What about J od ie Foster and her Clarice Starling?

Again, there’s this super-charged word: intelligence. There was not a big talent search involved. I found out thatjodie had read the book and had expressed interest. When I m et her, which I’d not done before, what really excited me the most was the fact that this was the first part Jodie would play that didn’t require her to mask her intelligence. She would be allowed to be every bit as smart as this exceptionally bright person actually is. And she m anaged to make that kind of erotic, I think, although that is not pertinent to the movie. In some way, just watching her use that m ind of hers is very intoxicating.

Again, it was very easy. You sit down with Jodie and you start talking about the material andjodie tells you what thematic appeal it has for her and, candidly, how good she will be in the part. You see how it all works together and, of course, she winds up in the movie.

Working with Jodie is like that. You’d be sitting around, shooting the breeze about current events or hairstyles, and then the shot’s ready. She’d go in front of the camera and th ere’s Clarice. This happened constantly through the movie: when the camera would roll, there was this metamorphosis. It was so excit­ ing; I would fall in love all over again with Clarice at the drop of a hat.

T his film deals with such uncom fortable issues as serial m urder, extrem e violen ce and cruelty. D o you, as a film m aker, have special concerns about these matters?

I do have this on-going relationship with screen violence. Any filmmaker has it. If you care about violence in our society, as I do, you inevitably wind up in some kind of complex dialogue within

FA CIN G P A G E : SPECIA L FBI A G EN T JA C K CRAW FO RD (SCOTT G LEN N ) AND CLARICE STA R LIN G .

THIS P A G E : SER IA L K ILLER JA M IE GUM B (TED LEV IN E ), W HO HAS A CERTAIN L IK IN G FOR S K IN . THE SILEN C E O F THE LA M B S .

sexuality that draws him to men.

He is a man who loathes himself, who loathes himself so much he wants to be the farthest thing away from what he fundamen­ tally is: he wants to be a woman.

It is a gender problem; that is what the whole story is about. It is a film that, though it gets into matters of sexual identification, in no way reinforces negative sexual stereotypes nor in any way is an incitement of negative feelings towards people of any kind of sexual preference. yourself about it. My basic struggle is that I wanted to be very responsible and show violence, when it is called for in a piece, as something horrifying and demeaning, something which must be prevented by any means, whenever possible.

The little kid moviegoer in me that grew up loving Westerns and war movies, even though now I know better, still sticks his head out from time to time and gets carried away with a thrilling action scene. I never get thrilled any more if there is a sort of orgiastic, pornographic, bullet-spraying kind of violence like in Rambo and that sort of movie - violence for violence’s sake. But if it is a movie that is professing to have a kind of theme of integrity and, it is one of those big show-down kind of moments, I can get swept up as I have for the past thirty-, forty-some years.

I am always trying to subdue that in myself as a filmmaker. I failed at that a lot in Married to the Mob, where I tried to do some exciting gun fights. I think I am a lot more successful in my struggle in this movie. This picture is clearly anti-violence. It is a movie that makes you dread violence and, when it rears its ugly head, it wants you to confirm that violence is awful.

T here has b een som e rather loud complaints, especially from gay activists, about what they perceive as a hom ophobic undercurrent in The Silence of the Lambs - that, for instance, the serial killer is portrayed as a hom osexual in a m ean, distorted way, and that his hom osexuality is at the root o f his crimes. Can you com m ent on that?

There was an aspect in the story that I and the other filmmakers involved with the picture knew that, in this day and age of heightened prejudice and heightened violence bom of prejudice, it was important that we be careful in not sending any kind of incorrect or inflammatory signals in any direction. We also, on another level, wanted to have a lot of integrity on a character basis.

The movie’s villain is, of course, not homosexual. He is not portrayed to be gay. Nobody says he is gay. Indeed, a fundamental plot device is that his emulating, in pathetically ineffective ways, anything suggestive of stereotypical gay behaviour really clarifies and supports the fact that this guy is way off base in terms of actually being what he wishes he were. In his desire to not be who he is, he is someone with a gender problem. He is not someone with a

This film received full co-operation from the FBI, which is a big surprise in the career o f som eon e like yourself. Has your percep­ tion o f the FBI changed in any way through this experience?

I went through an interesting cycle with my feelings about the FBI. As soon as I started paying attention to how this country works, I became very concerned about the FBI and the way it operates in many im portant areas of this country and this society. There was a mom ent for me, especially when faced with the idea that I wanted to make this movie, where there was a desire to go, ‘W e ll...”, as there is aline in the movie, “there were the Hoover years.”And now we feel we have a new, enlightened FBI and a new, enlightened country and ...

Well, I am sorry to say that, but, from what I read in the newspapers and perceive about what is going on, the FBI has every bit the same potential nowadays to function in what I would consider profoundly negative ways, as well in what I would consider a positive way in other areas. So, I feel the same way about the FBI. It is helpful to society in some ways and it is a menace in other ways.

It is a White House police force.

I must say, though, that I have no mixed feelings about the Behavioural Science division of the FBI. It is fantastic. The people there are not only trying to figure out ways to catch serial killers once they strike, but where serial killers come from. Is there any way of preventing the birth and growth of a serial killer? Are there ways that society can attack the problem of people being treated so badly as children that they will turn against other members of society to this kind of extraordinary degree when they grow up?

These Behavioural Science people are extraordinary. They are underpaid but they keep crusading.

What impact, if any, d oes the documentary side o f your career have on your fictional work?

It gives me an unusual edge of enthusiasm that I can bring back to movies. I don’t feel chained to big movies, and I feel that it is liberating to go and do a documentary. It is nice to do something utterly different and then come back kind of refreshed and make a movie like The Silence ofthe Lambs. Maybe shooting documentaries has somewhat lubricated my ability to come to terms with what kind of photographic choices I want to make.

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T SH O U LD NOT P A S S U N N O TICED THAT THE T IT L E O F T H IS FILM H IN G E S ON A F R EN C H P H R A S E THAT IS V IR T U A L L Y U N T R A N S LA T A B LE INTO E N G L IS H . “ C H E Z N O U S ” M EA N S MUCH M O R E THAN “AT OUR P L A C E ” . T H E R E IS A C ER T A IN C O S Y W ARMTH TO “C H E Z N O U S ” , A D E E P E R , M O RE C O M P L E X M EA N IN G , S U G G E S T IN G C O M FO R T , W E L C O M E , H ARM O N Y. “WITH U S ” IS P E R H A P S A C L O S E R A P P R O X IM A T IO N , BUT, IR O N IC A L L Y , IT L O S E S ITS EM O TIO N A L A C C U R A C Y A S SO O N A S IT IS U S E D IN TH IS C O N T EX T .

C O N S E Q U E N T L Y , TH E T IT L E , TH E L A S T D A Y S O F C H E Z N O U S, H AS A C ER T A IN IM P L IE D T EN S IO N B U ILT INTO IT, A S U G G E S T IO N THAT H ARM O N Y IS CO M IN G TO AN EN D IN T H IS P A R T IC U L A R H O U SEH O LD .

he hom e is symbolic of the relationships within it, and Helen Garner’s scriptis an exploration of these. ChezNous producer Jan Chapman also produced Garner’s muchawarded tele-feature, TwoFriends, directed byjane Campion. Garner’sNational Book Council award-winning first novel, MowfeyGny?, was also adapted for the screen, by producer Patricia Lovell and director Ken Cameron.

Chapman says the script of Chez Nous developed over several years: “But it was always going to be about an Australian woman and a French man hitting difficult times in their marriage.” And it seems some elements are drawn from G arner’s own life, although she plays this down. It is by no means a documentary.

The central character is Beth (Lisa Harrow), a writer, who invites her lively red-headed sister Vicki (Kerry Fox) to join their hectic household, which already contains a husband, JP (Bruno Ganz); a lodger, the shy young country boy, Tim (Kiri Param ore); and Beth’s daughter from a previous marriage, Annie (Miranda

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O tto). Is this the last straw? Could it be the last days of “chez nous”?

The last straw for JP, that is. As Chapman sees it, Ganz’s European intensity captures exactly the JP whose feelings go unnoticed in a frantic household.

Beth, although warm, is a driven woman, controlling her household, determ ined to do the best for her family. She invari­ ably shouts orders from another room, always gets to the phone first and never leaves lids offjars. Vicki’s arrival acts as a catalyst and sparks a retaliation against her sister’s domination.

O ther characters include Beth’s father (Bill H unter), with whom Beth spends some bonding time in a quiet country retreat, and Angelo (Lex Marinos), who is an old, close friend; his wife, Sally (Mickey Camilleri), has just had a baby, and they often visit this fascinating household. If s Beth’s web, in which she can detect the slightest quiver.

This is not a film filled with grand dramatic events, and may even be labelled a small film. At first, it was hard to convince people CINEMA

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of her vision, says Chapman. They would say to her that it sounded like something more suited to television. Chapman found it hard to explain that it could be and look stunning, even though it is dealing with the small incidents of life.

That feeling of intimacy appealed to Chapman: One of the things I was attracted to was the number of little moments and scenes. I like Helen ’s ability to see the absurd in the everyday. I like those contemporary films that do that, such as Jim Jarmusch’s. It’s fantastic to be able to do this in Australia.

Chapman praises the Film Finance Corporation’s initia­ tive which established the Film Fund, the scheme under which this is being made. The Film Fund offers 100% finance to mid-budget features which show commercial potential but would be difficult to pre-sell.

These more sophisticated films, which are hard to describe in a single sentence, now have a chance to be made. And I chose Gillian Armstrong [My Brilliant Career, High Tide, Fires Within] to direct, because I remember seeing Gillian’s Bingo Brides­ maids & Braces, and I was reminded how she has always man­ aged to capture the intimacy of human relationships.

As for Armstrong, one of those Australian film directors always cited as a national resource, she was instantly drawn to G am er’s script for similar reasons: Helen writes so well about families. But it’s not just a comedy; I think it’s really a drama, with, like all well-rounded dramas, humour - and even a tragic element.

In talking to Garner after reading the screenplay, Armstrong found very few areas that seemed uncertain in intent: Helen and I were very much in harmony on all of it. Of course, I choose things I relate to or am affected by. That means it’ll be my point of view as well as Helen’s.

Helen considers it a post-feminist film. Here is a woman with a family and career. But I think Helen is quite tough on her character. It’s very much, ‘The struggle’s over and what have we got? How do we make things work?’

Armstrong senses that there will be those who look at the names on the credits list andjum p to the wrong conclusion: Just because it’s Gillian Armstrong, Jan Chapman and Helen Garner, some people may think this is a heavy woman’s film.

But it’s not.

She also recoils from the “woman’s film” label: “No, I wouldn’t call it a woman’s film; but yes, it’s a film for grown­ ups.”

Here, “grown-ups” may well be interpreted as mature, notjust over 21. Grown up, too, as in having sensibility as well as sense, insight as well as vision.

For Chapman, it is all going to plan - if not better: “I love the script passionately, and to see the rushes turn out even better is an extraordinary experience.”

During a couple of days spent on set, it becomes obvious that the team effort in the filmmaking process has become like a pleasant adhesive, which manages to hold everyone together without clogging up the cogs of the machine. In a 20

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JP (BR U N O G A N Z ) AND V IC K I (K E R R Y FO X ) IN THE LA ST D A Y S O F CH EZ N O U S.

small Glebe terrace, situated between a tiny dead-end street and an even tinier lane, the paraphernalia of the filmmaking factory protrudes like spindly legs of a metallic spider, the lights and reflector shield attached to metal poles like captured insects.

The crew - a surprisingly small team - is intent and focused, yet calm and casual. Armstrong is directing a scene in the tiny courtyard at the rear, where a small table has been dressed with wine, salami and a fruit bowl. Lex Marinos, as Angelo, sits patiently cuddling a plastic baby, which is a stand-in for the real child in a bassinet up on the rear balcony, awaiting her historic first call, proud parents at her side.

Bruno Ganz, as JP, is rehearsing his entrance, in which he has to walk past the camera, bend over and greet Mickey Camilleri, who plays Angelo’s wife, Sally. The blocking problem comes from how much of his back and shoulder should be in frame.

Director of photography Geoffrey Simpson is on the seat of the camera unit, which rolls on miniature tracks, like a locomotive in slow motion. He is limited in movement by the m iniature space, and discusses the minutiae with Armstrong and Ganz.

The sun is beating down, at the tail end of Australia’s hottestsummer on record. Duringalunch break, Armstrong sits eating steamed vegetables, fish cakes and pasta on her lap. Dangling around her neck is a tiny plastic baby, its body an imitation Hassleblad camera. It is a piece of kitsch she spied on a table in the props room and couldn’t resist. She says she stole it, but makes no apology, nor an indication that she will ever return it.

I’m having great fun. We had expected it to be tougher. It’s sticky and cramped, but nothing is really simple - or easy. Not even easy shots. Fires Within [her previous feature] was decep­ tively simple on paper. But there were seven huge scenes that were a nightmare.

Both Chapman and Armstrong remark on the volume and quality of Garner’s detail. It took three months to find the right house, so specifically is it described. However, in the end the house that was chosen is not a com er house, as it was originally in the final draft, but even Garner felt it was so suitable she re-wrote parts of the script to fit the property.

It is an indication of the importance of this location that five weeks of the eight-week shoot takes place here. There is also a week at Broken Hill, where Beth takes her father to strengthen their relationship, and two weeks around the city in cafés, on walks, atharbourside exteriors and a friend’s house.

The house is indeed unusual, being a small two-storey terrace, but without internal stairs. The stairs are outside, running up from the courtyard, which opens onto the small lane at the back. Through the door into the house, it is possible to see straight through to the front door, and the street beyond.

The location team found three more terraces in the same little street, which were available for use as catering, props and wardrobe units, and they struck the jackpot when CINEMA

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^ T T z e

t e

W:\

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they fo u n d -ju st 100 metres aw ay-an artist’s first-floor studio that was available for use as a spacious, elegant production office.

But even before she knew how wonderful the physical process was going to be, Gillian Armstrong felt compelled to make this film. After reading the script, she was determined: I simply couldn’t bear the thought of anyone else directing it. It’s beautifully crafted, and the characters stay with you for a long time.

The characters, all strong, took a long time to cast. For JP, Chapman and Armstrong looked at Australian actors, then went to France. Chapman felt strongly about it: He had to be authentic to portray that cultural flavour of a European.

Bruno Ganz, though Swiss, has played French characters before, and has what we were looking for, with his friendly, round face and a touch of vulnerability behind the sophistication.

Ganz has worked extensively in theatre, most notably in Berlin, where he was co-founder of the Schaubiihne Theatre, appearing in the works of Brecht, Ibsen and, in 1982, in the title role of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. His films include Der Amerikanische Freund ( The American Friend) for Wim Wenders, Schaffner’s The Boysfrom Brazil, Volker Schlondorff s Circle ofDeceitand Werner Herzog’s Nosferatu - Phantom derNacht (Nosferatu - The Vampire). Most recent­ ly, he starred in a film that did well in Australia, Wim W enders’ Wings of De­ sire, which earned him much critical praise.

Immediately after shooting Chez Nous, Bruno Ganz heads off to Czecho­ slovakia to co-star with F ra n c e ’s Sandrine Bonnaire and Scottish actor Alan Cumming in Ian Sellar’s BritishFrench film, Prague, described by its 22

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iZ ) i x z / ^ f7 V ^ p z /:^

producer Chris Young as having echoes of Jules etJim. Lisa Harrow, who plays the central role of Beth, began her career in England, with the Royal Shakespeare Company. On the screen, she is probably best rem em bered for her por­ trayal ofHelen,James Herriot’swife, in All Things Bright and Beautiful and All Creatures Great and Small. In Australia, she co-starred in Under Capricorn, Act ofBetrayaland the award-winning Come in Spinner, on which she worked with Chapman.

For those hundreds of thousands of Austral­ ians who have seen An Angel At My Table, Kerry Fox will not be a newcomer. She gained instant fame as the eldestjanet Frame, in the film that won this year’s Australian Film Critics Circle Best Foreign Film Award (New Zealand finally gaining recognition as a foreign country).

This is only Fox’s second feature film, but she has extensive theatre credits, including such varied produc­ tions as A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Oh, What a Lovely War!.

DOP Geoffrey Simpson ( Green Card), designer Janet Patterson (Body Surfers, Two Friends) and Armstrong between them have created a look that highlights splashes of strong colour on darker backgrounds. O ther directors may well have recoiled from the risks involved, says Patterson, and gives Armstrong credit for accepting the concept.

For all its specificity, The Last Days of Chez Nous could take place anywhere; it is through its specifics that it reflects the universal, and it is equally Australian without being crudely labelled as such. ■ A B O V E : A RM STRO N G W ITH SW IS S ACTO R BRUN O G A N Z , W HO P LA Y S THE H U SBA N D .

B ELO W : A R M STRO N G AND PRO DUCER JA N C H A P M A N , W H O A LSO PRO DUCED TWO FR IEN D S, FROM A HELEN G A R N ER SC RIPT.

Over the last 18 months we’ve completed six “Wonderfully sad,” “ Funny,” “Sexy,’ “Daring,” “Poignant” , “ Commercial” movies. And that’s just the beginning.

BOULEVARD OF BROKEN DREAMS

WHATTHE MOON SAW Winner of A.F.I. Award.

London Film Festival, 1990.

Selected in Competition, Kinderfest.

Berlin Film Festival, 1990.

Denver Film Festival, 1989Distributed by Miramax (North America & U.K.).

J&M (Balance of World excluding Australia).

Nominated for 7 A.F.I. Awards.

Winner of 2 A.F.I. Awards, Best Actor & Best Supporting Actor.

Distributed by Filmstar (World excluding North America & Australia).

Hoyts (Australia & New Zealand).

★ Nominated for 2 A.F.I. Awards.

Starring John Savage, Kerry Armstrong, Guy Pearce.

Directed by Frank Howson.

J&M (World excluding North America & Australia).

★

BEYOND MY REACH Starring David Roberts, Terri Garber, Alan Fletcher.

J&M (World excluding North America & Australia).

Shot on location in Melbourne and Los Angeles.

★

HEAVEN10NIGHT

Nominated for A.F.I. Award.

Starring John Waters, Guy Pearce, Kim Gyngell, Rebecca Gilling.

Winner of A.C.S. Silver Trophy Award.

ABC Distribution Company (World excluding North America).

Starring Guy Pearce, Steven Berkoff, John Savage J&M (World excluding North America & Australia).

Shot on location in Melbourne, Cairns and Fiji.

110-114 Errol St. North Melbourne. 3051 Telephone: (03) 329 2399 Facsimile: (03) 328 3762

B O U L E V A R D

F I L M S

FROM DOWN U N D E R TO ALL OVER.

T u I 1 . Vc hv ‘ ■ A.-/ " : ' ■'•.

wanted to see. That’s why he became such a great Hollywood actor; all his life he had been acting. He’d just walk in front of the camera and lie again.

orting fact from fiction is no easy task when it conies, to the life of Australian-born Hollywood star Errol Flynn, some­ thing Boulevard Film’s Frank Howson knows only too Well. As co-writer (with Alister W ebb), director and producer for the film,Flynn, Howson spentfive years researching countless books, articles, journals and interviews on the actor. Says Howson:

Howson felt that Flynn’s Hollywood years are well known, so he wanted to make a film that focused on Flynn’s early life:

It was the hardest script I’ve ever written. He was such an enigmatic figure. He may have been an outrageous extrovert, but it was hard to know the real Errol. He presented to people what he thought they

Flynn was born on 20 June 1909 in H obart Tasmania. His lather was Professor Theodore Flynn, a renowned marine biolo­ gist. On the reputation of his father, Flynn was admitted to the

K■■1a t V/h•- . e' * r i n- e .

; .-v

I was surprised that most people in the U.S. and England didn’t realize that Flynn was Australian. I think he was quite proud ofbeing Australian, but the Hollywood press men wrote that he was Irish because Australia was too obscure.

MAKING OF ‘FLYNN’ best private colleges and m anaged to get kicked out of all of them. Hearing of gold strikes in New Guinea, Flynn went there hoping to make his fortune. He stumbled into acting by accident when he heard that noted Australian filmmaker Charles Chauvel was holding auditions. Flynn ends with the actor’s 1932 movie debut, when he plays the role of Fletcher Christian in the film, In the Wake of the Bounty.

Playing the role of Flynn is 22-year-old actor Guy Pearce, a former Neighbours star. Pearce has already appeared in two Boulevard films, Heaven Tonight dead Hunting, and will star in its upcoming feature, Friday On My Mind.

“I had never laid eyes on Guy before Heaven Tonight”, said

Howson. “I hadn’t even seen Neighbours, but I was very impressed by his acting ability and his intelligence.”

Pearce felt he was a left-field choice for Flynn: “I thought it would be silly of me to audition for him. I had long blond hair, blue eyes and didn’t look anything like him .” But the hair was clipped, brown contact lenses inserted and, later in the movie, the tradem ark moustache added. The result is a fairly respect­ able resemblance to the legendary screen idol.

Pearce sees Flynn as a sympathetic character: “He was a very mixed-up person. Most of the things he did were out of despera­ tion, trying to find himself. He was more like a kid who never grew up.” >

It was in New Guinea, where the film concentrates most of its action, that Flynn’s most notorious exploits occurred. While searching for gold, he involved himself in slave trading and poaching. On one of his expeditions he shot a native and narrowly escaped a charge of manslaughter. He also earned extra money by working as a correspondent for The Bulletin.

For Flynn, Fiji is doubling as New Guinea (“It’s cheaper than going to Cairns”, notes Howson) and the film crew set up shop near a sleepy village called Lase Lase, about 50 kms from Nadi.

H ere they built their version of an authentic New Guinea village.

While Fiji is attem pting to prom ote itself as an ideal film location (Return to Blue Lagoon had wrapped ju st prior to Flynn) , film crews are likely to encounter stranger obstacles than any­ thing Actors Equity could muster. Any transaction with the Fijians, including permission to use the land, has to be finalized over kava ceremonies (kava, a murky grey liquid m ade from the root o f a plant, has a strong narcotic effect). With Flynn> they had to be convinced that portraying another culture was not sacrile­ gious.

Using Fijians as extras created another problem for they have a strict sense of Christian modesty and were unwilling to portray New Guinea natives in scant clothing. No women would agree to go topless so a South African actress, Sandi Schultz, was im­ 26

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ported to play the role of the chiefs daughter. Even the m en were modest. “They w eren’t very keen to take their underwear off, but we couldn’t let them wear their Yfronts u nder the lap laps”, noted costume designer Rose Chong.

But the Fijians enjoyed the intrusion into their culture and crowded the set every day. Husbands, wives and children sat around and giggled as the laboriously slow work of filmmaking continued.

Howson says the film examines some of the darker aspects of Flynn’s character. Controversy always surrounded Flynn and his amorous exploits were notorious, fuelled by the swashbuckling image he created in such films as Captain Blood and The Adven­ tures of Robin Hood. In 1942, he was charged (and consequentially acquitted) of statutory rape. The ensuing publicity heralded the catchphrase, “In Like Flynn”.

Even after his death in 1958, the enigmatic star raised headlines. The Charles Higham book, The Untold Story (first published in 1980), prom ised to reveal the ‘tru e’ Errol Flynn.

The book told of hom osexual affaires and suspect espionage work for the Nazis leading up to World War II. Howson must feel, though, that wherever Flynn goes contro* versy follows, as difficulties plagued the production. The film was originally shot with director Brian Kavanaugh at the helm.

A scheduled shoot in Cairns was delayed by airline strikes, and then star Guy Pearce was unavailable. The production ground to

a halt. Then, at the Cannes Film Festival last year, international marketing groupJ&M became interested in distributing the film but thought it needed reshooting as well as some ‘name stars’.

J&M injected a further $1 million into the original budget of $3.5 million raised under 10BA. According to Howson: J&M saw a cut of the film in Cannes and loved the concept but felt certain things weren’t explored the way they could be. So we had a major rethink about the film andJ&M had enough faith in us to put up the money to reshoot.

The production reshot some scenes in Melbourne before moving to Fiji for action sequences, this time with Howson directing. The production soon came under fire from Actors Equity as two key roles were recast with overseas actors. Austral­ ian actors Jeff Trum an and Paul Steven were dum ped and the roles taken over by English actor Steven Berkoff and American Jo h n Savage.

According to Howson, Australia lacks a star system and the simple economics is that we need “bankable” stars for interna­ tional sales. “I wish that wasn’t the case but I am afraid that is the reality of the situation.” Equity, of course, sees it differently. “It is simplistic to say all overseas actors will help a film”, says Anne Britton, assistant federal secretary for Actors Equity. “I think the problem in the Australian industry is that overseas actors have

FAR LEFT: A NATIVE GIRL (SANDI SCHULTZ) AND FLYNN. CENTRE TO P: DIRECTOR FRANK HOW SON, RIGHT, AND DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY JOHN W HEELER. CENTRE BOTTOM: FLYNN IS ATTACKED BY GOLD THIEVES, ONE W IELDING A KNIFE (JOHN RAAEN). RIGHT: FLYNN MISTAKES ONE OF HIS SLAVES (ARTHUR) FOR A POTENTIAL ROBBER. FLYNN.

been seen as a quick fix.”

Equity has consequentially dem anded a full inquiry from the Federal Arts Minister, David Simmons.

For Howson, it will be yet another storm to weather since Boulevard Films came to prom inence with its first film, Boulevard ofBroken Dreams. With a slate of five films all funded under 10BA, Howson feels the company has been the object of much resent­ ment: There has been a lot of animosity in the industry because we seem to be doing so much when others are doing so little.

We have done a great deal to restore investor confidence in the local film industry. Strangely, or rather typically, we seem to be resented in some circles for our efforts. No doubt that’s the kind of attitude that has made Australia what it is today, We’ve built up a strong investor base [approximately 30,000 people] at a time when a lot of investors were burnt and ran away from film. We have wooed a lot of those people back.

Howson claims there have already been substantial overseas sales for Boulevard’s films, including a continuing output deal with J&M. “Anything that happens at the box office now is just cream ”, he says.

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Contact the AUSTRALIAN FILM COMMISSION at Carlton Hotel, Ground Floor, Desk PB 0 8

or Australian Sales office, 8th Floor, Residence du Festival, 52 La Croisette

• to get in touch with Australian filmmakers attending Cannes • for complete screening details • preview facilities • information on Australian productions • copies of our new catalogues & checklists • details regarding co-productions & Australian financing mechanisms

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HOLIDAYS ON THE R IV IR TARRA

erosion oi his spiritual resolve (he and his ■ wife ai e “boi n-again” Chrislians ). It c ulminates in a spectacular conclusion where a desert refinery is destroyed, and love and God’s charily take second place to fear and.

This $2.3 million film was funded by the AusU alian I ihn Financ e Corpoi ation (FI C ). and Film Four International and Itel in the UK, It is English-born director Simon Iarget’s first feature. Most o f his previous experienc e had been gained making doc umentaries for Australian and British televi­ sion. It was while researching a pro gramme foi the BBC in Australia that la ig ct came on the idea o f making a film about a for­ eigner being stranded in a remote place.

I S H R I I O K I I M / M W I / M / / / f N M I s2 P P 1 2 , ,

Director: Bruce Beresford. Producers: Robert Lantos, Stephanie Reichel Co-producer Sue Milliken. Scriptwriter: Brian Moore. Director o f photography: Peter James. Production

Japanese wai brides and the process ol Director: Solum Hoaas Producers: Denise Patience, Solrun Hoaas. Scriptwriter: Solrun Tlo.t.is. Director ol photography: G eoff Burton. Production designer: Jennie Tate.

Vit ditecloi: Kris K o s I o m c . Editor: Mew ait Young. Sound iccoidisl: Ben Osmo. Com­ poser: Simón Britton. Cast: Eri Ishida (Aya), Nicholas lache (liank), Chus Ha\wood (Mac), Christopher Parker (Ken, 5 years), Jed Chedw iggen (Ken, 12years),MikiOikawa (Junko), Takahito Masuda (Inoue), John O’Brtan (Kato), Mayumi Hoskin (Nancy), D. J.' Foster (Barry), Marion Ilcathlield (Frank’s mother), Sumiko McDonald (Headwaitress), Tim Robertson (Willy), Taya Stratton (Tina). h»isapnst-wai sfor\ ol lo \e. marriage and

adapting to life in Australia.

(S F F . R F V I E W IN T H I S I S S U E , P P 52 53 )

Black Robe is the story of the mission by a French Jesuit priest, lathei Laforgue, in Director: Simon Target. Producer: Sue Wild.

Co-producer: Basil Appleby. Executive pro­ ducers: Charles Target. Simon Target.

Sciiptwnteis: Simon laigcl. Ross Wilson.

Director of photography: Tom Cowan. Pro­ duction designer: Ross Major. Costume de­ signers: Ross Major, \ndica llood. tdiloi: Nicholas Holmes. Sound icimchsl: Ross Linton. Composer: Alanjohn. Cast: Tim Roth (Tom Whitton),Jim Holt (JackTyson), Odile Le Clezio (Alison Tyson), Ross McGregor (Pastor).

friendship, begun during the occupation

Backsliding is the story of the diabolic al

ol Japan, and set in 1950s and ’60s Victoria.

obsessions of a recidivist criminal and the

Here the cultural shift and new pressures force three people through mcMtable change.

Aya is the first feature ol Norwegianborn Solrun Hoaas, whose interest in Japa­ nese culture has been reflected in several documentaries The most recent is Green Tea and Cherry Ripe, which also covers

gj

A BO VE: A Y A (ERI ISHIDA)

AND HUSBAND FRAN K (NICHOLAS EADIE) IN SOLRUN H O AAS' A Y A . LEFT: TOM W H ITtO N , THE CYNICAL ENGLISHMAN IN SIMON TARGET'S BACKSLIDIN G. AND AN N U KA [SANDRINE HOLT) AND DANIEL (ADAN YO UN G) IN BRUCE BERESFORD'S BLACK ROBE.

Wellbum Sound recordist: Gary Wilkins Cast: Lothaire Bluteau (Father Laloigue).

Adan Young (Daniel), August Schellenberg (Chomma), Saudi me Holt ( Vnnnk.i I. Billy Two Rivers, Lawrence Bayne, Harrison Liu, Tantoo Cardinal (Indians).

ans to Christianity. It is the latest film from AiLsti alian du ec toi Bruc e Bei esf oi d: You can’t research this stoiy without com­ ing out admiimg the Jesuits. Lven if you went into it as the greatest anti-cleric o f all time, you’d come out o f it thinking those guys were so brave... They make Schwarzeneggei look like a sissv S I I K l P O K I IN f / V v n / I / / A S S O

s 2 PI

0 12,

Director: Esben Storm. Producer: Richard Moir. Line producer: Antonia Barnard.

Scriptwriter: Esben Storm. Director o f pho­ tography: Geoff Simpson. Production de­ signer: Peta Lawson. Costume designer: Terry Ryan. Editor: Ralph Strasser. Sound record­ ist:.. David Lee. Cast: Jerome Ehlers (Sgt Bourke); Frank Gallacher (Sgt Mick Thornton), Julie Nihill (Jenny), Lydia Miller (Daphne), John Moore (Eddie); Caz Lederman, Alan David Lee, Bill Hunter, Bruce Venables, Lillian Crombie.

A romantic thriller set against a background o f racial tension, Deadly is the explosive story o f the suppression o f justice in the heart o f the Aboriginal homeland.

Deadly is the new film o f writer-director Esben Storm, whose previous credits in­ clude 27A and In Search of Anna. It was the

male. At the start, [Sgt Bourke] denies bis sensitivity; but he’s brought into naked contact with his emotions.

(SEE REPORT IN CINEMA PAPERS NO. 81, PP. 14-17.)

Director: Rolf de Heer. Producers: Marc Rosenberg, Rolf De Heer. Executive produc­ ers: Giorgio Draskovic, Marie-Pascale Osterrieth. Scriptwriter: Marc Rosenberg, Director of photography: Denis Lenoir. Pro­ duction designer:Judi Russell. Editor: Suresh Ayyar. Sound recordist: Henri Morelle. Com­ posers: Miles Davis, Michel Legrand. Cast: Colin Friels (John ‘Dingo’ Anderson), Miles Davis (Billy Cross), Helen Buday (Jane), Joe Petruzzi (Peter), Bernadette Lafont (Angie).

In January 1969, a jet passenger plane is diverted to the Australian outback town o f

first o f five features funded by the Austral­ ian-Film Finance Corporation’s Film Trust

Poona Flat. The locals, including twelveyear-old John ‘Dingo’ Anderson, rush to the airport eager for excitement. Onboard

Fund to go into production. Storm:

is the lengedaryjazz trumpeter, Billy Cross,

; It’s a love story, between a black and a white ... Neither Fringe Dwellers nor The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith is [a] relevant [comparison]; this is much tougher. Films like Wake In Fright and In 1he Heat of the Night come, to mind.

It’s just as much a story o f the Australian

and his band. Cross, seeing the crowd, decides to play by way o f greeting. The band sets up on the runway and plays.

‘Dingo’ has never heard anything so beauti­ ful in his life. The band members re-board and the plane drifts away as softly as a dream, o

A BO VE LEFT: DAPHNE (LYDIA MILLER) AND SERGEANT BOURKE (JEROME EHLERS). ESBEN STORM 'S DEADLY. ABO VE RIGHT: JO HN 'D IN G O ' ANDERSON (COLIN FRIELS) AND BILLY CROSS (MILES DAVIS), WITH MEMBERS OF THE BA N D. ROLF DE HEER'S DINGO. BELOW : ERROL FLYNN (G U Y PEARCE) IN FRAN K HO W SO N 'S FLYNN .

The chance encounter with a legend o f jazz begins a life-long dream for a young boy in the outback. Years later, he journeys to Paris to revive the dream.

Dingo is the new film by director R olf de H eer and producer Marc Rosenberg, who made Incident a t Raven’s Gate.

Director: Frank Howson. Producer: Frank Howson. Executive producer: Peter Boyle.

Line producer: Barbi Taylor. Scriptwriters: Frank Howson, Alister Webb. Director o f photography: John Wheeler. Production de­ signer: Brian Dusting. Costume designer: Rose Chong. Editor: Peter Carrodus. Sound recordist:JohnRowley. Cast: Guy Pearce (Errol Flynn), Steven Berkoff (Klaus Reicher), Claudia Karvan (Penelope Watts), John Sav­ age (Joe Stromberg), Will Gluth (Professor Flynn), Nicki Pauli (Marelle Flynn), Tim Hughes (James Dickson), Adrian Wright (Harold Watts), Jan Friedl (Diedre Watts), Sandi Schultz (Native girl).

LEFT: LIKE HER NA M ESA KE. THE PROSTITUTE IN THE BRECHT P LA Y . AO I (Y A G W A LA K CH O N CHAN AKUN ), IS THE GO O D W OM AN IN A W ICKED W ORLD. DENNIS O ROURKE S THE GOOD W O M A N OF B A N G KO K BELO W . LEFT: EDDIE (CRAIG ADAM S) AND M ICK (LUKE ELLIOT). LEO BERKELEY'S HO LIDAYS O N THE RIVER Y A R R A . RIGHT: M ATHILDA M A Y A S ISABELLE EBERHARDT. IAN PRINGLE S ISABELLE EBERHARDT

lure goes horribly wi ong.

Holidays on the River Farra is the first feature o f Leo Berkeley and was financed by the Australian Film Commission through its Special Production Fund.

Flynn is the story of Australian actor Errol

Starting from the worst possible condi­

Flynn’s early years, up till his first screen;

tion, the i elationship between Aoi, the good

i o le as l l c lih c i Christian in C hailes

woman o f the story, and the filmmakerwas

Chauvel’s In the Wake of the Bounty (1932).

recorded: its evolution horn lake sexual

The film w as directed by Frank 1low son,

intimacy to c ollusion in the pi oc ess oi mak­

one of the principals of Boulevard Films,

ing the film and, finally, to friendship and

which has produced m ore films over the

a kind o f lo \e.

past few years than probably any othci

Mathilda May (Isabelle Eberhardt), Fcheky Karyo (Slimen), Peter O’Toole (Lyautey), (Carnet).

Australian compam si i im u id i « n o N r e p o r t i m s i s s u

Director: Ian Pringle. Producers: Daniel Scharf, Jean Petit, Jacques Leclere, Youssef Lakhoua. Scriptwriter: Stephen Sewell. Di­ rector of photography: Manuel Teran. Pro­ duction designers: Bryce Perrin, Geoffrey Larcher. Costume designer: Mic CheminaL

Isabelle Eberhardt is the story of the Ionian n

m

- >

Director: Dennis O’Rourke. Producer: Dennis O’Rourke Associate pioducci GlenysRowe Scriptwriter: Dennis O’Rouike. Diiector of photography: Dennis O’Rourke. Editor: Tim L itch field . Sound recordist: D ennis O’Rourke. Cast: Yagwalak Chonchanakun

T he filmmakei was forty-three and his marriage had ended. H e was trying to un dc i stand how I o n e could be so banal and yet So profound. He came to Bangkok, the

tic <id\ enturer in Noi th All ica at the turn oi Director: Leo Berkeley. Producer: Fiona 'Cochrane. Scriptwriter: Leo Berkeley: Directoi ol photography: Brendan la\cilc*. \rt directors: Margaret Eastgate, Adele Flere.

Editoi: Leo Berkeley. Sound recordist: Mark Tarpcy. Composer: Sam Mallet. Cast: Craig Adams (Icldic). Luke Llhot (Mick). Mex Menglet (Big Mac), Tahir Cambis (Stewie), Claudia kar\an (Fisa). Ian Scott (liank).

She ixl Munks (\aleiio). \ngcla McKenna (Mother), Eric Mueck (Billy), Justin Connor (Danny );John Bi rnnpton, Jac c k Roman, ( hris

mecca foi western men with fantasies of

Mic k and 1 ddie ai e out-of woi k teenagei s, living in Melbourne and looking for some

exotic sex and love without pain. He wanted

action 1 hey becom e involved with a gang

to meet a 1 hai prostitute and make a film

oi would-hc mcicenarics headed for Af­

about that.

rica. What they hope will be a great adven-

n flH w .

Inspired in part b\ Paul Bowles' intro­ duction to a collection o f Eberhardt’s sto­ ries, this Australian-French co-production is the foiu 111 feature of Ian Pnngle. and follows The Plains of Heaven (1982), Wrong !lf/r/rf(198b)and IhePnsunerofStPetenhuii> (1990). Pringle: The fibn Ls essentially an interior journey.

There are elements o f encountering anew culture, but ... it is more to do with the Isabelle has allowed me to explore the beginnings of a style I want to take much fin thei I am . ck aling with a story that is I have c\ci tried to capline on film. t ’RIXC.I I I M I K\u W < / \ M f l / M / / V i '. N O SI !»1’ t»-l , )

Director: Aleksi Vellis. Producer: Fiona Cochrane. Scriptwriter: Aleksi Vellis. Direc­ tor o f photography: Mark Lane. Art director: Lisa Thompson. Editor: Aleksi Vellis. Sound recordist: MarkAtkin. Composer:John White.

Cast: Mark Little (Boady O’Hagan), Ben Mendelsohn (Luke O’Hagan), Mary Coustas (Helen), Tamara Saulwick (Penny), Sheila Florance (Molly), Yiorgo (Smeg), Roberto Micale (Hector), Russell Gilbert (Abattoir Ross), Tibor Gyapjas (Vas).

Nirvana Street Murder is a black comedy

Director: Jocelyn Moorhouse. Producer: Lynda House. Scriptwriter: Jocelyn Moor­ house. Director of photography: Martin McGrath. Production designer: Patrick Reardon. Costume designer: Ceri Barnet.

Editor: Ken Sallows. Sound recordist: Lloyd Carrick. Cast: Hugo Weaving (Martin), Russell Crowe (Andy), Genevieve Picot (Celia), Heather Mitchell (Mother), Jeffrey Walker (Young Martin).

Martin, blind since birth, trusts no one. H e

with an off-beat blend o f action, drama and farce. It centres on the lives o f two outland­

takes photographs as proof that the world he hears andtouches is the same one sighted people see. H e entrusts a likeable stranger,

ish brothers who work at the local abattoirs:

Andy, to describe his photographs. Aunique

Boady is childish, violent, has a criminal record and is mentally unstable; Luke is normal.

friendship develops, but is soon imperilled

Nirvana Street Murderis an independent feature funded by the AFC’s Creative De­

by Martin’s obsessed house-keeper, Celia.

The first feature o f writer-director Jocelyn Moorhouse, Proofwas funded by the AFC and Film Victoria.

velopment Fund. Itwas originally intended asa50-minute 16m m shortbutgrewtoa75minute 35mm feature. It was shot in Mel­ bourne around the bleak industrial sub­ urbs o f Footscray, Brooklyn, North Mel­ bourne and Collingwood, and is Aleski Vellis’ directorial debut.

(SEE REVIEW IN THIS ISSUE, PP. 57-58.)

Director: Mark Joffe. Producers: Richard Brennan, Timothy White. Scriptwriters: Max Dann, Andrew Knight. Director of photogra­ phy: Ellery Ryan. Production designer: Chris Kennedy. Costume designer: Tess Schofield.

Editor: Nicholas Beauman. Composer: Ricky Fataar. Cast: Anthony Hopkins (Wallace), Ben Mendelsohn (Carey), Toni Collette (Wendy), Alwyn Kurts (Mr Ball), DanWyllie (Fletcher), Bruno Lawrence (Robert), Rebecca Rigg (Cheryl), Russell Crowe (Kim), John Walton (Film), John Flaus (Gordon), Angela PunchMcGregor (Caroline).

Set in the 1960s, Spotswood tells o f how a time-and-motion expert is called in to mod­ ernize Mr Ball’s moccasin factory. Amid die resultant upheaval, an 18-year-old youth attempts a romantic takeover.

Spotswoodisthe second feature o f direc­ tor Mark Joffe (Grievous Bodily Harm) and was funded by the FFG’s Trust Fund.

(SEE PRODUCTION REPORT THIS ISSUE, PP. 4-10.)

Director: Brian McKenzie. Producer: Margot McDonald. Scriptwriters: Brian McKenzie, Deborah Cox. Director of photography: Ray Argali. Costume designer: Rose Chong. Edi­ tors: Edward McQueen-Mason, Daryl Mills.

Sound recordist: Lloyd Carrick. Composer: Michael Atkinson. Cast: Paul Chubb (Stanley Harris),JohnBluthal (Stan Snr),Julie Forsyth (George), MargaretFord (Sheila Harris), Roy Baldwin (Thomas Steams), Brace Alexander (Geoffrey), Beverley Gardiner (Reception­ ist), Shapoor Batiwalla (Grey suit #1), Burt Cooper (Grey suit #2), Kenneth MacLeod (Grey suit #3).

It is Stan’s fortieth winter. Like his father before him, he works in a barber shop.

Unlike his father, Stan has never mastered the art o f customer relations.

With Stan’s business and confidence ABO VE LEFT: BOADY (M ARK LITTLE) WITH PENNY (TAM ARA SAU LW ICK). ALEKSI VELLIS' N IRVAN A STREET MURDER. ABO VE RIGHT: WALLACE (ANTHO NY HO PKINS), THE TIME-AND-MOTION EXPERT. M ARK JO FFE'S SPOTSW OOD. LEFT: MARTIN (HUGO W EA V IN G ), THE BLIND PHOTOGRAPHER, AND CELIA (GENEVIEVE PICOT).

JOCELYN M OORHOUSE'S PROOF. CINEMA

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• 33

flagging, his father, Stan Snr, manoeuvres him into work for the future - with the Bureau of Meteorology. Stan tincLs unex­ pected success as the “weather mail” on a

Denis Moore (Bill), RayBairett (Frank), N oga, Bernstein (Rosie), Peter Tran (Tan), Brian Sunpson (Boot mid)

Martha is araodem character-a woman o f

Wailing is an irreverent comedy of errors

now offers hei loving understanding to all

i adio segment. And with his sureess com es

^

imagination and spirit. At almost SO years of age, she’s seen die good add the bad. and who are willing to listen to her, and who

I

Martha makes her ow^ n des and has her

|

romance with G eoige, the office redhead.

But Stan s hopes of combining job, mai riage, hom e ownership and chdchen are prosing difficult.

W aitmii is w n te r -d iie c to r J a ck ie

own moral code. She finds the world o f a

McKimmie’s second lea lu ie and follows

man far too cynical arid heartless, and fights the Establishment with great hinnpiir and ^

Stan and George’s \e u lift is Btian McKenzie’s second fictional feature and

SI L R l \ IHV I \ THIS FSSt I P VI 60 i

coriipassion. In addition, she’s Cine o f those

com es aftei With l ovt to thi Person Next to

rare, old souls that has grea^t affiiiity w th -

Mt (t;9 8 8 ) and the 1eatui e doc um entan On

young people, arid refuses to sccept soci-

the Wat i s of the \di iatic Pi oduc er Mai got McDonald calls this new film “a gentle story with a charm and eccentric subtler

McKenzie fcaysrfi Films are part o f the history o f expression ; and reflection. Once there was only mu­ sic, painting, theatre and sculpture, arid ^now^film has been added to these!

Filmmaking isribpuGtakingi reality,arid yo n believe in and“confronting them. , *

Director: Paul Cox. Producers: Santharia Naidu, Paul Cox. Executn e producer:William T. Marshall Sc i lptwntei s: Paul Cox, Barry Dakins Director of photography Nino G

Chapman. Associate producer: •Scriptwriter: Jackie McKimmie. JX rapp^K photography: Steve Mason. Production de­ signer: Murray Picknett. I ditoi Mike Hones.

C^tiNÔniHàzlehürst (Clare), Frank Whitten ^Michael), H elen ‘Jones^(Sanây)Jp^>orraLee Furness (Diane), Fiona Press (Therese),

A BO VE LEFT: STAN (PAUL CHUBB) A N P a B ja M B M ^ f t ^ FO RSYTH ). BRIAN M CKEN ZIE/S STAN A N D G EO R G E'S NBW LIFE. ABO VE RIG H T: CLARE (N O N I HAZLEHURST) DIANE (DEBORRA-LEE FURN ESS), SAN DY (HELEN JO N ES) AN D THERESE (FIO N A PRESS). JA C K IE M CKIM M IE'S W A ITIN G . R IG HT: M ARTH A (SHEILA FLORANCE) AND , A N N A (G O SIA D O BRO W O LSKA). PA UL C O X 'S K "1 ' W O M A N 'S TALE.

S

The death o f her neighbour, “OldBflly”, ^ exhausts and depresses Martha. Inher Confusion, She falls asleep whilst cooking a

M&r^e^f^Odu^ori^^^er:Npd'Ariigwiri.;

meal, and almost bum s die flat down. The

Editor:' Russell Hurley. Sound recordist: Russell Hurley. Composer: PaulGrabowsky.

authorities dec ide it’s time f or Martha to be committed to a hom e for the aged. But

Cast: Sheila FloFance (Martha), Gosia Dobrowolska (Anna), Norman Kaye (Billy), ^CjB^TIa^bp^dQonathatt), Ernest Gray (B # ter), Myrtle Woods (Miss Inchley),, Bruce Myles (Con i), AJexSilenglet (Con 2), Moriiea> Maughan (Billy’s daughter), Max Gillies (Bil­ ly’s son-in-law).

Director: Jackie McKimmie. Prodrif^ipl^^p

ety5 constraint on gi ow ing old.

without honour, and makes her final deci-

I

sion.

A U oman s I ale is Dutch b o m direc toi Paid Cox’s eleventh feature, and follows I'un Lro"h and Golden Jit aid.

m

A ustralian talent,we help keep the show on the ro ad

It’s always been a long way to the top for aspiring artists. But at Qantas we’re making sure they get there quicker by providing travel and promotion for actors, writers, even circus performers.

So when they return to Australia they’ll have a world of experience from which to draw. And we’re sure Australia will rise to its feet and call for more. ^kQ jQ JIfT SflS The spirit of Australia.

QPR5349

W orld f lie s d irectly in the face o f w h a t o n e ca su a lly e x p e c ts from the A u stra lia n cin em a : an ea rn estn ess, ^ se­ rio u s in te n t, a w ea ry , lyrical p o s e with aij e y e to s o m e h ig h e r so c ia l p u rp ose. ¡1 D e a d to the W orld is a h ig h ly stylize&f b la ck ly c o m ic v isio n th at stan d s outside o f th is r e a list tra d itio n th at has so domin a te d A u stra lia n fe a tu r e f ilm m a k ^ R

mm

o v e r th e p a st tw en ty y ears. Funded by

th e A u stra lia n F ilm C o m m issio n and s h o t o n lo c a tio n in a n d aro u n d the innercity S y d n ey su b u rb o f N ew to w n , Dead to the W orld d e a ls w ith th e so c ia l realities y* o f A ustralia: d ru g s, th e real-estate dev e lo p m e n t b o o m , th e m ulti-cultural riàtu re o f A u stralian society* D ea d to the W orld is se rio u sly d iffer en t. P o p -cu ltu r e ic o n o g r a p h y spills out o f ev e ry fra m e, th e d ia lo g u e is thickly a llu siv e, rich in m ea n in g , an d the weighty th e m e s are w r a p p e d a ro u n d a tortuous p lo t stra ig h t o u t o f a q la ssic a l Wèstern.

D ead to the W orld s o u n d s d iffe r e n t, too. It is the first A u stralian fe a tu r e film to "break w ith th e d o c u m e n ta r y tra d itio n o f recording w ith sy n c h r o n o u s so u n d .

Dead to the W orld is 100 p e r c e n t p ostsynch and it is a stu n n in g s u c c e ss.

- H ere is a film to lis te n to first. T h e soundtrack so u n d s alive. E ach lin e , ea c h Effect, lan d s straigh t in o n e ’s lap . It is im portant b e c a u se th is d e lig h t in tech nique is cen tral to th e film ’s p la y fu l

psen sib ility. H e r e is a film , lik e th e b e st | o f D avid Lynch, th at m o c k s th e co n v en ; tions o f narrative c in e m a w h ilst cel-

i

ebrating the se n su a lity o f film ; a film that q u o tes Force o f E v il a n d W est Side iory\ o n e that h as its arch villain d r e s se d l.

up as Santa Claus; a film th at h a s th e w it to uivite o n e to lau gh an d thin k.

>

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: PEARL (LYNETTE CU RRA N ) AND HER BROTHER BO B B Y (P A U L G O D D A R D ). S K IP (N O AH JA V LO R ). MR KEATS (JO H N DO YLE) CHATS UP M A N N Y # t t ° R G Y A P JA S ), JO H N N Y (RICH ARD R O X B U R G H ) AND TRAINER ALEX (A G N IE S Z K A P ER E P E C Z K O ). HU ZZA H PRODUCTIONS' DEAD TO THE W O RLD.

“ Y o u c a n ’t liv e b y c le a n s im p le rig h te o u s r u le s i f th e w o rld is re fig u rin g it s e lf a n d r ig h te o u s n e s s is n ’t th e w in n e rs ’ g a m e .

W h a t h a p p e n s i f y o u d o n ’t n e c e s s a r ily w a n t to b e a w in n e r b u t a s u r v iv o r ? ” R O S S

is bound to infuriate, not only because it self-consciously rejects conventions of narrative cinema, like characterizations that beg for identification, but because it is so knowingoiitself. It is by no means a perfect debut. The pace flags, especially in the first half, and the dialogue, as good as much of it is, seems too precious. But these criticisms begin to recede when there is so m uch here to admire. In the current climate, Dead, to the World appears as an authentic original.

To watch it is to experience a shock, for it offers the promise of something exciting for the Australian cinema: a new sensibility that’s vital.

G IB S O N

The following interview with Huzzah took place soon after the first public screening of Dead to the World.

H ow did D ead to the World evolve?

GIBSON: It was initiated as an idea of mine and I took it to the group. It comes out of an interest in m odem Australian morality, especially metropolitan morality: What is it? Does it exist? How js it refiguring itself? What do we believe in?

What is “okay” for p eo p le to do?

GIBSON: Yes, I suppose so. What does each person deem accept­ able, rather than what is the law, given that Australia is this blend of many different ethnic backgrounds, different communities, all of which bring their own law and mores to the location? The 1990s are very much about the fragmenting of communities and Aus­ tralia is this location where the fragments land as well. There are also a lot of severely destabilizing influences - especially in Sydney - to do with real estate and with the impossibility of living on a low income. It then becomes a necessity to find scams to live.

Everybody in D ead to the World seem s to b e com prom ised.

GIBSON : You can ’t live by clean simple righteous mles if the world

Huzzah Productions is: R oss G ibson [ writer-director] is probably best known for the

experimental documentary, Camera Natura, a witty and stylish ex­ ploration into the myths of Australian landscape. He is also a teacher and essayist, and has published two books.

John Cruthers [ producer] is a 1980 graduate of the Australian Film Radio & Television School and has been involved in produc­ ing some of the most unusual films of the Australian cinema in the past ten years, including Ian Pringle’s ThePlains ofHeavenand Wrong World, and Brian McKenzie’s With Love to the Person Next to Me. Cruthers originally commissioned and produced Camera Natura.

A drienne Parr [co-producer and sound editor] is a graduate of the B.A. Communications course at the University of Technol­ ogy, Sydney. Adrienne has worked as sound editor on such features as The Tale of Ruby Rose and The Time Guardian. She has been a producer for the NSWDepartment of H ealth’s film and video unit, Health Media.

A ndrew Plain [editor and sound editor] has worked on more than thirty films as both sound and picture editor. In sound, he has worked on The Everlasting Secret Family, Cappuccino and Raw Nerve.

As film editor, he has worked on many documentaries and Yoram Gross’ anim ated feature, Dot à f Keeto.

The principals of Huzzah Productions all m et on CameraNatura in 1985. Over the next few years they discussed the possibility of working together and in 1989 they formed the company.

38

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is refiguring itself and righteousness isn’t the winners’ game. What happens if you don’t necessarily want to be a winner but a survivor?

How do you refigure these tidy, neat, nice belief systems that you inherited if you know you’re gonna get screwed by these belief systems? What happens when everybody starts to refigure their ethical system? What is right and what is wrong and what is corrupt?

Where do you draw the line?

Everybody has a past and everybody has an objective. In most cases, the objective ranges on a scale of simple survival up to fulfilment of lusty passions. So everybody is heading somewhere.

The only world that I’m interested in is the world as set up on the screen. I’m not really interested in these characters as people you’d m eet on King Street, in the lived day.

At the sam e tim e they are recognizable.

GIBSON: We’d hope that they are recognizable because they have a history within the world that is set up in the narrative. You have to establish plausibilities.

There is a land called movieland where characters live and you create those characters with a sense of plausibility. To achieve that plausibility, you do all sorts of things: acting, camerawork, soundwork, consistencies within the logic of the narrative. But I do believe absolutely that there is a real world called movieland and that there are thousands and thousands of these citizens whom we know.

You u sed real estate as a m etaphor, but in realistic term s how m uch is that b oxin g gym actually worth?

GIBSON: It’s worth whatever the object of desire is worth. It’s

im portant on different scales of value. It has a certain value for Keats (John Doyle), which will be partly monetary and partly with deal making. The acquisition for Pearl (Lynette Curran) will be more complex in its gratification.

Keats is the m ost interesting character in the film .

GIBSON: Yes, within those narrative conventions we’ve worked in

and those narrative conventions are 1940s and ’50s social problem movies.

LEFT: H U ZZ A H P R O D U C T IO N S ' JO H N CR U TH ER S, RO SS G IB S O N , AD R IEN N E PARR AN D A N D R EW P LA IN .

R IG H T: FILM IN G THE SEQ U EN CE IN THE S Y D N EY A Q U A R IU M .

BE LO W : PEA R L (O FF-SC R EEN ) TH REA TEN S LESTER (G A N D H I M A C IN T Y R E). DEAD TO THE W O RLD.

The other convention is Jacobean drama­ turgy, which a lot of film noir and 1950s prob­ lem movies are derived from. In Jacobean dramaturgy, Keats is the Machiavellian char­ acter, someone who has managed to perhaps - that “perhaps” is a dramatic com ponent of the problem - purge morality and compassion from his constitution.

AUSTRALIAN CINEMA

PLAIN: This film is largely a response to what we think is wrong with Australian film. It is on one level a cerebral film, but, on another level, it is not. It has a strong story; it is not inaccessible. People have said to us, “Do you think audiences will understand this?” O f course! People can’t believe that you can be both cerebral and entertaining. They’ll accept it from a German or a French film, but not an Australian film.

PARR: It’s a problem brought up in Australia by the commercial viability of film. Anti-intellectualism has actually been intellectualized so that people theorize about why you shouldn’t theorize about your own work.

What do you se e as problem atic in Australian cinema?

PLAIN: On the whole, I think Australian audiences hate Australian films. But if you make something that’s not like other Australian films, they start to get nervous about that, too. They’ve posited their cinema in a safe position, which is that they don’t like to look at it, but it’s kind of nice.

PARR: Inoffensive.

CRUTHERS: Well behaved. It was a fairly conscious decision on Dead to the World to take the film away from the warm hue of emotional connections, the stuff that has been im portant to realist Australian cinema. I think people look for gratification when they go to the movies, certainly, but there are three or four other kinds of gratification apart from the emotions: spectacle, sound, vision, intellectual gratification. There is also satire, comedy, passion.

One thing that perhaps 99 per cent of people won’t pick-up on is the conscious manipulation of just about every element of the film and the sense of play within it. T hat’s a hallmark of post­ m odern work. It is a lot easier to recognize and come to terms with

in other kinds of work, but it’s certainly a first for people engaged in it in a film. “What’s this? Am I supposed to laugh?”

The characters in Dead to the World are so much larger than life and, of course, the dialogue is so much pushed in the direction of genre stylization that it’s supposed to be quite recognizable.

GIBSON: I think there is a fear in Australia that people have of theorizing about their work, of thinking it right through to the end, as if that can in some way kill the magic.

PARR: We broke quite a few taboos.

Obviously the decision to totally post-synch the dialogue was greeted as dubious by the film m aking community. But that som e­ how reflects your w hole aesthetic, o f challenging work m ethods through to narrative traditions.

PARR: T hat’s right. We didn’t realize just what the taboos were until we broke them.

Such as post-synching, theorizing and dialogue. T he latter consists o f a florid, thickly allusive use o f language that is very unusual and not just in an Australian context.

PLAIN: I think that’s related to another taboo, to another thing that you’re not supposed to do in Australian film, and that is to have characters who can talk to one another.

PARR: It’s like the decision to post-synch. It’s an attitude that says the object of film is to construct and deconstruct whatever you want. Whereas, in a realist tradition, you say that something magical happened on the day of recording.

GIBSON: It has an integrity that you can’t interfere with.

PARR: We don’t believe that.

PLAIN: We’d tell people we were post-synching and they’d ask, “Why?” THE SOUND

Can you describe the con cept behind the soundtrack?

GIBSON: The sound area is part of the plastic thrill of cinema. It’s one of the reasons why we thought we’d really go for it on the soundtrack.

Collectively, we all have a dissatisfaction with the way sound­ tracks in Australian film are the lowest common denominator.

Every aspect of the soundtrack is brought down to the worst piece of recorded dialogue; you end up flattening everything out to the vagaries of the real world in which you are trying to act out your fiction. It seems strange to spend so much time framing, lighting CINEMA

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and getting the visual thematics in place, only to compromise the soundtrack.

We were interested in the soundtrack as being part of this evocation of legend land, as a com ponent of the film that is dense with meaning. It is something we wanted to have absolute control over.

We told the actors that we were going to make the film twice and that they should conceptualize their work on that basis. Most actors in Australia, because of the stylistics of Australian film, have never had to confront the techniques of post-synching. (Actors in America have to have this craft or they don’t work.) We had to establish with the actors that it was to do with technique and craft, that it was not about recapturing some splendid m om ent that happened on set. They had to build up that character again in the m om ent of the recreation.

PLAIN: I think that a lot of people see the whole process of post-

synching as a cheat. You get the actor into the recording studio after the shooting and have them say their lines again, somehow tricking them into co-operating. The actors don’t see .why they have to do it again and they get their backs up about it.

On Dead to the World, our actors watched the film straight through with the dialogue guidetrack. This never happens. What happens on most films is that, if an actor has a few post-synch lines, they come in and do them, and that’s it. The screening gave the actors the opportunity to talk about it, as well as a new understanding of their characters. They could see how it had been constructed within the narrative.

fitted. There is not one footstep that is not exactly in synch with the picture. O ur philosophy was that it must do something for the audience to hear this incredibly clean, disembodied sound. Angus Robertson, who recorded it all for us at Spectrum, asked us, “Did you go back and use some synch stuff?” He couldn’t believe that you could get post-synch to fit that well.

PARR: We were doing something that a lot of sound editors won’t

do: we were actually cutting to words. Say you have a piece of sound where the word goes wrrhh, we would cut a little bit of the word out so it would fit. O f course, some would say that you shouldn’t touch an actor’s words.

GIBSON: Yes, people say that. But why shouldn’t you touch an actor’s words? You cut them up in editing, you’ve cut them in other ways. Why can’t you cut their noises as well?

PARR: Every sound effect in the film had components; nothing was just one sound. Take, for instance, a punch: it would be made up of the sound of a real punch thrown by our pro-boxer, and the sound of air being expelled from a small cushion, plus a twig snapping.

HUZZAH PRODUCTIONS

CRUTHERS: This is the first film that I’m aware of that has been made and produced by graduates from the University of Technology Communications course. That course is basically representa­ tive of a new type of film education and a new way of thinking about film.

CRUTHERS: Actors often complain that post-synching happens

PLAIN: I think we all agree at Huzzah that, like the course, you

months after they’ve given the performance. We had it set up so that there was the least am ount of time between the end of shooting and the post-synching sessions.

can’t have practical filmmaking without some sort of intellectual discourse. You say things and then someone asks you about your favourite movies and you say Batman. Then they stare at you as if to say I must have this wrong. They can’t reconcile these two things.

We all have a genuine love of what gets shown commercially.

GIBSON: One of the things that warmed my heart was that some

of the actors who initially went white at the knuckles at the idea saw it as a challenge, took it On and thoroughly enjoyed it. The evidence is there: they were all very good at it.

You work with a philosophy of acting which is definitely not talking about some indexical relationship with the real world.

Actors are these dirty big signs: walking, talking signs. Actors have the techniques to change their meaning.

With a cou p le o f m inor exceptions, the post-synching appears p erfect on the screen. T here are m om ents which are just extraor­ dinary, like the giant close-ups o f m ouths. What was the recording p rocess and the ideas behind it?

PARR: Every character has h is/h er own signature sound. Pearl has

her car screeches, Keats has his ring clicks, Manny (Tibor Gyapjas) has his chains and so on. With the actual process of synching, it was very basic: you sit down with your piece of film and your sound tape and you line it up.

For the recording of the post-synch dialogue, we used an old radio mike called an Electrovoice. It is cardioid and has a much more rounded sound than most m odern microphones, such as the 416.

PLAIN: None of that m odern shhh-sound.

PARR: We tried a few different mikes before choosing that one.

The philosophy for the sound on Dead to the World was largely in­ fluenced by 1940s and ’50s studio films which, if they weren’t post­ synch, were recorded on sound stages with very clean tracks.

Everyone was recorded right up against the mike, no m atter what was happening on the screen. This gives everyone the same importance.

PLAIN: W hen there was a choice between getting a sound live

outside and the studio, we would always choose the studio. All the effects were transferred to magnetic tape and then individually 40

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H uzzah is constructed around the con cept o f a w ell co-ordinated, extrem ely efficien t group o f specialists w ho collaborate and critique each others’ work. D id this ever cause tension with technicians and p eo p le com ing into it?

GIBSON: To put it as a real cliché, everybody was making the same

film because we had talked about it so much.

PLAIN : I think there were times when we were interviewing people

for technical positions and the person would want to know which one of us would be the one speak to. They would ask, “Could you elect someone?”

We have a clear direction, but it was im portant for people to understand it would be all four of us that make decisions.

Obviously, on set Ross is the director, while I would have to make certain decisions about cutting, Adrienne with sound and John in production.

CRUTHERS: I think the music was the area which was very hard to

theorize about.

GIBSON: That was interesting for me as I ran into my theoretical incapacities. I don’t know how to talk theoretically about music.

PLAIN: You don’t think “it needs more oom ph” is a theoretical

position?

FUTURE PROJECTS

H uzzah have a num ber o f scripts in the works. Are m em bers working on their own features?

PLAIN: I think the im portant thing is not whether all four of us work on these projects together. What matters is that, if they are Huzzah productions, then they will be made in this m anner and Huzzah is a process. The realist tradition is only one way to make a film.

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" M a r l e n e e n s h r in e s t h e D ie t r i c h a u r a f o r a l l t i m e s . "

Starring M arcello M astrDianni and A nita E kberg

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Set in the 60s the story is a series of dream-f ike, disconnected masques unfolding in and around Rome. A faie of style, decadence, the pursuit of fame and the good life.

Marlene Dietrich made her film debut in 1923 and her last appearance in 1978; five years before this documentary on her life and career was put together.

S U B S C R IP T IO N S R E C E IV E D B Y 3 1 M A Y 1 9 9 1 W IL L B E IN C L U D E D IN A D R A W T O W IN T H E A B O V E T W O V ID E O S , S U P P L IE D C O U R T E S Y O F C O N T E M P O R A R Y V ID E O V IS IO N S * .

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ISSUES:

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PAPERS

NUMBER 1 (JANUARY 1974):

David Williamson, Ray Harryhausen, Peter Weir, Antony Ginnane, Gillian Armstrong, Ken G. Hall, The C a rs th a t A t e Paris.

NUMBER 2 (APRIL 1974):

Censorship, Frank M oorhouse, Nicolas Roeg, Sandy H arbutt, Film under Allende, B etw een The W ars, A l v in P u rp le

NUMBER 3 (JULY 1974):

Richard Brennan, John Papadopolous, Willis O ’Brien, William Friedkin, The T ru e Story O f E skim o N ell.

NUMBER 10 (SEPT/OCT 1976)

Nagisa Oshima, Philippe M ora, Krzysztof Zanussi, Marco Ferreri, Marco Belloochio, gay cinema.

NUMBER 11 (JANUARY 1977)

Emile De Antonio, Jill Robb, Samuel Z. ArkofF, Roman Polanski, Saul Bass, The P ic tu r e Show M a n .

NUMBER 12 (APRIL 1977)

Ken Loach, Tom Haydon, Donald Sutherland, Bert Deling, Piero Tosi, John Dankworth, John Scott, D ays O f Hope,

NUMBER 27 (JUNE-JULY 1980)

NUMBER 47 (AUGUST 1984)

NUMBER 60 (NOVEMBER 1986)

Randal Kleiser, Peter Yeldham, Donald Richie, obituary' of Hitchcock, N Z film industry, G ren d cl G re n d e l G rendel.

Richard Lowenstein, Wim Wenders, David Bradbury, Sophia Turkiewicz, H ugh Hudson, R obbery U n d e r A r m s.

Australian Television, Franco Zeffirelli, Nadia Tass, Bill Bennett, Dutch Cinema, Movies By Microchip, Otello.

NUMBER 28 (AUG/SEPT 1980)

NUMBER 48 (OCT/NOV 1984)

NUMBER 61 (JANUARY 1987)

The G e ttin g O f W isdom .

Bob Godfrey, Diane Kurys, Tim Burns, John O ’Shea, Bruce Beresford, B a d

Ken Cameron, Michael Pattinson, Jan Sardi, Yoram Gross, B odyline, The S lim

NUMBER 13 ( JULY 1977)

T im in g , R oadgam es.

D u sty M ovie.

Alex Cox, Roman Polanski, Philippe Mora, Martin Armiger, film in South Australia, D ogs I n Space, H o w lin g I I I .

Louis Malle, Paul Cox, John Power, Jeanine Seawell, Peter Sykes, Bernardo Bertolucci, I n Search O f A n n a .

NUMBER 29 (OCT/NOV 1980)

NUMBER 49 (DECEMBER 1984)

NUMBER 62 (MARCH 1987)

Bob Ellis, Uri Windt, Edward Woodward, Lino Brocka, Stephen Wallace, Philippine cinema, C ru isin g , The L a st O u tla w .

Alain Resnais, Brian McKenzie, Angela Punch McGregor, Ennio Morricone, Jane Campion, horror films, N ie l Lynne.

Screen Violence, David Lynch, Cary Grant, ASSA conference, production barometer, film finance, The Story O f

NUMBER 36 (FEBRUARY 1982)

NUMBER 50 (FEB/MARCH 1985)

Kevin Dobson, Brian Kearney, Sonia Hofmann, Michael Rubbo, Blow O u t,

Stephen Wallace, Ian Pringle, Walerian Borowczyk, Peter Schreck, Bill Conti, Brian May, The L a s t B a stio n , Bliss.

NUMBER 14 (OCTOBER 1977)

Phil Noyce, M att Carroll, Eric Rohmer, Terry Jackman, John H uston, L u k e ’s K in g d o m , The L a s t W ave, B lu e Fire L ady.

NUMBER 15 (JANUARY 1978)

B rea ker M o r a n t, Body H e a t, The M a n F rom Snow y R iv e r .

Tom Cowan, Francois Truffaut, John Faulkner, Stephen Wallace, the Taviani brothers, Sri Lankan cinema, T he

NUMBER 37 (APRIL 1982)

Ir is h m a n , The C h a n t O f J im m ie B la cksm ith .

Stephen MacLean, Jacki Weaver, Carlos Saura, Peter Ustinov, women in drama,

NUMBER 51 (MAY 1985)

M onkey G rip.

NUMBER 16 ( APRIL-JUNE 1978)

Gunnel Lindblom, John Duigan, Steven Spielberg, Tom Jeffrey, The A fr ic a Project, Swedish cinema, D a w n !, P a trick.

NUMBER 38 (JUNE 1982)

Geoff Burrowes, George Miller, James Ivory, Phil Noyce, Joan Fontaine, Tony Williams, law and insurance, F a r East.

NUMBER 17 (AUG/SEPT 1978)

Bill Bain, Isabelle H uppert, Brian May, Polish cinema, N ew sfro n t, The N ig h t The

NUMBER 39 (AUGUST 1982)

The K elly G a n g .

NUMBER 63 (MAY 1987)

Gillian Armstrong, Antony Ginnane, Chris Haywood, Elmore Leonard, Troy Kennedy Martin, The S acrifice, L andslides, Pee W ee’s B ig A d v e n tu r e , Jilte d .

Lino Brocka, Harrison Ford, Noni Hazlehurst, Dusan Makavejev, E m o h R u o ,

NUMBER 64 (JULY 1987)

W in n ers, The N a k e d C o u n try , M a d M a x : B eyond T h u n d e rd o m e , Robbery U n d e r A rm s.

Nostalgia, Dennis Hopper, Mel Gibson, Vladimir Osherov, Brian TrenchardSmith, Chartbusters, In sa tia b le.

NUMBER 52 (JULY 1985)

NUMBER 65 (SEPTEMBER 1987)

John Schlesinger, Gillian Armstrong, Alan Parker, soap operas, TV News, film advertising, D o n ’t C a ll M e G irlie, For

Angela Carter, Wim Wenders, Jean-Pierre Gorin, Derek Jarman, Gerald L’Ecuver, Gustav Hasford, AFI Awards, Poor M a n ’s

Love A lo n e, D o u b le Sculls.

O ra n g e.

NUMBER 18 (OCT/NOV 1978)

Helen Morse, Richard Mason, Anja Breien, David Millikan, Derek Granger, Norwegian cinema, National Film Archive, W e O f T he N ev e r N ever.

John Lamond, Sonia Borg, Alain Tanner, Indian cinema, D im b o o la , C a th y ’s C hild.

NUMBER 40 (OCTOBER 1982)

Henri Safran, Michael Ritchie, Pauline Kael, Wendy Hughes, Ray Barrett, M y

To E den.

N a v ig a to r, W h o ’s T h a t G irl.

NUMBER 19 (JAN/FEB 1979)

NUMBER 54 (NOVEMBER 1985)

D in n e r W ith A n d r e , The R e tu r n O f C a p ta in In vin c ib le .

NUMBER 67 (JANUARY 1988)

Graeme Clifford, Bob Weis, John Boorman, Menahem Golan, rock videos,

NUMBER 41 (DECEMBER 1982)

W ills A n d B u rke, T he G re a t Bookie Robbery, The L a n c a ster M ille r A f fa ir .

John Duigan, George Miller, Jim Jarmusch, Soviet cinema- Part I, women in film, shooting in 70m m , filmmaking in Ghana, The T e a r M y Voice Broke,

NUMBER 55 (JANUARY 1986)

S e n d A G orilla.

Prow ler.

Antony Ginnane, Stanley Hawes, Jeremy Thomas, Andrew Sarris, sponsored documentaries, B lu e Fin. NUMBER 20 (MARCH-APRIL 1979)

Ken Cameron, Claude Lelouch, Jim Sharman, French cinema, M y B r illia n t

Igor Auzins, Paul Schrader, Peter Tammer, Liliana Cavani, Colin Higgins, The T e a r O f L iv in g D angerously.

C areer.

NUMBER 42 (MARCH 1983) NUMBER 22 (JULY/AUG 1979)

Bruce Petty, Luciana Arrighi, Albie Thoms, S ta x , A lis o n ’s B irth d a y

Mel Gibson, John Waters, Ian Pringle, Agnes Varda, copyright, S trik eb o u n d , The

NUMBER 53 (SEPTEMBER 1985)

NUMBER 66 (NOVEMBER 1987)

Bryan Brown, Nicolas Roeg, Vincent Ward, H ector Crawford, Emir Kusturica, New Zealand film and television, R e tu r n

Australian Screenwriters, Cinema and China, James Bond, James Clavden, Video, De Laurentiis, New World, The

James Stewart, Debbie Byrne, Brian Thompson, Paul Verhoeven, Derek Meddings, tie-in marketing, The R ig h tH a n d M a n , B irdsville.

M a n F rom Snow y R iv e r .

NUMBER 56 (MARCH 1986)

NUMBER 24 (DEC/JAN 1980)

NUMBER 43 (MAY/JUNE 1983)

Brian Trenchard-Smith, Ian Holmes, Arthur Hiller, Jerzy Toeplitz, Brazilian cinema, H a r le q u in .

Sydney Pollack, Denny Lawrence, Graeme Clifford, The D ism issal, C a r e fu l H e M ig h t

Fred Schepisi, Dennis O ’Rourke, Brian Trenchard-Smith, John Hargreaves, D e a d -

NUMBER 25 (FEB/MARCH 1980)

NUMBER 44-45 (APRIL 1984)

David Puttnam , Janet Strickland, Everett de Roche, Peter Faiman, C h a in R e a c tio n ,

David Stevens, Simon Wincer, Susan Lambert, a personal history of C in e m a

S tir.

Papers, S tree t K ids.

NUMBER 26 (APRIL/MAY 1980)

NUMBER 46 (JULY 1984)

Charles H. JofFe, Jerome Heilman, Malcolm Smith, Australian nationalism, Japanese cinema, Peter Weir, W a te r U n d e r

Paul Cox, Russell Mulcahy, Alan J. Pakula, Robert Duvall, Jeremy Irons, E u re ka

T he B ridge.

H e a r T ou.

Stockade, W a te r fro n t, T he Boy I n The B u s h ,A W o m a n Suffers, S tr e e t H ero.

E n d D r iv e -I n , The M o re T h in g s C h a n g e, K a n g a ro o , Tracy.

NUMBER 58 (JULY 1986)

Woody Allen, Reinhard Hauff, Orson Welles, the Cinémathèque Française, The F rin g e D w ellers, G re a t E xp ecta tio n s: The U n to ld S to r y , The L a s t F ro n tier.

NUMBER 68 (MARCH 1988)

Martha Ansara, Channel 4, Soviet Cinema, Jim McBride, Glamour, Ghosts O f The C iv il D e a d , Feathers, O cean, O cean.

NUMBER 69 (MAY 1988)

Special Cannes issue, film composers, sex, death and family films, Vincent Ward, Luigi Acquisto, David Parker, production barometer, Ian Bradley, P leasure Dom es.

NUMBER 70 (NOVEMBER 1988)

Film Australia, Gillian Armstrong, Fred Schepisi, Wes Craven, John Waters, A1 Clark, S h a m e Screenplay Part I. NUMBER 71 (JANUARY 1989)

NUMBER 59 (SEPTEMBER 1986)

Robert Altman, Paul Cox, Lino Brocka, Agnes Varda, The AFI Awards, The M overs.

Yahoo Serious, David Cronenberg, The Year in Retrospect, Film Sound , T o tin g E in ste in , S hout, The L a s t T e m p ta tio n o f C h rist, S a lt S a liv a S p erm a n d S w ea t

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NUMBER 123 AUTUMN 1985

The 1984 W omen’s Film Unit, The Films o f Solrun Hoaas, Louise Webb, Scott Hicks, Jan Roberts

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Films for Workers, Merata Mita, Len Lye, Marleen Gorris, Daniel Petrie, Larry Meltzer NUMBER 125 SPRING 1985

Rod Webb, Marleen Gorris, Ivan Gaal, R e d M a ti ld a s , Sydney Film Festival

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on film and television, such as Kate Sands, Women of the Wave;

The Victorian W omen’s Film Unit, Randelli’s, Laleen Jayamanne, Lounge Room Rock, The Story' o f Oberhausen

Ross Gibson, Formative Landscapes; Debi Enker, Cross-over and Collaboration: Kennedy Miller, Scott Murray, George Miller, Scott

NUMBER 127 AUTUMN 1986

AFTRS reviews, Jane Oehr, John Hughes, Melanie Read, Philip Brophy,Gyula Gazdag, C hile: H a sta C uando?

NUMBER 128 WINTER 1986

Karin Altmann, Tom Cowan, Gillian Coote, Nick Torrens, David Bradbury, Margaret Haselgrove, Karl Steinberg, AFTRS graduate films, Super 8, Pop M ovie

NUMBER 129 SPRING 1986

Reinhard Hauff, 1986 Sydney Film Festival, Nick Zedd, Tony Rayns, Australian Independent Film, Public Television in Australia, Super 8 NUMBER 130 SUMMER 1986/87

Sogo Ishii, Tom Havdon, Gillian Leahy, Tom Zubrycki, John Hanhardt, Australian Video Festival, Erika Addis, Ross Gibson, Super 8, C a m e r a N a tu r a NUMBER 131 AUTUMN 1987

Richard Lowenstein, New Japanese Cinema, Ken Russell, Taking a Film Production Overseas, Richard Chataway and Michael Cusack NUMBER 132 WINTER 1987

Censorship in Australia, Rosalind Krauss, Troy Kennedy Martin, New Zealand Cinema, David Chesworth

Murray, Terry Hayes; Graeme Turner, Mixing Fact and Fiction; NUMBER 133 SPRING 1987

Wim Wenders, Solveig Dommartin, The Films of Wim Wenders, Jean-Pierre Gorin, Michelangelo Antonioni, Wendy Thompson, Michael Lee, Jonathan Dennis, Super 8 NUMBER 134 SUMMER 1987/88

Recent Australian Films, Film Music, Groucho’s Cigar, Jerzy Domaradzki, H ong Kong Cinema, The Films of Chris Marker, David Noakes, The D e vil in the Flesh, Hon> the W est W as Lost

NUMBER 135 AUTUMN 1988

Alfred Hitchcock, Martha Ansara, New Chinese Cinema, Lindsay Anderson, Sequence Magazine, Cinema Italia, New Japanese Cinema, F a ta l A ttr a c tio n NUMBER 136 WINTER 1988

Film Theory and Architecture, Victor Burgin, Horace Ove, Style Form and History in Australian Mini Series, B ine Velvet, South o f the Border, C a n n ib a l Tours

NUMBER 137 SPRING 1988

H anif Kureishi, Fascist Italy and American Cinema, Gillian Armstrong, Atom Egoyan, Film Theory' and Architecture, S h a m e , Television Mini Series, Korean Cinema, S a m m y a n d Rosie G et L a id ■

NUMBER 72 (MARCH 1989)

NUMBER 77 (JANUARY 1990)

Charles Dickens’ L ittle D o rrit, Australian Sci-Fi movies, Survey: 1988 Mini-Series, Aromarama, Ann Turner’s C elia, Fellini’s La dolce v ita , Women and Westerns

Special John Farrow profile, Blood O ath, Dennis Whitburn and Brian Williams, Don McLennan and B reakaw ay, “Crocodile” Dundee overseas.

NUMBER 73 (MAY 1989)

NUMBER 78 (MARCH 1990)

Cannes Issue, Phil Noy'ce’s D e a d C a lm , Franco Nero, Jane Campion, Ian Pringle’s The P risoner o f St. Petersburg, Frank Pierson - Scriptwriter, Australian films at Cannes, Pay TV.

George Ogilvie’s The Crossing , Ray Argali’s R e tu r n H om e, Peter Greenaway and The Cook, The T h ie f H is W ife a n d H e r Lover, Michel Ciment, Jack Clayton, B angkok H ilto n and B arlow a n d C ham bers

NUMBER 74 (JULY 1989)

NUMBER 80 (AUGUST 1990)

Tlje D elin q u e n ts, Australians in Holly­

wood, Chinese Cinema, Philippe Mora, Yuri Sokol, Twins, T ru e Believers, Ghosts... o f the C iv il D ead, S ham e screenplay.

Cannes report, Fred Schepisi career interview, Peter Weir and G reencard, Pauline Chan, Gus Van Sant and D rugstore Cowboy, German Stories.

NUMBER 75 (SEPTEMBER 1989)

NUMBER 81 (DECEMBER 1990)

Sally Bongers, The Teen Movie, A n im a te d , E dens Lost, Maty' Lambert and P et S e m a ta n , Martin Scorsese and Paul Schrader, Ed Pressman.

Ian Pringle Isabelle E b erh a rd t , Jane Campion A n A n g e l A t M y Table, Martin Scorsese Goodfellas, Alan J. Pakula P resum ed In n o c e n t

NUMBER 76 (NOVEMBER 1989)

NUMBER 82 (MARCH 1991)

Simon Wincer and Q iiigley D o w n U nder, Kennedy Miller, Terry' Hayes, B angkok H ilto n , John Duigan, F lirtin g , R om ero , Dennis Hopper and Kiefer Sutherland, Frank Howson, Ron Cobb.

Francis Ford Coppola The G odfath er P a r t I I I , Barbet Schroeder R eversa l o f F ortune, Bruce Beresford’s Black Robe, Ramond Hollis Longford, B a ckslid in g , Bill Bennetts, Sergio Corbucci obituary. ■

Michael Leigh, Curiouser and Curiouser; Adrian Martin, Nurturing the Next Wave.

The Back of Beyond Catalogue is lavishly illustrated with more than 130 photographs, indexed, and has full credit listings for some 80 films.

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ANE CASTLE graduated from the AFTRS in 1987 where she directed the award-winning short, Roadside Cafe. Castle has shot m ore than twenty music clips for such rock performers as Jimmy Barnes, M idnight Oil, James Freud and Hunters and Collectors. Castle was also camera operator on Sweetie.

J

P e t e r

G a l v i n

I like to move the camera when the dramatics of the script call for it and you can really bring that out. In action scenes, it’s fantastic sometimes. Hollywood tends to move the camera so much, mainly because they have these fantastic machines! I think it’s im portant to keep your mind open.

H ow did you work with H uzzah in d evelopin g the film ’s very distinctive look?

T his is your first feature as director o f photography. W ere you confident?

O f course not! I know it’s crazy, but I guess it’sjust the myth of the “feature”. I think the minute you get confident you end up doing something boring with your work.

O ver the m any projects that you have w orked on, have you b een at all con scious o f d evelopin g a style which is identifiable with you?

I think you have to be diverse. You d on’t want to get locked into a style. You push yourself to be different each time out, and I have my own likes and dislikes with lighting and composition.

In terms of lighting, I like to work straight from the script, looking at people’s emotions and interpreting them and putting that into the lighting. I use the possibilities that are thrown by the location and try not to work off a formula or a pattern.

For example, I d o n ’t like to track with someone just because they happen to be walking along the street. You can show people in so many other ways, so why have this camera attached to them?

Huzzah has always had a really strong concept of the film. There was a basic storyboard when I arrived on the project and I think that really helped Ross get his m ind around it. I never work off storyboards in terms of composition and framing because they are basic pictures. You only work off them as a guide to coverage and, in some cases, you can use them as a stylistic reference. If you get locked into them, it can be a very negative way of working; when you arrive on location, you realize that they are very unrealistic.

Ross and I went right through the storyboard very early on and we spent a week discussing it line by line. Some scenes, like the action scenes, were not even storyboarded.

T h e lighting and com p osition are striking throughout, but the coverage style - extrem e wide-shots, su dd en close-ups - is quite strange. T h e m id-shot never arrived.

Yeah! We were going for a very restrained coverage, a highly stylized coverage, and not just a kind of mise-en-scène ofwide-shots CINEMA

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• 41

LEFT: A LEX (A G N IE S Z K A P ER EPEC Z K O ) A N D HER Y O U N G B O X IN G C H A M P IO N , M A N tiY (T IB O R G Y A P JA S ). B ELO W : D R U G S, M O N E Y , T A TTO O S, A D EAL. H U ZZA H PR O D U C TIO N S ' DEAD TO THE W O RLD. DIRECTO R OF P H O TO G R A P H Y , JA N E CA STLE.

cally. It’s not about one particular person’s emotions and feelings, it’s an ensemble piece, with pretty fast action. It’s a film that lingers on people.

So, I didn’t approach it at all naturalistically, where you have to have a living room that looks like a living room. We went for a comic book kind of approach with very graphic frames, using a hard foreground and then background. We used blocks of colour, not a lot of back light and fill key. That kind of stylization gave me a lot of freedom with colour.

Given the low budget and six-week shoot, did you fee l that your hands w ere tied behind your back?

In the gym mainly. Every master shot there was a huge set-up and the plan was to avoid overtime. We only did a few hours, which is fairly unusual.

But I ’ve often worked on low-budge t shoots and working under impossible conditions is not so unusual. You just do it.

The film has a couple o f truly outrageous m om ents: For instance, the scene that introduces the villain, Mr Keats, dressed as Santa in a stark lounge room saturated with blue light. Christmas lights are also flashing, giving the scen e an uneasy feel.

It was probably the craziest idea that I had! I’ll own up to it now. The flashing lights were my idea.

Keats is a sort of sleaze-bag character. H e’s rich and the blue is related to that. H e’s a bastard with this up-market flat, and the things that happen around Keats are quite Weird. and close-ups when really needed. We avoiding covering scenes with the usual close-up, mid-shot. etc.

When the close-ups arrive at the end of the film, it’s very exciting. We also used some really extreme wide-shots in the gym to give it a sense of space.

This is a very low-budget film and yet the finished work looks rich and strong. That is interesting because D ead to the World presented som e extrem ely difficult problem s. For instance, the gym, where over a third o f the action takes place, is just an enorm ous space.

H ow did you work with it?

It was really difficult with the lights.

Basically, we used a 6k as a key and blondies [reflected] off poly for fill on the ground near people’s faces. I could get right into their eyes.

Then I had to light all the walls around the gym so they wouldn’t go black. I did that with red heads.

It was a very difficult space, espe­ cially with the lights we had. I just tried to make it a moody space by keeping the walls down and the win­ dows bleeding through. Obviously, there were limitations. I had to go direct with my key light, which is unfortunate as it’s such a hard light.

But in such a huge space, that was all I could do. We didn’t have control over the windows, so we were con­ stantly taking NV screens on and off outside and frosts.

Dead to the World is not a natural­ istic drama. It’s a genre piece, basi42

• CINEMA

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Each tim e Keats appears he is seen in a d ifferen t place and h e is shot in a d ifferen t way.

That’s right. The places where you see him are quite weird: the aquarium, the railway tunnel, the sparse flat.

N othing is ever norm al with Keats.

That’s where I got the idea for the Christmas lights. The script said there were lights and a Christmas scene, so I thought why not use them.

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GREG

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AND

S COTT

MU R R A Y

A whole Worl MAINSTREAM EXHIB After years of little development in main­ stream distribution and exhibition, things

VILLA G E ROADSHOW GRAHAM BU RKE M ANAGING D IR EC T O R I

are rapidly changing. There are technologi­ I N T E R V I E W ED BY

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cal improvements in cinema projection and sound, the emergence of many multiplexes in the suburbs and a breakdown of tradition in only shouhng product from one’s in-house distributor (Hoyts, fo r example, is now showing Village Roadshow films, and vice versa).

Going to a movie is now fa r easier, and generally more pleasurable (except fo r the increased talking and noisy sweet wrappers).

Even video, once announced as the death knell fo r cinemas, is seen as encouraging people back into the movie theatres.

Not that a love of movies need stop there.

Village and Greater Union have joined forces with Warner Bros, to recently open the Movie World theme park in Surfers Paradise, Queensland.

To get a perspective on these changes, Cinema P apers spoke to leading figures at the

three main exhibitor-distributors. In a future issue, the story will continue with the smaller, but no less important, distributors and exhibitors.

GRAHAM BURKE, M AN AGIN G DIRECTOR, VILLAGE ROADSHOW .

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What do you see as the principal future direc­ tions for the Village-Roadshow group?

The main direction we are on about is turning posidves into positives. We live in a country, and a world, where everybody is talking doom and gloom instead of being posiuve andjoyful, which is what we’re trying to be. We are lucky in that the entertainment business tradiuonally acts in a counter-cyclical way to difficult times, as it did in the great Depression and as it is doing today.

What we are doing is trying to build the enure entertainment base of our group. If you look at our total direction, everything has a synergy; everything interlocks with what we’re doing. You might ask how? Well, we are build­ ing, in partnership with Greater Union and Warner Bros., state-of-the-art muldplexes across Australia. By taking movies to the people, we are bringing in people who weren’t previously going to the movies. For example, in Knox there were two old theatres out there that were averaging $20,000 a week. Logic would say that if you replace them with ten new screens, you are going to spread that $20,000 over those screens. Well, that’s not the case, because we are averaging $180,000 a week. And we know from our research that it is because new people are coming to the movies.

As for Warner Bros. Movie World, it is more than a theme park. What we are doing is building the movie business in this country and putung movies into people’s culture. If you go toMovieWorld,youwantto get into the whole world of movies.

And when you go back to your suburb or town, be it W angaratta, South Yarra or Moonee Ponds, you are more likely to make movies part of what you do, whether it be by renting video tapes or going to a cinema. So our direction is very much movies, and entertainment and movies.

We have four principal areas of expressing that: 1. Warner Bros. Movie World; 2. Warner Roadshow Studios; 3. Roadshow distribution, where we distribute theatrically and on video and into television, through our Village multiplexes and theatres; and, 4. Film prod­ uction.

These are the four legs to the table and they are all driven by the movies and entertainment.

Going through them separately, what is the concept behind Warner Bros. Movie World?

Warner Bros. Movie World, we believe, is the most exciting entertainment event that has ever happened in Australia. It is a look behind the scenes of a real-life working studio, to­ gether with some of the best shows and at­ tractions that have ever been assembled. What makes them doubly interesting, of course, is that they are all movie-driven, all movie-related.

Let me give you a little taste of a day at Warner Bros. Movie World, and the experi­ ence will take you a whole day. You arrive at the carpark, where we have parking for three-anda-half thousand cars, before entering through the Warner grand archway. You pass the Foun­ tain of Fame and then get on the tram tour ol the Warner Roadshow Studios, which overseas

d of Movies T IO IM

I INI T H E

1 9 9 0 S BELO W : A RTIST'S IM PRESSION OF W ARN ER BRO S. M OVIE W ORLD.

people say are state-of-the-art and world stand­ ard.

This tour I’ve done many times and I still find it fun. You see sound stages, sets from movies, and the costume and carpentry de­ partments. There is a real buzz in being at a major-league studio.

Is the tour dependent on their actually being a production shooting, or will you have to stage things?

We believe that the studios will be very busy.

Since we’ve owned them, there have been three major television series and five feature films shot there. At the moment, we are shoot­ ing Round the Bend with Olympia Dukakis, and from May onwards bookings are vety, veiy heavy in terms «('television series and features.

Now, alter the studio, you go to another huge sound stage where we have the Magic of Movies. We show how blue screen and sound are done, plus we have the Memphis Belleshow.

where we have the actual Memphis Belle that Warners built for the film. It is $US7 million worth of recreated flying fortress, assembled on a gimbal, which does its thing along with all the models. It truly is the magic behind the movies.

Now, at this point, you have probably spent about an hour, or an hour-and-a-quarter, on this more educadve, but still very entertaining, part of the attraction. Then you head into Main Street and go into a whole world of wonder, fun and entertainment. Let me just touch upon some of the attractions, and there are many more than I will tell you about. First, there’s the Police Academy stunt show, which is a lot of fun and full of action. We bought four actual L.A.P.D. police cars and we have an actual black helicopter that explodes every hour on the hour, in the most amazing way.

That’s one hell of an action-packed show.

Or, you can head across to the Looney Tunes area and join the quest to find Bugs

Bunny who’s down under. It is a very exciting dark ride. Or, you can go to the cartoon cor­ ner, or the Road Runner ride, or Yosemite Sam’s. There is also the Adventures in the Fourth Dimension, which is a wonderful inter­ mixing of such classic Warner Bros. 3-D movies as The House ofWax and Dial Mfor Murder. Ituses the most modern technology and things actu­ ally come off the screen and dance before your eyes.

Other options are Young Einstein’s Grav­ ity Flomestead, where things aren’t as thev appear to be, and the Western Action and Animal Actors Stage, where you see what horses and dogs do in the movies. There is some pretty rip-roaring Western action to boot. Or you can go to the Hollywood Classics, the Great Gremlins Adventure, or simply wander around Main Street to all of the stores and shops that have been recreated from Warner classic movies. There’s the Aunt Maine De­ partment Store, the Will}- Wonkers Chocolate CINEMA

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Factory, Dirty Harry ’s Bar and the Sundowners Outback Outfitters. If you’re hungry, which you are bound to be somewhere in the middle of all this, you can go to Rick’s Casablanca Cafe or The Commissary, or one of the four or five other eating places.

I’m obviously very excited about it. And I’ve taken a number of different types of peo­ ple over it recently and, without exception, they say, “Wow, this is fantastic!’’Their reaction and response is, as mine is, ofwonderful, child­ like, enthusiastic fun.

So, I think it’s a big ray of sunshine for all ofAustralia. It’s aboutwinning and having fun, and also about building the base of moviego­ ers for oiir production and exhibition indus­ try; I think it’s a positive for the movie business and for Australia.

What is your calculation in terms of people specifically travelling to Movie World, as op­ posed to those just visitingwhèn in the Surfers Paradise area?

It is significant that the other major event in our lifetime was Expo, which was held in Bris­ bane, forty minutes away from our site. We believe everybody from Queensland will go to Movie World.

We equally believe that all the visitors to Surfers, from mosdy NSW and Victoria, will go there, too. As well, many people will Opt to make a trip to Queensland, just as people in America go to Los Angeles to see the Universal studio tour or Disneyland.

In addition, we have had extraordinary interest from the Japanese, who are already booking in huge numbers to visit Movie World.

We are confident that in our first year alone we are talking hundreds of thousands of Japa­ nese. We are also talking New Zealanders, and people from Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore.

The interest has been quite extraordinary.

There is a natural proclivity for people to come to Australia, but they want even more reasons to do so. As most of this area is driven by the tour operators, Movie World is manna from heaven to these guys.

How big is Movie World in relation to the other theme parks in the world?

In terms of area, it’s probably bigger. I havejust come from Florida and the land area of our Movie World theme park is bigger. In terms of show, which iswhatl guess it’s all about, we give as much or more show than any of the other big parks in thè world.

And how does the ticketing work? Do you buy for the whole day or have to purchase separate tickets?

Admission is $29 for adults and for children $19. That entitles you to all the attractions within the park. The only thing you have to buy is your food.

The scaling o f Disneyland was three-quarters life size so that buildings don’t look too impos­ ing to children. Was there any such scaling done at Movie World?

That’s a question I can’tanswer. Whatl can say is that the man who actually built Disneyland, the legendary C.V. Wood, or Woody as he is known, is building this park for us. He is the grand designer.

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As for the man behind the whole park, the actual designer is Rolf Roth, who has been the designer of a number of major parks, includ­ ing Six Flags Over Texas and Magic Mountain.

The art director-set designer is a movie art director-set designer called Craig Denis Edgar, and he has done movies such as Top Gun, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Ghostbusters. He is the top man in his field in America, so the attention to detail and the quality of the way the park will be dressed up is quite remarkable.

see a movie. Technology has nothing to do with the communal experience of being with the mob in a movie theatre. The phone can’t ring and the mother-in-law can’t pop in and visit.

Right now, we have technological leaps in terms of bigger picture, better sound and all of those things. But I believe they’re secondary to the going-out experience.

What is the breakdown o f the park’s owner­ ship?

Video builds cinema. When it first came in, the novelty factor had a dampening effect for a year, but then it started to gradually build cinema. I believe the figures would confirm that.

There are three partners, Warner Bros., Vil­ lage Roadshow and Sea World, each of which owns a third.

You mentioned that one of the roles of the theme park is to educate and excite future moviegoers* In what sense do you see Movie World’s fulfilling that function?

Folklore has it, and I have no reason to doubt folklore, that Steven Spielberg went over the Universal Studios as a youngster and said, “Wow, this is for me.” He became so excited about film that he started seeing five movies a week, finally going on to make movies at Uni­ versal himself.

What Warners Bros. Movie World does is that it educates and interests young people about movies and everything to do with the movie culture. They are, therefore, more likely to become high-frequency moviegoers like you and me, instead of maybe high-frequency beer drinkers and football followers like some of the friends we went to school with. You and I went in one direction and these other friends of ours went in another. In our case, we are very one track.

Australia does not have a deep-seated commit­ ment to film culture. In France, for example, the news and current affairs programmes run trailers o f the films opening the next day. They prefer to report film stories to car accidents.

Apart from The Mome ShowonSBS and the odd ‘making-of5 documentary, there is no pro­ gramming commitment to cinema. Do you think there is anyway that cultural vacuum can be changed?

Well, I think we’re missing outPeter Thompson who does wonderful stuffon Sunday. Peter’slove for movies comes through and he is a joy to watch.

But what you are talking about is certainly evident in America, where there is so much more coverage of the movies. I think our television networks should wake up to this as there’s a lot more viewers interested in movies than the stuff they run towards the end of their news programmes. Let’s hope it happens.

How rapidly is seeing films in conventional cinemas going to become obsolete, or do you see that as always being a strong element of the movie experience?

I see it as always being the pre-eminent part of the movie experience, because people have gone out since recorded history to gather in groups. We like to rub shoulders and be part of a crowd. The more you get movies in any form at home, and the more ready access you have to cinemas, the more likely you are to go out to

So videos are no longer perceived as a threat to cinema going?

What techiiological changes do you see in the immediate future?

The only technological changes that logically one can foresee is better sound, better pictures and better seats. Whether you offer them at home, or in a theatre, they are, in my view, the only areas that you can go.

People are more interested in the play itself than the technology. Testament to that is the fact that of the four biggest pictures of the last year or so - Home Alone, Pretty Woman, TeenageMutant Ninja Turtlesand Ghost- notone was reliant on big gimmickry, big budget or big sound effects. They were all driven by the stories, by the players.

Curiously, one of our biggest pictures right now is a litde piece adapted for the screen and magnificently done by Mel Gibson, called Hamlet.

O f the past few years, distribution practices have changed completely. One can see a Roadshow-distributed film in a Hoyts cinema.

The old days of delineation have gone.

Totally.

How did that come about?

It was market driven. When multiplexes came along, Hoyts was first into the market with Chadstone. It was a success, so wejumped into Knox. It’s market forces; it’s competition.

In days past, each exhibition chain strove to have a better image than the others. Is that true any more?

! i

I

At Village, we try very hard to run our theatres better and give better service. We believe our seats are superior, and we are trying to build auditoriums with bigger-proportion screens and better sound. So, yes, we still try to get that edge.

But in all candour, I think the location of a cinema complex is probably the most important factor. If you live near Chadstone, you are going to go to Chadstone; if you live near Southland, you are going to go there. But for those people who live in between the two, we would hope they will select a Village theatre.

B ecau se o f the in creasing num ber o f multiplexes in the outlying suburbs, is the city now becoming a shrinking market?

The city used to be the ‘be all and end all’, whereas today it is a market corridor along with many other market corridors. But it is still a very important part of the market and I believe it will remain so in the Australian con­ text.

1

As to film production, what are your immediate plans?

We recently made five feature films and we are involved, through Roadshow, Coote &Carroll, in television, particularlywith G. P. and the ABC. We are committed to production and to find­ ing and developing good ideas.

Film production is a business that, more than ever before, has great opportunities. But it is totally driven by ideas. Of the four boxoffice successes I mentioned earlier, all were relatively low budget, with no star names. There were no stars in HomeAlone to speak of; none at all in TeenageMutant Ninja Turtles, Pretty Woman has Richard Gere, but he was not a star at the time, though he is now; and Patrick Swayze was not considered a-significant star at the time he made Ghost, but that has certainly changed.

So, you have four non-star, non-big-budget vehicles being hits, which shouldn’t be a mys­ tery to us. George Miller with Mad Max and

Mad Max 2, and Paul Hogan with the two “Crocodile” Dundees, proved that, if you can make a terrific product that really delivers to an audience, you can create a world star. That’s what happened with the Maxs and the Dundees.

If we can come up with pictures that are won­ derfully entertaining, they’ll find an audience.

I have no doubt about that.

One could also add Young Einstein.

Of course. I was being modest because of our involvement.

What other features have you been recently involved in?

Young Einstein was actually before this renais­ sance, if you like. Since then we have done The Delinquents, Blood Oath, Turtle Beach, Hurricane Smith, Dead Sleep and Blood Moon.

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HOYTS ROY RAMSAY, TECHNICAL MANAGER , AND

GREG CAVANAGH, NATIONAL MARKETING MANAGER INTERVIEWED

BY

GREG

KERR

Over the past 15 or so years, one has seen the evolution of various technical developments some would say gimmicks - including Sensurround, 3D films and TIIX sound. What can your patrons look forward to in the way of technical improvements?

RAMSAY: I suppose the most immediate thing will be some form of digital sound, which has already been developed in a system on 70 mm

by Kodak and ORC [Optical Radiation Corpo­ ration] in America. But 70 mm, although used in some cinemas, it not a medium every cin­ ema can use.

As well, the Dolby Corporation is working on a 35 mm system which will be compatible to all cinemas. The print will have a Dolby stereo soundtrack plus a digital soundtrack.

Will you be concentrating on perfecting the projection o f 35 mm prints as opposed to the much-touted 70 mm format?

RO Y R AM SAY, TECHNICAL M ANAGER, HOYTS.

I think 70 mm is limited because of its expense. 35 mm is a much more convenient medium; you can run that anywhere in Aus­ tralia or in the world.

RAMSAY:

Filmmakers go to painstaking lengths in mak­ ing and shaping films to their specific require­ ments. Do your projectors, sound systems and screens properly represent their efforts?

We believe so, particularly in the multiplexes.

RAMSAY:

What percentage o f fidelity would you say your multiplex system achieves? Is it close to a 100 per cent result?

RAMSAY: Yes, on re-release prints. Butalthough

some directors go to great lengths, many films are let down by poor prints; sometimes even second-hand ones are brought into Australia.

That sort of thing marrs presentation. But, from our point of view, the equipment we have installed is the best you can buy.

Could you give some idea of the cost factor per cinema?

At a multiplex cinema, the cost per auditorium in projection and sound is some­ where in the vicinity of $120,000.

RAMSAY:

Is the multiplex projection system the best in terms of over-all image and sound quality?

Yes. All our multiplexes are Dolby stereo equipped and all have the extra feature of bass enhancement.

RAMSAY:

What percentage of your cinemas are multi­ plex venues?

We have roughly 122 screens operat­ ing throughout Australia. We have an eight in Perth up and running, we’re building a six in Adelaide, and we have four multiplexes in Melbourne [two of which have eight screens each, the others having 10 screens]. In Sydney, we have George St in the central business district (CBD), which is a seven, Warringah (seven), Bankstown (eight), Pagewood (six), Newcastle (six), Wollongong (six) and Parramatta (three). The Myer centre in Bris­ bane is an eight.

The other cinemas are our standard cityrelease houses which have been operating for some time, but they are all equipped with Dolby, etc.

RAMSAY:

What efforts have been made to keep up with American cinema developments?

We already have facilities in some of our cinemas for spectral recording, which is done on special 35 mm prints in Dolby. It is a new type of recording system which gives you

RAMSAY:

LEFT: LO BBY OF HOYTS' TEN-SCREEN MULTIPLEX IN FOREST HILL. CINEMA

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a greater dynamic range, and that means less background noise.

What proposals have you to improve the over­ all comfort and ambience o f your cinemas?

In the new multiplexes, we’re install­ ing all the facilities we possibly can: liquor and candy bars, and updated seating. Although the seating is brand new, we have just brought in a new model which we are trying out. It will probably be installed in Adelaide.

council and government have been working to try to turn that around.

In Sydney, you have a very strong CBD presence: it’s a very vibrant city. So, the city business in Sydney is still very strong.

G R EA TER UNION PAU L O N EILE

What sort o f emphasis is placed on consumer feedback in the design and location o f cin­ emas?

What is your organization’s cinema develop­ ment strategy for the near future?

M A N A G IN G D IR EC TO R INTERVIEWED

BY

GREG

KERR

RAMSAY:

What is your view on the sale o f plastic-wrapped confectionery at theatres, which can be so disruptive to the enjoyment o f films?

CAVANAGH:

That’s a good one. I suppose it is

annoying.

Has any conscious effort been made to eradi­ cate this problem?

We have pioneered in a lot of our Australian cinemas the sale ofbulk lollies which you pay for by weight. That has been an innova­ tion.

RAMSAY:

And eradicates the plastic wrapper?

Well, it hasn’t phased it right out, but it has taken its use down to a minimum.

The Candy House phenomenon has taken right over, and not just in Hoyts cinemas.

CAVANAGH:

Some Hoyts cinemas in the Melbourne CBD seem to be trailing in some areas - sound quality for one. Is this because the organiza­ tion is now concentrating more on suburban areas?

I don’t acknowledge that fact, though I’m not close enough to that area to acknowledge it one way or another. All I know is that when I sat through Dances with Wolves two weeks ago, at a preview at the Cinema Centre [Melbourne], I thought the sound was excellent.

Obviously, the expansion and future is in suburban multiplexes. I think everyone ac­ knowledges that fact. But there will always be theatres in the CBD area because there is a market there.

CAVANAGH:

Is this suburban expansion an Australia-wide trend for your organization?

Definitely. Not just our company but obviously the Village-Warner Bros.-Greater Union conglomerate as well. In Melbourne, obviously, there is a lot more complexes up and running. In fact, Hoyts pioneered multiplexes in Australia, Chadstone being the first in 1986.

CAVANAGH:

What percentage o f your box-office takings is from the city?

Melbourne CBD - and this is across Greater Union, Hoyts and Village - is down something like 25 to 30 per cent. Butwe’ve well and truly made that up with our expansion into the suburbs.

CAVANAGH:

Is it a similar situation in Sydney?

CAVANAGH: It is a bit different in Sydney, be­ cause it is much more sprawling. There are not as many multiplexes at this stage.

The city of Melbourne, we believe, is dying to some degree. There has been a lot of pro­ crastination by the council over things like the Regent Theatre development. The city is not vibrant in any sort of way and I know that 48

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We obviously look at all those areas. We do a lot of research.

We also look at what is happening in the U.S. [where the Hoyts chain operates 43 screens]. We have people travelling over there constantly to check out new ideas before open­ ing new complexes here.

CAVANAGH:

How has your organization been affected by the video explosion o f the 1980s and what steps were taken to revive your audience num­ bers?

CAVANAGH: Video made a big impact on the cinema; there’s no doubt about that. It shut down a lot of suburban cinemas. But, as it turns out, in the long term video helped us.

What [Hoyts chairman] Leon Fink did was take a bold move to build eight theatres at Chadstone right at that time when things were very depressed. Everyone thought we were crazy. But all we wanted to do was give people a whole new concept, whereby they had a theatre complex servicing their local commu­ nity in a shopping centre environment with free parking.

We also tried to combine a food operation close by, such as the Chadstone Pancake Par­ lour and a licensed bar. We packaged a total night out. Itgave Hoyts and our opposition the confidence to start an expansion programme.

Do you have any findings to indicate that the bulk o f Australian movie audiences has grown up from the teens to adulthood?

CAVANAGH: I’m not sure whether I’d actually say that; the answer lies in the sort of films that are being made. I think we have come out of the ‘dark ages’ and there are subjects that appear on the screen which would have been taboo many years ago.

Do you believe that drive-ins are now obsolete in terms o f the over-all movie experience?

It would appear from the outside that is the case. The real estate has become so valuable that the return at the box office is of virtually no consequence compared to selling the land off to, say, Coles Myer, which built its head office on the Toorak site.

So, it’s not as if there’s not a market there.

In places like Brisbane, there is a lot of drive-ins operating and they are all successful. That may have something to do with climate, but I would say in another five to 10 years’ time there will be the same problem on land values.

CAVANAGH:

I actually worked in drive-ins, so I do have some affection for them. But the falling attendances were sufficient to drive them out, like a redundant object or animal. They just didn’t survive in this economy.

RAMSAY:

Is this drive-in concept under review by your organization?

CAVANAGH: My gut feeling is that our future is in multiplexes.

■

To continue the expansion of cinema screens into the suburbs and into some of the provin­ cial areas of Australia. We will be following the retail trend, which is to take cinemas back to where the population centres are, rather than concentrating on CBD properties. Notwith­ standing that, it is certainly our intention to maintain a very strong presence in the city and we will continue to regard our city cinemas ks the flagship.

Has your alliance with Village Roadshow cre­ ated a different rationale in your cinema devel­ opment strategy? Why build your own cinemas when your films can be screened at Village cinemas and vice versa?

No, it hasn’t really changed our philosophy, bearing in mind that Greater Union and Vil­ lage have had a relationship for a long time through Greater Union’s shareholding in Village.

Will your efforts in improving sight and sound at your cinemas be directed into perfecting 35 mm print formats?

We are only exhibitors and therefore not out there developing new equipment. We will be limited by the developments that are gener­ ated in engineering companies and design companies around the world. Itis certainly our intention to give our patrons everything in the way of the latest technological developments.

What state-of-the-art projection system do you regard as the best at Greater Union?

From our point of view I guess it is Dolby SR with CP 200. We have a mixture of what is called Victoria 8.

As there are new developments, we look at them and enhance our systems if required.

Have significant improvements been made in this area over the past few years?

I think we are now getting a lot more light onto the screen than ever before. Presentation is enhanced every time you upgrade a projector.

D o most of your technical improvements evolve from breakthroughs in America?

Not just America; certainly also from Europe.

In fact, a lot of our equipment comes from Cinemeccanica, an Italian engineering comPAUL O EN ILE, M A N A G IN G DIRECTOR, GREATER U N IO N .

pany at the forefront ofprojector design. France is also very advanced in engineering, so we really draw from around the world.

Has your organization given any serious thought to installing chairs that move in syn­ chronization with the action on the screen?

We have looked at various techniques, but we don’t necessarily feel they are for our cinemas.

The films that are made for this concept are normally very short, five or 10 minutes. It could well be, some time in the future, that enure films are made for seat stimulation.

What ever happened to Sensurround? Why didn’t it develop and become a regular feature in movie houses?

It was probably what one could call a “gim­ mick”. It worked very well for Earthquake and up until the last film, which I think was Battle of the Midway. They made four or five films in Sensurround but the equipmentwas so expen­ sive and it was only installed in a few cinemas around the world.

As with Cinerama, after you get through about half a dozen films using the technique, interest starts to wane.

Does improving the technological aspects of your cinemas necessarily mean a correspond­ ing leap in admission charges?

Not at all. If you go back and monitor the increase in prices over whatever time-span you like, prices haven ’t kept up with the increase in inflation. Despite that, we do have the best cinemas in the world.

Exhibitors in general in Australia have continued to upgrade their cinemas without passing those costs on to the public.

DRAW ING OF THE FO YER OF THE NEW GREATER UNION M ULTIPLEX IN ADELAIDE

So you consider $11 a fair price for seeing a movie?

I believe it is a very cheap form of entertain­ ment compared with almost everything else.

When you consider the cost of a rock concert, or a disco with the cover charge included, $11 is pretty competitive.

retail outlet. We’re selling an experience, and a part of that retail function is to provide the ancillaries.

If we had noise-reduced wrappers, I sup­ pose that would be ideal, but we only have a certain amount of input.

Should there be Australian industry standards which demand across-the-board quality o f film projection and sound?

What emphasis is placed on consumer feed­ back in the design and location of your cin­ emas?

I think it’s very hard to enforce standards where you have a free market. We certainly like to think that our cinemas are right at the forefront; I think you’ll find most of our com­ petitors think likewise.

We do a tremendous amount of research, both in the design and location of cinemas: What the public is looking for? How do they get there? What better access can we give them? and so on. We’re really trying to ensure thatwe get maximum numbers of visitations to our cinemas. And we still have a long way to go. We are at about half the visitations per year per head of population in the U.S.

What plans do you have to improve the overall comfort and ambience at your cinemas?

We’re constantly looking at that. As late as this morning we were discussing providing the ultimate in comfort and ambience at our new five-cinema complex in Adelaide. We are go­ ing to make more of the atmosphere in the auditoriums and the complex as a whole, so thatwhen people go to the cinema they regard it as an experience, rather than just going and seeing two hours of celluloid on the screen.

Can you elaborate on this?

It is a little early for us to be doing that, because the plans are still evolving.

What is your view on the sale of plastic-wrapped confectionery at cinema kiosks?

I suppose it’s a fact of life that cinemas are a

The major thing was to convey the message that in a cinema you do have the best in sight and sound. Even more important is conveying the atmosphere of being surrounded by other people who are going to laugh in the funny scenes and cry in the sad ones, which you really don’t get in front of a television.

Do your findings indicate that the average age o f Australian cinemagoers is increasing?

Yes. That, to some extent, is a by-product of video. We’re still getting die same increase in under-25s, which has always been the core audience. However, we’re getting quite a dra­ matic increases in the over-25s to 55 [age bracket].

What are some o f the factors that have contrib­ uted to this trend?

What percentage of your box-office takings is from the city?

I think the cinema operators are much more conscious that they have to take their product to as wide an audience as possible.

It is still far and away the major area in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. You must bear in mind that multiplexes are still in their infancy.

Will cinemas become more sophisticated and adult in their general appeal at Great Union venues?

How did the video explosion of the 1980s affect your organization?

With the benefit of hindsight, video turned out to be one of the biggest positives for the cin­ ema business we could have ever had. Videos created a whole new audience for us because it introduced, or reintroduced, movies to the population.

I don’t think there is any doubt at all.

What are your thoughts on drive-ins? Are they obsolete?

We still run some drive-ins which are success­ ful, but I don’t think anybody has plans to build more. There is still an audience for a limited number of drive-ins in each city, and we’re still catering to that audience.

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DAVID STRATTON (VARIETY; SBS, SYDNEY); AND EVAN WILLIAMS (THE AUSTRALIAN, SYDNEY).

ALICE Woody Allen

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AWAKENINGS Penny Marshall

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DADDY NOSTALGIE Bertrand Tavernier

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DANCES WITH WOLVES Kevin Kostner

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EDWARD SCISSORHANDS Tim Burton

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THE GODFATHER PART III Francis Ford Coppola

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ON THE WAVES OF THE ADRIATIC Brian McKenzie

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KROTKI FILM 0 MILOSCI

[a SHORT FILM about love]

Krystof Kieslowski

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AYA; DADDY NOSTALGIE; FLIRTING; HAMLET; MONSIER HIRE; NIRVANA STREET MURDER; STRUCK BY LIGHTNING; WAITING.

A B O V E : A CLASH O F C U LTU RES:

AYA

F R A N K (N IC H O LA S EA D IE) A N D H IS JA P A N E S E W A R BR ID E , A Y A (ERI IS H ID A ).

SO LRU N H O A A S ' A Y A .

F A C IN G P A G E : FATHER A N D D A U G H TER : DAD D Y (D IR K BO G A R D E) AN D CA R O LIN E (JA N E B IR K IN ). BERTR A N D T A V E R N IE R 'S D A D D Y N O S T A LG IE .

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USA

BOWMAN

is an enlightened character study of a Ayai youngjapanese war bride and her battle to embrace the Australian culture. The first feature film to be written and directed by Solrun Hoaas, Aya was awarded the CICAE (Confederation Internationale des Cinemas d’Art et d’Essai) prize for artistic quality and originality at the 1990 International Film Fes­ tival in Torino.

The film’s distinctive visual style, with its rich and vividly composed images, traverses the two decades which contrast the subservi­ ence of Aya (Eri Ishida), when waitressing in a sukiyaki house, to the challenges of her assimi­ lation as a mother, wife and daughter-in-law.

The scenes photographed around Melbourne

are a montage of nighttime barterings on the docks for Japanese produce, popular 1960s images and old Holdens.

The mood of Ayaswitches from the rhythm of a gracefuljapanese haiku to a raucous Aussie ballad. And bright silk flying-fish hang from the rotating clothes line in the couple’s backyard, providing one of the many dazzling visuals contrasting the two cultures.

The opening scene is an Australian coun­ try fair with a wood-chopping competition.

Aya, having only recendy arrived in Australia, performs a traditional tea ceremony, and it is here we see husband Frank’s (Nicholas Eadie) contempt for his wife’s culture as he turns away and looks disinterested.

Eri Ishida gives a delicate and affecting performance as Aya. Ishida is a well-known actress injapan, having received much acclaim for her debut role in Tubasa-Wa-Kokoro-NiTsukete (With Wings in My Heart). This is her first film outside Japan.

Nicholas Eadie gives a convincing per­ formance as Aya’s frustrating husband, while Chris Haywood is strong as the benevolent friend, convincingly speakingjapanese at times.

As the story unfolds, we watch the earnest and accommodating Aya, who has arrived in Australia married to Frank, an Australian sol­ dier on duty with the Occupation Forces in Japan, face not only the hostility from her family but also the Australian government, which classifies her as an undesirable alien.

Throughout the film, brief extracts from let­ ters sent home to Japan reveal a poignant cover-up as Aya disguises her unhappiness at being in Australia.

The film examines her efforts to make a new life and the pressure Frank puts on her to become Australian and give up her culture. At one stage, Frank, doubting Aya’s love for him and thinking she only used him to get into Australia, says to the go-between at their wed­ ding (reminiscentof CyranodeBergerac, he wrote and translated the couple’s love letters), Mac (Chris Haywood), “A meal ticket’s a meal ticket.”

The turning point in the film occurs when Frank, a successful draughtsman, has an acci­ dent and becomes withdrawn and self-pitying.

Aya supports the family byworking at a sukiyaki house. Their relationship slowly starts to un­ ravel and Frank eventually becomes involved with an old acquaintance.

Mac, who understands Aya best, says to Frank, “She seems to know what’s going on.

She has tentacles on her fingertips.”

The changes they have gone through and the culture barriers eventually take their toll

and, after a scene of violence involving a sea egg being hurled across the kitchen, they sepa­ rate. The movie ends in Hobart where Mac finds Aya alone.

Hoaas takes this opportunity to neady end the film, leaving subdety and understatement to seep through to the audience.

Hoaas, who was born in Norway, spent eleven years living inJapan becoming fluent in the language and acquiring an understanding of the customs of Japan. She has made in Australia several films reflecting this, her mostrecent documentary being Green Tea and Cherry Ripe (1988).

Aya is a virtuoso achievement for Hoaas.

The script is the first of its kind to explore the complexities of a Japanese war bride’s accul­ turation in Australia. The hermetic framework is gleefully interwoven with artistic contrasts of the two countries. The story itself is dramati­ cally satisfying and the editing strikes a realistic pace throughout most of the film, except in those few scenes where it becomes a little slow and loses some impact.

Having already garnered invitations on the international festival circuit, Aya, with its delicate straightforwardness and artistic mer­ its, seems poised for popularity at art-house cinemas in Australia.

AYA D irected by S olrun H oaas. Producers: Denise Patience, S olrun H oaas. Scriptw riter: Solrun Hoaas.

D irecto r o f p h o tography: G eoff B urton. P ro d u cu o n designer: Je n n ie T ate. C ostum e designer: M argot Lindsay. E ditor: Stew art Young. C om poser: Sim on B ritton.C ast:E rilshida (Aya), N icholasEadie (Frank), C hris Haywood (M ac), C h risto p h er P arker (Ken, 5 years-old) J e d C hedw iggen (Ken, 12 years-old), Miki Oikawa (Junko), T akahito M asuda (In o u e), Jo h n O ’B rian (K ato). G oshu Films. A ustralian distributor: R onin. 35 m m . 95 m ins. Australia. 1991.

D A D D Y N O S T A L G IE BRIAN

McFARLANE

ertrand Tavernier’s Daddy Nostalgie is es­ B sentially a three-hander film. Daddy (Dirk Bogarde), an Englishman married to a Frenchwoman, Miche (Odette Laure), lives in a villa in the South of France where they have retired. When he has a heart attack, Caroline (Jane Birkin), the daughter he has neglected during her childhood, leaves her own life as

writer and mother to be with him. The rest of the film subtly charts the way the distances that separate these three have changed.

In what is above all a conversation piece, Chekhovian in the ways in which things get teased outin talk, these three lives, present and past, are revealed in a series of quietly eloquen t episodes. If the over-all effect is not, however, episodic, this is because the underlying struc­ ture of Colo Tavernier O’Hagan’s screenplay is so firm: its basis is in the connections among three characters and what time has done to them.

“I really envy me”, says Daddy as he recalls his past for Caroline, who was so little a part of it. He savours the way in which he has been saved from retirementin “rain-sodden, gnomeridden Butieigh Salterton”. But his apparent talent for living, for a life without regrets, can’t be taken at face value because the film under­ cuts his words with flashback glimpses of a selfish, often trivial life, of cocktail parties, of crossing the Atlantic for the first time “for Yardley’s”, and so on. He is, in spite of seeming to resist it, sentimental about his past; but the film is not. He may think he has no regrets about life but Miche, his wife, can’t talk to him about the past “because for me it’s too painful”.

Perhaps she, whom he describes in one of the flashbacks as the “most beautiful woman in London tonight”, has long been aware that they have nothing to talk about. And the past for Caroline was not fun. For her it was a matter of being told “Not now darling” and “Go back to Nanny”, while Daddy got on with being ironic and elegant. She directly challenges his view of the past: “It was a beautiful, selfish life - and your selfish sun’s going down.” He re­ members selectively, Caroline painfully, and Miche, cocooned in Catholicism and cigarette smoke, effaces all she can.

A key element of the film’s drama is to show how past this past is, how everything has changed. The once-uxorious couple, neglect­ ful of the child’s timorous claims on their attention, now exist as two almost entirely separate entities. Daddy, whose elegant selfish­ ness had led him to ignore the little Caroline’s proffered poem, now turns towards her for laughter and understanding, giving her the affection he had been too careless to offer her

as a child. For the first time he asks to see what she’s writing (a play-script) and the request resonates with his earlier neglect of her poem.

Caroline, now divorced, seems distanced from her own child, Martin, as she once was from Daddy. But it is she who has made the move to close the gap between her and Daddy and found him responding to her as he never had before. ‘You look just like Martin”, she tells him, and he replies, “I’d rather be your lover than your son. ”It is a reply at once appropriate to his sophisticated, casual approach and sig­ nificant in laying bare the film’s psychological structure. For, in relation to Miche, there is now no sign whatever of the lovers they once have been. She has become watchfully still, silently smoking, “praying on the sly” to the God whom Daddy dismisses as, “from what I know of Him ,... not over bright”. Caroline, in turn, has increasingly to adopt a maternal role toward Miche.

What Tavernier seems most interested in is the way time and circumstances change peo­ ple and relationships. Daddy and Miche’s passion long since spent, they now appear to exist in a state of affectionate separateness. He has stayed because he loves her, as he tells Caroline in answer to her question, but loving has not necessarily implied understanding.

The film’s generosity is seen in its refusal to apportion “blame” in this matter: it suggests rather that people will choose whatever refuges offer most comfort (religion for Miche, wit and irony for Daddy), and the space which the camera characteristically asserts between them enacts the separate nature of their comforts.

‘You never speak to me in English any more. I wonder why?”, says Daddy to Miche; this signifier of Miche’s withdrawal is typical of the film’s careful, rigorous structure. Nothing is wasted. A casual remark like this sums up a whole shift in emotional distance. As Daddy and Caroline move to reduce the space between them, Miche remains apart. When Caroline and Daddy go to look at a now-deserted man­ sion where he and Miche had gone to elegant house parties when young, he recalls Jessica for whom he “had a little weakness ... I saw her years later in Washington, fat and alcoholic.”

Daddy, Miche and Caroline may have escaped the physical ravages of time which have been visited on the unseen Jessica, but Tavernier and his cast make abundantly clear some of the other kinds of change that time can bring.

Not that Daddy Nostalgie is at all a sombre film. Itunsentimentally values “th[o]se foolish things” (the song which weaves its way through the film) that make life suddenly joyous. Its whole central “action” - the rapprochement be­ tween Daddy and Caroline - is an affirmation of what openness to affection can achieve, however late in the day. The day is, of course, very late for Daddy, but his death doesn’t cancel out what its final hours have held for him and Caroline.

A film such as this depends crucially on its acting and Tavernier has been superbly served by his three stars. Dirk Bogarde, returning to the big screen for the first time in twelve years, confirms his position as one of the world’s finest film actors. The habit of irony, broken by the occasional flare-up (“I can’t smoke, I can’t drink and I’m in pain”) to Miche, by the CINEMA

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sudden moment of awareness (“No one ever trusted me; I don’t know why”), by the ac­ knowledgement of what Caroline now means to him (“When you’re gone, I shall have no one to talk to”), the elegance and wit that ward off pain: here is detailed character drawing of a kind not common in contemporary cinema.

It is a sad reflection on British cinema of the past twenty years that it has found nothing to use, let alone challenge, the resonances Bogarde brings to this role.

The two women -Jane Birkin and Odette Laure - are scarcely less remarkable, both wholly truthful and touching in detailing their characters’ relationship to Daddy and to each other. In fact, the acting is so fine that one can almost fail to do justice to the subtlety of Tavernier’s direction. This makes itself felt in the absolute certainty of the camera move­ ments, as it tracks claustrophobically through the villa’s rooms or serves to isolate a watcher from two speakers. It also makes itself felt in the control over narrative rhythms, its habitual quiet tenor disrupted by a momentary eruption of pain or joy, and in the flicks given by the discreetly inserted flashbacks. In these, we never see Daddy or Miche (or indeed any adult) in full: they are either given from the child’s point of view or are no more than disembodied voices. What they do, in narrative terms, is to remind us of how the present has been formed by the past. What the film as a humanist document does is to suggest that the process is not irreversible: whatever the past has done, the present has its own power to effect change; people do not have to be passive victims of their pasts.

Daddy Nostalgieis, ho doubt, an ‘art-house’ film, but it will surely be relished by those who feel anaesthetized by the visual and verbal vio­ lence that marks a good deal of contemporary Cinema. It is visually elegant, verbally eloquent, humanely felt.

DADDYNOSTALGIE Directed by Bertrand Tavernier.

Producer: A dolphe Viezzi. Scriptwriter: Colo Tavernier O’Hagan. Director of photography: Denis Lenoir. Art director: Jean-Louis Poveda. Costume designer: Christian Gasc. Editor: Ariane Boeglin.

Composer: Antoine Duhamel. Cast: Dirk Bogarde (Daddy), Jane Birkin (Caroline), Odette Laure (Miche), Emmanuelle Bataille (Juliette) Charlotte Kady (Barbara), Michele Minns (Caroline as a child).

Clea Productions-Litde Bear, Solyfic-Eurisma. Aus­ tralian distributor: Newvision. Cinemascope. 105 mins.

France. 1990.

F L IÜ tIN G RAFFAELE CAPUTO

the warm after-glow of their first sexual I nexperience, the two teenage lovers, Danny Embling (Noah Taylor) and Thandiwe Adjewa (Thandie Newton), declare tti one an­ other, ‘You’re beautiful.” There is the sense that the meaning extends further than what is normally meant by “beautiful”. The characters may not know what that is, though they sense that something is bonding them together. It is as though their lives belong in between a recognizable reality and a mystical one, never quite settling.

It is 1965, three years on from the events that revolved around the characters of Danny, Freya (Loene Carmen) and Trevor (Bert Mendelsohn) in The Year My Voice Broke. Al­ though Danny now finds himself away from his small home town, he is nonetheless in a restric­ tive environment. As with the previous film, Flirting is concerned with the central charac­ ter’s transcendence of a particularly ‘hostile’ environment through his exposure to and relationship with another person. The peculiar aspect of both films is that a character’s effec­ tive transcendence of certain socially (and, in a manner, politically) constructed environ­ ments has hardly typifiedjohn Duigan’s other films.

If anything, the central character’s expo­ sure, and then commitment, to another usu­ ally culminates in a fall from grace, so to speak.

The characters played by Bryan Brown, for instance, in both Far East and Winter of Our Dreams are outsiders whose immediate con­ cerns do not extend beyond the niche they have created for themselves. But involvements with others, which lead them into the sweep of events (events which actually bear little upon their world), and then the (reluctant) realiza­ tion of a reality beyond their own seems to inevitably bring about their downfalls.

With The Year My Voice Broke and now Flirt­ ing, there appears to be something of a direct line ofpatrimony between Danny and Duigan’s other characters. But rather than being an heir apparent, with the fate of others in ascendency, Danny looks like his destiny is in regression.

For example, a minute, but significant, change in Danny’s character since The Year My Voice Broke is that he has somehow acquired a nerv­ ous stutter that hampers his attempts at com­

munication. So, While his world ¿part from his small home: town has grown, the possibility o f expressing his place within it has regressed, though, it should be emphasized, regression is not proposed here in a negative Way, but in a sort of ‘childhood’ sense of discovery with all the aspects o f romance, optimism, warmth and promise.

Now a resident of St Alban’s College, a boys’ boarding school, 17-year-old Danny Em­ bling, as those before him, exists on the fringe of this society-in-miniature. With a nervous stutter and an un-sportsman-like physique, he is an object of derision for many of the other students. The sense of discovery, romance and promise comes from the view he has from his dormitory window of Cirencester College,' a sister school which directly faces St Alban’s across a lake. Not surprisingly, the girls’board­ ing school acts as a magnet, the dormitory in particular.

But Danny’s fascination with Cirencester has more to it than an awareness of his sexual burgeoning. When one first glimpses Cirenc­ ester, the whole building looks brilliant against the night sky, as though it is propped up on stage against a painted background. There is an unreal sense to it, as though it isn’t really there, but is the projection of one’s imagina­ tion. Cirencester seems to be placed within a space that is not unlike the haunted house, or the hill and rocks, Freya is drawn to in The Year My Voice Broke. Duigan retains that moodiness of a “mythical-spiritual” relationship, and it comes to the fore when Danny meets Thandiwe.

It is only in the sense of Flirting’s “panthe­ istic” elements that it can be considered a sequel to The Year My Voice Broke. Outside of a few in-house hints, as it were, Flirtingstands on its own. For Thandiwe, although an outsider like Freya, is estranged for a whole different set of reasons, indicative of another world beyond the understanding of Danny gained from previous experiences. Thandiwe is the daughter of an African nationalist on an academic post in Canberra. Because she is black, she is ostra­ cized by most of the other girls and, thus, is on the same level as Danny in the social fabric of their respective schools.

But while there is this coded level in which both characters are different from the others, and are said to be different in no uncertain terms, there is another level at which Danny and Thandiwe are connected through an un­ worldly, unconsolidated view of the world. It is the film’s immersion into this kind of sensibil­ ity that Duigan appears to be most concerned with. For example, smell (according to Danny’s voice-over at the film’s opening) is the one thing he remembers most. It becomes an ob­ lique nod to a higher order when the couple retain the smell of each other’s sex on their fingers. But it’s not a sensibility that stands forever and completely apart from the coded world. Thandiwe, for one thing, is a character that extends Danny’s awareness of politics, race and Africa. Where once such elements were an encroachment on the world of Duigan’s characters, they now seem to stand in a fluid, causal relation. The significance of the lake which separates the two schools, for inLEFT: TH A N D IW E (TH A N D IE N E W TO N ), JA N ET (N A O M I W A TTS) A N D M ELISSA (K Y M W ILSO N ) IN THE CIREN CESTER D R ESSIN G R O O M . JO H N D U IG A N 'S FLIR T IN G .

LEFT: HAM LET (M EL G IB S O N ) AN D THE Q UEEN (G LEN N CLO SE) IN FRAN CO Z E F F IR E LL I'S H A M LET.

stance, further embodies the idea of a fluid and linked process of understanding between two seemingly distinct worlds.

In this sense, it would be unfair to say that Flirting is completely devoid of any politics or social bearing. The politics would not be what one commonly understands as politics, nor would Danny and Thandiwe be at ease in expressing any ‘acceptable’ social codes, though, to be sure, there would be standards of a sort as yet not crystallized. This seems to come through in Danny and Thandiwe’s rela­ tionship with their hostile counterparts in their respective schools, Nicola Radcliffe (Nicole Kidman) and ‘Backa’ Bourke (josh Picker).

Nicola and Bourke, leaders in the miniature worlds they inhabit, clearly represent the ac­ ceptable norms, yet they are, to a degree, paradoxical and inexplicably changed by their interaction with two characters they perceive as “dags”. When Thandiwe is discovered by Nicola returning from her rendezvous with Danny, for example, Nicola opens up and shares a private moment with her rather than reporting her to the headmistress. She recalls for Thandiwe her experience in a similar cir­ cumstance. Likewise, Bourke comes to Danny’s defence when taunted by a fellow student about the same subject. There is the sense that all things are in touch with one another, even if imperfectly.

Flirting flirts with the other-worldliness of experiences that are sexual, emotional and sensory, in a continuum with what is perceived as the real, wider world. As Danny says at the film’s completion, “I’m looking forward to a different time. It’s a big world and there’s a small place for me.”

FLIRTING Directed by John Duigan. Producers:

George Miller, Doug Mitchell, Terry Hayes. Associate producer: Barbara Gibbs. Screenplay: John Duigan.

Director of photography: Geoff Burton. Editor: Robert Gibson. Sound recordist: Ross Linton. Production designer: Roger Ford. Art director: Laurie Faen. Cast: Noah Taylor (Danny Embling), Thandie Newton (Thandiwe Adjewa), Nicole Kidman (Nicola Radcliffe), Bartholomew Rose (‘Gilby’ Fryer), Felix Nobis (Jock Blair), Josh Picker (‘Backa’ Bourke), Kym Wilson (Melissa Miles), Naomi Watts (Janet Odgers), Lisa Spinadel (Barbara Howe), Kurt Frey (Jean-Paul Sartre). Kennedy-Miller Production. Dis­ tributor: Roadshow. 35mm. 98 mins. Australia. 1991.

H A M LET BRIAN

McFARLANE

the nearly empty cinema in which I saw I fHamletis any guide, it seems that the combi­ nation of director Franco Zeffirelli and star Mel Gibson is not about to ensure a major commercial success for the latest filmed Shakespeare.1Most aspects of the film appear to be geared towards finding a large popular audience - its stars (Glenn Close as well as Gibson), its visual style, the way it keeps its eye on the story, the clarity of the verse-speaking which settles for easy intelligibility rather than poetic effect - but it may be that the film will end up by not pleasing anyone enough.

Shakespearean purists will perhaps take issue with some of the playing around with the order of text, with the truncation of some of the longer speeches, with the literal-minded insertions of what the play leaves to reporting.

On the whole, none of these constitutes a major problem, though.

As to changes of order, these are generally in the interests of narrative flow. The film dispenses with the opening scene on the bat­ tlements in which the guards and Horatio discuss the apparition of Hamlet’s father. In­ stead, and very strikingly, it begins with the death of King Hamlet as his body is sealed in the coffin in the vault occupied by his ances­ tors. Queen Gertrude (Close), “like Niobe all tears” indeed, sobs bitterly; and the new King, Claudius (Alan Bates), turns to speak to Ham­ let as “the most immediate to our throne”. All this seems aptly enough placed in the vault before the scene changes to that of Claudius’ holding court. Claudius’murderous hypocrisy is given a further charge by the changed set­ ting and order.

The trimming of some of the longer speeches, including the soliloquies (e.g., “How all occasions do inform against me ...”), may offend some but is no doubt in the interest of keeping the story on the move. This is not primarily a reflective Hamlet nor is Gibson’s primarily a reflective Prince. Nevertheless, some of the major speeches are filmed with a keen eye for dramatic contrast. For instance, Ham­ let’s “O that this too too solid flesh ...” gains by being juxtaposed to an overhead shot of the

cheerful Gertrude’s kissing Claudius as they leave the castle to go riding. And ‘To be or not to be ...”, less agonized in Gibson’s intelligent reading than is often the case, is appropriately staged as Hamlet wanders through the vault. It dissolves from there, not to the play’s confron­ tation of Ophelia by Hamlet, but to a wide shot of green cliffs with Hamlet on horseback, rein­ forcing the contrast of death and life, of being and not-being.

The omissions ofReynoldo and Voltemand will probably trouble no one but that of Fortinbras is another matter, as it excises a political dimension from the play. With Fortinbras, a new kind of order will take place in Denmark. Olivier’s 1947 film also omitted Fortinbras and it seemed, in thè light of his much more inward-looking, reflective Prince, more in keeping with the film’s emphasis.

Zeffirelli’s much more “external” dealing with the Danish kingdom misses Fortinbras.

“Goodnight sweet prince” is a less resonant final note for this Hamlet: neither sweetness nor princeliness has been a notable element of Gibson’s performance.

Whether or not it is because we cannot think of Gibson without recalling Mad Max (and it is the essence of “stars”that they accrete resonances from earlier roles), it is true to say that the best of his Hamlet is in the “something dangerous” he suggests. He is happiest with the scenes of physical action and in suggesting elsewhere a suppressed violence that might erupt at any minute. His Hamlet is honest, manly and uncomplex. There is nothing idio­ syncratic about him; when he is meant to be moody or brooding, one is always waiting for him to act.

While talking of the actors, it should be said that Glenn Close offers a remarkably fine Gertrude. She is sensual, responding to Claudius’ constantly touching her, and, in the closet scene, shutting Hamlet’s mouth, as he berates her, with what looks a passionate kiss, just as the Ghost appears. She is also a persua­ sively commonplace woman who wants every­ one to be happy and to whom the revelation that this is not possible comes as a disagreeable surprise. “O Hamlet, thou hast cleft my heart in twain” becomes a wail of despair for this beautiful, light, sensual woman. Close makes very touching, too, her obvious affection for Ophelia, suggesting as well an interestingly equivocal moment of - perhaps - sexual jeal­ ousy, as Hamlet, in the play scene, declines his mother’s invitation to sitby her, finding “metal more attractive” in Ophelia.

Helena Bonham-Carter’s Ophelia has an unexpected firmness of mind which makes her unhappiness and descent into ihadness the more affecting, and Ian Holm’s Polonius understands that a man may be tedious with­ out being a fool. No one else matters much.

Alan Bates opts for ordinariness in Claudius, rather than passion, so that his big moments the aftermath of the play scene, the futile praying, the final treachery - seem curiously muted; and Paul Scofield offers a very corpo1. I am happy to find that the film is indeed proving successful at the box office.

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real Ghost, neither strange nor frightening, but merely tired and old.

It may well be that Hamlet is less congenial to Zeffirelli’s talents than his popular Romeo and Julietand The TamingoftheShrewin the late 1960s.

He brings to Hamlet some of the same visual glamour that was so attractive in the earlier films, but here it seems less apposite for the action going forward. Filmed in Scodand and Kent, his Hamlet has a lushly pictorial quality.

The credits are given over a long-shot of casde on cliff, the whole suffused in a blue glow that suggests a certain kind of “artistic” postcard.

This Elsinore is almost always too handsome, without the visual beauties being made to work hard enough in the interests of drama. Instead of being struck by the contrast between, say, the beauty of the scene and the “maimed rites” of Ophelia’s funeral (and the passions it gives rise to), one merely notes the disorientating charm of the landscape and the pictorial qual­ ity of the composition.

To set against such cavils, it is only fair to add the camera moves with persistent fluency, keeping the action uppermost, playing over surfaces of stone or tapestry, coming to rest on a hidden figure. There is nothing stagey about the filming (as there so often is in the culturally prestigious BBC Shakespeare series), except surprisingly at the very end. The duel has been superbly staged: the camera keeps us abso­ lutely well informed about both the passage of arms and the drama going on between the key spectators. Then, when it is all over, and Claudius, Gertrude, Hamlet and Laertes are dead, to provide a wholly theatrical tableau is quite shocking in the context of so fluidly cinematic a film.

Again and again Zeffirelli has alternated between watcher(s) and watched: Claudius and Polonius keeping tabs on Hamlet; Clau­ dius watching Gertrude watching the duel; the audience and the players; Horatio and Hamlet watching the King watching the play. The editing processes work, in these instances, to articulate at many levels the drama of distrust and deceit which is everyday life at Elsinore.

The editing elsewhere establishes the contrast between the burnished glow of feasting within and the blue chill of the ramparts, between the

dangerous movement of the final duel and the pregnant stillness of the poisoned goblet in close-up.

If Shakespearean purists take issue, as they endemically and sometimes mechanically do, with every alteration, addition or omission, as if the verbal text were still paramount in the film, those who value a more individual, more daring approach to the text may also be disap­ pointed. There is nothing foolish about Zeffirelli’s interpretation, but, equally, there is nothing very exciting about it (a comment which holds true for Gibson’s Hamlet). It throws no major new light on the most intransigently elusive of all Shakespearean heroes and tragedies: it encourages us to wonder throughout how they will do this or that scene; it does not lead us to wonder what is at heart of this whole story.

Olivier’s film was tonally and stylistically touched with film noir influences: it became a study in individual malaise in a world offering no certainties. Tony Richardson’s 1969 film version (of his Roundhouse Theatre produc­ tion) offered disaffected youth outraged at the hypocrisy of its elders, and cast Marianne Faithfull as an Ophelia for the times. Unlike those two films and unlike his own Romeo and Juliet, Zeffirelli has not notably made a 1990s film. Only the designer stubble sported by his Laertes and Horatio reminds us that this Hamlet belongs to a particular production period: part of the flatness is due to the absence of a sense of contemporary pressure. This Hamlet hasn’t, despite its many sound virtues, been dynamically re-claimed, re-assessed, re-made for its time.

HAMLET Directed by Franco Zeffirelli. Producer:

Dyson Lovell. Executive producer: Bruce Davey.

Scriptwriters: Christopher de Vore, Franco Zeffirelli.

Director of photography: David Watkin. Production designer: Dante Ferretti. Costume designer: Maurizio Millenotti. Editor: Richard Marden. Composer: Ennio Morricone. Cast: Mel Gibson (Flamlet), Glenn Close (Gertrude), Alan Bates (Claudius), Paul Scofield (Ghost), Ian Holm (Polonius), Helena BonhamC arter (Ophelia) Stephen Dillane (H oratio), Nathaniel Parker (Laertes), Sean Murray (Guildenstern), Michael Maloney (Rosencrantz). World Icon N.V. Australian distributor: Greater Union. 35 mm.

134 mins. UK 1990.

M O N S IE U R H IR E RAYMOND

YOUNIS

atrice Lee o n te ’s-Monsieur Hirewas one of the major surprises of the 33rd London Film Festival and for good reason. Georges Simenon’s novel, LesFiançailles de M. Hire, had been published in 1933 and made into a film by a director Leconte admires, Julien Duvivier, in 1946. That film was called Panique and was a source of inspiration, like the novel, for Leconte - so much so that he decided to remake it.

The major problem for Leconte was find­ ing an actor who could portray the reclusive, dispassionate nature and almost effigy-like ap­ pearance of Hire, without sacrificing the in­ nate yearning and vulnerability of the character.

The decision to cast Michel Blanc, an actor who had been recognized predominantly as a performer of comedy, proved to be crucial and completely successful. Blanc’s red hair and animated personality are no longer in evi­ dence, yet the impact of the character is quite considerable.

The plot is quite similar to that of the novel, though some of the more violent aspects of the latter - for example, a dead girl rather than a butchered prostitute is found at the beginning of the film - are excluded. (Leconte may have chosen to make such changes in order to facilitate and heighten the dark and somewhat bizarre vein of humour in the film.)

Hire is the major suspect, mainly because he is an outsider and not a little peculiar in his predispositions. He is a voyeur; in many re­ spects he recalls Tomek (Olaf Lubaszenko) in KryzstofKieslowski’s RrótkiFilmoMilosá (A Short Film About Love). He observes, quietly but in­ sistently, a woman called Alice in a flat oppo­ site. One evening, she catches a glimpse - in one of the most chilling and memorable images in the film - of the voyeur at his window and begins to wonder just what he has in fact seen.

When her boyfriend flees from the police, a tenuous and intriguing relationship develops between she and Hire.

The visual and dramatic impact of the film is greatly due to the figure of Hire and also to the relationship - emotional, psychological and physical - between he and Alice. Hire’s funereal visage and impeccable bearing are quite ghostly and disquieting, especially when seen in silhouette. Indeed, black and white are the dominant tones of his world (until Alice penetrates it) : he spends much time with white mice and pigeons, and, as a tailor, favours dark clothes. Colour and tone are used as dramatic analogues, as they are in the tortured fictions of Eisenstein, Antonioni and Resnais.

Hire’s pallid face is unemotional, an as­ pect that suggests an introvert, one who admires with Olympian detachment and a strikingly marked contrast to Alice. Her face is extremely expressive: each flicker of emotion, each trace of passion, animates her eyes and registers on her troubled and wistful countenance.

The enigmatic nature of Hire is also heightened by his other habits: he visits a local brothel, distinguishes himself at ten-pin bowling and listens to Brahms. (The choice of

P

M O N SIEU R HIRE (M ICH EL B LA N C) AN D A LICE (S A N D R IN E B O N N A IR E ). PA TR ICE LEC O N TE'S M O N S IE U R H IR E: O B S E R V IN G THE O B SER V ED O B S E R V IN G THE O B S E R V E R .

music may not be arbitrary: Brahms’ Piano Quartet in G-minor, opus 25, is a work of youthful passion, of extroverted music-making, in which the themes overflow and almost break the confines of classical sonata form. It is the product of an exuberant mind intent on sur­ mounting the sombre and the lugubrious.

Once again, Hire’s introverted nature is am­ plified by implicit contrast: his desire for a passion divorced from corruption is defined in terms of a distance that must be overcome.)

Leconte has remained true to some of the basic principles of Simenon’s work. Inspector Maigret is a character who prefers to solve crimes by intuition rather than logical deduc­ tion, like the inspector in Leconte’s film, who suspects Hire even though there is no evi­ dence to justify this. Simenon’s interest in the psychology of loneliness, solitude, sordid affaires and treachery iswell evoked by Leconte.

And the atmosphere of suspense, of evil and menace, is put to spellbinding use.

Two other salient aspects of Simenon’s work are present in the film. First, there is the detective who allows a suspect to re-actualize the crime in a moment of weakness; the detec­ tive as a catalyst who facilitates revelation through sympathy, persistence and commun­ ion. Second, there is the theme of the individ­ ual mastered by events (although this is given a nice twist at the end).

The film seems to be fashioned with no particular time and place in mind, which sug­ gests the timeless quality of its themes: desire, prejudice, obsession, the devotion to a concept of love and, ironically, its destructive power.

Significandy, these recur in A Short Film About Love. Hire, like Tomek, experiences cynicism and betrayal, and though Magda (Grazyna Szapolowska), perhaps, learns how to love wisely, Leconte’s Alice loves not wisely but too well.

The characters inhabit a harsh universe where the individual, his/her desires and ob­ sessions, questionings and the darker aspects of human experience are highlighted. The theme of voyeurism is reinforced by the intru­ sion of the camera into corners and shadows, into doorways and windows, into the sordid lives of lithe but not inconsiderable people and their small but not uninteresting destinies.

The film is also enriched by the restrained direction and performances. Subdued gestures and subtle connotations, correspondences and contrasts heighten the undercurrent of sensu­ ality that is quite erotic and yet unnerving. It is ameasureofLeconte’s achievement that these alienated or unfulfilled individuals become, like many of Simenon’s figures, in the words of Jean Renoir, “touching, disturbing and fasci­ nating”.

MONSIEUR HIRE Directed by Patrice Leconte. Pro­ ducers: Philippe Carcassonne, René Cleitman.

Scriptwriters: Patrice Leconte, Patrick Dewolf; based on a novel by Georges Simenon. Director of photog­ raphy: Denis Lenoir. Art director: Ivan Maussion.

Editor: Joëlle Hache. Composer: Michael Nyman.

Cast: Michel Blanc (Monsieur H ire), Sandrine Bonnaire (Alice), Luc Thuillier (Emile), André Wilms (Police Inspector) ; Eric Berenger, Marielle Berthon, Philippe Dormoy, Marie Gaydu, Michel Morano, Nora Noel, Christina Reali, Bernard Soufflet, André Bauduin, Rozeen Landrevie. Cinâ-Hachette Première et Cie-FR3 Films. Australian distributor: Dendy Films.

35mm. 79 mins. France. 1989.

N IR V A N A S T R E E T M U R D E R JOHN

CONOMOS

Vellis’ Nirvana Street Murder was, as Aleksi i many would know by now, one of the 1990 Sydney Film Festival’s critical successes.

Since then it has been steadily acquiring a certain kind of critical reputation as a movie that is in need of a larger public audience than was/is usually found in a film festival context.

Now thanks to Newvision Films (and the Aus­ tralian Film Commission, which had the insight tobackitin thefirstplace), Nirvana StreetMurder will get a general release.

There is much to praise in this modest, stylish, taut and vibrant urban black comedy.

Vellis’ directorial assurance and inventiveness is evident in virtually every scene, and the highenergy humour oscillates frequently between madcap bedlam and physical violence.

The movie’s humour has a dynamic, am­ bivalent quality that reminds one of the absurd violent humour found in Scorsese’s movies.

Characteristically, Scorsese’s Italian-American street-wise characters horse around with each other one moment, only to be at each other’s throats the next. The knife-edge volatility that characterizes Scorsese’s wise-guys also (to a reasonable degree) marks Vellis’ marginal­ ized characters who live in inner-suburban Melbourne. This is particularly true of the tumultuous and sometimes pathetic relation­ ship between the two O’Hagan brothers, Boady (MarkLittle) and Luke (Ben Mendelsohn). In many different ways, they echo the complex dynamic relationship between Johnny Boy (Robert De Niro) and Charlie (Harvey Keitel) in Mean Streets (1973).

The numerous well-choreographed scenes of irrational violence between the two hapless, free-wheeling brothers and their Greek coun­ terparts are rich in performative nuance and subtle observations on how cultures clash in today’s urban Australia. This wonderful off­ beat mixture of comedy and violence is in­ dicative of the filmmaker’s supple command of his trans-generic material. What we see and hear, time and again, is Vellis’ ability to blend successfully the familiar codes, icons and stylis­ tic visuals of the old Crawford’s television po­

A B O V E : BRO TH ERS LUKE (BEN M EN DELSO H N ) AN D BO A D Y (M A R K LITTLE) IN A LEK S I V E L L IS ' N IR V A N A STREET M U RD ER.

lice dramas with the basic thematic and visual interests of the action-comedy genre. Perhaps the best examples of this are the frenetic scenes of the brothers and friends’ being busted by the police and those that show Luke’s being pursued and arrested in a dead-end alley by the keen undercover cop (John Flaus).

In the same context, one should not forget the impressively performed scenes with Luke and the kind-hearted Molly (performed to perfection by Sheila Florance, whose presence in the film registers iconic connotations for anyone familiar with Prisonerand the like) that occur in her cavernous and opulent mansion, at Melbourne’s Botanical Gardens and the War Memorial.

In fact, Nirvana Street Murder succeeds in terms of imaginative story-telling, perform­ ance and cinematography because, aside from the individual gifts of those involved, Vellis has made a movie that is extremely well integrated in its use of the suspense, iconography, generic textuality and camera styles of pas t and present television crime shows, soaps and serials. For once we have a recent Australian feature that seems to know how to obtain the best iconographic and performative potential of its wellknow television, and film and stage, actors.

Another finely tuned aspect of Nirvana Street Murder is the way Vellis has represented ques­ tions of bi-cultural conflict and identity in its narrative and visual style. The sequences of Luke with his Greek-Australian girlfriend, Helen (Mary Coustas), especially those at Helen’s home (where her Dad rules the roost with an iron fist), demonstrate a subtle and humorous understanding of the cultural and psychological mores and tensions that govern the familiar dynamics of such a household.

All the relevant performers here are cred­ ible and engaging to watch: Coustas is substan­ tially fine as the sometimes bewildered and confused young girl caught in the vice of bicultural existence; and Dennis Dragonas is persuasive as her chauvinistic father (in a role mercifully unlike the stereotypical character type often surfacing in recent Australian films CINEMA

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and on television). In one humorous scene he asks Luke (who has managed to visit Helen at her place by faking it as a salesman of encyclo­ pedias) whether the books that he is selling explain what “respect” is, so that his “ungrate­ ful” children may be more appreciative of its meaning.

The subtides used to translate Greek dia­ logue into English are put to good use in the scenes at Helen’s home because they remind the viewer that Helen is occupying a personal domestic space fraught with deep-seated fa­ miliar conflict. There is a constant collision between the moral values held by Helen’s parents (who, particularly her father, are anx­ ious to see her marry an upwardly mobile Greek-Australian boy) and her own (which are more in tune with Luke’s more non-authori­ tarian liberal values). Poor Luke cannot see why someone like Helen should even entertain the common notion that she marry a young Greek-Australian professional boy who will provide for her and share her ethnic back­ ground and customs, etc.

Another interesting feature of Nirvana Street Murder is the emphasis placed on how GreekAustralian males interact with their Anglo/ Celtic counterparts in terms of their own ma­ chismo posturings, street-wise bravado, sub-cul­ tural rituals and anti-Anglo/Celtic obsessions.

Ultimately, this leads to farce and violence. For example, the wild and cleverly staged scenes of Boady finding Penny (Tamara Saulwick) as she makes love in a car to one of his wog nemeses, and Boady’s subsequent frenzy, em­ body some of the movie’s greatest moments of kinetic filmmaking. They also encapsulate the tragic misunderstanding that occurs between people of different cultural backgrounds.

The narrative structure of Nirvana Street Murderwzs inspired, according to Vellis, by his interest in wanting to make a movie about two brothers (one of whom, Boady, is a sleep­ walker) and a newspaper article which dealt with a man who murdered his wife by drown­ ing her in a waterbed. Hence the creation of the childish, unstable Boady who attempts to kill Molly in her waterbed by cutting the bed first (as did the man in the newspaper account) during one of his sleepwalking experiences.

The other important element for Vellis was the desire to construct a murder story along comic lines. Both Luke and Boady form the dramatic centre of Nirvana Street Murder. everything in this black comedy of bedlam and murder stems from the stormy relationship between the two brothers. From the early scenes (which follow a medium-shot of sheep in an abattoir corral, a motif that occurs several times more in the film), one senses that these two brothers will always, one way or another, be behind the eight ball. The odds are stacked against them.

Luke tries to have a “normal” life living on the breadline and caresfor his reckless brother, who robs a chemist shop to get enough money to buy a purifier to make speed. There is even one hilarious encounter between the two where Boady complains to Luke that the picture of an armed hold-up man in the newspaper (which is meant to represent him) is all wrong.

Mark Little is particularly good as Boady, suggesting a very capable and pliable per­ 58

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former of considerable camera presence.

As Luke, Mendelsohn gives another char­ acteristically brilliant performance, as seems the order of the day for this relatively young, enormously capable screen actor.

The alchemy between Little and Mendel­ sohn works well throughout the movie. Both seem graced with physical agility and being supremely relaxed in front of the camera.

Most important, the camera likes both of them.

As a resourceful and witty spoof of the major dramatic and ¿esthetic concerns of Aus­ tralian television crime shows, Nirvana Street Murderis quite an accomplishment. In terms of performance, the movie is an astounding achievement. What the viewer is constantly aware of isVellis’multi-faceted talents as writerdirector. Thematically and stylistically, Nirvana Street Murder attests to his capacity to create a work that plays with well-defined stereotyped character types in a subversive, refreshing way.

Clearly Vellis has a fairly intuitive and intelli­ gent grasp of the basic dramatic and visual configurations of his highly engaging material.

There is much playful humour in Nirvana Street Murder which attests to the writer-direc­ tor’s creative understanding of his doomed larrikin characters’ trying to survive in the margins of late-20th-century Melbourne and the dynamic cultural, psychological and social complexities of the migrant experience in this country.

Vellis is not a didactic filmmaker inter­ ested in giving his spectators castor oil in the hope of improving “multi-cultural” relations in our society. Instead, what we have in Vellis is a promising filmmaker who raids and re-works the established movie and television genres and popular culture, entertaining us with the rare capacity to make movie images and sounds that can astonish us for their dramatic vitality and unpredictability.

N IRVANASTREET M URD ER Directed by Aleksi Vellis.

Producer: Fiona Cochrane. Scriptwriter: Aleksi Vellis.

Director of photography: Mark Lane. Art director: Lisa Thompson. Editor: Aleksi Vellis. Composer:John White. Cast: Mark Litde (Boady), Ben Mendelsohn (Luke O ’Hagan), Mary Coustas (Helen), Tamara Saulwick (Penny), Sheila Florance (Molly), Yiorgo (Smeg), Roberto Micale (Hector), Russell Gilbert (Abattoir Ross), Tibor Gyapjas (Vas), George Zogopoulos (Jim). Australian distributor: New vision.

35 mm. 75 mins. Australia. 1991.

S T R U C K B Y L IG H T N IN G IAN EPSTEIN

past decades have seen an alteration in Thecommunity attitudes to retarded people, and films, with their power to reflect and affect social change, have played a part in this dialec­ tic. They have been influenced by the shift to a more tolerant attitude towards those with cognitive and emotional handicaps, and they have contributed to this change. Films of vary­ ing quality which have brought to public atten­ tion the problems of the mentally disabled, and those who care for them, include Charly (1968), Teacher, Teacher (1970), Best Boy (1979), Bill (1981) and Bill: On His Own (1983), Dominick and Eugene (1988), Rain Man (1988) and two recent Australian films, On the Waves of the Adriatic (1990) and Struck by Lightning.

Struck by Lightning, directed by Jerzy Domaradzki, and written and produced by Trevor Farrant, is a labour of love which delivers so much of value that it seems churlish to pick at its flaws.

This is a warm, comic, large-hearted film which features Down’s Syndrome adults as actors, who not only melt the heart with their capacity to improvise and simulate characters distinct from own, but also give the film real­ ism and depth. So too does Garry McDonald, who plays Oliver Rennie, the crusty, sour, deeply compassionate director of Saltmarsh, a shel­ tered workshop for retarded adults which is run on a shoestring budget in an old mansion by the sea, in Adelaide.

Through a humane and intelligent script, Struck byLightnmgafilrms the dignity and worth of mentally handicapped people, and tackles key issues to do with their care and protection, such as the problem of funding the pro­ grammes they need to realize their potential, and how that potential can best be released. It explores conflicting attitudes as to what Saltmarsh’s laudable motto, “Independence With Dignity”, means. Does it, for instance, including the right to freedom of sexual ex­ pression? Is it possible, even in the best of all possible worlds, for intellectually disabled peo­ ple to be provided with more than “a soft place to fall”?

For the most part, these issues are brought to the screen with an engaging mixture of

naturalism, passion and wit.

Rennie, a middle-aged, ex-‘chalky’with an ironic sense of hum our and a problem with alcohol, has found his niche caring for re­ tarded people. He may be brusque and bully­ ing at times, but h e’s committed to his charges and spends much of his energy battling indif­ ference and lobbying for money. When Rennie applies through the Saltmarsh Foundation for funding to make the workshop more selfsupporting, the government responds with a grant for a physical education teacher. This is how Pat Cannizzaro (Brian Vriends), a fellow misfit fired by the Education Department for wanting to save his students rather than teach them, finds himself working at Saltmarsh.

The relationship between Rennie and Cannizzaro becomes the central dynamic for exploring the film’s concerns. The partner­ ship between the two men at first proves fruit­ ful. Cannizzaro descends upon Saltmarsh like a lightning bolt. Young, volatile and charis­ matic, he energizes Rennie, who is cynical about life in general and frustrated by his inability to affect change, and jolts him into a revitalized, guarded meliorism. Hired by Rennie to develop a fitness programme ap­ propriate for the trainees, “little kids at twenty or thirty who piss in their pants”, Cannizzaro sets out immediately to mould Saltmarsh’s motley assortment of retarded adults into a competitive team of soccer players that he calls, appropriately, the Heartbreakers.

Wearing lurid, brightly coloured track-suit gear (compliments of Juventus), which looks incongruously professional against their lumpy, uncoordinated bodies, many of Cannizzaro’s eager new recruits can’t even begin to do warm-ups properly. But they and Cannizzaro persevere, and the best moments of the film are those which show, unsentimentally, the Heartbreakers “on tour”, with success being measured not by winning but by simply being able to score a goal.

The film concentrates on five or six of the trainees: Jody (Jocelyn Betheras), a sweet fat girl who personalizes the lovable nature of Down’s Syndrome people; Kevin (Brian M. Logan), the Heartbreakers mostreliable player with a good strong kick, who to his father’s chagrin (and the amusement of almost every­ one else) is fascinated by his own genitals; Noel (Henry Salter), a talented woodcarver who is forced by Rennie to forgo artistic expression for the greater good of carving horses’ heads for toys, which sell well; and Gail (Briony Williams) and Spencer (Syd Brisbane), ayoung couple in love, whose desire for sexual expres­ sion precipitates the crisis which pitches Cannizzaro into conflict with Rennie and the Saltmarsh board.

The disagreement between Rennie and Cannizzaro is about who has the correct ap­ proach to mentally handicapped people.

Rennie, despite his genuine compassion and concern, really believes that little beyond hu­ mane containment is realizable, the provision of a humane shelter where people can be taught to use their potential and have their individu­ ality preserved, within the limits dictated by LEFT: O LIV ER R EN N IE (G A R R Y M CDO NALD) AN D THE H EA R TBR EA KER S IN JE R Z Y D O M A R A D Z K I'S

available resources. Cannizzaro, on the other hand, despite being aware of the limitations, believes that intellectually disabled people have a right to full self-actualization, including sexual and artistic expression. This conflict spills over into a competition for the sexual favours of the social w orker, Jill M cHugh (C atherine McClements), who visits Saltmarsh regularly, and who was felt by Rennie to be his, and his alone, prior to the younger man’s arrival. (As Rennie says wryly to Cannizzaro, when Jill’s preference becomes obvious: ‘You’ve got the two things I want most in the world: Jill and hair! ”) Struck by Lightning handles these complex issues deftly and warmly, with passion, but without didacticism, sentimentality or falsely assuming that there are easy solutions to these difficult problems. Best of all, it provokes thought and discussion, not just about the issues but about the motivations behind the principal characters-Rennie, Cannizzaro and Jill - who are all finely drawn and well-acted.

These are real people struggling to articulate, not in words but in actions, their feelings about the rights of mentally handicapped people and the responsibilities that society has for them.

Struck by Lightnings a memorable film. It is sincere, has engaging characters, and is good to look at, but it is also disappointingly uneven.

Among generally fine performances, there is some poor acting that stands out (the head­ master, who upbraids Cannizzaro for throw­ ing meat pies all over the school tuckshop, and Gail’s mother spring immediately to mind).

Similarly, while the great appeal of the film is its off-beat naturalism and humour, the scenes which open and close the film suffer from theatricality. They seem heavy handed and contrived, the closing scene in particular.

The film’s emotional conclusion is the impromptu testimony given by the trainees in support ofRennie, whose resignation is sought by the Foundation’s board of directors, be­ cause of Cannizzaro’s reckless behaviour in allowing Gail and Spencer to spend a night with each other. Each trainee, beginning with Noel, makes a short, moving plea for Rennie’s reinstatement, at the end of which they all pat him on the shoulder. Against die genuine power of these expressions of affection for Rennie, Cannizzaro’s sudden grandstanding at the meeting and his melodramatic confes­ sion of guilt seems embarrassingly overblown, whilst structurally it has the diluting effect of an anti-climax.

Despite these flaws, Struck byLightnings one from the heart, a fine film which one hopes will do a power of good for its subject.

STRUCK BY LIGHTNING Directed by Jerzy Domaradzki. Producers: Terry Farrant, Trevor J. Charatsis. Executive producer: Trevor J. Charatsis.

Line producer: Su Armstrong. Scriptwriter': Trevor Farrant. Director of photography: Yuri Sokol. Pro­ duction designer: Peta Lawson. Costume designer: Rosalea Hood. Editor: SimonJames. Composer: Paul Smyth. Cast: Garry McDonald (Ollie Rennie), Brian Vriends (Pat Cannizzaro), Catherine McClements (Jill McHugh) Jocelyn Betheras (Jody), Henry Salter (Noel),DenisMoore (Poster) Briony Williams (Gail), Brian M. Logan (Kevin). Australian distributor: Greater Union. 35 mm. 105 mins. Australia. 1991.

W A IT IN G PHILIPPA BURNE

he opening scene of Waiting is at once brave, confronting and humorous. A nak­ ed woman is swimming in a river surrounded by bush (and with Doris Day singing “Que sera, sera” in the background). Then she stands up and reveals that she is far advanced in preg­ nancy.

The woman is Clare (Noni Hazlehurst), a painter who has just won the prestigious Moet et Chandon art prize, enabling her to live in France for a year. She has booked her ticket to Paris for the first available flight- the firstflight after her baby is born, that is.

At the first signs of labour pains, Clare rings friends Sandy (Helen Jones), Therese (Fiona Press) and Diane (Deborra-Lee Furness). They converge on her house in country Queensland, bringing with them three children, one husband, one boyfriend and a film camera.

As well as coming to support an old friend, Therese is there to finish her documentary film on home birth, and Sandy is there to help deliver the baby which will become hers.

In her second feature film, writer-director Jackie McKimmie tightly directs a well-written and dense script. The keys to the action are slowly revealed as the film progresses and the many layers of the story are filled in. Nearly all the action occurs within one location over twenty-four hours.

Clare, Sandy, Therese and Diane have been friends since school and over many years have shared more than just school lunches. As the film unfolds, it is revealed that Sandy’s hus­ band, Michael (Frank W hitten), an academic and social crusader, has slept with three of the four women. Years of resentments, secrets and jealousies begin to surface during the two days everyone is at Clare’s farmhouse.

The different paths these women have chosen are indicative of the choices now avail­ able to women, and also signal the many and difficult decisions people must make.

Sandy has chosen a traditional path. She teaches kindergarten and craves motherhood.

However, she is unable to have children. Com­ pletely involved in the events emotionally, she is physically excluded from the process of procreation. Consequently, she becomes bossy and frenetic. However, as events unfold, her rather annoying behaviour becomes rather pathetic as things do not turn out the way she hoped. The moment at which Sandy’s hopes crash is impressively shot by director of pho­ tography Steve Mason, as she stands alone on a hillside masked by grey skies.

Therese is a hardened feminist. She is disillusioned with men, gives little attention to her appearance, makes feminist films, is always short of money and is the mother of a teenage daughter. Above her desk is the statement, “Dead men don’t rape.” Therese sees Clare’s pregnancy as her opportunity to make the film which will set her on the map of women’s filmmaking. Throughout the pregnancy, she has interviewed Clare about surrogacy and home birth, now she awaits the ending: the birth itself. Nothing can interfere with this natural process or her career is over.

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LEFT: DIA N E (D EBO R R A-LEE FU R N ESS) AN D THERESE (F IO N A PRESS) IN JA C K IE M cK IM M IE 'S W A IT IN G .

Diane is the glamorous one. She has spent many years overseas and edits a fashion maga­ zine. Not afraid to use her looks for her own ends, she chats up the local policeman, much to the disgust of Therese, and persuades him to let Sandy’s and Therese’s recently arrested children off some charges. Diane has chosen to be a career woman, but not without realiz­ ing some sacrifices. The envy of the others, she is not altogether happy herself, nor is she wholly convinced of the wisdom of home birth.

Clare is the central character, but eventu­ ally becomes forgotten by the others as her labour pains cease and the complexity of their inter-relationships begin to boil over. Soon she is craving peace and quiet from her close friends.

Clare is intelligent, strong and independ­ ent, She is a talented painter who isjust begin­ ning to achieve recognition within her art community. She has chosen to live without her boyfriend, Steve, because “I can’t paint on my back.” She is also beginning to question many of her beliefs. Surrogacy, home birth and childlessness, which seemed so straightforward when abstract concepts, become far more complex as realities. Interview sequences of Clare’s talking for Therese’s film are cleverly cut into the action to highlight the complexi­ ties that develop as theories must be put into practice.

Surrogacy is one of the main issues ad­ dressed in this film. Clare reaches a point where she has to face the reality of giving up the child she has borne. This is an issue which is currently the subject within both feminist and medical circles. Clare’s final decision has repercussions for many people’s lives. The film ends with the birth of the child and does not take us any further in time to see how people cope with her decision. This is some­ thing we must surmise for ourselves.

Clare is the one character in the film who believes she can, and seems to be able to, have it all. Motherhood, career and love are all hers, although she feels that to preserve herself she must live without her lover. But it is still her 60

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lover, Steve, who makes her realize what she has to do. She is independent but not totally self-sufficient.

But Waiting is not exclusively a film about women. The men in this film are equally com­ plex and equally involved.

Michael is a man facing changes also. Many of his beliefs do not seem to be able to work in the realities of his life. His love/hate relation­ ship with McDonald’s food chain sums this up.

By contrast, Clare’s friend and neighbour, Bill (Ray Barrett), is a down-to-earth Austra­ lian. In touch with nature and not interested in modern ideas and concerns, he avoids all of Clare’s friends but is there when she needs him.

Men’s complex relationship with birth is also given attention. The historical and cul­ tural variation which exists, from the total exclusion of men to their total control as doctors and the recent trend of fathers’ being present at a birth, is pointed out. Women’s actual control over the process, and indeed over paternity, is highlighted.

McKimmie portrays both men and women as sympathetic, complex and human. Thus, although predominantly concerned with what are considered “women’s issues”, this is not a didactic, feminist tract or a sentimental por­ trayal of femininity but raises issues which many women and men find problematic in a decade which is trying to come to terms with the legacy of 1970s feminism, alternative life­ styles, ideological fights, etc.

McKimmie does not presume to find an answer for these and other issues, although through the story’s resolution she does ex­ press an opinion on surrogacy at least. How­ ever, this is only one story and different people may have ended it differently. McKimmie ac­ knowledges that there is no single question and no simple answer.

McKimmie is thereby realistic about the problems inherent in feminism but is con­ comitantly positive about the possibilities of­ fered by i t- and notjust for women, but also for the possibility of change in m en’s lives. She

recognizes thé heterogeneity of people, their lives and problems, and that one person’s solution would not be the solution for every­ one and that person’s decision will impact on others’ lives.

The ways these people’s lives are turning out is nicely contrasted with the first experi­ mentation of their children. Sandy and Michael have two adopted children, a Vietnamese and an Aboriginal. Therese has a teenage daugh­ ter. The children are somewhat scathing of the adults’ lives, but in their own lives are setting off on paths which in many ways echo therq,.

Waiting is also a very humorous film. Much of this comes from Hazlehurst’s portrayal of Clare, as well as strong performances by most of the cast, and from the throwing together of so many different character types. Clare’s awareness of the absurdity of her situation, surrounded by friends who have come to be with her and soon forget her in their preoccu­ pation with old resentments, jealousies and insecurities, is evident on her face.

This is not the first time Hazlehurst and McKimmie have worked together. Hazlehurst starred in McKimmie’s first feature, Australian Dream (1985), and in her award-winning short, Stations (1983).

Waiting is funny, sympathetic and some­ what provocative all at the same time. It is a film which I hope is indicative of a style of filmmak­ ing to come in the 1990s, thoughtfully dealing with real issues in an non-didactic way, leaving viewers with enough material to make their own decisions.

Unfortunately, I fear that it may be margi­ nalized by an audience sceptical about “wom­ en’s issues” and “women’s films” (and I in­ clude both women and men in that audience).

Perhaps we need a shift of attitude away from seeing feminism as concerned with women to seeing it as concerned with people. Then we can see that the issues raised in this film are relevant to both women and men.

WAITING Directed by Jackie McKimmie. Producer: Ross Matthews. Executive producer: Penny Chapman.

Associate producer: Wayne Barry. Scriptwriter:Jackie McKimmie. Director of photography: Steve Mason.

Production designer: Murray Picknett. Editor: Mike Honey. Cast: Noni Hazlehurst (Clare), Frank Whitten (Michael), Helenjones (Sandy), Deborra-Lee Furness (Diane), Fiona Press (Therese), Denis Moore (Bill), Ray Barrett (Frank). Filmside. Australian distributor: Ronin. 35 mm. 95 mins. Australia. 1991.

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COMPILED

A C T O F B E TR A Y A L Director: Lawrence Gordon Clark. Producers: Ray Alehin, Nick Evans. Scriptwriters: Nick Evans, Michael Chaplin. Directors of photography: Peter Hendry, BrefFni Byrne. Editor: Lyn Solly. Distribu­ tor: CBS-Fox Video. Cast: Elliott Gould (Callaghan), Lisa Harrow (Eileen McGurk), Patrick Bergin (Michael McGurk), Bryan Marshall (Kennedy).

McGurk, a disillusioned IRA fighter, informs On his colleagues. Together with his wife and child, he is dispatched to Australia with a new identity, w here a m ercen ary hit-m an, Callaghan, traces his whereabouts with the help of McGurk’s lover (Deborra-Lee Furness in a thankless role).

This ‘feature length’ version of the twopart television mini-series has predictably suf­ fered from the transition. The condensed ma­ terial is marred by abrupt leaps, a denouement that is perfunctory and uniformly hollow char­ acters. The climactic finale is rendered nearly incomprehensible, with characters seeming to appear out of nowhere due to slipshod reediting.

This is the type of film where co-producers are signalled by moving to a new locale or introducing a new international actor, and where plot is all. It stubbornly refuses to pro­ vide insights into any of the principal charac­ ters, resorting to pithy motives like the acci­ dental death of a child to explain McGurk’s betrayal, the hit-man’s night of love to indicate a change of heart.

BLO O D OATH Director: Stephen Wallace. Producers: Denis Whitburn, Brian Williams, in association with Charles Waterstreet. Scriptwriters: Denis Whitburn, Brian Williams. Director of photography: Russell Boyd.

Editor: Nicholas Beauman. Distributor: Roadshow.

Cast: Bryan Brown (Captain Robert Cooper), George Takei (Vice Admiral Baron Takahashi), Deborah Unger (Sister Littell), Nicholas Eadie (Sergeant Keenan).

Dramatization of controversial war-crimes trial held shordy after the end of World War II in the Dutch East Indies. Reviewed in Cinema Papers, December 1990.

BLO O D M OON Director: Alec Mills. Producer: Stanley O ’Toole.

Scriptwriter: Robert Brennan. Director of photog­ raphy: John Stokes. Editor: David Halliday. Distribu­ tor: Roadshow Home Video. Cast: Leon Lissek (Miles Sheffield), Christine Amor (Virginia Sheffield), Ian Williams (Kevin Lynch), Helen Thomson (Mary Huston).

Horror spoof produced by Village Roadshow Pictures which had a brief theatrical outing in 1990. Reviewed in Cinema Papers, May 1990.

C A LL M E MR BROW N Director: Scott Hicks. Producer: Terry Jennings.

Scriptwriters: Terryjennings, Scott Hicks. Director of photography: Geoffrey Simpson. Editor: Andrew Prowse. Distributor: Home Cinema Group Cast: 62

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Chris Haywood (Peter Macari), Russell Kiefel (Ray Ponting).Vincent Ball (Capt. Richie), John Poison (Brian Day).

tributor: CBS-Fox Video. Cast: John Doyle (Mark), Nicola Bartlett (Cheryl), Ray Barrett (Bael), Nathalie Gaffney (Cleo).

Tele-feature (which has yet to be broadcast) made in 1985 based on the infamous Peter Macari, alias Mr Brown, the Qantas Airlines extortionist.

Karl Zwicky’s promising feature debut is an inventive variation on the Halloween genre of slasher films. The haunted forest, rabid luna­ tics and the ominously luxurious house are no doubt familiar elements, though here they are nothing less than the illusory backdrops to the dreams and conquests of a real estate agent.

Goaded by a violent homosexual encoun­ ter, the budding “master of the universe” (Mark) meets temptation in the form of Ray Barrett’s silky financier and his two promiscu­ ous female companions (Nathalie Gaffney and Pamela Hawksford). Although the film dithers somewhat with some creaky plot elements, it is a sometimes inventive genre film with effective sound design by Tony Vaccher and John Dennison, efficient cameraworkbyjohn Stokes and assured direction by Zwicky.

C O M P U TE R G H O S TS Director: Marcus Cole. Producers: James Michael Vernon, Jan Tyrrell. Scriptwriter: Michael McGennan. Director of photography: Marun McGrath.

Editor: David Huggett. Distributor: Home Cinema Group Cast: NicholasRyan (Harlan), Emily Symonds (Anya), PeterWhitford (Uncle Oscar), Noel Ferrier (Chief executive).

Made for television, this would-be comedy begins with the cheapest-looking credits in history. Things go downhill from there.

The ‘plot’ is about a corrupt security firm, Crooksnatchers, which installs burglar alarms that create computer monsters to frighten the owners into selling up cheaply. (This is what Hollywood calls a high-concept film: its “hook” can be summed up in one sentence.)

But the plot is uncovered by two computer hackers, Harlan and Anya, who have engaged in a computer tug-of-war over access to police files. It is a mark of this film’s low regard for its audience that it never shows the hackers do anything meaningful with their keyboarding (as happens in every American film with simi­ lar themes), the characters just banging away and magically breaking secret codes.

Director Marcus Cole made the industry take notice with his co-directing work on The Great Bookie Robbery. But Computer Ghosts is the sort of film that in a couple of years might be accidentally missing from his CV. [S.M.]

CO NTAGIO N Director: Karl Zwicky. Producers: Ken Methold, Leo Barretto. Scriptwriter: Ken Methold. Director of photography: John Stokes. Editor: Roy Mason. Dis­

TH E C R O S S IN G Director: George Ogilvie. Producer: Sue Seeary.

Scriptwriter: Ranald Allan. Director of photogra­ phy: Jeff Darling. Editor: Henry Dangar. Distribu­ tor: RCA-Columbia Pictures-Hoyts Video. Cast: Russell Crowe (Johnny), RobertMammone (Sam), Danielle Spencer (Meg).

Three young people in a small outback town in the 1960s cope with passion, familial conflict and alienation. Reviewed in Cinema Papers, December 1990.

TH E D ELIN Q U EN TS Director: Chris Thomson. Producers: Alex Cutler, Michael Wilcox. Scriptwriters: Mac Gudgeon, Clayton Frohman; based on novel by Criena Rohan.

Director of photography: Andrew Lesnie. Editor: John Scott. Dist.: Roadshow Home Video. Cast: Kylie Minogue (Lola), Charlie Schlatter (Brownie), Desiree Smith (Mavis), Todd Boyce (Lyle).

B ELO W : CREED (JEFF FA H EY ) AN D P O O L ATTEN D AN T IN IA N B A R R Y 'S THE FIG H TIN G CREED ( a k a M IN N A M U R R A ).

Film version of Criena Rohan’s novel of youth rebellion in conservative, parochial 1950s Aus­ tralia. Well publicized as Minogue’s acting debut. Reviewed in CinemaPapers, March 1990.

DRIVING M IS S D A IS Y Director: Bruce Beresford. Producers: Richard D. Zanuck, Lili Fini Zanuck. Scriptwriter: Alfred Uhry; from his play. Director of photography: Peterjames.

Editor: Mark Warner. Distributor: RCA-Columbia Pictures-Hoyts Video. Cast: Morgan Freeman (Hoke Colburn), Jessica Tandy (Daisy W erthan), Dan Aykroyd (Boolie).

Directed by Bruce Beresford and awarded Best Filmatthe 1990 Academy Awards (Beresford’s non-inclusion in the nominations for Best Di­ rector has been the subject of some debate and a worthy quip from Billy Crystal at the Awards presentation). Based on Alfred Uhry’s play of inter-racial friendships and the burdens of generational legacies. Reviewed in CinemaPa­ pers, May 1990

E D EN ’S LO ST Director: Neil Armfield. Producer: Margaret Fink.

Scriptwriter: Michael Gow, from the novel by Sumner Locke Elliott. Distributor: CBS-Fox Video. Cast: Julia Blake (Eve), Arthur Dignam (Heath), Linda Cropper (Stevie), Victoria Longley (Bea).

Mini-series adaptation of Sumner Locke Elliott’s novel. Reviewed in Cinema Papers, September 1989.

TH E FIGHTING CR EED [previously MINNAMURRA] Director: Ian Barry. Producer: Jo h n Sexton.

Scriptwriter: John Sexton. Director of photography: Ross Berryman. Editor: Henry Dangar. Distributor: Roadshow Home Video. Cast: Jeff Fahey (Creed), StevenVidler (JackDonahue),TushkaBergen (Alice Richards), Shane Briant (Allenby).

Originally known as Outback, this film had a brief theatrical outing under the title of Minnamurra, before being released to video under yet another name, The Fighting Creed.

While the final title has the distinct ring of a mercenary marketing decision, it also refers to the plight of one of the film’s lead characters.

(When shown recently on television, the title reverted to Minnamurra.)

Like the horses that gallop across the sweeping landscapes, this film has a reliable though predictable pedigree. Essentially mod­ elled on The Man From Snowy River Films, it is a decidedly old-fashioned romantic adventure in which a young woman’s quest to re-claim her father’s near-bankrupt heritage is paral­ leled by the trials of her two suitors: the cocky, self-assured American businessman, Creed, and the larrikin drover and trade union activist, Jack. Whilst the wider positions that these men represent are crudely dealt with, the conflict­ ing values of the ‘grass roots’, working-class Australian and the enterprising American do lead to some intriguing and unexpected reso­ lutions. Otherwise, the film steers a fairly straight course through picaresque adventure and ‘pulp’ romance, directed in a workman­ like manner by Ian Barry (The Chain Reaction).

FUTURE P A S T Director: Rob Stewart. Producers: Jan Tyrrell,James Michael Vernon. Scriptwriter: Michael McGennan.

Director of photography: Martin McGrath. Editor: John Hollands. Distributor: Home Cinema Group.

Cast: Nicholas Ryan (Harlan), Imogen Annesley (Simone) Jo h n Ley (Billy), Gary Down (B.L. Keye).

This is a little-seen, barely annotated (it is not recorded in the Cinema Papers Production Survey) 1987 feature. Assumedly made for television, it is a slight and unoriginal timetravel fantasy. The basic situation has a shy, introverted nerd in a race against time with his alter-ego self, who has returned from the past and is now employing his knowledge and lotharian charm to tap the futures market and to woo the nerd’s unsuspecting girlfriend.

This film is the equivalent of a high-school stage revue where a promising, currently fad­ dish idea is enthusiastically though indiscrimi­ nately embraced, and economical, expedient solutions are found for most logistical prob­ lems. Here, for instance, the main characters work in a Sydney branch of the Video Ezy chain, skating around to the backdrop of cur­ rent releases, but the real potential of this setting is barely exploited. Then there’s the seemingly endless scenes of sci-fi machina­ tions that take place in front of hastily con­ structed sets with rudimentary computer-gen­ erated effects (how much better it was when Jack Deth simply emerged from the ocean in Charles Band’s wonderfully inventive Future Cop). Most tiresome, however, are the patently unfunny attempts at humour, with the hero’s supposedly ‘normal’ though obviously insane parents and their fanatical religious devotees.

This is derivative, unremarkable and artless schlock.

IN TO O DEEP Directors: John Tatoulis, Colin South. Producers: John Tatoulis, Colin South. Scriptwriter: Deborah Parsons. Directors of photography: Mark Gilfedder, Peter Zakharov. Editors: Michael Collins, Nicholas Lee. Distributor: Home Cinema Group. Cast: Hugo Race (Mack), Santha Press (Wendy), Rebekah Elmaloglou (JoJo), John Flaus (Niles)

This venture into the film noir universe of for­ bidden sexuality and underworld criminality is certainly what makes this unique in the cur­ rent climate of Australian filmmaking. Initially the film concerns itself with the passionate, fiercely sexual relationship between a night­ club singer, Wendy, and Mack, a brooding criminal who is under surveillance by two po­ licemen. Deborah Parsons’ script slowly (and perhaps too late) begins to incorporate the perspective ofWendy’s 15-year-old sister,JoJo,

A B O V E : KEN (JA C K THO M PSO N ) AND G ERALD (M A X G ILLIES ) IN DAVID B A K E R 'S EPISO DE IN LIBID O .

who moves into her older sister’s flat where she is ‘initiated’ into the adult world of sex, vio­ lence and their consequences.

Sadly, the adventure is let down by incon­ sistent performances, from Hugo Race’s end­ less sneer to Carillo Gantner’s woeful cameo as a gangster, and a tone that is never quite convincing. According to David Stratton’s The Avocado Plantation, the project was beset by production problems forcing it to shut down and resume several months later, which may partly explain the over-all unevenness.

TH E LA S T BASTIO N Director: Chris Thomson. Producers: Brian Rosen, David Williamson, Denis Whitburni Scriptwriters: David Williamson, Denis Whitburn. Director of photography: Louis Irving. Editor: Sara Bennett.

Distributor: Home Cinema Group. Cast: Michael Blakemore Jo h n Curtin), John Wood (Robert Menzies), Robert Vaughan (Douglas MacArthur), Ray Barrett (General Blarney), Warren Mitchell (Franklin Roosevelt), Timothy West (Winston Churchill).

Mini-series about Australia under the threat of Japanese invasion during World War II.

LIBIDO Directors: John B. Murray (‘T he Husband”); Tim Burstall (“The Child”); Fred A. Schepisi (T h e Priest”); David Baker (“The Family Man”). Execu­ tive producers: Christopher Muir, John B. Murray.

Scriptwriters: Craig McGregor; Hal Porter; Thomas Keneally; David Williamson. Directors of photogra­ phy: Eric Lomas; Robin Copping; Ian Baker; Bruce McNaughton. Editors: Tim Lewis; David Bilcock; Brian Kavanagh; Edward McQueen-Mason. Dis­ tributor: Home Cinema Group. Cast: Elke Neidhardt (Penelope), Byron Williams Jo nathon); John Williams (Martin), Jill Forster (Mother); Robyn Nevin (Sister Caroline), Arthur Dignam (Father Burn) Jack Thompson (Ken), Max Gillies (Gerald).

Seminal Australian film from 1973, now in re­ issue after a very short first video release.

This box-office success from the earliest days of the renaissance is notable not only for its intermittent qualities but, most important, for having helped launch into film careers such major figures as writer David Williamson, directors Fred Schepisi and Tim Burstall, pro­ ducer Jo h n B. Murray and actors Jack Thompson, Max Gillies, Robyn Nevin, et al.

For those who haven’t seen it in nearly two decades, it is well worth a re-viewing. [R.C.] CINEMA

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M O RTG AGE Director: Bill Bennett. Producer: Bruce Moir.

Scriptwriter: Bill Bennett. Director of photography: Steve Arnold. Editor: Sara Bennett. Distributor: Home Cinema Group. Cast: Doris Younane (Tina Dodd), Brian Vriends (Dave Dodd), Bruce Venables (George Shooks), Andrew Gilbert (Kevin Grant).

Naturalistically-played dramas driven by liter­ ate, dialogue-laden screenplays seem to be the touchstone of Australian television. All ofwhich makes Bill Bennett’s move into improvisation and situation-derived scripts somewhat daring and innovative. However, this ‘docu-drama’ style falls, at times ambivalently, between docu­ mentary and drama, simulated ‘reconstruc­ tion’ arid disarming kitchen-sink realism.

Mortgage is part of a Film Australia series which was broadcast onNetworkNine (Bennett also contributed Malpractice and Custody) in which the trials of a young married couple building their dream home are painstakingly detailed. Bennett limits his treatment to the heady emotional trials of the young couple while they battle on with unscrupulous build­ ers, well-meaning bankers and lawyers. While at times this cautionary tale is pure bathos, it offers rare glimpses into the social condition­ ing of Australians. And at least two perform­ ances are, at times, too excruciatingly candid to watch.

R AW NER VE Director: Tony Wellington. Producer: Michael Lynch. Scriptwriter: Tony Wellington. Director of photography: Kim Batterham. Editor: Marcus D’Arcy. Distributor: Home Cinema Group. Cast: Kelly Dingwall (David), Rebecca Rigg (Michelle), John Poison (Billy).

Three teenagers ‘reveal’ themselves during the course of an intensive day in what has been described as an Australian reworking of The Breakfast Club. Reviewed in Cinema Papers, May 1989.

R ELATIVES Director: Anthony Bowman. Producers: Henri Safran, Basil Appleby. Scriptwriter: Anthony Bow­ man. Director of photography: T om Cowan. Editor: Colin Greive. Composer: Norman Kaye. Distribu­ tor: Home Cinema Group. Cast: Alyson Best (Clare), Ray Barrett (Geoffrey), Bill Kerr (Grandfather), Carol Raye (Joan).

This first feature of writer-director Anthony Bowman tells of a family’s gathering in the country for Grandfather’s eightieth birthday.

This is the catalyst for family tensions to ebb and flow, for bonds to be made and broken.

Though very stage-like in its reliance on talk and a theatrical style of performance, Relatives has itpleasures. The dialogue is some­ times sharp and witty (as when Joan, her hus­ band’s driving having pushed a cyclist off the road, remarks disdainfully, “Dreadful legs!”) and the actors are confident. It is also a pleas­ ure to see the great Ray Barrett in any role.

What goes against Relatives is its very uncinematic nature: nothing is told visually, the camera merely (and boringly) recording peo­ ple talk. (Bowman is not well served, either, by his director of photography, who has not lit or exposed the film at all well.)

Bowman has since made Capucdno, which is an unfortunate intensification of the theatri­ cal errors of this film. That said, on the strength 64

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on Relatives, Bowman looks a much more in­ teresting writer-director of small, tele-feature­ like films than many currently in work. [S.M.]

R ETURN HO M E Director: Ray Argali. Producer: Christina Pozzan.

Scriptwriter: Ray Argali. Director of photography: Mandy Walker. Editor: Ken Sallows. Distributor: Home Cinema Group. Cast: Dennis Coard (Noel), FrankieJ. Holden (Steve), Ben Mendelsohn (Gary), Micki Camilleri (Judy).

Ray Argali’s critically acclaimed feature debut.

Reviewed in Cinema Papers, December 1990.

R O C K ’N ’ ROLL C O W B O Y S Director: Rob Stewart. Producers: James Michael Vernon andjan Tyrrell. Scriptwriter: David R. Young.

Director of photography: Joseph Pickering. Editor: Amanda Robson. Composer: Dave Skinner. Dis­ tributor: Home Cinema Group. Cast: Peter Phelps, David Franklin, Nikki Coghill, Ben Franklin, Dee Krainz,John Doyle.

This film has something of a fantasy-cum-sci-fi B grader. Mikey, a no-luck band technician, wants to be a rock star and is tempted by a keyboard that creates music through one’s thoughts. In brief, this is Faust crossed with Douglas Trumball’s Brainstorm, mildly crossed with Walter Hill’s Streets ofFire. [R.C.]

ROM ERO D irectorjohn Duigan. Producer: Ellwood E. Kieser.

Scriptwriter: John Sacret Young. Director of pho­ tography: Geoff Burton. Editor: Frans Vandenburg.

Distributor: Roadshow Home Video. Cast: Rauljulia (Archbishop Oscar Romero), Richard Jordan (Fa­ ther Rudllo Grande), Ana Alicia (Arista Zelada), Alejandro Bracho (Father Alfonso Osuna).

This Jo h n D uigan-directed film about Salvadorean Archbishop Oscar Romero has had a drawn-out, circuitous journey to the video shops. It was originally scheduled to be released at least one year ago before its dis­ tributor, Filmpac, closed down. It has since been distributed by Roadshow Home Video.

An interview with John Duigan in Cinema Papers (November 1989) spelled out some of the evident problems withjohn Sacret Young’s script, with which Duigan was not in full agree­ ment. At the same time, one is never uncertain of the good intentions that went into the making of this engaging film. The protracted sequence where Romero enters a church commandeered by the military (one of whom it is suggested, but not stated, is American) is masterfully controlled and measured, sustain­ ing the tension of the moment when the sol­ diers’guns take aim and also the inner turmoil of Romero’s quest for liberation theology.

S E B A S TIA N A N D TH E S P A R R O W Director: Scott Hicks. Producer: Scott Hicks.

Scriptwriter: Scott Hicks. Director of photography: David Foreman. Editor: Pip Karmel. Distributor: Home Cinema Group. Cast: Alexander Bainbridge (Sebastian Thornbury), Jeremy Angerson (Spar­ row) , Robert Coleby (Peter Thornbury), Elizabeth Alexander (Jenny Thornbury).

Mildly captivating film about the (to others) unlikely friendship between a public school­ boy, Sebastian, and a street kid, Sparrow. Both have reasons to be dissatisfied with life, and together they hit the road, avoiding parents, social workers and police. In the process, Spar­ row finds his ‘lost’ mother and both gain a new

perspective on familial love and responsibility.

The performances are not overly strong (though Jeremy Angerson looks exactly right as Sparrow) and the plotting is a little too easily contrived. But such is the way with children’s films in Australia (cf the ACTF’s work). And director-writer Scott Hicks does include some nicely detailed moments of observation, as when Sebastian is pulled over for under-age driving. Asked by the policeman to get out, Sebastian immediately leans against the car and spreads his legs, confidently demanding his right to one phone call: here hours in front of American television shows has precondi­ tioned behaviour.

Hicks made the theatrical feature Freedom! some years ago, which had a similar theme. But Sebastian and the Sparrow is more likely to make his talents noticed. [S.M.]

TH E SW O R D O F BU SH ID O Director: Adrian Carr. Producer: John Lamond.

Scriptwriter: James Wulf Simmonds. Director of photography: Ross Berryman. Editor: Peter Bur­ gess. Distributor: Roadshow Home Video. Cast: Richard Norton, Toshishiro Obata, Rochelle Ashana, Judy Green, Kovit Wattanaroon.

A cheap adventure-action picture that is inter­ esting for its inability to figure out where it is going. With any luck neither will the audience.

An America airforce commander, also an expert on Japanese warrior cults and profi­ cient with the sword, sets out to find the re­ mains of his grandfather, whose plane came down somewhere in Thailand three days after the end of World War II. Through his special mental prowess, he deduces that his grandfa­ ther was unjustly assassinated by the Japanese.

This tends to give the film a vengeance plot.

Then he finds himself in the Western’s profes­ sional plot when he is suddenly called upon to help defend villagers from the attacks of gun runners and drug smugglers. Then there is a Holy Grail-like plot when he reveals he is actu­ ally trying to recover a special sword his grand­ father stole from the Japanese, so that he can return it to them. [R.C.]

W E N D Y C R A C K ED A W A LN U T Director: Michael Pattinson. Producer: John Edwards. Scriptwriter: Suzanne Hawley. Director of photographyjeffrey Malouf. Editor: Michael Honey.

Distributor: RCA-Columbia Pictures-Hoyts Video Cast: Rosanna Arquette (Wendy Walters), Bruce Spence (Ronnie), Hugo Weaving (Jake), Kerry Walker (Deidre).

Rosanna Arquette, complete with American accent (which the film doesn’t explain), was imported for this uninspired rendition of the Cinderella fairytale. Wendy, day-dreaming to escape the mundanity of her supposedly skit­ tish life and routine office-job, is stuck between her infantile, nerd boyfriend, Ronnie, and the mythical Prince Charming of her romantic fantasies, who emerges in the form of a slick, libidinally energized womanizer, Jake.

Suzanne Hawley’s script maps Wendy’s quest against the narrowest parameters - care­ free hedonism and sexual release (though the codes are strictly Victorian Era) versus grass­ roots, homely nostalgia - copping-out with a resolution that suggests horror rather than fantasy.

■

If you want to know ...

WHO manages outback locations.

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HOW? Easy! Look in the book!

Look in THE PRODUCTION BOOK 1991

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degree of coherence. Key questions that Cunningham raises about Chauvel’s position/ predicament in Australian cinema (industrial, cultural, generic, aesthetic) are broached and S tu a rt Cunningham , A llen & Ununn, Sydney, then partially suspended as the study unfolds.

1 9 9 1 , 2 1 4 p p . , illu stra ted , p h , rr p $ 1 9 .9 5 In his introduction, Cunningham peruses a number of topics which would seem to fore­ BARRETT H O D S D O N shadow a concerted attempt to unravel the rior to the 1970s revival of Australian Chauvel predicament: i.e., (1) Problems in cinema, there were few local directors conceptualizing film history; (2) Difficulties in who would qualify as bountiful subjects for approaching national cinemas; and (3) Past intense research and scrutiny. The subject of treatments of Australian film history.

Stuart Cunningham’s book, Charles Chauvel, In the end, these assume a sort of mechani­ is one case of a director who has already been cal gesture rather than an incisive entry into accorded special status from a strictly limited the succeeding analysis. pool of candidates. Indeed, the name Chauvel Cunningham claims that he rejects the has acquired an aura from that period of conventional critical model of tracing a direc­ Australian filmmaking when the industry was tor’s path from apprenticeship to maturity as almost at zero point: i.e., appropriate for Chauvel (as the 1940s and ’50s. In the Andrew Pike has done previ­ light of this, one of the ously) . He then proceeds to more positive results of divide his career into Cunningham’s work is his chronological phases, de­ investigation of how the spite his dismissal of the Chauvel legend was con­ maturity model. He charac­ structed in an indifferent terizes Chauvel’s first phase commercial environment. (i.e.,hissilentperiod) asone Rather than being touted of entrepreneurial individu­ as an auteur in abstract, alism; the second phase, en­ Chauvel should be ap­ compassing the 1930s and proached in the wider World War II, is viewed as a sense of a career trajectory period in which Chauvel that presented a number made concerted attempts to The----------Cinemaof-4------Charles-—Chauvel of dilemmas in a feature build alliances between the S T U A RT C U N N I N G H AM filmmaking milieu thatwas production and distribution m m low-level and fluctuating. spheres, as well as starting Cunningham’s book is the process of building a bio­ a valuable addition to the graphical legend culminat­ thin ranks of books that seriously attempt to ing in the local success of Forty Thousand probe aspects of Australian film history. This is Horsemen and Rats of Tobruk, the final phase, especially so at a time when the fashion for covering the late ’40s and ’50s, sees Chauvel Australian cinema is in recession. Featuring capitalizing upon this biographical legend and Australia does make a valiant effort to fiercely pursuing his role as independent pro­ contextualize Chauvel in industry and social ducer-director. terms, as well as furnishing some useful read­ Cunningham’s categorization seems emi­ ings of individual films. nently reasonable and could actually be con­ Yet, given that the book was based on strued as fortifying the maturity model, espe­ Cunningham’s PhD thesis, I sense an incom­ cially via the importance he attaches to plete project, one that does not achieve a fully Chauvel’s construction of his biographical leg­ fledged analysis of the Chauvel predicament end. Given that the bio-legend strand opens (for that is what it was), even though the writer up some promising paths for analysis, one is aware of the pertinent issues. His desire to wishes that Cunningham had developed this pursue and distil these issues often seems lack­ theme more systematically. ing. The book does not really bridge the gap Furthermore, Cunningham seems to sac­ between the need to proffer an adequate ana­ rifice the opportunity to conduct an obvious lytical framework through which to assess the and logical comparison between Chauvel and Chauvel predicament (one of a simultaneous Ken G. Hall. This is unfortunate given the champion and a displaced figure of Australian limited options to develop direct comparisons cinema) and the treatment of his feature films for the period in question. A Chauvel-Hall as isolated objects for study. One senses that comparison would have helped to clarify the the introductory chapter, “A pproaching status and mission of Chauvel as an independ­ Chauvel”, has the air of a post-hoc rationaliza­ ent. Whereas Hall simply accepted the circum­ tion of the project in order to give it a greater stances cast upon him to become Australia’s

F E A TU R IN G A U S T R A L IA : T H E C IN E M A O F CH AR LES CH AUVEL

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most prolific filmmaker of the ’30s, Chauvel had to struggle to launch and complete each project. Further, since Hall and Chauvel both admired and studied Hollywood filmerait, a comparison between them would have been revealing, especially how each negotiated Hol­ lywood classicism in terms of their narrative approach, not to mention their different signpostings of Australian culture. The ques­ tion of Australian identity projection, and the impossible conditions of (post)-colonial cul­ ture, has interesting variations in each instance.

Chauvel wanted to consciously project himself as a cultural nationalist whereas Hall did not harbour such ambitions.

The most uneasy dimension of Cunning­ ham ’s project is his appropriation of specific concepts in order to further his explication of the Chauvel predicament without a proper referencing of the previous use of these terms and his conceptual baggage that comes with them: (1) The Classical Hollywood Style. Al­ though C unningham acknowledges the Bordwell and Thompson invocation here, he spends no time amplifying the term in its cross­ application to Chauvel. He does not mention the restrictive formalist criteria that underlie the Bordwell and Thompson work. Conse­ quently this allows a certain slippage in its application to Chauvel. 'Chauvel’s embracing of Hollywood’s narrative method does not especially distinguish him from a host of other filmmakers around the world that were look­ ing to the Hollywood commercial model in the ’30s. An allegiance to the Hollywood mode of exposition was not a barrier to Chauvel’s ram­ pant cultural natibnalism, but it did influence his understanding of dramaturgy and associ­ ated mise-en-scène strategies. Cunningham fails to describe the nature and the implications of his allusions to the classical Hollywood mode of exposition and consequendy he is unable to specify how we should bracket its application to the Australian filmmaking situation. In Chauvel’s work we cannot apply simple con­ cepts of cultural subservience or cultural ap­ propriation, for he falls into an ambiguous and perhaps indeterminate zone.

(2) The High Melodramatic Mode. Cun­ ningham’s application of this term to some of Chauvel’s work again reflects a desire to appro­ priate a term imbued with resonance, without adequate explication of its critical context or value. This ultimately places the term in jargonistic limbo. Cunningham makes no ref­ erence to the debates around melodramatic form initiated by Elsaesser in the early ’70s and later taken up by feminist critics. This debate had a very specific bearing on the family melo­ drama and the associated genre of the women’s weepie in the classical American cinema. The debate revolved around the fusion of drama-

turgy, mise-en-scèneand generic convention and scape for cultural-nationalist ends. Although I was limited to such auteur-stylists as Minnelli, am sympathetic to Cunningham’s difficulties Sirk, Cukor, McCarey, Borzage and Ray. Thus in trying pinpoint the tone of Chauvel’s films, Cunningham valorizes the high melodramatic I have the impression that locationism is al­ mode vis a vis Chauvel in a critical vacuum. He most a means of short circuiting a more assidu­ does not prise open and test the concept. This ous discussion of the dilemmas of Chauvel’s raises a difficulty since Chauvel cannot be cultural nationalism. Is Chauvel’s depiction of equated to the above-mentioned directors in the Australian countryside any more national­ terms of stylistic abstraction or sophistication, istic than John Ford’s portrayal of Monument but he nevertheless was drawn to a sort of headValley or the Mojave desert? on dramaturgy with a naive appeal to primi­ Another example of Cunningham’s fail­ tivism (King Vidor might be a more useful, if ure to pursue and extend a promising line of extravagant, analogy). We are left with a degree investigation is the proposed relation between of uncertainty as to why and how the high Chauvel’s cinema and a domestic literary melodramatic mode is being invoked, except genre of travel/adventure writing best exem­ to highlight a sense of oddness and incongru­ plified by Ian Idriess’ and Frank Clune’s nov­ ity in Chauvel’s narrative modulation. els. This is disappointing since the ideological Cunningham’s backdoor invocation of the underpinning of this genre would appear to old mise-en-scène/melodrama debate would not have interesting linkages to arguments about matter if he had spent some time respecifying the impossible conditions of neo-colonialism the nature of melodrama in purely generic/ broached elsewhere in the book. popular culture terms. But he does not.

One might interpret a genre like this as (3) The Auteurist Designation. The otherrepresenting an uneasy negotiation of the Eu­ area of complaint is Cunningham’s double ropean experience in Australia despite an ap­ shuffle in the application of auteur to Chauvel. parent surface bravado. A crossover with There seems to be some slippage between the Chauvel’s preoccupations suggests a mixture notion of auteur and charting Chauvel’s bio­ of fascination with, and gauche response to, graphical legend. I think Cunningham’s em­ forging a spirit of nationhood in the “wilder­ phasis on the biographical legend is an impor­ ness”, with its various manifestations of the tant insight arising from his research. This can exotic other. Again, this reader felt some frus­ be read as a concerted attempt by Chauvel to tration at being led to the threshold of a construct himself as an ‘auteur’ through his fruitful area of analysis, only to be thwarted by industry status and public standing, without the writer’s eagerness to move on, irrespective. having to demonstrate it by textual markers.

Ultimately, FeaturingAustraliane rges upon Chauvel was obviously a resolute producertransposing what is ostensibly an auteur criti­ director who sought to control and stamp his cal study into a dissection of the tensions and projects, perhaps at the expense of more fre­ dilemmas implicit in some of Australia’s post­ quent output. But in terms of the old debates colonial culture. Unfortunately, he does not over authorship in Hollywood, a question mark really deliver. hangs over Chauvel’s credentials. We need to extract the issue of Chauvel striving for respect SCHRADER ON SCHRADER and status on a num ber of fronts (of which the & O T H E R W R IT IN G S bio-legend becomes a key element) from K e vin Jackson (e d .), F aber a n d F aber, London, whether or not Chauvel qualifies as a distinc­ 1 9 9 0 , 2 3 5 p p ., index, illu strated, rr p $ 3 5 . tive stylistwho inflected the textwith recurrent personal motifs and touches (as compared to S C O T T MURRAY a venerable director such asjohn Ford). There hough Paul Schrader wrote and directed is insufficient clarification on Cunningham’s one of the few truly fine American films of part as to how one might consider Chauvel as the 1970s (American Gigolo, 1979), and di­ an auteur in the light of earlier critical debates rected one of the even fewer great American over mise-en-scène strategies some decades ago. films of the 1980s (Patty Hearst, 1988), he is There was considerable discussion over how surprisingly little written and talked about. much-vaunted American directors/auteurs The publication of Schrader on Schrader is thus were able to transform the elements of an something to be warmly applauded. established narrative system (genre, stars, story The book really has two souls: a lengthy formulas, production values, etc.) into more interview conducted by idiosyncratic and personalized signifiers. Per­ Jackson, broken into four haps one could argue that Chauvel’s adept­ parts (Background, The ness in building his biographical legend al­ Critic, The Screenwriter and most amounted to a substitute for purist con­ The Director), with a short ceptions of auteurism.

Coda on stage plays. The Perhaps the most glaring example of Cun­ other section is a selection ningham’s searching around and overreach­ of critical writings, includ­ ing for apposite academic terminology is the ing pieces on Easy Rider, coinage of the word “locationism”. He ascribes Pickpocket, Roberto Ross­ this term to Chauvel’s desire “to shoot the true ellini, Sam Peckinpah and countryside” in order “to make Australia a film film noir. star”. He argues that it takes Chauvel beyond For those not familiar the documentary aesthetic and supposedly dif­ with Schrader’s writings for ferentiates his films from being the dominant Film Comment, or, more im­ Hollywood genres. Here Cunningham appears portant, Transcendental Style, to be clutching at straws in order to explain his seminal work on Bresson, Chauvel’s secondment of the Australian land­

T

Ozu and Dreyer, this selection of more popu­ list writing is a suitable introduction. One gains quickly a sense of the enthusiasm that generated part of his major book (if not its denser, more particular style) in this extract from “Pickpocket I”: A custom of medieval architecture holds that the final portion of a structure should be left unfinished ... as a testament to m an’s humility and his faith in God’s power to complete the building. The work of Bresson strikes us as just that final touch of architecture, so pure it could have scarcely been made by man, and yet so consummate it caps and sanctifies the whole human effort.

Ascetic, proud, saintly, the films of Bresson rank among the finest expressions of the hu­ man spirit. To find another who affects us as deeply and permanendy we must press the limits of media and time: Dostoevsky, Shake­ speare, Beethoven, Breughel. Bresson attempts and achieves the highest function of art; he elevates the spirit, not only of his characters and viewers, but somehow the system which has entrapped us all.

P ickp o cket ... is one of those consummate works of art which in one flash pales everything you have ever seen. I would be tempted to say P ickpocket is the finest film I’ve seen if Bresson hadn’t made three or four films which affect me as deeply, (p. 38)

This passion for purist filmmaking and for purification by action and art is seen in much of Schrader’s work, particularly that wholly controlled by himself, for some collaborators, such as Martin Scorsese, have a habit of rather impurely rewriting the text (more later).

Schrader is certainly one of the finest exam­ ples of a film critic putting his knowledge fully to work as a writer and director.

Schrader, as he is fond of recounting, came from Dutch stock and a strictly Calvinist upbringing in Grand Rapids, Michigan (cap­ tured truthfully, in part, in Hardcore). Having survived a regular dose of The Mickey Mouse Club on television, he ‘escaped’ briefly to a military academy in Virginia where he wrote a term paper on the book Black Like Me, “which was about the experiences of a white writer who posed as black in South Africa” (p. 8). The teacher wrote “This is not true” across it and marked it D. Then it was off to Calvin College, where, among other things, Schrader ran the film club and started to write.

Over the years in which the film club had been semi-legal, the selection of films was very in­ tense: O rdet and [ L ’A n n é e D e r n iè r e à] M a r ie n b a d and N a z a r in , all idea films; but as soon as it became legalized and part of the non-curriculum agenda at the college, the entertainment forces took over and films be­ came progressively less adven­ turous. Today/they just show pap films, (p. 10)

T hat is also true of many potentionally inter­ esting directors who succ­ umb in Hollywood to the “entertainmentforces”and turn out “pap”. Schrader is definitely not one of those, and is still true to his visions, despite less than spectacu­ lar box-office returns.

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While still debating whether to be a minis­ ter in the church, Schrader met and struck up a friendship with critic Pauline Kael, who told him to go to UCLA. Kael also put him onto the L.A. Free Press which hired him as a critic, his first piece being ofjohn Cassavetes’ Faces. But the stintlasted less than ayear, because Schrader was tired for his negative review of Easy Rider (reprinted byjackson). This passage may give a hint why:

refusal to do so that angered so many critics and blinded them to the work’s consummate mastery. (It is telling that the less rigorous, but still wonderful, Reversal ofFortune does not beg the same angry response, “But it doesn’t ex­ plain what happened! ”, that Patty Hearst does.

Both had the same scriptwriter, Nick Kazan.)

The main revelation of‘T he Screenwriter” section is Schrader’s revealing what he wrote and how it got changed. Take Taxi Driver.

E a sy R id e r is a very important movie - and it is a very bad one, and I don’t think its importance should be used to obscure the gross misman­ agement of its subject-matter ...

My complaint is that E asy R id e r , for all its good intentions, functions in the same superfi­ cial manner ‘liberal’Hollywood films have always functioned. E a sy R i d e r s superficial characteri­ zations and slick insights stem from the same soft-headed mentality which produced such anathema ‘liberal’ films as Elia Kazan’s G entle­ m e n ’s A g re em e n t and Stanley Kramer’s D e fia n t

Marty wanted two things added: a scene for Albert Brooks and a scene for Harvey Keitel. I was opposed to this because everything in the movie should take place from the taxi driver’s point of view, and if he doesn’t see it, it doesn’t exist... And I turned out to be right, because in the end Marty did cut the scene he shot for Albert; and for the scene he shot for Harvey [with Jodie Foster] ... he had to put in a shot of Bobby from another scene... so that it looked as if he was watching them. I think the reason the film works is that you’re given no alternative world to Travis’s, (p. 116)

O nes...

What makes E a sy R i d e r lo o k like every other gutless piece of Hollywood marshmallow liber­ alism is H opper’s refusal to play anything but a stacked deck: You cannot lose when you plot stereotypes against straw men. The problem for a propagandist like Hopper is that humans are always more infectious than slogans, and to risk characterization is to risk failure ...

[A]s a work of art and imagination it falls completely short. I demand more of art than I do of life; I desire the sensitivity and insight that only an artist can give. (pp. 34-37)

So, fired for being accurate and not bow­ ing to accepted wisdom (which Schrader, to his credit, never does), Schrader “weasled [his] way into the editorship” of the magazine Cin­ ema (which is well worth tracking down).

Jackson’s long interviewwith Schrader then tracks the evolution of his critical writing through the influences of Godard, Parker Tyler, Kael, Leavis and the seminal analysis of Young MrLincolnm Screen. Then came Charles Eames, “the reason I think I was able to become a film­ maker” (p. 24). Eames was also instrumental in Schrader’s writing his magnificent Transcen­ dental Style.

The whole of the T r a n s c e n d e n ta l Style hypothesis is that if you reduce your sensual awareness rigorously and for long enough, the inner need will explode and it will be pure because it will not have been siphoned off by easy and exploi­ tative identifications; it will have been refined and compressed to its true identity, what Calvin called the se n s u s d iv in ita tu s , the divine sense ...

One of the things I have tried to do in my films is ... have an emotionally blinding mo­ ment, like Mishima’s suicide; or like the end of A m e r ic a n Gigolo, where this spiritual essence pops out of the flimsy lounge Lizard; or like the moment in L ig h t o f D a y when the girl is recon­ ciled with her mother ...

This is very hard to do, and one of the problems I’ve run into is that it doesn’t really work in commercial cinema because in order to get these blinding moments you have to deny so much ... I’ve [now] mitigated the denial, but then of course the blinding moments don’t stand out so much. (pp. 28-29)

This sounds like a cop-out, but sidestep­ ping The Comfort of Strangers (which I have not seen), there is no evidence of this. Schrader’s next to last film is Patty Hearst, which is his most rigorous, purest piece of work. There is no mitigating the denial; in fact, it was that very 68

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Where Scorsese also erred, in this critic’s view, was in not rigorously pursuing Travis’ point of view with his camera placement and lens use. For example, if Travis enters a room he has never visited, the camera shouldn’t precede him, but rather enter with him, ap­ proximating his perspective, as with an overthe-shoulder shot. Equally, die lens should arguably equal Travis’ perspective (50mm).

But Scorsese seems too interested in the in­ stant effect to honour Schrader’s scripts with the precision they deserve.

Now for Raging Bull: the climax of my script was a scene which Marty and Bob chose not to do, or rather did in a different fashion.

It is the prison scene. Jake is in the cell and he’s trying to masturbate and is unsuccessful, because evety time he tries to conjure up an image of a woman he’s known, he also remem­ bers how badly he’s treated her, so he’s not able to maintain an erection. Finally he takes it out on his hands; he blames his hands and smashes them against the wall. I’m not sure why, but they were uncomfortable shooting this and so it became ‘I am not an animal’ instead, (p. 131)

But the alterations (and diminutions) didn’t end there: Scorsese ends the film with the Bible quotation, “I was blind, and now I see.” Schrader: That’s purely Marty. I had no idea it was going to be there, and when I saw the film I was absolutely baffled. I don’t think it’s true of La Motta either in real life or in the movie; I think he’s the same dumb lug at the end as he is at the beginning, and I think Marty is just imposing salvation on his subject by fiat. (p. 133)

Enough said.

Schrader also reveals himself an astute judge of the finished work, as in this remark about what went askew with Peter Weir’s Mos­ quito Coast I don’t think the finished film really worked the way the book did, which was, rather like T a x i D river, to have a character who’s initially charm­ ing and attractive and who suckers you in, so that by the time you realize how mad your guide is you’re already out in the wilderness with him.

One of the problems was the casting of the lead role. It was written with Jack Nicholson in mind; he was the only actor I could imagine who would have that kind of absolute charm. But for one reason or anotherjack became unavailable

and so they went with Harrison Ford, who doesn’t have that reptilian charm. He doesn’t sucker you in the first fifteen minutes and so the movie is in effect over, because he’s only going to become less and less likeable, (p. 128)

When reading the section on Schrader as ‘T he Director”, one recognizes a major flaw of the book: the questions are exactly the same kind as those in ‘T he Screenwriter” section that is, concerned only with plot. There is little to nothing about what a director actually does: choosing lenses, framing shots, moving the camera, instructing actors, blocking scenes, sitting down with the editor, consulting with the sound men, el al. Even when Schrader manages to squeeze in a mention of his par­ ticular use of gels,Jackson fails to pick up on it.

In this sense, Jackson is typical of much British (and, regrettably, Australian) film criti­ cism which seems to have come out of Leavis and not a love of filmmaking. If they had not seen the film but just read the script, the writing would be exactly the same.

Now some critics protest that they don’t and can’t write about the more technical as­ pects of direction because they don’t under­ stand it. That is like literary critics ruling them­ selves out of structural criticism because they don’t understand English grammar and punc­ tuation. Basic skills are required of literary critics; why not of film critics?

This aspect aside, andjackson’s occasional failure in pushing Schrader to more informa­ tive depths, this is a wonderful book and a joy to read.

C H IL D R E N A N D T E L E V IS IO N : TH E O N E E Y E D M O N S TE R ?

B a rrie G u n ter a n d J i ll M cA leer, R outledge, L on ­ don & N e w York, 199 0 , 1 8 4 p p ., rr p $ 2 9 .9 5

R O B E R T DE Y O U N G

he number of hours children spend in front of the television, and the impact of its explicit and implicit values on them, is a controversial area of media studies research and theory. Gunter and McAleer freely ac­ knowledge this and discuss the usual gamut of concerns expressed by writers and researchers in the field: Does television influence aggres­ sive behaviour, reinforce social and sexual stereotyping or adversely affect school per­ formance?

While many of the issues under discussion in this text are not new, Gunter and McAleer’s work is very useful because it summarizes the research and findings to date, primarily, but not exclusively, in England and North America.

From the outset, there is acknowledgement that there are no easy and glib answers to any of the above, and the authors caution that the whole topic of children and television is a minefield of suspicions, prejudices and fears that are poorly substantiated by hard factual evidence or research.

The introductory chapters provide a good overview in this respect, and discuss how and why children watch television, and how well they follow and understand television dis­ course. They note, for example, one study where it was observed that, while watching an episode of Sesame Street, some children looked at and turned away from the screen every 25

T

seconds or so. In other field i s m i g studies conducted with video cameras, itwas observed that children played, fought, read and frequendy left the room f t « owe while the television set was on. In the context of these sort of viewing patterns and habits, it is clearly very diffi­ cult to arrive at conclusions about the impact of messages and implicit values on the children “watching”. Indeed, on the basis of the evidence Gunter and McAleer pro­ ffehMC ¿ftiHtCh duce, children are appar­ ently only “glued to the screen” around the ages of 11 or 12; much younger than this and they easily become bored or resdess, whereas when much older they find other forms of entertain­ ment to occupy their time.

The other notable feature of the opening chapter of this book is the authors’ desire to distinguish between the viewing habits and comprehension levels of different age groups.

They point out, for instance, that after the age of eight most children are able to distinguish clearly between the sort of realistic violence they see in news and current affairs and the violence in fantasy/action dramas and car­ toons. Before the age of eight, many children are uncertain about the apparent realism of television discourse and do not realize that many television performers are actors. Given that some adults still have problems with this and send hate mail to soap opera villains, this is not so remarkable, but it can be overlooked in the case of the very young.

Moreover, Gunter and McAleer continu­ ally point out that “children” are not one large homogeneous audience; perhaps even more so than the variety of adult tastes in pro­ grammes, their stages of cognitive and social development are crucial to their relationship with the television medium. Supporting the findings outlined in Patricia Palmer’s 1986 study, The Lively Audience, children over a wide age range list cartoons as favourite pro­ grammes, and adult news and current affairs as their least favourite. But this is not merely a question of taste: prime-time news bulletins use difficult language and terminology, are paced too quickly, and presume a degree of prior knowledge and experience of the world that is beyond the developmental stage of children up to the age of 12 or so. Similarly, the violence screened in these disembodied news narratives - and the recent Gulf coverage is a case in point - may be disturbing for children because it is neither explained nor contextual­ ized.

The discussions of the impact of television sexual stereotyping and advertising is quite well handled, although the tentative nature of some of the authors’ remarks does not always sit easily with the research presented. They make the point throughout the “impact” sec­ tion of the text that it is difficult to isolate the effects of television on children from the ef­ fects of other media and social and family pressures and influences. Of course this is true, but, in the light of some of the evidence

presented, their remarks seem a little too cautious and tentative. On the other hand, individual sections such as the discussion of Sesame Street and the pres­ en ta tio n of m inority groups on television are interesting and informa­ tive.

This certainly is not the sort ofwork one mighttum to to support prejudices about the insidious or per­ nicious influence of televi­ sion, but it is a very useful overview of where we are with the on-going debates about children and television. One child, at least, sees the world inhabited by children and the world of television as being poles apart people are made smaller, s/he explains, and “lowered down by a rope” in order to get inside the television set. Nice place to visit but you wouldn’t want to live there.

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C IN E M A IN A U S T R A L IA : A D O C U M E N T A R Y H IS T O R Y In a B e rtra n d (general e d .), N S W U n iversity Press, Sydney, 19 8 9 , 411 p p ., hb, illu strated, rr p $ 3 9 .9 5

JOHN

CONOMOS

nyone who is remotely interested in Aus­ tralian cinema an d /o r culture will find Cinema in Australia: A Documentary History in­ valuable. It is a comprehensive treasure-trove of indispensable documents - some familiar, others less so - that range from movie reviews to government reports, journal articles, adver­ tisements, film festival newsletters, political commentaries, manifestoes, brochures from film societies and movie posters. All these documents constitute the relatively unknown, complex and shifting topography that repre­ sents Australian cinema (embracingboth avantgarde and narrative feature films). The docu­ ments span from Henry Lawson’s story/script, “The Australian Cinem atograph” (1897), which was filmed in 1972 as WhereDead Men Lie by the Commonwealth Film Unit (now known as Film Australia), to 1986.

The material is chronologically and the­ matically structured and is divided into seven sections by established scholars and research­ ers on Australian cinema. Originally, Cinema in Australiawas constructed to function as a companion volume to The Australian Stage (edited by H arold Love, NSWUniversity Press, 1984), but they are only loosely related to each other. However, both col­ lections of documents (as one is reminded in the un­ signed “Preface” in Cinema in Australia) can be read as insightful maps that are still being drawn up in more telling-hypothetical terms about a particular, indig­ enous cultural field.

A

Most important, the underlying thrust of Cinema in Australia is to explore the basic cul­ tural, historical, industrial and technological configurations of our local cinema as a socio­ cultural institution rather than as an aesthetic text. You will not find here documents that relate to questions dealing with textual analy­ sis, cinephilia, genre, subjectivity, herm ­ eneutics, etc. What we find instead is an excel­ lent dossier of documents that speak of Aus­ tralian cinema in terms of culture, economics, history and politics, cinema functioning in a cultural and social context as a complex multi­ layered institution in a perpetual state of flux.

Another worthwhile aim of the book is its emphasis on describing the institutional tra­ jectory of Australian cinema as an expression of the relevant critical discourses that emerged in the 1940s and ’50s around the significant notion of cinema as “film art”. For the first time, according to Stuart Cunningham and William Routt (in their rewarding section “Fillums became films”), cinema became a subject worthy of intellectual thinking. The title of their section belongs to Phillip Adams (that most quotable and ubiquitous of media pundits/movie producers whose role, along with Barryjones and Peter Coleman, in shap­ ing today’s local film landscape is appropri­ ately stressed in the book), and comes from an Ag^article titled “The happiest summer of all” (1982), which is a touching reminiscence about his movie-going youth watching continental movies in the drab, upright, WASP Melbourne of the early ’50s. In this subjective and melan­ cholic piece Adams gives a cluster of cultural, iconographical and sociological factors that are still not widely considered as valid objects of informed critical analysis.

What do we know about the role of film societies, film festivals, film journals, inde­ pendent film distributors and art-house cin­ emas in the formation of cinema in this coun­ try today? Practically nothing is our rhetorical response. To my knowledge, there is only a handful of people who have expressed con­ cern over the years about these overlooked issues in film criticism and theory.

One of the most prized- qualities of the book is how the collected documents articu­ late the elaborate vicissitudes of the institu­ tional dimensions ofAustralian cinema in terms of cultural politics and the self-serving he­ gemonic interests of the local major exhibitors and distributors which have, since the begin­ ning of the century, endeavoured at all costs to control indigenous featurefilm production. In this re­ spect, Cinema in Australia contains excellent indus­ trial and government arti­ cles and reports that char­ acterize the enorm ous complexity of the bureau­ cratic and industrial ma­ chinations over the decades in shaping the distribution and exhibition andthe re­ ception of our local indus­ try.

Throughout the vari­ ous documents that make up the first six sections (the CINEMA

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seventh is an excellent, well-designed and ex­ tensive bibliography compiled by Ina Bertrand andjan Chandler), we have a concerted effort by the respective secdon editors to enunciate how Australian cinema can be best seen as a shifting (and relatively uncharted) dialectic between cultural politics and what Meaghan Morris once termed “political politics”1. What shines through is how successive federal and state governments since the 1920s have inher­ ently assisted the various overseas interests of British- and American-owned local film com­ panies in determining the look and shape of Australian feature film. This is a constant theme in Cinema in Australia and its overall signifi­ cance in structuring past and present debates cannot be emphasized enough.

More to the point, apropos our current critical understanding of Australian cinema, is how these very debates about economic and cultural independence, “Australianness”, cul­ tural cringe anxiety, etc., still operate in an unsophisticated manner in the relevant criti­ cal economy of Australian cultural and film studies.

Thus, there are documents that emanate from a number of royal commissions and gov­ ernment reports: the ones that come to mind readily are the Royal Commission of 1927, The New South Wales Inquiry in the Film Industry: quota and film licensing (1934), the Austral­ ian National Film Board (1945), the seminal Vincent Report (1964), and the equally if not more significant 1969 committee report from the Australian Council for the Arts that was

responsible for lobbying for a national film and television industry, which meant the advo­ cacy for a National Film and Television School, an Experimental Film and Television Fund and Australian Film Development Corpora­ tion.

All these reports and documents (particu­ larly the latter) were instrumental in contrib­ uting to the present-day character and struc­ ture of the local educational/training, govern­ ment-funding and production sites that form a dominant (if not an indispensable) sector of our film culture responsible for mainstream narrative and independent filmmaking.

This means that the local film industry, as defined by the energies, strategies and indus­ trial/ cultural priorities of these different but interconnected sites, can be seen to be nur­ tured (to a varying degree depending on the current political and industrial expediencies of the appropriate epoch in question) along the related questions of government regula­ tion, audience and public attitudes.

Ultimately, what many documents indi­ cate is how the institution of Australian cinema functions in terms of the conflicting cultural and political roles of the government in en­ couraging the arts - especially cinema - in the community.

There is also throughout its contents statis­ tical data, graphs and charts that strive to show salient cultural and industrial features about the Australian film industry during the early 1920s. This kind of information has some illustrative value in shedding light on certain

BOOKS COMPILED

BY

RAFFAELE

desired aspects of the local film industry. One yearns to see more empirical data collected over the years that provide commentary about the varying relationships between film produc­ ers, funds, box-office receipts and marketing statistics, which government-sponsored fea­ tures an d /o r independent films have made their money back, and so on.

The selection criteria, according to the book’s preface, comprised selecting those documents that were political or polemical in character and not exclusively academic in con­ text. All documents were chosen on the basis of being situated “within a particular discur­ sive context” (p. xvi). Each document had to communicate to the reader from its own time and space; this meant that not only were the documents selected in a systematic fashion, to cover each relevant epoch, but, by selecting, ordering and commenting upon them by Bertrand and her colleagues, the documents were, to quote the Preface once more, set “adriftfrom the contextwhich produced them” (p. xvi). Articles that were written in hindsight and those that are reflective in content and style were not selected.

Itshould be observed that both the accom­ panying introductions to the separate sections and the smaller annotations within each sec­ tion constitute a complex dialectic between the past and the present. In fact, one of the key objectives of all the annotations is their aim to re-contextualize the documents for the 1980s.

One small irritating aspect of the book’s design is the lack of a clear separation between

RECEIVED CAPUTO

AND

SCOTT

MURRAY

field o f film studies. T h ey are collected here in this on e volum e, which d eserves great attention given the critical and theoretical legacy it reflects.

S H O O TIN G TH E A C TO R OR TH E C H O R E O G R A P H Y O F CO NFUSION Sim on Callow, ivith interventions by D u san M akavejev, N ick H e m Books, London, 1990, 2 6 5 p p ., hb, rrp $ 3 9 .9 5

This is an account by British actor o f his playing in D usan M akavejev’s M anifesto, m ade in the director’s native Yugoslavia. It is m ildly

E X P LO R A TIO N S IN FILM TH E O R Y : S E LE C TE D E S S A Y S FROM C IN É -TR A C TS

tive, Callow never really com in g to grips with

Ron Burnett (ed.), Indiana University Press,

M akavejev has always b e e n an enfant ter­

Indiana, 1991, 3 2 0 p p ., p b , r tp $14.95

It seem s surprising that a film journal which had a life-span o f only sev en teen issu es cou ld m ake an im portant contribution as a reader o f se lec ted essays. T his m ust reflect the char­ acter o f Ciné-tracts, which, from 1976 to 1983 and un der the general editorship o f R on Burnett, p u b lish ed a significan t num ber o f the m o st pivotal and influential essays in the 70

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am using, though only interm ittendy inform a­ the film or its eccentric maker. rible o f the cinem a. O n first m eetin g, h e is

extraordinarily charm ing and great fun , but so m e o f those w ho work with him vow m urder and revenge fo r the rest o f their lives (David R oe, who produ ced Makavejev’s The Coca-Cola K id , is o n e w h om the very m en tion o f the M

w ord turns ash en white and trem bling).

W ell, it seem s that Callow d id n o t have an easy tim e o f it, either. But rather than let his

diary-like accou nt b e the grum py last w ord, h e has allow ed Makavejev to interject, som e­ tim es wittily, o ften otherw ise. B ut the hop ed fo r dialogue b etw een the two (near) antago­ nists unfortunately never eventuates to any­ thing substantial.

T here are som e w ell-told incid en ts about the film ing, but to o m uch o f the b o o k seem s rush ed -off.

O f particular interest to Australian read­ ers w ill b e the bits abou t Chris H ayw ood, w ho also fo u n d h im se lf in Yugoslavia (at the w rong tim e, on e m ight add, given the diren ess o f the fin ish ed film ):

the documents and their respective accompa­ nying annotations. This is a minor complaint in the light of the book’s over-all fine design and production values.

The material was divided into the follow­ ing six sections and edited by the following authors (I have already mentioned the sev­ enth) : 1. The most startling scientific marvel of the age (1896-1913), Ina Bertrand; 2. More than just entertainment (1914-1927), Dianne Collins; 3. Grand Gals of garb (1928-1939) Andrea Allard; 4. Fillums become films (19401956), Smart Cunningham and William Routt; (5) A symphony for clapperboards (1957-1975), Richard Barnden and Ken Berryman; 6. A question of loot (1976-1986), Ina Bertrand.

Each section’s title gives the reader a clear impression of the dominant characteristic fea­ ture of Australian cinema’s historical evolu­ tion at the respective period. And each section represents a critical mosaic of discourses cen­ tral to the institutional development of Aus­ tralian cinema during each period as con­ structed by the book’s editors.

What we encounter as we read the docu­ ments is their emphasis on a certain group of essential cultural myths that tend to criss-cross along thematic lines across the vast socio-cultural and historical topography of the Austral­ ian cinema since the beginning of this century.

These myths form a substantial core of theo­ retical interests characterizing the past and present practice of Australian cinema studies.

The myths include the classical dichotomy between the city and the country, and the

critical cultural importance of the Australian outback in shaping our popular conceptions about Australian cinema, questions relating to “Australianness” and our films as nationalist expression. All these familiar mythologies, which are embedded in our speech and film writing about Australian cinema and culture (particularly as they apply to the Australian landscape), have been anatomized during the past two decades by the now-familiar dedi­ cated scholars, commentators and researchers who include not only the editors of the book but the authors of certain documents located within the text as well.

In one way or another, all the authors have bothered to investigate our local cinema in the unified belief that it is worthy of imaginative critical research and thinking. Whether as academic scholars, freelance critics, research­ ers, polemicists or as cineastes, they have en­ deavoured to illustrate in the respective work that Australian cinema is a cinema that is in need of sustained historical and textual analy­ sis. Australian film culture is an elusive concept that cannot be taken for granted by our cul­ tural bureaucrats, academics, critics and film­ makers.

One of the persistent cultural myths that we have entertained for a long time is how Australian cinema is unoriginal and of secon­ dary value in the context of other national cinemas. Cinema in Australia succeeds in illu­ minating the absurdity of such a view.

On the question of Australian film culture, it is interesting to point out how (as Cunning­

Short, balding, eyes glistening, he is all relish,

can culture, and this first o f the series o ffer s a

aman o f pleasure. He talks without the slightest inhibition about, and with an assumption o f

com prehensive study o f Latin Am erican cin­

common enthusiasm for, the things he loves

cinem as in an industry that is d om inated by the

(they seem to include most human recreations: sex, art, sport, sex, food, wine, sex - above all

worldwide distribution o f N orth Am erica cin­

sex, o f which he speaks with a connoisseur’s relish, assessing the erotic merits o f this race or that race, this section o f the anatomy or that). Life is his hobby. H e also has a deeply romantic streak ... (p. 117)

ham and Routt show) it comes to the fore in the late 1940s and early ’50s in its various institutional manifestations (e.g., film festi­ vals, film societies, film journals, art-house cinemas, “artfilms” and the government-spon­ sored documentary movement of the time) and defined a supportive ethos or “mind-set” for the later mid-1970s renaissance in Austral­ ian film.

Another worthwhile feature of the book is how there is for each section a dossier of production reports, advertisements, reviews and posters for one particular feature film.

Utilizing this textual strategy, Bertrand and her associates can demonstrate to the reader how Australian cinema, as an institution and as an aesthetic object, connect to each other in many complex ways and how the film in ques­ tion was read within the broader cultural and social parameters of the community at that time. By paying close attention to a particular feature film, the reader is able to appreciate relationships between production and audi­ ence, consumption and industry, government regulation and popular attitudes. Thus we can appreciate the “social imaginary” of our evolv­ ing moving image culture at a point of time.

Arguably this is one of the work’s main merits as a documentary history of our cinema.1 1. Meaghan Morris, “Tooth and Claw: Tales of Sur­ vival and Crocodile Dundee ” in Andrew Ross (ed.), Universal Abandon?, University of Minneapolis Press, Minneapolis, 1988, p. 125. (This article originally appeared in Art & Text, No. 25, June-August 1987.)

em a. It charts the develop m en t o f the various advanced tech nology, m assive fin an ce and ema.

A historical framework is se t up which ex­ am ines the progress o f the silent era, the G olden Age o f the M exican cinem a in the 1940s, and the theories and practices p rop osed by the N ew

M AG ICAL REELS: A H IS TO R Y O F C IN EM A IN LATIN AM ER ICA

b ook looks at h ow Latin Am erican film m akers

Joh n King, Verso, London a n d N e w York, 1990,

have atttem pted to create im ages which express

illustrated, 2 6 6 p p ., p b , rrp $ 3 4 .9 5

both national and popular concerns.

M a g ica l Reels is part o f a major series designed

to m ap the field o f contem porary Latin Ameri-

m agical

Cinem a in the late 1950s through to the 1960s.

T hen, in a country-by-country account, the

T he directory also provides credit listings

M agical Reels also takes a close look at how

for scriptwriters, producers and directors. T he

the aspirations o f Latin A m erican film m akers

range o f categories includes everything from

have stood up to social and econ om ic realities

from directors to runners, m usic publishers to

and, finally, it asks w hether there is the space o f

choreographers, as w ell as listings o f recording

a stable future for that cinem a.

studios, props hire, equip m ent hire and even late-night chem ists and petrol stations.

TH E PRO DUCTION BOO K 1991 Susan Cooke, Sue E vans Larcom be a n d M a ria n

It is an im portant hands-on referen ce di­ rectory.

M acG ow an (eds), P.B. Publishing, Sydney, 1991, 4 8 2 p p ., p b , rrp $ 7 0

A very inform ative referen ce directory for pro­ fessionals in the Australian film television and advertising industries. This 1991 edition has b een com pletely up-dated and expand ed , and the practical, colour-coded tab in d ex m akes it

JOHN KING

is easy-to-use.

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NOTE: P roduction Survey form s now adhere to a revised form at. C inem a Papers regrets it cannot accept inform ation re­ ceived in a different form at, as itdoes not have the staff to re-process the inform a­ tion. Inform ation is correct as of 1 /4 /9 1 .

FEATURES PRE-PRODUCTION EIGHT BALL Prod, company Meridian Films Production Starting May Principal Credits Director Ray Argali Producer Timothy White Exec, producers Jill Robb Bryce Menzies Scriptwriters Ray Argali Harry Kirchner DOP Mandy Walker Sound recordist Ian Cregan Editor Ken Sallows Prod, designer Kerith Holmes Planning and Development Script editor Jo h n Cruthers Casting Dina Mann P roduction Crew Prod, supervisor Denise Patience Prod, m anager Marion Pearce Prod, co-ordinator Jenny Barty P roducer’s asst Ju dith Hughes Prod secretary Georgia Carter U nit m anager Leigh Ammitzboll Prod accountant Mandy Carter Com pl’n guarantor Film Finances Camera Crew Focus puller Campbell Miller Clapper-loader Trevor Moore Key grip Max Gaffney On-set Crew 1st asst director Euan Keddie Boom operator Tony Dickinson Art D epartm ent Art director H ugh Bateup Post-production Sound supervisor Dean Gawen Gauge 35mm Governm ent Agency Investment Development Script: Film Victoria AFC Production FFC Film Victoria Synopsis: Charlie is a young architect with seem ingly everything going for him.

Russell, the complete opposite, has just been released from prison. T heir paths cross when Russell is employed to work on

Charlie’s latest project: the construction of a giant Murray Cod as a tourist attrac­ tion for a small Victorian town.

FRIDAY ON MY MIND Prod, company Boulevard Films Production Starting in March Director Frank Howson Producer Frank Howson Exec, producer Peter Boyle Scriptwriter Frank Howson Synopsis: Friday on my M in d is the story of Chris, a handsom e, unem ployed 18 year old who is plucked from obscurity to front a new advertising campaign. Things turn sour when Chris realizes h e ’s being taken advantage of and his old friends are no longer around to fall back on.

WHO LEFT THE ... VIDEO ON Prod, company Jarjoura Films Principal Credits Director G aryjarjoura G aryjarjoura Producer Scriptwriter G aryjarjoura Orig. screenplay G aryjarjoura Mat Ford Dave Ingall D.O.P Jeff Malouf Composers Gep Bartlett Art Phillips Prod, manager Vicki Watson Cast: Dave Ingall, Troy Nesmith.

Synopsis: Martin Lunning, aboringm em ber of our video-watching society, is kidnapped by his cousins, Beef and Noodles, taken away to the country and shown afun time, while M artin’s wife tries to defend her video store.

HAMMERS OVER THE ANVIL Prod, company SAFC Production March 1992 FEATURES Principal Credits PRODUCTION Director Ann T urner Producer Richard Mason BLINKY BILL Co-producer Peter Harvey Wright Prod. co.

Yoram Gross Filmstudios Exec, producers Lenett Worth Dist. co.

Beyond International Group Gus Howard Director Yoram Gross Peter Gawler Producer Yoram Gross Scriptwriter Peter Plepworth Exec, producer Sandra Gross Based on “Ham m ers over the Anvil” Scriptwriters Yoram Gross Written by Alan Marshall John Palmer Planning and Development Leonard Lee Script editor Peter Gawler Based on The Adventures o f B linky B ill Written by Dorothy Wall THE NOSTRADAMUS KID Composer Guy Gross Prod. co.

Simpson Le Mesurier Films Synopsis: The film tells the story of Blinky Production October 1991 Bill’s childhood with his friends in the Principal Credits bush. T he peace and charm of their exist­ Director BobEllis ence is shattered by the destruction and Producer T erryjennings clearing of their hom e by loggers. But Exec, producers Roger le Mesurier Blinky Bill rallies his friends and, in a Roger Simpson series of exciting adventures, the bush Scriptwriter BobEllis animals win the struggle to preserve their Planning and Development existence.

Script editor Roger Simpson Government Agency Investment THE LAST DAYS OF CHEZ NOUS Prod, company Jan Chapman Prods Development AFC Production FFC Dist. co.

Beyond International Group Synopsis: Agentle rom an tic comedy about Production 8/2/1991 ... the end of the world. The religious and Principal Credits sexual coming of age of a 1960s Seventh Director Gillian ArmsU'ong Day Adventist boy, who acquires a taste for Producer Jan Chapman drink, women and philosophy, and be­ Assoc, producer Mark Turnbull lieves the end is nigh during the Cuban Scriptwriter Helen Garner Missile Crisis, even though the much DOP Geoffrey Simpson longed-for apocalypse seems to keep get­ Sound recordist Ben Osmo ting postponed.

Editor Nicholas Beauman

Ja n et Patterson Prod, designer Jan et Patterson Costume designer Paul Grabowsky Composer Planning and Development Liz Mullinar Casting Shauna Wolifson Extras casting (Sydney) Bobbie Pick-Up (Broken Hill) Gina Pioro Dialogue coaches Bill Pepper Production Crew Fiona McConaghy Prod. man.

Rowena Talacko Prod, co-ordinator P roducer’s assist.

Lee-Anne Higgins Prod, secretary Christine G ordon Location manager Peter Lawless Unit m anager Will Matthews Unit assist.

Dennis Hulm Amanda Higgs Prod, assist.

Tom Read P ro d .ru n n er Prod, accountant Jill Coverdale Jenny Pawson Accounts assist.

Insurer H am m ond Jewell Pty Ltd Comp, guarantor Film Finances Ltd Legal services Lyndon Sayer-Jones Set in Motion T ravel/ transport Camera Crew Focus puller Martin T u rn er Clapper-loader Adrien Seffrin Key grip Graham Litchfield Asst, grip Mark Ramsey Gaffer Reg Garside Elecirics Alan Dunstan Gary Hill Stephen Gray On-set Crew 1st asst, director Mark Turnbull Peter (PJ) Voeten 2nd asst director Jo h n Martin 3rd asst director Continuity Daphne Paris Boom operators Gerry Nucifora Cathy Gross Leslie Vanderwalt Make-up Hairdresser Cheryl Williams Still photography Robert McFarlane Unit publicist Dennis Davidson Associates (Fiona Searson) Catering Kerry Fetzer (Kollage) Art Departm ent Art director Catherine Silm Asst art director Charlotte Watts Art dept co-ord. Tracey Hyde-Moxham Art dept ru n n er Andrew Short Set decorator Kerrie Brown Standby props Colin Gibson Action vehicle co-ord.

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(Frank Campisie) W ardrobe W ardrobe super W ardrobe buyer Standby wardrobe Construction D ept Construct, sup.

Construct, man.

C arpenter Set finisher Post-pro duction 1st asst editor 2nd asst editor Sup. sound editor Dialogue editor Dubbing assts.

Louise Wakefield Jenny Miles A ndrea H ood Peter Colias Don Chudleigh Peter Love Matt Connors

Nick Breslin Tony Campbell Karin W hittington T im Jordan Jo h n Penders Rick Lyle Mixer G ethin Creagh Mixed at Soundfirm Laboratory Atlab Australia Lab liaison Denise Wolfson Ian Russell Film Eastman EXR Film Screen ratio 1:1.85 Shooting stock Kodak Governm ent Agency Investm ent Developm ent FFC AFC ABC Marketing Internat. sales Beyond Films Ltdd Publicity Denis Davidson Associates Cast: Lisa Harrow (Beth), Bruno Ganz (JP), Kerry Fox (Vicki), Miranda Otto (Annie), Kiri Paramore (Tim ), Bill H unter (Beth’s father), Lex Marinos (Angelo), Mickey Camilleri (Sally), Lynne Murphy (Beth’s m o th er), Claire Haywood (Janet), Leanne Bundy (Susie), Wilson Alcorn (Cafe D ero), Tom Weaver (Thief), Bill Brady (Mayor), Eva di Cesare (Washing up girl), Tony Poli (Waiter with T attoos), Olga Sanderson (Singing wom an),Joyce H opw ood (Clinic N urse), Steve Cox (Stranger), Harry Griffiths (Old m an desert tourist) Synopsis: How m uch disturbance can a Frenchm an take? Philippe is about to find out when his novelist wife, Beth, invites her fiesty, red-headed sister, Vicki, to join their household. Could these be the last days of chez nous?

ON MY OWN Alliance Comm unication Ellepi Film Rosa Colosimo Dist. company Alliance Releasing $CAN 3,885,000 Budget Pre-prod.

7 /1 /1 9 9 1 -1 5 /2 /1 9 9 1 Production 1 6 /2 /1 9 9 1 -5 /4 /1 9 9 1 6 /4 /1 9 9 1 -3 0 /8 /1 9 9 1 Post-prod.

Principal credits Director Antonio Tibaldi Producers Leo Pescarollo Elisa Resegotti Stauros Staurides Co-producers Will Spencer Exec, producers Rosa Colosimo Lael McCall Prod. cos.

Scriptwriters

Gill Dennis Antono Tibaldi Jo h n Frizzel DOP Vic Sarin Sound recordist Allan Scarth Editor Edward M cQueen Mason Art director Bill Fleming Costume designer Kathy Vigira Planning and Development Casting Allison Tibaldi Extras casting Eleanor Lavender P roduction Crew Prod, m anager Suzanne Colvin Prod, co-ordinator Sharon O ’Dwyer P roducer’s assist Mathew Forbes Prod, secretary Chris Akrey Location m anager Joe Barzo T ransport m anagers Evan Siegel Ted Miller Asst u nit m anager Anthony Kadak Craft services Anne Fotheringham Prod accountant Nathalie Laporte Camera Crew Focus puller Jo h n Davidson Camera assistant Sherylene Merlo Key grip Rick Fester Asst grips Robert Griffiths Susan Atkinson Gaffer David McNicoll Best boy Scott MacKinnon Electricians Erik Berger Chris Cooke Brian Gyr Camera operator Roger Bowden Camera trainee Toby Sarin Shelley Mansell Grip trainee On-set Crew 1st asst director Brian Dennis 2nd asst director Michael Johnson 3rd asst director Joanne Tickle Continuity Susie Marucci Boom operator Moshe Saadan Make-up Linda McCormack Daisy Lee Bisac Katerina Chevanec Hairdresser Brock Jollifee Special fx super Johnnie Eisen Still photography Christine Yankoy U nit publicist Catering

By Davids Runners Nick Depencier Geoffrey Smither Apprentice Britt Randall Security Bianne H eatherington Art Departm ent Set dresser Shelley Nieder Props Jake Fry Props buyer Peter Miskimmin W ardrobe W ardrobe super Jane Fieber W ardrobe asst Jocelyn Senior Costume designer Kathy Viera Construction Departm ent Const’n super Fred Mendelson Carpenters Peter Cochran André Gagne Post-productin Asst editor Cherie Macneill Sound transfers Primitive Features Synopsis: A 15-year-old struggles to come to terms with events which have torn his

Assoc.

Johnny Faithful Mark Ayre-Smith Art D epartm ent Stewart Way Art director Am anda Selling Art dept co-ord Blossom Flint Props buyers Len Ju d d Max M anton Standby props Tim Parry Action vehicle co-ord Justine T hom pson Art dept assist W ardrobe Lisa M eagher W ardrobe super Suzy Carter Standby wardrobe Gabriel D unn Standby ward, asst Susan H ead Cutter Construction D epartm ent W olter Bron Construct, man.

Andrew Chauvel Carpenters David Scott Nick Walker Set finisher Post-Production Basia Ozerski 1st asst editor Nicole Mitchell 2nd asst editor Laboratory Atlab Australia Editing rooms Spectrum Films Marketing Dennis Davidson U nit publicity Associates Synopsis: R o u n d the B en d is a quirky com­ edy-adventure that follows the relation­ ships between three generations of a fam­ ily: Alma (Olympia Dukakis), her daugh­ ter E lizabeth (Sigrid T h o rn to n ) and g r a n d -d a u g h te r M a rg a re t (P ip p a Grandison).

Cast: Olympia Dukakis (Alma), Sigrid T h o rn to n (Elizabeth), D erek Fowlds (Dutch), Bill Kerr (Maurie), Steve Bisley (Benedict), Andrea Moore (Jan), Pippa G randison (M argaret), M artin Jacobs (Forbes), Adan Young (Nick), Gerry Connolly (Hank).

family apart.

C ast: Ju d y Davis (M o th e r), S im on H enderson (Mathew Ferguson), David Mcllwratth (Father), C. Hicks (H ank C hase), Colin Fox (P alter), Rachael Blanchard (Tania),Jan Rubes (Colonel).

Catering Assist caterer

ROUND THE BEND (formerly Over the Hill) Prod, company Glasshouse Prods Dist. company Greater Union Distributors Principal Credits Director George Miller Producers Robert Caswell B ernard Terry Line producer Ross Matthews Exec, producers Graham Burke Greg Coote Assoc, produc e r Liz Stroud ScripuVritei Robert Caswell DOP David Connell Sound recordist Gary Wilkins Editor Henry Dangar Prod, designer Grace Walker Art director Stuart Way Costume designer Terry Ryan Planning and Development Casting Liz Mullinar Judith Cruden Extras casting Jeannine Chialvo Dialogue editor Production Crew Prod, m anager Sally Ayre-Smith Prod, co-ordinator Fiona King P roducer’s assts Janny Biltoft Angela Bevan Bernard Terry Prod, secretary Juliette van Heyst Murray Boyd Location m anager H ugh Johnston U nit m anager Asst unit m anager Justin Plum m er Todd Fellman Prod, assistant Mary-Anne Caswell P ro d .ru n n er Jill Steele Prod, accountant Travel co-ord.

Rosslyn Abernethy Rose Keeping Accountant Camera Crew Camera operator David Williamson Clapper-loader Richard Bradshaw Key grip Geoff Full Asst grips David Shaw Gary Shearsmith Ian Freeman Gaffer Dick Tummel Best boy Peter Moloney On-set Crew 1st asst director Chris Webb 2nd asst director Maria Phillips 3rd asst director Geoffrey Giuffre Continuity Jo Weeks Boom operator Mark Wasiutak Make-up Viv Mepham Make-up artist Angela Conte Hairdresser Joan Petch Special fx Monty Fieguth Stunts co-ord.

Glenn Boswell Safety officer George Mannix Unit nurse Sue Andrews Still phogography Geòrgie Stroud U nit publicist Denis Davidson &

FEATURES POST-PRODUCTION BACKSLIDING Prod, company Cast Films Dist. co.

Film Four International Budget $2.3 million Pre-production 1 /1 0 /9 0 ...

Production 5 /1 1 /9 0 ...

Post-production 1 0 /1 2 /9 0 ...

Principal Credits Director Simon Target Producer Sue Wild Co-producer Basil Appleby Exec, producers Charles Target Simon Target Scriptwriters Simon Target Ross Wilson DOP Tom Cowan Sound recordist Ross Linton Editor Nick Holmes Prod, designer Ross Major Costume designers Ross Major A ndrea H ood Composer Alan Jo h n Planning and Development

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Tel (02) 439 3988 Fax (02) 437 5074

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Casting consultant Production Crew Prod, m anager Prod, co o rd in ato r Prod, secretary Location m anager U nit manager Prod, runner Prod, accountant Insurer Comp, guarantor Legal services Travel co o rd .

Camera Crew Camera operator Focus puller Clapper-loader Stunt pilot Camera type Key grip Asst grip Gaffer Best boy On-set Crew 1st asst director 2nd asst director Continuity Boom operator Make-up Make-up asst.

Special fx supers Special fx co o rd s Special fx assts Stunts co-ord.

Safety officer U nit nurse Still photography U nit publicist Catering Runner Stand-in Art Departm ent Art director Art dept co-ord.

Art dept runner Props buyers Standby props Wardrobe Standby wardrobe W ardrobe assts

Suzie Maizels Vanessa Brown Regina Lauricelli Regina Lauricelli David Lightfoot Charlie Kiroff Martin Williams Jo hn Brousek Neil McKewin (FIUA) Film Finances Lloyd H art Katie Yeowart (Showtravel) Tom Cowan Mike Kelly Liddy van Guyen Chris Sperov Arri BL4 Jo h n Goldney Trevor Grantham Tom Moody David Smith Michael Buurchier Emma Schofield Larraine Quin tie! 1 Cathy Gross Lesley Rouvray Sue Taylor Chris Murray Steve Courtley Paul Gorrie Tom Davis Peter Jobson Kylie Gaskin Glen Boswell Mike Read Barbara Willoughby Jim Townley Cas Bennetto ’Er Indoors Martin Williams Kent Green Michael Thomas Deborah Wilde Stuart Polkinghorne Vicki Neihus Tony Cronin Robert Moxham Andrea Hood Tracey HydeMoxham Blaize Major

Animals Timea Dixon Animal trainer Construction Departm ent Scenic artist Chris Wood Construct, man.

Mike Thomas Jorgen Anderson Carpenters Tim Stanley Paul Spencer Ian Henderson W arwickjose John Lord Shane Munro Drivers Cyall Beckman Paul Lightfoot H endon, Studios SAFC Post-production Carryl Irik Asst editor Laboratory Atlab Lab Liaison Denise Wolfson 35mm Gauge 1.85:1 Screen ratio1 Kodak 5248 Shooting stock 98 mins Length Government Agency Investment FFC Production Marketing Inter, dist.

Film Four International B ennetto Publicity Publicity Cast: Tim Roth (Tom W hitton),Jim Holt (Jack Tyson), Odile Le Clezio (Alison Tyson), Ross McGregor (Pastor).

Synopsis: The diabolical obsessions of a recidivist criminal and the erosion of his 74

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spiritual resolve (he:and his wife are ‘bornagain’ Christians) culminate in a spectacular conclusion: as a desert refinery is destroyed, love and God’s charity take second place as fear and a need to survive take over.

BLACK ROBE (An Australia-Canada co-production) Prod, companies Samson Prods Alliance Communications Budget $11 million Production 1 7 / 9 /9 0 - 1 /1 2 /9 0 Post-production 1 /1 2 /9 0 - M a y ’91 Principal Credits Director Bruce Beresford Producers Robert Lantos Stephane Reichel Co-producer Sue Milliken Exec, producer Robert Lantos Film Finances rep.

Michael Spencer Scriptwriter Brian Moore Based on novel by Brian Moore DOP Peter James Sound recordist Gary Wilkins Editor Tim Wellburn Prod, designer H erbert Pinter Production Crew Comp, guarantor Film Finances Camera Crew Camera operator Danny Batterham Focus puller John Platt Dolly grip David Nicholls On-set Crew 1st asst director Pedron Gandol Boom operator Mark Wasiutak Post-production Post-prod. sup.

Sylvia Walker-Wilson Asst editor Patricia Mackle Sound editor Penn Robinson Laboratories Atlab (Australia) Bellevue Pathe (Canada) Government Agency Investment Production Film Finance Corporation Cast: Lothaire Bluteau (FatherLaforgue), A dan Y oung (D a n ie l), A ugust S c h e lle n b e rg (C h o m in a ), A n n u k a (Sandrine Holt); Billy TwoRivers, Law­ rence Bayne, Harrison Liu, Tantoo Cardinal (Indians).

Synopsis: The story of the journey of Fa­ ther Laforgue in 17th-Century Canada to convert the Indians.

BREATHING UNDER WATER Prod, company Periscope Prods Post-production January' 1991 ...

Principal Credits Director Susan Dermody Producer Megan McMurchy Scriptwriter Susan Dermody DOP Erika Addis Sound recordist Browyn Murphy Editor Diana Priest Prod, designer Stephen Curtis Costume designer Amanda Lovejoy Composer Elizabeth Drake Animation director Lee W hitmore Planning and Development Researchers Jodi Brooks Christine W oodruff Script editor Jeni Thornley Casting Alison Barrett Production Crew Patricia L’H uede Prod, m anager Prod, co-ordinator Sam Thompson Prod, assistant M aureen Burns Unit m anager Robert Graham Unit attachm ent Trudi Latour Prod, accountant Moneypenny Services Cinesure Insurer Completion guarantor Film Finances Legal services Michael Frankel & Co. Camera Crew Sally Eccleston Focus puller Clapper-loader Duncan Taylor Key grip Mark Ramsey Asst, grip Jared Brown Gaffer Paul Johnstone Richard Simshauser Best boy On-set Crew Michael Faranda 1st asst, director

Judi McCrossin 2nd asst, director Lynn-Maree Danzey Continuity Angela Bodini Make-up Hairdresser Angela Bodini Rocky McDonald Safety officer Still photography Sandy Edwards Unit publicist Jennifer Stott Caterer Jerry Billings Chaperone Stacy Hume Art D epartm ent Art director Michael Philips Dallas Wilson Standby props Art dept attachm ent Marcella Haywood Post-production Asst editors Dimity Gregson Nigel MacKenzie Sound editors Tony Vaccher John Dennison Animation Astrid Nordheim Marinka Kordis Andy Spark Atlab Laboratory Denise Wolfson Lab liaison 35mm Gauge Kodak Eastmancolor Shooting stock Length 70 minutes Government Agency Investment Development AFC Production AFC Cast: Anne Louise Lam bert (Beatrice), Kristoffer Greaves (H erm an), Maeve Dermody (Maeve).

Synopsis: A woman journeys intp an un­ derground city seeking an answer to the riddle of why hum ankind has set the stage for its own extinction.

THE FATAL BOND Prod, company Tovefelt Film Beyond Film Dist. company Budget $3 million Post-production April 1991 ...

Principal Credits Director Vince Monton Producer Phil Avalon Exec, producers Avalon Film Corporation Assoc, producer Gary Hamilton Original screenplay by Phil Avalon Based on the story Kidnappers Scriptwriter Phil Avalon DOP Ray Henm an Sound recordist Bob Clayton Editor Ted O tten Prod, designer Keith Holloway Costume designer Lyn Askew Composer Art Phillips Planning and Development Casting consult.

Shirley Pearce Shooting schedule Robin Newell Production Crew Prod, m anager Edwina Nicolls Prod, co-ordinator Sabina Finnern Unit m anager Peter Taylor P ro d .ru n n er Fiona Curran Financial cont.

Ian M urrayjones Prod, accountant Michael Boon G and S M anagement Insurer Ham m ond Jewell Comp, guarantor Performance Guarantees Legal services Martin Cooper Camera Crew Camera operator Ray H enm an Focus puller Mirriana Marusic Key grip Graham Young Peter O ’Brien Gaffer On-set Crew 1st asst director Robin Newell 2nd asst director Andrew Tillman Continuity Alison Goodwin Make-up asst Hilary Pearce Special fx super.

Neville Maxwell Stunts co-ord.

Rangi Nikcora Still photography Bob King Catering Camera Cooks Art D epartm ent Art director Keith Holloway Asst art director Pisque Art dept runner Peter Taylor Props buyer Bronwyn Holloway Standby props Murray Gosson

A rm ourer Action vehicle co-ord.

W ardrobe Standby wardrobe Construction Dept Const, super.

Post-production Post-prod, super.

Sound transfers by Musical director Music perform ed by

Barry Cockings Rick Bonnick Lyn Askew Keith Holloway

Ted Otten Spectrum Art Phillips Art Phillips Kevin Johnson Manuel Days Soundfirm Mixed at Atlab Laboratory 1:1.85 Screen ratio 35 mm Film gauge Agfa Shooting stock Government Agency Investment FFC Production Marketing Marketing consultant Gary Hamilton Inter, sales agent Beyond Films Cast: Linda Blair (Leonie Stevens) Jero m e Ehlers (Joe T. Martinez), Donal Gibson (Rocky), Stephen Leeder (Boon), Joe Bugner (Shamus Miller).

S ynopsisjoe and Leonie, drawn together by fate, set off to Springvale to begin a new life. Two m urders happens in their wake.

The father of one of the victims, Anthony Boon, tracks the suspects,Joe and Leonie.

THE GIRL WHO HAD EVERYTHING Prod, company View Films Pre-production 2 7 /8 /9 0 -1 9 /1 0 /9 0 Production 2 2 /1 0 /9 0 -1 4 /1 2 /9 0 Post-production 1 7 /1 2 /9 0 -5 /5 /9 1 Principal Credits Director Kathy Mueller Producer Ben Gannon Scriptwriter Saturday Rosenberg DOP Andrew Lesnie Sound recordist Guntis Sics Editor Robert Gibson Prod, designer Roger Ford Todd H unter Composers Jo hanna Pigott Planning and Development Script editor Michael Jenkins Casting Liz Mullinar Casting Extras casting Sandra McKenzie Production Crew Prod, m anager Anne Bruning Prod, co-ord Maggie Lake Producer’s asst Christine van der Heyden Prod, secretary Debbie Atkins Location m anager Phillip Roope Unit manager Justin Plum m er Asst unit man.

Paul Naylor Prod, runner Will Milne Sup. accountant Jo h n May Insurer FIUA Comp, guarantor Film Finances Camera Crew Focus puller Colin Deane Clapper-loader Katrina Crook Key grip Pat Nash Asst grips Ian McAlpine David Hansen Gaffer Simon Lee Best boy Peter Bushby Electrician Greg Allen Asst electrics Shaun Conway On-set Crew 1st asst director Bob Donaldson 2nd asst director Nikki Long 3rd asst director Jam es McTeige Continuity Daphne Paris Boom operator Gerry Nucifora Make-up Judy Lovell Make-up asst Rosalina da Silva C horeographer Robyn Moase Stunts co-ord.

Glenn Boswell Safety officer Claude Lam bert U nit nurse Jacquie Ramsay Still photography Vivian Zink Unit publicist Patti Mostyn Publicity Catering Kerry Fetzer Art Departm ent

Art director Asst art director Art d ep t ru n n er Set dressers

Laurie Faen Sarah Tooth Andrew Short Sandy Wingrove Jock McLachlan Colin Gibson Tim Parry

Standy props Action vehicle co-ord W ardrobe W ardrobe sup.

Louise Wakefield W ardrobe buyer Jenny Miles Standby wardrobe Devina Maxwell Animals Horse wranglers Evanne and Murray Chesson Post-production Laboratory Atlab Lab liaison Denise Wolfson Gauge 35mm Shooting stock Kodak Governm ent Agency Investment Production Film Finance Corporation Cast: Miranda O tto (Nell), Martin Kemp (Digby), Anne Looby (Margo), Alister Smart (R on), GiaCarides (Wendy), Bruce Venables (Stu).

Synopsis: A story about a loving, stable relationship and how to get one.

TURTLE BEACH Prod. co.

Roadshow, Coote & Carroll Principal Credits Director Stephen Wallace Producer Matt Carroll Line producer Irene Dobson Exec, producers Arnon Milchan Greg Coote Scriptwriter Ann T urner Based on novel by Blanche D’Alpuget DOP Russell Boyd Sound recordist Ben Osmo Editor Jo h n Scott Prod, designer Brian Thomson Costume designer Roger Kirk Planning and Development Script editor Sue Smith Casdng Alison Barrett Production Crew Prod, m anager Fiona McConaghy Prod, co-ordinator Sharon Miller Rowena Talacko Prod, secretary Rebecca Coote Daniella Kolundzija P roducer’s sec.

Phillip Roope Location m anager Richard Montgomery U nit m anager Melissa W arburton P rod’n runners Jo h n Riley Jill Steele Prod, accountant Carolyn Jones Base accounts Kerrin Begaud Accounts asst Christine G ordon Base-office liaison Camera Crew David Williamson Camera operator Jo h n Platt Focus pullers Colin Dean Richard Bradshaw Clapper-loader Brian Cox Special fx sup.

David H ardie Ray Brown Key grip W arren Greiff Asst grips Ian Bird Aaron Walker Brian Bansgrove Gaffer Paul G antner Best boy Colin Chase Electrician G rant Atkinson, Asst electrics Sydney G rant Padget Addt electrics Sean Conway On-set Crew 1st asst director Colin Fletcher Nicola Long 2nd asst director Guy Campbell 3rd asst director Linda Ray Continuity Gerry Nucifora Boom operator Simon Hewitt 2nd Boom o.

Lesley Rouvray Make-up Cheryl Williams H air stylist Richard Boue Safety officer Johnny Hallyday Safety assts Zev Eleftheriou Maggie Mackay U nit nurse Glen Boswell Fight co-ordinator

Still photography U nit publicist Catering Art D epartm ent Art director Asst art directors Art dept co-ord Art dept runner Set dressers

Draftsman Standby props Art dept assts

Jim Sheldon Annie Wright Studio & Locations

Draftsmen Props buyer

Robert Dein Michael Phillips Michelle McGahey Tracey Hyde Leslie Mills Kerrie Brown Glen Johnson David McKay Kathy Moyes Ken Wilby Jo h n Osmond Angus Tattle Andrew Short

W ardrobe W ardrobe super.

Kerry Thompson Standby wardrobe Julie Middleton W ardrobe asst Julie Frankham Construction Dept Scenic artist Eric Todd Construct, man.

Alan Fleming Workshop man.

Alan Fleming Post-pro duction Laboratory Atlab Lab liaison Simon Wicks Cast: Greta Scacchi (Judith), Joan Chen (Minou), Art Malik (Kanan).

Synopsis: An ambitious Australian jo u r­ nalist returns to Malaysia to report on an international refuge e crisis. T hrough her encounters with the people there, she is thrown into personal and professional conflicts that reach a climax on the East Coast o f Malaysia.

UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD Prod, companies Road Movies Argos Films Village Roadshow Pictures (Aust) Dist. company Trans Pacific Production 1 5 /6 /9 0 ...

Principal Credits Director Wim Wenders Producers Jonathan Taplin Anatole Dauman Co-producers Village Roadshow Pictures (Aust) Su Armstrong Line producer Asoc. producer Julia Overton Scriptwriter Peter Carey Robby Muller DOP P rod’n designer Sally Campbell Production Crew Prod, co-ordinator Maggie Lake Prod, secretary Melissa Wiltshire Locations man.

Robin Clifton Richard Carroll Unit m anager Scott Gray Production runner Jim Hajicosta Prod, accountant Jenny Reid Accounts asst Sam Thom pson Base-office liaison Camera Crew Joel Peterson Camera attach.

Camera m aintenance Mike Kelly Graham Litchfield Key Grip Asst grips Mark Ramsey David Hanson Mike Morris Gaffer (Aust) Electrician Paul Moyes Jo h n Lee On-set Crew 1st asst director Tony M ahood Emma Schofield 2nd asst director Jo h n Martin 3rd asst director Jack Friedman Boom operator Nikki Gooley Make-up Hairdresser Paul Williams Stunt co-ordinator Mike Read Chris Sperou Stunt pilots Tony Shwert Johnny Halliday Safety officer Susan Andrews U nit nurse Jo h n Faithful Caterer Art Department Art director Ian Gracie Mike Worrall Asst designer Am anda Selling Art dept, aditiin.

Tim Ferrier Dressers

Blossom Flint Diaan Wajon Michelle McGahey Tim Ferrier Blossom Flint Kim Hilder Colin Gibson Dougal Thom pson Tim Ferrier Ilonka Craig

Props m aker Standby props Asst standby props Model m aker Model asst W ardrobe Kerri Barnett W ardrobe super.

Standby wardrobe Devina Maxwell Sandra Cichello Cutter-machinist Construction Dept Construct, man.

Dennis Smith Construct, man. Jo h n Rann (location) Scenic artist Peter Collias (studio) Scenic artist Gus Lobb Mark Oliver Leading hand Foreman Larry Sandy Carpenters Cameron Craig Ronald Martin Errol Glassenbury Jam es Kibble Jon Stiles Gordon McIntyre Gordon Finney Carpenter-welder Marcus Smith Welder Mark Gatt Set painter Adam Bromhead (location andstudio) Mark Connors (studio) Set painter Alan Brown Greensman Greg Thomas Peter Scott Construct, runner L abourer-runner Kieran Weir Post-production Asst editor Phillippa Harvey Edge num berer Paul Healy Editing rooms Spectrum Films Laboratory Atlab Australia Marketing Publicity Fiona Searson Dennis Davidson Associates Cast: SolveigDommartin (Claire), William H urt (Sam), Sam Neill (Eugene), Rudiger Volger, Chick Ortega, Ernie Dingo, Max Von Sydow, J e a n n e M oreau, David Gulpilil, Charlie McMahon, Jimmy Little, Justine Saunders, Kylie Belling, Jo h n Lurie, Noah Taylor.

Synopsis: Set in the year 2000, U ntil the E n d o f the World is a love triangle set across four continents involving Sam, on the run from the authorities, Claire, who acts out of her love for Sam, and Eugene, obsessed by his love for Claire. Sam’s journey takes him from Europe, via America and Japan, and climaxes in the mythological and majestic landscape of central Australia.

RECENTLY COMPLETED See previous issues for details on: AYA; DEAD TO TH E WORLD; DEADLY; DINGO; GARBO; HOLIDAYS ON TH E RIVER YARRA; HURRICANE SM ITH; ISABELLE EBERHARDT; PROOF; SPOTSWOOD; STAN AND GEORGE’S NEW LIFE; WAITING; A WOMAN’S TALE.

DOCUMENTARIES SATELLITE DREAMING Production co.

CAAMA Prods Principal Credits Director Ivo Burum Producers Ivo Burum Tony Dowmunt Exec, producer Ivo Burum Prod, m anager Pricilla Collins DOP Warwick T hornton Editor Nicolas Lee Sound recordist Scott Davis Sound asst David T ranter On-line editor David Nixon Production asst Skinny Campbell Joyce Measures Music composer Bill Davies Length 52 mins Guage Betacam SP to 1 inch

Synopsis: Since the arrival of Aussat, com­ m unities o f Australian Aboriginal people living in rem ote areas now have the op­ portunity to see such program m es as Neighbours and H om e a n d Aw ay. Satellite D ream ing looks at the ways these com m u­ nities are attem pting to control and use television.

WHEELING FREE Prod, company Storm uringer Films Jan e Balfour Films Dist. company $245,600 Budget 6 /1 9 9 0 -1 0 /1 9 9 0 Pre-production Production 1 0 /1 9 9 0 -1 2 /1 9 9 0 1/1991 -5 /1 9 9 1 Post-production Principal Credits Kim Batterham Director Judy Ditter Producers Kim Batterham Kim Batterham Scriptwriter Kim Batterham DOP Leo Sullivan Sound recordist Geoff B ennett Editor Composer Graham Tardiff Judy Ditter Prod manager FIUA Insurer Film Finances Completion guaran.

David Rae Sound editor Opticals Optical & Graphics Atlab Laboratory Neg matching Chris Rowell Governm ent Agency Investment Production FFC Marketing Jane Balfour Films Int. distrib Synopsis: A travel-adventure story follow­ ing Jeff Heath, paraplegic and political activist, through Central America.

For details of the following see previous issue: DOG SQUAD: WHAT A D O G ’S LIFE!; FIRST AID FOR CAMPERS; IT ’S A GREAT LIFE.

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT Prod, company Peter Hicks Projects Dist. company CANTEEN (Australian Teenage Cancer Patients Society) Principal Credits Director Linda Blagg Producer Peter Hicks Exec, producers Anthony Carey Variety Club of Australia (ACT) Assoc, producer Kathrine Stonestreet (CANTEEN) Scriptwriter Ken Quinnell Sound recordist Paul Finlay Editor Vicky Ambrose Planning and Development Casting Julie Dunsmore Production Crew Prod, co-ordinator Sylvia Deans P roducer’s asst Katrina Douglas Camera Crew Camera operator Philip Bull Camera assist Glen Watson Camera type BETACAM On-set Crew 1st asst director Clair Williams Post-pro duction Sound editor Philip McGuire Video gauge Betacam Off-line facilities Davis Film & Video Prods Cast: Belinda Walsh (Penelope), Mike M cW illiam (B en ), A lex M cW illiam (Julian), Jenny Lovell (Ben’s m other), C onniejohnson (N aom i),B rettFinneran (M atthew), Maria Selvey (Sam antha), Natalie Fielding (Kylie), G rant Guest (Patient), Michael Gregory (D octor).

Synopsis: You are a teenager and you have just been diagnosed with cancer. Having cancer will m ean u n d erstan d in g the condition you are suffering. There are no CINEMA

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“recipes” for living with cancer, but you are not alone. O ther teenagers have “Been There, Done T h at” and hope that their stories will help you.

For details o f the following see previous issue: A DATE WITH DESTINY; THE DAY I REAL­ ISED ...; RHINOCEROS CHRISTMAS; WRIT­ ERS - TH E REAL STORY.

AUSTRALIAN FILM, TELEVISION AND RADIO SCHOOL HOPE Principal Credits Director M. Carmen Galan Producer M artha Coleman Scriptwriter Sarah-Jane Joy DOP Francisco Vidinha Declan Cooney Sound recordist Editor M. Carmen Galan Prod, designer Terri Kibbler Composer Peter Best Planning and Development Casting Joy Sargent Shoodng schedule Ken Moffat Budget M artha Coleman Production Crew Prod, m anager M artha Coleman Prod, co-ordinator Graziella Trafeli U nit manager Stephen Gallagher Prod, ru n n er Joss Bennett Camera Crew Camera operator Francisco Vidinha Focus puller Mandy Hanak Clapper-loader Nao Tharavanij Camera type Arri Key grip.

1 Glen Day Asst grip Ossie Alfaro Gaffer Ian Bosman Jo Sainsbury Best boy On-set Crew 1st asst director Ken Moffatt 2nd asst director Tim Duffy 3rd asst director Joss Bennett Continuity Sian Clement Boom operator Bill Rigby Make-up Kaylene Moses Hairdresser Kaylene Moses Special fx Peter Sangster Stephen Gallagher Unit nurse Still photography Andrew O ’Sullivan Catering Buchanan’s Catering Art D epartm ent Art director Terri Kibbler Props buyer Julie Peel Max Worrel Standby props Arm ourer Barry Cockinos W ardrobe W ardrobe super Jo Malcolm Standby wardrobe Mandy Vuksanovich Construction Departm ent Construct m ’ger Peter Sangster Post-production Linda Ljubicic Asst editor Ann Mackinolty Sound editors M ikejones M. Carmen Galan Post-sync super Peter Best Musical director M ikejones Foley Robert Sullivan Mixer AFTRS Mixed at Roger Cowland Opticals Matt Mawson Titles Atlab Laboratory Miriam Cortes Neg matching 16mm Film gauge 1:1.85 Screen ratio Eastman 7297 Shooting stock Cast: Leverne McDonnell, T anya Lawson, Jam ie Croft, Mervyn D rake, Charles Abbott, Jo h n Adams, Vincent Crowley, Scott Fergusom .

Synopsis: Atistralia 1976. In an idyllic rainforest setting, 10-year-old H ope is confronted by the dark side of hum an nature.

For details o f the following see previous issue: A HORSE WITH STRIPES; THE PLUNGE.

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Tony Cavanaugh LA STUPENDA Peter Hepworth Prod, comapnies RM Associates Andrew Kennedy FA Linden Wilkinson THE ARTIST, THE PEASANT Principal Credits Helen Steel Prod, company FA Director Derek Bailey DOP Barry Wilson Dist. company FA Producer Brian Adams Editor Philip Reid Principal Credits Exec, producers Chris Oliver Prod, designer Robbie Perkins Director Franco di Chiera Neil Mundy Costume designer Michael Chisholm Exec, producer Paul Humfress Production Crew Composer Peter Sullivan Prod, m anager Hilary May (Aus) DOP Simon Smith Planning and Development Sound recordist Victor Gentle Pieter de Vries (Aus) Script editor Keith Aberdein Editor Wendy Chandler Marketing P ru e’sZoo Production Crew Consultant Francesca Muir Casting Susie Maizels & Assoc.

Prod, m anager Ron Hannam Publicity Lesna Thomas Production Crew Prod, secretay Lori Wallace Cast: Joan Sutherland.

Prod, co-ord.

Stottie Prod, accountant Elizabeth Clarke Synopsis: A com bination of live perform ­ Producer’s asst Annie Parsons ance and archival footage highlighting Camera Crew Prod, secretary Joanne Neil Joan S utherland’s 42-year opera career.

Camera assists Paolo Ferrari (Italy) Location m anager Jam es Legge Alison Maxwell (Perth) Unit m anager Louise Cullinan Post-pro duction For details of the following Prod, runner Mihiata Reweti see previous issue: Asst editor HeidiKenessey Prod, accountant Simone Semen BARUYAMUKA Laboratory Atlab Accounts asst Janine M artoreno Lab liaison Kerri Jenkins Insurer Willis Farber Johnson & Shooting stock 16 mm E /col negative TELEVISION Higgins Marketing PRODUCTION Camera Crew Marketing consult Kim H enderson Camera operators Phil Lam bert Int. sales Helen ThwaitesALL TOGETHER NOW (series) Andrew Oliver Int. distrib.

Film Australia Prod, companies Telltale Films Tony Bennett Nine Network Publicity Lesna Thomas Camera assistant Michael Bowker Poster designer AntArt Principal Credits Cast: Guiseppe Mercuri.

Director Pino Amenta On-set Crew 1st asst directors Ian Kenny Synopsis: A50-minute docum entaryabout Exec, producer Kris Noble Paul Healey Italian com m unist Guieseppe Mercuri: Line producer Jo h n Powditch Brendan Campbell poet, novelist, short-story writer, hisotrian H ead writer Philip Dalkin 2nd asst director Robbie Visser and, more recent, painter. His writing Scriptwriters Shane Brennan and art work captures the density of Script assistant Victoria Osborne Steve J. Spears Continuity Christine Lipari knowledge handed down through gen­ Elizabeth Coleman Marcus Georgiades Sound recordists Mike Smith erations. His nephew, Franco di Chiera, is the filmmaker.

Mike Slater Carmel Torcasio Make-up Leeanne White Prod, designer Owen Williams Hairdresser Leeanne White ENVIRONMENT Art directors MichaelBridges M ake-up/H air assts Fiona Rees-Jones Prod company FA Julie Skate Anna Karpinski Principal Credits Composer Jon English Zvelka Stanno O ther Credits Directors Catherine Marciniak Wigmaker The Individual Wig Cathy Henkel Prod, co-ordinator KateHalliday Exec, producer Chris Oliver Technical producer Peter Fisher Stunts co-ord ChrisAnderso Scriptwriter Catherine Marciniak Lighting director Rohan T hornton Stunts New G eneration Stunts Cathy Henkel Make-up Amanda Rowbottom R unner Stuart Davidso Production Crew Pam Murphy Art Departm ent Prod, supervisor Hilary May W ardrobe Jeannie Cameron Art dept co-ord.

Brunetta Stocco Prod, managers Marguerite Grey Cast: Jon English, Rebecca Gibney, Gary Art dept runner Sheridan Wilson Who, Bruno Lucia, Steve Jacobs, Jane Ann Folland Set dressers Brian Dusting Hall.

Marketing Colin Robertson Consultant Francesca Muir Synopsis: Bobby Rivers is a 40-year-old Props buyers Hamish Alderson-Hicks Publicity Lesna Thomas rock singer whose best years and one big Martin Perkins Synopsis: A look at environmental issues hit are well behind him. How will he cope Standby props Brian Alexander with the discovery that he has two 15-yearfacing Australia.

Graham Blackmore old children that he never knew existed.

W ardrobe PALAU W ardrobe super Francis Hogan Prod, company FA BEYOND 2000 (series) Standby wardrobe Suzy Thomson Animals Dist. company FA [See issue 77 for details] Principal Credits Dog trainer Luke H ura Exec, producer Janet Bell CHANCES (serial) Post-production Scriptwriter Ian David Prod, company Beyond Prods Post-prod, supervisor Sue Marian Production Crew Dist. co.

Beyond International Group C ast Jo h n Sheerin (Dan Taylor), Tim Prod, m anager Julie Cottrell-Dormer Principal Credits Robertson (Jack Taylor), Brenda Addie Prod, secretary Jane Benson Directors Mark Callan (Barbara Taylor), Anne Grigg (Sarah Marketing Taylor), Michael Caton (Bill A nderson), Richard Sarrell Mike Smith Consultant Francesca Muir Jerem y Sims (Alex Taylor), D eborah Peter Andridikis Synopsis: A political thriller which ex­ K ennedy (C onnie Reynolds), Yvonne Mark Defreist plodes with violence and intrigue as a Lawley (H eather McGlashan), Natalie Peter Dodds small Pacific Island takes on the super McCurry (Rebecca Taylor), MerciaDeanepowers.

Johns (Sharon Taylor).

Gary Conway Producer Lynn Bayonas Synopsis: Some win, some lose ... What PLAGUED Exec, producer Brendon Lunney would you do if you won $3 million?

Prod, company FA Assoc, producer Stephen Amezdroz Chances are your life would change for­ Dist. company FA Scriptwriters Keith Aberdein ever! Find outwhat happens to an ordinary Principal Credits Leon Saunders Australian family, when they score a huge Directors AvivaZiegler Katherine Thomson lottery win.

Ed Goldwyn David Phillips Co-producer Channel Four Alan H opgood CLOWNING SIM (tele-feature) Patricia Johnson Prod, company Exec, producers Janet Bell Barron Films Margaret Kelly Gwynn Pritchard Principal Credits Scriptwriter Dr Norm an Swan David Allen Director George Whaley Peter Kinloch Production Crew Producer Barron Films Bill Garner Prod, m anager Julie Cottrell-Dormer (Television) Shane Brennan Prod, secretary JaneBenson Co-producers Paul D. Barron Ysabelle Dean Marketing A ntonia Barnard Consultant Francesca Muir Terry Stapleton Exec, producer Paul D. Barron Annie Beach Synopsis: 4 x 1-hour docum entary series Scriptwriters Tony Cavanaugh Sheila Sibley which exam ines the inter-relationship Shane Brennan Paul Leadon between disease and civilization.

Based on novel C low ning Sim Judith Colquhoun

FILM AUSTRALIA

W ritten by David Martin DOP Laszlo Baranyai Sound Recordist Kim Lord Editor Geoff Hall Prod, designer Peta Lawson Costume designer Ccerrie B arrnett Com poser Peter Best Production Crew Prod, m anager C atherine Bishop Prod, co-ordinator Kerry Bevan Prod, secretary Lindsay van Niekerk Location m anager Liz Kirkham U nit m anager Simon Hawkins Prod, ru n n er Claire Blake Prod, accountant Liane Lee Accounts assist Christine Robinson Insurer Willis Faber Jo hnson & Higgins Ltd Comp, guarani.

Perform ance Guarantees (Aust.) Ltd Legal Services R Garton Smith & Co. Travel co-ordinator ShowTravel Camera Crew Camera operator Bradley Pearce Focus puller Peter Goodall Camera Assistant Sion Michel Key grip Karel Akkerman Grip David Cross Asst grip Greg McKie Gaffer Craig Bryant Best boy Steve Johnson Electrician Antony Tulloch On-set Crew 1st asst director Gillian Harris 2nd aast director Emma Schofield 3rd asst director Giancarlo Mazzella Continuity Jan Piantoni Make-up Liddy Reynolds Make-up asst Jan e Kyle Stills photogy Skip Watkins Steve Marcus Catering Art Department Art director Sue Vivian Art dep t co-ord.

Sue Jarvis Art dept ru n n er Richard Blackadder Set dresser Glen Johnson Props Alicia Walsh Nigel Devenport Standby props Kelvin Sexton Wardrobe Ccerrie Barrnett Costume designer Costume cupervisor Lisa Galea Costume standby Delia Spicer Synopsis: Simon (Sim) is a 13-year-old boy determ in ed to becom e a famous dow n. His dream s are treated by his foster parents, school acquaintances and welfare officers with am usem ent, tolerance and indifference. He runs away and joins up with an outback rodeo, travelling with a one-ring circus and busking in a city mall in an attem pt to reach his goal. H e meets Anatole, an old clown who recognizes Sim’s talent, and whom he follows to Paris where he finally gets his big chance u nder a big top.

Cast: Clayton Williamson (Sim), JeanMichel Dagory (Anatole), Ernie Dingo (Jack), Van Johnson (Neville Rathnow), Margaret Ford (M artha Rathnow), Nell Feeney (Lilly Rathnow ), Steve Jo drell (Skipper Crealey), Annie Byron (Una Crealey), Rebecca Sm art (Linda Crealey), Noni H azlehurst (Sarah G unner), Jill Perryman (Miss G abhurst).

A COUNTRY PRACTICE (series) [See issue for details.] fH E FLYING DOCTORS (series) (Series VI) [See issue 77 for details] GP (series) [See previous issue for details.]

HOM E AND AWAY (serial) [See issue 80 for details.]

SIGN O F THE SNAKE Prod com panies Southern Star Xanadu ABC

Principal Credits Director Producers Line producer Exec, producers Scriptwriter Based on novel W ritten by DOP Sound recordist Editors

Peter Smith Sandra Levy Jo h n Edwards Wayne Barry Penny Chapman Scott Meek Robert Caswell A v e n u e o f E ternal Peace

Nicholasjose Stephen W indon Peter Grace Chris Spurr Stuart Arm strong Prod, designer Murray Picknett Costume designer David Rowe Planning and Development Researchers Julie El Khouri Chris Shale Casting Anne Robinson Casting consult.

Liz Mullinar Casting Extras casting Lucy Monge Dialogue coaches Doreen Hogan Bill Pepper Storyboard artist Ty Bosco Production Crew Prod, m anager Barbara Gibbs Prod, co-ordinator Roberta O ’Leary Prod, secretary Lisa-Maree Hawkes Location m anager Paul G Viney U nit m anager Fiona Maloney Prod, assistant Ziyin Wang Prod, runners Derek Thom pson Jo h n Vitalotis Prod, accountant Christine Robson Budget office Shuna Burdett Insurer H am m ond Jewell Completion guaran First Australian Completion Bond Co. Camera Crew Camera operator Marc Spicer Focus puller Brendan Shaw Clapper-loader Matthew Temple W arren Grieef Key grip Benn Hyde Asst grips Aaron Walker Gaffer Ken Pettigrew Best boy Pierre Drion Electrician Bruce Young G enerator operator Bob Woods On-set Crew 1st asst director Charles Rotherham 2nd asst director Russell Russell Burton Burton 3rd asst director W arren Parsonson Lynn-Maree Continuity Lynn-Maree Danzey Danzey Fiona Boom operator Fiona McBain McBain Make-up Ron Bassi Chiara Tripodi Cate O ’Donoghue Peter Leggett Special fx super Brian McClure Special fx Glen Reuhland Stunts co-ord G aryjohnston Still photography Victoria Buchan Unit publicist M arike’s Catering Co. Catering Art Department Art director Julie Belle Asst designer Walter Salmon Graham Johnson Art dept co-ord Lucinda Thomson Designers asst Sandra Carrington Set dressers John Clabburn Tim Tulk Russell Long Chris Ryman Props Ian Andrewartha Props buyer Adrian Cannon Jo h n King Standby props Matthew Bartley Wardrobe Miranda Brock W ardrobe co o rd .

Giovanna Frith W orkroom sup.

Standby wardrobe Lorraine Verheyen W ardrobe assts Mary Christadoulu Nina Parsons Construction Department Scenic artist Paul Brocklebank Construct m ’ger Laurie Dorn C arpenter Scott Paton Set finisher Bill Kennedy Post-production Editor Martin Connor

Soundfirm Ian McLoughlin Mick Jones Atlab Laboratory Bruce Williamson Lab liaison Roxanne Del Barre Neg m atching Film gauge 16 mm Off-line facilties Mighty Movies Cast: Bob Peck (Will), Lily Chen (JinJuan), Linda C ropper (Monica), Dennis Chan (Dr Kang), Gary Sweet (Larry), Linda Hsia (Mrs Gu), Cindy Pan (Pei).

Synopsis: T he Sign o f the Snake is the story of Will Flint, a doctor who goes to China to find an old professor whom he hopes will resolve a terrible crisis in his life. Will is caught up in the life of the Beijing expatriate communiity and, ultimately, in the events which lead to the Tiananm en Square massacre.

Prod accountant Accounts asst Com pletion guar.

Camera Crew Focus puller Clapper-loader Key grip Asst grip Gaffer Best boy On-set Crew 1st asst director 2nd asst director 3rd asst director Continuity Boom operator Make-up W ardrobe van

TJAPUKAI THE WORLD AT OUR FEET (tele-feature) Prod. co.

Australian Pacific Films (Cairns) Tjapukai Dance Theatre (Austheatre Film Productions -jointly) Principal Credits Director Mark Eliot Producer Mark Eliot Alan Andrewartha Sound recordist Editor Bruce Redman Other Credits Budgeted by Eve Lewiston P roducer’s asst Monica Mesch Prod, accountant David Goodman Insurer Far North Insurance Brokers Cinesure Travel co-ord.

Aust. Tourist Commission Camera operator Dietmar Kuhn Post-prod, super.

Bruce Redman Tjapukai Music perform ed by Dance Theatre & David Hudson (Dwura) Shooting stock BVU U-matic 3 /4 inch Off-line facilities Mark Eliot Production Government Agency Investment Production Queensland Film Development Office Marketing Marketing consultant Beyond International Group Cast: Tjapukai Dance T heatre dancers.

Synopsis: Twelve Aboriginal dancers from a rainforest village near Cairns-a city now besieged by international tourists - depart on a world tour of some 14 countries. In the form of traditional and contem porary dance, they give graphic expression to a living culture that has existed for some 40,000 years.

S tunts/ safety

Sound transfers by Sound editors

Special fx super

Unit nurse Still photography Catering Art Department Art director Props buyer

LynJones Sandie Morris Film Finance Harry Glynatsis David Wallace Brett McDowell Jo h n Tate Matt Slattery Paul G antner Bob Donaldson Nikki Long Debbie Atkins Kristin Voumard Mark Van Kol Trish Glover Empire Production Services Image FX (David Roberts) Glen Boswell Richard Boue M eredith Flemming Jo h n Halfhide O ut To Lunch David Joyce L eanne Cornish Angus Tattle Peter Davies Dennis Clements

Standby props Model m aker Wardrobe Lynn L ondon W ardrobe sup.

Standby wardrobe Mary Lou Da Roza Construction Department David Tuckwell Scenic artist Construct m anager Geoffrey Howe Dean Steiner Leading hand Brad Dunlop Carpenters Brett Bartlett Construction Asst Jo h n Lui Brush H and Clive Porter Post-production Post-prod, super The Editing Machine On-line post-prod.

Bobdog Inc. Mixer Film Australia - Robert Sullivan Fx editor Film Australia - Les Fiddess Laboratory Atlab Video Paint Brush Special effects Lab liaison Jan T hornton T utor Karen Sander Marketing Consultant Film Australia - Kim H enderson Publicity Lesna Thomas Cast: Katharine Cullen (Alana), Melissa M a rsh all (Je n n y ), J o h n H o w ard (Silverthorn), Jam es Findlay (Petey), Jerem y Scrivener (Nik), Marshall N apier (Draco).

WHEN THE WAR CAME TO TOMORROW’S END AUSTRALIA (series) Prod company FA (funded by FFC) Prod. co.

Look Television Prods Dist company FA Budget $1,142,500 Budget $2.7million Production Feb. ’91 - April ’91 Pre-production 7 /1 /9 1 - 1 /3 /9 1 Post-production 2 2 /4 /9 1 ...

Production 4 /3 /9 1 - 7 /6 /9 1 Principal Credits Principal Credits Director Tony W heeler Director Noel Price Producer Will Davies Producer Noel Price Co-producer BeeReynolds Exec, producer Ron Saunders Scriptwriter Tony W heeler Assoc producer Dennis Kiely DOP G ordon Dein Scriptwriter Mark Shirrefs Sound recordist Allan Scott DOP Dan Burstall Editor Brad Christensen Sound recordist Tim Lloyd Other Credits Editors Kerry Regan Researchers Ju n e H enm an Josh Reed Jo an n a Penglase Prod, designer Nicholas McCallum Prod, accountant Dianne Brown Costume designer Fiona Spence Comp, guarantor Perform ance Composer Ian Davidson Guarantee Planning and Development Legal Services H eidtm an & Co Script editor Jo h n T hom pson Laboratory Videopak Casting consultants Liz Mullinar Gauge SPBetacam & Associates Synopsis: Four-part series about the social Production Crew history o f Australia during W orld War II, Prod, co-ordinator Lynda Wilkinson as told by those who stayed at hom e. A Prod, asst/ru n n er Nicole Adams time of change, sacrifice and profiteering, U nit m anager Phil U rquhart but also a celebration of courage, hum our Financial cont.

Moneypenny Services and the true Australian spirit.

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Asst art directors

TELEVISION POST-PRODUCTION THE CROCODILE ON TRIAL (tele-feature) Prod, company Australian Pacific Films (Cairns) Dist. co.

Beyond International Groupi Pre-production Aug. - Sept. 1990 Production Oct. 1990 -J a n . 1991 Post-production F eb .-A p ril 1991 Principal Credits Director Mark Eliot Producer Mark Eliot Planning and Development Researcher Rick Rogers: Script editor Mark Eliot Shooting schedule Monica Mesch Budgeted by Monica Mesch Synopsis: This two-hour tele-feature puts the crocodile on trial and investigates attacks from all over the world. The crocodile, the world’s oldest creature, has survived the dinosaurs, and, although savagely hunted by m an for the past mil­ lion years, of the 21 original species not one has yet been m ade extinct. But how much longer can the crocodile hang out?

BRIDES OF CHRIST (series) Prod. cos. Roadshow, Coote & Carroll ABC Pre-production 9 /7 /9 0 -1 7 /9 /9 0 Production 1 7 /9 /9 0 - 2 1 /1 2 /9 0 7 /1 /9 1 -2 5 /1 /9 1 Post-production 25/1 /9 1 - 2 7 /7 /9 1 Principal Credits Director Ken Cameron Producer Sue Masters Exec, producer Penny Chapman Assoc, producers Adrienne Read Ray Brown Scriptwriters John Alsop Sue Smith D.O.P Jam es Bartle Sound recordist Nicholas Wood Editor Tony Kavanagh Prod, designer Marcus North Art director Jo h n Pryce-Jones Costume designer Annie Marshall Composer Bill Motzing Planning and Development Casting Maura Fay Extras casting Irene Gaskell Production Crew Prod, m anager Joanne Rooney Prod, co-ordinator Sandy Stevens Prod, secretary Jane Symonds Location manager Patricia Rothkrans Unit m anager Jo h n Downie Production runner Pollyjob Prod, accountant Michelle D’Arcey Kim Vecera Business affairs Insurer Ham m ond Jewell Completion guarantor Film Finances Camera Crew Camera operator Russell Bacon Sean McClory Focus puller Lisa Lloyd Clapper-loader Gary Burdett Key grip Aron Walker Asst grips Benn Hyde Tim Murray-Jones Gaffer Pierre Drion Best boy Electrician Bruce Young Gennie operator Bob Woods On-set Crew 1st asst director Adrian Pickersgill 2nd asst director Karin Kreicers Vicki Hastrich 3rd asst director Rhonda McAvoy Continuity Jack Friedman Boom operator Gary Suitz Make-up Jenny Boehm Chiara Tripodi John Neal Special fx co-ord G aryjohnston Still photography Virginia Sargent U nit publicist Jo hn Faithfull Catering Art Department Jo h n Pryce-Jones Art director 78

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Art dept co-ord Set dressers

Propsperson Props buyers Standby props

Helen Baumann Kerrie Reay Jon Rohde Lee Bulgin Robert Hutchinson Brent Bonheur Lou Pittorino Don Page Mervyn Asher Susan Glavich Tal Oswin Rebecca Mackay

Wardrobe W ardrobe co-ord

Wendy Falconer Colleen Woulfe Standby wardrobe Terry Lamera W ardrobe asst Meredith Brown Construction Department Scenic artist Paul Brocklebank Construct, m ’ger Laurie Dorn Post-production Asst editor Nicole La Macchia Laboratory Atlab Cast: Brenda Fricker (Agnes), Sandy Gore (M other Am brose), Josephine Brynes (Sister Catherine), Lisa Hensley (Sister Paul), Melissa Jaffer (Sister Attracta), Naom i Watts (Frances), Kym Wilson (Rosemary), Melissa Thomas (Brigid).

Synopsis: The women who pledge their lives and their virtue to God are called brides of Christ by their Church. To the world they are known as nuns. This is the story of Catherine, Paul and Ambrose.

The tales of Brides o f Christ provide an af­ fecting encounter with a group of unforgettable women.

EMBASSY II (series) Prod, companies ABC Grundy TV Dist. companmy Grundy TV Pre-production 21/1 /91 - 10/2/91 Production 11/2/91 - 17/6/91 Post-production 18/3/91 - 7 / 7 /9 1 Principal Credits Directors Paul Moloney Mark Callan Richard Sarell Geoffrey Nottage Exec, producers Jill Robb Ian Bradley Scriptwriters John Reeves John Coulter Shane Brennan Jan Sardi John Cundhill Original story by Ian Bradley Anne Lucas Snr cameraman Roger McAlpine Sound recordist John Beanland Editors Gary Watson Chris Branagan Prod, designer Max Nicolson Costume designer Claire Griffin Composer Peter Sullivan Planning and Development Script editors John Coulter Anne Lucas Casting Dina Mann Extras casting Jane Hamilton Production Crew Prod, supervisor Vince Smits Prod, manager M argaret Greenwell Prod, co-ordinator Gail Meillon Kay Hennessy Producer’s assts Aideen Stephenson Frances McLean-Grant Angela Chenhalls Prod, secretary Ann Bartlett Location m anager Camera Crew Camera operators Roger McAlpine Peter Holmes Andrew Schmidt Dave W ashbourne Key grip Electrician Leo Carroll On-set Crew 1st asst directors Ali Ali Ross Allsop Neil Proud 2nd asst directors Ann Maver Charles Morse

Boom operators Make-up Make-up asst Catering Art Department Set dressers Draftsman Props buyers Wardrobe W ardrobe super.

Standy wardrobe

Neville Kelly Graham Cornish Paddy Opwald Steven Cl ode Sweet Seduction Michael Kene Mark Reynolds George Raniti Sue Vaughan Kris Kozlovic Rhonda Shallcross Concetta Raffa Joyce Imlach Anne Brown

Post-production Tony Stanyer Post-prod, super.

Ian Battersby Sound editor Asst sound editor Steve Witherow Musical director Peter Sullivan Recording studio Sully Music Marketing Liz Harvey Publicity Cast: Bryan Marshall (Duncan Stewart), Ja n et A ndrew artha (Marion Stewart), Frankie J. Holden (Terry Blake), Alan Fletcher (Michael Clayton), Nina Landis (Susan Derek), Joseph Spano (Colonel M ahm oud), Nicki Wendt (Belinda Avery), Shapoor Batliwalla (Rufus).

Synopsis: The life of the staff of an Aus­ tralian embassy based in a South-EastAsian country.

KELLY Westbridge Prods Atlantis, Releasing BV and Tele Images Budget $3.2 million Post-production Delivery March 1991 Principal Credits Directors Paul Moloney Chris Langman Mark DeFriest Brendan Maher Producer Jonathan M. Shiff Line producer Ray Hennessy Exec, producer Jonathan M. Shiff Assoc, producer Coyla Hegarty Scriptwriters D. Phillips A. Nisse lie P. Hepworth P. Kinloch Y. Dean A. Kennedy D. Morgan S. Brennan DOP Brett Anderson Sound recordist John Wilkinson Editors Ray Daley Philip Watts Prod, designer Sally Shepherd Costume designer Marion Boyce Composers Garry McDonald Laurie Stone Plannign and Development Script editor Jenny Sharp Casting Jo Rippon Dialogue coach Chris Sheil Production Crew Prod, manager Gina Black Prod, co-ordinator Fiona Eagger Producer’s asst Anthea Collin Location manager Greg Ellis T ransport m anager Reel Wheels Unit managers Neville Mason Gene Van Dam Prod, assistant Helen Boicovitis Prod’n runner Pascale Whyte Financial cont.

Jennifer Clevers Prod, accountant Moneypenny Services Insurer H am m ond Jewell Completion guar.

Film Finances Limited Camera Crew Camera operator Brett Anderson Focus puller Terry Howells Clapper-loader Brett Matthews 2nd unit DOP Bob Kohler 2nd unit focus Gary Bottomley Key grip Joel W itherden Prod, company Dist. company

Asst grips Gaffer Best boy 3rd electrics On-set Crew 1st asst directors

Craig Dusting Laurie Fish Jo h n Leaver Scott Knowles

Rob Kewley Chris Page Kath Hayden Rachel Evans 2nd asst directors Janine Schepisi Marcus H unt 3rd asst directors Christian Robinson Ann Beresford Continuity Kay Hennessy Karinda Parkinson Carmel Torcas P Kiely Boom operator Greg Nelson Angela Conte Make-up Doug Glanville Make-up asst Christine Miller Hairdresser Peter Stubbs Special fx co-ord Film Trix Special fx Chris Peters Stunts co-ordinator Stunts New G eneration Stunts Still photography Michael Silver Anthea Collin Unit publicist Band Aide Catering Art Department Peter Ramsey Art dept runner Simon Cater Set dresser Souli Livaditis Michelle Ehlers Props buyer Dianne Bennett Standby props Wardrobe Supervisor Marion Boyce Standby wardrobe Vicki Friedman Bronwyn Doughty Animals Animal trainer Michael Garcia (Kelly) Animal handler Christine Powell Horse master Wally Dalton Construction Department Const, m anager Michael McLean C arpenter Richard Ellis Post-production Post-prod super Ray Daley Asst editor Philip Watts Sound transfers by Jo h n Campbell Sound editors Peter Palankay Frank Lipson Tom Palankay Music perform ed Garry McDonald Laurie Stone Recording studio The Music D epartm ent Laboratory Cinevex Film gauge 16 mm Shooting stock Eastman EXR Marketing Int. distributor Atlantis Releasing and Tele Images Publicity Anthea Collin Cast: Max (Kelly), Charm aine Gorman (Jo Patterson), Alexander Kemp (Danny Foster), Gil Tucker (Frank Patterson), Tony Hawkins (Mike Patterson), Ailsa Piper (Maggie Patterson), Katy Brinson (Dr Robyn Foster), Matthew Ketteringham (Chris Patterson).

Synopsis: The story of a smarter-thanaverage police dog which shares adven­ tures with two young children in a seaside community. An action-packed adventure romp.

See previous issue for details of the following: HALF A W ORLD AWAY ( m i n i - s e r i e s ) ; W HICH WAY HOME (m in i-se rie s)

FOR IN C LU SIO N IN TH E PRODUCTION S U R V E Y CONTACT CIN EM A P A P E R S ON ( 0 3 ) 4 2 9 5 5 1 1

DECEMBER

1990

G (GENERAL E X H IB ITIO N ) Rescuers Down U nder, The T. S ch u m ach er, U.S., 75 m ins, Village Roadshow Corporation PG (PARENTAL GUIDANCE) Almost an AngelJ. Cornell, U.S., 97 mins, United International Pictures, Occasional low-level violence and coarse language, V(i-l-g) L(i-I-g) Carnival of Souls H. Harvey, U.S., 84 mins, Empire Films Pty Ltd, Mild horror, O (mild horror) Tumultes B. Van Effentree, France, 89 mins, Petunia Nominees, Adult concepts, O (adult concepts) Yaaba F. Denaes-P Meier-I Ouedraogo, France-Burkina Faso, 87 mins, State Film Centre of Victoria, Occasional low-level coarse language, L(i-l-j) M (MATURE AUDIENCES) Awakenings W. Parkes-L. Lasker,U.S., 117 mins, Hoyts Fox Columbia Tri Star Films, Occasional coarse language, L(i-m-g) HavanaS. Pollack-R. Roth, U.S., 140 mins, U nited International Pictures, Occasional coarse language, L(i-m-g) Kindergarten Cop I. Reitman-B. Grazer, U.S., 108 mins, U nited International Pic­ tures, Occasional violence, V(i-m-g) Kindergarten Cop I. Reitman-B. Grazer, U.S., 106 mins, United International Pic­ tures, Occasional violence, V(i-m-g) Rocky 5 R. Chartoff-I. Winkler, U.S., 106 mins, United International Pictures, Fre­ quent violence, V(f-m-g) R (RESTRICTED EX H IB ITIO N ) Big Score, The Producer no t shown, Hong Kong, 103 mins, Chinatown Cinema, Oc­ casional graphic violence, V(i-m-g) Dragon in Jail E. Chan, H ong Kong, 99 mins, Chinatown Cinema, Very frequent violence, V(f-m-g) O (drug abuse) Night Porter, The R. Edwards, Italy-Austria, 114 mins, Hoyts Fox Columbia Tri Star Films, Adult concepts, O (adult con­ cepts) SPECIAL CONDITIONS Chicago Blues (a) (c), Icaic, Cuba, 14 mins, Australian Film Institute (Sydney) Cronica de Una Infamia (a) (c), Icaic, Cuba, 14 mins, Australian Film Institute (Sydney) Dorian Gray as Reflected by the Popular Press (a) (b), U Ottinger, Germany, 150 mins, Australian Film Institute (Sydney) Future of Emily, The (a) (b), H. SandersBrahms, Germany, 116 mins, Australian Film InsUtute (Sydney) ’ Money (a) (b), D. Dorrie, Gemany, 98 mins, Australian Film Institute (Sydney) My Heart is in That Land (a) (c), Icaic, Cuba, 95 mins, Australian Film InsUtute (Sydney)

One Look - And Love Begins (a) (b), J. Bruckner, Germany, 86 mins, Australian Film Institute (Sydney) Other Francisco, The (a) (c), Icaic, Cuba 100 mins, Australian Film Institute (Syd­ ney) Paradise (a) (b),D .D orrie,G erm any, 106 mins, Australian Film Institute (Sydney) Right to the Heart (a) (b), J. Meerapfel, Germany, 91 mins, Australian Film Insti­ tute (Sydney) Sleep of Reason, The (a) (b), U. Stockl, Germany, 82 mins, Australian Film Insti­ tute (Sydney) Trouble with Love, The (a) (b), H. Sander, Germany, 114 mins, Australian Film Institute (Sydney) Vecinos (a) (c), Icaic, Cuba, 14 mins, Australian Film Institute (Sydney) AsYouDesireMe (a),M GM,U.S.,7l mins, Victorian Arts Centre Flesh and the Devil (a), MGM, U.S., 94 mins, Victorian Arts Centre Kiss, The (a), MGM, U.S., 62 mins, Victo­ rian Arts Centre Love (a), MGM, U.S., 81 mins, Victorian Arts Centre M ataHari (a), MGM, U.S., 92 mins, Victo­ rian Arts Centre Mysterious Lady, The (a),MGM,U.S., 100 mins, Victorian Arts Centre

PG (PARENTAL GUIDANCE) Alice R. G reenhut, G.S., 103 ins, Village Roadshow Corporation, Adult concepts, O (adult concepts) ' Das SchrecklicheMadchenM. Senftleben, Germany, 91 mins, Dendy Cinema, Adult concepts O (adult concepts) Edward Scissorhands D. Di Nova-T. Burton, U.S., 102 mins, Hoyts Fox Colum­ bia Tri Star Films, Occasional low-level violence and sexual allusions, V(i-l-g) O(sexual allusions) Field, The N. Pearson, Eire, 107 mins, Village Roadshow C orporation, Adult concepts, occasional violence and coarse language, L(i-m-j) V(i-m-j) 0 (a d u lt con­ cepts) Green Card (a) P. Weir, U.S.-AustraliaFrance, 106 mins, Village Roadshow Cor­ poration, Occasional coarse language (a) See also under Films Registered With­ out Deletions For M ature A u d ien ces-‘M’ and Films Board of Review Hamlet D. Lovell, UK, 134 mins, Village Roadshow Corporation, Occasional lowlevel violence and adult concepts, V(i-l-j) O (adult concepts) Icicle Thief, The (Ladri di Saponette) Producer not shown, Italy, 81 mins, New Vision Film Distributors, Adult concepts, O (adult concepts)

Special Conditions: (a) T hat this film will not be exhibited in any state in contraven­ tion of that State’s law relating to the exhibition of films, (b) T hat this film will be exported within the period of six (6) weeks after 16 November 1990. (c) That this film will be exported within the pe­ riod of six (6) weeks after 3 Nov. 1990.

M (MATURE AUDIENCES) American Dream B. Kopple-A. Cohn, U.S., 95 mins, Quality Films, Occasional coarse language, L(i-m-j) Bad News Bachelors F. di Chiera, Aus­ tralia, 25 mins, Australian Film Institute (M elbourne), Sexual allusions and occa­ sional coarse language, L(i-m-g) O(sexual allusions) Bonfire of the Vanities B. de Palma, U.S., 121 mins, Village Roadshow Corporation, Occasional coarse language, L(i-m-g) Comment Faire l’Amour Avec un Negre Sans se Fatiguer R. Sadler-A. Burke-H. Lange, France-Canada, 95 mins, Petunia Nominees, Occasional coarse language and sexual scenes, L(i-m-g) S(i-m-g) Cyprus Tigers, The (main title not shown in English) Producer not shown, H ong Kong-Cyprus, 89 mins, Yu Enterprises, Occasional violence, V(i-m-g) Dances with WolvesJ. Wilson-K Costner, U.S., 180 mins, Hoyts Fox Columbia Tri Star Films, Occasional violence, V(i-m-j) Flight of the Intruder M. Neufeld, U.S., 111 mins, U nited International Pictures, Occasional violence, V(i-m-g) Godfather Part III, The F. Coppola, U.S., 157 mins, U nited International Pictures, Occasional violence and coarse language, V(i-m-j) L(i-m-j) Graveyard Shift W. Dunn-R. Singleton, U.S., 83 mins, Ployts Fox Columbia Tri Star Films, H orror and frequent coarse language, L(f-m-g) O (horror) Green Card (a) P. Weir, Australia-FranceU.S., 106 mins, Village Roadshow Corpo­

FILMS BOARD OF REVIEW Angel At My Table - A Trilogy, An B Ikin, Australia-New Zealand, 157 mins, Ronin Films, Adult them e, occasional coarse language and mild sexual depictions Decision Reviewed: Classify ‘M’ by the Film Censorship Board Decision of the Board: Direct the Film Censorship Board to classify ‘PG’

JANUARY 1991 G (GENERAL EXH IB ITIO N ) Donald Friend - The Prodigal Australian D. Bennetts, Australia, 90 mins, Austral­ ian Film Institute (Melbourne) Glass Cape, The (main title not shown in English) M. H ara,Japan, 103 m ins,Japan Inform ation and Culture Centre Indo Express C. Fowler-R. Gorringe, Aus­ tralia, 70 mins, Ron Gorringe Rock Requiem (main title not shown in English) Janny Kitagawa-Hisao Masud, Japan, 96 mins, Japan Inform ation and Culture Centre Tsuru (main title not shown in English) Hirokai Fujii,Japan, 90 m ins,Japan Infor­ mation and Culture Centre

Film s e x a m in e d in term s o f th e C usto m s (C in em a to g ra p h Film s) R eg u latio n s as S tates’ film c e n so rsh ip re g u la tio n a re liste d below .

A n e x p la n a to ry key to rea so n s f o r classifying n o n “ G ” film s a p p e a rs h e re u n d e r.

E X P U C IT N E S S /IN T E N S IT Y

FR EQ U E N C Y

PU RPO SE

In fre q u e n t

F re q u e n t

M edium

H ig h

J u s tifie d

G ra tu ito u s

S (Sex)

i

f

1

m

h

j

g

V (V iolence)

i

f

1

m

h

j

g

L (L anguage)

i

f

1

m

h

j

g

j

g

O (O th e r)

i T itle

f P ro d u c e r

Low

1 C o u n try

m S u b m itte d len g th

h A p p lican t

R easo n fo r decisio n

ration, Occasional coarse language, L(im-g) InFading Light Amber Film, UK, 103 mins, State Film Centre of Victoria, Occasional coarse language, L(i-m-g) LookWho’sTalkingTooJ. Krane, U.S., 78 mins, Hoyts Fox Columbia Tri Star Films, Occasional coarse language, L(i-m-g) Nikita G aum ont Production-Cecchi Gori Group-Tiger Cinem atografica, FranceItaly, 113 mins, Palace E ntertainm ent Corporation, Impactful violence, occas­ ional coarse language, L(i-m-g) V(i-m-g) Predator 2 (edited version) L. Gordon-J. Silver-J. Davis, U.S., 103 mins, Hoyts Fox Columbia Tri Star Films, F requent vio­ lence and assaultive coarse language, V(fm-g) L(f-m-g) S(i-m-g) Queen’s Bench I I I (main title n ot shown in English) Boho Films, H ong Kong, 97 mins, Chinatown Cinem a, Occasional violence, V(i-m-g) Revolver K Yamada-T Kobayashi, Japan, 111 m ins,Japan Inform ation and Culture Centre, Impactful violence and sexual scenes, V(i-m-g) S(i-m-g) R ift, The J. Escriva-F. De Laurentiis-J Simon, U.S.-Spain, 80 mins, Hoyts Fox Columbia Tri Star Films, Occasional vio­ lence and horror, V(i-m-g) O (horror) Sheltering Sky, The J. Thomas, UK, 134 mins, Hoyts Fox Columbia Tri Star Films, Occasional sexual scenes, S(i-m-g) Soldier’s Tale, A L. Parr, France-New Zealand, 97 mins, R A Becker and Com­ pany, Adult concepts, 0 (a d u lt concepts) Surfers - The Movie B. Delaney, Australia, 85 mins, Hoole McCoy Films, Occasional coarse language, L(i-m-g) (a) See also under Films Registered With­ out Deletions For Parental Guidance Rec­ om m ended - ‘PG’ and Films Board of Review R (RESTRICTED EX H IB ITIO N ) Armageddon (said to be - title now shown in English) Film City Productions, H ong Kong, 86 mins, Chinatown Cinema, Very frequent violence, V(f-m-g) Gangland Odyssey (main title now shown in English) H. Kim Dicky Yuen, H ong Kong, 95 mins, Chinatown Cinema, Occa­ sional graphic violence, V(i-m-g) Hong Kong Gigolo (main title not shown in English) David Lam, H ong Kong, 94 mins, Yu Enterprises, Occasional sexual activity, graphic viol., S(i-m-g) V(i-m-g) King of Gamblers (main title not shown in English) Connie Leung, MakTak, Wong Ying, H ong Kong, 89 min, Yu Enterprises, Occasional graphic violence, V(f-m-g) Life is Cheap ... But Toilet Paper is Ex­ pensive W. Fredriksz, H ong Kong, 95 mins, Prem ium Films, Adult concepts, O (adult concepts) Men of Respect E. Horowitz, U.S., 109 mins, Hoyts Fox Columbia Tri Star Films, Occasional graphic violence, V(i-m-g) Predator 2 L. G ordonJ. Silver-J. Davis, U.S., 107 mins, Hoyts Fox Columbia Tri Star Films, Some graphic violence, drug abuse and assaultive coarse language, V(im-g) 0 (d ru g abuse) L(i-m-g) Silence of the Lambs E. Saxon-K. Utt-R. Bozman, U.S., 115 mins, Village Roadshow C orporation, Occasional graphic violence and assaultive coarse language, L(i-m-g) V(i-m-g) Story of Kennedy Town (main title now shown in English) Producer not shown, H ong Kong, 96 mins, Chinatown Cin­ ema, Very frequent violence, V(f-m-g) CINEMA

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• 79

Temptation Summary (main title not shown in English) Sam Po Film Company, H ong Kong, 92 mins, Chinatown Cin­ ema, Occasional sexual activity, exploita­ tive nudity, S(i-m-g) O (exploit, nudity) Triad Story (said to be - title n ot shown in English) Film City Production, H ong Kong, 94 mins, Chinatown Cinema, Occa­ sional graphic violence, V(i-m-g) FILMS BOARD OF REVIEW Green Card (a) P. Weir, Australia-FranceU.S., 106 mins, Village Roadshow Corpo­ ration, Occasional coarse language Decision Reviewed: Classify ‘M’ by the Film Censorship Board.

Decision o f the Board: Direct the Film Censorship Board to Classify‘P C ’, (b) See also u n d er Films Registered W ithout De­ letions For Mature Audiences - ‘M’ and For Parental Guidance - ‘PG’.

FEBRUARY

1991

G (GENERAL EX H IB ITIO N ) L’Atalante Producer not shown, France, 100 mins, Prem ium Films Second Animation Celebration - The Movie, TheT. T horen, Various, 102 mins, Acme Films.

Tomorrow (main title now shown in Eng­ lish) H Nabeshima, Japan, 101 mins, Ja­ pan Inform ation and Culture Centre PG (PARENTAL GUIDANCE Armour of God I I - Operation Condor (title n ot shown in English) Golden Way Films, H ong Kong, 104 mins, Chinatown Cinema, Freq. low-level violence, V(f-l-g) Beauty #2 (untitled - said to be) Andy Warhol Productions, U.S., 64 mins, Na­ tional Library of Australia, Occasional coarse language, sexual allusions, L(i-mg) O(sexual allusions) Berkeley in the Sixties M. Kitchell, U.S., 113 mins, Ronin Films, Adult concepts, O (adult concepts) Michael Madana Kama Rajan (main title not shown in English) P. Arunachalam,

India, 162 mins, S Dayalan, Occasional low-level coarse language, L(i-l-g) Rosencrantz and Guildenstem are Dead M. Brandman-E. Azenberg, UK, 114 mins, Hoyts Fox Columbia Tri Star Films, Adult concepts, O (adult concepts) Ultimate Vampire, The (main title not shown in English) Eagle Film Produc­ tions, H ong Kong, 86 mins, Yu Enter­ prises, Mild Florror, 0 (m ild horror) M (MATURE AUDIENCES) Against All (main title not shown in Eng­ lish) M agnum Films, H ong Kong, 93 mins, Yu Enterprises, Freq. violence and occa­ sional coarse language, V(f-m-g) L(i-m-g) All for the Winner (main title not shown in English) Seasonal Film Corporation, H ong Kong, 98 mins, Yu Enterprises, Occasional violence and coarse language, L(i-m-g) V(i-m-g) BB 30 Stephen Shin, H ong Kong, 87 mins, Chinatown Cinema, Occasional violence, V(i-m-g) Chinese Ghost Story II, A Golden Prin­ cess Films, H ong Kong, 99 mins, Yu Enter­ prises, H orror, O (horror) Days of Being Wild R. Tang, Hong Kong, 92 mins, Chinatown Cinema, Occasional violence, V(i-m-g) Death Warrant (edited version) M. Di Salle, U.S., 84 mins, United International Pictures, Frequent violence and occasional coarse language, V(f-m-g) L(i-m-g) Eat a Bowl of Tea T. Sternberg, U.S., 99 mins, Palace Entertainm entCorporation, Occasional violence, V(i-m-g) God of Gamblers II (main title now shown in English) Wins’Movie Production, Hong Kong, 103 mins, Yu Enterprises, Occa­ sional violence and coarse language, V(im-g) L(i-m-g) Holidays on the River Yarra F. Cochrane, Australia, 89 mins, Ronin Films, Occa­ sional violence, V(i-m-g) Hum (main title now shown in English) R Sharma, India, 182 mins, K W Krishna, Occasional violence, V(i-m-g) In the Shadow of a Gaol R. Rodger, Aus­

tralia, 55 mins, Platypus Pacific Films, Adult concepts and occasional coarse language, L(i-m-g) 0 (a d u lt concepts) JobmanC. Coy, South Africa, 94 mins, RA Becker and Company, Impactful violence and occasional coarse language, V(i-m-g) L(i-m-g) Misery A. Scheinman-R. Reiner, U.S., 104 mins, Village Roadshow C orporation, Occasional violence and coarse language, V(i-m-g) L( i-m-g) Oranges are not the Only Fruit P. Giles, UK, 166 mins, Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Ltd, Sexual scene, S(i-m-j) PattharkePhoolG. Sippy, India, 162 mins, K W Krishna, Occ. violence, V(i-m-g) Promise, A (main title not shown in Eng­ lish) K. Fujim oto-K . Y am aguchi-C .

Nahamichi, Japan, 119 m ins,Japan Infor­ m ation and Culture Centre, Adult con­ cepts, O (adult concepts) Rebel from China (main title not shown in English) T. Chow, H ong Kong, 87 mins, Chinatown Cinema, Occasional violence, V( i-m-g) Rookie, The H. Kazanjian-S Siebert-D Valdes, U.S., 120 mins, Village Roadshow Corporation, Frequent violence, coarse language and sexual scene, V(f-m-g) L(fm-g) S(i-m-g) O (druguse) Russia House, The F. S chepisi-P .

Maslansky, U.S., 123 mins, United Inter­ national Pictures, Occasional coarse lan­ guage, L(i-m-j) Scenes from a Mall P. Mazursky, U.S., 84 mins, Village Roadshow C orporation, Occasional coarse language, L(i-m-g) Time of the Gypsies M. Pasic, Yugoslavia, 135 mins, Palace E ntertainm ent Corpora­ tion, Occasional coarse language and sexual scene, L(i-m-j) S(i-m-j) Waiting R. Mathews, Australia, 91 mins, Ronin Films, Occasional coarse language, L( i-m-g) R (RESTRICTED EXH IB ITIO N ) Bury me High (main title now shown in English) Golden Harvest-Bo Ho Films, H ong Kong-U.S., 102 mins, Chinatown

Cinema, Very frequent violence, V(f-m-g) Death Warrant M. Di Salle, U.S., 86 mins, U nited International Pictures, Very fre­ quent violence, V (f-m-g) Killer, The (main title not shown in Eng­ lish) Tsui Hark, H ong Kong, 107 mins, Prem ium Films, F requent graphic vio­ lence, V(f-m-g) Pink Narcissus Sherpix, U.S., 67 mins, Potential Films, F requent sexual activity, S (f-m-g) Vinyl Producer n ot shown, U.S., 64 mins, National Library o f Australia, Drug abuse, adult concepts, 0 (d ru g abuse adult con­ cepts) Wild at Heart S. Golin-M. Montgomery-S Sighvatson, U.S., 124 mins, Hoyts Fox C olum bia Tri Star Films, Occasional graphic violence and sexual activity, V(im-j) S(i-m-j) SPECIAL CONDITIONS Special Conditions: The specified condi­ tions to which the registration of the film is subject are: (1) T hat this film /tape will not be exhibited in any State in contra­ vention of that State’s law relating to the exhibition of films. (2) T hat this film / tape shall be exhibited only in Adelaide at the 9th International Film Festival for Young Australians d u rin g the period com m encing on 3 August 1991 and expir­ ing on 19 August 1991 (both dates inclu­ sive).

Fairy-Tale From a Bag Slovenska Filmova Tvorba, Czechoslovakia, 10 mins, SA Council for C hildren’s Films and TV Mole and a Medicine, The Short Film Prague, Czechoslovakia, 30 mins, SA Council for C hildren’s Films and TV Purpole Toyota Crown, The Y BengZheng, China, 90 mins, SA Council for C hildren’s Films and TV Step by Step Short Film Prague, Czecho­ slovakia, 10 mins, SA Council for Chil­ d ren ’s Films and TV Summer of the Colt R Demers-L Stantic, Canada, 102 mins, SA Council for Chil­ d ren ’s Films and TV. ■

27 CROSSLEY STREET MELBOURNE 3 0 0 0 TELEPHONE (03) 6 3 9 0 4 1 4 THEATRE DISTRICT LITTLE PLATES FROM $ 4 .5 0 M O N D A Y - FRIDAY N O O N - MIDNIG HT SATURDAY 5 PM - 1 A M

80

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83

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and change rooms, fully equipped kitchen, showers and production office. 3-phase power with HM I EE points.

STAGE TWO: Sound-proofed with corner eye (15m x 24m x 5.4m to grid).

Kitchen, make up and change

A

G

F. S

rooms, showers and production office. 3-phase power with HM I F.E points.

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