Filmed in the Clare valley of Adelaide, the sound and photography (DOP: James Bartle) combine to create a sense of character out of the physicality of this landscape, with the ech oes of bird calls and horses’ hooves reverberat ing around the hills and a palette of colours reflecting a variety of moods - a spectrum ranging from a wide distant shot of horses galloping across a golden hill, the waves of heat visible before the lens, to a close-up of the blue hand of a corpse on frost-covered grass. The soundtrack is further enriched by the music of Not Drowning, Waving. Its variety of instrumentation gives greater compositional flexibility and eliminates the sense of repetition and familiarity which mars many film sound tracks. Only one theme is repeated throughout - a waltz which accompanies East and Grace’s outdoor dance with Alan - and each time it provides a perfect accompaniment to the visual image on the screen. Production designer Ross Major expertly recreates the country town of Turalla in the early 1900s. This richness of individual talent might oth erwise have resulted in a fragmented and over crowded cinematic product were it not for the obvious clarity of direction with which Ann Turner brings all these elements together. Her own background as a writer (her script for Turtle B e a c h v io n an Awgie award) is perhaps respon sible for her sensitive adaptation of Marshall’s writings and images. The scrappy nature of the fight at the annual Catholic Ball is evocative of the numerous drunken brawls described by Marshall. Similarly, Alan’s nightly ritual of lying awake in bed to hear East’s horse cantering home at midnight recalls Marshall’s detail here. But Turner also creates her own memorable images: a close-up of the handle of Alan’s crutch pushing the box which contains his note book under his bed; a shot of East’s foot caught in a stirrup which conveys in an instant the details of his tragic accident. She exploits Outhred’s look of wide-eyed curiosity to its fullest potential, his head alternating left to right as if watching a tennis match while Grace and East bargain with each other over the price of a horse. One of the most powerful exchanges between the three characters occurs at the ball: East wants to meet Grace outside and Alan becomes the go-between. Grace refuses East’s request and asks Alan to relay the message, stressing “You’re good with words.” Alan simply looks at East and shakes his head. The insecurities and hardships of childhood form a common thread linking H a m m e rs with Turner’s critically-acclaimed debut, Celia. Both films premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival. C e lia was awarded the Jury Prize at the Creteil International Women’s Film Festival in Paris and a commendation at the Edinburgh Film Festival. Both films feature a great atten 68 • C I N E M A
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tion to historic detail (C e lia was set in the 1950s) and an exploration of the family unit as part of Turner’s own search for an Australian essence on the screen. It is now three years since H a m m e rs was filmed, during which time Turner has completed a third feature, D a lla s Doll, about the phenomenon of psychodrama therapy and its effects. The strength of this adaptation of Marshall’s stories lies in its ability to give life to his charac ters on the screen. Crowe’s performance as East lends an added complexity and depth of feeling to the town hero of the book and is only overshadowed by his impressive skills as a horseman (he trained on his days off from R o m p e r S to m p e r) . Rampling does indeed have star quality; her presence on the screen com mands attention yet never threatens to over whelm the other actors. Outhred won the A.F.I Young Actor’s award for his performance as Alan. There are few scenes in which he does not appear and he rises to the challenge of carrying the bulk of the film’s narrative focus. His only weakness is a slightly stilted delivery of the voice-over narration. Ironically, it is this same rawness and inexperience which makes him all the more malleable forTurner’s direction and the gamble of working with an inexperi enced actor pays off when she teams him with other characters in intense exchanges - most notably his playing around with Joe, his rapport with the crazy old Mrs Bilson (Alethea McGrath as both an hilarious and tragic figure - person ally, my favourite performance) and with his father, especially in their bitter argument over riding horses: Alan sees his shop-keeper father as a failure because he no longer rides horses and spits out with a typically childish vindictive ness, “I hate you!” The film fully develops both its male and
DIRK TRENT (PAUL CHUBB) AND SANDRA (SUSAN LYONS). BILL YOUNG'S THE ROLY POLY MAN.
female characters. Although the events are seen through Alan’s eyes, the female side of the story (such as Nellie’s tragic fate and Grace’s courage and determination) does not go untold. H a m m e rs is more than just the story of a young pre-pubescent boy but rather the stories of the people of 1910; it is Alan’s key function as a silent observer which ties these narrative vi gnettes together. The film’s title recalls the craft of the blacksmith, with footage of molten metal and blows from the hammer accompanying the opening credits. It is at the film’s closing that the symbolism of this title becomes clear: it is the blows life deals out on the individual which mould and shape a person, just as the hammer blows shape a piece of metal. Further reading: See “Ann T urner’s Hammers Over the
Anvil” , a location report by Andrew L. Urban, Cinema Papers, No. 88, May 1992, pp. 12-4. HAMMERS OVER THE ANVIL Directed by Ann Turner.
Producer: Ben Gannon. Co-producer: Peter HarveyW hite. Executive producers: Gus Howard, Peter Gawler, Janet W orth. Associate producer: Barbara Gibbs. Scriptwriters: Peter Hepworth, Ann Turner. Based on the stories Hammers O ver the A nvil by Alan Marshall. Director of photography: James Bartle. Pro duction designer: Ross Major. Sound recordist: Phil Tipene. Editor: Ken Sallows. Musical director: Alan John. Composer: Not Drowning, W aving. Cast: Char lotte Rampling (Grace McAlister), Russell Crowe (East Driscoll), Alexander Outhred (Alan Marshall), Jake Frost (Joe Carmichael), Amanda Douge (Nellie Bol ster), Frankie J. Holden (Alan’s Dad), John Lee (Mr M cAlister), Daphne Grey (Mrs H erbert), Alethea McGrath (Mrs Bilson), PeterOsborn (Father Finnegan). South Australian Film Corporation & Harvest Produc tions. Australian distributor: Roadshow. 35mm. 101 mins. Australia. 1994.