AustLit
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'As part of the Australian Perspectives program at ACMI, industry guests and cinema academics discuss Australian films, and directors provide us with some exclusive insights into their work. ' (Website introduction)
Notes
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Only literary material within AustLit's scope individually indexed. Other material in this issue includes:
- Naked on the Inside with Director Kim Farrant
- Anthony Carew Presents Cane Toads: An Unnatural History
- Wedding Sari Showdown 1 & 2 with Director Kylie Boltin
- Megan Spencer Presents: Jisoe + A Dollar for the Good Ones
Contents
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Patrick White's The Night The Prowler,
single work
criticism
'An essay is presented on the film "The Night the Prowler," directed by Jim Sharman. It explores why the film does not fit into any of the popular categories of Australian filmmaking in the heady days of the revival. It discusses how its production came to be set up as the movie underlies the connection between cult and art cinema. It analyzes the film's reception wherein not everyone was immune on what it offers.' (Publication abstract)
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Death or Betrayal?,
extract
criticism
'Historically, this was a moment when women became aware of being mocked, ignored, infantilised, marginalised and yes, hated in male-dominated society. Misogyny had the effect of making many women band together in a 'united we stand' stance against patriarchy and so they papered over their differences. Not to do so was seen as a betrayal, perhaps the worst word in the feminist lexicon.' (Introduction)
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A Celebration of Wendy Hughes,
single work
biography
'I don't remember exactly when I first saw Wendy Hughes, or more accurately when I first became aware of Wendy Hughes as a presence on the screen. I thought I had first seen her in Lonely Hearts (1982), the AFI award-winning Best Feature film directed by Paul Cox, but I now realise she must have been in earlier Australian films, or on television without my being aware of exactly who Wendy Hughes was.
I would probably have seen her as one of the fine cast of My Brilliant Career (1980), directed by Gillian Armstrong, a film that did much to re-establish the reputation of Australian filmmaking internationally. As the concerned, caring Aunt Helen of Judy Davis' Sybilla, it was an important early step for Wendy Hughes and clearly demonstrated her compassionate side.'
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David Gulpilil,
single work
biography
'If you asked most Australians where they think David Gulpilil, our most decorated indigenous performer, might live, most would probably shrug their shoulders and say: "I don't know ... Bondi maybe. Isn't that where all the other actors live?" David is in fact the link between our Westernised urban sprawl and a land and culture that is as old as time. He is one of the rare glimpses into a vanishing culture that he hugs as fiercely as we hug the bosom of our coastal cities. When you look into David's face you see the Arafura Swamp, the Glyde River, the oncoming Wet season and the steely Barru hunter preparing for an all night hunt so that he can feed his family. And when that face breaks into a broad grin you know that you are welcome on his land, but only if you respect it with your very soul.' (Introduction)
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They're a Weird Mob,
extract
criticism
'The tensions of the rich wave of migration to Australia after World War II were satirised and sanitised by the enormously popular adaption of Nino Culotta's (John O'Grady's) comic novel They're a Weird Mob. Using 'strine' as the basis for the satire, the Australian vernacular became a major bone of contention for Italian migrant Nino (played by noted European actor Walter Chiari), who experiences all the highs and lows of Australian culture. The story deals with Chiari, as a sportswriter, visiting Australia to work with his brother, only to find he has absconded leaving a trail of debts. Eventually he is won over by the people of the country, and decides to stay.'(Introduction)
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Lionel : Filmmaker Notes,
single work
essay
'In my teens and early twenties I was greatly inspired by stories about the aboriginal boxing champion Lionel Rose recalled by friends living in and around Drouin and Warrigal, Lionel's own country. For me, his story took on mythological proportions and whilst I would see his photos on the walls of working class drinking holes, I didn't feel I really knew the man behind the myth. I could sense the importance of this buried idol and his place as a great Australian and felt compelled to follow his story through.' (Introduction)
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Not Quite Hollywood : Background Notes,
single work
criticism
'In 2003, the A-list of the local film industry attended the Australian premiere of Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill - Volumne One. When introducing the film Tarantino shocked the audience by dedicating it to his favourite Antipodean Filmmaker, Brian Trenchard-Smith - Australia's leading exponent of action/exploitation films in the 70s and 80s.' (Introduction)
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No Film for Chickens,
single work
criticism
'INT. LONDON UNDERGROUND PLATFORM DAY
England 1983. Commuters stand in silent groups awaiting the next rattling arrival on the Piccadilly Line.
Work, consume, be silent, die - is etched on the faces of many. The Thatcher Years.
Only two men are having a conversation; one, a young movie geek, the other, a national newspaper film critic (although in fact he sees himself as a Cinema Critic)' (Introduction)
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Werewolves Du Jour,
single work
essay
'Philippe Mora on the Making and Selling of Australian Myth' (Source : Blurb)
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Kung Fu Killers,
single work
criticism
'My one hour documentary World Of Kung Fu (1973) was a ratings success for the Seven Network, so I quickly sold a sequel concept to Channel Nine, this time 75 minutes for a 90 minute slot. The film would follow Australian stuntman Grant Page going to Hong Kong to learn more about kung fu, and to find who would succeed the late great Bruce Lee as Asia's top martial arts star.
A one page sizzle sheet, and my relationship with the Nine Network (for whom I had previously been the on-air promo producer before starting my own production company) was enough to get me a verbal acquisition deal from Nine's Len Mauger. In those days an executive's word was his bond.' (Introduction)
See also:
'Battling It Out Kung Fu Style', Australian Women's Weekly, 1 May 1974, p.21/
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Francis Bacon in a Sidney Nolan Landscape - the Making of Mad Dog,
single work
autobiography
'Philippe Mora's haunting account of legendary bushranger Daniel Morgan has become legendary itself - not least because of the antics of the star Dennis Hopper (a perfect piece of casting as Mad Dog Morgan). In this essay, Mora remembers making the film, at a pivotal time in the history of home-grown cinema.' (Synopsis)
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Storm Warning,
single work
criticism
'Director Jamie Blanks on the making of his 2007 Aussie thriller.' (Source : Blurb)
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The Making of Monkey Puzzle : Filmmaker Notes,
single work
essay
'Monkey Puzzle follows a group of five young friends who journey into pristine wilderness. The object of their search - the Wollemi Pine - is a "dinosaur" tree. Scientists say it should have gone extinct at the time of the dinosaurs. It didn't. Somehow it clung onto life. For this reason the location of the last remote gully on earth, which hosts this tree, is withheld from the public. The puzzle, that is this rare tree, sets up the film.' (Introduction)
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Demonstrator : Filmmaker Notes,
single work
single work
essay
'Demonstrator was a logical step for Freeman Fishburn Productions. We were experienced television and stage producers and directors, having driven the innovative and popular shows of the time - Mavis Brampston, Bandstand, Jacques Brel etc etc. I had moved into movies with the Goldsworthy features... it was time to direct an Australian feature. We were certainly ahead of the game... Demonstrator was 1971, the Australian Film Commission was not formed until 1973 and after that came Picnic and Mad Max and Caddie and ....funding. In hindsight, we should have waited! ' (Introduction)
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Inspiration by Accretion,
single work
criticism
'It's flattering to be asked to write about the inspiration for Yakkety Yak (1974). It's also a bit embarrassing. The film is a trifle, produced on a $4000-and-change budget, shot in a week, directed by someone who wasn't sure what he was doing, and starring a pudgy guy who'd never acted before (or since). Over thirty years have passed since I made it, and more than twenty since I last saw it. But flattery trumps embarrassment, so here goes.' (Introduction)
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Shane Maloney Presents Death in Brunswick,
single work
criticism
'Back in the late seventies, I was a booking agent for rock bands. Off duty, I had an occasional tipple with a barfly named Boyd Oxlade. When pub rock was killed by stand-up comedy, I changed jobs, bought a house in Brunswick and gave up tippling with barflies.' (Introduction)
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Is Australian TV Entering a Golden Age?,
single work
criticism
'Film and TV critic Luke Buckmaster explores whether the industry might be experiencing (or about to experience) a new ‘golden age’.'
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Putting Dogs in Space,
single work
criticism
'Richard Lowenstein’s Dogs in Space revels in a particular historical moment: the final, dying spin of the Catherine Wheel that was Melbourne 70s punk culture before its raffish spirit dissipated in the safer, blander decade of the 1980s. To read Richard’s diary notes on the making of the film in 1986, now 30 years on, is to realise however that the bravura of punk was never fully cowed.' (Introduction)
