Cinema Papers No.137 February 2001

Peek-a-boo||nside the creepy Cubbyhouse. On the road again. A long and potted history of Australian | road movies. Alex Proyas is ready to rumble. Growing post production. Richard Lowenstein.

\ Adrian M artin. Dino Scatena. Marieke Hardy. John Davies. Michael Bodey. Megan Sloley 9770311363019

The Directors’ Issue.February.March.0 1

$ 7 .6 5 in c G S T

NZ$8.00 inc GST

363019

Client: Rentlo Title: Largescreen Agency: M&C Saatchi Director: Dogboy Producer: Fiona McGregor Writer & Art Director: Oliver Devaris Agency Producer: Rod James

■j^.contents.

feb.mar.01

T h e D ire c to r’s C u t. Richard Lowenstein on the swings and roundabouts on the

Reviews

path to directing a film.

34.Film The Monkey’s Mask Yolngu Boy Quills The Goddess of 1967 The Sixth Day In The Mood For Love Memento

39.

Video

The Three Stooges The Big Brass Ring Beat Better Living Through Circuitry

40.

H it th e R o a d . Adrian Martin uncovers a vast history of road movies driving The

Goddess of 1967 through the Australian outback.

P ro filin g P ro y a s . Murder, madness, and evil. According to Angus Fontaine that’s just the beginning for Alex Proyas.

22

H id e an d S e e k . Michaela Boland takes a peek into the Cubbyhouse and unravels the many departments involved in making horror.

26

S o m e K in d a Guy. His rise to fame after LA Confidential has been a little slower

than Russell Crowe’s but John K. Davies senses Guy Pearce is on the verge of making a mighty impact.

Reading

Time Out Film Guide, 9th edition 2001 Variety International Guide, 2001

29

S o ft C e ll. Chopper’s UK release gave Evan Maloney reason to explore the

history of Oz bows in Blighty.

Shopgirl by Steve Martin Cassell’s Movie Quotations The Films of Mike Leigh by Ray Carney and Leonard Quart A Kiss Before Dying by Ira Levin Fame Games, The Production of Celebrity in Australia by Graeme Turner, Frances Bonner, P David Marshall Film Parody by Dan Harries

42.DVD Gladiator Fight Club Goldfinger The Patriot

Regulars.

0 5 .W e lc o m e to W o o p W o o p . 06.N ew sfro n t.ln d u stry news. 8 .F re s h Air. Your letters and emails. 25.T o M a rk e t, To M a rk e t. John Fleming on the marketing importance of DVDs. 3 2 .S n a p s h o t.M a rie k e Hardy on Position Vacant. 4 3 .S u p p le m e n t.V is u a l effects and animation: how local post houses are reaping rewards. 4 6 .P ro d u c tio n R e p o rt. 5 0 .T h e S u m of U s an d D a rb y

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Australia’s Centenary of Federation will be commemorated in Victoria with a series of celebrations including the Federation Festival from 9 to 27 May 2001. A short film competition and showcase will be held as part of the Festival and entries are now invited from interested persons or teams.

SYDNEY, Contact: Marilu Vitale '< Stage & Screen Fox Studios Australia 28 Driver Avenue, Moore Park 1363 Ph: (02) 9383 4544 Fax: (02) 9383 4577 Email:

Submitted films must in some respect deal with indigenous-white rela­ tions in Australia. Entries should be submitted on PAL VHS and have a duration of ten minutes or less (except in unusual circumstances).

Approximately ten films will be selected by an industry panel for a public screening in Melbourne during the Federation Festival. The winning person or team, to be announced following the screening, will receive professional development opportunities in the area of filmmaking or associated fields.

in fo @ s ta g e a n d s c re e n .c o m .a u

Entries should be submitted by 31 March 2001. For further information and application forms, contact Vallejo Gantner at the Melbourne Festival:

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Telephone (03) 9662 4242 Facsimile (03) 9663 4141 Email v.gantner@melbournefestival.com.au or visit our website at www.melbournefestival.com.au

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EVAN MALONEY IS A NEWLY-

Welcome to W ood W ood

EDITOR

-> Congratulations on winning Oscars Geoffrey Rush and Toni

MICHAELA BOLAND m bolandldniche.com .au

Collette. And Go Russ Go, you deserved one for The Insider in

DEPUTY EDITOR

2000, so you were a double cert this time ‘round.

GILLIAN BARTLETT gbartlettldniche.com .au

Perfect Storm gongs for John Seale and Richard Francis Bruce,

COPY EDITOR

ah, they were written in the clouds.

MICHELE FRANKENI m frankenildniche.com .au

Hands together for Gtadiator composer Lisa Gerrard's gong - off

DESIGN

the back of a Golden Globe too. Meet the Parents,

ROB DAVIES robdldniche.com .au

cinematographer Peter James, you came outta nowhere!

ADVERTISING MANAGER LARRY BOYD TEL: (03) 9525 5566 lboydldniche.com.au

Congratulations.

And Mel, Frances O'Connor, Cate, Heath, Adam Garcia, Rach,

MARKETING DIRECTOR

Sarah and Nicole your nominations were all deserved. And

ED GOUGH egoughfdniche.com.au

Wolverine. Finger nails crossed for X-Men parts 3, 4 and 5!

PRODUCTION

On and on she raves, what’s the point? Well, even Hugo Weaving,

TANYA PENGELLY tpengeityldniche.com .au STEPHANIE HALL stephaniefdniche.com .au

who never chased a Hollywood career, finds himself working in LA

SCANNING

owing to the Wachowski’s need to slap together a few pre-strike

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PREPRESS MANFRED SCHMID m anfredofdniche.com .au MARK PALMER m palm erfdniche.com .au

COVER PHOTOGRAPH

Matrix scenes.

Australian actors are working throughout Flollywood, filling the grand talent void. And treading the boards in New York and London too. Not to mention Portia and her pals on the telly.

Mel was possibly the richest B.O. earner, in the world, during 2000. What Women Want, Chicken Run

KARIN CATT

and The Patriot - a stats fan kindly pointed out - each earned over US$100 million in the US. Fie also

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD

starred in Wim's Mitlion Dollar Hotel fiasco but he dissed it before it released. Thus crucifying any

NATALIE MILLER, ROSS DIMSEY SCOTT MURRAY, SALLY-ANNE KERR LYNDEN BARBER, TED GREGORY TRACEY MAIR

The point is, Mel's huge, and he’s not coming home to work any time soon.

SUBSCRIPTIONS TEL: 1800 804 160 em ail: subscriptionsfdniche.com .au

chance it might have had anyway and showing he was in on that joke before the rest of us.

Ditto Blanchett, O’Connor, Kidman and Crowe. They now inhabit a stratosphere beyond the reach of local producers. Especially with the soft dollar, Australian films can’t afford them (don’t attempt to call Moulin Rouge an Oz film, it’s a Fox studio pic).

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So how are local directors faring if they’re trying to cast, say, an ensemble of strong thirty-something actors in your average budget feature?

Maybe they should call LA’s William Morris Agency direct and ask them to cut a deal? Maybe not.

That’s why Guy Pearce graces the cover of Cinema Papers 137. Lie’s hitting his strides in the US with Memento and planning to lead Blood and Guts for producer Al Clark in Oz mid year. Strike pending.

The actor’s union, the MEAA, apparently can’t make up its mind if local actors will or will not be asked to support the US actor’s guild strike. Instead the union is burying its head in the sand and hoping the strike won’t happen.

GROUP ART DIRECTOR

2001 is already proving a huge watershed for the local film industry as it benefits from the strike

GLENN AMOFFATT gm offattBnlche.com .au

threat. The next step is for some of the Aussie headliners to consider the warm welcome they’ll

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receive if they head home to Woop Woop.

Oh, and adios.

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Editor CINEMA PAPERS.FEBURARY.MARCH.2001 [5]

Sizzling Shorts

side by providing a "personal service" to corporate executives with masochistic urges. An unexpected

Hot Queensland summers are the common thread for three shorts produced and packaged as a 27minute television half-hour called Extreme Heat by producer Mark Chapman.

The three films are from Queensland

client achieves unexpected highs in erotic arousal when serviced by Mistress Roxanne, otherwise frantically pre-occupied with preparations for a family dinner.

The last of the trilogy, Crack, directed

by Evan Clarry, written by Annie

writer/directors: Evan Clarry (AFI

Morris, centres on a very pregnant

Winner for the short film script Mate],

woman's experience of heat, and

Anthony Mullins director of Stop

discomfort while isolated in a shack

(selected for competition at Cannes

somewhere in the tropics. As the

Eric Bana has been cast in Ridley

temperature rises, her delirium

Gladiator Scott's war drama Black

reaches a climax - fortunately with

Hawk Down. The former TV comedian

Due on set in Morocco early February

happy consequences.

signed with LA's William Morris

Bana had to pull out of commitments

in Cinema).

Agency in September and is taking on

with ABC TV’s Something in the Air,

Sue Ward reports, though it's early

the role of a soldier called Mace

his agent Lauren Bergman confirms

days still, Chapman is quietly

alongside Josh Hartnett and Tom

he, "had to start a little bit earlier on the movie".

2000] and Sandra Graham, writer/director of Christmas Tree (selected for Cannes 2000 Women

confident either the ABC or SBS w ill

Billy in Bermagui

Sizemore.

pick up the package.

Shot back-to-back over five weeks,

The relentless and wildly inaccurate

Chapman said there were a number

stories of Nicole Kidman and

Production Overdrive

out of shooting in Sydney during the first half of the year but is planning to

of benefits to keeping the projects

husband Tom Cruise snapping up a

together under one umbrella.

house in Frankston 'did our heads

The threat of strikes in Hollywood has

begins production at Queensland’s

"It means we had a big enough budget

in'. But in Bermagui - on the NSW

lead to a production rush in Oz and a

Gold Coast Warner Studios mid

to pay professional crews and more

Sapphire Coast - locals had reason

100 percent increase in enquiries from

February with explicit plans to

production dollars on the screen.

for excitement when Scottish

offshore productions.

complete by end June.

arrive in winter. Warner's Scooby Doo

Keeping within the tight 27-minute

comedian Billy Conolly actually

In Sydney, three major features are in

Unable to secure the Gold Coast

time frame also meant the

spent part of February in the fishing

pre-production and the Film and

studios, Disney's movie of the week

filmmakers had to be disciplined

town.Connolly teamed with Judy

Television Office's Kingston Anderson

Shipshape w ill shoot on location and

in determining what remained on

Davis on The Man Who Sued God for

expects the industry w ill hit its stride

at smaller studios nearby.

the screen and what was left on

director Mark Joffe and producer

late February.

Fox Icon Jet Li movie of the week The

the floor.”

Ben The Boy From Oz Gannon who

Fears of crew shortages touted late

Invincibles is scheduled to shoot in

The three films, shot on super 16

was returning to making movies after

2000 appear unwarranted except for

Sydney in coming months,

but finished on 35mm, means the

an eight year absence.

reported ‘poaching' by Queensland

Disappearance is shooting in Adelaide

filmmakers also have the added

The Man Who Sued God, about an

productions. Castle Rock and Jerry

and Warner Roadshow's Queen of the

exposure of the international

ex-lawyer now fisherman whose

Bruckheimer's Down and Under is

Damned recently wrapped in

festival circuit.

live-in fishing boat overturns after

scheduled to shoot from March in

Melbourne.

Sandra Graham's Mohammed's

being struck by lightning, is based

Sydney, South Australia and

Passion evokes the heat of erotic

on an original idea by Patrick

Ayer's Rock.

desire and unconsummated love

McCarville.

Phil Noyce is breaking from post

between a middle-aged Muslim

Script has been 10 years in

production on Rabbit Proof Fence -

restaurateur, Mohammed and Maria,

development with helmer Mark Joffe

about the stolen generation - to

the widowed Greek owner of the deli

[The Matchmaker} and scribe Don

shoot The Quiet American from

across the street.

Watson Passion).

mid-February in Vietnam, then

Anthony Mullins' Rubber Gloves

Other cast include Wendy Hughes,

Sydney, with Brendan Fraser and

focuses on a busy suburban

Bille Brown, John Howard and

Michael Caine.

housewife who earns a little on the

Colin Friels.

Warner Roadshow's The Matrix pulled

[6 ] CINEMA PAPERS.FEBRUARY.MARCH.2001

Congratulations i f© th e

w inner of th e

$ 4 0 ,0 0 0 A pple Studio com petition Q ueensland’s

C o lin T rethew ey.

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Eastman Kodak Company, 2000.

WHY FILM?

ITâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S A MATTER OF FEELING AND FACT

Make an informed choice when selecting medium* Visit www.kodak.com/qo/storv for th

■ A c c o la d e s f o r W a rd -> I absolutely loved the article that Michael Ward wrote about the AFI awards. was pissing myself all the way through - very silly comments about

newsfront

Morrissey - 1 love his pay outs of Catriona Roundtree and Steve Bastoni - he is a very funny writer.

Well done for getting him to write the article. It was great.

Edwina Jamieson

■ Tw o s id e s to e v e ry s to ry Alan Duff’s piece ‘L.A. Down Under’ (CP 136) demands a response. To begin with, the name of the home country which he has ‘temporarily forgotten’, is New Zealand.

Alan seems to have become increasingly forgetful. This is the same person who, on the eve of the 1999 General Election, declared he would emigrate to Australia if the Labor and/or Alliance parties came to power. This happened but Alan is still with us, hammering and badgering us with his weekly newspaper column, filled with contempt for those who don’t agree with his version of the world, mixed with extended self-congratulations.

Alan Jones might be a useful analogy for Australian readers.

You get a sense of the latter trait in his Cinema Papers contribution but it also does not tell the full story. He did not write the screenplay for Once Were Warriors (the most successful of the two films based on his novels); his screenplay was passed over in favour of a script by Riwia Brown.

He also over-simplifies the role and purpose of overseas productions filming in New Zealand. Like Australia, providing New Zealand locations and technical expertise for American filmmakers is an accommodation and a compromise; we provide the mountains and lighting crews (most recently for Vertical Limit), and they provide the local cash flows and opportunities for employment and training. This year (2000), for example, foreign exchange of $NZ455 million was generated by the New Zealand screen industry, and more than 14,000 jobs were undertaken (compared with 7730 in 1999). Even though a

top: Breaker Morant above: Alvin Purple

good slice of this foreign exchange came from biggie productions like Lord of

new prints of classic Australian movies.

March and April. Selected titles w ill

the Rings, there was also a flow-on effect for local production, creating a buoyant local screen industry.

Bruce Beresford's Breaker Morant

Screensound has produced a dozen also be shown at the Byron Bay All

It is good you are providing coverage of New Zealand in your excellent journal

and Don's Party, Henri Safran’s Storm

Screen Celebration, 15-24 February.

but I would hate to think that your readers might go away with a sense that Alan Duff represents what Kiwis think and say.

Boy, Tim Burstall’s Alvin Purple, Phil

Fifty new cinema prints will be

Noyce's Newsfront and Backroads,

released over the next five years in an

Geoff LeaLand

Fred Schepisi's The Devil's Playground,

initiative announced last year. Others

Screen & Media Studies

Paul Cox's Lonely Hearts, Albie Thoms'

due for release later in 2001 include

University of Waikato

Palm Beach, Gillian Armstrong's The

Brian Trenchard-Smith's The Man from

Hamilton, NZ

Singer and the Dancer, Ned Lander's

Hong Kong, Mary Callaghan’s

Wrong Side of the Road and Tom

Greetings from Wollongong and

Jeffrey's The Odd Angry Shot are

Michael Powell's They're a Weird Mob.

■ F u r t h e r to " L .A . D o w n U n d e r ” a r t ic le in CP 13 6

screening at the Astor Theatre,

Enquiries: 02 9380 1200 or

Melbourne on Mondays throughout

sydneySscreensound.gov.au

-> Subsequent to the piece I wrote I’m feeling rather stupid about it. This is a form of apology to the film industry in general: -> The trouble with being a frustrated writer (in films) is often your mouth

Ich Bin Ein Aussie

and be eligible for government funding

engages before your head, especially when you’re trying the big bust-in on the

in each country.

film world. I wrote my silly piece after three years of frustration at being

Australia has similar deals with the

unable to raise finance for film scripts I’d written. After a failed attempt at

The Australian and German

UK, France, Italy, Canada and Israel.

raising money through a public capital raising. And immediately after reading

governments have signed a treaty

President of the Screen Producer's

Hollywood writer William Goldman’s work titled "What Lie Did I Tell’’, in which

designed to increase film and TV co­

Association, Nick Murray, says the

Goldman took a few shots at the industry, I mindlessly parroted it, except not

productions.

treaty simply formalises previous ad-

Product made under the agreement

hoc arrangements and makes Oz a

in his eloquent fashion, but rather in an out and out aggressive tone which I now deeply regret.

w ill be considered 'national' by both

more attractive partner for German

My article was childish and it took a line of, "if you’re in my way, then you’re a

governments, satisfy the content

producers during a period of shrinking

target’’ and away I went. I’ve since been enlightened on just how the film

requirements of commercial TV webs

European expenditure.

world does work and, though some of my statements on Hollywood are

[8 ] CINEMA PAPERS.FEBRUARY.MARCH.2001

to head into a new century with cultural cringe still the dominant factor in cast and crew choices for Queensland film and television productions?

Would the PFTC also have us believe that there is no director in Queensland capable of successfully helming a film production? That Queenslanders are only good for menial jobs on the large, usually US-backed productions which dominate our "Hollywood on the Gold Coast”? That no Queensland actors are of a calibre to star in local film productions? (This is patently untrue: ask any of the number of independent filmmakers who - tiring of the PFTC’s rigorous refusal to effectively nurture a local industry - have gone out ‘off their own bat’ and been inundated with the deluge of local acting talent crying out for work on a local product.) correct, it does not in any way mitigate my mouthing off. I’m sorry for lumping

Surely it is not being too parochial to expect that Queenslanders would have

‘bearded’ film directors into my appalling generalisation; sorry for saying how

the chance to work on Queensland films in all key positions. (Sydney and

I’d thump any Hollywood studio boss who yelled at me. And most of all, sorry

Melbourne need no help: they both have local film industries.) Perhaps it is

for failing to see that the profession is a difficult enough business as it is

time that we question the validity of the PFTC, an organisation which has been

without big-mouthed novelists saying what I did.

for too long stifling our (still) infant film industry in its crib, while itself

I wrote it, have to live with it. Nothing personal against anyone was intended. It

generously suckling off the baby’s bottle.

was just a mirror reflection of how I was feeling at the time.

Alan Duff

With the centenary of cinema come and gone, it might also be a good time to

Author

an Olympic swimmer, it would still be on the side of the pool, shivering,

question why our local film industry remains so fledgling? If the PFTC were dipping in only one toe, cautiously testing the water.

Patrick N Hine

N o r t h e r n E x p o s u re

Producer/Director, Brizbin Boy Canberra Girl

Having watched (and enjoyed) Ten’s Sunday (July 9th) night telemovie, The Love of Lionel's Life, as a Queensland filmmaker I was left with just one nagging question - must Queensland’s stories always be brought to the screen by southern cast and crew? Queensland’s film funding body, the

■ You re a d it h e re fir s t

Pacific Film and Television Commission (PFTC), were major investors in this

-> I refer to your article "In a cinema not so far away", October/November issue.

production, shot in Brisbane and Clifton, with a Melbourne director (John Ruane) and main cast from south of the border (Matt Day, Nadine Garner,

-> A financially viable alternative to a $250,000 digital projector may be the use

Alex Dimitriades).

of multiple compact LCD projectors, combined with a high gain screen.

The many accountants disguised as film doyens at the PFTC would

Using a 1024x 768 pixel, 1000 ANSI lumens portable LCD projector ($9,000), I

undoubtedly argue that Day, Dimitriades and Garner are all known,

have achieved picture brightness better than cinema’s, on a high gain 16.5 feet

marketable actors. This is true. They are all individually known, marketable

wide screen. This screen has a gain of 7x matte white and is spherically dished

actors. Surely any one of them would satisfy the bean counters. This would

to prevent hot spots, providing very even illumination across the viewing area.

leave two leading roles for Queensland actors in a Queensland story. Are we

Two such projectors, side by side, could cover a similar type of screen 33 feet

D i g i t a l F ilm R e c o r d i n g 2 K & 4 K t o 3 5 m m I n t e r m e d i a plus Eastman Colour Neg & High Contrast Title Design and Production, 12 bit Scanning, Digital Opticals & Kines > 5 Chuter S t M c M a h o n ’s Pt (North S ydney) N S W 2 0 6 0 Tel: 61 2 -9 9 2 2 3 1 4 4

Fax: 61 2 9 9 5 7 5001

E m ail: o g team @ o g .co m .au

Miramax came along this year claiming it would be aggressively buying product but by the end of the festival’s ‘Part A’ they had picked up nothing.

Considering their track history, the Weinsteins are wary. In 1998 they purchased The Castle for a reported $US6 million and ended up making $US2 million in US domestic box office.

The following year they purchased Happy Texas for $10 million, which also only returned $US2 million domestic US. Which is not to say you can’t snap up a film at a good price and make money.

Fine Line’s purchase of Shine for$US2 million returned over $35.9 million.

And, of the course, the success story of success stories is the cult success of The Blair Witch Project from 1999. Purchased for $1.1 million, it returned more than $140 million.

Buyers have become sawier. Only one of the top four purchases at Sundance wide, 12.4 feet high. The input signal would be split between the projectors to

2000 failed to turn a profit.

produce a seamless screen image of 2048 x 768 pixels.

At the same time, many of the big films screening at Sundance come with indie

Larger screens and higher resolution could be obtained by adding more

distributors already attached. Michael [Angel Baby\ Rymer’s, new film Perfume

projectors. For example, a bank of six projectors, three wide by two high, could

comes with Lions Gate.

fill a screen 50 by 25 feet, with 3072 x 1536 pixels, with a projector cost of

The Dish, already well received at the Toronto film Festival, comes with

$54,000. Based on the above projector’s rated resolution of 550 horizontal TV

Warner Bros attached. Chopperv/as picked up by First Look distribution. In fact

lines, this screen would resolve 1650 TV lines, very close to 35mm film.

Laurie Buckingham

the only Australian film this year that doesn’t come with distribution deals

LB Products

Andrew Lancaster's In Search of Mike received positive reviews in local

already attached are the shorts. And they’re being very well received. industry press. And Rachel Ward’s short The Big House has good buzz on the street. Hopefully they will face a long life on the festival circuit.

■ O ne o u t o f th e box -> Thank you for all the mail you have sent me over the past months. I first discovered Cinema Papers eight years ago and since then have eagerly awaited each new issue. The use of more colour photos was particularly nice, but going monthly was a disappointment. The page count seemed to be made up by increasing advertisements and subscription rates suddenly doubled. I think it was wise to go back to bi-monthly issues. It would be good to see more technical articles. Looking back at some of the older issues, there were a lot of good in-depth articles. Maybe it has been covered before, but there are always new readers who would be interested even in some of the older technology.

I suppose increasing circulation by appealing more to the general public and

left: Michael Rymer (director of Angel Baby) and Mariel Hemingway, middle: Tearlach Hutcheson (L) and Andrew Dominik right: Eric Bana. Sundance photos by Tearlach Hutcheson

enthusiast moviemakers is important at the moment, but I hope it is not at the cost of your traditional readership. Is it really possible to appeal to everybody?

-> The festival has developed four levels

Maybe you can have articles for both enthusiast ‘do-it-yourselves’ and professionals.

1. THE DESPERATE FILMMAKER.

Finally, I must mention the Sony advertisements appearing lately. Since when

Emitting a scent of desperation, they are having their unrealistic dreams

is it possible to do cinematography with a video camera? We all know what

shattered. The first question many have failed to ask themselves is whether or

'cine' means. It just shows how desperate some companies are to get the film

not their film is actually as good as they want it to be? Secondly, where do they

industry to convert to video. Even working on an Arriflex matt box and

expect it to get distribution? How many theatrical distributors are seriously looking for 20-minute short films?

referring to ‘motion pictures’ - a term generally associated with film. After all, film is more than just the best, it is about the tradition, the history, the pioneers and the prestige. That’s something that video will have to wait a long time, if

2. FILMMAKER WITH GOOD PRODUCT BUT NO DISTRIBUTOR.

ever, for.

These are the films in the festival’s competition segments. The distributors are taking a keen interest in them.

It is a pity that such underhanded advertisements are published in such a wellregarded journal. In the meantime, I wish you all the best for this century and look forward to each issue.

Andrew Neugebauer

3.SERI0US CONVENTION-STYLE MEETINGS BETWEEN DISTRIBUTORS, MEDIA, THE KEY ARTHOUSE EXHIBITORS AND PR FIRMS.

East Gosford

They hook up for private dinners, display their product and the talent involved in an attempt to sell their latest acquisitions. These are the real players at Sundance.

■ S u n n y D a ze -> Sundance was designed as a creative outlet for filmmakers - for the

4.THE CELEBRITY LEVEL.

development and exhibition of their work.

Many people who come to Sundance expect a celebrity parade. And audiences

Problem: the festival had Hollywood sex symbol Robert Redford as its

haven’t been disappointed. Mick Jagger turned up for Enigma along with Kate

figurehead and he generated more buzz than perhaps organisers were initially

Winslet. Gus Van Sant wandered through town. But they’re guarded by high-

prepared for.

powered PR firms who locked them away except for key appearances. Many are only in town a few days.

Ironically Redford is busy filming his latest project and therefore couldn’t attend this year.

So perhaps Sundance’s refusal that to admit that it is a buyers’ market is turning

I wonder if he’d notice how much his Sundance has changed? The infamous days of bidding wars are over and track history shows many distributors ended

full circle. And perhaps we can begin to focus on the creative side of the process.

Tearlach Hutcheson

up being burnt. Now they’re wary.

Landmark Theatres, US

[10] CINEMA PAPERS.FEBRUARY.MARCH.2001

EVICTIONS

m

A few years ago, after a protracted period a complete frustration at having to take yet anothi break from my sporadic bouts <^ scrlpt-writihg ï

mm

order to pay the bills, (by dplng a TV commercij I was rung up by a well-known Melbourne

television production house and asked if I was interested in dii ecting a feature film.

The film was ready to shoot, almost completely funded and one of a package of three the company

-.-ftS®’'

laM ffiiBlIllg!

It goes way beyond the “Cinema of the Ugly”, our national cinema has

become the “Cinema of the Idiot”. Count the Australian films of the past twenty years (Paul Cox films aside) that haven’t had some sort of simpleton or group of simpletons as the lead characters, and you’ll see what I mean. what crew to use and dropped Like hot-cakes if they

superior to, you'd be fine. Do that and everyone is

feature development, preferring to wait until the

fail to deliver 'Tarantino'-like success on their first

happy. Don't put anyone too intelligent in your movie,

director/writer has either slaved their guts out on

outing. Where a success has to be followed as

the Americans and Europeans do it so much better. It

his/her "labour of love” or pulled some quickie out of

quickly as possible by another and another, never

goes way beyond the “Cinema of the Ugly", our

the bottom drawer. Then they decide whether it's a

mind if the first one took years upon years of blood,

national cinema has become the "Cinema of the

yes or no when the script comes through the door. If

sweat and tears to develop and bring into being.

Idiot” .

it's a yes the FFC kicks in and it's champagne for all.

The director had to stop being known an “artist" (it

Count the Australian films of the past twenty years

gives them too much power]. They had to become

(Paul Cox films aside) that haven't had some sort of

If no, they very rarely contact you, they just hope you go away...

In Europe (not to mention America), it is not

people you “ hired in" because they unfortunately

simpleton or group of simpletons as the lead

knew where to put the camera and they knew all

characters, and you'll see what I mean.

uncommon for the production companies to provide a

those mysteriously magical “right words" to say to

On top of all that, the development situation in this

writer or writer/director with a seriously healthy

those strange bundles of neuroses called 'actors'

country has become a complete joke. Compared to

amount of money in order to feed and clothe

(who most annoyingly had a very strong union and

the amount of time, energy and money spent

themselves and their loved ones, so that they might

could cost a lot of money) in order to help them bring

developing, funding and nurturing directors and

be able to go off, research and write a script without

out the award-winning performances they all carry

projects in other, sometimes much smaller countries

having the incessant worry of how one is going to survive beyond the next few weeks. And they have this

inside them.

and industries than ours (Denmark is a fine

Apart from that, these “auteur” types were an

example), the situation here has become one of “let's

strange concept of believing in developing a body of

annoying nuisance who seemed bent of going over

throw a lot of shit and see what sticks" policy to film

work with a writer, producer or director, perhaps over

budget and wanting things to be "great” instead of

development and production coming from the

a decade or so, through success and failure.

just “good enough". They were the enemy.

companies with the "green-lighting” power in this

On my last project, He Died With A Felafel In His

As long as you had fast editing, constant use of close-

country, invariably combined with some kind of

Hand, the script went out to over 20 production and

ups (handy for the video release), lots of back light,

backstage “political" agenda taking precedence over

financing companies all over the world. The only

in-your-face production design, lots of laughs and

script and creative team qualifications...

companies that did not get back to me, or respond in

lead characters were a bunch of suburban or country

Australian production and sales companies (what

any way at all, positive or negative, were the

idiots (or maybe even a lone idiot) we could all feel

there are of them) put a pittance (if anything) into

Australian ones. Even my international rejection

[12] CINEMA PAPERS.FEBRUARY.MARCH.2001

On my last project, He D ied With A Felafel In His Hand, the script went out to over twenty production and financing companies all over the world. The only companies that did not get back to me, or respond in any way at all, positive or negative, were the Australian ones. the script development funding bodies, or if you are

letters would have a sense of a serious and adult

him/her to do, stand in the background if there was

approach to filmmaking about them, rather than the

any glory to be had and be pushed forward to take

lucky enough get an approval, finding out the money

awkward embarrassed silences of the dysfunctional

the blame if it all turned to shit.

allocated turns out to be less than the unemployment

monoliths of our own retarded film industry.

This time I did back out of there quietly. On my way

benefits you were on, when spread out over the time

out, I mentioned a local director I knew of, who I

you need to write the script. Just deliver us the end

should've warned me. I should've backed out quietly,

thought was good and suggested they hire him. And

product as quickly as possible. The beast is hungry.

mouthing platitudes about hearing my mother calling

next thing I know, they had.

Otherwise there'll always be a first-tim er waiting

and not being late for dinner, but I paid no heed. I

I don't think he's ever forgiven me...

behind the counter of the nearest video store with a

persevered. I asked for a rewrite. The

A few months ago, while watching an excerpt of an

pile of scripts they've been slaving over (on their own

producer/scriptwriter gave me a one week re-write

after-party of our national film awards ceremony on

coin, of course), just desperate to become the next

in between episodes of the miniseries and a script

television, a well-known television movie review

overnight success. And if they don't end up becoming

edit on one of the other features that she had to do.

show host was asked by the interviewer what she

the next hot young thing. Well, we can always drop 'em and go onto the next one, can't we..? •

"If you get a good cameraman, it becomes cinema"

Nothing had changed. The script was getting worse. I

could recommend to the young up-coming (and very

decided to do a rewrite myself, totally prepared to be

talented) director of the year who had won the major

unpaid and uncredited. I handed it back to them a few

award of the night. She answered, "Make another

weeks later. They read it, called me into a meeting,

film as quickly as possible."

miniseries mentioned, ended up being made into a

sat me down and said, "Why can't you be like our TV

Never mind the quality, never mind the eight years of

sequence of quite mediocre productions. The

directors and just give us notes?”

stop-start development the director has had to go

production company went back to quality television and did very well indeed... He Died With A Felafel In

ADDENDUM All three feature films and the

This time it was serious. I smiled at them and told

through to get to this stage. Never mind the constant

them if they wanted someone like one of their TV

breaks needed to earn money from commercials or

His Hand was eventually financed through a sizeable

directors, why don’t they just get one of their TV

music-videos in order to sustain yourself. That's if

investment of Italian money, in conjunction with Village Roadshow and the FFC, who as essential and

directors and do it with them or maybe the producer

you're lucky enough to get a commercial or video

should direct it herself, since she was so happy with

(most film directors have trouble crossing between

fair-handed as they are, unfortunately are not able to

mediocrity. Apparently they wanted a rent-boy (or

these two worlds). Never mind the months waiting

finance script and project development in this

girl) that would take on their folly, do what they told

for your form letter of rejection from one or other of

country.../?/.

CINEMA PAPERS.FEBRUARY.MARCH.2001 [13]

The Adventures o f Priscilla, Queen o f the Desert (1995),

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Adrian Martin uncovers a vast history of road movies driving The C-c In The Goddess o f 1967 Clara Law speaks of wanting- . . N to capture “a state of mystery paradox ambiguity.” * B |

The road m ovie is m any th in g s, across high and low culture, arthouse

and popular cinema alike. It’s Wim Wenders’ spiritually lost characters, from Alice in the Cities (1974) to Until the End of the World (1991), travelling gravely in search of home, origin and meaning.

The high-speed chases, low humour and blown-off hubcaps in Smokey and the Bandit (1977) and its ilk. High spirited, outlaw lovers on the run in Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and The Sugarland Express (1973). The terse, hardboiled mystery of American males escaping from demons they cannot articulate (Two-Lane Blacktop, 1971). The romantic comedy of dysfunctional couples (It Happened One Night, 1934) and families (Flirting with Disaster, 1996) on road trips. The post-apocalyptic, highway clashes of feral gangs and reluctant heroes in the Mad Max movies and their many Z-grade imitations.

Like some other unusual genres, we know what a

because of low-budget possibilities, and because of

road movie is when we see one, without being able

our predilection for stories of travel and discovery -

to really define the term with much precision. A

is especially fond of the road movie form. In recent

recent useful survey by Mia Treacey in Metro

years, films including Kiss or Kill (1997), Heaven's

magazine begins with the basics: a road movie

Burning (1996) and True Love and Chaos (1997)

"would appear to be the combination of road,

have mixed action elements with personal journey

vehicle and human occupants” . Suitably for a genre

plots. George Miller's Mad Max series is currently

that seems to have begun life, long ago, with the

cranking up for a fourth installment. Both Wenders

popular embrace of train travel, 'road movie' has

and Herzog [Where the Green Ants Dream, 1984]

become a loose and flexible designation. These

easily transported their obsessions with nomadic

days, in daily journalistic parlance, it covers films

mobility and spiritual questing into the Australian

where travel is at a crawling pace on horse or by

continent - particularly the 'dead heart’ of the

foot (Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man, 1995); where

central desert spaces, eternally fascinating to

gallivanting is aided by the occasional plane ride to

cultured European city dwellers looking for a trace

another country (Wong Kar-Wai's Happy Together, 1997); or where the drama or comedy of

of the 'prim itive’.

American road movies, with their vast stretches of

interpersonal connection gets a technological

landscape, are often given a grandiloquent gloss: in

booster via satellite and new digital technology.

the shadow of classic Westerns, country’n'western

Gone are the days when Harry Dean Stanton could

music, and Jack Kerouac’s seminal On the Road,

simply wander out of a desert in Paris, Texas (1984)

these films are taken to be about a glamorous bid

and slowly integrate himself into society via the

for freedom out on the 'final frontier' - which

classic road movie pitstops of petrol stations and

essentially refers to the drama of men getting

motels; Wenders' next project, an as-yet-untitled

together (hence the 'buddy road movie’ variation)

Or it's the rampaging of feminist vigilantes through

collaboration with Sam Shepard, w ill be “a road

and escaping the sphere of women, families,

a patriarchal wilderness in Thelma and Louise

movie right across the United States - a family saga

suburbia and personal responsibility. The editors of

[1991] and Baise-Moi (2000). The drollness of Aki

and, at the same time, a story which takes place in

the 1997 American anthology The Road Movie Book

Kaurismaki's blank, feckless, alcoholic anti-heroes

the age of the internet and global communication".

tell us that the genre is all about “fantasies of

briefly interrupting their dull, daily routines to bum

As today's screenwriting gurus never tire of telling

escape and opposition” ; while Timothy Corrigan in

around [Take Care of Your Scarf, Tatjana, 1994).

us, it’s the emotional journey that really matters in

his invaluable A Cinema Without Walls relates the

Steely thrillers (like Cohen and Tate [1989] and

a movie - the 'hero's journey' towards insight,

form to real-world crises of the "recent historical fracturing of the male subject” and "the

The Hit [1984-]) about criminals, cops and

fearlessness, triumph or compassion. Road movies

hostages sharing close quarters and matching wits

are compelling because they reinforce this

“ breakdown of the family unit” .

Australian movies also reflect these kinds of

on the way to a preordained rendezvous - a story

metaphorical and internal journey with a literal,

twisted for laughs in Midnight Run [1988], And

external one. The Coen brothers made this

melodramatic tensions that mix a love of freedom

Werner Herzog's dark tales of obsessed wanderers

connection comically explicit by pitching their 0

with an intuition of large-scale social

lost in towns and jungles, whether fictional

Brother, Where A rt Thou? (2000) as a retelling of

disintegration. We, too, have our 'wide open

(Stroszek, 1977) or non-fictional [Little Dieter Needs

Homer's The Odyssey.

spaces’, and the dreams to fill them. But, on the

to Fly, 1996)...

Australian cinema - because of our landscape,

whole, the 'moves' in Australian road movies tend

oddess of 1967 through the Australian outback.

Car and motor bike culture has been such an obsessive topic in our national cinema - from Weir’s The Cars that Ate Paris (1974) and Stone (1974) through Midnite Spares (1983) and DeadEnd Drive-In (1986) to Metal Skin (1995) - is often urban, fugitive, ready to auto-destructively implode at any moment

CINEMA PAPERS.FEBRUARY.MARCH.2001 [15 ]

to occur in smaller, more precisely defined circles.

the sports ground (7??e FJ Holden, 1977); the

‘hero's journey' formula, with its reliance on

The car and motor bike culture which has been

tenacious efforts of a black rock band to be allowed

mainstream, action-packed, goal-oriented

such an obsessive topic in our national cinema -

to play their music [Wrong Side of the Road, 1981);

narratives. These are the arty road movies in which

from Weir's The Cars that Ate Paris (1974) and

and the dissolute, ‘dusk to dawn’ wandering of a

people, as much a mystery to themselves as to us,

Stone (1974) through Midnite Spares (1983) and

disaffected teenager [Head On, 1998). And a static,

go on meandering trails and end up nowhere they

Dead-End Drive-In (1986) to Metal Skin (1995) - is

overturned car is just as interesting as a moving

ever expected. Circular trips, labyrinths,

often urban, fugitive, ready to auto-destructively

one to the makers of Road to Nhill (1997).

dreamscapes, sudden vanishing points, trails

implode at any moment.

As is also characteristic of some non-Hollywood

without seeming end: the easy riders of the road

Sometimes this mundane, mobile world receives a

cinemas, there may be as many significant

movie have, for around 40 years, beaten such real

lighter treatment - as in the underrated gem BMX

Australian shorts, essay-documentaries,

and metaphorical paths.

Bandits (1983), featuring a very young Nicole

independent and experimental films that engage

Rod Bishop, now head of the Australian Film,

Kidman, which weaves a typically daggy teenage

with the road movie as there are features. All the

Television and Radio School, asserted in a Stuffing

reverie from humble bicycles and CB radios.

standard generic elements are condensed,

magazine of the mid 80s that “the best of the road

Australia can even boast an important, world

exaggerated, torn asunder or put under the

movies collapse inwards, their resolutions lost in

cinema precedent to the entire road genre in John

microscope in notable works including David

destruction or nihilism or existential hiatus". The

Heyer's The Back of Beyond (not to be confused, on

Caesar's Carcrash [1996], Margaret Dodd's This

current era of the 'internationalist' road movie -

any account, with the dreadful Paul Mercurio

Woman is Not a Car (1979), John Cumming's

with characters often fleeing their past in one

vehicle Back of Beyond, 1995) - a modestly

Obsession (1985), Ross Gibson's Camera Natura

country for the sake of anonymity in another -

presented but uncommonly haunting tale from 1954

(1986), Mairi Cameron's Driving Ms Crazy [ 1994)

extends and expands the road movie's terrain for

of land, survival, communication and spontaneous

and Catherine Birmingham's Drive (1992) -

such 'destruction'. The films of Alain Tanner [In the

cultural mixing.

plumbing levels of fantasy and/or despair more

White City, 1983), Theo Angelopoulos [Landscape in

As is often the case, the Australian 'customising' of

akin to David Cronenberg's eerily perverse Crash

the Mist, 1988) and many others have created, in

a popular genre too often perceived (especially by

(1997) or Gregg Araki's violently queer The Doom

American critic Ronnie Scheib’s sensitive account,

Americans) as 'peculiarly American' is best

Generation (1995) than the hippie trip of Easy Rider

a 'cinema of exile', brimming with scattered

compared with similar manoeuvres in the cinemas

(1969).

sensations that are reminiscent of Lou Reed and

of (for example) Britain (Gallivant, 1996), Iceland

In particular, if we examine local road movies

John Cale's ode to nomadic travel, "Forever

[Cold Fever, 1994), Cuba (Guantanamera, 1994) or

including Esben Storm’s In Search of Anna (1979),

Changed": "My whole life

Iran (Abbas Kiarostami’s And Life Goes On..., 1992).

Bill Bennett’s debut Backlash (1986), Ian Pringle's

disappearing/Disappearing from view".

What we invariably find is that, once the road movie

Wrong World (1985) or Laurie Maclnnes' Broken

Clara Law's new film The Goddess of 1967 could

shakes off its outsize 'mythic' trappings, it hones in

Highway (1994), we turn up a model of the road

have been made to fit the fanciful title of Corrigan’s

on microcosmic, everyday diagrams of social

journey that is not quite so neat or optimistic as the

discussion of the genre as it stands today: "The

power, involving every imaginable variable of class, gender, work, age and sexual orientation.

So Australian cinema has given us, indelibly, a vacationing family seething inside a car (Jane Campion's famous short Peel, 1982); daily struggles over means of transportation that provide access to blessed release at havens like the pub or

m

In recen|years, films including Kiss or Kill (1997) have action elements with personal journey plots.

Once the road movie shakes off its outsize ‘mythic’ trappings, it hones in on microcosmic, everyday diagrams of social power, involving every imaginable variable of class, gender, work, age and sexual orientation.

Road Movie in Outer Space". Law speaks of wanting to capture "a state of mystery, paradox, ambiguity".

Wrong Side of the Road

Many of Law's film s - as the title of her previous one, Floating Life (1996), makes clear - are about the curious, suspended state of being that comes from inhabiting a uniformly fragmented, multicultural, ‘post-everything’ world. Everything is in pieces and nothing adds up: people hop from country to country in a flash, connect with perfect strangers in cyberspace, and dimly grasp the consequences as once intimate friends, lovers and family members pass out of sight, out of mind.

Everyone is a foreigner to everyone else in this world; there is no shared 'language' of any sort.

Even the occasional ecstatic moments - of dancing, laughter or sex - carry a solipsistic, solitary, melancholic charge in Law's vision.

Old fashioned 'truth' is hard to come by in the landscape of The Goddess of 1967, because people and commodities have merged into the same flatline of impersonality: businessman JM (Rikiya Kurokawa) arrives in outback Australia to pick up his purchased DS (a 1967 Citroen) and encounters the blind BG (Rose Byrne). Like for the Porschedriving male duo in Philippe Garrel’s Night Wind (1999), the displaced, train travelling narrator in Claire Denis' Beau Travail (1999), or the hero of In Search of Anna, the forward journey in space for BG and JM becomes a backward journey in time, Australian cinema has given us, among other things, daily struggles over means of transportation that provide access to blessed release at havens like the pub or the sports ground (The FJ Holden, 1977) and the tenacious efforts of a black rock band to be allowed to play their music (Wrong Side of the Road, 1981).

back over the memory-traces of troubled origins, formative experiences and sacred sites. As in many a road movie, the drive to settle the 'unfinished business’ of family life - in particular, the wounded, psychic legacy left by unloving, abusive or repressive parents - looms large over this particular voyage.

The Goddess of 1967 occasionally raises expectations of conventional th rille r intrigue or ~chase-film action, but deliberately misplaces these threads. These genres are hollowed out to mere husks and left to dry in the scorching sun. Typical of the 'cinema of exile' tradition, the vacuum left by the absence of a 'driving' plot or crystal-clear psychological motivation is filled to the brim with moods, atmospheres, sensations - and on this level, the film is superbly crafted and spectacularly

The current era of the ‘internationalist’ road movie - with characters often fleeing their past in one country for the sake of anonymity in another - extends and expands the road movie’s terrain for such ‘destruction’.

successful.

Australia has never been so noir as here - not even in Kiss or Kill, which has a more direct link to the

fou (1965). When human beings are so completely

melodrama saga spanning (with merry disregard

classic film noir and contemporary neo noir

disconnected from the world, a sense of paranoiac

for linear chronology) many years and participants.

traditions. Pubs, caravans and hotel rooms look

menace invariably takes over, and in this light

How different this all is to a jollier lineage of local

like dank caves. Cinematographer Dion Beebe

Law’s view of the Australian ‘wilderness' recalls

road movies, topped by Stephan Elliott's The

(Vacant Possession, 1995) pulls out all f-stops in

the sombre classic Wake in Fright (1971). As

Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1995),

remarkable, painterly frames that place patches of

French critic Serge Grunberg said of the Australian

in which characters of different races, classes and

lurid, deliberately mismatched colour between

short Road to Alice (1992), "one can find all the

sexual preferences reconcile with each other and

slabs of pitch black. Editor Kate Williams [The

ingredients of the ‘Australian neurosis': a

‘the land', via the splendid mobility offered by a tour

Myth of Fingerprints, 1997) masters the multiple

fascination with violence that never takes place;

bus. The Goddess of 1967 ultimately tries for a

dislocations between times and places, always

vast, empty spaces; and the ultimate 'moral' of the

kindly, peaceable gesture in this direction -

finding unusual rhythms to surprise and disorient

story - that all roads lead nowhere".

although the effort is rather uneasy and uncertain.

us. Roger Savage’s sound design is an aesthetic

In many contemporary road movies, roads neither

For Law and her filmmaking partner Eddie L.C.

event in itself, with walls of noise and layers of

lead anywhere nor join up, and this is the key to a

Fong, the postmodern world poses a particular

music (by Jen Anderson) evoking the

larger malaise. Since the 60s, modern cinema has

ethical and moral dilemma: the further out from the

‘monumentality’ of film s by Kubrick or Kieslowski.

agonised over the possibility or impossibility of

'centre' that everybody flies, and the less connected to history and family that anyone feels, the more

Even at the most fundamental level of mise en

reconciliation (the emblematic title of that decade

scene - the placing of bodies into a physical

is Straub-Huillet's Not Reconciled, 1965) - whether

likely we are to drift into previously ’forbidden’ and

environment - The Goddess of 1967weaves

that’s reconciliation between individuals,

destructive territory - as is the case with BG’s

discontent and disconnection. Here, the Australian

generations, countries, or fundamental viewpoints

rather haunted outback clan.

landscape, as seen through the windows of the DS,

upon the world itself. Clara Law regenerates this

How can there possibly be a ’hero’s journey’ in such

is a washy, abstract, stop-start rear projection,

malaise by proliferating the disparate lines of her

a world? JM and BG could sing Tina Turner's lines

recalling the way Jean-Luc Godard splashed

movie: each main character has their own

from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985): we

coloured lights onto a windscreen to express a

'backstories', and in the case of BG, this flashback

don’t need another hero, we just need to find the

sim ilarly alienated sensation of travel in Pierrot le

branches and grows into an enigmatic family

way home. •

CINEMA PAPERS.FEBRUARY.MARCH.2001 [17 ]

The Australian Film Commission saw Alex Proyas’ first feature, the apocalyptic western Spirits of the Air, Gremlins of the Clouds, and told him to give up. Fifty million moviegoers saw his next one, The Crow, but only after Proyas witnessed an eerie death, multiple lawsuits and blowtorch exposure to the Hollywood underbelly. W hen a few m illion saw his third - th e big-budget brooder Dark City - a n d only a few thousand understood it, it w as little w onder w hen th e m an behind th e vision w as s p e n d in g his days and nights “just trying not ta h a v e nightm ares”.

f

i1

1

;

It’s a c ru d e s u m m atio n o f a c a re e r to

date. But it has landed Alex Proyas into the company of some of the world’s best directors. OK, in this case it was just another advertising agency with another concept - this time renowned French firm JC Decaux. The pitch: “Your city and Our billboard for seven seconds at dawn” The players: Wim Wenders, Spike Lee, Jim Jarmusch, Francis Ford Coppola, David Lynch. And 35-year-old Sydney­ sider Alex Proyas.

With Kubrick out of town and Russell Mulcahy M.I.A., Proyas took his crew down to the shopping metropolis Martin Place in central Sydney and got his shot: businessmen in suits acting like apes and bowing before the monolithic 'product' in the dim glow of a Sydney sunrise - a typically sly and obtuse image from a largely misunderstood man.

Alex Proyas laughs a lot for a man supposedly running from the Shadow. And it's not just his

People might have the impression that I’m in there with the Hollywood system but unless you’re a Spielberg you’re always on the outside; living off the dole, waiting and praying and going around to studios to beg for crumbs so you can get your film made. Alex Proyas

looming presence that is Hitchcockian. Like the great man, Proyas has made a career of dealing in what he calls the "playful elements - murder, madness, and evil” . But rather than setting them in Everyday, he plays them out in his own vast and splintered dreamscape: the place where multi-storey jet liners crash on him and over-sized ferrets with black exo­ skeletons act as his watchdogs.

Since Dark City smouldered in cinemas three years ago, Proyas has been busy in the bustling Paddington bunker he calls Mystery Clock. Late last year he launched mysteryclock.com - a web site of his short films, mind games and archives. Then, just before Christmas the FFC announced it had agreed to help fund his feature Garage Days for Fox Searchlight.

Proyas w ill co-write, co-produce with Topher Dow, and direct the story of a kid’s dream of becoming a rock star and landing on stage at The Big Day out.

He claims to have other films in development for different studios and also a TV series, Riverworld, based on the books by Philip Jose Farmer and dealing in another of his predilections: the after-life.

All are self-realised and funded and all are being conducted a long way from Los Angeles.

“You are never on the inside,” says Proyas. "People might have the impression that I’m in there with the Hollywood system but unless you're a Spielberg you're always on the outside; living off the dole, waiting and praying and going around to studios to beg for crumbs so you can get your film made. I wish it was different but for me it’s not, and it never w ill be. That's why I’m here doing what I'm doing.

The films I make don’t fit the mould - they're 'o ff in terms of Hollywood. But they're the films I want

“ [Garage Days] is a jump, but I want to make

sort of innate darkness on my part. I like the

to make."

something that's going to challenge me and not the

dressings of darkness. But for me my films aren’t

Foremost in Proyas’ mind at the moment is his long

same film over and over.

dark because I'm trying to see the light in each of

awaited fourth feature - a rock’n’roll comedy called

"It’s a risk in that I haven't done a comedy before

the characters. If I was going to go somewhere really

Garage Days which starts shooting in Sydney in the

and certainly, there are people in the States who

dark it would be much more extreme and I don’t

new year. It’s a punk fable - four friends in a band

think I’ve gone insane. They have me pigeonholed in

think many people would follow me."

that can’t get a gig and who do a lot of growing up on

a certain category and they’re saying 'what the hell

Proyas was a punk rocker himself "a long, long time

the way to babylon. It'll be shot in pubs, flats, tattoo

is this?’ For me, that’s encouraging. That’s why I’m

ago" in the 80s, and he’s done his share of bad Iggy

parlours, and gyros dispensaries, and the dialogue

doing it.”

Pop covers with the odd original thrown in - "for

and music promise to be earthy and obscene. But

Proyas calls the film "a coming of age story" but

shock value".

can the dark man do funny?

winces doing so. And already there are signs of his

Garage Days isn’t his story per se ("thank god none

Proyas accepts that the switch from sci-fi to comedy

trademark undertow. One of the characters is a

of our material exists") but his experiences have

is a risk. "It’s always slightly scary to announce your

manic-depressive (no prizes for guessing what

rubbed off to the tune of a $10-12 million dollar

new film is going to be a comedy because if people

instrument he plays) and the rest of the band are in

budget, a soundtrack to kill for, and what’s already

don’t laugh you're in real trouble,” he smiles. "And

very great danger of choking on each others bile. By

shaping up as one of the most coveted casting calls

it’s true that most of the projects I'm working on are

Proyas’ own admission this comedy "goes into

of the year. Mostly he likes working with young fresh

large-scale, heavily art-directed fantasies. But for

people’s headspaces a lot” .

minds (and I don’t mean the ones he keeps in jars on

this one I’m looking forward to getting back to a film -

"It’s about how people perceive different worlds," he

his desk) - script doctors, technicians and artists

concedes. “ I don’t know whether that’s out of any

who can stoke his coals and help him decide

school level of production and keeping it simple.

CINEMA PAPERS.FEBRUARY.MARCH.2001 [1 9 ]

between the 20-30 scripts he gets sent a week. Alex Proyas is a future-eater after all. “ One of the reasons I'm excited by the internet revolution is that for the first time filmmaking w ill be on the same level as releasing a record. That means I’m going to be able to have a few friends over for a barbecue and some drinks and later turn on a wallsize screen and tap in martinscorcese.com and get his latest film. And as a film-guy, a film-lover that is all I care about.

“As much as I love that communal experience of cinemas, the blockbuster mentality that has been around ever since Star Wars and Jaws - where people won't see a film unless it’s been number one at the box office - has been totally destroying the craft of filmmaking. “ Finally we're at a stage now where films will have a shelf-life and directors can take a breath rather than wait for opening weekend to see if they’ve made it or they’re dead in the water."

After Brandon Lee was shot and killed in the final days of shooting The Crow, Proyas changed a good deal. Long days deconstructing a dead friend’s image for celluloid profit w ill do that to a man making his first foray into the big leagues. Proyas doesn’t talk of the experience easily, never has. The film is his stillborn - what one critic called "a most morbid film... with shards of black wisecracking splintering through the portentiousness.”

When he does hesitantly start talking about The Crow, the rubber band he’s been fiddling with, snaps. “ I finished the film for Brandon, in Brandon’s honour and that’s where I want to leave it," he says stiffly. "Any more discussion about what happened or what I believe or what anyone believes doesn’t help Brandon in anyway. It doesn’t bring him back or do anything for his memory. I did very little press at the time and I don’t now. As far as I’m concerned, I was involved in The Crow, but it’s his movie.”

Proyas did, however, ensure Brandon Lee’s legacy.

He fought the unions for the unprecedented right to run just two title cards before the film: Lee’s name and that of the film. His own credit and those of the crew followed only at the end. And he also made sure the video release carried only one trailer - an interview with Lee in the days before the accident. To call his Hollywood debut a baptism of fire, he says, "would be understating it in the extreme". “ I didn't question the way I make films but I did doubt the way films are produced in the United States," says Proyas. “ It was a freak occurrence. But at the same time I feel there are very relaxed approaches to the way guns are handled on US film sets. Here in Australia, weapons are treated with a respect and fear which mirrors the society. In the States guns are too readily available and frequently abused. And as an Australian I felt very weird and very uncomfortable in that situation. But it wasn’t my

The power of the buck and the desire of studios and big corporations to generate enormous profits and shit­ loads of money will remain but there will always be that desire for good story-telling and that is what we as film­ makers and audiences want.

role to tell them how to do their job. I was an outsider and I had to conform to an extent."

percent different. My brain explodes just keeping up

which it is not or not yet.” Proyas craves the shock of

However, in the wake of The Crowand the siege of

with the technological possibilities. But in the end

'dysrecognition' from his audiences. And Garage

Gothbuster script offers that followed, it was no

what good films do and w ill always do is tell people a

Days is no different to the alternate worlds of The

coincidence that the one project Proyas was strongly

story, and if you can tell that story well, the

Crow, Dark City and Spirits... in that the true

rumoured to be making was a film of Edgar Allan

technological trappings w ill be almost irrelevant.

protagonist is an idea and not a person.

Poe’s Masque of the Red Death, the callow tale of

The power of the buck and the desire of studios and

"I’ve always believed that dreaming is problem

some fat cats who watch a plague rage from within

big corporations to generate enormous profits and

solving, reconfiguring details and trying to come up

their sumptuous sealed castle. And just as the

shitloads of money w ill remain, but there will always

with solutions," he says. "That’s what I like about

reaper descended then, it’s tempting to think that so

be that desire for good story-telling and that is what

science fiction - it’s a cinematic dream trying to

too w ill Proyas as he wages his own war from his

we as film makers and audiences want.”

solve the problems of our world."

(and Mr Murdoch’s] antipodean Fox-holes.

Proyas’s own storytelling, he says, sides with Blade

And his nightmares? Well they're one problem

“ I don’t know what's going to happen in the future.

Runner author Philip K Dick’s - "our world

Proyas thinks he has solved.

One thing I know for sure is that in 10 years time,

dislocated by some kind of mental effort on the part

filmmaking - in fact everything - is going to be 100

of the author... our world transformed into that

Actually,” he laughs, “I think that was the Thai food I ate last night." •

[20] CINEMA PAPERS.FEBRUARY.MARCH.2001

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ano ther

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p u b lic a t io r ^ l

m m m m

^1 SET VISIT

By Michaela Boland

Early summer and Queensland’s Gold Coast seems dreamy. It’s awash with golden light filtering through a brown haze of acrid smelling smoke generated by persistent scrub fires nearby.

Beyond th e h ig h -rises, highw ays and vast stre tc h e s of sand, resid en ts are encou n terin g real hardship.

But in side a studio on K ortum D rive in B urleigh H ead s reality is a m illion m iles -aw ay as sp ecial effe c ts su p e rv is o r Kevin C hisnell w ra n g le s m ach in e g e n e ra te d

Amy Reti and Joshua Tainish-Biagi await their fate inside the cubbyhouse.

Joshua Leonard and Lauren Hewett.

.s m o k e into p lace fo r a s c en e in A u s tra lia ’s _ latest h orro r m ovie, Cubbyhouse.

-> Cast includes Joshua Leonard (The B lair Witch Project) and Lauren Hewett [S trictly Ballroom) as the

In Oz we're not exactly famous for producing horror.

teenagers. Belinda McClory (The Matrix) is the mum Lynne Graham. Newcomers Amy Reti and Joshua

Sure, Cut (2000) and Body Melt (1993) occupy their

Tainish-Biagi are the little children. Craig McLachlan (Neighbours) gets a guernsey too.

own special place in our cinematic history but those films never reached a sizeable audience. And

-> Queensland’s peak film body, the Pacific Film and

around young Natalie in the back garden and Kevin

reaching sizeable audiences is precisely what the

Television Commission, has embarked on a policy of

Chisnell suggested the effect be created using a

producers of Cubbyhouse are all about.

actively encouraging Australian productions into a

series of Volkswagen engines, et cetera, and some.

CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING PLOT;

region long dominated by US teleseries, movies-of-

Brown knew the effect would be potent but all those

the-week and mega budget Scooby Doos and Croc

Volkswagens would prove too expensive.

"Eventually he came up with a rig that was so clever.

Recovering from a traumatic divorce Lynne Graham

Dundees.

relocates her young family from the US to Brisbane

Cubbyhouse is budgeted at $5 million but a third of

It involved a Hills Hoist attached to an electric motor

but selects a new family home containing a backyard

the total will be spent on FX for an increasingly

and part of a shower curtain at the bottom. Attached

cubbyhouse that is a gateway to horror.

sophisticated audience suckled on American horror

to hand-painted leaves. It looks like about $500-

Six-year-old Natalie and eight-year-old Ivan become

fare made for over 10 times that sum.

thuosand worth of special effects,” the producer

captivated by the initially derelict cubbyhouse.

Co-producer Chris Brown says the natural American

marvels at Chisnell’s cost saving and (rather patriotic)

Unaware a powerful demon resides within they are

plot link will assist a US sale, the universal horror

innovation.

powerless to resist becoming possessed.

aspect can work everywhere and local audiences will

Brown is a classic commercial producer, he describes himself as low-brow and genre driven.

Meanwhile, older teenage brother Danny and

be sold on the story.

neighbour Bronwyn independently resolve to discover

“ If you’ve got $40 million and you need a special effect

Originally from the UK and formerly based in New

the cubbyhouse's dark allure.

you just write a cheque. If you've got $5 million then

Zealand, he’s now settled in Queensland where he

The demon's power grows, the cubbyhouse becomes

you have to really think about how you're going to do

says the industry has less of the 'inaccessible film

alive and the four youngsters get swept further into

it," he says.

school’ influence that dominates Sydney and

its grasp.

A scene in Cubbyhouse required a mini tornado

Melbourne.

[22] CINEMA PAPERS.FEBRUARY.MARCH.2001

"Which is not to say everything's Like that but here it is so fresh. I wanted to come back because nobody seemed to be accessing that talent," he says.

Which is not to say Cubbyhouse was written on the back of a shopping docket in a CD shop in Surfer's Paradise mall.

According to director, and erstwhile comedian Murray

“If you’ve got $40 million and you need a special effect you just write a cheque. If you’ve got $5 million then you have to really think about how you’re going to do it.” Producer Chris Brown

Fahey, he and co-producer David Hannay [Stone] have been developing the script for eight years.

Fahey, who directed and starred in Dags, expects his comedic background will imbue the horror with "a

towards the vine covered cubbyhouse. They step in

total fire ban day in Queensland - "luckily we were just

slightly twisted sense of humour, so it’s got a little bit

front of a thatch of potted plants and dried shrubbery,

over the border in NSW”, Fahey muses.

of peculiarity to it."

Fully aware of the enormity of what they’re trying to

teddy bear in hand, smoky mist seeping from the

Despite the extensive trickery being employed on

garden and red lighting emitting just enough

Cubbyhouse both during the shoot and later in post­

pull off, Fahey takes a very low-key approach to

eeriness.

production, Fahey insists the film will succeed or fail by

directing.

Dressed in an oversized Hawaiian shirt, which

Fahey governs gently and consults widely.

the performances.

"We’ve got children, animals, CGI, special effects,

"The whole premise rests on the characters and the

appears to be a kind-of Cubbyhouse uniform, he sits

mostly night shoots, the one thing we don’t have is

family unit in crisis," he says.

quietly behind the video split, monitoring what’s being

water but half of Queensland is burning as we’re

To get the actors into the mind-set he sent them

captured on camera.

shooting," he wryly acknowledges the variables of his

shopping together and encouraged the formation of a

dominion.

little family unit. He’s since noticed the bonding come

-> Pyjama clad youngsters Josh Tainish-Biagi and

The previous week on location at an avocado farm in

through as the on-screen family bickers, settles into a

Amy Reti are walking gingerly through the night

nearby Duranbah they had to torch the cubbyhouse. A

new place and experiences the growing terror.

CINEMA PAPERS.FEBRUARY.MARCH.2001 [23 ]

"In Dags I had to have a very clear idea because it was an ensemble piece and I was performing in it but you can't be a fascist with kids even though you want to be.”

Much of Cubbyhouse is set at night and the gruelling night shoots could easily take their toll on the youngsters, actually aged 11 and 10, carrying much of the film.

That said, the effects unit devised a pair of mock-up kids to overcome needing the little ones late at night.

-> The vines covering the cubbyhouse are the film's biggest effects component.

Plus, the actual cubby changes in appearance from the film's beginning to the end. It starts out looking ramshackle but as the demon’s powers grow it looks increasingly attractive to the kids.

Second stage it is cleared of vines, then it is cleaned up and finally it’s

Pro FX’s Kym Sainsbury (i) and Brad Greenwood (r) use a wire actuated foam latex vine to extract payment from producer Chris Brown.

Complete Post’s FX executive producer Chris Schwarze, FX producer Andrea Parkes and on set visual adviser Ian Johnson (r) stand in front of a bluescreen under construction.

chainsawed. The vines act as the cubbyhouse's arms - they attack people, come out and wrap around them.

ProFX's Brad Greenwood and Kym Sainsbury designed three types of latex mechanical and animatronic vines - wire, rope and air-actuated - sculpted and coloured to match real ones also being used.

"Some of the mechanical vines grab things and other ones are attached to monofilament (fishing line) so they snake along the ground when pulled along.

The monofilament lets it swing a little bit and lift off the ground so you get a snaking effect," Greenwood explains. “ If they keep a straight line they tend to look like they're being pulled along by a string. “We're working on a low budget horror movie, we don't have hundreds of thousands of dollars to go to town on all sorts of wild computer controlled stuff so we have to come up with simple ways of trying to accomplish different effects."

"Among other constraints low budgets usually force diminished set up periods, so we come like a guerilla effects unit. Jump in there, set up our thing and away we go. We have to get the effect and we have to be able to make it repeatable."

“We're using some reverse photography as well," he says.

“We had a scene the other day where we rolled up a soft rubber vine, put it in Craig McLachlan's mouth and pulled it. When we reverse the film it will look like the vine's going in and right down his throat causing some very serious damage.”

Greenwood and Sainsbury returned from New Zealand and the set of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy not so long ago. So they're used to working well-resourced.

They had to ease themselves into the Cubbyhouse headspace.

"It's not $360 million, or whatever it is, but this is still a big effects show, given that it's very low budget. It's a case of coming in and saying, 'OK we've got X amount of dollars to deal with and we want to achieve these shots to give the impression of these vines being alive and attacking people. So, how can we, in a

Special effects supervisor Kevin Chisnall (top right) oversees testing of the rig which will be used to effect an actor flying through the air...and subsequent drop onto, and spearing by a fence spike.

way that's reasonably cost effective, and reasonably simple, achieve that?”

Greenwood explains.

The large special effects component reduces the need for extensive expensive computer graphic imaging (CGI), so the more they get right on film, the less work is required in post production.

Greenwood admits: "'If it had a bigger budget maybe a lot of these effects would be done with CGI." Sounds like his profession is under threat? _"No, the process of coming up with what it looks like and how to do it, which is ’ what Kym and I are doing, never changes," he says. “ Even if the practical work eroded away because of the CGI aspect, we would still be in business because we come up with the solutions. We're the visual effects designers and CGI has actually created more work for us."

He says it’s raised the bar and moviegoer's expectations.

->The team from Complete Post who've been engaged for the CGI component are lingering alongside the bluescreen onto which they w ill later create effects.

They predict Cubbyhouse has possibly one of the largest visual effects budgets of an Australian film ever. They got extensive pre-production time which enabled them to isolate all the elements of the film and then during production they need to keep 'a sharp eye' on everything.

Effects executive producer Chris Schwarze says the overall low budget matters little when audiences are deciding which movie they'll see tonight. They "expect to see a certain standard,” he says.

Of course you don’t have the extensive budget to do research so you have to work closely with the director and the DOP to make sure you get what you need and that it works. So when you go into digital effects you don't spend a few days, years sometimes, fixing it up. You've really got to get it nailed to start off with.” • Beyond International will unleash Cubbyhouse upon the world at Cannes Film Festival 2001.

[24 ] CINEMA PAPERS.FEBRUARY.MARCH.2001

“We had a scene the other day where we rolled up a soft rubber vine, put it in Craig McLachlan’s mouth and pulled it.

When we reverse the film it will look like the vine’s going in and right down his throat causing some very serious dam­ age.” ProFX Brad Greenwood

to market to market, jo1 -> If VHS reigned supreme in the 70s

soundtracks, high quality surround

to be a production in itself and one

aspect ratio versions and web site

and 80s, then DVD looks set to

sound audio, to multi-aspect ratios,

that is in tune with the creative vision

access will also have a budgetary

dominate home entertainment in the

multi-camera angles and full web

of the original production. An

impact.

new millennium. It has certainly

connectivity. Knowing their audience

additional, dedicated producer is often

The task of choosing a DVD authoring

been gaining enormous momentum

has a basic understanding of these

required to develop and produce the

service should-beTeft to companies

since its introduction in early 1997.

functions means producers can

complementary DVD content and

with a thorough understanding of

By the end of 1999, DVD had swept

exploit features to their advantage.

special sequences, plus the EPKs and

interactivity, image quality and the

into 8.5 million households

Title and content will be the primary

website, alongside the production of

requirements of film and TV

worldwide, more than doubling the

purchasing factor for consumers and

the actual film.

producers. -Their authoring systems

previous year’s figures. Independent

film producers need to tap into a

DVD preparation should commence as

should be compliant with DVD

forecasters confirm DVD movie sales

value-added mindset when producing

early as possible in the filmmaking

specifications anda strong

and rental revenue in 1999 totalled

for DVD. They need to consider what

process. This allows producers to

relationship with a DVD replicator is

in excess of $2 billion.

aspects will add value to the main

seek advice on post-production, visual

definitely an advantage. Most

Although accurate figures are not yet

feature. The more common extras

effects and design. As the project

importantly,^ DVD supplier must be

available for Australia, the selection

include 'behind the scenes’ stories as

progresses, they can discuss which

able to provide a service guarantee

of DVDs available from stores and

well as sound fx, music-only audio

material should ideally form part of

that details all of the elements

video libraries is undoubtedly

tracks, directors' commentaries and

the DVD and how the special

incorporated in the cost of the project.

expanding. DVD discs are more

deleted scenes. More adventurous

elements can be incorporated in a

DVD appears to open up marketing

resilient than VHS tapes, revisiting

features include short films, music

dynamic and seamless way.. Leaving it

opportunities, offering filmmakers a

one of the fundamental reasons why

video clips, topic-related

until the project is in post-production

chance to extend the shelf life-of their

CDs took over from vinyl in the 80s.

documentaries and the sometimes-

will seriously limit the range of

products beyond the realms of

With hardware costs falling (currently

controversial subject of advertising.

material available and the potential

traditional theatrical, video and TV

at $400 for a basic DVD player), added

Some feature film directors, already

impact of the end product.

distribution. •

to the fact Australians embraced video technology faster than any other

A w Gli-producGd D V D can dGlivGr up

country in the world, DVD may be

interactivity. Its simplest form is the

to 20 hours of GntGftainmGnt com oared w ith a tw o -h o u r hom o vid eo , or cinema

web site and soon we shall see

p y n p lr Ivi i p nIv r pvi CA|Jw

here to stay.

At the core of DVD is the concept of

interactive TV. Initially this will be limited to free-to-air broadcasters, but PayTV operators will soon be

wise to the benefits of using

Producers also need to bear funding

offering consumers the technology to

technology to give their product a

in mind. As local projects are usually

interact with program content.

broader reach, are creating web sites

required to establish funding levels

So how can film producers ride the

to generate interest/anticipation

before.they commence, producers

wave of consumer interest in DVD to

during a film's production. Not only

need to work with distributors to

deliver premium titles?

does DVD provide web connectivity, it

factor in their DVD release before

Entertainment-sawy consumers now

can also link back to an established

budgets are finalised.--'

want more than just the experience

web site, consistently reinforcing a

Pricing can vary dramatically

of watching a movie. A well-produced

title or brand. In the event of a sequel,

depending on which DVD authoring

DVD can deliver up to 20 hours of

momentum can be leveraged from

service is used and the level of

entertainment, compared with a

the previously established audience.

sophistication required. The amount

two-hour home video, or cinema

The web site can be used to maintain

of material and number of features

experience.

brand loyalty and becomes an

included, as well as the sophistication

To explore the expanded content on

invaluable tool to gauge audience

of the menu design and

offer, consumers must get to know

interest during the various phases of

the features that DVD delivers, from

production and distribution.

interactive menus, multi-language

For a DVD to be successful, it needs

v

JOHN FLEMING ORIGINALLY TRAINED AS AN EDITOR AND IS CURRENTLY GENERAL MANAGER OF AAV DIGITAL PICTURES MELBOURNE, SITS ON THE VICTORIAN SCREEN SERVICES COMMITTEE AS WELL AS THE ADVISORY BOARD OF THE MFO.

¡implementation, will affect the cost.

The level of options available, such as multiple language tracks, subtitles,

ClNEMA PAPERS.FEBRUARY.MARCH-2001 I2SJ-

Guy Pearce doesn’t mess around. Not on the set when he’s making a film nor doing the publicity afterward. He’s had some good film experiences, some downright horrendous ones and he doesn’t mince Words when it comes to discussing them. “ In Australia w hen you get a script up

-there are little things you can tweak but essentially you’re all going to make that film. In America there are so many fucking cooks it shits me and it probably shits every other Australian who goes there.”

You would think someone in his position would be more career calculating. But Guy Pearce comes across as the complete antithesis of the “If I say too much I’ll never be employed again” submissive. Fortunately Pearce loved making Memento, his latest offering where he gives a finely detailed and bravura performance as Leonard Shelby, a man intent on avenging the rape and murder of his wife. A character driven by revenge is nothing new, but Shelby suffers from short-term memory loss.

Memento’s treatment is given an added twist with an involving screenplay tracking the story in reverse. To piece together any sort of sense-making linear narrative the audience is forced to remember details of previous scenes.

And there you are in the same headspace as Shelby, [26 ] CINEMA PAPERS.FEBRUARY.MARCH.2001

By John Davies

using your own short-term memory to keep up with

It seems this appealed to Nolan who assured Pearce

So Nolan was getting an AD, a continuity 'lady and a

the film. It's a testing and involving cinematic

it was OK to take his time.

lead actor all in one? Any trepidation about actually

experience. Did the screenplay alone attract Pearce

■"He said, 'You know people w ill come to these

’carrying’ the film suddenly seems to pale.

to the project?

meetings and make out and pretend they know what

One of the starting points for an actor working on a

"Absolutely. This was one of those experiences that

is going on completely which is the irony of it

scene is to ask where the character has just been

doesn’t come along very often, where you read (a

because that's what the film is about - people

and where he/she is next going. But Memento is told

script) and you get completely ensconced in it from

pretending to be some identity when they are really

backwards and the central character can't

the beginning. When my agent sent it to me he said,

some other identity’.’’

remember what went before. Did this prove more

‘this w ill be right up your alley', and it was."

The part was clinched.

problematic than say a traditional linear narrative where the protagonist learns things as he goes

But wanting the part and then actually getting it are two different things. Although Pearce didn't have to

Over the years, Pearce has been steadily building

along and, presumably, remembers them?

audition, the director and producers were familiar

a reputation as a fine actor with an impressive

"Essentially I had to forget anything that happened

with his work, primarily from LA Confidential,

range. From a camp turn in Priscilla Queen of the

anyway but I said to Chris, I feel I have to know something in order to forget something... because if

Pearce knew if he liked it there would be just as

Desert to a critically lauded performance in LA

many actors also wanting it. Good quality scripts and

Confidential the developing scope of his work has

Guy walks on set and doesn’t know what’s going on

high-octane parts are rarely on offer.

seen him become an in-demand actor, both here

then Guy won’t be happy about the performance he

Pearce readily admits to some panic before he knew

and overseas. Even so, this was one of the first times

is giving’. And he'd say things to me like, ‘I'd rather

absolutely it was his. Other actors up for the role

he has had to 'carry' a film.

you didn’t know so there’s this look, you know, of

had met with writer/director Christopher Nolan

"I did a film about Errol Flynn [Flynn 1996) years ago

confusion or whatever’, and I said ‘Chris I’m an actor

(Following) and feigned a complete understanding of

which was just a big pile of crap and I completely

OK? I w ill act whatever you want me to act. Don’t try

the script from the start. Who wouldn’t? The guy

and utterly was not ready to carry a film.

and stooge me into thinking this isn’t really a film

wrote it. But Pearce says he admitted straight away

"With Memento we shot in just 25 days so we really

because there is a fucking film crew standing

he didn't quite get it.

"I said, look I’m going to have to read this another

had to be well prepared. I’m a real continuity

around us and I'm just too conscious of the fact that

stickler. You know, if I wasn’t an actor I’d be a

this is a film."

two or three times to understand it completely.

continuity 'lady' probably, and the AD, I think Chris

Presumably Nolan chose a different tactic, but

Sorry I'm a bit stupid."

respected that practical aspect."

Pearce himself admits, in retrospect, the director CINEMA PAPERS.FEBRUARY.MARCH.2001 [2 7 ]

Pearce seems to be attracted to smaller projects and the first or second time director as a means of asserting some sort of creative input and control. “I probably prey on first time directors because it makes me feel I know more,” he says. as probably on to something.

“ I probably prey on first time directors because it

It dawned on me afterward Chris was right in that

makes me feel 1know more, that I’m really

hen you look at the finished film it's really about

experienced. Whereas when you work with someone

bigger issues than: 'did I really do that?' or 'what

like Billy Friedkin [Rules Of Engagement] he

actually happened?' It's about identity and how we

screams at you and tells you what you’re doing is

manipulate our own identity.”

fucking horrible, you really feel like an idiot who's never done it before. I hate that feeling."

- > If shooting M e m e n to

was an idyllic working

experience for the actor, other features didn’t prove

-> The further away Pearce is from the big budget

as easy. Reports from the set of Ravenous, Pearce's

studio experience the better, but he admits he is still

second feature after LA Confidential, paint a bleaker

attracted by the work offered overseas. He recently

picture of what can and does go wrong on set. Here

wrapped on The Count of Monte Cristo for Warners,

the director was changed, by the powers that be,

directed by Kevin [Prince of Thieves] Reynolds and

from Milcho Manchevski [Before the Rain] to Raja

co-starring Richard Harris and Jim Caviezel. He has

Gosnell [Home Alone 3). Consequently the whole

signed on next year for The Time Machine (a remake

tone and pitch of the film was altered and the actors

of the original which starred Rod Taylor) for

found themselves trapped in an act not of their own

DreamWorks. Pearce admits he is an opportunist in

design. The actors, particularly Pearce and Robert

this regard, but still he was enticed back for the

Carlyle revolted.

Australian experience. Last year he co-starred with

"Bobby and I had a mutiny, a major mutiny."

Helena Bonham Carter in Till Human Voices Wake

Although Pearce is proud of his work on

Us, Michael Petroni’s first feature, shot in

Ravenous and what Antonia Bird eventually brought

Melbourne, and later this year he w ill feature in

to proceedings the experience still leaves him riled.

Blood and Guts for producer Al Clark.

“There's a general gutless quality to these

But surely coming back to do a smaller Australian

studio-oriented filmmakers and it's really ridiculous

film, when there are bigger things on offer overseas,

when that happens. You realise you're working with morons."

would seem to some, like his agent for example, a

This must make decision-making precarious for an

on him to think broader than that?

actor trying to choose a project on its apparent

" There is. Well it’s not really a pressure, but there's '

merits, only to have the film completely change

certainly an expectation I suppose."

little nonsensical career-wise? Is there a pressure

stylistically while it's being made. Pearce's

But, as far as he is concerned, the answer is simple:

experience on Ravenous is one example and Toni

“ I like to play Australians, I like to communicate in

Colette recently commented Shaft wasn't the film

an Australian manner and I like to live here."

she auditioned for; the screenplay was rewritten during filming.

What he doesn't like is Australian award ceremonies

How does an actor safeguard against this happening?

appearance the 2000 AFI awards, where he

it would seem. Anyone who saw Pearce’s lacklustre

“We (Pearce and his agent) certainly are trying to

presented the key Best Picture trophy, might have

inject more clauses into the contract, which is that I

assumed he would rather have been face to face

have to have script change approval. If you're going to

with any of the aforementioned studio execs he

change the director, I can now have approval over the

deplores rather than centre podium at the Hordern

next director and it's awful you have to do that but

Pavilion, staring down the barrel of an autocue. He

(that's) working in America. The thing is it's always a

seemed a little...urn...over it? Pearce laughs.

gamble. I've now managed to get myself into a

"I feel completely hypocritical about it. I go and I

headspace, where I go 'Look if I can do what it is that I

present an award because I like to think I can

want to do, if I can incorporate my own creativity into

honour the industry somehow but deep down,

this character and everyone's happy with, then

honestly I don't agree with saying ‘that’s the best

ultimately whatever you do to fuck up the film later I

film' using the word' best’. That’s why I said the

don't care’. In my heart, I know it wasn’t me."

'supposed' best film I guess in the AFI world they

Consequently, Pearce seems to be attracted to

have the right to do that, and I apologise if I

smaller projects and the first or second time

offended anyone.”

director as a means of asserting some sort of

If he keeps doing the sort of quality work as

creative input and control.

evidenced in Memento - all is forgiven. •

Whether you thought it morally retrograde or artistically sublime,

Chopper was undoubtedly a ru n aw ay' success in Australian cinemas last year.

The previous box office record for an Rrated film was Romper Stamper, which took $2.7 million dollars. Chopper took just under $6 million and garnered 10 API nominations, of which it won three including best lead actor (Eric Bana) and best director (Andrew Dominik).

The film's success in the UK is harder to determine. It received good reviews but, unlike the media reaction it enjoyed in Australia, there was almost no publicity in the UK prior to the film's release, nor after. There was no controversy, no debate, no outrage. As a result, the film passed largely unnoticed from cinema screens, collecting about ÂŁ220,000 (AU$550,000) at the box office. This is significantly less than films such as Muriel's Wedding, Babe, and Shine, all of which enj'oyed a number of weeks at the number one spot in the UK. While Choppers Rrating limited its potential audience, this alone does not explain its modest box office here. The success of Guy Ritchieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Snatch a few months earlier suggested the British public was ready for an Australian-style crime-flick. But after being released in 35 cinemas on November 24, it was showing in less than 20 cinemas two weeks later.

Many people in London believe Choppers failure to attract a large audience is just further proof that Australian films struggle to make an impact ^ on the UK box office. "There have been exceptions," says Christopher Tookey, film critic for the Daily Mail. "But generally the style and content of Australian filmsdo not appeal to British audiences. Your films are made for Australian audiences, which is as itshould be."

The Producer’s Take UK distributors Metrodome decided against TV advertising, they said it just didn’t make sense on a 36-print release.

They concentrated on a saturation poster and sticker cam paign in city centres, reinforced by outstanding advance reviews.

In central London and in Underground stations, the film was unavoidable: there seemed to be posters and stickers everywhere.

One of the stickers, a cartoon balloon asking, "Who is Chopper?” , was added to other posters and pretty soon there was some counter-sabotage. A West End hairdresser had stickers printed up and out of Chopper’s m outh now came a cartoon balloon reading “ I get my hair cut at Rolf’s”. When that happens, a cam paign can really be said to have entered people’s consciousness.

W ith a ‘foreign’ film like ours, the gulf between awareness of the movie in central London and in the rest of the country appears to be growing. On our first weekend, half the income cam e from less than a quarter of the screens - the London W est end ones.

Chopper didn’t really seem to connect in the mainstream multiplexes, where it takes longer for awareness to turn into curiosity.

- Central London audiences are much quicker to pick up on unusual films, more review-consciousness star-driven and the word- “ oLmouth was very good, so much so that (writing mid January) it looks as if the movie will continue to play in at least several cinemas indefinitely. In other words, in the UK, Chopper’s a cult hit. Al

Clark

Rupert Preston, head of cinema sales at

as Australian films, but as commercial films made

adult rather than family oriented. Chopper is its first

Metrodome, Choppers UK distributor, believes

in Australia.

Australian title. "I do think it has been a success,"

there is a general consensus in the UK film

Catriona Hughes, Chief Executive of the FFC

Preston says. "You have to put it into perspective."

industry: "Australian films don't travel particularly

disagrees. "Muriel's Wedding is only considered a

“This is not a problem peculiar to Australian films in

well. They might be very big in Australia but

commercial film because it was successful. It's not

the UK. If you turn the figures round, UK films also

traditionally they don't get much of a release

whether you're marketed as a commercial film that

falter at the international box office. And only one of

outside of Australia,” he says.

is made in Australia or a good Australian film. The

the top 20 films in 2000 was a UK production [East

These attitudes best illustrate the difficulties

real problem is it's very hard for the people involved

is East), although our industry receives a massive

Australian filmmakers face in getting their films

in making films (in Australia) to get a look in over

amount of public funding compared to Australia."

distributed in the UK. Despite the high number of

there, because they are a largely unknown quantity.

Australian films are not expected to compete with

Australian films that have done good box office in

The closure of Polygram, a major distributor of

the Hollywood system, either in the UK or at home,

the UK over the past decade, people who work in

Australian films in the UK has made things more

but the competition between independent films in

the industry still maintain that Australian films are

difficult. And 1think Chopper did extremely well in

the UK market is equally fierce. Hughes believes

difficult to sell to a UK audience.

the UK. It received great critical reviews and it made

Australian films must strive to become more

There are a number of reasons for this prejudice.

a significant amount of money for an 18 certificate."

competitive in this market.

The UK is a diminishing market for all foreign films

Chopperwas a relatively unknown quantity when

“When you've got independent or arthouse films

because of the burgeoning local content and the

Rupert Preston purchased it for Metrodome after a

you're entirely dependent on the script,” Hughes

higher levels of Hollywood programming. Any film

Cannes market screening last year. The film had

says. “You don't have the special effects or the star

which is not a US or UK/US production is

not been released in Australia at the time. "But it

power on which to rely. Script development is

automatically considered an arthouse film, which

was such an extraordinary piece of filmmaking that I

certainly an area in which Australian films can

places restrictions both on the number of cinemas

felt it would succeed here,” Preston explains. “ It's

improve. The AFC released a paper recently, which

in which they can be released and the amount of

the type of film Metrodome looks to distribute."

found that small independent film industries need to

money spent on promoting them. Preston believes,

Metrodome is a relatively small distributor in the

put more resources into script development.

generally, the Australian films that have succeeded

UK. It releases about 15 films each year into UK

Currently only 1A percent of the total budgets of

in the UK are those which have been marketed, not

cinemas and deals in independent films that are

films is being spent on script development.

[30 ] CINEMA PAPERS.FEBRUARY.MARCH.2001

Relative to the size of its local industry, Australian films have left a visible mark on UK box office figures in the past two decades. Since 1 9 8 0 ,1 3 4 Australian feature films have been screened in UK cinemas.

"But I'm not prepared to say that the Australian films don't travel well because they don't make millions of pounds at the UK box office. They have a very crowded market place in the UK. I think it’s more a reflection on the UK market place than on Australian films. Our films are doing extremely well in the Australian box office, we expect to get eight percent for the year 2000. And if you look at the figures you’ll see that we have had some great successes in the UK." Relative to the size of its local industry, Australian films have left a visible mark on UK box office figures in the past two decades. Since 1980, 134 Australian feature films have been screened in UK cinemas. This represents around 23 percent of the total Australian features made in this period. Australian features have been number one in the UK box office for a total of 26 weeks, and 11 Australian films have reached the number one spot: Gallipoli, Mad Max 2, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, Crocodile Dundee, Crocodile Dundee II, Strictly Ballroom, The Piano, Sirens, Muriel 's Wedding, Babe and Shine.

"What you have to worry about is this," says Christopher Tookey, “Will commercial success kill your local industry? With more and more Hollywood films being produced in Australia the industry w ill become larger, but w ill all that talent be drawn into the commercial assembly line?"

Working Dog's The Dish is soon to be released in the UK. It w ill be the tenth Australian feature film to gain a UK release since Shine. While The Castle was only a modest success in UK cinemas, word is The Dish w ill have broader appeal because of the quasi-global nature of its subject (man’s first landing on the moon).

It may well challenge, once again, the general consensus that Australian films do not travel well. •

Position Vacant DIRECTOR PATRICK CONNOLLY BURNS W RITER ROB M cDERMID AN D JUSTINE SPICER PRODUCER JUSTINE SPICER DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY TIM SPICER CAST ROCHELLE GONSAL AND LES W ALLIS

snapshot.marieke josephine hardy -> Aren’t penises getting a tot of

Kevin Bacon's genitally-led

attention these days? Not that they

performance in Wild Things to the now

don't deserve it, of course -

increasingly familiar sight of Harvey

fascinating, fleshy, gymnastic things

Keitel's special friend in just about

that they are, coming in all shapes

every film he appears (put it away,

and sizes. There are particularly

son), the th rill drill is now becoming a

snake-like whammers, blocky

common sight in mainstream cinema.

pounders and ‘mini-me’ tinklers.

The best example of this is the

Bulbous, pustulently infectious

climactic scene to Paul Thomas

wrigglers and cool charm-fresh

Anderson’s Boogie Nights, when

danglers. And they seem to be

fictional porn star Dirk Diggler (played

making a resurgence in film.

by Chesty Bonds himself, Mark

You might recall a recent celluloid

Wahlberg) unleashed the lengthy

offering spearheaded by comedian

beast, and audiences worldwide

Mick Molloy, well-known for his

squealed with uniform delight. It was

penchant for wang-based humour.

this film which supposedly made

Rochelle Gonsal as ‘girl’

The pacey, sharp-shootin’ remainder of i the film leads us head first into a feminist fantasy land, with ‘girl’ retiring to the men’s urinal and squeezing out an animated trouser pipe, which nestles comfortably in the crease of her miniskirt.

With (now ex] radio partner Tony

pornography 'cool' again. Though no-

Martin, he could - and would - fill

one seemed prepared to tackle the

Triple M's drivetime slot with hours of

many sticky feminist or moral issues

When my partner was invited to a

understated performance as our

pocket rocket posturing and excellent

involved in what undoubtedly is just

screening of the film, he scribbled

wingus-swingin' heroine. The same

locker-room giggling. This love for the

one male-dominated profession

down a reminder for himself - which

can't be said, however, for Les Wallis

gristle missile and all things related

among many. Position Vacant attempts

would explain why my diary has the

as the employer - he’s red-faced and fist-shaking like Col. Klink before the

led to a pet project for Molloy - the

to do just that, in all of three minutes.

words 'Animated Penis' written down

2000 documentary Tackle Happy,

Director Patrick Burns graduated from

with a date and phone number

sound has even faded up properly.

[Cinema Papers 133], which followed

VCA in 1997 with a lengthy, black and

underneath (that's what I tell visitors,

Still, with three minutes there’s no

two performers, Simon Morley and

white piece about death and mortality

anyway).

time to waste, and Burns has used

David Friend, as they travelled the

titled -Avp/terwhich appeared to

We open on the film's protagonist,

both his actors and his script

country entertaining the masses

profoundly depress audiences to the

'girl' (Rochelle Gonsal], squirming

economically. This time he’s

with a craft referred to as 'Puppetry

point of tears. Thankfully, he's come a

through a painful job interview. Burns

handballed the cinematography duties

of the Penis’.

long way since then, branching out

wastes no time in cutting to the chase

to the ubiquitous and capable Tim

The shows involve, among other

from straight 'writer/director' roles to

- the first 15 seconds alone include the

Spicer, who tells the story with

things, stretching one's nutsac to form

include exemplary work in

words 'stiff, 'hard' and 'firm', each

smooth, black and white pictures.

a sculpture known as 'The Windsurfer’,

cinematography. His d.o.p. role in

presented to the audience via a

Short filmmakers often 'do' wazoo-

threading one's baloney pony through

director Phillip Crawford's AFI award­

spitting, entendre-soaked monologue

based films with more than a hint of

the legs and up against the bum crack

winning Denial (1997) led to their

(shades of Mrs. Slocombe!). When 'girl'

schoolboy tittering and Benny Hill

to complete 'The G-String', and (the

teaming up again in First Love (1998),

is told she just hasn’t ‘got the balls' for

hamminess. All this is fine and dandy

grand finale), inviting a lucky female

doing much to assist creating

the job, the interview's over. Or is it?

if, somewhere underneath the rib­

audience member up on stage to drink

Crawford's now signature style.

The pacey, sharp-shootin’ remainder

poking innuendo, there lies a meaning.

out of one's scrotum.

It is the strength of his co-creators

of the film leads us head first into

Co-writer Spicer has professed her

'Puppetry of the Penis' made its

which seems to bring out the best in

feminist fantasy land, with 'girl'

intention to make a 'short, feminist

overseas debut at the 2000 Edinburgh

Burns. Position Vacant sees him

retiring to the men's urinal and

comedy', and in Position Vacant, she

Festival. The show was considered one

partnered off with co-writers Rob

squeezing out an animated trouser

has succeeded. The film recently won

of the festival's biggest success

McDermid and Justine Spicer, who

pipe, which nestles comfortably in the

'Best Comedy' at the Glen Eira Film

stories, and the two self-confessed

have attempted to create a light­

crease of her miniskirt. This god rod

Festival, and w ill no doubt be

masters of 'genital origami' are

hearted look at job-hunting in the

has attitude and a mind of its own

currently performing a show in

noughties with a mix of cartoon-ish

(don’t they all?), and when 'girl'

appearing elsewhere over the next few years.

London's famous West End.

live-action performances and simple

marches determinedly back into the

So if you manage to catch Burns’s

Not that Tackle Happy kick-started the

animation.

interview room, our off-the-bone(r)

animated, razor-toothed piss pump in

most recent love affair between

Essentially, Position Vacant is about

employer has met his match.

action, enjoy and be aware: the penis is

audiences and mutton daggers. From

cocks. Or, more specifically, a cock.

Rochelle Gonsal gives a beautifully

now a genre. •

[32 ] CINEMA PAPERS.FEBRUARY.MARCH.2001

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DIRECTOR STEPHEN JOHNSON

CAST SEAN MUNUNGGURR, JOHN SEBASTIAN PILAKUI AND NATHAN DANIELS

PRODUCERS PATRICIA EDGAR, GORDEN GLENN

WRITER CHRIS ANASTASSIADES

DISTRIBUTOR PALACE FILMS

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN AUSTRALIA

RATING M

and free and undaunted.

But at 14, things are beginning to change. Botj has just been released from a stint in juvenile jail, Lorrpu dreams of returning to the ways of traditional hunting, and Milika wants to play football in Darwin. Girls have also become a complication.

Botj comes home to Yirrkala wired for trouble and, despite the warnings of his Uncle Matjala, he ends up in hospital badly burned. Then in a moment of inspiration (or madness?),

-> Stephen Johnson’s first feature

Lorrpu decides on a desperate

has a strong and irresistible

measure and the three boys set off on

storyline, and its Arnhem Land

an epic journey overland to Darwin.

Darwin and has cast three young

setting is magically surreal with

Chris Anastassiades' [Wog Boy)

untrained actors to play the leads.

Finally Yolngu Boy seems to promise

fantastic land and waterscapes.

inventive script moves the film along,

They are superb, especially the

so much more than it actually delivers, that my Koori friend and I

twice as a senior policeman.

Johnson’s directed Yothu Yindi’s

but something happened on the way to

tortured Botj (Sean Mununggurr},

video clips, their Tribal Voice doco,

the shoot. DOP Brad Shield's hand

who emerged late into test

came out of the cinema depressed by

and the Yunupingu brothers are

held sequences start to jar, and editor

screenings of nearly 1000 youths, to

a missed opportunity. It's still a brave

associate producers.

Ken Sallows (Chopper] keeps chopping

play alongside John Sebastian and

attempt to do something different, but

Yolngu Boy's protagonists are three

into scenes at arbitrary points. It's not

Nathan Daniels. The young girl who

in the end it's not different enough. If

boys who grow up together in Yirrakala,

that the video clip style isn't visually

likes Lorrpu is a beguiling mixture of

the filmmakers had been braver and

so close, they are almost like brothers.

enticing but the constant breaking up

innocence and experience, and

more inspired by films such as

In flashbacks we see them aged nine,

of the material doesn't let the

Makuma Yunupingu as the Uncle and

Walkabout, Thunderheart and The

beginning to be initiated into secret

characters breathe. Sadly there's also

Nungri Yunupingu as the wise elder

Thin Red Line, we could have had

men's business and here you can

an inevitability about the film's ending.

give moody ambient performances.

something to really remember.

hardly tell them apart. They are young

Director Stephen Johnson lives in

Jack Thompson appears once or

•

[34] CINEMA PAPERS.FEBRUARY.MARCH.2001

MARGARET SMITH

bit-players (a couple of performances are most ill-conceived although the actors - Caroline Gillmer, Jean-Pierre Mignon, Chris Haywood, Deborah Mailman, and William Zappa suggest they should not be).

Then Kennedy’s screenplay focuses upon the burgeoning affair between Jill and Diana. All the while, J ill’s inner thoughts give it the cred of a reflective French-style female character study, without the wank.

Unfortunately, it tends to focus upon the affair and treat the mystery as an overblown hindrance.

Despite the film's brazen nudity and language - or perhaps due to - this lesbian affair has all the truth and

The Monkey's Mask

heat of a Ken Russell film. Their first love-making scene is embarrassingly short and unconvincing, more a still

DIRECTOR SAM ANTH A LANG

life than a leap into something torrid.

CAST

A later scene works but McGillis

SUSIE PORTER, KELLY M CGILLIS, MARTIN

appears to be vamping it up far too

CSOKAS, A B BIE CORNISH

PRODUCER

much to be simpatico with Porter's

ROBERT CONNOLLY, JOHN MAYNARD,

truer performance.

DOMENICO PROCACCI (CO-PRODUCER)

WRITER A N N E KENNEDY, ADAPTED FROM DOROTHY

top: Kelly McGillis (left) is University teacher Diana and Susie Porter is private detective Jill in the Monkey’s Mask

PORTER NOVEL

Technically, it's one of the more accomplished Australian efforts of

dishonour there, lesbian private

was primarily to serve up something

recent years. Lang abandons the

investigator tales set in the rollicking

different, the film would be nothing if

artful but artificial look of the over­

Sydney poetry scene do not have

not for Porter's credible performance.

rated The Well for a crisper view. Gary

successful antecedents.

She is not a detective superhero as

Phillips' framing of Sydney,

Lang's intentions with this adaptation

seems fashionable in current crime

particularly as a windowed backdrop,

The Monkey’s Mask with a question

of the Dorothy Porter verse novel of

literature, more a human being with

is understated but always interesting.

for herself: “Jill, how much guts

the same name aren’t quite clear.

her own foibles and, as it happens,

Single Gun Theory also adds an

have you got?” if the question was

With its atmospheric, stiff silences

fantasies personified by lecturer,

agreeable score.

To its credit, The Monkey's Mask is

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN AUSTRALIA

DURATION 90 M INUTES

-> Susie Porter’s character opens

asked of director Samantha Lang, the

and Jill's matter of fact narration, it is

Diana (McGillis).

answer would be "a fair whack”.

in many ways your standard p.i.

The film stumbles because of its

certainly a distinct Australian film. It's just with its inconsistent

Unfortunately, there’s little glory in

drama. But its overblown

vascillating focus. Initially it unfolds

her gutsy effort.

denouement, in which the weapon is

as an elementary mystery

performances, erratic tone and jerky

The Monkey's Mask is a good-looking,

strikingly revealed, could well be

surrounding a missing poetry student

screenplay, this film is too different

occasionally diverting, film but one

straight from an episode of Chances.

(Abbie Cornish), coloured by a passing

too often.

conspired to w ilt commercially. No

Whatever the intention, and I sense it

parade of cartoonish suspects and

• MICHAEL BODEY

QuiUs

unsavoury themes as necrophilia, sodomy and so forth to incite a reaction from its audiences.

DIRECTOR P H ILIP KAUFM AN

CAST GEOFFREY RUSH, M IC HAEL CAINE, KATE W INSLET, JOAQUIN PHOENIX, JAN E MENELAUS

PRODUCERS NICK W ECHSLER, PETER KAUFM AN, JU LIA CLASMAN

SCREENPLAY DOUG WRIGHT

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN US

DISTRIBUTION 20TH CENTURY FOX

And certainly never when a project has involved a cast of its brightest players.

But in tackling the legend of the Marquis de Sade, as tempting a forbidden literary pleasure as it has always been, such subjects are unavoidable and prove to be just as effective a dramatic device as they were 200 years back.

But the shock value in QuiUs is never derived from the Marquis' own text his limericks and salacious, scandalous

Quills isn’t quite in the tradition of

prose are treated throughout with the

Shakespeare In Love. While

bawdiness of an old Carry On routine.

Hollywood has a long history in

Instead, the drama is drawn from the

pilfering the biographies of the art

reactions his words stir, while the

world’s most famous and infamous

grandeur comes simply from the

figures, liberally turning facts upside

period in which the story is set. On the

down under its own artistic licence,

art side, Quills explores such hefty

rarely has it resorted to such

concepts as freedom of expression, CINEMA PAPERS.FEBRUARY.MARCH.2001 [3 5 ]

censorship, artistic responsibility. On the life side, it juxtaposes multiple

M em ento

levels of evil and human fallibility.

DIRECTOR

Whatever the flaws in Quills, and there are several (subplots left dangling,

CHRISTOPHER NOLAN

CAST

overwrought morality subtexts), it is

GUY PEARCE, CARR IE-ANN MOSS,

lifted high by the performances of its

JOE PANTOLIANO

superb, international A-list cast.

PRODUCERS JEN N IFER TODD, SUZANNE TODD

Despite being dealt fairly two-

& W ILLIAM TRYER

WRITER

dimensional characters, Michael Caine, Joaquin Phoenix and Kate

CHRISTOPHER NOLAN FROM A JONATHAN NOLAN STORY

Winslet all shine, the power of their individual screen presence still given more than enough scope to steal

DISTRIBUTOR BVI

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN US

several scenes apiece.

DURATION 113 MINUTES

But make no mistake - Quills is a stage purpose-built for Geoffrey Rush. The

Nolan gives Pearce a character that suits him down to the ground, a suave,

above: Guy Pearce and Carrie-Ann Moss in Memento below: Guy Pearce

not overly expressive man with a job to do. Pearce seems best when his characters don't need swagger and

intentional rigidness of the supporting

-> The Brits seem to have something

when he makes you puzzle at what's going on behind those razor

characters makes his overtly-

about going backwards. Author

flamboyant Marquis the undisputed

Martin Amis [Time’s Arrow],

cheekbones and steely eyes.

centre of this messed up universe.

playwright Harold Pinter (Betrayal, d.

The film begins focused tightly on a

Each of Rush's energetic scenes

Jones, 1982) and now exciting London

fading photograph held by Leonard

deserves a standing ovation in its

director Christopher Nolan all

Shelby (Pearce), who's standing over a

own right. Could anyone else have

explored the reverse narrative.

body. It soon transpires Shelby uses

made this self-centred, ultimately

This ambitious story-telling ploy

such photos from his Instamatic

despicable pornographer so

could invite claims of

camera to keep track of his life.

enchanting and likable?

pretentiousness, as well as bring

Assorted notes, reminders, even

He's even allowed to bring his real-life

troublesome muddles in its making.

tattoos littered throughout his

wife in on the party. Stage veteran Jane

Yet Nolan’s visual and plot acuity in

existence are his only form of memory

Menelaus makes a brief, albeit

Memento combine with a bravura

because Shelby lost his recall after a

impressive appearance as the Marquis'

lead performance by Geelong-bred

brutal attack on his wife left him with

beleaguered and ultimately spiteful

Guy Pearce to produce an original

a grave head injury. But yes, he has

better half. Certainly, there's a

take on an abused genre, the new

motivation, indeed a purpose, to his

naturalness to the pair's few moments

noir thriller.

now charmless life: revenge. But how

on screen together. And you get an

Memento w ill also re-launch Pearce in

satisfying is revenge when you won't

inkling that, in Menelaus, Hollywood

a 2001 likely to be for the actor what

remember it?

might just have found itself a genuine

2000 was for fellow LA Confidential

Nolan's backwards exposition would

female Rush (if not by name, certainly

star, Russell Crowe.

seem to make little sense when his

Pearce's performance is a cracker,

in emotive intensity).

Memento w ill tempt lazy comparisons

motivation is bared so early but a

not once lurching into that grievous

There's already much talk about

to recent noir examples like The Usual

smart, logical conclusion enhances a

sort of revenge mode Stallone and Van

Oscars for Quills, and the film has split

Suspects, or the films of Carl Franklin

tense journey. Every action is loaded

Damme types draw upon. This is

the community of American critics

and John Dahl but it owes more to

with meaning, even if the director

convincing stuff that shows he can

slap-bang down the middle. Certainly,

Point Blank (Boorman, 1967), Madigan

sometimes labours points.

carry a film.

it's as beautiful as it is ugly, as

(Siegel, 1967], The Long Goodbye

Memento is in effect a three-hander

Nolan's direction is sharp, if a little too

involving as it is repulsive. But

(Altman, 1973) and earlier works. It

chamber piece. Only Shelby’s nervy

pleased with itself and its David

ultimately, if it does nothing else, Quills

doesn't approach the machismo-

and completely suss aide Teddy

Fincher-type stylings. Technically

solidifies Geoffrey Rush's stature as

driven, stylistically pretentious style of

(Pantoliano) and the distraction

though, Memento doesn't slip up once

one of the most potent character

today's LA noir. Rather Memento

Natalie (Moss) impinge upon what is

throughout its sharp screenplay.

actors of his generation.

paces a cool, modern, and only

an intriguing and chilling excursion for

Inventive, enthralling cinema.

• DINOSCATENA

occasionally showy, tightrope walk.

our protagonist.

• MICHAELBODEY

[3 6 ] CINEMA PAPERS.FEBRUARY.MARCH.2001

In the M o o d fo r Love was one of many Asian films which screened at Cannes, picking up competition prizes for best actor Tony Leung and best cinematography won by Australian DOP Christopher Doyle

In the Mood fo r Love

The 6th Day

DIRECTOR

DIRECTOR

WONG KAR-W AI

ROGER SPOTTISWOODE

CAST

CAST

TONY LEUNG, MAGGIE CHEUNG, LAI CHIN,

\R N O LD SCHWARZENEGGER, TONY GOLDWYN.

REBECCA PAN, SIU PIN G -LA M

M IC HAEL RAPAPORT, M IC HAEL ROCKER,

PRODUCER

SARAH WYNTER, W ENDY CREWSON, ROD

WONG KAR-W AI, W ILLIA M CHANG

ROW LAND, TERRY CREWS, ROBERT DUVALL.

WRITER

PRODUCERS

WONG KAR-W AI

M IKE MEDAVOY, AR NO LD SCHWARZENEGGER,

DISTRIBUTOR

JON DAVISON

DENDY FILMS

SCREENWRITER

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN HONG KONG

DURATION 90 MINUTES

Bookmakers for UK industry

CORMAC W IBBERLEY AN D M AR IAN NE W IBBERLEY

Asian films with its Silk Screen series

Doyle, a long time collaborator with

last year.

Wong who shares his passion for

C O LU M B IA TRISTAR

In the Mood for Love was one of many

startling camera work that is

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN

Asian films which screened at Cannes,

impressive without being intrusive.

DISTRIBUTOR

US

RATING

picking up competition prizes for best

In the Mood for Love does not have the

magazine Moving Pictures have listed

actor Tony Leung and best

deliberately mismatched stocks and

Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love

cinematography - won by Australian

frenetically pushed colours found in

as the 3-1 second favourite to win

DOP Christopher Doyle, with Mark Li

previous collaborations, such as Happy

this year’s Oscar for Best Foreign

Ping-bing and William Chang Suk-ping.

Together and Chungking Express. But

-> Ah, so the inevitable comes to pass.

Language Film behind Ang Lee’s

The intensity of both performance and

Wong uses slow, hypnotic camera

Two Amies. A dream come true for

unbackable Crouching Tiger, Hidden

cinematography is the hallmark of this

movements and a warm balance

anyone who ascribes to the belief that

Dragon.

stylish film, set in the Shanghai

between colour and contrast to provide

you can never get too much Arnie.

While the Hong Kong-produced film

quarter of Hong Kong in 1962. Leung

a visually stunning backdrop to the

Unfortunately, double the dose

will find it tough going against such

plays Chau, a newspaper editor who

developing relationship.

doesn’t mean that The 6th Day is

stiff competition, the honour caps a

relocates to Hong Kong to take up a

Several scenes become frozen

twice as good as any of Arnold

year which saw an explosion in the

Schwarzenegger’s other films. In fact,

M

DURATION 123 MINUTES

position on a local paper. Moving in to

moments as the camera pans slowly

worldwide appetite for Asian films,

a new apartment, he meets neighbour

around, and slow motion sequences,

it struggles on almost every level as it

with a strong showing of Asian films

Li-chun, played by Maggie Cheung, who

such as a beautiful scene when the

attempts to find some middle ground

in festival line-ups and awards the

is also moving into the building.

couple pass each other on the stairs,

between the schmaltzy Arnie

world over.

Both are without their spouses - Chau's

reflect the patient, unforced pace of

[Kindergarten Cop) and action Arnie

Similarly, Columbia TriStar locally

wife is visiting her sick mother and Li-

the film. Wong also uses recurring

[Terminator).

mined a rich vein of local support for

chun's husband is away on business -

images of smoke and rain to

Adam Gibson (Schwarzenegger) is a very normal, happy family man

and slowly the two build a polite but

simultaneously bring the couple

sensuous relationship, as they discover

together and keep them apart.

(familiar territory these days in

things in common, including a passion

Other notable contributions to the film

Arnieland) until he suddenly finds

for martial arts novels. As the

are William Chang’s editing (he also

himself the innocent victim of an

relationship develops, the two slowly

provided the notable costume design

illegal-genetic-cloning-project-gone-

begin to realise that their respective

and took an associate producer credit]

wrong. Set in the not too distant future,

spouses are having an affair.

and the haunting score of composer

The 6th Day[from the biblical passage:

Wong brings Chau and Li-chun

Mike Galasso.

"... and God created man on the sixth

together through cramped Hong Kong

While In the Mood for Love appears

day"] finds Earth riddled with

interiors that exude a shabby elegance,

destined to miss out on an Oscar, its

everything from cloned pets to

as the couple play out situations with

combination of visual beauty, complex

genetically engineered products.

each other as rehearsals for

performances and production

Human cloning is outlawed. But

conversations they intend to have with

technique make it an enjoyable and

millionaire and megalomaniac Michael

their respective spouses.

thought provoking experience.

Drucker (Tony Goldwyn) is doing it

The lush sensuality of the film is mirrored in the cinematography of

anyway and accidentally clones the • JASON HARTY

wrong guy. So Gibson goes home to his CINEMA PAPERS.FEBRUARY.MARCH.2001 [3 7 ]

Sáfe!

The Goddess of 1967 DIRECTOR CLARA LAW

CAST ROSE BYRNE. RIKIYA KUROKAWA, NICHOLAS HOPE, ELISE MCCREDIE

SCRIPT EDDIE L.C. FONG & CLV\RA LAW

PRODUCERS PETER SAINSBURY & EDDIE L.C. FONG

CINEMATOGRAPHER DION BEEBE ACS

picture-perfect life to find that he's

doorstep of a blood-spattered

NICHOLAS MCCALLUM

suburban Australian bungalow, hoping

EDITOR

already at home.

KATE W ILLIAMS

Of course, since Gibson has seen his

COMPOSER JEN ANDERSON

own clone, he must be killed. Enter the

DISTRIBUTOR

henchman and woman: Marshall (Michael Rooker) and Talia

JM arrives quite suddenly on the

PRODUCTION DESIGN

PALACE FILMS

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN AUSTRALIA

(Newcastle-born Sarah Wynter). Their

DURATION

mission is to lynch Gibson at any cost.

118 MINUTES

to purchase the sleek pink Citroen DS he has located on the internet.

Opening the door to him is the blind BG (Rose Byrne) who eats a meal amidst the gore.

Like a fumbling and slightly bruised Botticelli angel, Byrne is both earthy and

Their own deaths are not an issue -

otherworldly. It Is an awkward, jarring,

they've already died plenty of times

yet ultimately compelling performance

from whitewashed sand to earth tones

that won her a best actress award at the

through passionate plum purples and reds. While visually striking, these

and come back as clones.

-> This stunning and ambitious film

with telling colour palettes ranging

Naturally, there's lots of bad acting

by Hong Kong/Australian director

Venice Film Festival.

from Schwarzenegger, but at least in

Clara Law is relentlessly visual, a

Together the strange pair drives into

moody vignettes seem underscripted

having his own clone there on screen

showy catalogue of her skills in

the centre of Australia, searching for

and overacted. Hope's abusive

with him, Arnie's got someone to laugh

evoking the ephemeral surfaces and

the true owner of the goddess. DOP

monster is bizarre beyond belief, and it

at his own jokes.

textures of life lived in a transnational

Dion Beebe [Holy Smoke, Praise}

seems a pity that this original piece of

To be fair, Schwarzenegger isn't the

world. This insistent showmanship

proves yet again that he is a master

cinema must turn on a narrative that

only culprit in the bad acting stakes.

and stylistic excess will divide

alchemist with Australian light, making

is, like far too many these days, built

With the exception of Sarah Wynter

audiences. Like the Citroen D5

interesting what we have seen far too

around the cliched revelation of child

and the infallible Robert Duvall (Dr.

automobile (the Goddess of the title],

often - the painfully blue skies, scrappy

sexual abuse. This twisted outworking

Griffin Weir), everyone involved gives a

some will find it sublimely elegant;

trees and shimmering bitumen of

of family romance may be a sad

lacklustre performance.

others will deem it grotesque and

outback road movies. While JM tries to

statistical reality, but it feels like a

In her Hollywood debut, Wynter oozes

pretentious.

describe Tokyo as like Mars, it is the

storytelling shortcut, a lazy and

evil as the assassin. Talia's brand of

As in their earlier films, Autumn Moon

salt-crusted lakes of our own interior,

inadequate way to explicate character.

emotionless, mechanically-ruthless

[1992] and Floating Life [1996), Law and

and the underground dwellings of

Ultimately this story should be about

evil demands an inordinate amount of

her scriptwriter husband Eddie Fong,

Coober Pedy that truly seem alien and

the faltering growth of cross-cultural

composure at all times. Bummer that

here take a young angst-ridden Asian

ancient. Tokyo’s smooth cool surfaces,

intimacy, and while Byrne and

she has barely any dialogue and much

male (known only as JM) and send him

blurred with constant motion, seem at

Kurokawa manage to portray a weird

of her screen time simply requires her

drifting into an alien culture.

least to be creations of human

tragicomic love link, each and every

to stand there with a gun.

This character, suitably underplayed by

intention.

one of the performers seems lost and

But rather than fall victim to The 6th

newcomer Japanese Prada model

As the surreal journey progresses,

disoriented, in search of direction.

Days lack of plot, direction and

Rikiya Kurokawa, is handsomely blank

depicted with high-contrast bleached

Law's overemphasis on the Took' of

purpose, Wynter does well to display

and restrained, but always suggesting

out colours, BG's violent past is evoked

the film may spectacularly invoke the isolation of the postmodern condition,

such class within such a bad script.

emergent warmth and injured

through flashbacks. These miniature

With wit and an abundance of attitude,

humanity. As he dances alone in his

stories, which contain the essence of

but her characters need more of her

she ends up standing virtually alone as

Tokyo apartment, after feeding boiled

her twisted gothic relationships with

attention if they are to truly reach out

its saving grace.

mice to his pet snakes, his exhilaration

her mother (Elise McCredie) and

to each other and to the viewer.

• RACHEL NEWMAN

is startling; autistic and pure.

grandfather (Nicholas Hope), are told

• ROCHELLE SIEMIENOWICZ

[38] CINEMA PAPERS.FEBRUARY.MARCH.2001

B est DIRECTOR GARY WALKOW CAST COURTNEY LOVE, NORMAN REEDUS. RON LIVINGSTON, KIEFER SUTHERLAND PRODUCERS ANDREW PFEFFER. DONALD ZUCKERMAN. ALAIN SILVER DISTRIBUTOR COLUMBIA TRISTAR COUNTRY OF ORIGIN US RATING M DURATION 89 MINUTES

|

i

-> These days, in the age of the

Da I I a i ' I iulnn . D ClICl k lV lllg

Through Circuitry DIRECTOR JON REISS FEATURING THE CRYSTAL METHOD. MOBY, DJ SPOOKY. CARL COX, RONI SIZE, AND MANY MORE PRODUCER BRIAN MCNELIS AND STUART SWEZEY DISTRIBUTOR SIREN ENTERTAINMENT COUNTRY OF ORIGIN US RATING M DURATION 85 MINUTES

The subtitle of this film - "a digital

T h a R in ■n e p im

TI h ó TI IhI Ir C ao QlltUnUn^nCow c IIC C «

tIlr«a9c9 e FYIIIM D in n

DIRECTOR JAMES FRAWLEY CAST PAUL BEN-VICTOR, EVAN HANDLER, JOHN KASSIR. MICHAEL CHIKLIS PRODUCERS EARL M. BENJAMIN. ROBERT N. BENJAMIN DISTRIBUTOR COLUMBIA TRISTAR COUNTRY OF ORIGIN US RATING PG DURATION 89 MINUTES

DIRECTOR GEORGE HICKENLOOPER CAST WILLIAM HURT. NIGEL HAWTHORNE. MIRANDA RICHARDSON. IRENE JACOB PRODUCERS ANDREW PFEFFER. DONALDZUCKERMAN . DISTRIBUTOR COLUMBIA TRISTAR COUNTRY OF ORIGIN US RATING MA DURATION 100 MINUTES

The Three Stooges' huge body of

From a story by Orson W ellesf A

no-holds-barred biography, it's

odyssey into the electronic dance

work may seem a little

little name-dropping never hurts in

common knowledge that a creative

underground", belies the fact that it's

unsophisticated to modern eyes, but as

the movie business, and when the

genius can also be hell to live with,

more than just a music documentary,

this new telemovie shows, they were a

name is that of the man who made the

with philandering and emotional

it's virtually a religious tract. With all

comedy team whose endurance is

often-polled "Best Film Ever", you

abuse par for the course. W illiam S.

the pronouncements of life-changing

unparalleled. Originally a vaudeville

can't blame the folks behind The Big

Burroughs not only neglected his

spiritual revolution poured forth by

act in the early 1920s, they slapped

Brass Ring for dropping it big time. In

wife, but shot her dead in the course

the interviewees, i could almost

and poked their way through some

truth, the screenplay is based on one

of a "W illiam Tell" party trick, an

imagine this being screened on the

200 shorts for Columbia between 1934

written by Welles and companion/

event that he claimed profoundly

ABC's religion slot, Compass.

and 1958. The subsequent success of

collaborator, Oja Kodar. Director

influenced his writing henceforth.

Though raves have been going on in

the shorts on television from 1959

George Hickenlooper ( H earts o fj

Although generally known only for

the US for years, it seems the

gave them yet another lease of life,

Darkness: A Film m aker’s Apocalypse) -

the circumstances of her death, Joan

electronic dance scene is now taking

which led to a series of features. Far

and F.X. Feeney have substantially

Vollm er was in fact a key figure in the

off in a big way. The medium is very

from being left behind as

rewritten the piece, updating the

formation of the Beat movement -

much the message here - eclectic

entertainment evolved, as happened to

political landscape.

and B eat is here to te ll her story.

filming techniques, cyberdelic

their early vaudeville associate Ted

Essentially this is a story about

Courtney Love was no doubt cast on

animation and of course plenty of

Healy, they somehow always made it

political skeletons-in-the-closet.

the strength of her performance in

music - but this is more than eye'n’ear

to the next level.

William Hurt is Blake Pellarin, an

The People vs Larry Flynt, and it

candy. The artists are mostly quite

While much of this tale is bathed in the

independent candidate running for

doesn't hurt the film that this is

articulate, and their interviews have

golden light of the good old days, of

Governor of Missouri' His wife

largely a reprise of that role - an

been carefully assembled.to draw out

course it wasn't all smooth sailing. As

intelligent, independent but troubled

common ground. From big names like

pre-1955 versions of the trio always

young woman. Ron Livingston is

Moby and Carl Cox to more fringe

included Moe and one of his brothers

endured his Clinton-esque series of

excellent as Allen Ginsberg, as is ■ . ' Ndrman Reedus as Lucien Carr, the

artists such as Scanner and Psychic

(Shemp or Curly), it's suggested that

dalliances for so long that she now.

TV, a collective message forms - this,

the violent slapstick which originated in

does little more than hiss at him

relatively unknown, non-writer of the

is a truly liberating-subculture.

boyhood rough-and-tumble sometimes

between chugs of vodka. Nigel

group, whose attractiveness to men

Generally, the English artists have the

spilled over into their professional

Hawthorne really carries the film, with

and women alike drives the entire

most interesting things to say. Psychic

relationship.

his subtle, complex portrayal of the ex-

plot. Kiefer Sutherland doesn’t fare so

TV s Genesis P-Orridge is always good

As this was made by Mel Gibson’s Fox

senator vvho raised Pellarin and his

r

—

;

(Miranda Richardson, teetering -

superbly on the brink of parody) has

^

well as Burroughs - his reliance on

value, and here, looking more than

Icon at Sydney's Fox Studios,

brother in rather shady circumstances.

mimicking the writer's famous drawl

ever like a wild-eyed, youngish

Australian actors appear in several

The film's main flaw is that it expends

is not enough to bring this difficult

Quentin Crisp, he reckons that

roles, including the wives of the

too much time and energy on the

figure to life. You can see why

mainstream society fears rave culture

original trio. It's quite odd to see'

unravelling of a fairly simple mystery.

Cronenberg and Peter Welter avoided

because "there's a danger of people

Rachael Blake, Jeanette Cronin and

By the time you've waded through all

a straight impersonation in Naked

understanding and appreciating

Annalise Phillips, sipping lemonade in

the flashbacks that punctuate the

Lunch.

alternate ways of being... they could

a very Aussie-looking garden, as Mrs

convoluted events of the present; you

Courtney fans and Beat enthusiasts

laugh them out of existence". It ain't

Moe, Larry and Shemp. An enjoyable

may want to scream, “that’s IT?‘ ,

should find this worth a look.

just about dancing.

bit of history.

• a l is t e r s h e w

'

v •

--

'

-•

CINEMA PAPERS.FEBRUARY;MARCH-2001 [39]

Recent visitor to Australia,

Secrets & Lies, Career Girls and

analyses. They quote many insiders but

original poster and a no-nonsense

Professor Ray Carney, has finally

Topsy-Turvy?

published his academic hagiography

Not a mistake quite as serious as that

the whole thing has a very wide-eyed look.

tale of a college guy gone nuts.

of British director Mike Leigh, The

perpetrated by Turner, Bonner and

It's accessible though, which is

Admittedly, director Oswald added a

Films of Mike Leigh, Embracing The

Marshall, authors of Fame Games, The

something that will never be said of

fine visual touch to the film adaptation

World (Carney and Quart, Cambridge

Production of Celebrity in Australia

Dan Harries' Film Parody (BFI

but Levin's novel displays why 'noir

University Press, $34.95/$99.00 hb).

(Cambridge University Press,

publishing, $60.00 pb).

thrillers were so great at displaying

After a smoothly written introductory

$32.95/$99.00hb).

Take this, for instance, "As with the

tension, threat and panic - economy.

biography, this book makes a solid

Why review this in a film journal? Film

exaggerations of lexical units, the

You don’t read novels with such stark

case for Leigh’s worth with its even-

celebrity and its manufacture is a

syntax can be extended to exaggerated

exposition as this nowadays.

handed criticisms. Then it veers into

major preoccupation.

lengths through the combination of

Already Levin has three novels in this

an empathetic film by film analysis.

And the authors' mistake? No, not

actions which exceed expected quantity

bright, repackaged series [The Stepford

Carney and Quart come from the

using McKenzie Wark and Catharine

or order.” He means, repetitive jokes

Wives and The Boys From Brazil}.

position that the director produces

Lumby testimonials on the back cover

work.

Bloomsbury’s selections thus far,

great art, so any other view is

(that's so two Zeitgeists ago). No, not

Harries wanted to contextualise this

including Once upon A Time In

confidently dispatched. Carney

its litany of misspelt names. No, it's

burgeoning film canon in an era of

America, Deliverance and Vertigo, are

persuasively, and rightly, distinguishes

hard to recommend the teachings of a

cultural irony but the result is one big

inspired commercial marketing.

Leigh's style both from fellow

book on publicity that didn’t promote

joke. His theory that film parody is a

Look up A Kiss Before Dying in the

malcontent Ken Loach and the

its own juicy tidbits - for instance,

genre to itself is stretched to the point

Time Out Film Guide (9th edition 2001,

Hollywood modus operandi of

Friends Matt LeBlanc's infamous

of incomprehensibility. This book sucks

Penguin, $40.00) and you’ll find two on-

unrealism (it's not as obvious as it

Australian visit wasn't hindered by

dry any joy you derived from this cheap

sounds). But he does so with an

illness but a dummy spit; the local

and elementary form of film humour.

the-money reviews of the '55 and '91 films.

With 13,300 films reviewed, it's no

reproduction of the text, a jaunty little

infuriating style that presages any

mags Sharon Stone and Kim Basinger

Bloomsbury has brought some joy to

logical synthesis of one statement with

won't co-operate with; why Leo

cinephiles with its Film Classics Series

Maltin's Movie & Video Guide (he’s well

paragraphs of academic waffle. It's

DiCaprio graced the cover of this

of original novels. The latest, Ira

over 20,000 reviews now), particularly with the standard of the 150-300 word

dangerously indulgent but thoughtful.

magazine twice in one year.

Levin's A Kiss Before Dying

Then again, how can you take seriously

Fame Games has some nice

[Bloomsbury Paperbacks, $19.95)

reviews varying from the well

someone who spells Jody Foster thus

observations but also some totally

features a cheekily reproduced cover

considered to the glib (Gettysburg is "a

or a book that hasn’t yet chronicled

spurious ones attached to hokey

from the film's (dir. Oswald, 1955]

film about men with whiskers"; Jules

[40] CINEMA PAPERS.FEBRUARY.MARCH.2001

SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE [S a v e up t® $ 1 6 .8 0 an d h a v e

Cinema

Papers d e liv e re d d ire c t to y o u r h o m e , o ffic e

et Jim “watchable"). As with all guides,

2001 (Faber & Faber, $40.00), with its

it can be maddeningly frustrating - why

survey of the film year in countries

bother with a 200-word plot synopsis

from Argentina to Zimbabwe and its

for Jumanji? - but this one's value lies

five directors of the year (including

up the back.

Lasse Hallstrom?], wants to be to film

Its appendices are knockouts - film

as the Wisden Almanac is to cricket.

categories; major film producing

Very handy stuff, particularly for

countries including, aw shucks, 240

producers on the international flog but

Australian films listed; an actors index,

its harsh layout and advertising ensure

a comprehensive directors index; and

it is an office reference, not something

assorted awards lists. Its general

for the home bookcase.

subject index makes this an essential

Steve Martin’s novella, Shopgirl (Allen

reference book though. Thirteen films

& Unwin, $24.95) is a gorgeously

about sex changes [see also

presented book but its contents have

Hermaphrodism) anyone?

been praised too much. Now, I'm as big

"She is the man I would have liked to

a Martin fan as one could be. I find his

be,” Gerard Depardieu said of

whimsies for The New Yorker

Catherine Deneuve, according to

essential. But his sly, thoughtful

Cassell's Movie Quotations (Nigel

observations and tangential comic

Rees, Cassell Reference, $59.95).

ideas rarely surface in this slight,

Attractively, almost indulgently,

ultimately forgettable tale of a glove

presented, this is an inviting collection

counter girl who struggles to find love,

of quotes from on and off screen,

or a life in Los Angeles.

including sections of cliches, slogans,

Not hardly as enchanting as his plays

catchphrases and origins of film titles.

or screenplays, flawed as they can be,

Unsurprisingly, the best quotes are

Shopgirl is fey rather than funny. Steve,

about actors, not from them. Very

you don’t need to be a serious writer,

entertaining.

you’re a serious talent.

The Variety International Film Guide

• MICHAEL BOOEY

For news and reviews on the latest in Film, Books, Video and DVD you should be reading Cinema Papers. Redesigned and relaunched, Cinema Papers now promises to keep you up to date with what's going on by offering you a fresh, vibrant and extremely well-informed insight into the local and international film industries.

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The NEW C in e m a P a p e rs c o n tin u e s its tra d itio n as A u s tr a lia ’s m o st re s p e c te d film m a g a z in e .

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DIRECTOR RIDLEY SCOTT CAST RUSSELL CROWE. JOAQUIN PHOENIX. CONNIE NIELSEN. OLIVER REED. RICHARD HARRIS PRODUCERS DAVID H. FRANZONI, BRANKO LUSTIG. TERRY NEEDHAM. STEVEN SPIELBERG. DOUGLAS WICK DISTRIBUTOR COLUMBIA TRISTAR COUNTRY OF ORIGIN US RATING M ^ DURATION U 9 MINUTES PRICE $39.95

____DIRECTOR DAVID FINCHER CAST EDWARD NORTON. BRAD PITT. HELENA BONHAM CARTER. MEATLOAF ■ PRODUCERS ROSS BELL. CEÄN CHAFFIN. ART LINSON DISTRIBUTOR TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX COUNTRY OF ORIGIN US RATING R ‘ DURATION 134 MINUTES PRICE $37.95

The biggest film of 2000 just got bigger! By about seven minutes, and ■ = that's just the main feature.

DIRECTOR GUY HAMILTON CAST SEAN CONNERY. GERT FROBE. HAROLD SAKATA. HONOR BLACKMAN PRODUCERS ALBERT R. BROCCOLI. HARRY . SALTZMAN DISTRIBUTOR TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX COUNTRY OF ORIGIN UK RATING M DURATION 105 MINUTES PRICE $37.95

DIRECTOR ROLAND EMMERICH .

CAST MEL GIBSON. HEATH LEDGER. JOLEY RICHARDSON. JASON ISAACS. CHRIS COOPER. TCHEKY KARYO. RENE AUBERJONOIS. TOM WILKINSON. , PRODUCERS DEAN DEVLIN. MARK GORDON. GARY LEVINSOHN DISTRIBUTOR COLUMBIA TRISTAR COUNTRY OF ORIGIN US RATING MA DURATION 158 MINUTES PRICE $40

-> Film directors must love DVD:

-> A dilemma for Hollywood studios:

-> The DVD version of The P atriot

Previously they’d have to write

How do you make your library of

contains one of the format’s most

books to reveal the subtleties of

cinema classics attractive in a home-

innovative special features. But you

The two-disc, "deluxe collectors

their cinematic genius. Now, with the

entertainment format that demands

can’t see it just by looking at it.

edition" DVD release of Gladiator (is

flick of a switch on the remote control,

the tag "jam-packed with exclusive

This disc is the first DVD to be

there any other kind?) includes three

they can be sitting over the viewers

additional special features”?

encrypted with Regional Coding

bonus video documentaries - a soft,v

shoulder, whispering every minute detail Of théir thought process like a

What most have opted for, some

Enhancement, the Hollywood studios’

considerably more successfully than

latest weapon to enforce its region

styled look at the legend of the Roman

little kid in a cinema who just won’t

others, is to plough the archives for

restriction system. (Apparently this

gladiators, a “behind-the-scenes”

shut up.

anything loosely related to their feature

disc won’t play on a multi-region

extended promo and a boring profile

Most of these directorial commentaries

presentation: old adverts, trailers,

DVD player.)

on composer Hans Zimmer.

are sombre, analytical affairs. Not so

promo stills, new introductions by old

Of the disc's other special features,

..... hour-long Entertainment Tonight-

But it’s the briefest of the extra

on Fight Club, where director David

stars. Unfortunately, that only ever

its interactive visual effects feature is

elements which is the most

Fincher is happy to share his audio

offers an additional few minutes of

the cleverest. Each of the five scenes

fascinating: 11 fully-conceived, deleted

spotlight with the film's stars and the

entertainment.

examined is split into three

scenes, each With an optional voice-

whole thing sounds more like a party

But no such problem for a classic such

concurrently running film loops, each

over from director Ridley Scott

rather than an anal dissection of the

as 1964’s Goldfinger. Sean Connery's

representing a different stage and

explaining exactly why they didn't

on- screen action. In this instance, it’s

third appearance as James Bond was

layer of the effect. There’s also a

make the final cut.

Edward Norton who just won't shut up,

set to be a blockbuster even before its

bonus seven deleted scenes which, if

Several are simply drawn-out, mood-

displaying a rather obsessive affection

release, so there’s an abundance of

they'd been included, would have

setters, sensibly dropped from what

for his own work. Brad Pitt plays the

archival material to package up with

pushed the [ahem] civil war epic over

is, after all, already a 150-minute

dumb blonde, not saying much at all.

the feature itself (Which, incidentally,

the three-hour mark (arrrgh!).

picture. ("The beats' took too long,"

Helena Bonham Carter, whose

looks stunningly vibrant in this form).

There's also two additional mini-

Scott keeps explaining.) But a couple

contribution was recorded separately

There are two additional, contemporary

featurettes on this single disc release:

of them, such as the ones dubbed

from the others, doesn’t have much

documentaries presented here, one on

The Art Of War (where we get a

“The Éxecution" and “Dye Market", are

insight to offer either, but at least she

the "making o f. the other curiously

history lesson on the American

' gets the chance to get a word in.

quite breathtaking and evocative in

about the Goldfinger "phenomenon"

Revolution) and The Patriots (the

their own: right.

Thëre.are a handful of deleted and

(stuff like how many toy Aston Martin

already now-standard behind-the-

Furthermore, there’s a library of

alternative takes (nothing special) and

cars got sold). Each relies heavily on

scenes extended promo which

candid snapshots from the set,

a complete illustrated storyboard, but

promotional material from the period,

accompanies every modern release).

sketches from the art room and a

the most interesting bonus feature in

most of which is separately presented

One thing the special features section

juvenile "what I did on my holidays”

this immaculately presented two-disc

elsewhere on the disc.

doesn’t explain is us how our hero

type éssay from One of the supporting

set are the mini-docos on the film's

Virtually the whole James Bond

Aussie Mel can live with himself

cast member^ which again proves

spécial effects.

collection is already available on DVD

waving an old Scottish flag in one

So you get to see exactly how to blow

and, going by this Goldfinger sample,

epic, and then an American one in his

up a city skyline, or what it takes for

considerable effort has been put into

next. Has he got no sense of

Norton to put a bullet through his head.

making them a worthwhile investment

patriotism at all?

for fans.

• DINO SCATENA AND RACHEL NEWMAN

T young actors should just stay in , • school.

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" Pity It's just an effect.

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D IG IT A L FX

The arrival of digital TV and the Increasing sophistication of the Internet and gaming are propelling the local visual effects forward fast. Once visual effects for film and television were created on set or on tape but film and television product is increasingly shot or scanned In digital format where effects can be created or manipulated using specialised FX computer systems.

The head of post house M V ’s digital pictures division, John Fleming, says “because film can be scanned into digital we now post produce features the way we post TV programs. ” This allows directors and techs to do “amazing things with Images” during post production like grading scenes with a particular colour. According to Fleming, the next 18 months will also see the wider application of new “datacines” that scan film at very high resolutions allowing even greater manipulation of images.

-> Although the software used for feature film effects differs from the

different medium to film and television, "the consistent use of digital

software used in web design, they have some common technical elements,

technologies across all our production processes" allows the skills in one area

enabling operators to transfer skills across mediums. According to Energee

of the business to be "more easily applied to another". Animal Logic takes the

Entertainment’s executive producer, Gerry Travers, "just different

position that the delivery technology is just a tool - whether it is web, net,

resolutions and frame rates” apply. The graphics composing principles for

cinema or television screen. "The real challenge is coming up with creative

film, television, video games and web sites “are the same”.

ideas that utilise those tools,” he says.

AVID Australia is a key local supplier of computer based design and editing

The art director of Sydney ad agency Kennedy Rea, Adam McCulloch, has a

tools for film and television product. Marketing manager Garrick Simeon says

sim ilar slant: "No matter which technology you choose" he says, "it all comes

“ many of AVID's software and hardware products provide convergent

back to how well you tell your story".

possibilities and all current editing equipment can create files for use by web sites” . In June 2000, AVID released a new hardware product globally that

-> GET ACTIVE

facilitates the streaming of video and other high bandwidth content over the

AAV's John Fleming predicts that interactivity w ill be one of the largest growth areas

internet in real time. AAV Australia offers video streaming to server as part of

for the industry over the next two years. He believes that digital television w ill fig­

its corporate services and Cutting Edge post production in Brisbane and

ure largely in interactive consum er activities w ith "pay TV stations already

recently streamed an outside broadcast live to web site for Queensland’s

moving towards interactivity in broadcasts". Andy Polaine concurs "the web is only

Remote Medical Association.

a slice of the net and the internet is only a slice of interactive media as a whole”

Animal logic was an Australian pioneer in computer generated images for film

and that "interactive TV could have a really rosy future" with the cooperation of

and television and is now one of the largest visual effects providers to local

relevant corporate and government bodies.

corporate and entertainment sectors. Research and development of digital

Once film or television product becomes a computer file - or series of files -

technologies have enabled the company to diversify into software development

using digital tools, it can be transported to any compatible portal in the world

and interactive media like www.mysteryclock.com and computer game

via the internet. This makes web and internet technology integral to efficient

animation. Early in 2000, the company launched a dedicated interactive arm,

co-productions between local and international agencies, eg, feature film The

Animal Logic Play, under the direction of Andy Polaine, a co-founder of London-

Matrix which involved three visual effects providers: two in Australia (Animal

based "new media collective" Antirom.

Logic and D-Film) and Mannix in San Francisco, and much internet circulation

Polaine says while Animal Logic considers interactive media a distinctly

of electronic files.

Musk Videos “I started m ating music videos -«Me still at film sdicol, on Weekends, far friends in bands. There «as a feeling gf break«} new new ground, lik e if or net, music videos introdured a wore of young filmmakers who would go on to shape feature films aver the ensuing yeas.'' - Alex Preyas

Crowded House - 'Don’t Dreamit'sOver* 54K / unte

above: Animal Logic is one of the largest visual effects providers and has recently diversified into software development and interactive media like www.mysteryclock.com. left: AAV is working on Esben Storm’s Subterano for Becker films.

CINEMA PAPERS.FEBRUARY.MARCH.2001 [43 ]

D I GI T A L FX

At the time of writing, Cutting Edge in Brisbane was shooting live material for

membership across “ad agencies, web

the 22-part US TV series Beastmaster and transporting the film rushes daily via

and game designers and anyone who has

internet to production partner Alliance Atlantis in Canada where most of the

a common interest” , says Case. Larger

post production is carried out. “We can have material to Canada in a matter of

numbers w ill help the alliance negotiate

two hours this way," claims operations manager Michael Burton, but setting up

lower broadband rates based on volume

the internet courier facility was involved and expensive. “We worked with

discounts. FIBRE has also applied for

engineers six months out before deciding on the Telestream System,” he says,

funding from the federal government and

which was chosen because it compresses high quality video into a file format

had not yet received a response at the

that can be transported via the internet. Burton adds that “the system was brand

time of writing.

new and had only been used once by Animal Logic on The Matrix".

Case believes “ if we open up broadband,

Access to high bandwidth for the rapid delivery of Telestream generated files to

it w ill add to the attractiveness of

Canada required installation of a fibre optic cable at the Brisbane office. “We

Australia as an arena for footloose

paid Telstra AUD$110,000 for set up,“ says Burton, “and then around

productions, ie, Americans leaving Hollywood to shoot here” . As he points

AUD$10,000 a month for bandwidth use” .

“Telstra hardly moved at all on their standard price” despite the fact that Cutting

out, Australia also offers the rest of the world. The significant benefit of a

Edge used its own interface equipment with the new cable. Burton says

different time zone where work can be done in the downtime in another country.

Australian telephony costs are ” 10 times” the cost of equivalent US services and

"If you involve America, Australia and Europe on a production” says Case, “you

"broadband costs in Australia should be cheaper than the cost of a courier” .

can do three eight hour shifts back to back - 'bring in the sun' in industry slang” .

Despite broadband issues, Brisbane- and Sydney-based visual effects agency

LOBBYING FOR MORE FIBRE Dominick Case is chairman of FIBRE (Film Industry Broadband Resources

Photon has been building a large Los Angeles client base since 1991. "We invented the visual effects industry in this country," claims managing director Dale Duigan.

Enterprise) - an Australian “screen industry” alliance set up to secure lower

"There was no industrialisation of the industry ten years ago and it wasn't user

broadband costs for local film productions. Case defines broadband as "high

friendly when we started up” he says. First client was Warner Bros who purchased

speed exchange of screen images or data beyond the capabilities of a standard

audio visual content for its local theme parks. To date, Photon has created ten

internet cable connection” and believes that the entire image production industry

thousand visual effects mostly for feature film and TV production. Fourteen

needs cost effective broadband access in order to advance. According to Case,

hundred of these were produced last year alone - one thousand of which were

this view is supported by the Australian Department of Industry who concluded in

exported to the US. Photon was also sole visual effects subcontractor on a major

a year 2000 report on the film industry, “that we are being held back by the costs

US studio blockbuster due for release here in June. Duigan could not reveal any

of broadband within the country and internationally” .

details about the release, but says that "Photon helped create its new technology

FIBRE is not a "closed or exclusive group” and is hoping to broaden its

paradigm". • MEGAN SLOLEY

» ¡ p i g *

'

check out more than 4 0 0 ,0 0 0 items in the National Collection on-line

1 www.screensound.gov.au Screen So u n d A ustralia NATIONAL FILM AND SOUND ARCHIVE

A N I M A T I O N FX

Animated Faces The basics of animation remain unchanged since Mickey Mouse was created but according to Energee’s Gerry Travers, computers, the web and the internet are driving innovation in Australia.

The local industry covers both animated effects for film, television, commercials, web sites, web advertising, computer and video games and fully animated products like feature films, television and web series. Most of our major post production and visual effects facilities now have an animation department or animation specialists to handle effects work.

AAV Australia-owned lloura Post Production in Melbourne was a traditional

successful web sites," says Gordon Lescinsky, Director of Research and

post-production agency until it merged with Zephyr Animation in 1999. The

Development. Blaze is also seeking to specialise within the web design market,

merger reflected a computer driven industry evolution where animation would

"trying to kick start a quality web medium just for faces that can give you instant

become "an essential tool for post production,” according to visual effects

personality on a web site,” explains Lescinsky.

supervisor Julian Dimsey.

Energee is also harnessing the unique opportunities of the web environment to

Although lloura is “capable of creating an animated feature from the ground up”

extend the distribution channels for existing animated properties, Wicked and The

it currently works exclusively on commercials for both the Australian market, (eg, Billabong icecreams and ANA monopoly both feature computer animated effects) and increasingly for Asia.

Animation is now almost exclusively created in 2D and 3D formats using computer hardware and software though "storyboards are

Magic Pudding, and to research and test prospective ideas. Energee currently screens Wicked and The Magic Pudding "web series” at eKidz.com.au where it "builds an online community of kids by offering them a free email account, chatroom facilities, bulletin boards, animations and games,” explains Travers. For Energee, this interactive environment provides information

one of the most important and creatively dynamic

on what kids "want to see, hear and talk

departments,” says Gerry Travers.

AVID Australia’s Andre DeAngelis explains

about” . Travers acknowledges that

traditional cell-based animation which "requires

Energee follows in the footsteps of John Kricfalusi (creator of Ren and Stimpyl who

drawings to be scanned into a computer and

was the first to test a web animation property

painted" is being replaced by computer software

online.

"which uses 3D to produce a 2D cell animated look”. AVID is the local distributor of Softimage XSI, one of "three top of the line software packages for 3D animation composing along with Maya and 3D Studio Max, " according to Dimsey.

Though "there aren't many pure animation companies left in Australia," Travers says, Animation Works in Perth developed a fully animated television sitcom which w ill debut on SBS around June 2001 in the South Park timeslot. Quads! is the name of

LOCAL INNOVATIONS Though no local company or individual has developed a comprehensive

the 13-part series, which is a co-production with Nelvana - one of the largest animation companies in Canada. The series was created and

animation software package, Australian owned Blaze International in

executive produced by cartoonist John Callahan and is an irreverent take

Melbourne has developed Famous Faces - a revolutionary 3D animator

on quadriplegia (John has been quadriplegic since the age of 21) and

tool for imbuing computer generated faces with real facial movement. It has particular relevance for animated characters backed by celebrity voices, eg, Dragonheart where Sean Connery's actual facial expressions were applied to the face of his animated dragon character. The

other physical disabilities. "The entire series was created using web-based Flash software,” says Animation Works' Colin South, "and we scripted three of the 13 episodes; animated eight and completed all the post-production nut of Perth.”

software has sold well both locally and in the United States where

In order to work most efficiently with Canada, Animation Works had to

Blaze has now set up a subsidiary office. Other local companies

set up a high capacity cable connection to send Flash files across the

like lloura and Animal Logic develop inhouse software "plug-ins”

internet. South explains that "we couldn't get access to the cable in Melbourne due

when a project specific special effect is required, eg, a swarm of bees or a

to Telstra's connection problems”, so the production was set up at a Perth location

hurricane. Dimsey says, plug-ins are sometimes "released and sold over the web”

with an existing connection facility. The internet enabled the animators to work day

with prices ranging from AU$600 to $1000.

and night across Canada and Australia though the connection would occasionally

Blaze recently adapted Famous Faces software into a tool for the web market,

break down in Sydney or America. South and team knew the exact locations of the

which it promotes and sells at famous3D.com as part of its general transition

breakdowns due to yet another piece of technology, which traces the internet

from computer game design to the web design market.

courier signal. "It worked out to be expensive," says South, "because we still send

"The skills involved in successful games are very similar to those used in

everything by physical courier as well - just in case.” • MEGAN SLOLEY

CINEMA PAPERS.FEBRUARY.MARCH.2001 [45]

Feature Film s ■ In p ro du ctio n

-> THE QUIET AMERICAN Mirage Enterprises/Rumbalara Films Principal Credits Director: Phillip Noyce Producers: William HorburgM Staffan Ahrenberg, Sydney Pollack Line producer: Antonia Bernard Production manager: Catherine Bishop Scriptwriter: Christopher Hampton Based on the novel: The Quiet American by Graham Greene Cast Michael Caine, Brendan Frase^ Synopsis Graham Greene's evocative tale of love and murder in Saigon at the end of the French Indochina war tells the story of an older British journalist covering the conflict, his Vietnamese mistress, and the young American posing as an aid worker but ultimately revealed as a spy, who arrives into their world with dangerous consequences for all.

-» SCOOBY-DOO Atlas Entertainment/Warner Roadshow Principal Credits Director: Raja Gosnell Producer: Charles Roven Scriptwriter: Craig Titley Synopsis The Mystery Ink team break up Beatles-style after solving yet another baffling mystery. The famous five go their separate ways and lose contact, each pursuing their own tentative dreams. Two years later Shaggy and Scooby-Doo instigate a reunion to help solve the mystery of a spooky theme park haunted by reallife demons.

EQUUS - THE STORY OF THE HORSE Mullion Creek Productions and Beyond Principal Credits Director: Michael Caulfield Producers: Liz Butler, Michael Caulfield Scriptwriter: Michael Caulfield

Director of photography: Tom Cowan Director of photography 2nd unit: Peter Coleman Composer: Roger Mason Production Crew Production manager: Lorelle Adamson Production accountant: John Russell Production Assistant: Brooke Morris Animals Animal trainer: Evonne Chesson Synopsis The large-format docu-drama follows the destinies of three young horses who are born on the same night.

j Best Boy: Garry Hill i Electricians: Paul Cumming, Joel Lategan On-set Crew 1st assistant director: Toby Pease 2nd assistant director: Deb Antoniou 3rd assistant director: Matt Harris Continuity: Kristin Voumard Boom operator: Gerry Nucifora | Make-up/hair supervisor: Robbie Austin Make-up/hair artists: Judy j Davis, Pamela Roth Stunts co-ordinator: Guy j Norris Still photography: Kiren Chang j Unit publicistyracy Mair ^C atering: Hel’s Kitchen -^THE MAN WHO SUED GOD Art Department Gannon Films Pty Ltd j Art director: Juliet John Duration: 100 minutes { Art department runner^Louise Principal Credits j Sanderson Director: Mark Joffe j Set dressers: Beth Garswood, Producer: Ben Gannon L Jane Culverhouse Line Producer: Irene Dobson Draftsman: Goderic Cole Scriptwriter: Don Watson Standby Props- Leroy ¡a Director of photography: Peter PLummer James ACS ASC j Vehicles co-ordinator: Richard Production designer: Luigi^H Gaunt Pittorino Graphic artist: Michael Editor: Peter Barton | Wholley Sound recordist: Ben Osmo I Props Buyer: fslicole Pollockaj Planning and Development Costume supervisor: Terri Casting: Alison Barrett Casting I Lamera Storyboard artist: David j Costume designer: Lisa Russell Meagher Production Crew Costume buyer: Shareen Berenger.

Production manager: Julie Sims Costumer standby: Jamella Production co-ordinator: Hassan Sophie Dick Construction Department Producer's assistant: B ria # || Construction manager: John Abel Rega Production secretary: Jessica Post Production Brentnall I Assistant editor: Alicia Gleeson Location manager: Phillip Editing assistant: David Roope Burrows Marketing Locations Assistant: Marcus Levy Unit Publicist: Tracy Mair Unit manager: Brad Roberts Cast Production runner: Sam Shine Billy Connolly, Judy Davis, Financial controller: Cynthia Colin Friels, Bille Brown, Kelly Wendy Hughes, Emily Production accountant: Ben Browning, Vincent Bal|||§ Grant Peter Whitford, Linal Haft, Accounts assistant: Christina John Howard Van der Heyden Synopsis Insurer: HW Wood Australasia j When lightning strikes and Pty Ltd sinks Steve Myers' fishing boat Completion guarantor: FACB (and floating home) the Camera Crew insurance company declares it an Act of God and refuses to Camera operator: David Williamson pay. Angry and hungover, Steve Key Grip: David Nichols sees no way out but to sue the Gaffer: Mick Morris other party - he sues God.

[4 6 ] CINEMA PAPERS.FEBRUARY.MARCH.2001

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-»LANTANA Beyond Films Principal Credits Director: Ray Lawrence Producer: Jan Chapman Scriptwriter: Andrew Bovell Based on the original play: Speaking in Tongues Production Crew 1st assistant director: Jamie Crofts DoP: Mandy Walker Cast Anthony La Paglia, Geoffrey Rush, Barbara Hershey, Kerry Armstrong, Rachael Blake, Vince Colosimo, Russell Dykstra^Daniella Farinacci, Peter Phelps, Leah Purcell, Glenn Robbins Synopsis Crossing the genre boundaries of thriller, mystery and romantic drama, 'Lantana' centres on a number of characters at a crucial time in their lives. They are connected by a series of coincidences involving misperception, infidelity and false assumption.

The search for meaning by Leon, the main character, drives the narrative and by learning about the pain of others he comes to accept his own.

LET’S GET SKASE Principal Credits Director: Matthew George Producers: John Tatoulis, Colin South, Sue Taylor Scriptwriters: Matthew George, Lachy Hulme Director of photography: Justin Brickie Production designer: Ralph Moser Composer: John Clifford White Cast Alex Dimitriades, Lachy Hulme Synopsis Anti-hero Peter Dellasandro and his posse of boys become men in the process of bringing Skase back from Majorca. The forces of good overcome all obstacles to triumph over the bad guys and a lot of laughs are had on the way.

->HILDEGARDE A Duck Film Pty Ltd Distribution: Providence Entertainment (US), UIP (Aust), BVHE (Aust)

Principal Credits Director: Di Drew Producers: Heather Ogilvie, David Hannay Associate Producer: Colleen Champ Scriptwriter: Gabrielle Prewergast Line Producer: Tom Hofge Art Department Production designer: Georgina Greenhill Post Production Editor: Ken James Cast Richard E Grant, Tom Long, Tara Morice, Gazelle B yrnes/^ Sam Geer, Dayne Hudson Synopsis Hildegarde, a much-loved family pet, is kidnapped by native bird smugglers.

QUEEN OF THE DAMNED DQ Productions Principal Credits Director: Michael Rymer Producer: Jorge Saralegui, Su Armstrong Scriptwriters: Michael Petroni Cast Stuart Townsend, Aaliyah, Vincent Perez Synopsis Based on Anne Rice's Queen of the Damned - a modern-day vampire thriller tracing the story of Lestat (last seen in Interview With a Vampire) who has reinvented himself as a rock star.

THE BANK Arenafilm Pty Ltd Principal Credits Director: Robert Connolly Producer: John Maynard Scriptwriter: Robert Connolly Director of Photography: Tristan Milani Editor: Nick Meyers Planning and development Casting: Mullinars Storyboard Artist: Tam Morris Onset Crew First Assistant Director: Phil Jones Production Manager: Elisa Argenzio Production Designer: Luigi Pittorino Sound Designer: Sam Petty Cast David Wenham, Sibylla BuddjS Steve Rodgers, Mitchell Butel -> CUBBYHOUSE Cubbyhouse Productions

Principal Credits Director: Murray Fahey Producers: Chris Brown, David Hannay Line producer: Tom Hoffie Executive producers: Gary Hamilton, Mikael Borglund Scriptwriters: Ian Coughlan, Murray Fahey Director of photography: Philip M. Cross ACS Sound: Greg Burgmann Production Crew Production designer: Sean Callinan Onset Crew Special fx make-up: Pro FX Special fx: Kevin Chisnall Art Department Art Director: Adam Head Post Production Editor: Brian Kavanagh CGI: Complete Post Cast Joshua Leonard, Belinda McClory, Amy Reti, Craig McLachlan Synopsis A family relocates from America to Australia and discovers that the house they've moved into is actually a gateway to Hell... and all hell is about to break loose.

-»JET SET Black Frame Principal Credits Director: Jonathan Ogilvie Producer: Helen Bowden Scriptwriter: Jonathan Ogilvie Directors of photography: Simon Higgins, Jonathan Ogilvie Cast Sam Atwell, Jane Borghesi, Beth Champion Synopsis A series of flight delays gives a glimpse into the lives of a group of departing passengers.

-» NIJINKSKI Iliumination Films and MusicArtsDance films Distribution: Sharmill Films (Aust) and WTV (World & US) Budget: 1.2 million Principal Credits Director: Paul Cox Producers: Paul Cox, Aanya Whitehead Executive producers: Kevin Lucas, William Marshall 'Scriptwriter: Paul Cox Based on the diaries of Vaslav Nijinsky

Composer: Paul Grabowsky Planning and Development Researchers: Leonie Verhoeven, Margot Wiburd Dance Consultant: Alida Chase Shooting schedule by: Aanya Whitehead Budgeted by: Aanya Whitehead Production Crew Insurer: Cinesure Completion guarantor: Film Finances Ltd Legal services: Marshalls and Dent On-set Crew Choreographers: Alida Chase, Leigh Warren Unit publicist: Catherine Lave lie Wardrobe Designer: Jilly Hickey Government Agency Investment Development: South Australian Film Corporation Production: South Australian Film Corporation, Australian Film Finance Corporation, SBS Independent Synopsis Vaslav Nijinsky was probably the greatest dancer of all time H the God of the Dance - and his ‘CahiersitiDiaries) must be one of the most extraordinary and moving literary works ever written. The film uses the words of Nijinsky, written in 1919 in St Moritz where he had retired, suffering extreme mental agony.

-» RABBIT-PROOF FENCE Jabal Films Distribution: Ocean Films Principal Credits Director: Phillip Noyce Producers: Christine Olsen, Phillip Noyce Co-producer: John Winter Executive producers: David Elfick, Jeremy Thomas, Kathleen McLaughlin Associate producer: Laura Burrows Scriptwriter: Christine Olsen Director of photography: Christopher Doyle Production designer: Roger Ford Sound recordist: Bronwyn Murphy Planning and development Casting; Christine King Casting consultant: Colin Murdoch Extras casting: Christine King, Colin Murdoch, Angela

Hessom Drama coach: Rachel Maza Production Crew Production manager: Julie Sims Production co-ordinator: Suzanne Mallos Production secretary: Jessica Brentnall Location managers: Mark Evans, Maude Heath Transport manager: Linda Taylor Unit manager: Wil Milne Production assistant: Lucia Noyce Production runner: Chris Taylor Production accountant: Jane Smith Insurer: HW Wood Australia Pty Ltd Completion guarantor: Film Finances, Inc ^ Legal services: Nina Stevenson Travel co-ordinator: Linda Taylor Freight co-ordinator: AusFilm Transport: Logistics A Camera Crew 2nd unit DOP: Ian Jones Key Grip: Robbie Morgan Gaffer: Nick Payne Best Boy: Glen Jenkins Onset Crew 1st assistant director: Emma Schofield 2nd assistant director: Deb Antoniou 3rd assistant director: Julie Wilson (Adelaide), Eddie Thorne (Leigh Creek) 4th assistant director: Duan Kereru 2nd unit assistant director: Ross Farghar Continuity supervisor: Kristin Witcombe 2nd unit continuity: Lucia Noyce Unit publicist: Emma Cooper Catering: Evangeline Feary, Steve Marcus Films Catering Art Department Art director: Laurie Faen Assistant art director: Ben Morrieson Art department co-ordinator: Jocelyn Thomas Propsperson: Dean Sullivan Props buyer: Robert Webb Set decorator: Rebecca Cohen Standby props: Dean Sullivan Wardrobe Wardrobe supervisor: Ruth de la Lande Standby wardrobe: Julie Krogar

Cutter: Judith Matters Construction manager: John Moore Marketing International distributor: Hanway Films Publicity: Emma Cooper Cast Kenneth Branagh, David Gulpilul, Ningeli Lawford, Deborah Mailman, Jason Clarke Synopsis Rabbit-Proof Fence tells the true story of three Australian Aboriginal girls who are forcibly taken from their .outback families in 1931 to be trained as domestic servants as part of an official government policy. They escape and embark on an epic 1500-mile journey to get back home, with the authorities chasing them all the way.

Emboman, a God-like killer, hunts his victims through a subterranean maze.

Telefeatures ■ In p re-p ro d u ctio n

-»HALIFAX f.p. (Series 6) Beyond Simpson Le Mesurier Distribution: Beyond Distribution Duration: 3 x 100min Principal Credits Producers: Roger Le Mesurier, Roger Simpson Executive producers: Kris Noble, Mikael Borglund Scriptwriters: Peter Gawler, Katherine Thomson | Planning and Development Script editor: Vicki Madden j Budgeted by: Sue Edwards ! Production Crew | Production Associate: Andy Walker SUBTERANO Producer’s assistant: Anna Becker Films Mantzoros Completion guarantor: Film Distribution: REP Films Principal Credits Finances, Inc. Director: Esben Storm Legal services: Fiona Crago, Producers: Richard Becker, Beyond International Barbi Taylor | Travel co-ordinator: Cheryl Scriptwriter: Esben Storm Hawkins, Stage & Screen Director of photography: Travel Freight co-ordinator: Stage & Graeme Wood Screen Freight Production Designer: Chris Government Agency Kennedy »Investment Planning and Development Casting: Ann Faye Australian Film Finance Production Crew Corporation Production Manager: Jane Marketing Sullivan International sales agent: Production co-ordinator: Clare Beyond Distribution Shervington International distributor: Location manager: Peter Hicks Beyond Distribution On-set Crew Cast 1st assistant director: Chris Rebecca Gibney Webb Synopsis Unit publicist: Amanda Huddle Jane Halifax is a forensic Art Department psychiatrist, a psychological Art director: Scott Bird sleuth whose precinct is the Special Effects supervisor: dark side of the human mind.

Peter Stubbs Retained by the police and the Wardrobe legal profession, Jane lives in Wardrobe designer: Tess a world of lies and shadows Schofield where the truth is never what Wardrobe supervisor: Katrina it seems.

Pickering Marketing Publicity: Amanda Huddle ■ In p ost-p ro d u ctio n Cast Alex Dimitriades, Tasma LI'L HORRORS Walton, Chris Haywood, Alison December Films Australia Whyte Distribution: Beyond Synopsis International Subterano is a virtual Principal Credits holographic game in which Directors: Chris Langman, CINEMA PAPERS.FEBRUARY.MARCH.2001 [4 7 ]

Helen Gaynor, Declan Eames, Ralph Strasser Producers: Tony Wright, Stuart Menzies Executive producer: Tim Brooke Hunt Associate producer: Richard Mueck Story editors: Peter Hepworth, Jon Stephens Script editors: Jon Stephens, Adam Todd Script Assistant: Beverley McDonald Scriptwriters: Peter Hepworth, Robert Greenberg, Brendan Luno, Kevin Nemeth, Glen Dolman, Jamie Forbes, Nancy Groll, Claire Madsen, David Phillips, Hugh Stuckey, Anthony Watt, Annie Fox, Meg Mappin, Pepe Trevor, David Rapsey, John Thomson Director of photography: Jaems Grant Production designer: Otello Stolfo Composers: Al Mullins and Janine DeLorenzo Production Crew Production manager: Rachel Evans Production co-ordinator: Andrea Tulloch Producer’s assistant: Melanie Hailstone Production assistant: Bee Matthews Production assistant/Production runner: Anny Beresford Production accountant: Mandy Carter insurer: Holland Insurance Brokers Completion guarantor: Legal services: Roth Warren Solicitors Travel co-ordinator: Stage and Screen Travel Camera Crew Camera operator: David Lindsey Camera assistant: Andy Butt Camera type: Sony 790 Digital Beta cam Camera maintenance: Lemac Key grip: Jamie Leckie Gaffer: Jim Hunt, Dave Lovell Best boy: Dave Lovell, Warwick Brown Onset Crew 1st assistant director: Chris Page Assistant director: David Hart Continuity: Amy Barclay, Kay Hennessey Playback operator: Robert Hall

Special fx producer: Rebecca Tolliday, Unreal Pictures Special fx: David Nelson, Unreal Pictures Still photographer: Suzy Wood Art Department Art directors: Marian Murray, Liam Siddell Art department runner: Penelope Laurence Set dresser: Denise Goudy Props buyer: Denise Goudy Props makers: Hamish Alderson Hicks, Justin Dix, Ben Green, Lance Whitehouse Standby props: Michael Saunders Wardrobe Standby wardrobe: Fiona MacKinnon Construction Department Scenic artistjjLiam Siddell Construction manager: Ian (Kincade) Doig Leading hand: Lance Whitehouse 1 Post production Post-production supervisor: Sarah Harrington Fox Assistant editor: M aryjeanr^^ Watt Sound transfers by: Soundfirm Sound editor: PauLPJrola Musical directors: Al Mullins, Janine DeLorenzo Music performed by: Ridgidigital Music Recording studio: Soundfirm Foley: Soundfirm Mixed at: Soundfirm CGIs- Unreal Pictures Grader: Noel McWhirter Screen ratio: 16:9 Shooting stock: Digital Betacam Video transfers by: AAV Australia Offline facilities: Mr Kali Editing Video special fx: Unreal Pictures Video master by: AAV Australia Government Agency Investment Development: Australian Film Commission Marketing International sales agent: Beyond International International distributor: Beyond International Cast Voice cast: Ric Herbert, Paula Morrell, Rachel King, Richard Hart, Abbe Holmes, Michael King, Matthew King Puppeteers Richard Mueck, Imogen Keen,

[4 8 ] CINEMA PAPERS.FEBRUARY.MARCH.2001

Richard Hart, Simon Rann, Heath Mclvor, Hugh Simpson Synopsis A 52-part live action puppet sitcom set in a spooky gothic school run by a retired movie actress. It features the (mis-) adventures of a group of children who just happen to be rather familiar monsters as well.

THE ROAD FROM COORAIN Chapman Pictures^ty L td ^ Principal Credits Producer: Penny Chapman Scriptwriter: Sue Smith Synopsis Based on Jill Ker Conway’s celebrated autobiography, this is the story of.a childhood. Set mainly^on the western plains of NSW, The Road From fCoorain is a witness to the M relationship between extraordinary women over a lifptime of a d v e rs ity ^

Documentaries

Producer: Sally Ingleton Director of photography: Philip Bull Post Production Editor: Ken Sallows Synopsis A documentary about a coastal town outside Melbourne where a small number of boat operators with differing philosophies compete to run dolphin swim tours.

-» FROM KOREA WITH LOVE Iris Pictures Pty Ltd Principal Credits Director: Jennifer Cummins Producer: Jessica DouglasHenry Executive produces Courtney (Gibson ■Scriptwriter: Justine Flynn Director of photography: Chris Thorburn ■Sound recordist: Leo Sullivan ^Synopsis Follows an Anglo-Saxon couple going through the process of adopting a Korean baby.

■ In p re -p ro d uctio n THE SALT OF THE EARTH MAHATMA b AN DHI Glass Box Distribution: Glass Box Budget: $250,000 Principal Credits Director: Don Palmer Producer: Don Palmer Scriptwriters: Tom Weber, Don Palmer Based on the novel titled: On the Salt March by Tom Weber Director of photography: Michael Newling Researchers: Tom Weber Synopsis Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King. Albert Einstein and Aung San Suu Kyi have one thing in common: they were all inspired by the vision, dedication and ideas of Mahatma Gandhi. He is a household name but so few really understand why. Tom Weber has spent 20 years finding out and now takes us on a journey to see why Gandhi still rocks.

■ In p ro duction DOLPHINMANIA Singing Nomads Productions Principal Credits Director: Sally Ingleton

^AUSTRALIA: LAND BEYOND TIME Living Pictures Principal Credits Producers: David and Sue Flatman Director: David Flatman Scriptwriters: David Flatman, Reg Morrison Format: Imax Synopsis Australia: Land Beyond Time is a giant screen film about the ingenuity of life adapting to an ancient, largely arid environment, and the strategies many species have developed to survive the Earth's most challenging extremes.

■ In p ro du ctio n RETURN TO EDEN Artemis International Network: ABC Principal Credits Director: Celia Tait Producers: Brian Beaton, Celia Tait Executive Producerss: Brian Beaton, Peter Beilby, Dione Gilmour Scriptwriter: Celia Tait Format: Super! 6mm film Synopsis In the pristine landscape of

the north-west of Australia a battle for territory is being waged between two opposing forces: feral versus native animals.

SMALL STEPS, GIANT STEPS Emerald Films Network: SBS Principal Credits Director: Sally Browning Producer: Sally Browning Associate Producer: Paola Garofali Director of photography: Roman Baska Editor: Emma Hay Script writer: Sally Browning Format: DVCam & DVC Pro Synopsis Autism is a disorder that affects one in every 1Q00 children born in Australia.

Most children suffering autism are initially catagorised as "unreachable" and until recently institutionalisation was the favoured therapy. The film follows several children who are attending Giant Steps, a special school of holistic one-on-one therapy for affected children in Sydney, whose progress to communication has defied their initial diagnoses.

KILLER INSTINCT EPIX Pty Ltd Distribution: Associated Television International Duration: 6x1 hour Principal Credits Director: Garry Gibson Producer: Michael Gibson Executive producers: Glenn Avini, Paul Sharratt, David McKenzie Associate producer: Tony Ryan Scriptwriters: Tony Ryan, MichetleWamer, Charles Boyle, Steven Waller, Gay Reid, Geoff Cooper.

Director of photography: Vic Martin Editor: Marion Gibson.Ross Macintosh Composer: Gary Smith Sound designer: Rod Herbert Sound recordist: Evan Burrows Synopsis Killer Instinct is a six part, one hour television series that takes you to the scene of the stalking and right to the kill.

You’re up close and personal

with animals using their power, cunning and special genetic abilities to survive.

ANIMAL X - SERIES 2 Storyteller Productions Duration: 13x30 minutes Principal Credits Executive producers: Mike Searle, Jennifer Wilson, Tim Sparke Producers: Mike Searle, Nigel Swetenham. Jennifer Wilson, Melenie Ambrose, Linda Searle, Caroline Bertram, Karen Ross, Rebecca Kelsall, Daniel Brown, Denise Blazek, Suzanne Farrow Synopsis As with series: one, ANIMAL X - SERIES 2 investigates animal stories from around the world. From ghostly phenomena to lake monsters and mysterious sightings to unknown creatures.

INSIDE THE AUSTRALIAN BALLET East Australian Film Company Duration: 60min Principal Credits Directors: Bob Hardie, Matthew Dow Producer: Bob Hardie Co-producer: Matthew Dow Synopsis The Australian Ballet Company is recognised as one of the world's best. This series examines the way the ballet company works and the personalities that drive it.

One of the highlights is an international tour, including performances in the US. MALPA Caama Productions Pty Ltd Budget: $225,000 Principal Credits Director: Erica Glynn Producer: Priscilla Collins Executive producer: Priscilla Collins Scriptwriter: Kate Gillick Director of photography: Helen Barrow Sound recordist: Flavia Abdurahman Synopsis This unique documentary features the special working relationships between indigenous and nonindigenous women who work

out on remote indigenous communities.

MR STREHLOW’S FILMS Journocam Productions Budget: SBS/FFC Accord Principal Credits Director: Hart Cohen Producer: Adrian Herring Scriptwriter: Hart Cohen Director of photography: Tony Wilson Sound recordist: Leo Sullivan Editor: James Bradley Synopsis A documentary about the life and work of pre-eminent and controversial Australian anthropologist and Arrernte linguist TGH Strehlow (19081978). Tracks the challenges Strehlow se tfo r himself as anthropologist and filmmaker, and the work currently underway to repatriate his collection to Arrernte communities in Central Australia.

R ecent funding decisio ns

little fishing village in outback South Australia, Deadly, Unna? is a contemporary story about two communities, the Goonyas (whites) and the Nungas (blacks), and the one thing they have in common the local Australian Rules football team.

GARAGE DAYS Mystery Clock Cinema Pty Ltd Producer: Topher Dow, Alex Proyas Director: Alex Proyas Writers: Alex Proyas, Dave Warner, Michael Udesky Distribution: Fox Searchlight GARAGE DAYS is a film about a dream that almost every kid has had at least once in his or her life*- the dream of becoming a rock star. Freddy learns that there is more to being a rock star than just doing drugs and learning a few tunes, and realises that even after securing a gig on the main stage at the Big Day Out, it's still along way to the top if you want to rock and roll.

GOING PUBLIC (4 x 27 minute Accord documentary) Puzzle Media Pty Ltd Producers: Nigel Traill, Margie Bryant Director: Nigel Traill Presale: ABC TV They used to be cut-throat competitors, now they want to make each other rich. Going Public is the story of a group of very different people brining their private businesses together to created a major new public company, Buzzle.

SHADOW PLAY: INDONESIA'S FORGOTTON HOLOCAUST (52 minute documentary) Shadow Play Productions Pty Ltd Producers; Sylvie Le Clezio, Chris Hilton Director/writer: Chris Hilton Presales: SBSI, NPS, La Sept/Arte, YLE, TV Denmark, Soros Documentary Fund Distribution: Tachibana Publishing Inc, Daro Film Distribution SHADOW PLAY w ill be the first fu ll and frank account of what happened in Indonesia in 1965/66 leading up to the incredible slaughter of up to a million Indonesians, and the imprisonment without trial of hundreds of thousands more.

This documentary w ill explore new evidence which implicates the British, American and Australian governments in this terrible campaign orchestrated by Suharto.

CHILD SOLDIERS (55 minute documentary) Electric Pictures Pty Ltd Producer: Andrew Ogilvie Director: Alan Lindsay Presales: ABC TV, OPB, RTHK Distribution: Carlton International Children are being forced and tricked into becoming soldiers by the thousands in more than 40 countries across the globe.

This documentary depicts the lives of children in Africa, Asia and South America who have been through this trauma of

TROUBLED WATERS (52 minute Accord Documentary) Resonance Productions Producer: Jo-anne McGowan Directors: Ruth Balint, Erika Addis Writer: Ruth Balint Presales: SBS TROUBLED WATERS follows the story of two Indonesian fishermen captured at sea by Australian authorities. It tracks the journey from their traditional fishing grounds into the Australian penal

■ D o c u m e n ta ry ■ F eatu re Film s ->THE TRACKER Vertigo Productions Pty Ltd Producer/director/writer: Rolf de Heer Distribution: SBSI, PMP, Globe Entertainment, Intra Films A set of mountain ranges in the outback, 1922... horseback country, and the Fanatic leads the two other white men, the Follower and the Philosopher, and the Tracker, in the pursuit of the Fugitive. Through massacre and murder the hunt continues, until the clear-cut notions of truth and justice are subverted and the questions become not, w ill the Fugitive be caught, but what is black and what is white and who is leading whom?

DEADLY, UNNA? Tidy Town Pictures Pty Ltd Producer: Mark Lazarus Director: Paul Goldman Writers: Phillip Gwynne, Paul Goldman Distribution: Palace, Beyond, PMP Showtime Australia, SBS Based on the novel by Phillip Gwynne and set in a shabby

child soldiering, or are presently ‘child soldiers’.

-» DISTANT ECHOES (6 x 30 minute documentary series) CM Film Productions Producer: Carlo Buralli Director: Carmelo Musca Presales: Channel Nine Distribution: Tachibana Publishing Inc, Daro Film Distribution DISTANT ECHOES w ill focus on ceremonial and celebratory traditional music, how culture is shaped by music and the significant similarities and differences that exist between the music from different cultures.

system and portrays the poverty treadmill that result from practices of arrest and incarceration.

XANANA - THE MAN, THE NATION (52 minute documentary) Talking Heads Productions Producer: Michael Rivette, Tracey Curro Director: Michael Rivette WritenTracey Curro, Michael Rivette Presales: Channel 7 Distribution: France Television Distribution Xanana Gusmao is East Timor’s most feted hero, poised to become president, when the new nation cements it’s freedom with the first democratic elections in its history late next year. By following the developing political and administrative processes through the man at its helm, and with personal exploration of the lives and needs of ordinary East Timorese families, this documentary w ill capture this devastated country's transition from occupied territory to independent, democratic state.

■ C h ild re n ’s T e le v is io n D ra m a HIGH 8 (26 x 30 minute mini series) Blueberry Productions Pty Ltd Executive Producer: Ewan Burnett Producer: Margot McDonald Writer: Marieke Hardy Presales: Network Sever, Disney Chanel UK, Disney Chanel Australia Distribution: Entertainment Rights PLC The video camera can be a tool of expression, exploration and communication. But it can also be an instrument of manipulation, secrecy and lies. High 8 depicts a group of young people facing the normal challenges of growing up, in and out of school, but using a camera in all its functions to learn about their lives.

CINEMA PAPERS’ PRODUCTION REPORT IS COMPILED BYTAMI DOWER, EMAIL: TDOWER(aNICHE.COM.AU.

CINEMA PAPERS.FEBRUARY.MARCH.2001 [49]

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[50] CINEMA PAPERS.FEBRUARY.MARCH.2001

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