Cinema Papers August 1982

H elen M orse in terview ed August 1982

"W hen you’ve been perfectly happy,

why change?”

“The cinematographers that I trust like Eastmancolor - we’ve used it on all the films I’ve produced so far.

O ne doesn’t like to take the risk with other stock because when you’ve been perfectly happy, why change?

A nd that goes right down the line when you talk to top color graders like A rthur Cambridge - he’s made no complaints.

I’ve got a very good relationship with Kodak.

Representatives come and see me at least twice a year and we discuss what my future requirements might be.

This personal contact is first class service.

If they’re bringing out a new type of stock Kodak always contact me. T hen usually, when either of those super cinematographers, Russell Boyd or David Gribble, have tested the stock, I get a report from them on how best it could be used.

It’s an excellent relationship really.

All I can say is, it& very sm ooth ... theres just never a problem.”

Pat Lovell, Producer Picnic at Hanging Rock, Gallipoli, Monkey Grip

Kodak M otion Picture Film KODAK (Australasia) PTY. LTD.

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1982 marks the tenth year of service by Adair Insurance Broking Group to the Australian Film Industry. It has been a decade of growth in im agination, professionalism, expertise and international commercial stature for Australian film product. A decade in which Adair is proud to have participated.

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In 1981, Adair was appointed sole correspondent in Australia and New Zealand for Ruben and th e Fireman's Fund — the largest entertainm ent underwriters in the w orld — considerably broadening Adair's servicing base to the industry. Ruben's 20 year association w ith film , TV and general entertainm ent insurance, coupled w ith Adair's Australian experience, places Adair clients at the forefront of the latest developments in effective protection.

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Just up Missenden Road, immediately below the site of the old Movietone theatrette, Les McKenzie, Ron Gubbins, John Heath and the team have built an extraordinary preview â&#x20AC;˘* * theatre.

Sporting the same projection and magnetic transport equipment as the top Warner Brothers room, Dubbing 5.

Modelled largely on the Alfred Hitchcock Theatre at Universal Featuring the kind of fanatical attention to detail and questing for perfection that could only have been achieved by dedicated professionals of the calibre of Les and his team.

It may give you some idea of the mans powers of persuasion when we tell you that the theatre is built where, until quite recently, the Colorfilm executives had a suite of very comfortable offices.

We finally justified it this way. You people are spending increasingly larger numbers of millions of dollars to produce your films. The very least we should do is provide you with a world class theatre to view rushes and finished product in as near to perfect conditions as we can manage.

For those of you interested in the finer details of acoustics and projection, ring Les McKenzie. He will answer your questions in far more detail than we can, and will be only too happy to run you a reel so you can see and hear the results of his labours for yourself.

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Articles and Interviews Helen Morse and Richard Mason: Interview

George Tosi

310

Norwegian Cinema

Solrun Hoaas

316

Anja Breien: Interview 320

Solrun Hoaas Two Laws

John Avery

328

A Shifting Dreaming

Marcus Breen

330

David Millikan: Interview

Marcus Breen

332

Derek Granger: Interview

Ian Stocks

338

National Film Archive 341

Clyde Jeavons

Helen Morse Interviewed: 310

Norwegian Cinema Surveyed: 316

Features The Quarter Cannes Film Festival 1982

308

Mari Kuttna Picture Preview: We of the Never Never Melbourne Film Festival 1982

Keith Connolly, Brian McFarlane

322 325 334

Sydney Film Festival 1982

John Fox, Debi Enker

344

New Products and Processes

Fred Harden Production Survey Film Censorship Listings Picture Preview: Lonely Hearts

349 353 379 380

Film Reviews Far East

Brideshead Revisited Producer interviewed: 338

363

Debi Enker Missing

364

Keith Connolly

Melbourne Film Festival Reviewed: 334

Monkey Grip

Brian McFarlane

366

Dark Times 367

Les Rabinowicz Squizzy Taylor

Jim Schembri

367

Southern Comfort

R. J. Thompson

369

Two Laws 371

Susan Tate Blood Feud

Susan Tate

373

Book Reviews The English Novel and the Movies

Dennis Bowers

375

Australian Cinema: Industry, Narrative and Meaning

Cannes Film Festival Reviewed: 322

Sam Rohdie Merv Binns

Managing Editor: Scott Murray. Associate Editor: Peter Beilby. Contributing Editors: Tom Ryan, Ian Baillieu, Brian McFarlane, Fred Harden. Editorial Consultant: Maurice Perera. Proof-reading: Arthur Salton. Design and Layout: ARTetc. Business Consultant: Robert Le Tet. Office Administration: Patricia Amad. Secretary: Anne Sinclair. Office Assistant: Jacquelyn Town.

Advertising: Peggy Nicholls (03) 830 1097 or (03) 329 5983. Printing: Waverley Offset Publishing Group, Geddes St, Mulgrave, 3170. Telephone: (03)560 5111. Typesetting: B-P Typesetting, 7-17 Geddes St, Mulgrave, 3170. Telephone: (03) 561 2111. Distributors: NSW, Vic., Qld, WA, SA: Consolidated Press Pty Ltd, 168 Castlereagh St, Sydney, 2000. Telephone: (02) 2 0666. ACT, Tas.: Cinema Papers Pty Ltd. U.S.: T. B. Clarke Overseas Pty Ltd. ‘ Recommended price only.

375

Two Laws Reviewed: 371

Recent Releases 377

Cinema Papers is produced with financial assistance from the Australian Film Commission.

Articles represent the views of their authors and not necessarily those of the editors. While every care is taken with manuscripts and materials supplied for this magazine, neither the Editors nor the Publishers accept any liability for loss or damage which may arise. This magazine may not be reproduced In whole or in part without the permission of the copyright owner. Cinema Papers is published every two months by Cinema Papers Pty Ltd, Head Office, 644 Victoria St, North Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3051. Telephone: (03) 329 5983. © Copyright Cinema Papers Pty Ltd, No. 39, August 1982.

Front cover: Bryan Brown and Helen Morse in John Duigan’s Far East (see interview with Morse on pp. 310-15, and review on pp. 363-64).

CINEMA PAPERS August — 307

A ustralian Film A wards lilliiaiBIilllHSil

Pre-selection screenings for the 1982 Australian Film Awards finished on July 31. Some 30 features were screened to eligible voters, who will nominate four films for each of the 13 c a te g o rie s in w h ich th e y are accredited. These nominations will then be voted on in September by Aus­ tralian Film institute members.

According to Richard Watts, special projects officer at the AFI, approxi­ mately 160 voters in Sydney and Melbourne became eligible to cast pre­ selection ballots by viewing all the films.

The screenings in both states were extremely well run and, apart from some early problems with Dolby sound projection in Melbourne, later rec­ tified, without problems. There is no doubt the AFI gained in prestige through its smooth and courteous handling of the pre-selection process.

Two concerns did later emerge as to the pre-selection balloting, however.

First, unlike In previous years, the vote is no longer secret, with the ballot paper needing to be mailed in the same envelope as the voter’s signed declara­ tion. Such a procedure may be an over­ sight, but nonetheless disturbing.

Second, the regulations state that no film will make the final four nomina­ tions unless it receives at least one first preference vote. That is, if one film received 10 second, 15 third and 27 fourth preferences, it could not make the final nominations. In fact, another film which received only one vote, a first preference, would be selected before It — one vote outweighing 52.

Certainly, this is one regulation which should be reconsidered before next year’s Awards.

Greater Union A wards The winners of the 1982 Greater Union Awards for Australian Shorts are: Rouben Mamoulian Award Greetings from Wollongong (Mary Callaghan) Documentary Category Home on the Range (Gil Serine) Fiction Category Last Breakfast in Paradise (Meg Stewart) General Category Shadows (Royden Irvine) Interestingly, the films by Irvine, Callaghan and Serine also won major awards at the 1982 Melbourne Film Festival, which Is an International competition.

Film in Victoria iHBBBBlIBIliRBRSI At the opening of the Australian Film and Television Training Centre on July 29, the Victorian Minister for the Arts, Race Mathews, spoke of re-vitalizing film activity in his state. In the address, Mathews said: . . I have been conducting a thorough review of the film situation in Victoria. The whole purpose and structure of Film Victoria is being re­ examined and I have before me, at the moment, some suggestions from the Board.

“The Labor Party was critical of the Film Victoria concept while in opposition. This was not because we were necessarily opposed to the no­ tion of one professional body being responsible for all Government involvement in the film and tele­ vision industry in Victoria. We felt, however, that such a broad ration­ alization of resources could get in the way of the role of Film Victoria or the Victorian Film Corporation, as it was then called, as an active participant in the film Industry. So our current study has Included a review of the amalgamation of the audio-visual

308 - August CINEMA PAPERS

resources branch of the Education Department with Film Victoria, which took place under the Film Victoria Act last year and, also, of the incor­ poration of the State Film Centre.

“We are also looking at ways of raising capital for film production In Victoria and of enhancing the role of Film Victoria as a producer of quality films. “ I am hopeful that legislation amending the Film Victoria Act and incorporating the first fruits of this review will be before the Parliament either in the Spring or the Autumn Session . . . “ I take this opportunity to say that, within the inevitable constraints of budgeting, the Victorian Govern­ ment intends to do all it can to revive the film industry in this state.

“There is only marginal benefit to Victoria in providing appreciative audiences, if the films they see are ail produced elsewhere. “ I say this, not in a spirit of provin­ cial patriotism, but simply because a large industrial centre, like Mel­ bourne, with a strong cultural tradi­ tion, has much to give in this, the most modern of the art forms. “ Perhaps the term ‘industry’ is too strong for something as fragile as filmmaking In Australia. We have had remarkable success in a decade, but we would be foolish to believe that we are established forever. . .

“We need now to watch for the Australian film to gain its ‘second wind’, recapturing, if not the first fine careless rapture of the early 1970s, at least the solid achievement of Australian quality films since then.

Melbourne may not want to produce big commercial films, which have recently been the fashion, but quality films which are nonetheless suffi­ ciently popular to be commercially worthwhile . .

How depressed Is film activity in Vic­ toria? Of the 30 features entered in the 1982 Australian Film Awards, 12 were Melbourne-based productions and two others used Victorian locations. Given so much of the national press sees the industry only existing In Sydney, the figures are perhaps surprising.

Certainly, Melbourne was the most active film centre in the rebirth of Aus­ tralian cinema In the early 1970s. And up till 1977, more films had emanated from Melbourne than anywhere else.

But that changed, in part because of the concentration of federal govern­ ment film bodies in Sydney. The Aus­ tralian Film Commission, the Film and Television School and Film Australia are all Sydney-based, and helped establish Sydney as the industry centre.

State government film bodies have helped various states maintain sep­ arate identities (particularly in South Australia). But the moneys given to state bodies have varied greatly from state to state. According to the Mel­ bourne Directors’ Guild, the Victorian Film Corporation had only $800,000 to invest in production, while the New South Wales Film Corporation had $3.5 million and the AFC $4.2 million.

To bring the VFC (or Film Victoria) more in line with the NSWFC, for exam­ ple, the Victorian government must either greatly Increase Its financial con­ tribution or in some other way find in­ vestment moneys in that state.

One suggestion has come from Phillip Adams of Adams-Packer Film Productions. He has argued that the Victorian Government establish an independent and self-financing body to attract private investment under the provisions of the Income Tax Assess­ ment Act. Much money raised so far, it has been claimed, has gone across the border, Into interstate films. This new body would not only try to increase the amount of private investment but also concentrate on indigenous production.

Adams claims the new body could also charge lower brokerage fees than those charged by some private oper­

ators (30 per cent of a budget and more).

So far, the concept is only in discus­ sion stages, but several reservations have already been raised. Most impor­ tant, will the new body become the sole arbitrator of what films are made in Vic­ toria? If this government-supported authority can offer better terms than independent producers and pack­ agers, presumably most of the avail­ able tax money will go through the authority. This could be seen as unfair competition.

Secondly, who will decide what pro­ jects the authority will invest in? Pre­ sumably Film Victoria would fulfil some vetting and development role.

One might argue whether, on its past record, the VFC is suited to such a task — especially one on a far larger scale than its present operations.

Equally, one must ask whether the consolidation of decision-making in one body is of benefit to the industry.

Even a cursory glance of film activity in the past years suggests it is not.

Melbourne Film Festival Awards BBBBSBBBBBBBBBBBB

Geoff Gardner, director of the Mel­ bourne Film Festival, announced the Festival’s awards for short films on the closing night of the Festival. The winners are: Grand Prize Shadows (Royden Irvine) Second Prize Rough Cut and Ready Dubbed

(Hasan Shah, Dom Shaw) Third Prize The Is/Land (Michael Oblowitz, David Goldberg) Erwin Rado Prize Cafe of Love (Jinks Dulhunty) Films on Art Prize First Impressions (Paul Barron, David Rapsey) Animation Prize Commuter (Mike Patterson) Special Awards Home on the Range (Gil Serine), The Hobbs Case (Alan Coulter), Lost Love (Cathy Zheutlin), Bread (Peter Berry), Greetings from Wollongong (Mary Callaghan), Fish Heads (Bill Paxton) and Our Boys (Cathal Black). .

Diplomas of Merit The Decision (Vera Neubauer), A Most Attractive Man (Rivka Hart­ man), The Babysitter (Casper Verbrugge), Murder In a Mist (Lisa Gott­ lieb), Level (Christine F. Kofenigs), Project (Jiri Barta), The Day Off (Sidney Goldsmith), Dragon (Lucy Maclaren) and Joyce and Harry Go Dancing (David Taylor).

Film Censorship BBElIBBliiliiBBBB The decision of the Film Censorship Board to ban Pixote from the Mel­ bourne and Sydney film festivals has continued to arouse controversy.

First, an appeal was lodged by the Sydney Film Festival and on June 9 the Films Board of Review overturned the ban and released the film for festival screening.

Then the Australian distributor, Consolidated Exhibitors, applied for censorship certification for a commer­ cial release of Pixote. Despite some cuts having been made (the new print was claimed to have been the U.S. version), the Censorship Board again banned the film.

This was an act of defiance on its part as it knew the Pixote ban had been overruled in the past and would most likely be again.

Not surprisingly, this is what hap­ pened, the film being cleared by the Films Board of Review for general release. Contrary to usual practice, the

The Quarter and cutting videotapes (it is only empowered to do so, as it admits in its Annual Report of 1980, in New South Wales).

In May, I telexed the Attorney­ General to voice, among other things, concern over the Censorship Board’s banning of Pixote and what I felt to be destructive power games being played by the Chief Censor, Janet Strickland.

The Attorney-General replied on July 29, saying: Dear Sir, I refer to recent correspondence concerning the film Pixote — Survival of the Weakest, which was imported for the Melbourne and Sydney Film Festivals.

While certain concessions have been extended to recognized festivals for some years, both the present Chief Censor and her predecessor have made it clear to the festival organizers that they cannot ignore their statutory responsibilities under the Customs (Cinematograph Films) Regulations and complementary state legislation. It is implicit in any arrangements made with the festivals that the Film Censor­ ship Board retains the right to refuse registration if, in the opinion of the Board, a film co ntrave n es the Regulations.

In this instance, the Board formed the opinion that the film Pixote — Survival of the Weakest should be refused registration. On appeal, the Films Board of Review took a different view and directed that the film should be registered for festival exhibition.

There can be no doubt that both inde­ pendent statutory boards formed their opinions conscientiously on the information available to them and in the light of their perception of contem­ porary community attitudes.

Whether the community at large would see it as appropriate that film festivals should be exempted from censorship altogether remains open to question. The matter is to be dis­ cussed at a forthcoming meeting of Commonwealth and State Ministers with responsibility for censorship and the views you have expressed will be kept in mind.

Peter Durack Attorney-General As can be seen, the issues raised in the telex were ignored. Promises of dis­ cussions in the future do nothing to solve the turmoil film censorship is in today.

Royden Irvine’s Shadows, winner of the Grand Prix at the Melbourne Film Festival and the General Category A ward at the Greater Union A wards.

chairman, Sir Richard Kingsland, pre­ pared a statement on Pixote’s worth as a film and the reasons why it should be released (see below).

So, twice in two months, on the same film, the Censorship Board’s views have been found to be at variance with those of the Films Board of Review. Of course, in principle, this is how it should be, the two bodies being hope­ fully independent of each other. In this case, though, one can’t help feeling the Censorship Board has taken a stub­ born, bureaucratic attitude to an issue th a t com m onsense could have resolved long ago.

More disturbing, however, is the Censorship Board’s reliance on state Acts of Parliament to ‘support’ its actions, in particular, the Chief Censor, Janet Strickland, said in explanation of the first ban that the Board considered Pixote to contravene the Victorian Police Offences Act 1958. But the Censorship Board is not the adjudi­ cator or enforcer of state police Acts.

This was pointed out only too clearly in the letter of the Victorian Attorney­ General, John Cain, to Strickland on June 15: “This Act is subject to my adminis­ tration and if its terms are breached, I can assure you that prosecutions

will ensue. However, it is the func­ tion of the appropriate Victorian law officers to decide whether that is the case and it is not a function which resides with you.”

Cain also wrote to the Federal Attor­ ney-General, Peter Durack, informing him of this. (See both letters below.)

When the Censorship Board banned Pixote for the second time, however, Strickland again claimed that it violated, among others, the Victorian Police Offences A ct 1958. Con­ sequently, it appears as if the Censor­ ship Board is knowingly acting outside its jurisdiction, specifically in regard to Victorian state laws. This, and its second banning of Pixote, suggests that the Censorship Board is acting in a somewhat cavalier and isolationist fashion. It is time the Federal Attorney­ General, under whose wing censor­ ship falls, acted to see sanity prevail.

But so far the Attorney-General’s office has been notable for its lack of direc­ tion and action. Several issues need instant attention: whether film festivals should be outside usual censorship requirements; whether one should introduce an “X” certificate to cover explicit violent and sexual material; whether the Censorship Board is acting outside its legal jurisdiction in banning

Kingsland Statement Statement by Sir Richard Kingsland, chairman of the Films Board of Review, July 30, 1982: The applicant, Consolidated Exhibi­ tors, requested the Films Board of Review to review the decision of the Film Censorship Board to refuse to register the Brazilian film Pixote.

The Films Board of Review viewed Pixote yesterday. This was a slightly different version to the print viewed in relation to an earlier appeal to the Board of Review. It has a new intro­ duction and deletes or reduces some unpleasant language and scenes. None of these changes weakened the film’s dramatic impact.

The new introduction to the film points out that the roles are acted by children who have a common back­ ground to that of those portrayed in the film. This sharpens the impact of Pixote as a film dealing responsibly with the plight of underprivileged young people in a corrupt society.

The Film Censorship Board rejected the film under Regulation 13(1 )(d) of the Customs (Cinematograph Films) Regulations on the grounds that the film depicts matter which is undesir­ able in the public interest. Judgements under Regulation 13(1 )(d) require con­ sidered assessment of current com­ munity attitudes and standards.

Concluded on p. 392

Critical Misquoting BBBilBiBaHR99aiBB Dear Sir, In his review of The Man From Snowy River (Cinema Papers, No. 38, pp. 261-62), Arnold Zable accuses me of having dismissed the film with a “terse statement” . He is wrong on two points: (a) I did not dismiss the film any more than he did. My review was several hundred words shorter than his, but the points it made were much the same. (b) Mr Zable quotes my alleged terse statement as: “The horses are good, the scenery is great, and that is all that can be said about The Man from Snowy River.”

The actual statement, the opening paragraph of a 17-paragraph review, was: “The horses are good and the scenery is great. And that is about all that can be said in praise of The Man from Snowy River.”

Most cinema advertising no longer misquotes critics. It will be a pity if critics themselves give the practice new life.

And just one response to George Miller’s comments in the same issue: I predicted that his film would do well at the box-office.

Neil Jillett Film Critic The Age

Burs tall Resurgent Dear Sir, Before I leave this country for what may be a very long time, I wish to put on record through your columns a few brief words of tribute to Tim Burstall and his latest film, Attack Force Z. Predictably, local reaction was strongly negative, largely centring on the somewhat traditional advertising slogan. But what an achievement this film represents! The visual and moral structure (the slyly solemn screenplay

by Roger Marshall) suggest nothing so much as the best of 1950s Samuel Fuller.

To mention only the most obvious example, look at the death-of-the-bestfriend sequence in its entirety (prefer­ ably on an editing table). The multiple tensions, never slackened for a second by quite brilliant direction, represent a triumphant return to form for Burstali.

I will leave further discovery and analysis to those who come after. But it is important that this film be looked at — and seen.

Richard Linden

Oops!

Dear Sir, As the exclusive distributor of A Most Attractive Man, we were de­ lighted to see Keith Connolly’s enthus­ iastic review for the film in the latest edition of Cinema Papers. However, we were equally horrified to see that the distributor acknowledged at the end of the review was the Sydney Filmmakers Co-op. Oops!

Jennifer Sabine Distribution Manager Australian Film Institute

CINEMA PAPERS August - 309

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Since graduating from NIDA in 1965, you have done few film roles.

Was that intentional?

It was circumstances really; a com bination of two things. I haven’t done one or two films that were offered, and, equally, a couple I would have liked to have done weren’t.

Also, I like working in theatre and I have often had the oppor­ tunity to work there.

After “Caddie”, you did “Agatha” in Britain. Then there was virtually a two-year break before “A Town Like Alice”. Did you mainly work on stage?

Yes. I did one fairly long-run­ ning show at the Ensemble, which was Rain, and a couple of short plays at the Nimrod. The whole evening was called Potiphar’s Wife, including the new Australian play of that name, a Samuel Beckett piece called Not I and a little sketch

by Alex Buzo, called Vicky Madison Clocks Out. I also did an Australian play at the Nimrod called Visit with the Family during that period.

Were you offered many film roles at that time?

There were a couple of things, but I didn’t want to do them parti­ cularly. The best opportunities were on the stage.

How did you find working in Britain on “Agatha”?

Very interesting. Essentially, it was a political exercise, mainly because of Vanessa Redgrave’s influence on the film and her commitment to political ideas. She did some extraordinary things. For example, she wrote a six-page expose of Agatha Christie, denoun­ cing her as a bourgeois romantic, and gave it to the director. She said she had to do this before she could play the part.

Vanessa also tried to recruit everybody on the film to the Workers Revolutionary Party.

A lot of script rewriting went on with that film. It was originally written by Kathleen Tynan — Kenneth Tynan’s wife — who is Vanessa’s good friend. The script

Helen Morse, one o f Australia's most highlyregarded actresses, became known with her performance as a country schoolteacher in the ABC's “Marion". Morse then appeared in the successful Australian features, “Stone" (1974), ‘*Petersen " (1974), <Picnic at Hanging Rock'' (1975) and “Caddie" (1976). This was followed by a stay in Britain where Morse starred in “Agatha", about the novelist Agatha Christie.

Since returning to Australia, Morse has starred, with Bryan Brown, in the award­ winning “A Town Like Alice", “Silent Reach" and John Duigan's “Far East".

Richard Mason, the producer o f “Far East", worked at Film Australia before leaving to produce Duigan's “Winter o f Our Dreams".

In the following interview, conducted by George Tosi, Morse and Mason discuss their work on “Far East".

Producer Richard Mason and actress Helen Morse on location for John Duigan’s Far East.

was quite political to start with, which is perhaps why Vanessa was motivated to write this expose for the director. But the Film ended up being something slightly different, concentrating on the relationship between Agatha Christie and the journalist, played by Dustin Hoff­ man. Originally that character was an Englishman, but Dustin wanted to play him as an American.

It was fascinating watching Vanessa and Dustin work. I learnt a lot and was able to observe first­ hand how a British production got underway. It was British in terms of the cast and crew, except for Dustin and myself, the finance was Ameri­ can and, I think, the company behind it was First Artists, which was Dustin’s.

It had a very large crew, but they were just like any Australian crew I had ever worked with. They loved working on films, and worked very hard, with great enthusiasm. One of the few differences was that there were a lot of American executives around, and fairly eccentric charac­ ters like a producer called Jarvis Astaire. He started as an East End barrow boy, got involved with racing dogs and made millions, and then moved into film production.

Another big difference was that there was not quite the same com­ munication between the various areas, like the production office, the crew, the cast. On Australian films, I’ve always found a terrific kind of mucking in.

Did you have other opportunities to work overseas?

A couple of film scripts came my way, but I didn’t care for them par­ ticularly. There was also an oppor­ tunity to do a play in London, but that fell through because neither the people involved in setting that up nor myself could organize dates. I was then fully committed to doing a television series in Australia.

How do you feel about working in television?

I feel fairly positive about it. I am very lucky, in that I have had the chance to do a couple of really terrific things, such as A Town Like Alice and Silent Reach, with Tommy Lewis, Justin Saunders, Robert Vaughan and Graham CINEMA PAPERS August - 311

Helen Morse

Kennedy. We shot Silent Reach at Mount Isa in North-west Queens­ land last year, for about three-anda-half months. It is about the con­ flict between a mining company and a-young Aboriginal who fights for his land rights.

You have been very selective in your film and television roles. What do you look for in a role?

A challenge. I guess that’s a fairly general word to use, but I am not sure I can be fully objective about the selection process.

Obviously, you have to make a con­ nection with a project on some kind of deep level. Then you can look at it and analyze it. But in a way I think it’s good to go with the initial response.

view of things and Jo being the pragmatist caught, like most of us, between these two sides of our personality.

There is also a fair amount of dis­ satisfaction in Jo because she is like an appendage to her husband . . .

Morse: I suppose she was an appendage to both of them, in a way. It is quite an interesting rela- ' tionship she has with her husband Peter, because he is able to accom­ modate some of her erratic qual­ ities. Partly because of a certain instability in her background, and partly because of a certain lack of values, Jo has difficulty in making commitments. She vacillates. But towards the end of the film, she finds some kind of moral resolu­ tion.

Far East

After Jo wins a lot of money at a poker game, her husband goes off to do something politically ‘valuable’.

What attracted you to “Far East”? Jo’s reaction is to buy a batch of paintings from a man in the street.

I was greatly intrigued and What’s the motivation of her moved by the script, and I had seen character there? and admired John Duigan’s work. I particularly liked the skill with Morse: Well, the scene before is which John had explored the idea of in the Koala Klub. Peter has just exploitation — not only in the poli­ come from watching a group of tical sense, but within the charac­ houses being torn down to make ters and their relationships. It sort way for a Japanese cannery. He of echoed the main theme, which I confronts Jo with his reality, and thought was really interesting. with the reality outside the club. Jo, I also related on an emotional on the other hand, has sought the level to certain things in the charac­ old world of the club, which she is ter of Jo Reeves. Later, I dis­ used to — the good times, the flip­ covered the script had in part been pancy, the absence of a need to be based on a particular woman’s committed. experience — that of the Rosita Now, Jo does care for Peter and c h a ra c te r, played by R ain a what he does, and can appreciate it McKeon. But it was a tremendous to an extent, but she is not able to reinforcement of a decision I had make a strong commitment. At already made to do the part. times she wants to be part of his reality, to be able to find a way to Your character has a French accent sort of understand it and con­ and expressive facial gestures. How tribute to it, but she is not sure how. did you work on those?

So, when she sees this man selling these paintings to tourists, she I think the gestures were uncon­ scious, though I could have picked them up from a friend of mine, Francoise Villachom, who helped me with the accent.

I was a bit doubtful at first, but John thought it would add some­ thing exotic to the character. It all seemed to come together. We rehearsed for a couple of weeks and that helped a lot.

reacts emotionally to this need to do good. At that moment, she is being a do-gooder. But her actions come from an em otional and psychological reaction to the con­ frontation with Peter in the club.

The way it appeared to me was that Jo was able to do something that Peter wasn’t. He can help with the exterior of Jo’s world, but her act of giving this man money means a lot more to one person . . . . . .

Morse. ^Yes, in an objective sense, that s true. But what Peter is

doing could have much wider implications.

Mason: The complexity of that is Peter also can be seen as the one who causes all the strife.

Morse: It is very complicated, as most actions are — every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

Of all the environments of the film, would you say Jo is most at home in the Koala Klub?

Morse: I don’t know. Jo is at home in the sense that the past becomes the present for those

How do you see Jo’s character?

There seem to be two parts to her personality: one, like her husband, represents everything she wants to be, and the other, like Morgan Keefe (Bryan Brown), represents everything she was — or, perhaps, her instinctual and survival level . . .

You have probably summed it up totally.

Mason: We have a whole series of ways of expressing that. One is in philosophical terms with Morgan being the hedonist, Peter Reeves (John Bell) being the pantheistic 312 - August CINEMA PAPERS

Helen Morse in the British feature, Agatha.

Helen Morse and Robert Vaughan in the television series, Silent Reach.

Helen Morse

to lock out all reality outside that club. But John and I feel you can’t escape that reality.

In Far East we are trying to say similar things as in Winter of Our Dreams, about commitment and responsibility, about having to make moral decisions. These are questions that plague us. They don’t come from outside our lives, but from within our personal experience.

Jo’s dress is a very important facet of her character. Did you have any say in their design?

Morse: Yes, I talked to Jan Hurley, the costume designer who had a lot to say about the clothes, and to Ross Major, the art director, as well as to John. We just pooled a lot of different ideas.

What about that black and gold dress you wear at that party?

Left: Morgan Keefe (Bryan Brown) and Jo Reeves (Helen Morse): together again. Far East. Above: Morse and director John Duigan.

changed because she has left that environment once before.

Many people have commented on the narrative similarities between “Far East” and “ Casablanca”.

How conscious were you of that?

Mason: John and I paid tribute to Casablanca, which is a favorite film of ours. But Far East is 40 years later. The biggest difference is that there aren’t goodies and baddies in the same sense. It’s so much more complex now.

moments when she is there. It is all tied up with the relationship with Morgan, which happened a long time ago, in the very unstable Morse: Well, people can draw Another similarity with “ Casa­ environment of the last years of the parallels, in that in Casablanca blanca” is that the loner saves the Vietnam war. Jo is drawn back into there are three people, one of whom marriage of the other two at the a scene she knew, and yet which she runs a club, called Rick’s Bar, and end . . . tried to and did leave. She is not another who is an idealistic anti­ ultimately at home at the club fascist. They are Europeans in an Mason: In a sense, it is Jo who because, as she says towards the exotic environment. But, Far East saves it in Far East. It is her deci­ end, “ I’ve changed” . And she has has very much its own story. sion, finally. When Morgan leaves the boat, he thinks Jo is going to stay with him — or hopes she’ll stay.

M orse: Poor M organ. I t ’s terrible really.

When Morgan and Rosita return from the wharf to the club, they go up the back stairs. But they both linger, looking down at the club.

Does Morgan share R osita’s feelings of disgust?

Morse: I can’t really answer because it is something you should ask Bryan and Raina. To me it is clear, but then I have been involved in the process of filming.

Mason: I feel it is Rosita’s disgust. To her, the club almost epitomizes the exploitation she is fighting against. But not Morgan.

That’s his world and he believes in his code. He doesn’t get money off the girls screwing, but if the girls want to do that, and earn extra money, then that’s okay by him. He has his own world, and he has tried

Morse: Yes, that caused a bit of a stir. John and Brian Probyn [director of photography] weren’t quite sure it would work. They thought the effect would be other than what was required for the scene. But I think their fears were allayed, because I think it makes a statement about Jo, though not overtly.

By this time, because of the kind of reassociation of the life Jo used to lead, part of her personality is almost tripping back into the early 1970s.

Mason: There is still an aspect of her character which wants to shock, to be outrageous.

Morse: And, actually, Peter quite likes it!

Mason: John and I see Jo living up the road to the couple in Winter of Our Dreams. They don’t know each other, but they live in the same street. In that environment, Peter is a respected journalist and his wife is well-known for her sometimes out­ rageous behaviour.

Was it easier working with Bryan Brown again after your success together in “A Town Like Alice”?

Morse: That’s an interesting question. As an actor, I suppose it was easier because we had worked together before, not that there were any barriers the first time. But the relationship we were playing in Far East was different, and more com­ plicated. So, in that sense, it was more difficult.

Do you think the audience has an expectation of something special between you and Bryan, having seen you together in “Alice”? Is that an added pressure on you?

Morse: Obviously there are advantages in the fact that Alice was successful and a lot of the pub­ licity for Alice was based on it being a love story — two people who eventually find each other, etc. But no, I never felt any pressure.

CINEMA PAPERS August - 313

Helen Morse

Mason: We never saw Helen and Bryan as “ together again” . People say to me, “God you are a clever producer bringing Helen and Bryan together.” I never thought of it like that — I’d be a clever producer if I had.

Actually, I believe that unless you discover, after detailed investi­ gation, that something is inconsis­ tent, then it is the actor’s job to realize the author’s intention.

Sometimes an actor comes up with a line in a truly organic way from

reading a script and, while that can be very positive, it sometimes can be inaccurate. And when it is inaccurate, then it is of great value to have a writer-director, parti­ cularly on a film like Far East which works on several levels.

Was much of the film shot on loca­ tion?

Morse: No, most of it was in terio rs in Suprem e Sound Studios.

Mason: It was almost all shot in Australia, mate. How do you think we make films? We make them poor.

Morse: We did have 11 days in Macau.

M ason: W hich was seven shooting days. But we don’t want to make a drama of that, because we think it is a virtue making films very economically. Unfortunately, a lot of people think it’s a negative thing to make films economically.

But it’s not where you shoot the film, it is how it looks on the screen that counts. And I think it looks convincing.

“Far East” was apparently com­ pleted in. a rush to comply with the tax concessions requirement of com­ pleting the film within the financial year. Did that have any effect on the production?

How did you find working with John Duigan?

Morse: As a director, John is so interested in, and caring of, actors.

Having been an actor himself, he really understood some of the pres­ sures, particularly if we had a diffi­ cult scene coming up. He would make sure we had space and time.

Sometimes you need that bit extra to, hopefully, get it right — and John understood that.

We talked at length before shooting started and during rehear­ sals. Having written the script, John had a fairly firm grasp of what it was about.

Mason: I thought the script shifted a bit as you worked on it.

Morse: Very few lines were changed. In fact, I think all my lines were exactly as written.

314 - August C8MEMA PAPERS

an understanding of the character, and the writer says keep it. That happened a couple of times on Far East. But generally I think the job is to make work the intention of the script.

Are there advantages in working with a writer-director?

Morse: Yes, certainly in this case.

What happens when a script is to be directed by somebody else? Do you like to talk to the writer or the director about the role?

Mason: I don’t believe so. We started shooting Winter of Our Dreams in January, whereas with Far East we started in December.

So, we were right in front. Of course, it was a bigger film.

The worst aspects of the June completion requirement is that United Sound and the laboratories are working 24 hours, a day. They have to bring in different crews, equipment breaks down, people get tired. The demand is so great, you have to plan months in advance. I booked the mix at United Sound the day we signed the contracts for the money.

John and I are going to do another film this financial year and, when I get back to Sydney, I’ll have to start thinking of booking United Sound for June next year — and pay a deposit. Isn’t that incredible?

That’s the tax disadvantage.

But apart from that particular pressure, it does make one plan In fact, many concepts are paral­ ahead, and that is rather good. leled in the film. For instance, there is the scene of Peter watching the machinists making flowers. There is But what if something goes wrong at a constant danger of them squash­ the critical stages in June? You ing their fingers in an industrial might miss out on the tax bene­ accident. Then later in the film, Jo fits . . . goes to a restaurant where there is a dance with bamboo stalks, and there Mason: That’s right. I imagine is the same danger of the dancers there are ways of overcoming that, having limbs squashed . . . if you are unscrupulous.

Morse: In that case, they are having great fun and are in control of it. They are not working for somebody else and they are not being locked up in a factory to get a Morse: I usually like to talk to certain number of products made, the writer, particularly if I haven’t it is a great freedom; it is also a understood something. That is a joyous moment. Those two very fantastic advantage. One can bring graceful people are like symbols of a lot of one’s own subjectivity when the youth of the country.

This rush would also affect the number of roles being offered. Have you been affected by this?

Morse: No. Mason: Helen’s very selective.

Morse: Well, there is not much point doing something you don’t really want to do. After all, there are other jobs one could get, as we have all done — except I always

seem t© get fired from them.

Let’s face it, most of us work in the film business because we love it.

And generally you have to make some connection with the script, or the people doing the film, before you say yes. People like John and Dick wouldn’t produce or direct something they didn’t feel com­ mitted to in some way. You need a certain spark, you need to be inspired. And if you can’t find a reason that is of real value to you, then don’t do it; you won’t do a good job if you do. And that is certainly of no value to the public.

Mason: I look at it this way. I have only a few more films to make, and there is a limited number of films and a limited amount of energy. So, I am not going to waste it on anything that I don’t really care about. Basically, that’s the same thing as Helen’s been saying, and it pre-supposes an interesting proposition which she has just accepted: namely, that money isn’t a motivation. Helen could get an enormous amount of money on some films — at least three times what she got on ours.

Morse: I’d feel embarrassed if I did. Money certainly isn’t a priority. It is nice to have it; I would be stupid to pretend other­ wise, But it is not a reason for doing something, as far as I am con­ cerned.

What kind of jobs have you had outside the industry?

Morse: I worked as an usherette at the State Theatre for a while — until I was fired. It was funny being there the other night for the premiere.

Why were you fired?

Morse: For watching the films, talking and being cheeky to the manager. I also didn’t hold my torch properly. After I’d seen a film a hundred times, I used to read novels and forget to show people to their seats. I did a few wrong things.

I have also done waitressing and jobs like that — including a stint as an apprentice boutique salesgirl.

Morse: At the moment I am rehearsing a play called Duet for One, by Tom Kempinski. It is a terrific two-character piece, with Don Reid playing the other role. It is about a violinist and a psych­ iatrist. I go to six psychiatric sessions in thé course of the play.

She has multiple sclerosis and she hasn’t come to terms with that; she is really lost. He helps her begin to realize there is a possibility of finding an alternative.

I might be doing another film next year, but the script hasn’t been written yet. So, I don’t know. It’s a question mark. ★

Ponch Hawks

What do you have planned for the future?

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he first film made in Norway was, appropri­ ately enough, The

Dangers of the Fisher­ man’s Life/A Drama at Sea ( F i s k e r l i v e t s f a r e r / Et drama paa havet) in 1908. A

father and son are out fishing in a stormy sea. The son falls into the sea. By the time the father drags him on board, the son is dead. Man against the elements — a pretty bleak tale.

Among the films of the filmically dismal 1980 was Black Sea, directed by David Wingate, based on a novel by Magnar Mikkelsen. A science fiction tale, set in a barren North Norway of the future, it again pits a fisherman and his family against a harsh environment, this time a sea emptied of its fish through the ruth­ less efficiency of large factory ships. Again, a pretty bleak tale.

In the years between the two, much of Nor­ wegian film has dwelt on themes such as this — the struggle for survival in harsh surroundings, or on the plight of an outcast, an unusual individual facing a hostile and prejudiced social environment. Despite a substantial film produc­ tion for such a small country, Norway has produced few directors of international stature.

There are no Carl Theodor Dreyers or Ingmar Bergmans.

If film is any measure of culture, the dogged social realism of film production in the 1970s is a fair mirror of a certain heaviness that hangs over a hard-edged culture fostered on determination, sense of duty and a guilty conscience. That same stifling gloom nurtured a Henrik Ibsen, a Knut Opposite: Nina Knapskog (top), and Renie Torleifson Kleivdal and Helge Jordal in Vibeke Lokkeberg’s Loperjenten (The Errand Girl).

Hamsun and an Edvard Munch. Not surpris­ ingly in a society that does not easily tolerate tall poppies, they had to leave at some stage, not without bitterness, and spend several years abroad in order to create. With the narrow film milieu in Norway and the lack of adequate film training (there is no film school as such), Nor­ wegian filmmakers today need to do the same — to go to Stockholm, London, Paris, Lodz . . .

Norwegian film history is not without its classics that measure up reasonably well against films of that time elsewhere — notably Rasmus Brustein’s films of the early 1920s (Fante-Anne [Gypsy-Anne] with Aasta Nielsen and Lars Tvinde, the first full-length Norwegian feature, m ade in 1920) th a t revelled in ru ral romanticism. They were later followed by Leif Sinding (Eli Sjursdotter, 1938, is one of his masterpieces) who made several film versions of literary classics, and Tancred Ibsen (grandson of Henrik), who directed the first Norwegian sound film, Den store barnedapen (The Great Christen­ ing) in 1931. He, too, had acquired much of his experience elsewhere, working in Hollywood and Sweden. Another notable name of the early period is Walter Fyrst who reveals a strong visual sense and respect for the black-white image, and who created a sense of fairytale mystery in Troll-eigen (The Troll Elk, 1927).

Errand Girl) won the critics’ award at the Haugesund Film Festival, Norway’s annual film festival. It was a year of enough promise to make film critic Per Haddal hail “the gentle wave” in Nordic film. The films that showed the brightest signs of hope were by women directors and/or films for and about children.

It was an exceptionally dismal film harvest in 1980. A series of failures that happened to be released at the same time were pounced on by critics in what became known as the “Septem­ ber slaughter of 1980” , which sparked off another prolonged and heated debate on “What is wrong with Norwegian films?” , by then an already tiresome refrain. ‘New waves’ tend to appear from places where no one expects them (such as Australia in the early 1970s) or at times low on excellence, and are usually mediacreated; but, in an otherwise rather bleak Scan­ dinavian film season, the focus of attention at present is on Finland and Norway, rather than Denmark and Sweden. Although the basis for a vital Norwegian film culture is still in the making, there are signs of optimism and a con­ siderable effort to foster a more stimulating, professional and less parochial film milieu.

sked to put their finger on the problem in interviews conducted by the film magazine, Filmavisa (which ronically, the Film Directorate set up by has provoked much critical debate on the Germans during the occupation from Norwegian film), several film heavies 1940, in order to control Norwegian film singled out the lack of support for the short film production, initiated a form of subsidy as a training ground for feature filmmakers, the that gave a boost to the films in the lack of good scriptwriters, a virtual non-exis­ immediate post-war period. Many of them were tence of script consultants or creative producers to deal with the war and the occupation, notably and, finally, the problem that films are made for those by Arne Skouen (Nine Lives, 1957). their own sake, because “we have to make film’ Skouen later turned to sensitive treatments of not because people have something to say. social problems (About Tilla).

Some of this sounds strangely familiar The 1960s saw a reorganization of Norsk in the Australian scene of 1982.

Film A/S, which had been a focus for the film In an interview in the same maga­ activity already in the 1930s, and the setting up zine, Anja Breien, perhaps the of Team-film A/S, which has had a solid record brightest hope in Norwegian of continuous production since. film production in recent These years also brought some formal experi­ years, said, “ We have lost mentation in the films of Einar Lochen (Jakten, our daring!” The inter­ 1959, and Motforestilling, 1972) and Pal Lokke- national recognition she berg with Liv (1967), starring Vibeke Lokke- has received for her berg, who has since turned to directing and films (Wives, Next scriptwriting. Her first feature, The Revelation of Kin) would (Apenbaringen), was shown in the Melbourne have been Film Festival a few years ago. enough to Last year, Lokkeberg’s Loperjenten (The render

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Norwegian Cinema

her a tall poppy in the small Norwegian film milieu. In addition she has been quite outspoken in her criticism of Norwegian film production standards, lack of professionalism and dedica­ tion, committing the unpardonable sin perhaps of comparing a country that has suffered as much from culture cringe as Australia to its ‘big brother’, Sweden, where she has worked.

Breien completed her fifth feature film last year, Forfolgelsen (The Witch Hunt), a film in the first person, based on an original manu­ script. The story is told from the point of view of a woman, an outsider who is the victim of a witch hunt in medieval Norway.

Where Breien is a perfectionist, very con­ cerned with the craft of filmmaking, Vibeke Lokkeberg reveals a more unpredictably emotional and intuitive touch as a director.

There is a highly sensual quality in both women’s films of 1981. In Breien’s, it is restrained, controlled and polished, channelled into the dark, cool shadows of the snow-clad landscape in Western Norway, a painterly sen­ suality. Breien herself comes across as a woman of a great degree of professionalism and poise, someone who is as critical of herself as she is of others.

In Lokkeberg’s Loperjenten, the sensual quality is an earthier one of touch and smell, and visual exploration of the textural quality of interior images. The film captures Bergen of the post-war years and is a sensitive view of a child’s experience: parents who fight and break up, and cannot give the child the love she needs, the awakening of sexual feelings, curiosity about adult sexuality, aggression and so on. From the opening image of a girl feeling the silk on a woman’s dress or seated beneath a table, peering fascinated between the legs of a woman visitor, there is a fine tension in the film that is maintained throughout.

Where Breien is a technical perfectionist, Lokkeberg is technically sloppy. The film, shot on 16mm and blown up, has poor sound and sometimes soft focus, the latter in a curious way used to advantage. Because of the obvious strengths of the film, its immediacy, passion and excellent child performance, as well as that of Helge Jordal and Lokkeberg as the mother, critics were willing to overlook these flaws in an otherwise fine film. It was produced by Terje Kristiansen for As Film A/S.

without fully understanding why, and tries in her own way to work things out. It is not an easy subject and, although competent and handled with a sense of authenticity, the film suffers from a heavy-handed realism and not enough control of performance. The dialogue becomes stilted and awkward at times.

It is not only women directors who presented successful children’s films in 1981. Lasse Glomm’s Zeppelin, again a film about adults as seen by children, received critical acclaim and a good audience response, judging by the comments of children. Per Blom’s Solvmunn (Silver Mouth) was realized from a script by Martin Asphaug that won a competition in 1980 for best children’s film script, one of several recent incentives to boost children’s film produc­ tion. Again it tells of a child’s experience of a split between parents and a change in partners.

This sudden flowering of films for or about children may be the first fruits of a public debate on children’s film with demands for greater emphasis on funding. In this case, it also reflects the concerns and strong presence of women directors.

As far as film funding goes, Norway is in a fairly favorable position at present, compared to Denmark, for instance, or even Sweden, where he third woman director to have a competition is stiffer in a larger film milieu. The film in last year’s batch was Laila Ministry of Church and Education (The Mikkelsen, whose first feature, Oss Division of Arts and Culture) issues guarantees (Harvest), was shown at the Mel­ for production loans that cover up to 90 per cent bourne Film Festival a few years ago. of the production costs. These loans are then Again the subject is a child’s experiencesought — thisfrom a Norwegian bank. The guarantees time of the war. Liten Ida sees the effectare of war allocated, on application, as advised by a on a little girl whose mother works for the seven-member committee appointed by the Germans and is a mistress to a German officer. Ministry.

The child suffers social ostracism in the small Furthermore, any Norwegian 35mm film, of community and abuse from children and adults at least 2000m in length, receives a subsidy of 55

rants are also given by the Ministry for script development for feature film (a n y th in g from a m ere ‘encouragement’ of around $1000 up to $4000) and for the production of short films. Funds for the latter are very limited; only about 10 per cent of applicants receive funding. Among filmmakers it is popularly known as “Tombolaen” (The Lottery) and seems to favor straight documentary shorts of an informative nature.

There is another venue for inexperienced film­ makers seeking to develop their talents in the Study Section (Studieavdelingen) of Norsk Film A/S, operating independently and now also physically removed from the production centre of Norsk Film to the centrally-located Oslo Filmhouse, a building only opened last year. It now houses, among others, the Film Club Association, Norwegian Filmcentre and Nor­ wegian Film Federation. Hopefully, the easily

Vibeke Lokkeberg’s The Errand Girl, winner of the critics’ award at the Haugesund Film Festival.

Per Blom >s Solvmunn (Silver Mouth): a child’s involvement in a parental split.

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Forfolgelsen (The Witch Hunt), Anja Breien ’s fifth feature.

Sunniva Lindekleiv and Bernt Lindekleiv in Laila Mikkelsen’s Liten Ida: a child’s experience of war.

per cent (or 45 per cent for less expensive black and white productions) of the gross box-office takings in Norwegian cinemas. The subsidy applies from the first screening for three years or until total costs of the film are covered, whichever comes first.

The film production company Norsk Film A/S, which is two-thirds owned by the Ministry and one-third by 80 municipalities, also disposes of separate state guarantees, allocation of which does not require approval from the Ministry.

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Norwegian Cinema

accessible space, as well as the opening of the long-awaited Cinematheque in the city centre last year, will provide new venues that may foster a more vital film culture.

The Study Section of Norsk Film A/S, set up in 1973, provides funding for research and script development, and acts as a supervisory umbrella organization for the production of short films. It also gives grants for training and travel. The annual budget is around NKr. 2,000,000 (a little more than $300,000). Usually, grants are given out twice a year in doses of about $1500 for a period of three months, not precluding that the recipient does other work as well. According to the present Head of the Study Section, Andrew Szepesy, its function is to serve as a research and development centre, as well as a production unit.

He feels it has to function independently from Norsk Film, and even suggests he wants to use it “to demonstrate that Norsk Film A /S is a very bad producer” .

In answer to the much debated question of whether Norway needs a film school, he replies, “Of course! Not necessarily a film school, but rather a screen studies centre.”

The leader of the Study Section is clearly a controversial figure in Norwegian film, not only by virtue of being a foreigner in an influential position. On the one hand, he brings a much needed sharpness of critical judgment and the unsentimental eyes of an outsider to Norwegian film production, but, on the other hand, he has yet to show too many concrete results. Much of the money given out is of course ‘seed money’ which may take years to bring fruit. In 1980 and ’81, as many as 40 script or project development grants of one size or another were given out. The allocation of grants, however, seems to be along disturbingly autocratic lines, which has both advantages and disadvantages. It can leave expectant filmmakers dangling on promises that may or may not be fulfilled. A new generation of neurotic filmmakers may be in the making in Oslo. * So far there seems to be a doubling up in the functions of training between the Study Section and Filmopplaringen in Norsk Filminstitutt (The Norwegian Film Institute), which aside from its archives and library activities also has courses and seminars of a more practical nature throughout the year, drawing largely on expertise from outside Norway.

The long-awaited and much-debated Film Report was issued by the Labor Government last year just before it lost the elections, and its fate is now uncertain. It suggested amalgamat­ ing the two training institutions among other changes.

The Study Section was intended primarily as a training ground for potential feature film directors. Among people who have made short films there and gone on to features are Vibeke Lokkeberg, Laila Mikkelsen, Leidulv Risan (whose Sendetid was shown in the 1980 Melbourne Film Festival).

post-production funding for their films In Spite of the Law (Tvers gjennom lov) and Bravo!

Bravo! to blow them up to 35mm for theatrical release as a two-hour program. The first film concerns a protracted strike in support of an unfairly sacked worker, and Bravo! Bravo! is an irreverent satire on the “ oil fairy tale” in the North Sea, focusing on the blow-out on the Bravo oil platform. Both films were started on short film production budgets and grew from there.

The same team has since received funding from the autonomous government-funded RK (Norsk Rikskringkasting), the production unit, Filmgruppe 1 A/S, to work on governm ent-sponsored b ro ad ­ a major documentary on the post-war period, casting station th at provides entitled Etterkrigstid. They have spent much Norway’s radio and television, has time researching archival footage. its in-house productions of films A phenomenon in a class of its own is the along fairly established and conservative lines.ofIt films produced by Svend Warn and spate buys very little independent film. Chances for Fetter Vennerod under the label Mefistofilm.

Norwegian independent filmmakers of selling When they first hit the screen a few years ago, are probably greater to one of the two Swedish young audiences responded extremely well to the television stations. Their broadcasts can also be black humor and pacy satire on Norway’s seen in some parts of Norway. “social-democratic hell” , which in their films A bright spot in the development of a vital only seems to breed apathy and powerlessness, film culture and a venue for short film is frustrated anger and violence, as in the early film provided by the annual Short Film Festival so The Silent Majority. The characters are often far held in the old romantic mining town setting brash, vulgar and larger than life (Darker than of Roros (which has been used for several Nor­ the Night); points are driven home with a sledge­ wegian and foreign film productions, including hammer.

Casper Wrede’s One Day in the Life of Ivan But their films marked a welcome departure Denisovich with Tom Courtenay). At the last from the literariness that marred much film in festival in October 1981, attendance had grown the 1970s, and had a strong visual and theatrical almost beyond the means of the small town and sense at their best. There is a punk quality in festival staff, and there was talk of moving it to a their demonic humor which clearly appealed to larger city. Aside from a visiting Polish con­ young audiences, but unfortunately later films tingent and films from Oberhausen, the have not fulfilled the promise of greater depth emphasis was on Nordic shorts, with particular and better scripting. The films seem to be attention given to films made by indigenous slapped together much too quickly and the populations. humor, as in Julia Julia, is getting painfully The Scandinavian Anthropological Film forced.

Association also holds an annual film festival in Hans Otto Nicolaysen, whose looselyone of the member countries. In April this year constructed small-town portrait, Across the it was held in Oslo with quite an ambitious Fjord (Kjarleikens ferjereiser), was a fine debut program that included David and Judith in 1980, is now working on a second feature, The MacDougall’s Takeover, Kim McKenzie’s Snipers (Krypskytterne), shot in black and white, Waiting for Harry, Carolyn Strachan and and using humor to deal with issues of Alessandro Cavadini’s Two Laws and Oliver conflicting loyalties for a soldier.

Howes’ On Sacred Ground.

From a culture with a strong tradition of The development of regional film centres, individualism and an adventurous, even such as the very active one in Honningsvag (near fanatical, streak, one might have expected more the North Cape), which receives an annual Film directors with great vision. There is another subsidy of NKr. 60,000 ($10,000), as well as the side to the coin: a certain preachiness that has newly-established film workshops in Bergen and been dogging much of Norwegian film in the Oslo where new filmmakers can get hands-on 1970s — that, and perhaps also a complacent experience and access to equipment, are other streak, where things are expected to sort recent positive developments. themselves out.

With around 10 feature films produced a year If backed up by a vigorous and critical film in a country of little more than four million milieu, now in the making, and a stronger people, the feature film seems to be catered for theoretical framework for thinking about film, quite well. By contrast there has been little or no perhaps the ‘gentle wave’ found in the fantasy funding scheme for serious, long documen­ world of the child or the sensual, textural taries. Active in trying to change this have been qualities of some of the films by women can filmmaker-critic Solve Skagen and the Swede gather force and bring more nuance and Malte Wadman, a team that managed to get imagination to Norwegian film in the 1980s. ★

Hans Otto Nicolaysen’s Krypskytterne (The Snipers): the conflicting loyalties of a soldier.

Solve Skagen and Malte Wadman’s Tvers gjennom lov (In Spite of the Law).

An area that seems to be sadly neglected in the funding schemes, and also is shown little interest by filmmakers themselves, is the experi­ mental film that explores film as a visual art form and is concerned with the image as such.

Consciousness of such film seems to me at a very low level. Perhaps it is a reflection of a culture where everything has to be spelled out, as much as isolation or lack of exposure to anything highly conceptual.

N

Solve Skagen and Matte Wadman’s Bravo! Bravo!, a black comedy about oil.

CINEMA PAPERS August - 319

-@nja /Stalen FILM DIRECTOR When you were in Cannes for the Competition screening of your previous film, “Next of Kin”, did you see Gillian Armstrong’s “My Brilliant Career”?

Yes. I thought it was superbly made. But one thing that didn’t quite work for me was the central conflict: the choice between career or love.

This interview was conducted by Solrun Hoaas in Oslo while Anja Breien was working on the script for her latest film, For-

creative impulses come from the director. But I think my problems have to do with fundamental things in society, like male-female roles.

folgelsen (The Witch Hunt).

When you made “Games of Love and Loneliness”, you took over on short notice from another director . . .

Yes, Per Blom.

Do you see it as an unnecessary choice?

Did you feel it a risk stepping into someone else’s project?

Well, it often ends up that way — as a choice. But my feeling was that there had to be another reason why she didn’t face up to the love relationship. There is something in the girl that makes her afraid of throwing herself into a passiqnate love relationship. And it is some­ thing that you can’t just explain in terms of wanting to become a writer or whatever. That same fear is in a lot of people.

I do believe, though, that many love relationships can ruin women’s careers. Ours is a society that creates such a situation, and it becomes a personal conflict. But that conflict is still an artificial one.

No, I found it a very good experience.

In what sense?

It is as if a woman is supposed to go into a kind of puritanism in order to contribute anything creative. Of course, it often turns out that way — that one has to give up certain things. But I felt as if [in the case of the film] it was some­ thing Gill hadn’t gone deeply enough into. I couldn’t see why she couldn’t have included the love relationship as well. That didn’t make sense to me.

Actually, I didn’t intend to get on to that question of career versus love. I imagine you are a bit sick of that type of question . . .

Director Anja Breien during the filming of her fourth feature, Arven (Next of Kin).

Yes, it’s boring. Besides, it is an insoluble one. There is no­ tween men and women. I got the and I don’t think I do. I have grad­ thing sensible to be said ¡impression you had a very definite ually shown that I can handle the attitude to work relationships . . . about it. job, at least to some extent. But a female director is automatically You said in an inter­ Yes. I was very moralistic, which thought of as being dominating, view that on the is something I have a tendency to and one is afraid of that. You’ll find set you had to become. It was also because I found that dominance and power tradi­ cut out any­ the transition from scriptgirl to tionally give the man sensuality, thing that director quite an enormous one, but they deprive the woman of it. I created ¡ike going from being a sex object am speaking in cliches, but that’s tension to a boss, in a way, which is com­ the way it is. It is the old myth be- pletely absurd. On that score, we about the dominating male director have a long way to go. and the female actress who is I often say that I don’t have great realized through the man. problems being a woman director, On the whole, most of the

Would you have made the film differently?

Yes. I couldn’t m ake any changes in the dramatic structure, whereas, had it been my project, I probably would have. At the same time, I feel Hjalmar Soderberg is a great author, and I enjoyed working with his material. It is like taking someone like Maupassant, for instance.

The relationship I describe in the film is one between two people who are unable to throw themselves completely into a love relationship, who are constantly taking two steps forward and one back. My exper­ ience is that that dread of total commitment is a relevant issue. But it was expected that I would make a film with a woman as the main character because women’s issues have become very in lately. It is a portrait of a man in that film, and that is something one should be allowed to make as a female director.

Do certain expectations hang over you as a legacy from “Wives”?

Yes, absolutely — a feminist director, and so on. I don’t see it as a burden, but I do register that it takes place.

Wives is something I have put behind me. I am not so pre­ occupied with it any more.

Is the project you are working on now based on a work by another author?

No, I have written the script myself, in co-operation with Oddvar Bull-Tuhus and Lasse Blom. My three features are very different, and this one will be as well. It is set in the 1600s and is about witch hunts. If it is to be compared to any of my films, it

Anja Breien would be that it picks up the thread from Jostedalsrypa.

I am presently looking for old farms on the West Coast as loca­ tions. There you have that very N o rw eg ian feelin g of g re a t contrasts: the sense of being closed in, the narrow valleys, deep fjords, snow and flowers.

confidence to dare to make a break.

If you make a film every second year, you are risking two years of your life. You are very tied down.

Because you are responsible for so much money . ..

Yes. It is a very inorganic means of expression, in one way, com­ pared to being a painter, for instance. You end up not taking chances because it is so expensive.

In the case of a man like Fass­ binder, films literally came pouring out of.him. But I don’t think he would have been able to do that in Norway. You need a lot of the right people around you.

Do you have anyone in mind for the main female role?

It will be a Norwegian-Swedish co-production, so I am going to Sweden today to look at a screen test of an actress. She has to be someone who comes from outside that society. She could just as well be Swedish as Norwegian.

How do you feel about the film milieu in Norway?

Will the film be In Norwegian?

Well, really Danish; we were a part of Denmark at that time.

There will be some Danes, too.

Is the conflict one between the old traditional beliefs and Christianity?

Yes, it was a period of transition and conflict, when they tried to adopt Christian beliefs. But a lot of things that had to do with the old beliefs or the superstitions, such as the demonic or the dangerous, were not simply evil. That is where Christian morality has made such sharp divisions: this is good, that is evil; it is all black and white. In the old initiation rites, for instance, demons might have to cut up a body as a necessary transition to a new stage. The demons were not automatically evil. With Chris­ tianity, it is a totally different matter.

But that’s not exactly why I am making the film. It is called The Witch Hunt. I feel that we are living in a time of much persecution. It is a part of the climate of our times.

It’s dangerous to mean anything.

There has been a lot of political persecution.

Here in Norway?

No, probably not that much in Norway, but still enough to make it clear that thoughts are dangerous.

Ideas have power. That’s the way it was after the war, too.

But I am perhaps rationalizing. I get an idea for a film and think I can say something about today through it. The Witch Hunt began with the landscape. I felt I would like to make a film there, on the West Coast, a film that is much more visual than what I have made so far.

We easily end up with a lot of naturalistic ‘talk dram as’ in Norway. So, I wanted to break away from this once and for all. I am going to try to make a film that is, as much as possible, ‘painterly’, not picturesque.

It is beautiful on the West Coast, but it’s not that. What I struggled with most in Jostedalsrypa was not to make it look pretty, like a post­

card. It is a matter of trying to find visual solutions for everything I want to say; not let them be spoken out. I want to go in a completely new direction.

In Norwegian films, we seem to stick to social realism — what is called “ slice of life’’ in the U.S. None of my films would really fall into that category. They are probably closer to naturalistic drama. They are constructed to the extent that they might be seen as drama, but it is naturalism.

“Next of Kin” as well?

p h o n e c o n ta c t w ith In g m a r B erg m an . T h a t has been a tremendous support.

Has “The Witch Hunt” been influ­ enced by Bergman’s “The Seventh Seal”?

No, I wouldn’t dare — though I think it is a fantastic film. Mine will probably be very different from that. The material I’m working on is very Norwegian.

Do you want to emphasize the Nor­ wegian aspects? .

Yes, I consider that a natural­ Yes. Some of the good things in istic drama. So now I’ll have to do The Witch Hunt are very Nor­ something completely different. wegian, and that is important. If I am to talk about some frame of Have you worked with other reference for my work at the directors in Europe, who work in an moment, it would be painters such entirely different style but for which as Egedius and Astrup, and perhaps Kittelsen a bit. you feel an affinity?

Yes, I was a scriptgirl on Hunger, which Henning Carlsen made. It was a very different type of film.

When it comes to anyone who might have influenced me, in the last few years I have had a regular

Have you wanted to approach film­ making in a more visual way before but felt constrained?

Yes. One is under so much pres­ sure by the high cost of making films that you need tremendous

Norway is one of the easier countries in the world to get a chance to make films. I know a lot of people will disagree and say it’s just easier for me, that I am privi­ leged. But on the whole, it is easier.

There is relatively a lot of money around for the size of the film milieu. I t ’s still not enough, however.

That is a development over the past few years, isn’t it?

Yes, but filmmaking has become so expensive now that it isn’t much really. Still, particularly for women, it is much harder to get a chance to make films in the bigger countries, whereas here we benefit from the fact that the Government has recognized that film is a cultural responsibility. They have a lot less money for filmmaking in Denmark. Sweden has a lot, but there are so many filmmakers in Sweden.

I think one problem here is that there are too many people who only make one film. There is a problem with continuity. We need artistic advisers. I have had one over the past few years through my contact with Bergman. People don’t realize that he is very good at helping younger directors. It may not be the case for everyone, but, once you have established a form of contact, he is a tremendous teacher. He recognizes things right away.

Now, however, I have started to protect myself a bit. He wanted to read the manuscript of Next of Kin but I wouldn’t let him. He has done so much on families in his time that I felt I had to make my own version. But he was the first to see the film.

What was his reaction?

He turned to som eone he watched it with and said, “ I’m going to burn my house before I die!” 1Actually, I got a very positive reception from him. _____________ Concluded on p. 391

The daughter o f the household is comforted in Next of Kin.

1. Next of Kin closes with the family house being burnt to the ground by the daughter who inherited it.

CINEMA PAPERS August - 321

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FILM FESTML

Mari Kuttna lllllllllllllllilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllliliiiiiiiiiiillllllllllllllllllll Cannes is still the leading meeting place of business and art, but in writing a festival report which will appear months later, it is not just tempting, but probably quite sensible, to ignore the showbiz side — not only the wheeling-dealing, the rib-cracking crowds at press confer­ ences and even worse crowds at photo calls, but all the American films which have already played the world’s cinemas by the time this review appears. It is impossible to outguess distributors: the films bought for release, apart from the pre-sold packages, will be neither the best nor the worst; neither the most exciting nor the most commonplace.

The Side Shows

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As no Australian film competed this year, the Directors’ Fortnight acquired added interest from showing Phillip Noyce’s Heatwave. However, it merely proved that Newsfront is a hard act to follow. Although the all-too obvious com­ parisons between Heatwave and Donald Crombie’s The Killing of Angel Street (seen earlier in the year at Berlin, and invited to Knokke in August) were in Noyce’s favor, his second feature fails to live up to the expectations raised by his first.

A foreign audience found that there was far too much verbal exposition. The structure also seems 'rather askew: having set up the plot at conversational leisure, the climax wipes off ail the strands of mystery in a flurry of gunshots and confusion. Besides, even apart from Crombie’s film, the whole story, of a battle between “the people’’ and the wicked barons of development, carries a sense of deja-vu.

For a fresh outlook, or even just a new ambience, there was Sam Pillsbury’s The Scarecrow from New Zealand. Pillsbury used Ronald Hugh Morrieson’s novel for his narrative structure, and it also lent

contrasting textures to the film. The “ New Zealand Graffiti” images of boys on the threshold of adolescence are placed on the edge of a murder mystery which is set up skilfully, from many small details which create tension, beginning when a weird and mysterious stranger (John Carradine) arrives in a small country town.

Of course, it is possible that at a festival such as Cannes one over­ estimates the homespun qualities of films like The Scarecrow or even of the more professional, yet by no means slick Irish film, Angel by Neil Jordan. Apparently Angel was not finished in time to be entered even for the Directors’ Fort­ night. It was produced by John Boor­ man, who has great hopes for his former assistant Jordan, and came to Cannes to help to market the film: “ I’ve nursed Neil’s talent along, and I think this is a marvellous film” , Boorman remarked before the screening, which started at midnight. It is entirely to the film's credit that, in spite of reeling with fatigue, everyone stayed to the end. Moreover, it remains firmly in the memory in spite of all odds.

Angel is about a saxophonist in an itinerant group whose casual romance with the group’s lead singer is inter­ rupted by flirtatious girls in the dance­ hall. One girl in particular, Angel, who is either mute or mentally retarded, appeals to his tenderness. Instead of going home with the singer after the gig, he walks about with Angel outside the hall, communicating in simple sign language. They sit inside some concrete piping by the roadside, hidden from view, when a carload of masked men arrive. They kill the bandleader who is waiting for the saxophonist, and set fire to the hall. When the young girl’s curiosity draws her nearer, to watch the conflagration, they shoot her down too.

The saxophonist is only lightly wounded,

Tracy Mann and John Carradine in Sam Pillsbury’s New Zealand feature, The Scarecrow.

322 - August CINEMA PAPERS

and taken to a hospital, where the police start to question him. When he recovers, he takes advantage of the police captain’s hint that he can go to places where the police cannot, and starts tracking down the men guilty of the double murder.

Although he develops an affaire which borders on love with the singer, his secret preoccupation with his vengeance drives them apart.

■ It is not clear which side did the killing, though in the course of the film it begins to appear that the saxophonist is a Catholic, and the killers were probably Ulstermen. But the film plays down the politics: it deals with the saxophonist’s change from an outsider, an artist com­ mitted to nothing but music, to a vengeful killer. It is not that he goes mad and turns against society: he becomes “ normal” in adjusting to the crazed blood-lust of the society around him.

Angel contains what is probably the first profound and true statement on film about Northern Ireland. Every minor character is well chosen, credible and beautifully acted, while the settings — the cities and the countryside — have just the right mixture of beauty and squalor.

The Competition

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Perhaps the international line-up promised too much this year. There were new films not just from the most highlyregarded contemporary directors, but even from those one would automati­ cally assume to win any award: Michel­ angelo Antonioni, Werner Herzog, Wim W enders, the T avianis, Lindsay Anderson . . . To set the tone, perhaps to set a high standard, the opening cere­ mony was the o ut-of-co m p e tition presentation of a new, and somewhat vulgarly tinted print of D. W. Griffith’s Intolerance which, I should be ashamed to admit, sent me to sleep again and

again during its two hours and 47 minutes.

The Festival closed with Steven Spiel­ berg’s E.T. The Extra Terrestial which, though a long way from High Art, is made with more cinematic flair than all the fortnight’s films put together. Manipula­ tive, yes; but to better effect than any­ thing since Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

In the Competition, there were only three “ big” films this year: Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo, Paolo and Vittorio Taviani’s La notte di San Lorenzo (The Night of San Lorenzo), and Ettore Scola’s La nuit de Varennes (The Night of Varennes) —

Varennes being a small place, but the scene of an important event: the arrest of Louis XVI and his family as they were flying from the revolutionary crowds of Paris.

The Night of Varennes is all too easy to dismiss, as it is unlikely to appeal to Anglo-Saxon tastes. First, the nuances of its historical debates disappear in the sub-titles. Then, the subtleties of Mar­ cello Mastroianni's brilliant perfor­ mance as the aged Casanova is lost on a generation dulled by the crass inter­ pretation imposed on Donald Suther­ land by Fellini’s vulgarizing conception of the man.

All in all, Scola's drama may look like a costume-drama without action: there are no battles, and not even a duel. Love scenes are avoided with courteous apol­ ogies by the wornout champion; this, of course, is the point of the film: it con­ tinues the analysis of the reversal of sexual roles, as broached in the con­ temporary setting of Scola’s La terrazza (The Terrace), two years ago.

The Night of San Lorenzo won the jury’s special prize. Under the rather peculiar circumstances pertaining at Cannes, this amounts to its being judged the best film in Competition. There is a tradition, emphasized by awards in

Paolo and Vittorio Taviani’s The Night of San Lorenzo: last days of war in a small corner of Tuscany.

Cannes Film Festival 1982

Taking a ship across a mountain to a nearby tributary: Werner Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo. recent years, of making the Palm d’Or a tap, but fascism would only pervert. political statement, rather than an artistic Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo could have been category; and this tradition was main­ the film of the year, if not the decade, had tained in 1982 by the division of the his original plan to cast Jason Robards in Golden Palm between Yol, produced and the title role succeeded. But after only written by Yilmaz Guney (and directed three weeks of filming on location, according to his instructions) who has Robards succumbed to some tropical escaped from a Turkish prison into poli­ gastritis, and had to be invalided out of tical exile; and Costa-Gavras’ Missing. It the jungle. Robards was to have a does not denigrate Yol, which was made partner-companion, played by Mick under impossibly difficult circum ­ Jagger, but by the time Herzog found a stances, to say that it lacks the dramatic replacement for his hero, Jagger’s other scope and typically Italian visual beauty commitments intervened. It took nearly a of the Tavianis’ wartime epic. Nor does it year for Herzog to find an actor: in the belittle Missing to admit that it aims at an end, it had to be his old friend, and the international and popular audience, or star of his last similarly crazy venture in that its political and moral standpoint the South American jungle, Klaus Kinski. necessitates a simple division of the Kinski’s glazed stare was great for the audience’s sympathy. diabolic obsession of Aguirre, de zorn Compared to either, the Taviani gottes (Aguirre, Wrath of God), and brothers could create a series of almost since then, the equally obsessive roles in overlapping viewpoints, explore a wide Nosferatu and Woyzeck but, his loyalty range of characters and describe not just to Herzog notwithstanding, he is hope­ the last days of war in a small corner of lessly miscast as a loony Irishman. And Tuscany, but also the layers of memory Claudia Cardinale, decorative as she is, and fantasy which their generation (all has little to offer in a conventional part as those who were children at the time) can a brothel-owner in love with Kinski: no longer disentangle from the emotion­ whatever the part intended for Mick ally-colored recollections of their Jagger may have been, it would have parents’ generation. The subject is added a bizarre note of sexual menace to hardly original: the last days of the war offset Robards’ cavalier charm. have been depicted by some of the best Unfortunately, it is impossible to directors in the past 25 years: Roberto separate a film from its central charac­ Rossellini, Andrzej Wajda, Grigori ters and, as Kinski is on screen through­ Chukrai, Miklos Jancso, Jean-Pierre out, it is pointless to speculate how the Melville, among others. Most of them film could have shaped up without the made it clear that dictators seldom gremlins that beset it. As it is, it has succeed in countries where fascism is turned into a director’s film; the com­ alien to the spirit of the people; politics bination of staggeringly beautiful loca­ may be a mess in Britain or in Australia, tions, marvellous old boats, surging but it was Italy where Mussolini rose to Indian tribes complete with ethno­ power. The good films about fascism (or, graphic bric-a-brac, sunrises and for that matter, about communism) all sunsets teeters between the breath­ show that there is always a ruling elite, taking and the hilarious. However, the who can be and have been corrupted by German critics found it hard to believe power, with lackeys (or a police force, or that it is intentionally funny: its bad press an army) whom they can buy, corrupt or may be due to a wilful refusal to see intimidate into preserving their power.

Kinski as a comedian.

Paolo and Vittorio Taviani are the sons As for Wenders’ Hammett, I found its of a rich industrialist, and World War 2 aim, to stress the fantasy elements in the was their baptism-with-violence. Seeing, film noir thrillers of the 1940s, unworthy from the innocent eyes of their child­ of so much fuss, perhaps because hood, what sort of people were fascists, Frederic Forrest’s author-detective is and who were socialists, they became another piece of miscasting. He may look socialists and remain so to this day. Their like the legendary Dashiel Hammett, but he seems charmless to the point of socialism is peculiarly Italian, and this tedium. Whereas in Julia . . . of course, film shows quite clearly its origins, and its that too was Jason Robards. justification: they saw that the people, The scandal of the Festival this year especially the poorest, possessed a was that instead of established directors strength which socialism could perhaps

Hanna Schygulla (right) in Jean-Luc Godard’s Passion, his "most varied, colorful and occasionally spectacular film . . . since Pierrot le fou”. like Claude Chabrol, the French entries were by little-known directors. Douce enquete sur la violence (A Gentle Inquiry Into Violence), by Gerard Guerin, recalls

the works of Jean-Luc Godard’s middle period, with characters talking their heads off amid simple or dingy indoor sets. The sub-titles failed to keep up with the pretentious dialogue, and my wake­ fulness failed altogether. It may have made a better impression, had there not been an instance of the real thing: the Swiss competition entry was Godard’s teasingly-titled Passion.

The passion concerned is the passion for work, embodied by a tele-feature director (Jerzy Radzivilowicz) and a factory owner (Michel Piccoli). They reflect the mood which besets success­ ful people of 40 or over, who have found that nothing their success could possibly buy is as much fun as the creative effort involved in their work. It is less easy to believe in the factory girl, played by Isabelle Huppert, who tries to unionize Piccoli’s factory: she is sacked, which frustrates her passion for unions and for her work, and leads to some imitation

Keystone Cop scenes as her boss and the inept local policemen try to throw her out.

Passion is the most varied, colorful and occasionally spectacular film by Godard since Pierrot le fou, and occa­ sionally it is even funny. At his press con­ ference, Godard uttered his intellec­ tually lucid-sounding non-sequiturs with the same confidence which structures his equally irrational sequences; so that after an hour and a half of his film, and as long again as his theories, one begins to doubt the validity of reason. Can it be right to be rational?

In the realm of love, sex and perver­ sion, such questions need not obtrude.

Peter de Monte’s Invitation au voyage (Invitation to a Voyage) is a road movie, and probably deserved its prize of “finest artistic contribution” to the cameraman, Bruno Nuytten, for his skilful integration of film and video image, and consis­ tently dramatic lighting which made every shot look like a record cover. (The same could be said of Alan Parker’s Pink Floyd — The Wali; so, it seems, record covers are in this year.) Invitation to a

Sissy Spacek and Jack Lemmon in Costa-Gavras’political thriller, Missing.

CINEMA PAPERS August - 323

Cannes Film Festival 1982

Lindsay Anderson’s Britannia Hospital, which ‘‘satirizes every social class, profession and British political organization”.

Voyage is a variation on the thief-and-

hooker, or buddy-buddy odyssey: the young man’s companion is his sister’s corpse, it is a chic film, but even in its minor key and sombre humor it was out­ classed by an American entry, Smith­ ereens, directed by Susan Seidelman, with a combination of a steady, well­ meaning, innocent boy and prom­ iscuous, restless, quasi-criminal girl giving a new twist on the increasingly fashionable theme of unbonded pairing.

Smithereens contrasts the youth of the

characters and the crumbling, darklyshot New York setting. They inhabit the streets, houses, underground stations and empty building lots in their noc­ turnal existence like young, sinewy sewer-rats.

A few years ago, films like Smith­ ereens, Invitation to a Voyage and par­ ticularly A Gentle Inquiry Into Violence would have been in the Directors’ Fort­ night, where clever young filmmakers with a fresh approach used to make their mark. But the financial crisis which has

Michelangelo Antonioni’s Identification of a Woman: "there is nothing as deep as an empty well. ” reached the Socialist bloc, as well as the West and the Third World, seems to cut investment to a minimum and reduce the lavish grandeur. Besides, for the first time, there was no Soviet competition entry.

The Festival’s directorate had asked for Elmer Klimov’s Agonia, a grand and spectacular drama about Rasputin, in the style of V. I. Pudovkin or Sergei Eisen­ stein. But Sovexport refused and recom­ mended something else instead, which the Festival refused in turn. On the Soviet stand, there was a timetable of films showing in the Market, listing Agonia for the last day of the Festival; on the penul­ timate day, the title, time and venue were pasted over with thin white paper to show the screening was cancelled.

But Agonia exists (as do five previous unexportabie works by Klimov): it was seen last year, at the Moscow Festival, and in February this year, at an empty suburban cinema on the outskirts of Pecs, during the Hungarian Film Days.

The Hungarian entry, Karoly Makk’s O lelkezo te k in te te k (E m b racing Glances/Another Look), was not finished

Jeremy Irons in Jerzy Skolimowski’s British film, Moonlighting, ‘‘a nightmare allegory ... on leadership based on censored information . . . and all other tools of a dictatorship”.

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in time for Pecs, so it attracted great interest as the first feature from Eastern Europe which deals openly with homo­ sexuality. However, it concentrates on the hostile prurience of a male-domi­ nated society, and the lesbian heroine’s mad dash across the firing lines at a heavily-guarded border post reaffirms the deviation-must-end-in-tragedy syndrome. In attitudes as well as its studiedly-beautiful style, Makk’s film seems to precede by several genera­ tions such jolly capers as Taxi zum klo, or such sensitive, fluid, casually-paced films as Girlfriends.

This sense of a static, museum-piece quality dominated many of the com­ petition films. The British entries were divided by it: The Return of the Soldier,

by Alan Bridges, had it in full, and carried strong reminders of the worthy dram­ atizations of literary classics which enhance the prestige of our television companies. On the other hand, Lindsay Anderson’s Britannia Hospital included in its satirical targets the flat shootingstyle of television serials. In fact, Britannia Hospital satirizes every social class, profession and British political organization. It has been unfavorably compared to Anderson’s previous films; but no other work can be compared to

Britannia Hospital. The concluding Shakespeare quotation merely obfus­ cates the only possible parallel, to the comic style of Ben Jonson’s plays.

Jonson, too, was deemed arrogant for satirizing his contemporaries from a rigidly moral standpoint, assuming that as men who are wise are also good, there is no difference between knaves and fools.

Moonlighting, made in London by Jerzy Skolimowski, is also about morality: it is-about four Poles stranded in London during the military coup in December 1981, who came to rebuild a house for their corrupt boss. Only their foreman (Jeremy Irons, giving a performance which should have won the Best Actor prize) understands English. When he nears of the coup, he decides not to tell the others, but to cope with their many problems and setbacks by himself.

Although Moonlighting starts with meticulous realism, it gradually turns into a nightmarish allegory (pot unlike Grotowski’s stage pieces) on leadership based on censored information, on forcing labor to fulfil a timed plan, and all the other tools , of a dictatorship. As Jeremy Irons lies, steals and cheats for a dubious goal, his mates turn against him while the outside world has disappeared behind a curtain of non-communication.

Communication, relationships, style . . . there is no escape. Michelangelo Antonioni’s Identificazione d’una donna (Identification of a Woman) cannot be ignored, especially as it won the fanciest prize, a tribute awarded to celebrate the 35 years of the Cannes Festival, it is actually the identification of two women: one a rich bitch who escapes from the exceedingly boring hero into some secret lesbian underworld, and another, rather winsome little actress who seems to be able to put up with him. In the last scene, it turns out that this may be because she is pregnant by some other man; and pregnancy may have softened her responses, or her brain.

Antonioni is far from boring himself: listening to his charming, lucid discourse at his press conference made me want to see his film; and then I recalled that I just had, for two hours and nine minutes, trying to gauge its hidden depths. There is an old Armenian saying (and if there isn t, there should be), that there is nothing as deep as an empty well. ★

■■■

mm ***m*"fitoitomoli

Wm.mi.

We o f the Never Never: the story o f the hardship faced by the newly-married Jeannie Gunn (Angela Punch McGregor), which recalls the courage, vitality and humor o f early cattlemen and Aboriginal stockmen, in the harsh, but memorable, Northern Territory environment.

Based on Jeannie Gunnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s classic autobiography, We of the Never Never is directed by Igor Auzins, from a screenplay by Peter Schreck, for producer Greg Tepper.

Shot on location in the Northern Territory on a budget of $3.2 million, We of the Never Never is an Adams-Packer Film Productions â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Film Corporation o f Western Australia film.

Previous page: Jeannie Gunn (Angela Punch McGregor) does her own housework at Elsey Station. Above: Mac (Tony Barry) drives Jeannie to Elsey. Her husband, Aeneas Gunn (Arthur Dignam), rides behind. Below: Jeannie alone at Elsey. Right: Jeannie unpacks her trunk with her second Chinese cook, Cheon (Cecil Parkee).

326 - August CINEMA PAPERS

Clockwise from top left: Jeannieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s underwear is admired by local Aboriginals at the swimming hole; Jack (Lewis Fitz­ Gerald) and Dandy (John Jarratt), Elsey station hands; Jeannie is pulled across a flooded river en route to Elsey; Dan (Martin Vaughan) and Aeneas; Goggle Eye (Donald Blitner), leader o f the Aboriginals on Elsey.

CINEMA PAPERS August - 327

at Borroloola. They have made other films with Aboriginal people (We Stop Here, Protected and Ningla-a-na). Their aim has been to give the Aboriginal people the maximum control in direction and expression.

Two Laws goes a deal further in this direction than their earlier films. The film sometimes appears chaotic and fragmentary, but life is often like that in the highly-decentralized Borro­ loola community and a smoother film, in cinematic terms, would have disguised this quality. ilming started during the summer of 1979-80. It was an exceptionally hot and dry period; water was scarce and brackish, the food supply erratic and the facilities for hygiene were at their normal low level. Throughout the filming, the participants, not least the white filmmakers who shared the same conditions as the Aboriginals, suffered bouts of boils, gastroenteritic disease and other illnesses which proliferate at that time of year.

Coping with living under these circumstances is difficult enough. So it is an indication of the significance which the Aboriginal people placed on the project that the film was made at all.

It took eight months for the film to be shot.

Funding shortages held up production in its final stages and prevented Aboriginal participation in the editing. Nevertheless, the film was made according to the original plan which had been decided by the Aboriginal people.

A wide-angle lens is used throughout the film.

The effect of this is to prevent the audience from forgetting that it is seeing a selection from a reality, and not the reality itself. The audience is, by this and other means, made aware of some of the manner in which the film was made. This is

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John Avery

Aboriginal people from Borroloola, a small township in the Northern Territory Gulf of Car­ repressive vision of Aboriginal pentaria, to show some aspects of their history people is deeply engraved upon white and lives at present; they regard it important Australian culture. A deliberate that the world should know about them. The forgetfulness about the history of people emerge as complex personalities, as cul­ white Australians’ relations with turally eclectic and both passive and active Aboriginals goes with it. One need onlywithin browse their historical context. through the souvenir shops to find the crudest The two laws are the European law and the examples of these distortions among the objects Aboriginal law, the European tradition and the which represent Australia overseas. Australian Aboriginal tradition, European history and history books, anthropology, fiction, painting Aboriginal history and European power and the and film reveal the same misperceptions in more control of their own destiny. The film is an effort subtle and sophisticated disguises. to come to grips with and to understand the Whether Aboriginals are portrayed as the constant dilemma of living with two laws. The noble savage, the base primitive, the ecologists, Aboriginal participants clearly see themselves as the most or the least religious, the rightly or living at the centre of their own world, even if it wrongly conquered people, the superstitious bar­ is intersected by a European world whose centre barians or the people with the most authentic and rationality lies elsewhere. They remain an culture, these stereotypes deny the complexity of undefeated people.

Aboriginal lives by tying their identity to a few Alessandro Cavadini and Carolyn Strachan selected criteria. were invited by the community to make the film Two Laws, a two-hour film in four parts, opened a season at the Sydney Opera House on Below: Carolyn Strachan and Nora. Right: Echo tells of his May 3. It challenges these distortions and this arrest by Constable Stott in 1933. Far right: Borroloola people amnesia. The film is an attempt by some re-enact the 1933 round-up. Two Laws.

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as important a message as the more explicitlymformative parts of the film.

The first part of the film deals with a police patrol to the east of Borroloola in 1932-33. Of about 25 Aboriginal prisoners and “witnesses” detailed on this patrol, about half are still alive.

Many of them gave advice on the incident which the Aboriginals decided to re-enact. Old Dolly, whose sister (also Dolly) was killed by the constable in charge, took charge of the re­ enacted sequences.

328 - August CINEMA PAPERS

At times these sequences approach cinematic realism, but mostly Dolly is seen organizing and instructing the younger people taking the parts as if she were teaching them a new dance or a ritual. They know the story already, but their full instruction about the meaning of this past requires that they participate in representing it.

leaders of the Aboriginals involved. The con­ stable arrested 15 and took others as witnesses.

The prisoners were made to walk in chains and handcuffs, perhaps as far as 200 km on the trek back to Borroloola. On the way, they were beaten for confessions.

All of this seemed hardly necessary, since the trials at Borroloola were prosecuted by the con­ ome older people show the place where stable and the defence was in the hands of the Dolly’s sister died. Others explain the sergeant. The witnesses were not taxed by giving manner in which the policeman beat evidence and guilt was established by fiat. them to make them confess to spearing The constable’s most brutal treatment was cattle. Old Tyson, with the driest meted out to Dolly; she died as a result of it. She humor, takes the constable’s part in flogging a arrested because she was living with a had been tree, which represents himself: white man. “ You been eatim bullock?”

“No.” few of the white men — small pas­ “ You been tuckout bullock?” toralists, salt miners, prospectors: all “ No.” battlers — had agreed to a com­ “ You been tuckout bullock?” promise with the Aboriginals in the “ Yes, I been tuckout bullock, eatim whole lot area. Their activities were on a scale myself.” compatible with the Aboriginal use of Fifty years before this police patrol, a bloody The Aboriginals were able to get supplies of the battle between the Karrawa Aboriginals and the European goods, which they valued, in return for pastoralists overlanding cattle from Queensland labor; when supplies were low, they were fed to the Northern Territory was waged in this with bush foods. area. Cattle stations were set up in Karrawa The basis of this way of life was very often territory, with southern capital and high hopes. that the white men were living quite illegally The Karrawa retaliated against these invasions with Aboriginal women. They were known as by attacking the pastoralists and their cattle. “combos” because of these marriages and their Stock losses by Aboriginal attacks and the semi-Aboriginal lifestyle. Bill Harney, who outbreak of disease, and the periodic slumps in wrote a number of books about the combo life, cattle prices, brought many of the stations to was the most famous example of this type. ruin. As the stations to the south on the Barkly This way of life was quite opposed to the order Tablelands became better established, and, as which the police had been sent to Borroloola to the movements across the riverine Karrawa protect. Not only were the combos living country slowed, the area became more isolated. illegally with Aboriginal women, they sought the Aboriginals’ assistance in other crimes, such as These stations then declined even further.

To the Karrawa, it must have seemed that stealing cattle. They were all as thick as thieves they had been effective in turning the tide of the and, besides, it was not for whites to be

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invasion. Whereas they had been extensively massacred in the early pastoral period, they began to reassert themselves in the area. Cattle­ killing by Karrawa under the leadership of “ Murdering Tommy” increased at the time of World War 1, and, in 1932, there were renewed reports of Aboriginals killing cattle.

The police sergeant at Borroloola sent a con­ stable and a tracker out on patrol as it had been done years ago to break up the Murdering Tommy crowd. The aim was to arrest the ring­

integrated into the Aboriginal way. of life.

This partly explains the pathological malice in the constable’s treatment of Dolly. It also explains why one of the combos persisted in having the constable charged over Dolly’s death.

He was incensed by the way she was treated and he resented the constable arresting some of his “ boys” . The constable was charged with assaulting Dolly. His prisoners and witnesses testified against him, yet he was acquitted.

Combos had a role in the resistance to an

attempt by the Commonwealth Government’s Welfare Branch to move the Aboriginal people at Borroloola to a proposed reserve about 100 km east of the town. These events are covered in the second part of Two Laws, “ Welfare Times” , which deals with other aspects of the welfare regime at Borroloola, both in the past and as it is today.

The main functions of the Welfare Branch appear to have been to supply Aboriginal labor to the big stations on the Barkly Tablelands; they had to maintain an orderly community at Borroloola. A great deal of their power came from the role in dispensing rations to the Aboriginals.

The Branch’s superintendents, however, had to contend with not being the sole authority in the town. They often clashed with the mission­ aries, who tried to exercise a harsh moralism in the affairs of the Aboriginals. The authority of the Branch and the missionaries was also the land. by the influence of the combos. Borro­ weakened loola has never been a mission or government settlement capable of excluding “undesirable” influences. n 1959, the Welfare superintendent moved the Aboriginals to the proposed reserve. Some of them returned to Borro­ loola and sought the assistance of Roger Jose, one of the Northern Territory’s legendary figures and a combo. A letter was sent to Darwin appealing against the relocation and, at some point, Paul Hasluck, Minister for Terri­ tories, intervened in the Aboriginals’ favor. He may have come to Borroloola, but this is not quite clear. The superintendent lost his isolated kingdom and the Aboriginals, mostly Yanyula people, returned to Borroloola.

The significance of the combos to the Borro­ loola Aboriginals has its roots in a pattern of foreign contact which preceded the European invasion.

Men from Macassar and elsewhere on the eastern Indonesian island of Sulawesi came each year to the Gulf of Carpentaria to fish for trepang. Victims of the White Australia policy, their visits stopped in 1907. The oldest people at Borroloola today recall waiting for the Macassans to arrive with great anticipation. The Aboriginals traded their labor and the pearls, pearlshell and tortoiseshell which they had col­ lected over the year. In return, they received a variety of Macassan goods: rice, molasses, arrack, opium, canoes and cloth.

The Macassans had also approved sexual rela­ tions with Aboriginal women. Young Aboriginal men, and possibly women too, sometimes sailed home with the Macassans and were normally returned the following season. Elements of Indo­ nesian culture were thus absorbed into the Borroloola tradition.

Relations between the Macassans and the Aboriginals were not always peaceful, but they remain an acceptable model of foreign contact.

To some extent, this model of relations was realized between the Aboriginals and the combos. It is in sharp contrast to their relation with corporate capital, whether pastoral or mining.

Unlike the Macassans and the combos, big capital seeks uncompromising domination. This emerges in the third part of the film, “The Struggle for Land” . The Borroloola Region Aboriginal Land Claim was the first of the series of claims to be heard by the Aboriginal Land Commissioner under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act (Northern Territory) 1976.

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Concluded on p. 395 CINEMA PAPERS August - 329

A Dramatized Documentary

ob Plasto, who began work as a give the Australian and some sections of the journalist with the ABC in 1968 and overseas public an opportunity to understand was for six years a producer, the extent of the issues involved and the director and writer of the ABC dilemmas that were inevitably thrown up in _ series A Big C ountry, became the attempts to return land to the traditional aware of the importance of Aboriginal land owners. ocumentary filmmakers inevitably rights when he reported on the first moves by But the real motivation for making a docu­ confront a wide range of dilemmas the Yirrakala people to claim the Gove penin­ m en tary about A boriginal land rights when considering any aspect of sula. That was in 1969, when Plasto was a developed as Plasto made three or four trips A b o rig in a l c u ltu re and its young journalist based in the N orthern each year to the Northern Territory: relationship to European culture. Territory. “ I saw a remarkable shift in the relationship Furthermore, any European or white The Austra­ fact that the Gove peninsula held the between black and white. I became fully lian who makes documentaries about Aus­ richest bauxite deposits in northern Australia aware for the first time of the growing tralia’s Aboriginals must confront the reality of made the Yirrakala people’s claim exceptional Aboriginal presence. Out of a tragic past, the the emerging and independent voice of this in the eyes of Aboriginals, European land­ Aborigines were finding voice, with strong continent’s original settlers. The difficulties owners and governments and opened the demands for a return of their lands. I felt are accentuated by the fact that Aboriginals floodgates for the many claims that have been Australia was in the midst of a turning point. have, in recent years, made their own docu­ made since that time. Furthermore, in 1976, It was causing great bitterness in whites in mentaries about themselves and the issues legislation was introduced in the Northern the Northern Territory, and black and white that concern them in contemporary Australia. Territory to facilitate the return of traditional were confused. I felt that a land rights The experience of the people who made land to Aboriginals and, consequently, a inquiry would provide the essence of 200 Wrong Side Of The Road reinforces this m o v e m e n t beg an th a t now ta k es on years of history and go some way to point, insofar as what began as a documentary momentous proportions. It was a movement explaining the feelings on both sides.” about Aboriginals was transformed into a that surpassed any superficial expectations that Plasto, at 31, is well acquainted with Abori­ fully-fledged, realist drama by Aboriginals. But the Aboriginals of the Northern Territory ginals and with the demands of making docu­ Europeans persist in their efforts to come to would be subdued or complacent in their terms with Aboriginal Australians by making claims to land. Moreover, it is now clear that mentaries about them. Indeed, it is the realiza­ tion that, as a European, a filmmaker is documentary films about them. land rights claims represent a major develop­ excluded from participating in Aboriginal One topic that concerns too few Australians ment in Australia’s recent history. culture that is a persistent limitation of any and is now the subject of a forthcoming tele­ With this background of rapid progress, documentary effort. The only approach can be vision documentary is land rights. Indeed, the Plasto realized the need to document the complex problems involved in the resolution events; in particular, the actual proceedings of that of a sympathetic and compassionate of Aboriginal claims to tribal and traditional the claims to land. Such an approach would white, who sees and hears and then tries to comprehend and act on the basis of newfound land is an ideal subject for documentary con­ sideration.

Nowhere is the Aboriginal demand for the return of their land more determined than in the Northern Territory where, in two years’ time, Aboriginals may have control of up to 46 per cent of that territory’s land. Yet the details of Aboriginal land claims have not been presented to the Australian public on tele­ vision screens, or in depth, in any recent film.

The necessity of covering Aboriginal land rights claims is, therefore, a matter of major importance, not only to filmmakers but to the Australian public which is ignorant and gener­ ally confused about precisely what the Aboriginal claims involve.

Two filmmakers, Bob Plasto (producerdirector) and David Millikan (associate producer), have recognized these sorts of problems confronting white Australians, themselves included, and established a film company, Imago Australia, which will attempt to examine the difficulties associated with land rights claims with as much detail and concern for Aboriginals as it is possible for urbanized, white Australians to generate. The result of their efforts is the television documentary, A Shifting Dreaming, which will go to air sometime in 1982.

Marcus Breen

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in fo rm atio n . T his is P la sto ’s p o sition, land rights claims of the Warlpiri people. Held although the final step of action is restricted to under the supervision of Justice John Toohey, documenting the events. For the public to the courtroom proceedings provided Plasto observe is, for him, enough. with outstanding footage of the arguments of After 13 films and documentaries on issues blacks and whites for and against the return of involving Aboriginals, Plasto is enthusiastic to traditional land. With two film crews and use his valuable experience on projects that are 60,000 feet of film, the proceedings in the essentially related to the act of filmmaking. courtroom were filmed in total. But this would And for the film- or documentary-maker, the ' never have been possible without Justice act of bringing change to the public’s attention Toohey’s assistance. is, in itself, an act that often has political and It was Justice Toohey to whom Plasto turned social, perhaps even revolutionary, conse­ two years ago to ask permission to film the quences. In Plasto’s case, however, his role courtroom proceedings. Justice Toohey’s reply has been to “ help articulate what Aborigines to Plasto’s request was, “ Yes, if the Abori­ have been doing and trying to achieve and gines, cattlemen, mining interests and all legal indicate to white Australians how they are counsel agree.” Before that stage had been reached, Plasto had to convince Toohey and caught up in the change” . the interested parties of the validity of the evolution is, of course, too strong a project and of the feeling Plasto had that a word for the land rights claims. change in Aboriginal-white relations was Rather, reform is the issue. But it is underway. Justice Toohey was convinced of the conflict between the Aboriginal the change, respected Plasto’s concern and, claims for a radical reversal of the furthermore, had a feeling for what Plasto was mechanisms that have robbed them trying of their to achieve. land, in contrast to the implémentation of It could and probably should be argued that bourgeois European reforms, that makes the this sort of approach to a matter of implicit documentation of the land rights claims both concern to A boriginals was som ew hat fascinating and important to the filmmaker immoral, considering that white people were, and the public. Yet since the late 1950s and yet again, being the final arbiters in an issue early ’60s, when the Wattie Creek people about which Aboriginals should have the claimed their traditional land and eventually ultimate power. But Plasto insists that the final won it back, very little documentation of the complex issues involved in land rights claims has been seen by the Australian public.

The coverage of the land rights claims of the Warlpiri people of the Northern Territory forms the foundation of A Shifting Dreaming and will have far-reaching implications for Australian history. As Plasto says: “ It’s going to change the perspective of Australian history as we know it. That’s what I think anyway. It’s going to shake a lot of people and bring to the screen what we all felt and saw.”

What the filmmakers saw and filmed was unique in Australian documentary history: the proceedings of the courtroom hearings into the

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the Conniston massacre which left few arguments. It was a massive emotional experience. And it all happened in the space of eight days. That was pretty dramatic as well as the fact that what you are brought up with, your own definitions and traditions are shaken. “ In the end, you must say that in this claim we are seeing justice for the Abori­ gines, but I can see the claims for the whites as well. Also, there was a lot of dignity in the way the claims were made without un­ necessary emotionalism, so in that way we think we will be able to present a fair story.”

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ilming Aboriginal people led to other conflicts of a different kind. Plasto notes, for example, that being white has been “ pretty rugged” . But agree­ ments were reached with the Abori­ ginal people to show them rushes and involve them in the project as much as possible, and, although they did not have the power of veto, relationships with them were positive.

Plasto returns again to Justice Toohey, the person who is really responsible for the docu­ mentary, partly because he agreed to admit Plasto’s cameras into the courtroom and also because Toohey believed in the uniqueness of

Below: Northern Territory Aboriginals on the disputed land.

Right: Cul Cullen (centre) and Gerard Kennedy rehearse a sequence.

decision about filming was made by the Aboriginals.

Nevertheless, the project was rolling and, of course, obstacles of a logistical and personal nature developed that were not anticipated.

Perhaps the greatest difficulties were the personal ones which developed at the work face, as the courtroom proceedings and conversations with interested persons were being recorded. Plasto recalls his experience: “ At a land rights claim your emotions change every day. One day the Aborigines put their case and you feel empathy for them and the next day the pastoralists would put their case and you would feel empathy for them, but, in the end, it was the spectre of

the Aboriginals’ claims and their historical importance. It was, Plasto insists, Justice Toohey who shared Plasto’s belief that the story had to be told and gave the go-ahead.

Perhaps, if there is any revolution associated with this documentary, it is that the judiciary has opened its doors so the public may scrutinize its dealings with Australia’s original inhabitants. Furtherm ore, by presenting information about land rights claims in the Northern Territory, it is likely that a further groundswell of support for Aboriginal claims will develop. Plasto says: “ The land rights legislation in the Northern Concluded on p. 393 CINEMA PAPERS August - 331

DAVID MILLIKAN ta lks to M a rc u s B reen

The joint participant in Imago Australia and “A Shifting Dreaming” is David Millikan.

Recently, Millikan was seen on A B C television as the presenter fo r the documentary series on Christianity in Australia, “The Sunburnt Soul".

Before involving him self in film m aking, Millikan was a theologian, writer and publicist fo r the Zadok Centre in Canberra, a facility established by Christian organizations to enable Australian church people to understand con­ temporary Australian society.

Millikan became involved in the Imago project as an associate producer late in He viewed the project Pwas undertaking as an opportunity to resolve his own under­ standing, as an Australian, about the relation­ sh ips betw een A b o rig in a ls a n d w hite Australians.

Was there a particular situation or experience that directed you towards making documentaries?

Left: David Millikan (left) and Bob Plasto.

Above: Ray Barrett and crew.

We, on occasions, are unable to resolve those and we don’t attempt to.

It was directed towards making this one. The opportunity arose for us to go to the Northern Territory and film a land claim, which is something that hadn’t been done before. All this land is being given back to the Aboriginals, and that is going to have a long-term effect on the way our culture perceives itself in the future.

There were a lot of issues that were unresolved in my mind, and the documentary seemed a superb way of looking into them in some depth.

What are those dilemmas?

One would be whether or not we find ourselves adopting a partisan view in support of the Aboriginals in their fight for land rights. Every­ one in the centre has a view on that.

People farther south and east tend to get drawn away from it, and they are not quite as strong in the way they relate to the matter. But we have been in the thick of it for a number of months.

Still, there are a lot of issues in relation to the Aboriginal land rights about which I am un­ decided.

How have you approached this docu­ mentary?

We are trying to strike a balance between the role of an observer and that of an interested party. We can’t pretend that we are not involved in the issues, particularly in relation to the relationship between blacks and whites in the centre of Australia. We do feel involved, yet at the same time we With that in mind, what style of want to present broad information documentary are you producing? without any partisan views, as far as possible.

The style, I suppose, is some­ Whose point of view are you repre­ thing other people will gain more senting? perception of than we do. The style is no doubt our own. I don’t think it Basically our own. In that sense, is the analytical, precise, some­ we would like to think we are repre­ what detached style of British docu­ sentative of people who want to mentary makers; nor is it the understand what is happening. intensely involved or sensational 332 - August CINEMA PAPERS

Are you trying to maintain an even balance between the European per­ ception of the problem and the Aboriginal perception . . .

approach of the A m ericans.

Rather, we are aiming for a view which in itself has a certain depth and which doesn’t avoid the deeper questions. We are not anxious to just look at the superficial mani­ festations of the situation.

I suppose one thing that may be distinctive, but not unique, about the way we have approached it is that we have a certain interest in what dilemmas the situation poses.

We can’t pretend to say we understand the Aboriginal view; I don’t. Professor Stanner, who per­ haps understood the Aboriginals more than most, said, after a life­ time of study, he didn’t understand a lot of things. I am very suspicious of people who say they do.

So, we don’t pretend to say that we are assuming the Aboriginal position on this. We are taking a position of European outsiders who are intensely concerned to under­ stand. At the same time, we are not

outsiders because we are Austra­ lians and it is our country.

How much opportunity have you given the Aboriginals to put their case?

The major part of the documen­ tary consists of Aboriginals giving their side of the story, at the claim at Warrabri, north-east of Alice Springs.

We shot 74,000 feet of film, mainly of Aboriginal evidence. It was an extraordinary experience because the Aboriginals talked about their relationship to the land, the history of their dislocation and the disruption of their life since the arrival of white people. We were filming in an area where Abori­ ginals only very recently made con­ tact with white people. There were people at that claim who are members of the first families to see white people in that area.

and which must. They have a lot to So you can see it as an act of We were able to unearth a tran­ say about what the experience of triumph for the Aboriginals. script of the incident — in fact, that But, on the other side, you can seems to be the only one left — in beauty, the experience of meaning, the experience of selfhood as a see it as being the final act of the the Parliamentary Library in Can­ conquerors, who are satiated by the berra, and the more we looked into nation is. conquest of this country, disillu­ the incident we were looking into a Does that mean you see yourselves sioned by the destruction they have matter of quite profound implica­ becoming part of a political move­ wreaked on the Aboriginals, tions in terms of the way we, as a ment representing Aboriginal burdened by a sense of conscience people, had dealt with something politics, or is it more distant than and are now throwing back stuff to quite devastating in its implica­ ease their conscience. In a sense, tions. The inquiry revealed, in the that? you can see it as the final act of con­ course of its hearings, that 31 No, it is at a step further back quest.

Aboriginals had been shot in the than that. Other people may process of a police party searching assume that approach. We have That brings to mind the experience for the murderers of a white dingo assumed a different approach. We of the people who made “Wrong trapper. We have since found that are trying to look at what it means. Side of the Road”, who started out the number shot was not 31, but The Aboriginals are struggling to making a documentary but realized more than 100. reassert themselves as a viable cul­ they were doing the wrong thing and That happened in 1928, but the tural identity in certain places. I rewrote the script for Aboriginals to children of those shot are alive, still don’t think they have ever lost their say what they really wanted about trying to come to terms with that. I knew nothing about it and a lot cultural identity in a lot of places, themselves . . . but in some places they have. The of other people have never heard of re-emergence of a vital Aboriginal One of the major issues in this it.

When did you develop an interest in Aboriginal land rights and Abori­ ginals generally?

It happened over a period of some time. I probably became first aware of my interest in Abori­ ginals when I was living in Los Angeles. I used to spend a bit of time bushwalking in the High Sierras — it’s some of the most spectacular country I have been in — and I found the beauty and grandeur of the whole scene quite overwhelming.

After living in the area for four years, it was difficult for me to relate back to my experience of the Australian environment. I felt the pull of it and, after four years, decided I belonged back here. But the struggle within myself to dis­ cover the meaning of that experi­ ence led me to think about the people who had lived here for 40,000 years and developed a culture that was finely tuned to life in this particular country.

I felt that one of the important ingredients in the search for the Australian identity will lead us, eventually, into some sort of contact with what the Aboriginals have to say of their understanding of life here. We, as an Australian culture, would be doomed to super­ ficiality if we didn’t find our way to understanding what the Abori­ ginals have to say.

Inquiry chairman, A. H. O’Kelly (Martin Vaughan), and Police Inspector Giles (Victor Kazan). A Shifting Dreaming.

culture is something that is going to be very important to Australia. We are at a point in this documentary where we are seeing that re­ So, they would be recognized as a emergence.

You can take two approaches to major force, if not the major force, in how this country identifies itself the whole issue of land rights in Warrabri. You can say we are wit­ nessing an extraordinary act of sur­ I might not even want to say they vival, that the Aboriginals have, in are going to be the major force a sense, clawed their way back from because we now have a population almost total destruction with quite of 15 million in this country and the incredible endurance, managed to Aboriginals are a minority. But fight off the onslaught of the over­ they have a perception which has whelmingly powerful culture, not been understood or recognized, claimed their land and got it back.

documentary is that it includes a large section of drama. This was an evolution. We didn’t set out to do this. During the course of the land claim, we heard the Aboriginals talking about the killing times and, the more they talked, the more we realized they were dealing with a reality which they were still struggling with, something of enor­ mous proportions which was very destructive. So we set to work to look into the matter, and found that they were talking about an incident that occurred in 1928, and is known as the Conniston Killing.

That means the children were aware of what had happened and aware of the guilt on the whites’ side. Did they pick up the information from their fathers?

Well, in some cases they saw it happen. Several of those who par­ ticipated in the incident — whites and blacks — are still alive. We also have letters from people written around the time.

We have researched it thor­ oughly to the point where we have Concluded on p. 393 CINEMA PAPERS August - 333

FILM F E S T M L 1982 K eith C onnolly and Brian M cFarlane i i i i i i m i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i t i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i Pixote not only provided the 1982 Mel­ bourne Film Festival with a notable media event, it revealed an interesting contrast in critical attitudes. There were those who saw Hector Babenco’s banned-and-reprieved film of Brazilian juvenile delinquency as “ manipulative” , “detached” and even “corny” , while others (including this reviewer) praised its “sincerity” , “courage” and “warmth” .

This is not to suggest that Pixote is without failings. Its melodrama is occa­ sionally overstated, while an episodically-ellipticai structure leaves some annoying gaps. Further, and more understandably, Babenco stops short of sheeting home ultimate responsibility for the appalling conditions he depicts.

(Though moving grudgingly in the direc­ tion of representative democracy, Brazil is still a junta-controlled totalitarian state and filmmakers, among others, have to be circumspect about such things.)

Los Olvidados it's not (nor does it aspire to be), but Pixote is a consider­ able achievement by any measure — political, social or cinematic — and I find the lukewarm response "it received almost as puzzling as the Film Censor­ ship Board’s original ban.

That overturned decision apparently rested upon the fact that in the film a 10year-old boy watches a couple copulate.

Yet one also sees him kill three people, shooting two men and knifing a woman in the stomach. He also witnesses the pack rape of a boy not much older than him­ self in a Sao Paulo reformatory.

Gamines like Pixote and his teenage comrades are a disturbing fact of life on the streets of virtually every large South American city, from Santiago to Bogota, and official attitudes towards them range from the insensitive to the indifferent.

Brazil’s position is largely one of benign neglect, epitomized in a curious law that precludes anyone under 18 from being prosecuted for a criminal offence. This neither keeps minors away from crime nor out of the clutches of the vicious “ un­ official” police vigilante squads (which Babenco courageously depicts in action against a group of street urchins).

A brief prologue to Pixote states that 50 per cent of Brazil’s 100 million popu­ lation is less than 21 and that three million of them are homeless. Then Babenco shows what happens when the authorities have one of their rare spasms of responsibility towards this army of street dwellers. Groups of them are herded into an overcrowded reform school, an appalling, institutional slum run by corrupt and cynical officials who condone and even promote jungle law among the inmates. Thus we meet little Pixote (played by a wide-eyed prodigy named Fernando Ramos da Silva), whose education in crime and degrada­ tion is begun by the older boys.

Almost half the film is spent in the horrifying squalor of this place and Babenco spares the audience nothing, before a boy is beaten to death by warders and Pixote joins a mass break­ out.

Under the leadership of a teenage transvestite, he and three others make out on the city streets by pursesnatching, drug-dealing and pimping.

334 - August CINEMA PAPERS

Ken Loach’s Looks and Smiles, an “outstanding social realist's examination of working-class deprivation in modern Britain’’.

One has already seen these children, who have never known childhood, rehearsing their criminal future in joyless games played in the reform atory grounds.

Not the least of Babenco’s achieve­ ment is knowing when to keep his cool, while the film fairly seethes with un­ stated anger. Hence, I suppose, those unwarranted critical assumptions about the film’s “detachment” .

Pixote is a harrowing, remorseless and saddening social document, dramatized chiefly for effect, but also, one suspects, in deference to a prevail­ ing official climate that permits only a certain degree of social observation.

Another film resembled Pixote in its moving representation of lost innocence, but could scarcely have been more disparate in style and setting. In Kohei Oguri's quietly affecting Doro no kawa (Muddy River), an 11-year-old Japanese boy befriends the children of a prosti­ tute dnd has his view of the adult world sadly broadened. This film, however, is gentle, where Pixote is savage, and softly infers wnat Babenco plainly utters.

Another appealing child actor (Nobutaka Asahara), whose expression of un­ plumbed wonder makes at least part of the director’s task easier, portrays a child in a far happier situation than Pixote. His loving parents run a working-man's, restaurant on the Osaka riverfront and he enjoys relative material and emotional security. But slowly, by experience and observation, life’s hypocrisies, cruelties and disappointments are brought home to him. The long closing sequence, when the boy watches his unfarewelled friends’ houseboat disappear down river, has the poignancy of Rene Clement’s Les jeux interdits. Interesting sub-themes in Muddy River concern the boy’s disillu­

sioned and guilt-ridden war-veteran father (Takahiro Tamura).

A remarkably sure-handed first feature, Muddy River is also notable for the luminous depths of Shohei Ando’s spare black-and-white photography.

Then, on to more young people in trouble: another age-group, another country, but similar adult misunder­ standing and indifference. Ken Loach's Looks and Smiles continues this out­ standing social realist’s examination of working-class deprivation in modern Britain, focusing here upon unemployed youth.

Made originally for television (like Cathy Come Home, the Days of Hope quartet and Up the Junction), Looks and Smiles presents a bleak view of the lot of school-leavers in Britain’s industrial north. Sheffield teenager Mick (Graham Green) has more to cope with than the unequal task of finding a satisfactory job.

Not only is he constantly disappointed in the search for an apprenticeship (having been brainwashed most of his life about the importance of “having a trade”), Mick finds society coolly unhelpful in other ways. His parents are, at best, patiently unconcerned, interviewers patently un­ interested, the world at large seems to close ranks against him (as it did to Cathy and her successors).

There is an opening, the armed forces, and Mick’s mate, Alan (Tony Pitts), takes it, returning on leave with rubber bullets fired in Ulster and off-hand talk of fallen comrades.

Through a third teenager, Karen (Carolyn Nicholson), Mick’s girlfriend, Loach associates the pangs of social and personal rejection when she seeks un­ successfully to join her divorced father.

Although firmly on their side, Loach doesn’t glamorize his characters,

endowing them with at least as many faults as strengths. And, as usual, he confronts society at large with their plight. In a final freeze-frame, Mick stares accusingly into the camera as he once more takes the only place open to him in civil life — the dole queue.

Narrative structuring isn’t Loach’s strong point and Looks and Smiles is (like Pixote) annoyingly elliptical at times while its pacing is unnecessarily fitful.

But other factors, such as the com­ passion that is an omnipresent charac­ teristic of Loach’s authorship and the doughty level-headedness of his advocacy, combine to transcend these shortcomings.

When it came to documentaries, even the most dedicated festivalgoer had trouble covering them all, because a number of the most important were screening at the State Film Centre at the same times as “ must-see” features at the Malvern Metro. However, what was prob­ ably the pick of the bunch, James B. Brown’s The Weavers: Wasn’t That a Time, shared a plum slot at the main venue. (I rank it slightly ahead of the highly enjoyable A Personal History of the Australian Surf, reviewed else­ where.)

The Weavers film is unashamedly nostalgic about days of roses and black­ list experienced by the famous U.S. folk­ song group, yet director Brown is con­ stantly mindful of contemporary realities.

In picturing a Weavers reunion and final concert before the death of bass baritone Lee Hays, he strikes a nice balance between past and present, indulging those with fond personal recollections of the group’s heyday (the Festival audi­ ence seemed to be full of them) without losing sight of the dialectical verities.

A bigger, and stronger-voiced, Ronnie

Melbourne Film Festival 1982

Gilbert' adds a coda to their inevitable Spanish civil war song, “Venga Jaleo” , with a moving rendition of “ Hay Una Mujer” , Holy Near’s lament for the women of Chile, while Lee Hays throws in some dry political observations (“ I was going to move into an old folks’ home in Washington, but it’s taken”).

Outstanding in the remainder of the Festival program were features that fell Into three approximate categories: (a) films about women who want to be people; (b) vigorous documentaries (the adjective is carefully chosen in defer­ ence to the Festival director’s horror of “ dogged” docos); and (c) inventive fiction.

In the first category were Pat Murphy and John Davies’ Maeve; Nick Broom­ field and Joan Churchill’s Soldier Girls; Helke Sanders’ Der subjektive faktor (The Subjective Factor); Menelik Shabazz’s Burning an Illusion; Sophie Bissonette, Martin Duckworth and June Rock’s Line histoire de femmes (A Wives’ Tale) and Rosa von Praunheim’s Rote Hebe (Red Love).

Maeve, a British Film Institute pro­

Top: Pat Murphy and John Davies’Maeve, which “equates the position of Irish Catholics under British Protestant domination with the lot of the Catholic women of this milieu”. Middle: Nick Broomfield and Joan Churchill’s Soldier Girls, about girl recruits in the U.S. army. Above: Victor Romero, as Del, in Menelik Shabazz’Burning an Illusion.

duction set in modern Ulster, equates the position of Irish Catholics under British­ Protestant domination with the lot of the Catholic women of this milieu. The return of a 20-year-old exile, feminist and free­ thinker, Maeve Sweeney (Mary Jack­ son), for a week’s holiday with her family in beleaguered Belfast makes an effec­ tive narrative device. Maeve argues with her dogmatic, Provisional boyfriend, tries to reason with her more sympathetic, but understandably bitter, parents and has an illuminating night out with girl­ friends (when she runs the gauntlet of a fire-fight between unseen antagonists).

Maeve’s angry debates with her lover are summed up in her withering remark: “When you win, I’ll still be oppressed!”

The free-flowing narrative jumps back and forth in place and time across the last grim decade of Ulster’s history, angrily viewing the oppression of the Catholic population, but examining their obsessions and confusions with an impatience of almost equal heat.

Significantly, the role of the church is scarcely considered. The im plied reproach of this omission carries over into a sequence in which three Irish women — Maeve, her mother and her sister — flee from a dotty old man bellowing about Ireland’s lost wisdom, on (of all places) the Giant’s Causeway. It is also consistent with Maeve’s belief that people like her persecuted father are no longer sure what the Republican struggle will achieve.

Thematically, The Subjective Factor has a lot in common with Maeve. A long, demanding (but engrossing) auto­ biographical account of a West German socialist’s painful journey into radical feminism, it, too, points out how women are repressed even within a movement devoted to “ liberation” .

Most of this is told in flashbacks to the heyday of the West Berlin student left in the late 1960s, p rotagonist Anni (Angelika Rommel) looking back from her radical feminist present. Sanders’ complex narrative sourly contrasts the genuinely egalitarian and supportive motives of Anni’s male comrades of the New Left with practices (sometimes un­ witting, occasionally openly chauvinist) that put down her attempts to relate Marxist concepts to women’s place in society.

Soldier Girls doesn’t exactly walk on its hind legs, but is most remarkable for having been made at all. British documentarists Broomfield and Churchill were permitted to shoot long sequences at a U.S. army camp which show girl recruits being harassed, brainwashed, harangued and punished by incredibly overbearing drill sergeants (one a woman). ..

Their 80-minute film follows the mis­ fortunes of three young volunteers among a squad of 50 during basic training at Fort Gordon, Georgia. Heaven knows why the authorities permitted the filmmakers to record the indignities inflicted upon the girl soldiers. Perhaps, in a period of rising unemployment, the army has all the recruits it can handle!

Soldier Girls goes quite a bit deeper, however, than its horrifying account of barracks life — as when one of the girls concedes some method behind the apparent madness (i.e., turning decent people into killing machines) or in the private reflection of the most loathsome of the sergeants that Vietnam had destroyed him as a human being.

A Wives’ Tale takes up one of the themes of Barbara Kopple’s Harlan County, USA — the politicization of strikers’ wives by a prolonged industrial struggle. The three Canadians (Bisson­ ette, Duckworth and Rock) handle the subject less skilfully and more didactic­ ally than Kopple, but give themselves scope to pursue it a good deal further.

Though their locale (Sudbury, site of the world’s largest nickel deposit) is a bigger and more sophisticated place than the Kentucky miners’ villages, the French-Canadian women face much the same problems of understanding, identification and acceptance — and resolve most of them through involve­ ment In the struggle. Flashback clips show why an earlier generation of Sud­ bury wives had been held responsible for defeating a similar long strike and also help explain the modern women’s deter­ m ination to become part of the movement.

An intriguingly diverse bilingual group (one of the film’s fascinating sidelights is the way these French-Canadians swap language almost in mid-sentence), they succeed not only in providing material aid, but in having their views heard.

When the strike is settled favorably, some of the women move on to other, mainly feminist, activities in pat, but telling, examples of raised conscious­ ness.

Red Love is another offbeat, in­ dividualistic (writer-director-producereditor) effort by the indefatigable Rosa von Praunheim. He contrasts the late Alexandra Kollontai, Soviet revolution­ ary commissar, diplomat and feminist, with the still highly-active Helga Goetze, a German sexual liberationist.

After Kollontai emerges red-sashed from her tomb to brief us on her many­ sided career, von Praunheim artfully combines Goetze’s self-delighted prattle (there is, let it be said, good sense amid the “shocking” rhetoric) with scenes from a Kollontai novel illustrating how sexual standards don’t necessarily adjust to match other social changes.

Burning an Illusion, another BFI pro­ duction, falls into some simplistic pit­ falls. But in arguing the futility for blacks in modern Britain to aspire to white bourgeois stereotypes, director Shabazz — another who was present to talk about his film — is most credible on the prob­ lems, and growing awareness, of black women like heroine Pat (Cassie MacFarlane).

Coupled with The Weavers was Howard Petrick’s The Case of the Leg­ less Veteran, a caustic account of the senseless McCarthyist persecution of a maimed ex-soldier because he was a member of a Trotskyite (and, therefore, fiercely anti-Stalinist!) U.S. socialist party — one more wearying example of how mindless bureaucratic reflexes further ideological oppression.

Two otherwise admirable U.S. docu­ mentaries, Jon Else’s The Day After Trinity and Laurence Jarvick’s Who Shall Live and Who Shall Die?, handled explosive themes a mite gingerly.

Else interestingly outlines, with con­

CINEMA PAPERS August - 335

Melbourne Film Festival 1982

ventional but well-shaped background­ be happening off-stage. There was the ing methods, the awesome intellectual case of Pixote, which came trailing capacity and academic achievements of clouds of its victory against Janet Strick­ J, Robert Oppenheimer, leading to his land, and there was the tragic death of fathering of the atomic bomb. But Else is Rainer Werner Fassbinder almost coin­ much less precise or informative about ciding with the Festival screening of his Oppenheimer’s subsequent fall from latest film Veronika Voss. As to Pixote, grace. which is reviewed elsewhere in these Similarly, Jarvick assembles much pages, it is enough for me to say how the damning evidence of free-world vacilla­ absurd censorship controversy is apt to tions about the Holocaust (U.S. Jewry in­ come between the viewer and response cluded) but hesitates to point an to the film by conflating its merits with its newsworthiness. accusing finger.

For o n-scre en e x c ite m e n t, my On the other hand, Les Blank’s Burden (possibly unpopular) view is that little of Dreams (also seen at the Malvern Metro with the filmmaker on stage) didn’t was really engrossing until the last, have to spell out many of the things one night’s screening of Volker Schlonhad always wanted to know about dorff’s Die falschung (Circle of Deceit), a 1981 German-French co-production.

Werner Herzog but didn’t dare ask.

This lively, craftsmanlike and reveal­ Concerning a West German journalist ing documentary chronicles the enor­ sent to Lebanon in 1975, it moves mous difficulties (some self-inflicted) forward with a purposiveness rare in the encountered in the making of Herzog’s Festival’s films. The narrative, inter­ latest feature, Fitzcarraldo, in the depths weaving Georg Laschen’s emotional life of the Peruvian jungle. The original star, with the terrifying political and military Jason Robards, fell ill and had to be situation in Lebanon, is established replaced by Klaus Kinski. The produc­ through a compelling juxtaposition of tion also became involved in land-rights images (denoting the personal and the struggles and inter-tribal warfare among larger conflicts) and a powerfully Indians whose co-operation and assist­ sustained emotional rhythm.

Laschen (Bruno Ganz) and his wife ance was absolutely essential.

Herzog — who didn’t make his task Greta (Gila von Weitershausen) have any easier by insisting, like a latter-day reached a stalemate in their marriage Eric von Stroheim, upon shooting in one when he is sent to cover the Civil War in Lebanon. The film explores his growing of the w o rld ’s most inaccessible locations and hauling a steamer over a sense of involvement in relation to the steep hill — commands, struggles, hideous scenes of death and destruc­ pleads and raves. One could under­ tion that are everyday life in the city and, stand Blank’s answer to a question that in tandem with this, his relationship with the experience had both enhanced his an old friend Ariane Nasar (Hanna Schy­ admiration for, and increased his dislike gulla), who works in the German embassy and is the widow of a Leban­ of, Herzog.

The Festival was well served this year ese. As this relationship grows, Georg with feature fiction. In addition to those recalls scenes from his dying marriage, already mentioned, or reviewed by held together only by bursts of sexual others, I thought Pierre Granier Deferre’s energy, but the film (co-scripted by the Une etrange affaire (A Strange Affair), a director, Margarethe von Trotta, Jean­ wickedly fey tale of modern business Claude Carriere, and Kai Herrmann) take-overs that could also be an allegory somewhat surprisingly refuses to see a on French politics today, and Ettore lasting liaison between Georg and Ariane Scola’s Passione d’amore (Passion of growing out of the ashes of his marriage.

Ariane explains that she doesn’t want to Love), an operatically-melodramatic plot with deeper allusions to human responsi­ see him again, that she has another “friend” she likes just as much and that bilities, were outstanding.

Not quite as satisfying, but cheekily Georg is only there for a few days, teasing in its socio-political references, whereas Lebanon is now her life.

A rian e ’s clear but unem phatic Peter del Monte’s Piso Pisello begins like an Italian version of Preparez vos commitment to the place — for her, specifically, her late husband’s large mouchoirs and ends in the never-never world of Boccaccio ’70. For all that, Piso house and large phlegmatic sister Aisha, is refreshingly inventive and witty, though and the orphan she adopts — is the­ at times it verges perilously close to the matically important. It links the emotional threads with Georg’s professional life: twee.

Another Italian feature that fell far feeling the satisfaction of becoming shorter of worthy aims, Pier Giuseppe involved, he is “ no longer just an indig­ Murgia’s La festa perduta (The Party’s nant observer” . He has not secured Over), is a very uneven critique of Ariane, but there is a clear sense of an political terrorism from an empathic, left­ integrity shakily and movingly intact. In Bruno Ganz’s finely intelligent and wing viewpoint. deeply felt performance, and in spite of In his anxiety to explore sympathetic­ the cliches he is given to say at his ally the motivations of an idealistic, and moment of new moral certitude, the film apparently unaffiliated, band of young avoids the chief trap of its kind: it revolutionaries, Murgia lapses into senti­ manages to focus one’s attention on the mental romanticism. Some of the film’s fictional characters without trivializing earlier establishing passages are pointed the true and terrible events amid which and witty (like the sequence in which two the private drama is enacted.

Communist workers debate the malaise Igor Luther’s photography, Maurice in Marxist movements while cleaning a Jarre’s score and Suzanne Baron’s lavatory) but the young leftists’ growing editing are deployed by Schlondorff with acceptance of extreme violence is unflagging energy and a sure control of neither expounded nor explained his film’s parallel and converging con­ adequately. cerns. The footage which creates a city Another BFI production with an Irish under conditions of civil war is horrify­ locale, Joe Com erford’s Traveller, ingly vivid, but it points to the porno­ presents alienated youth more convinc­ graphy of violence, not to that of the film­ ingly — in the well-worn context of a makers. The music seemed at first too fatalistic road movie. Comerford follows insistent, but later one became aware of two inarticulate gypsy newlyweds on a its making its own complementary state­ cross-border smuggling trip through a ments, of making its own proper claims still-beautiful, unappreciated, land­ on our involvement. As for the editing, scape th a t is s tiflin g in taw dry the film cuts with an audacious con­ materialism and tribalistic ennui. fidence that is organic to its thematic interests. When Georg’s photographer Keith Connolly colleague (played by Polish director Top: Les Blank on the Fitzcarraldo location for Burden of Dreams. Middle: Joe Comerford’s Jerzy Skolimowski) poses a bunch of tri­ Irish feature, Traveller — a “fatalistic road movie". Above: Ettore Scola’s operatic melodrama, umphant soldiers, the camera cuts to As in Greek tragedy, the main drama Passione d ’amore. of the Melbourne Film Festival seemed to dead civilians in night attire, shot down in

336 - August CINEMA PAPERS

Melbourne Film Festival 1982

Oberwald is based on Jean Cocteau’s

interminable, yappy play about a revolu­ tionary young poet, Sebastian (Franco Branciaroli), sent to assassinate a widowed queen (Vitti) whose late husband he resembles. Instead of assas­ sinating her, they fall to talking which is pretty much what they do for 123 minutes. Further, it is that kind of talk so beloved of mid-20th Century French dramatists (Anouilh, Giradoux et al): that is, always slipping into soulful gen­ eralizations about Large Issues, or being wry and paradoxical (“ I love storms; they disrupt etiquette”/ “You should not take notice of poets. They disrupt the workings of society.” ).

There is not a shred of humor in this high-flown nonsense and its preten­ sions are underlined by a lot of peculiarly ugly, obtrusive and puerile camerawork

by Luciano Tavoli, with the blame shared

by Franco De Leonardis, the “ color and electronic effects adviser” . The inner sanctuary of the castle is bathed in a soft orange glow, except when the Chief of Police (Paolo Bonacelli) is there eccen­ trically lit by a pale mauve wash. When the lovers move outside, for a bravura ride on white horses over brilliant green mountainsides, for example, one can see what the camera and Antonioni are up to without for a moment approving or caring. The Queen has told Sebastian that she “ has never lived” , that she “was taught to be a Queen” , that she “ has Bruno Ganz as Georg Laschen, the West German journalist who travels to Lebanon to cover the fighting in 1975. Volker Schlondorffs Circle of never been a woman” — until now, one assumes, the color’s getting out of hand Deceit. being offered as evidence. _ At first it seemed the film might work. the streets. Here, one recalls Georg’s were misunderstood jolly-good-fellows, ways is committed to other films rather The red filters over the credits, the earlier wry complaint about the photo­ but rather that the over-simplification of than to life. Xaver Schwarzenberger’s soldiers creeping through the birch grapher: “ He sees only what he sees; he Antel’s direction and Kurt Nachmann's black and white photography gives the forest and the deer in a death struggle leaves the doubting to me.” script are feeble history and worse film an often mesmerizing sheen. With its evoke a world of muffled violence. The In dramatizing the processes of drama. expressionist lighting habits, its. stark figure crawling up the castle wall (pale Georg’s doubting, in relation to his In spite of these weaknesses, The contrasts of, say, the dazzling whiteness blue light by now) is caught in a recog­ private life and to his profession as both Stubborn Mule still manages some of Veronika’s hair against dark walls, it nizably Antonioniesque image of man are galvanized by his exposure to the touching moments of human resilience recalls triumphs of 1930s UFA and ’40s dwarfed by the universe. Inside, the horrors of war, Schlondorff has made a and some sense of the pain of families Hollywood alike. (It also gives eloquent Queen is victim of her duplicitous reader, film on a large scale. Large enough, that divided and friendships sundered by a testimony to the remark someone makes Edith de Berg (Elizabetta Pozzi), the is, for some minor conceptual failures repulsive ideology. That is to say, the in the film: “ Light and shadow — the two unseen Archduchess for whom Edith not to matter much — and large enough, film’s power to move lies more in its essentials of motion pictures.” ) These acts as spy, and now the anarchist poet, I hope, to secure a healthy commercial subject matter than, Merkatz to one side, periods are persistently evoked, too, by so like the king in the shadow of whose release. in its treatment as a film. the film’s inter-scene punctuation which portrait she dines and on the anni­ War, omnipresent in this Festival, was Perhaps expecting less, or perhaps uses every kind of wipe and fade, and by versary of whose death Sebastian again the background and catalyst for having been exposed to less, of the the bold contrasts of mise-en-scene arrives. the drama of the Austrian film Der prolific Fassbinder, I enjoyed Die sehn­ which play off the clinical whiteness of Dr The Queen, like earlier protagonists of bockerer (The Stubborn Mule). Directed sucht der Veronika Voss more than col­ Katz’s apartment against the baroque Antonioni films, is threatened by the

by Franz Antel, this is a more or less leagues in the daily press appear to splendors of Veronika’s home. world around her — by those nearest her engaging account of a Vienna butcher, have. There is nothing very profound in Fassbinder has neither aimed at and by the obscurely insurgent forces Karl Bockerer (Karl Merkatz), who Fassbinder’s treatment of the German realism nor aspired to tragedy in this outside the castle — but unlike some of refuses to accept the imminence of the scene of the 1950s or of how changing film. Film stars work in a fantasy world those earlier characters she is simply Nazi invasion of his country in 1938. political climate might work on an artist’s and their work involves the creation of intractably stagey in her attitudes, her Though there are Nazi banners every­ career (cf. Istvan Szabo’s Mephisto in further illusion. The precariousness of movements and her declamatory mode where and newspapers proclaim that, this respect). Nevertheless, this is clearly their success in grabbing and holding the of address. As deployed by Antonioni “The Fuhrer’s brought us home into the a film made by someone who loves films, public’s imagination, in satisfying its and played by Monica Vitti (the once great German Empire” , though there are and whose affection for UFA and the dreams of glamor, is a subject for melo­ remarkable beauty now coarsened so displays of Nazi military power, Bock­ Hollywood of Billy Wilder and Douglas drama. Fassbinder, recognizing this, has that she sometimes resembles a weakerer stubbornly rejects the messages.

Sirk permeates the whole enterprise. drawn on his — and our — filmgoing willed Martita Hunt), she is a tedious With equal stubbornness, in the guise of Allegedly based on the fading career memories and the result evokes a world cipher, a clattering symbol, bearing no artless simple-mindedness, he later of a former UFA star, Sybille Schmidtz, a of light and shadow with much panache recognizable link with reality. The final resists the regime, but it takes his best favorite of Goebbels and wartime and even a little poignancy. scene in which the dying Queen and friend’s departure for Dachau to bring Germany, and reduced to minor roles in If I had no special expectations of Sebastian writhe towards each other him to action. the 1950s, Veronika Voss reworks Veronika Voss, I certainly did in relation recalls Jennifer Jones and Gregory It is Karl Merkatz’s humane concep­ material that recalls Sunset Boulevard to II mistero de Oberwald (The Mystery Peck’s lurid farewell in Duel in the Sun: tion and playing of this central role that and, less specifically, several Sirkian of Oberwald). In the 1960s, Michel­ there, however, it was a fitting climax to keeps this somewhat creaky vehicle on melodramas. As Fassbinder records the angelo Antonioni staked out a crucial King Vidor’s pyrotechnics; here, its dim the rails for most of its length. The efforts of a sports reporter Krohn (Hilmer piece of cinematic territory: simplisromanticism brought only titters. director’s tonal control is not equal to the Thate) to find Veronika (Rosel Zech) after tically described, that of contemporary The film is likely to be best known for comic touches and scenes, which jar in one chance meeting and to establish man alienated from and by the pres­ the director’s experiment with video the recreation of far-from-comic Vienna what happened to her and her career, he su re s of the m od ern w o rld . In color and for its battery of technical in the period of 1938-45. It can, of offers us a full-throated, sometimes L’Avventura, La Notte, L’Eclisse and The tricks. The result is, unsurprisingly, course, be done, as Leo McCarey overwrought, picture of a life out of Red Desert, he pursued this concern empty virtuosity which constantly calls showed in Once Upon a Honeymoon, for control. Initially claiming that “actors are through images of haunting resonance, attention to itself. Frankly, there is instance, but here one is aware of some dumb, dishonest, vain” , Krohn becomes images of men and women painfully nowhere else much for attention to go. uneasy juxtapositions, which, admit­ fascinated by Veronika and tracks her seeking relationship when everything in Pretension reached its Festival peak tedly, Merkatz almost makes one accept. down to the house of the mysterious Dr their environment seemed to threaten with Oberwald; elsewhere there were Even this strong perform ance, Katz (Annmarie Duringer) whose tenant the very possibility. Blow Up, Zabriskie unassuming pleasures to be had in however, cannot disguise the simplistic and patient Veronika now is. She is in Point, and The Passenger pursued and Peter del Monte’s Piso Piselli and ranging of attitudes as the Nazis take fact trapped by a gang of drug extended the exploration of emotional Mahmoud Zemmouri’s Prends 10,000 over. Simple dignity, bustling collabora­ racketeers led by Dr Katz and there is connection, blurred by the uncertain line bailee et casse-toi (Take the Money and tion and naive incomprehension are pre­ more than a whiff of old Hollywood about that separates reality and illusion.

Beat It). The first is an engaging Italian sented as unsubtly as the crude depic­ all this. Dr Katz exhibits a fine line in In The Mystery of Oberwald, safely comedy about the 13-year-old son of tion of the Nazis themselves. These, enigmatic threat that recalls, say, Gale back in Italy and back with Monica Vitti, trendy parents who, to everyone’s recalling Henry Danlell, George Colouris Sondergaard at her most dangerously our expectations comfortably raised, he surprise, himself becomes a father after and other Hollywood Nazis of the early soignee. has made one of the most excruciatingly accepting an invitation to share a bed 1940s, are either beasts or degenerates.

These film references are not just inci­ tedious films in living memory. Mind you, with a big-breasted American lady; she I do not mean to suggest that the Nazis dentals: Veronika Voss in all sorts of this is not wholly the director’s fault.

Concluded on p. 387

CINEMA PAPERS August - 337

producer o f Brideshead Revisited talks to Ian Stocks Graham Greene was on the radio Century. He has gone into English recently talking about the things literature . . . I was going to say like that went to form Waugh’s later D. H. Lawrence, but I don’t think personality — that he got let down he’d like that bracketing. But I by the Church and by the army . . . think that’s true. The novels are now assured forever, having passed Waugh was very hurt in his old the test of time. If you read Decline age by the changes to the Catholic and Fall today, it is still absolutely liturgy — when the Latin was taken brilliant and glittering. out of it.

What one forgets about Decline Brideshead Revisited was a nos­ and Fall is that it is a daring book. I talgic excursion. Waugh wrote it, as had remembered how funny it was, he said, “in a time of Spam and but not how surrealist. It’s so sort austerity” . He poured out his heart. of potty, and absolutely takes He had been a firm Catholic flight. It must be one of the finest convert since 1930. first novels of the century.

Waugh is one of the greatest Are you a Catholic? prose stylists and he is wonderful to read in bits. You can read excerpts No, my young director [Charles from Scoop, like when the sub­ Sturridge] is. editor comes down to the grand Why has Waugh suddenly come back into favor? He was really a phenomenon of the 1930s . . .

Waugh is a master, and one of the great writers of the 20th

family and has a terrible journey from the station. They all assume that he is drunk because he is a journalist. And every time the wine is passed, he gets a chilling cascade of water.

The descriptive bits of all those books are wonderful.

As a producer, do you think about the wider, social context when you do something? It is interesting that Britain today is reverting in some ways to that 1930s sense of purpose.

The Falklands crisis has put some patriotic blood back into the nation’s veins. In a way, Waugh comments on that just as he did when he wrote in the 1930s . . .

Things like that happen very

much by accident. I don’t think you can legislate for topicality. We just hit a lucky streak. We were fortunate in our delays, for we came out at the right time, at the low point of the grim and austere 1980s with the economic climate so bleak. People are actually feeling much poorer, and there is always a reaction. In a time of affluence, everyone is in jeans and sweaters.

Now at Oxford and Cambridge, the girls and boys are starting to dress up. It is a kind of defiance against the times.

The analogy is with the Depres­ sion of the 1930s when all the popu­ lar films were by Busby Berkeley, with Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, or sophisticated comedies with Carol Lombard. That’s what people want to see; they want to see immensely rich people sitting in Manhattan on white sofas.

It must please you tremendously, as a producer, to have made something that fits the times . . .

I think one has to be very careful do do only what one wants to do.

^ ' ' Charles Ryder (Jeremy Irons) and Lady Julia Flyle (Diana Quick). Brideshead Revisited.

338 - August CINEMA PAPERS

Brideshead Revisited « Tim Hewatt, an Australian and the founder of World in Action, said, “The producer has only one duty and that is to choose the right sub­ jects. All else follows. But if you don’t choose the right subject, you are dead.”

I think one chooses things one really wants to do. I wanted to do Brideshead Revisited then because it was rich and strange, difficult and interesting. One could put a lot into it.

You were asking whether one should have the context of the time in mind as well. Quite honestly, I think one should do the reverse.

When one is making something, one shouldn’t think of anything except the thing itself.

I was very struck with Jean Renoir when he was talking about his life in films. He said the one thing he learnt, which was the saving grace of his work, was not to care about success. He said its absolutely immaterial when you are doing something to worry about whether it’s going to be successful, because, in the end, it doesn’t matter. If you are successful, it’s a kind of bonus, and it should come out of the blue like a coconut falling on your head.

In a funny way, we made some­ thing which really broke all the rules of dramatic fiction. We knew how we wanted to do it, but we had no idea whether people were going to accept it.

going to start in the summer of 1978, but Granada realized it was going to be huge and felt they couldn’t service us properly. So they postponed it. We then had from the autumn of 1977 to May 1979, when we started, to do all our preparation.

In 1978, I did one other pro­ gram, No Man’s Land, but, by and large, I and the designer were working full-time on Brideshead.

We amassed a great deal of re se a rc h and p h o to g ra p h ic material. There was a lot to do. We had to turn over every country house in Britain and all the palazzos of Venice; we had to find locations for Africa,, and find Oxford colleges. We probably shot Oxford more thoroughly than for any other film.

shooting for three months. We had about two hours of material — maybe less — and the strike went on for three months. It was a disastrous moment, because we lost everything — all our Oxford loca­ tions and our cast. They were out of That’s quite a schedule . . . contract, some of the actors forever.

We also lost our director, Don’t forget that Jeremy Irons went away to make French Lieu­ Michael Lindsay Hogg, who was ' tenant’s Woman. He was away from committed to putting Mary Tyler . May 19 until November 28, but he Moore on Broadway in Whose Life came back to us for odd weeks. Is It Anyway? He couldn’t work ' From May till November, 1980, we round it, so I got young Charles weren’t shooting continuously. Sturridge, who took on this extra­ Then there was the strike which hit ordinary burden with a week’s us in August, after we had been notice. from the early part. We then went to Oxford and stopped on August 6.

We started again on November 8, 1979, and went on to January 4, 1981.

Where did you go in Africa?

We didn’t go to Africa; we shot ‘Africa’ in Malta and Gozo. The people and the landscape look African, and there is the rather nice advantage of having good film ser­ vices. English is also widely spoken.

Who makes the decision at Granada to commit resources to that scale of production?

Basically, the managing director and the program controller: David Plowright and Dennis Foreman.

But it was a concerted effort within the whole organization.

When did you start on the project?

We acquired the rights in the autumn of 1977, and I went to the U.S. and got the production interest from Exxon and Channel 13. We thought then that we were

What was the actual shooting schedule?

We started filming on May 1, 1979, and did quite a bit — all the African scenes and bits and pieces

Left: Derek Granger, producer of Brideshead Revisited. Top: Sebastian Flyte (Anthony Andrews), Charles Ryder (Jeremy Irons) and Aloysius at Oxford. Above: Charles and Julia on the boat: “He was the forerunner. ’’Brideshead Revisited.

CINEMA PAPERS August - 339

Brideshead Revisited

.'

f v : I)

Far left: Charles paints the Summer room at Brideshead. Left: Sebastian and Charles in Venice. Above: Charles and Lady March­ main (Claire Bloom). Brideshead Revisited.

pre-production, and from the time we began shooting, there was a great deal of expansion and re­ writing. We had decided to be faithful to the book, and became in­ creasingly so as time went on.

How do you work with someone like John Mortimer; do you leave him to provide the dramatic structure?

Brideshead seems very detailed, but I think people are aware of that detail. They are also absorbing a lot more than they actually realize, which pays off later.

It’s difficult sounding vain­ glorious about one’s work, and obviously I’d like to do it all over again and better. But it is beauti­ fully acted — very delicately acted — and the actors almost seem to be living it. I think people are fas­ cinated by this. .

I was in the U.S. recently and met Phyllis, the very sweet wife of A dolf Green — they are no slouches when it comes to show­ business. She said the reason people were responding to it so well was because it’s more like reading than viewing. It extracts from the viewer the kind of attention one gives to reading. One gets absorbed in it and the pace seems wonderful. “ It’s wonderful to see something going at a natural pace rather than being dramatized in a superficial way” , Phyllis said.

In Charles Rider’s rooms, for instance, we have every single arti­ fact described in the novel: the Polly Peacham figurine on the mantel; the rhyming sheets from the poetry bookshops (which I’d never thought we’d get); and all those books on the shelves were those described, in their right editions. That’s being obsessive 340 - August CIWEMA PAPERS

beyond the powers of rationality.

People ask, “Why do you do that? No audience is going to know that they are actually reading Clive Bell’s Civilization in the 1920 edition.” But somehow it gives a kind of feel. The actors get it and I think the audience responds to that.

They know that some effort has gone into that scene.

What’s your next project?

I don’t know. I would like to do something that didn’t take five years, which wouldn’t just about put me in the grave . . .

The trouble with most television drama is that most people think of it in terms of other television film.

It’s difficult to rid oneself of pre­ conceptions so one is in fact doing something in a new way.

One has to trust one’s taste . . .

Yes, though obviously one is not such a total fool as to be com­ pletely unaware of the audience. I was watching the preview yester­ day and it came to a moment I have always been v«ry worried about: the very long scene in the restaurant w here A nthony Blanch tells Charles th at he is absolutely doomed if he gets entangled with the Marchmains, who are a bizarre family of “ peculiar awfulness” .

That dinner scene first ran for more than 40 minutes; it’s now down to about 10. But when Charlie and I were finally putting it together, I was saying, “ Still too long, Charles; still too long. Must get a bit more out of it.” And Charles said, “No, it really is all right.” Every time I watch it I go, “ Oh, it’s going to be too long. Will they get through it?” But it holds . . . it just holds.

He started with you at Granada . . .

Yes. He was in my production training course.

A heavy burden to lay on young shoulders . . .

Good Catholic boy, you see.

Educated Stony House. One of a family of seven. N ot a good Catholic — a lapsed Catholic [laughter]. Made him even better, probably.

What about work on the screen­ play?

John Mortimer scripted it at six hours, which was a lunatic mis­ calculation as it turned out [the program runs 12^4 hours]. It was scripted between the autumn of 1977 and the spring of 1978. What happened then was that during the

I had a fairly heavy involvement in the script, but John laid down a basis, which was fine, and we worked from that. Obviously, in the course of expanding it from six to \2 lA hours we put back an awful lot of the book. We became obsessed with the idea of doing the book itself.

You said earlier that you took a different approach. What was new in the program and what was your area of concern about public accept­ ance of the approach to the drama­ tization?

It is curiously different to most television drama. It goes at its own pace and makes no concessions in terms of reference. The dialogue is very recondite and esoteric — even we didn’t know what all the things meant and had to look them up.

In 1922, for example, lunch at Oxford was called “ commons” . “ Will you take your commons in your rooms, sir?” says the scout.

Most people felt we should change that to “lunch” , but we didn’t. That was not false haughtiness on our part; we just felt it would make it more authentic. I think people like making the effort of doing a little translation themselves.

We were doing the original draft and found out that if we tried to dramatize things too much, turn­ ing Waugh’s scenes into simply action and confrontation, it didn’t work. Not only did it coarsen the work, but it lost the fundamental charm. ★

Clyde Jeavons Deputy Curator, National Film Archive, London n June 1981, as part of a visit to Aus­ tralia to present a retrospective program of rare archive films at the Melbourne and Sydney film festivals, I was invited to the National Film Archive in Canberra to spend some days with Ray Edmondson and his staff on a consultative basis. Visits to colleague film archives — the better-established ones, at any rate — are always intriguing and enlight­ ening, not least for the variety of common and diverse problems they reveal. My visit to the NFA, Canberra, brief though it was, proved to be no exception.

I found much to admire at the NFA: its pursuit of fundamentally-sound policies of acquisition, film rescue and preservation; its proper and rigorous regard for these as prior­ ities; the standard of its work in very limited circumstances, particularly in the areas of restoration and cataloguing; its concern for Aus­ tralia’s national cinema heritage; its recognition of the value of film as a primary research tool in the study of 20th-Century life and history; its progressive attitude towards modern tech­ nology (e.g., in the computerization of its records); its desire for public recognition and a clear identity; its awareness of the importance of pav'' , international co-operation in film archiving To»1,0 ««.'; P“ matters; the loyalty, dedication and eagerness of M<be job'1 its staff; and not least (indeed, an obvious bvt"11: governing factor in all this) the very real and * % * * & * .. M ¡** |s[fA slEd>ogev^ ° !> > * H°t°Jfp rovV^’ schof (]927)’ thoroughly right-minded idealism of its director, Ray Edmondson.

In structure, philosophy and potential scope — although not, of course, in scale — the opera­ esto" frec » '>

tion of the Australian NFA closely parallels that of the National Film Archive in London, on which it is partly modelled and which remains largely faithful to the original aims and ideals of the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF) co-founded by its first curator, Ernest Lindgren. I am bound to say, therefore, that I regard the principles and precepts upon which the Australian NFA has been established as being entirely the correct ones. But, by the same token, I am only too familiar with the problems and obstacles it now confronts at the present stage of its development and ambitions, quite apart from those peculiar to its situation in Aus­ tralia. It is a difficult, but worthwhile, act to sustain, and one which should not be com­ promised by traditional shortcomings if Aus­ tralia is to develop a serious, healthy and respected national film archive.

At the root of it all is the problem shared by every film archive, large and small: the work of film archiving was born in poverty and has remained so ever since. The principal reason for this persists even today, nearly 90 years after the “birth” of cinematography and some 50 years after the establishment of the first film archives, and continues to undermine our efforts — namely, the lack of recognition of film as a fullyfledged art beyond limited cultural circles.

Because it was a child of technology, began life in the fairground and music hall, developed as an industry, came into the control of philis­ tine entrepreneurs, appealed to a mass audience and is costly to create, cinema has never entirely shed its aura of disreputableness or freed itself from cultural prejudice. Even in artisticallytolerant countries like France, the U.S. and, to a lesser degree, Britain, where film has at least been “ institutionalized” or equated with “ modern art”, it has remained grossly under­ privileged and underfunded in comparison with the established, traditional fine and performing arts in terms of patronization, conservation, study and accessibility. This perverse attitude to the first authentic new art form to be invented in thousands of years has perhaps been the most destructive element in the struggle by film archives to ensure its survival. ‘ The neglect of the cinema’s end-product in the first 40 years of its existence was possibly under­ standable; for the guardians of our cultural heri­ tage not to have made more than a token effort to put matters right, since the means to do so were established, is a cause for justifiable concern and anger on the part of those who continue to care.

A

contributing factor to this is the commercial nature of cinema.

Because its creation is expensive and, in the main, aimed at making large profits, the attitude has persisted within the establishment that the industry can and should look after its own. This is patently to ignore the nature of commerce, one of the aims of which is, categorically, not to “squander” its shareholders’ profits on "the costly luxury of har­ boring “worn-out” assets; in commercial terms, films have a shelf-life beyond which it makes no sense but to discard them like any other no­ longer saleable product. This is not something to be condoned (and it has frequently been proved unwise as forgotten films have enjoyed potential commercial revival), it is simply a fact that the film industry accepts no brief for the preserva­ tion of its products, except in the profitable short-term, and is unlikely ever to do so except under legal duress (e.g., by legislation towards statutory deposit in a state archive).

The film industry’s record of vandalization of its own creations is self-evident, and, even in exceptional cases where individual companies have partially seen the light and retained master CINEMA PAPERS August - 341

The National FilmArchive of Australia copies of their films, this has often been no more than a passive act of storage leading to the ulti­ mate deterioration of the materials in situ. The best that an archive can expect from the film industry without the support of law is free dona­ tion of its films, and success in that regard, iron­ ically, means a greater financial burden for the archive.

All this is by way of arguing that any nation which has a genuine commitment to the rescue and survival of its cultural film heritage — present and future as well as past — has an equal duty to give to its film preservation agency at least the level of recognition, support and financial aid it gives to its other national lib­ raries, museums, theatres and art galleries.

Arguably, it should give comparably more: • film is a fragile as well as a costly medium, constantly put at risk by changing technology; • the ravages of past neglect have still to be repaired; • its proper preservation and future accessi­ bility demand the highest standards of professional skill and advanced technical equipment; and, • unlike the traditional arts, it rarely attracts the separate support of private benefactors or foundations.

Film archiving cannot be conducted on half measures because its raw materials — unstable nitrate stock, fading color film or crumbling videotape — will not wait. If their rescue and preservation are not urgently and fully attended to now, they will be lost forever.

It is clear that in all respects — finance, staffing and technical equipment — the NFA has insufficient resources to carry out even its basic functions adequately, let alone entertain notions of expansion. Its operating budget in 1981 was, I understand, $140,000, which for a state-funded film archive charged with a national responsibility seems an almost risible sum. Comparisons with London may not be altogether equitable, given the difference in our scale of operations, but in the same year the British NFA had an operating budget of £1.2 million, the major proportion of which was spent on preservation (i.e,, the duplicating of unstable nitrate film) and which fell far short of require­ ments. Even allowing for differences in size and objectives, this puts the Australian NFA’s allocation into disquieting perspective.

Perhaps it would be more relevant and revealing to compare Canberra’s operating funds with those of other government-aided arts institutions. How much, for example, is spent in a year on the acquisition of books for the National Library, the staging of opera, or the purchase of paintings? It might even be instruc­ tive to draw a comparison with the amount of subsidy, direct or indirect, which has gone towards the revival of the Australian film industry in recent years. Ultimately, it is for the NFA to decide upon the scale and scope of its activities, and to calculate and demand the level of finance needed to make them fully functional.

But, as things stand, it is painfully evident that not even its basic requirements are being taken care of.

There are, however, certain areas of the operation which stand out as having more urgent needs than others. The first of these is preserva­ tion. The Archive has small but well-designed and well-maintained storage facilities and a couple of willing hands to look after them; it also employs a qualified and dedicated technical officer. Yet, there are virtually no in-house facilities for active preservation work on the Archive collection, and my impression is that the technical officer can do little more at present than frustratedly theorize and dabble in small experiments, while supervising occasional projects farmed out to a commercial laboratory.

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T

his is extremely short-sighted. Years Term of His Natural Life. Under the circum­ of experience have shown that film stances, this was a remarkable achievement, archives can no longer depend upon comparable in impact to the restoration of outside laboratories to do an adequate Napoleon in Britain. Together, these two job of restoration and preservation, projects have done more for archival public rela­ particularly of older films. They are nottions geared in the space of a few months than all the to undertake difficult restoration work on hidden hard work of the past 50 years lumped damaged films, they cannot print shrunk film, together, and it is an opportunity for self-pubthey are becoming increasingly reluctant to licization which archives cannot afford to let handle nitrate film (and charge , heavily when rest. they do so) and even, in some cases, black-andIt would be very sad indeed if the Australian white film, and their copying standards are often NFA were to be prevented, by lack of resources, lower than those required by an archive which is from building on this achievement and repeating attempting to recreate the master version of a it many times over, and it would seem an ideal unique film. success-symbol to link to an appeal for preserva­ Film restoration work is often similar to tion funds. A shrewd publicity point could even archaeology, and archives have no choice, if they be made out of its shortcomings, for without are to repair the damage of the past, than to wishing to belittle Term in any way, I think it develop their own specialist facilities and train could have been done better and would have their own technicians, at least to the point where been if the NFA had been fully in control of the a restored film can be safely entrusted to a lab­ work financially and technically. oratory. The basic requirements for this, as they might apply to the NFA, are an expert preserva­ final point to make about the impor­ tion officer (which it already has), at least two tance of in-house technical expertise staff trained in manual restoration, a tester to is that for every archive which fails to inspect nitrate film for signs of instability, a embrace it and adopt a high standard printer/inspector to duplicate shrunk film and of preservation work, a commen­ obsolete gauges and check the results, and at surately heavier burden is thrown on those wh least two storekeeper/print handlers to main­ have, since the latter must then consider the tain the preservation and viewing copy collec­ preservation of films outside their national res­ tions. In fact, even this seems to me too small a ponsibility. Moreover, archives are interdepen­ complement for the potential task in hand, but it dent on the acquisition by exchange of impor­ might be regarded as a realistic minimum for tant films in each other’s collections and should starting a proper preservation operation. Along expect to receive study prints copied to the with it must go an adequate operating budget, highest possible standard. technical and capital equipment, and bespoke The second main area of concern within the storage for nitrate and safety film. Essential NFA is, quite properly, acquisition. The NFA technical equipment should include a step­ has, in my experience, always adopted a printer for copying shrunk nitrate film, an ultra­ vigorous acquisition policy, at home and abroad, sonic cleaning machine, winding benches, table particularly with regard to films of Australian viewers for both 35mm and 16mm film, inspec­ origin or with Australian connections. Along the tion benches to compare copies, testing equip­ way, it has picked up many internationally ment to detect instability, repair equipment, and important films in private collections, and has so forth. taken care to devote some of its meagre The above, it should be said, only scratches resources to acquiring study prints of foreign the surface of present-day preservation classics which would otherwise remain unavail­ problems. Many more refinements can be able in Australia. applied to the restoration, copying and exam­ Recently a well-publicized film search was ination of nitrate/black-and-white film, while launched to fill gaps in the Australian collec­ the potentially greater and more costly problems tion, which denotes a proper sense of priorities of fading Eastmancolor and the fragility of and has stimulated the British NFA, for one, to videotape have yet to be tackled properly by do the same. All this has been done, it seems, even the most advanced archives. without a full-time acquisitions officer: at Again, though, certain minimum facilities present, this role is undertaken with difficulty by should be considered, including cold-storage the chief archivist, who already has his hands full vaults for color films (to arrest their fading) and with administrative and supervisory work. I videotape inspection and transfer machines — would consider it an urgent priority to rectify together, of course, with a specialist video­ this. Acquisition is full-time work (the London examiner capable of developing videotape NFA has three acquisitions officers and two preservation techniques. The latter point should assistants, which is still not enough) and it not be taken as marginally as it may sound: any should not be desk-bound. The officers must archive which chooses to ignore videotape have the freedom to travel, be in constant development (or any other modern motion contact with members of the film industry, track picture technology, for that matter) will down collections and view them, be thoroughly inevitably become a museum of nostalgic versed in contemporary cinema and promote the cinema and little more, and, some time in the work of the Archive generally. This requires future, history will repeat itself as frantic steps expertise as well as energy, for there must be an are taken to retrieve the remnants of further element of selection in the work. decades of neglected moving images.

I would not, incidentally, recommend that a In the end, I believe every archive with a com­ formal selection procedure, employing com­ prehensive preservation program will have to mittees and consultants, be set up in the Aus­ consider equipping itself with a full laboratory tralian NFA. It is time-consuming, distracting operation to cover all aspects of moving image and often irrelevant in practice, whereas the preservation. It is uniquely skilled, professional NFA seems to have established a satisfactory work not catered for outside specialist archives, selection policy and one which can be capably requires proper training and in-house facilities, operated by qualified staff. In some larger and can no longer be tackled by a system of hit- archives (such as in London), the extensive and-miss amateur boffinry coupled with reliance amount of film and television material being on the equally hit-and-miss efforts of com­ considered makes a formal committee system mercial agencies which have a different set of more necessary, but it is better avoided if priorities to consider. possible. A general advisory committee, on the This might be an appropriate moment to other hand, composed of knowledgeable and mention, en passant, the restoration of For the influential people who can advise upon and help

A

with archive problems and lobby on its behalf, can be useful.

The other area which could benefit from staff development is documentation and cataloguing.

The cataloguing effort in the NFA seems to be extremely well developed; it follows approved lines, affords considerable ease of retrieval to the parts of the collection which have been properly catalogued, and is supported by a computer system which few other archives enjoy and which, if anything, tends to cough up more detail than one actually needs. However, cataloguing is a vital element in film archiving despite being arduous and labor-intensive, and if this work is not to fall behind, as it has done in many archives (including London’s), then it is essential to find and train more staff to support it.

The NFA’s other areas of documentation, notably related records and general film information and (particularly) preservation technical records, appear to be seriously under­ developed, and, again, I would regard it as urgent to employ at least one extra member of staff in each area to prevent this becoming a more serious omission in the future.

I

come to a point now which, on the surface, may appear trivial, but which I believe seriously underpins many of the problems, frustrations and inadequacies of the Australian NFA — namely, the question of its identity and public image. I regard it as particularly unfortunate that the NFA was established as a minor adjunct of a much larger and, on the whole, unrelated public institution: i.e., the National Library. There are enough problems in London being part of the British Film Institute (which is at least closely related in its aims), but they are as nothing compared with the repressive nature of the NLA-NFA relationship.

There has always been a temptation in civil service minds to regard films in a film archive as documents no different from books and news­ papers (there was once an abortive attempt to make the London NFA part of the British Library). Moving images are study documents, of course, but their acquisition, their care and maintenance, their preservation and availability require a different set of conditions and policies from books and papers. They are also related to a totally different cultural and commercial sector — namely, the film and television industries. It seems to me quite inappropriate for a film archive to be housed in, and have its destiny controlled by, a book library.

In the case of the Australian NFA the results are plain to see: its own special needs, priorities and policies are fogged by the different, domi­ nant ones of the parent body; its lines of com­ munication, internally and externally, are confused; and its allocation of space and resources appears to come a miserable second to the more monolithic needs of its controllers. As far as I can judge (at least from the letterheads I receive), it does not even enjoy its own official name, except insofar as it is typed in under the National Library banner.

This confusion of purposes and lack of a separate identity can be very destructive for an organization which is heavily dependent upon public recognition for its successful develop­ ment. I am not suggesting that autonomy, inde­ toP-;nd toppendence and acquiring a recognizable identity t°P*iYV di would necessarily make the NFA better off, but I feel it would have a greater chance to make its V 10' needs felt, would acquire a distinctive reputa­ tion of its own and would be in firmer control of its own policies and priorities.

This state of affairs is compounded by the fact that, by being sited in Canberra, the NFA is in Concluded on p. 389

:Kin8r aeftftVie

i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i n i

| | | | | m m | m m | | m m

FILM FESTIVAL 1982 John Fox and Debi Enker i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i m i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i Opening the Sydney Film Festival with Squizzy Taylor was like raising the Aus­

tralian flag to half mast. Kevin Dobson’s film does not seem to know what it is doing, and yet the signs are there to say what it could have done: David Atkins to dance; Jacki Weaver to sing; Bruce Smeaton to score; picturesque Old Mel­ bourne with Flinders Street station for a tap number under the clocks, Richmond lanes for a barbershop quartet or a softshoe shoot-out or even a flamenco Spanish flu, and the Yarra Bank for a song about My Moll Doll. There is a highkicking routine in a lamp-lit alley, but it is too late. It occurs under the closing credits, as a flicker of the musical that might have been.

Much more energy and purpose were evident in several Australian short films entered in the Greater Union Awards. Gil Strine’s skilfully-compiled and edited documentary, Home on the Range, probes the subject of U.S. bases in Aus­ tralia with a wealth of surprising footage, some of it old and some new, but all of it intelligently applied. His film clearly defines and realizes its intentions.

Stephen Wallace’s Captives of Care deals with the struggle of a group of hos­ pitalized spastics to win recognition of their needs as patients and their rights as people. Its unflinching observation of them forces us beyond a vague sympathy towards an informed concern.

It is boldly shaped: for much of its dura­ tion, two narrative lines work in counter­ point — a nurse’s story which proceeds from its beginning and a story of the patients’ rebellion which starts near its end — until they join in a confrontation with hospital staff.

If the film does not quite ring true, it might be because of the old problem of mixing actors with ‘real’ people. The patients act themselves and have a degree of authenticity that the hospital staff, played by professional actors, cannot (or, at any rate, do not) match.

The juxtaposition puts the actors at a dis­ advantage in terms of conviction. Their credibility is further reduced by their dialogue. How much of it was scripted and how much improvized I do not know, but it sounds comparatively artificial, and they emerge rather like stereotypes of goodies and baddies.

Perhaps this is inevitable in such a context, or it might be a deliberate and legitimate propaganda ploy aimed (unnecessarily) at emotional blackmail.

Either way, it strikes me as an uneasy imbalance. Be that as it may, the film is brave, sensitive and compelling.

The Rouben Mamoulian Award for best short film of the year went to Mary Gallagher for Greetings from Wol­ longong, which fashions its fiction in a documentary mode with such ease that the line between them is almost invisible.

As in Ken Loach’s Looks and Smiles, the likeable young people who play (and are) unemployed adolescents give unforced performances and touchingly convey what it is like to live a jobless, peripheral life. Both films make important editorial comment but keep it unheated, prefer­ ring to temper political, socio-economic and cultural messages with humor and

344 - August CINEMA PAPERS

Stephen Wallace’s Captives of Care: “the struggle of a group of hospitalized spastics to win recognition of their needs as patients and rights as people". sympathetic observation. And both films are placed in ugly and depressing parts o f . industrial cities although, whereas Sheffield is shown often with its interiors and its people splashed and glowing with light, Wollongong and its inhabitants are seen plain, w ithout cosm etic chiaroscuro.

The ironic “greetings” in the title are from a city that is not as pretty as a post­ card and from a Coca-Cola, commercial radio generation that is not having a wonderful time. Gallagher’s account of them is shaped into the framework of one day from dawn to dusk, within which she organizes a large number of short scenes, each appropriately casual and deceptively random, and each with a precise grasp of its useful length, into a cumulative impression.

Gallagher seems to me to have an eye for significant detail, an ear for idiom, the strength to throw away a line, a feel for the ragged texture of days without hope, and an instinct for her craft.

The Festival provided a timely glimpse of what has been happening in New Zealand cinema. Smash Palace was not available, but there were four others.

Four films are too few to generalize about, but it might not be coincidental

that they all look back to historical or fictional events in New Zealand’s recent past.

John Laing’s Beyond Reasonable Doubt considers a controversial murder case and miscarriage of justice which made headlines through the 1970s. Mike Newell’s Bad Blood deals with a multiple murder and manhunt which occupied the police and the press in the 1940s. In The Scarecrow, Sam Pillsbury recalls growing up in a small country town in the 1950s. And in Carry Me Back, John Reid evokes the spirit of an unspecified time when things were simpler: “ Back in the days / When blokes were blokes / And sheilas were their mums.” (That opening legend is followed by a shot of sheep looking scared — a swift joke about sexual mores.)

This looking back seems to signify a sense of place rather than nostalgia. In exploring their own past in terms of rural origins, with its respect for family values and its innocent, agricultural humor, these filmmakers are working within their own physical and emotional experience.

Their films are unashamedly about New Zealand concerns, made by people who know what they can make films about and not, in the first instance, conceiving

works they think people in other places might want to see.

This does not mean they are paro­ chial. They are, in the best sense of belonging somewhere, provincial, and as Bill Forsyth, director of Gregory’s Girl, says of his own work in Scotland, “ If a film isn’t provincial, then it’s from nowhere.” Nor does it mean that the films cannot travel: if they hit the spot at home and do so imaginatively, they might well strike chords abroad. Local definition, as Australians, Swedes and Czechoslo­ vakians know, can have a universal relevance.

One hopes that serious New Zealand filmmakers will be chary of blandish­ ments to make films in any other vein, and that the out-of-context (and irritatingly-mannered) presence of British actor David Hemmings in Beyond Reasonable Doubt is but a temporary divergence from a sound principle.

There are memorable features of the two crime stories, like the estabTishment by synecdoche of the scene of the crime in Beyond Reasonable Doubt and, in Bad Blood, the recreation of the war years (“ No tinned pineapple. I reckon there won’t be any for the duration.”), the cinematography of morning mists in green pastures, the chain of intense fire imagery, and a tight, intimate scene between Jack Thompson and Carol Burns as the killers escaping briefly from their paranoia to sing "A tisket, a tasket” in the dark. Yet at times they are, I think, derivative and self-conscious, and an over-reliance upon changing focus within the shot might indicate uncertain­ ties. At times, too, they are literal and perfunctory, and just when they should gain impetus, in the courtroom and the manhunt, they lose it.

The two comedies impressed me as being more than the sum of their parts.

They have a strong coherence and a firm control of their own dynamic. They show confidence in taking risks with original ideas. They have style.

The Scarecrow is not always comic, nor meant to be. It mixes two narratives: one is a cheerful account of the mis­ adventures and Minties moments of a 14-year-old boy and his family and friends; the other relates the dark doings of a sinister stranger (John Carradine) who is bent upon cutting the throats of young girls. This mixture should not work but, because of tone and sheer cheek, it does. So does the ragout of film genres — Gothic horror, Western, family comedy, Dad and Dave slapstick — with a dash of Tom Sawyer and Peyton Place thrown in.

According to its director, these unreli­ able memoirs stem from the imagina­ tion (his own) of an adolescent fed on a diet of films. It seems to float in all direc­ tions, but it is anchored in its evocation of a time and place — the summer of 1952 in a country town — when it was Friday night at the flicks and the Saturday arvo races on the radio, when Mum served black pudding, when skinny kids in short pants pinched chickens, rode bikes and joined gangs, when girls put their hair up and looked down their noses, and when family bonds were strong.

Sydney Film Festival 1982

The central bond here, between brother and sister (Jonathan Smith and Tracy Mann), is genuinely and refresh­ ingly sentimental. Fast cutting and a rapid pace ensure that the film moves with zest. Its own enjoyment is infectious.

Carry Me Back is a farce about the attempts of two brothers to smuggle their father’s corpse, locked in a wardrobe, from Wellington to their farm in South Island, their journey hindered by unreli­ able transport, inquisitive police, a crafty relative called Aunty Bird, and by the body and the wardrobe, which are not always the same ones and not always together.

A Festival program note says there are visual allusions to Two Men and a Ward­ robe and to La femme infidele. If this implies deliberate reference to Roman Polanski and to Claude Chabrol, it is mis­ leading. John Reid is not the kind of director to lean out of reach of a general audience just to give a film-buff a tingle. Given Joy Cowley’s original story, it is inevitable that there are going to be two men and a wardrobe in a variety of positions and that sooner or later some­ body is going to stuff a body in the boot of a car. Nor would it be helpful to offer The Trouble with Harry as an influence since its tone of imperturbable calm in the face of a macabre situation is different. Anyway, John Reid has not seen it. During scripting, however, he did see other Alfred Hitchcock films to note how they develop their stories clearly and concisely and how they maintain a balance of humor and suspense.

In an Interview, Reid acknowledged the impact of Ivan Passer’s first feature, Intimni osvetleni (Intimate Lighting), in particular, and the Czechoslovakian cinema of the mid-1960s in general. It is interesting to compare the flavor of those films with his own first feature, Middle Age Spread, shown at the Festival in 1980, and with Carry Me Back. There is the same affectionate sympathy with the characters, and the same gentle, amused, quirky curiosity about them, so that although they are put into ridiculous situations they are allowed to be more than the convenience of the story or the convenience of a couple of good jokes.

He is prepared to slacken pace, shift mood and check the flow of witty lines and running gags (two of which are about foreigners and false teeth) to allow them a certain human dignity.

When the brothers (Grant Tilley and Kelly Johnson) sample the strip-joints and massage parlors in The Big City after a rugby match, there is a satirical putdown of the “ Boys’ Own” ethic — male bravado withers when actually faced with professional feminalia — and their embarrassment is funny, yet it is viewed with a touch of pity.

A waitress in a cafe (“We’re sort of closing down”) has only a slight connec­ tion with the plot, but is nevertheless given a curiously tender scene with the boys’ father and a chance to escape from her dead-end urban job. Even wily old Aunty Bird (played a lot larger than life by Dorothy McKegg) is released gener­ ously from caricature to a more human dimension. At the end she shares the contentment of displaced persons who are carried back at last to their meaning­ ful home. And when the film closes on the pastoral tranquillity of the family inheritance now regained, there is a sweet echo of a romance with the land.

For all Its prior black comedy irrever­ ence towards death, Carry Me Back expresses a regard for a quality of life, and a regret at Its passing.

This year, new work by established directors did not include the new Francesco Rosi, Mauro Bolognini, Ber­ nardo Bertolucci or Michelangelo Anto­ nioni, and I found this disappointing.

However, there were two new films from Carlos Saura. Bodas de sangre (Blood Wedding) has been patronized by one critic as “ a tastefully-wrapped cultural

package” , which suggests a limited response to this fusion of Federico Garcia Lorca’s play, Antonio Gades’ dance and Saura’s filmmaking.

The first section of the film, 30 minutes of its 71-minute duration, deserves more attention than it has received. It shows the dancers of Gades’ company arrive in their dressing-rooms and prepare for a dress rehearsal of his ballet version of Lorca’s tragic drama. Here, it is estab­ lished that Saura is going to be interested more in the dancers than the dance and that his intention throughout the film will be to stress the physical reality of people who are instruments of theatrical illusion.

When they have opened their make-up cases (boxes of magic tricks, which also include quite ordinary personal items like snapshots and good-luck charms), they outline their lips and attach eye­ lashes and insert hairpins in a series of close-up details which insist upon the actuality of skin and eye and hair. Gades, while telling us how he came to be a dancer, painstakingly bliackens the flesh around his eyelids and flexes his neck muscles and fingers. And when they move into the studio to practise some steps as a warm-up, there is again a heightened awareness of the physicality of feet and hands and head. “ Don’t look at the floor!” commands Gades. “ Don’t raise your eye­ brows!” We are conscious of physical effort and sweat. “ Endure it! Make your kidneys endure it!”

The act of creating illusion requires such body discipline as a professional skill. But lest the technical perfection of these people makes them remote and inhuman, they are humanized in pre-per­ formance chat: the women talk of “ nerves” as they hook up the dresses which aid their metamorphosis from person to persona; and the men talk of bodily ailments and former injuries as they test the essentia! props — the two knives.

Even during the “ performance” (tech­ nically a “rehearsal”) they are seen to be creatures of mere flesh and blood, leaning against wails, warming them­ selves on prosaic hot-water radiators, primping, watching, waiting for cues.

Then they move to the centre of a bare floor to become, in an instant, “The B rid e ” , ‘‘The B ride gro om ” , ‘‘The Mother” , Leonardo, Leonardo’s wife, and “The Wedding Guests” — the magical transformations which have been pre­ ordained.

They achieve this trick in full view with token costumes, minimal props and no dialogue, stage or staging. Out of bare walls and floor they conjure caves, halls, forest and blood-soaked earth. The idea is as old as theatre itself, and Saura knows that to explain the artifice and to state the co-existence of performer and role is not to diminish the mystery, but to increase it.

This paradox is extended by his use of mirrors. The opening shot is of lights being turned on around mirrors, in which the dancers see themselves as both natural and artificial. Sometimes the camera takes the place of a mirror, and they examine the audience as if to assess its willingness to suspend disbelief.

In the final shot, “The Bride” walks towards the huge wall mirror which has reflected the whole dance. It shows what we see with the eye, not what we see with the imagination which, in turn, is but a reflection of other ways of seeing. After all, this film is a visualization of a choreo­ grapher's version of a playwright’s vision of a journalist’s view of an incident in Almeria. The initial case of illicit love, family feud and revenge became in form a prose item in a newspaper, a poetic play, a modern ballet and finally, in Saura’s own phrase, “ a document on creation” .

Gades strips Lorca’s seven scenes down to their dramatic essence and omits the more supernatural elements

like the personifications of the Moon and Death in the interests of a driving narra­ tive simplicity. He transmutes the intense poetic imagery of violence and sen­ suality into direct, powerful movement which is easily accessible in terms of character motivation and action. He adds sound imagery of his own — the guitar, of course, and also some tense stick­ scraping effects and finger-snapping.

Saura does not merely record the dance. If he did, we would be asking for more full-figure shots than we get. It is staged so that his camera can serve it with high and low angles, and move­ ment and distancing proper to the emotional involvement required. Occa­ sionally, he contributes a framing or bravura embellishment of his own to add to an illusion. When the lovers mime their flight on horseback, the bottom of the frame is where the back of the horse would be, which means it is more per­ suasive than a full shot. And the knife fight is breathtaking (literally so, as well, since the only sounds to break the silence are the slow intake of breath by the appalled onlookers and the panting of the participants) for the simulated slow motion of the two dancers is circled by Saura’s camera.

This film poetry is a powerful equiv­ alent of Lorca’s final scene, Which does not show the knife fight. Instead, he uses a Greek chorus report of it and lamenta­ tions of women which concentrate the play’s repeated images of cutting, slicing and blood-letting with a knife: a knife “that slides in clean / Through the aston­ ished flesh / And stops at the place / Where trembles enmeshed / The dark

root of a scream” . That silent scream, frozen in time, informs the closing image of the film — a frozen frame, sepia colored, of a posed wedding group — which, naturally, is a portrait of the dancers.

Tinted fam ily photographs are evocative also in Saura’s other new film Dulces horas (Tender Hours) in which a writer explores his own past, trying to remember his childhood and especially his relationship wrth his mother, to recreate it in the form of a play which is in rehearsal. Another “document on crea­ tion” , in fact, with many of the concepts of Blood Wedding recurring in more teasing guise: rehearsal/performance; real/theatrical life; actor/role synthesis; audience/author interpretation; and past/present transference.

But they are pushed more deeply into Pirandello territory. Am I as I am, or am I the part I play? Are you as you are, or as I wish you to be? Characters search for an author and,, in a rehearsal, one actor (playing an actor) is so consumed by his role that the director (played by an actor) cries, “ Everybody forgets this is a play.”

In 1934, Pirandello wrote in his note­ book: “There is someone who is living my life. And I know nothing about him.”

When the film’s writer seeks to find himself in his own memories, it is impos­ sible to arrive at a truth. And if his past is governed by shifting perceptions, how real is his present?

This intellectual puzzle is light in tone, beautifully shot and seamlessly joined, Saura’s fluid camera movement, com­ paratively restrained in Blood Wedding,

Top: John Reid's farce about smuggling a corpse in a wardrobe, Carry Me Back. Above: John Laing’s examination of a controversial murder conviction, Beyond Reasonable Doubt.

CINEMA PAPERS August - 345

Sydney Film Festival 1982

moodily and restlessly swooping and swerving in Deprisa Deprisa (Faster Faster), shown at the 1981 Festival, is given here, particularly in transition sequences where man becomes himself as boy, exhilarating flights of wheeling and whirling. It moves in waltz time.

The film closes with a burst of deliriously-happy song from his now-preg­ nant wife (who looks like his mother, and is played by the same actress), which baffled the audience. Has he exorcised his mother, or recreated her? And why is she singing? Perhaps this is the final Pirandellian joke: that we are to apply a conversation in the film about the writer’s relationship with his mother: “ How did it end?” , the writer is asked, and he replies, “ No one knows.” If that is your view of the end of the film, right you are (if you think so)!

Maybe some of the protagonist’s problems began when he sneaked off to see Rita Hayworth in Gilda at an early and impressionable age. No problem for Rainer Werner Fassbinder, who cele­ brates his love for movie-myth and film­ making (this is said to be his 23rd) in Die sehnsucht der Veronika Voss, about a bright star who falls into a drug-addicted decline and death.

I am not sure how much Fassbinder intended us to care about this once glamorous, now grotesque, creature.

She says it is her job to wrench people’s hearts, but she does not wrench as does that other ageing star on the wane, Norma Desmond. And whereas in Sunset Boulevard we share the feelings of a weak-willed scriptwriter made dependent by his pity and her spell, we have a poor guide here in a sportswriter who seems merely weak-witted, too surly for compassion, and more stunned than starstruck.

I suspect that Fassbinder is not much concerned with his character or with her exploited and self-destroying plight except insofar as they provide the melo­ dramatic material of the 1950s films he is invoking: we are to watch an imitation of an imitation of life. “ Memories” , sings Veronika smoulderingly in one of her lesshysterical moments, “ are made of this.”

How else to explain the cold, almost sadistic treatment of her screen-come­ back attempt, in which she cannot retain lines or manufacture tears and which by­ passes anything like the poignancy of a similar scene in Francois Truffaut’s La nuit Américaine (Day for Night) —

Top: Eric Rohmer's The Aviator’s Wife: "formal perfection and inventiveness”. Middle: Carlos Saura’s film of the Lorca play, Blood Wedding. Above: another of Carlos Saura’s explorations of the past, Tender Hours.

346 - August CINEMA PAPERS

Valentina Cortesa opens the wrong door ail the time. “ Cut. Take 5.” — unless because it suits his film model. And because it denotes the act of making a film.

Above all, Fassbinder wants us to appreciate a film’s surface, that which “will but skin and film the viscerous place” — a thin membrane on a screen of dazzling black and white photographed images. “ Light and shadow,” says Veronika, demanding candlelight in a restaurant, “the two secrets of motion pictures.”

Fassbinder emphasizes this with his use of star filters which send shafts of light from arc lamps and chandeliers. Also, he reminds the audience constantly that they are looking at a shining surface by the way he changes scenes: he does not favor unobtrusive dissolves and fades.

Rather, he flaunts optical devices to shut out and admit light like the iris and the wipe. He uses the lightning wipe, the key­ hole wipe, the explosion wipe, the Vene­ tian blind wipe as well as permutations of the fan, compass, horizontal and vertical wipe. In more ways than one, his film is about how Veronika Voss is wiped out.

The most satisfying film at the Festival was, for me, La femme de l’aviateur (The Aviator’s Wife), and that personal declaration has now lost me, perhaps, some hitherto patient readers of this report, just as there were Festival-goers who would not brook any description other than “slight” , on the grounds that

the characters seem of little con­ sequence and nothing much seems to happen to them. None so blind, alas, as those who will not see.

Eric Rohmer has effortlessly absorbed literary models. His film has the tight theatrical structure of three acts of a play, one each for morning, afternoon and night, with a prologue and epilogue.

It observes the theatrical unities of place and time, confining itself to the inter­ action of a group of characters during one day in Paris, and unity of action although, strictly speaking, it starts in the middle and the ending is left open.

It has elements of a detective story: there is a sleuthing game and two characters think a lot about how to play it, wondering what Sherlock Holmes would have done. (Rohmer says he is concerned “ less with what people do than with what is in their minds while they are doing it” .) There are also elements of fairytale: a Sleeping Prince of a hero who keeps nodding off; a would-be Sleeping Princess who daydreams of a Prince Charming to carry her away, pre­ sumably in an Air-France jet; and a Good Fairy disguised as a schoolgirl (the enchanting Anne-Laure Meury) who helps out while waiting for life to become magically a fiction. “ Life” , however, as someone remarks, “ is not a novel.”

Ironically, Rohmer introduces prop­ erties of the 19th Century novel — in the devices of accident, chance meeting and coincidence and in a great deal of dialogue. The talk is no more literary than one would expect from a post-office sorter cum student, a secretary and a schoolgirl, being the voicing of thoughts about their loves and jealousies, and so is insignificant to us. But not to them: the mainspring of the plot is the repeated attempt of one character to get another character to talk to him. Indeed, most lives are spent spinning webs of words, ephemeral threads but nevertheless life­ lines of communication, like the written words of letters, notes and messages, which are not only part of the parapher­ nalia of a novel but also a characteristic of Rohmer's film. It is meaningful that his hero works in a post-office.

The plot is conceived in terms of lines, of lives which intersect, an idea which is brilliantly exploited in a scene in a park where four characters pursue and retreat, cross and re-cross, like a geo­ metric doodle. It is mathematical, too, in its pleasing notion of letting ’x’ (the aviator’s wife who is never seen except in a photograph) be the unknown and in trying to proceed by algebraic processes, an attempt doomed to failure because these human beings cannot behave logically. Nor can people be fixed and constant, governed by rigid rules like those which govern the triangular form of the street-corner where crucial incidents take place, or the rectangular doors and door frames which recur so emphati­ cally in the imagery, or like the fixedframing of long duologues in which the human beings adopt such a variety of postures.

Playing off laws of mathematics and literature against the infinitely variable lives of his people might sound drily academic, but The Aviator’s Wife is not that in effect. As in L’amour, I’apres midi, Rohmer captures the busyness of bour­ geois figures in an urban landscape: the Paris of cafe, metro, bus and office. He describes, in sensuous detail, the early and late moods and the feel of a day of sunshine and rain. The color is attrac­ tively pastel and the comedy is kind.

And if in terms of narrative action and psychological development he has set himself narrow limits, his film is yet "about” quite a lot, for as the proverb states at the film’s opening: “One can't think of nothing.” As with Wordsworth’s nuns, who “fret not at their convent's narrow room” , and the poet in the con­ straints of his sonnet, Rohmer’s narrow limits do not preclude formal perfection

Sydney Film Festival 1982

and inventiveness. times I feel as I were his mother — moment of time as in any painting of From the Democratic Republic of Ger­ sometimes as if I were his child”), enor­ movement, or Grecian urn (“fosterchild many came Bürgschaft fur ein jahr (On mously respectful to the great work in of Silence and Slow Time” ) or Vinteul’s Probation), directed by Herrmann progress. She becomes his audience as phrase or, in a sense, Proust’s prose.

Zschoche, whose work is new to us, he tests the telling of his exploits on her: Time lost is sought in memory, both in though this is his 15th feature. It is a open-mouthed and unaware, she is Celeste’s recollections of her oddly still moving account of the efforts of a single, hearing what will become Baron Charlus’ and unpeopled countryside, and in working mother to prove to social welfare experiences in the male brothel. Invited Proust’s remembrance of the room with authorities that she can organize her to a performance by a string quartet, she the oval window at Cabourg. He says that messy and irresponsible life to retain hears what w ill become M arcel’s writing is the only means by which lost custody of her three children. responses to Vinteul’s sonata. time can be rediscovered. Thus Celeste It is remarkable for the immediacy and Most of the action takes place in the (splendidly played by Eva Mattes) rever­ involvement of its camerawork, crisp famous cork-lined room and in adjacent entially collects the pages of his manu­ editing and persuasive acting, although interiors like the kitchen where Celeste one actress has her sensitive playing of a waits patiently, sitting upright on a chair, script from his deathbed but, as if to insure her own future re-discovery of the scene undermined by a distracting lack for his bell to ring. time spent with Proust, carefully cuts a of continuity — her fur coat is on and off This and other sequences clearly lock of his hair. One day, it could be her her shoulders with a perverse will of its establish the peculiarly Proustian obses­ madeleine. own. sion with time. In the silence, the ticking The film adroitly explores its own The film's most impressive asset and clock indicates time passing, but the still­ powers of controlling time: jump cutting the generator of its energy is the central ness suggests held time. Whether such to save time; lingering on close-ups of performance of Katrin Sass, voted Best scenes refer visually to Degas (Celeste inanimate objects to intensify time; Actress at the Berlin Film Festival. Like does look at the camera as Degas’ shooting one sequence in slow motion to Jutta Wachowiak in The Fiancee, she has portrait subjects looked at the painter) or extend time. Spare and immaculate, it a plain face that becomes beautiful Monet or other Impressionists or even holds a mystery as Intriguing as time through its expressiveness, especially so Vermeer (sidelit servant at sink or stove) itself. in a lover’s rejection scene which is is not as important as the implication of Similar In its employment of stillness treated as a long and demanding timelessness — the perpetuation of a and silence is Ron Peck’s short film medium close-up.

As the tough little battler on proba­ tion, determined to make a go of being an adult against all odds, she makes us care whether she is winning or losing, and the only symbolic set-up in the film, in which she pushes herself slowly back­ wards on a roundabout in a playground, carries its meaning without strain.

A larger roundabout occupies David Carradine’s time In his first feature, Americana, and it carries a great deal of symbolic significance not entirely without strain.

A Vietnam veteran walks into a small Kansas town in 1973 and, for no reason that the locals can understand, sets about repairing and renewing a brokendown merry-go-round. To them he is a fool, though some are drawn to help him in his task. We, though, are to under­ stand that the madman is the sane one in a sick society and that his task is their spiritual regeneration.

It is a figurative narrative with its moral meaning thinly veiled: the merry-goround acts as a metaphor for salvation, or a state of grace, and the soldier has similarities to prophet, saint and martyr, but mostly to Christ, with the towns­ people as either disciples or hostile unre­ generates and the town tart as Mary Magdalene. In fact, the Christ story is fairly closely paralleled: the carpenter (doing odd hammer and nail jobs for residents); the fisher of men (near a baitshop); an expulsion from a church hall; a threefold denial (by a Hell’s Angel running a garage); and there is a kind of Agony, an Ascension and a Resurrec­ tion, the details of which it would do the film no service to spell out in case it seems like heavy, undigested allegory.

The film is simple and modestly made, quietly paced, and with sunny images and touches of laconic humor. It Is, I think, a sincere, personal statement.

As a fable about human aspiration, it is arguably more resonant than Alain Tanner’s allegory, Light Years Away, if only because that film invokes so much philosophy and tribal, Greek and Bib­ lical mythology only to let us down with the silly mechanics of an attempt to fly — a sequence which would fit better into the lunacy of Peter Greenaway’s The Falls.

Another first feature was Percy Adlon’s Celeste. It is an adaptation of Monsieur Proust, written by Celeste Alboret, his housekeeper for nine years until his death in 1922, the period during which he was fighting for the strength to hold on to his past to complete A la recherche du temps perdue.

The film details their unusual relation­ ship. Proust: cranky, asthmatic, fussy (“ My skin cracks if I use a damp hand Top: Hermann Zschoche’s On Probation, about a single woman’s attempt to convince the towel twice” ), dedicated to his great task authorities that she leads a responsible life. Above: Amalie R. Rothschild's Conversations with of recreation. Celeste: unsophisticated Willard van Dyke. country woman, acolyte and nurse (“At

Edward Hopper, an art documentary which seeks to reveal the life of the painter and the essence of his work, it is interesting in its analysis of the distinc­ tive properties of the paintings — the isolated subjects, empty spaces and sources of light in the interiors of bars, offices and hotel bedrooms — and unusual in its filmmaking response. For it finds a method to approximate Hopper’s own. The narrators sit pensive and passive in an office — part of the scene but not active in it, almost like props to be lit and placed with an expanse of desk separating them. Unnatural, of course, but a respectful pastiche.

Whenever the paintings are on display, there is hardly a sound to inter­ rupt the quiet. Of course, all paintings are soundless, but Hopper’s especially so.

And to emphasize this, there are sequences like a long car journey from New York to Truro, Cape Cod, through city and woodland where there is no sound of the car at all, only a breathing silence of leaves and distant birds.

Uncanny. Dare one say liquid vision? At any rate, the deliberate absence or reduction of sound when we are expecting it heightens the visual and emotional impact.

Less poetic, but equally illuminating about its subject’s life and work, was Amalie R. Rothschild’s Conversations with Willard van Dyke, about the stills photographer-turned-cameraman of several, famous, socially-committed documentaries. Lucid and well-shaped, it shows how to make a subject com­ pletely accessible by using talking heads in a way that we are rarely likely to see in a television documentary.

Among other notable short films was the highly-popular Murder in a Mist, in which Lisa Gottlieb parodies the privateeye genre with a female detective and a flair for jargon (“the briny kiss off” ) and reverse sexist assessments (her male helper is “ hung like a horse” ) and film in­ jokes (“ I thought of all the sisters with monkeys on their backs bigger than anything Fay Wray ever saw” ) to achieve a clever feminist comedy.

Among the films in the Alternative Section, I missed, unfortunately, De sfilte rond Christine M. (A Question of Silence) which was voted by Green sub­

scribers Best Feature at the Festival and described as a film “of remarkable elo­ quence and quiet subversiveness” .

Die beruhrte (No Mercy No Future),

directed by Helma Sanders-Brahms, whose Deutschland bleiche mutter (Germany, Pale Mother) was shown here in 1980, is subversive in content rather than in form, for the narrative is fairly orthodox and realistic although it includes overtly surreal sequences and is suffused with metaphor in the manner of Luis Bunuel’s Nazarin and Viridana.

It is based upon the writings of a young schizophrenic from an affluent middleclass family who is driven by an inner compulsion to walk the streets of Berlin picking up men in whom she believes she sees a reincarnation of Christ. One of them, a Ghanaian with whom she has bloody sex two days after an abortion, she attempts to marry, as if to become a bride of Christ.

Her full name is Veronika Christoph: the first name, from the Latin verus “true” and iconic us “ of or belonging to an image” , was given to a cloth believed to retain the image of the face of Christ and later to the name of the saint who wiped His face with it, and also to a woman who was cured of an issue of blood; the second name, from the Greek meaning “ bearing Christ” , was the name of an early Christian martyr and associated with a saint who bore the Christ-child across a river.

The film absorbs these references and makes them work in a forceful and dis­ turbing way (and makes Fassbinder’s

Continued on p. 383 C IN E M A P A P E RS

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Documentary films occupy a special place in the history and development of Australian filmmaking. From the pioneering efforts of Baldwin Spencer to Damien Parer's Academy Award winning Kokoda Front Line, to Chris Noonan's Stepping Out and David Bradbury's Frontline, Australia's documentary filmmakers have been acclaimed world-wide. .

The documentary film is also the mainstay of the Australian film industry.

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In this, the first comprehensive publication on Australian documentary film, 50 researchers, authors and filmmakers have combined to examine the evolution of documentary filmmaking in Australia, and the state of the art today.

Contents The History of the Documentary: A World View

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Each Each casecase study study examines, examines, in dei in detail, the steps in the production of the docum entary, and features interview s with the key production, creative and technical personnel involved.

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The Australian Documentary: Themes and Concerns An exam ination of the them es, pre-occupations and film forms used by Australian docum entary producers and directors.

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Repositories and Preservation A survey of the practices surrounding the storage and preservation of docum entary films in Australia.

Com parisons of procedures here and abroad.

The Future A look at the future for docum entary films. The impact of new technology as it affects production, distribution and m arketing. A forw ard look at the m arketplace and the changing role of the docum entary.

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The m arket for Australian docum entary films, h ere and abroad. This section examines broadcast television, pay television, theatrical distribution, video sales and hire, box-office perform ances and ratings.

A checklist of docum entary producers and directors currently working in Australia.

Making a Documentary A series of case studies' examining the m aking of docum entaries. Examples include large budget docum entary series for television; one-off docum entaries for television and theatrical release; and educational and instructional docum entaries.

Useful Inform ation Reference inform ation for those dealing with, or interested in, the docum entary film. This section will include listings of docum entary buyers, distributors, libraries, festivals, etc.

P u b lis h e d by C in em a P a p e rs in a sso c ia tio n w ith th e V icto rian Film C o rp o ra tio n .

International landm arks, key figures, m ajor m ovem ents.

The Development of the Documentary in Australia A general history of the evolution of the docum entary film in Australia, highlighting key films, personalities and events.

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A new feature in the 1983 edition is an extensive editorial section with articles on . aspects of Australian and international cinema, including film financing, special effects, and a survey of the impact our films are having on U. S. audiences.

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In this major work on the Australian film industryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dramatic rebirth, 12 leading film writers combine to provide a lively and entertaining critique. Illustrated with 265 stills, including 55 in full color, this book is an invaluable record for all those interested in the New Australian Cinema.

The chapters: The Past (Andrew Pike), Social Realism (Keith Connolly), Comedy (Geoff Mayer), Horror and Suspense (Brian McFarlane), Action and Adventure (Susan Dermody), Fantasy (Adrian Martin), Historical Films (Tom Ryan), Personal Relationships and Sexuality (Meaghan Morris), Loneliness and Alienation (Rod Bishop and Fiona Mackie), Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Films (Virginia Duigan), Avant-garde (Sam Rohdie).

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In November last the Film and Television Production Association of Australia and the New South Wales Film Corporation brought together 15 international experts to discuss film financing, marketing, and distribution of Australian films in the 1980s with producers involved in the film and television industry.

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Tape recordings made of the proceedings have been transcribed and edited by Cinema Papers, and published as the Film Expo Seminar Report.

Copies can be ordered for $25 each.

Contributors

Contents

Arthur Abeles Chairman, Filmarketeers Ltd (U S.) Barbara D. Boyle Executive Vice-President, and Chief Operating Officer, New World Pictures (U.S.) Ashley Boone Worldwide Marketing and Distribution Head, Ladd Company (U.S.) _ Mark Damon President, Producers Sales Organization (U.S.) Michael Fuchs Senior Vice-President, Programming, Home Box Office (U.S.) ' Samuel W. Gelfman Independent Producer (U.S.) Klaus Hellwig President, Janus Film Und Fernsehen (Germany) Lois Luger Vice-President, Television Sales, Avco Embassy Pictures Corporation (U S.) Professor A w . Massimo FerraraSantamaria Lawyer (Italy) .

Mike Medavoy Executive Vice-President, Orion Pictures (U.S.) Simon O. Olswang , Solicitor, Brecker and Company (Britain) Rudy Petersdorf President and Chief Operating Officer, Australian Films Office Inc. (U.S.) Barry Spikings Chairman and Chief Executive, EMI Film and Theatre Corporation (Britain) Eric Weissmann Partner, Kaplan, Livingston, Goodwin, Berkowitz and Selvin Harry Ufland President, The Ufland Agency (U.S.)

Theatrical Production The Package: Two Perspectives

Perspective i: As Seen by the Buyer (i)

Partial versus complete packaging, or starting from scratch with an idea. (ii) Evaluating for different markets, different costs (budgeting).

Speakers: Barry Spikings: Mike Medavoy

Perspective II: As Seen by the Seller The role of the agent in packaging Speaker: Harry Ufland Theatrical Production Business and Legal Aspects (i) Sources of materials (published, original screenplays, etc ). (ii) Forms of acquisition agreements and/or writer's agreements. (iii) Talent agreements (“ pay or play" defer­ ments, “ going rates", approvals). (iv) Insurance. (v) Guild and union requirements (foreign and domestic production). (vi) Subsidiary rights. Publishing music, merchandising, etc.

Speaker: Eric Weissmann Distribution in the United States (i) Mapping the distribution sales campaign.

When and where to open. How to allocate advertising budgets. Number of theatres.

70mm and stereo. Reissues. Ancillary markets — hold back for pay and free television. (ii) Exhibition terms. Advances and guaran­ tees: split of box-office (90-1 0 with "floor" “ house-nut", etc.): blind bidding; policing Speaker: Ashley Boone Producer/Distributor Relationship Terms: Differences where distributor financed production How distributor expenses are recouped. Distributor fees. Advertising commit­ ment, if any. Outside sales representative.

Speaker: Barbara Boyle

Distribution Outside the United States Distribution terms. Relationship and terms with sub-distributors and exhibitors. Recoupment of expenses. Cross-collateralizing territories Dubbing, Censorship Speakers:Arthur Abeles: Klaus Hellwig(Northem European perspective); Massimo Ferrara (Italian and European perspective).

Television Production and Distribution Production for network or syndication Deficit financing. Tape versus film Licensing "off-net­ work". United States and foreign Commercial versus public broadcasting, Speaker: Lois Luger Financing of Theatrical Films Major Studios Control, approvals, overhead.over-budget provi­ sions, total or partial financing Negative pick-up Speaker: Rudy Petersdorf Financing of Theatrical Films Independent Studios Rise of independent financing. Tax motivated and otherwise. Completion financing.

Speaker Sam Gelfman Presale of Rights Separating rights by media. Pay television, free television (network syndication) Speaker: Michael Fuchs Presale by Territory Advantages and problems. Interim and comple­ tion financing. Term of distribution rights.

Speaker: Mark Damon Multi-National and Other Co-Productions Availability of subsidies. Treaties. Tax incentives Government investments Speaker: Simon Olswang

Fill out orderform fo r the Film Expo Seminar Report on page 8 o f this special insert.

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BACK ISSUES Take advantage of our special offer and catch up on your missing issues. M ultiple copies less than half-price.

Number 1 January 1974

Number 2 April 1974

Number 3 July 1974

Number 5 March-April 1975

Number 9 June-July 1976

David W illiamson. Ray Harryhausen. Peter Weir.

Gillian Armstrong. Ken G. Hall. Tariff Board Report.

Antony I. Ginnane. The Cara That Ate Parle.

Violence in the Cinema.

Alvin Purple. Frank Moorhouse. Sandy Harbutt.

Film U n d e r A lle n d e.

Nicholas Roea. Between Ware.

Jo h n P a p a d o p o lo u s .

Willis O’Brien. The McDonagh Sisters. Richard Brennan. Luis Buñuel.

The True Story of Eskimo Neil.

Jenn in gs Lang. Byron H askin.S urf Films. Brian Probyn. Sunday Too Far Away. Cbarle8 Chanvel, index: Volume 1

M ilos Form an. M iklos Jancso. Luchino Visconti.

Robyn Spry. Oz. Mad Dog Morgen. Jean Long.

Index; Volume 2

Number 12 April 1977

Number 13 July 1977

Number 14 October 1977

Number 15 January 1978

Number 16 April-June 1978

Kenneth Loach. Tom Haydon. Bert Deling. Piero Tosi. John Scott. John Dankworth. The Getting of W isd om . Journey Among Women.

Louise Malle. Paul Cox. John Power. Peter Sykes.

Bernardo Bertolucci. F.J. Holden In Search of Anna.

Index: Volume 3

Phil Noyce. Eric Rohmer.

John Huston. Blue Fire Lady S u m m e r fie ld .

Chinese Cinema.

Tom Cowan, Francois Truffaut. Delphine Seyrig.

The Irishman The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith. Sri Lankan Cinema. The Last Wave

Patrick. Swedish Cinema.

John D u ig a n. Steven Spielberg. Dawn! Mouth to Mouth. Film Period­ icals.

Number 19 January-February 1979

Number 20 March-April 1979

Number 21 May-June 1979

Number 22 July-August 1979

Ken C am eron. French Cinema. Jim Sharman.

My Brilliant Career. Film Study R esources. The Night the Prowler.

Mad Max. Vietnam on Film. Grendel, Grendel, G rendel. D avid Hem mings. The Odd Angry Shot. Box-Office Grosses.

Snapshot.

Bruce Petty. Albie Thoms.

Newsfront. Film Study R e s o u r c e s . K o s ta s .

Money Movers. The Aus­ tra lia n Film and T ele­ vision School.

Index: Volume 5

A n to n y I. G in n a n e .

Jeremy Thomas. Blue Fin. A n d re w S a rris . Asian C in e m a . S p o n s o re d Documentaries.

Number 10 September-October 1976

Number 11 January 1977

Nagisa Oshima. Phillippe Mora. Gay Cinema. John Heyér. Krzysztof Zanussi'.

M arco F e rre ri. M arco Bellocchio.

Emile de Antonio. Aus­ tralian Film Censorship.

S am A r k o f f . R o m a n P olanski. The Picture Show Men. Don’s Party.

Storm Boy.

Number 17 August-September 1978

Number 18 October-November 1978

Bill Bain. Isabelle Hup­ pert. Polish Cinema. The Night the Prowler. Pierre Rissient. Newsfront. Film Study Resources.

Index: Volume 4

John Lamond. Dimboola.

Indian Cinem a. Sonia B o r g . A la in T a n n e r .

Cathy’s Child. The Last Tasmanian.

Number 23 September-October 1979

Number 24 December 1979 January 1980

Number 25 February-March 1980

A u s tra lia n T e le v is io n .

Last of the Knucklemen.

W o m e n F ilm m a k e r s .

Japanese Cinem a. My Brilliant Career. Tim. Thirst. Tim Burstall -

Brian Trenchard Smith.

Palm Beach. B razilian Cinema. Jerzy Toeplitz.

C om m unity Television.

Arthur Hiller.

Chain Reaction. David P u ttn a m . C e n s o rs h ip .

Stir. Everett de Roche.

Touch and Go. Film and Politics.

C IN E M A

Number 26 April-May 1980

Number 27 June-July 1980

The Films of Peter Weir.

Charles Joffe. Harlequin.

Nationalism in Australian Cinema The Little Con­ vict

The New Zealand Film In d u stry. The Z Men. Peter Yeldham. Maybe This Time Donald Richie.

G r e n d e l, G r e n d e l, Grendel

index: Volume 6

j»S/Df

JT

Number 29 October-November 1980

Number 32 May-June 1981

Number 33 July-August 1981

The Films of Bruce Beresford. Stir. Melbourne and Sydney Film Festivals.

Breaker Morant. Stacy K e a ch. R oadgam es.

Bob Ellis. Actors Equity D e b a te . U ri W in d t.

C ru ising The Last Outlaw. Philippine Cin­ ema. The Club.

Number 36 January-February 1982

Judy Davis. David William­ son. Richard Rush. Cuban Cinema. A Town Uke A lice. Flash Gordon.

Channel 0/28.

John Duigan on Winter of Our Dreams. Government and the Film Industry. Tax and Film. Chris Noonan.

Robert Altman. Gallipoli.

Roadgames Grendel.

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Number 37 March-April 1982 S te p h e n M acLean on Starstruck, Jacki Weaver, Peter Ustinov, Women in Drama, Reds, Heatwave.

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Offers close September 30, 1982

Moviecam 3N Cinematic Services, the Australian agents for the Moviecam system, have increased their amount of equipment available for rental. They now hold thé world’s largest rental inventory of Movie­ cam products. The Moviecam 3N has a virtually soundless movement and a built-in microprocessor which controls several functions, such as the inbuilt slate-numbering system, Digiclapper, that optically prints the scene number onto the first 100 frames run up on each scene.

One of several plug-in modules avail­ able is the Moviespeed, which allows the camera running speed to be changed at programmed rates during a shot. For example, a pole vaulter can be shown at normal speed running up to plant his pole. As he does, the frame rate smoothly changes and he soars through the air in “slow motion” , without any variation in exposure density. The time interval in which acceleration or decel­ eration takes place is preset on switch banks.

Another plug-in module is the Dicom.

This computer diagnosis box is an elec­ tronic measuring device which can supervise and control all camera func­ tions. If any electronic component fails, the Dicom will immediately indicate a fault condition and identify the faulty component by number. Supplied with a set of circuit boards, this module enables “ in the field” downtime to be minimized as the camera can be functioning normally again within minutes.

Moviecam 3N also incorporates pro­ vision for a video system. It is equipped with a Newicon television pick-up tube which provides a high contrast display of the ground glass image, which can be fed to television monitors and videotape recorders.

This integrated video head is con­ trolled and powered by an external Videx power supply which is easily attached to the camera. Videx houses a small 38mm ( 1 1/2-inch) monitor which serves to make focus pullers’ work easier and more accurate.

The camera was used extensively for television commercial work and main unit photography on the following features: Lady, Stay Dead, The Clinic and Brothers; and second unit work on The Return of Captain Invincible and Norman Loves Rose.

For further details, contact Cinematic Services, 8 Clarendon St, Artarmon, NSW, 2064. Phone (02) 439 6144.

Hand-held operation of the Moviecam 3N.

The new Dolby stereo mixing studio at Atlab Australia.

Stereo Filmmix Now A vailable With A tlab The increasing use of Dolby stereo in Australian films today led to the decision

by Atlab Australia to invest in major alterations to its sound-mixing facility.

The old mono sound-mixing theatre, which has seen such Australian films as The Last Wave, Breaker Morant and Puberty Blues, has been stripped back and more than doubled in size. All new equipment has been added from the seating through to the optical transfer system.

Through Rank Industries in Australia, Atlab ordered, from the U.S., the latest Quad-Eight computerized Coronado mixing console, recently installed. Com­ prising 36 inputs and 24-track output, the console is one of the most up-to-date in the world. It utilizes an inbuilt computer to store levels and other information relevant to cueing on a floppy disc arrangement. This facility aids the operator In multi-track record and replay situations which inevitably saves time during the mixing session.

New ancillary equipment will also be installed to reduce the amount of time In the mix. Magna Tech projectors and dubbers will be capable of rewinding and fast forward at four times normal speed which will cut down on non-productive time.

Dolby has been incorporated in this new facility with full noise reduction on all inputs and on the master six-track recorder. The master tape is then trans­ ferred to optical negative on a new Westrex 9235 two-track, 35mm variable­ area recording system. This machine has Dolby decode from four channels into the two channel optical negative while still retaining the four-channel informa­ tion.

Several staff have made overseas trips

to study the latest methods and equip­ ment; including chief mixer Julian Ellfngworth, who was heavily involved in the setting up of this country’s first stereo film mixing facility at Film Australia.

For further details contact Atlab Aus­ tralia, Television Centre, Epping, NSW, 2121. Telephone: (02) 858 7500.

(Cinema Papers will interview Julian Ellingworth in a later issue.)_________

New Mini Video from Technicolor Dynavision Sales, of St Peters In Sydney, has released the PAL version of the Technicolor Video Cassette Recorder available for some time in the U.S. Unlike VHS or Beta systems, it uses a Vi-inch (6.25mm) video-cassette tape, and is only slightly larger than a normal audio cassette.

According to Dynavision, the Tech­ nicolor system provides ail the perfor­ mance, color and sound of the larger tape formats, but allows the use of a video-cassette recorder (VCR) con­ siderably smaller than others. This, they say, keeps the system so compact that it can even be taken skiing, boating or sky­ diving. This portability is said to make the unit ideal for commercial, educational and recreational purposes.

Included in the Technicolor system Is a VCR comparable in size to a household radio-cassette recorder and measuring only 11cm x 25.5cm x 7cm, a Techni­ color video camera with power zoom lens and macro capability, and an AC adapter/charger.

The camera features a built-in preview screen within the viewfinder. It allows

Instant playback of footage just taken, in black and white but without sound. When used as a portable unit, the self-con­ tained VCR receives power from its own nickel cadmium batteries, which are recharged in one hour. It may also be operated off a normal 240-volt house­ hold outlet through the use of the adapter provided, and, extending its ver­ satility, the VCR may be operated off a 12-volt car or boat battery via a cigarette lighter socket.

The price for the entire system is around $2600. For distribution details contact Dynavision Sales, 327 Princes Hwy, St Peters, NSW, 2044. Telephone: (02)516 1817.

Video Workshops at Metro Television Metro Television is running a series of public workshops that started in April covering a whole range of aspects of video production. It is Sydney’s only public television centre. Facilities and experience are available in all aspects of production. No previous experience in video Is necessary to enrol in many of the workshops.

The workshops include: color porta­ pak; color editing; location and field production; vision mixing and special effects; studio techniques; color camera operation; studio production; sound techniques for editing; advanced studio production; lighting workshop; video art; planning a rock clip; acting/directing workshop; shooting a rock clip; script­ writing for video; choreography for camera; alternative drama for television; video and education, and children's television workshop.

Metro is working towards public tele­ vision. These workshops aim to make video media more accessible to the public.

CINEMA PAPERS August - 349

GET YOUR SHOW ON THE ROAD S ta rt your film rolling with D. Worland & Co. YVb create S toryboardsP ress C am paigns­ Logos­ P osters­ P ress KitsCinem a TrailersB rochures& Graphics.

W hile gainfully employed we got the following films on the road -Mad M ax -Cathy's Child -Newsfront -Breaker M orant -The Club -Mouth to M outh -Gallipoli If you w ant to get things moving ring Diane W orland .She’ll give you an audience.

D .W o rlan d ® C om pany P ty Ltd. T h e B asem ent, 418 S t. Hilda Rd. M elbourne 3004. P h (03)266 8124 .

SOUND ADVICE

IF IT MOVES WELL SHOOT IT Tasmanian Film Corporation, 1-3 Bowen Road, Moonah, Tasmania, Australia 7009 ' Telephone (002) 30 3531 Telegrams: Tasfilm Hobart. Telex: Tasfilm 57148’

The world’s leading sound technicians use MICRON radio microphones because they are: * Extremely selective. * Less susceptible to interference. * The established standard system for use with recording, television and stage productions.

Available from the Australian distributors: N.S.W. 8 Dungate Lne,Sydney 2 0 0 0 .2 6 4 1981 VIC. 77 City Rd, Sth Melbourne 3 2 0 5 .6 2 1 1 33 QLD. 28 Baxter St,Fortitude Vly 4 0 0 6 .5 2 8 8 1 6 W.A. 1 10 Jersey St, Jolimont 6 0 1 4 .3 8 7 4 4 9 2 S.A. 2 3 9 Anzac Hwy,Plympton 5 0 3 8 .2 9 3 2 6 9 2 .

New Products and Processes

Matsushita’sM -formai ENG System

To solve the problems inherent in con­ ventional systems, the M-format system combines a broadcast quality color video camera and a videotape recorder in a single hand-held unit. The size and weight of the new unit are about twothirds that of normal 3/4 - in c h type systems, which eliminates connecting wires, and allows a single cameraman to

have unrestricted access to program materials.

Although the M-format system uses a much narrower 1/ 2-inch tape and is more compact than the conventional 3/4-inch type VTRs, the picture quality is claimed to be significantly better than 3/4-inch video recording.

M iller ENG Tripod A new tripod designed specifically for ENG applications has been released.

This non-tubular aluminium tripod, which features a specially-designed and extruded channel, provides “flex-free” stability. For the first time, professionals can use an aluminium tripod in the field that has the same durability as Miller’s wooden tripods. Unlike tubular alum­ inium tripods, the Miller ENG tripod will withstand harsh conditions of field work as there are no tubes to be dented or bushes that collect dust, etc.

The ENG tripod comes with a built-in tripod spreader and claw-ball levelling unit. Camera capacity is 23kg and weight is only 4.3kg. The folded length is 89cm; extended length is 1.5m.

Technical and Scientific Academy A wards Due to the lack of space in the last issue, we did not print details of the 54th Annual Academy Technical and Scien­ tific Awards. Among the more notable was an Award of Merit statuette to Fuji Photo Film for their high speed, fine grain, color negative stock.

There were Scientific and Engineer­ ing Awards presented to Nelson Tyler for the continuing development of the Tyler Helicopter mount, and for Consolidated Film Industries’ Stroboscan device, a unique pulsed Xenon light that enables high speed print inspection on the takeup of continuous processing machines.

Industrial Light and Magic received their award for a sophisticated special effects optical printer using beam­ splitter optics to combine four VistaVision size projectors to anamorphic.

Industrial Light and Magic also received a technical certificate for their Empire

M iller 50 Fluid Head

R. E. Miller Ltd announced, at the NAB Convention in Dallas, U.S., the introduc­ tion of the Miller 50 fluid head designed for today’s state-of-the-art ENG/EFP cameras. This compact head features an advanced-concept fluid-drag system that ensures consistently smooth, repeatable pan and drag action through a range of three pre-set drag positions.

In addition, pan and tilt actions can be set in “free-wheeling” positions.

Balancing of the camera is assured by engaging the built-in counterbalance system, thus eliminating nose- or tailheavy camera configurations. This system can also be activated to re-set neutral balance when the camera’s centre-of-gravity changes with the addition of accessories, thus preventing accidents that occur with unbalanced equipment on heads that are not locked.

The Miller 50 provides a choice of two camera platforms, a quick-release plat­ form, and a sliding camera plate with built-in quick-release. The sliding camera plate allows 1 0 0 mm of move­ ment to complement the counter-bal­ ancing system. Handles may be used left or right hand, and are vertically and horizontally adjustable. Locking is com­ pletely safe due to built-in disc brakes in both the pan and tilt.

The head is of durable aluminium con­ struction, finished in black anodized/ epoxy paint to resist wear and corrosion and weighs 8 1/2 lb (3.85 kg).

Matsushita’s Broadcast­ use Vi-inch Video Format Adopted by Ampex Corporation o f the U.S. Camera System, a servo-controlled, com puter-operated special effects camera and a device called the Go Motion Figure Mover that adds a slight blur to specific frames to stop the strobing that occurs in single-frame, stop-motion animation.

Eastman Kodak’s development of a rapid processing device, the Prostar pro­ cessor, which is normally used for micro­ film but can also handle short lengths of high contrast titles or special effects film, was also awarded.

Academy Certificates were awarded for various 24 frames-per-second video systems to allow filming by motion picture cameras without roll bars and flicker, and two optical lens systems, Oxford Scientific Films portable “ micro­ cosmic” zoom, and Continental Camera Systems pitching lens that uses a flex­ ible, optical-relay tube to allow a range of prime lenses to be used, tilted 180 degrees and rotated 360 degrees for miniature and special effects work.

The development in special effects areas are obviously an indication of the types of film we will be watching in the next few years.

National Panasonic's parent company, Matsushita Electric Industrial of Osaka, Japan, announced the com panydeveloped 1/ 2-inch video recording format for broadcast use. The M-format was developed by the Ampex Corpora­ tion of the U.S. Ampex will supply the new systems to the world market in the near future.

Matsushita’s M-format professional video system, which employs the VHS Vzinch videotape cassette, enables a single-unit configuration of camera/VTR combination for ENG (electronic news gathering) and EFP (electronic field pro­ duction) uses at broadcasters.

In recognition of the M -form at system’s superior portability and picture quality to conventional 3/f-inch format systems, two Japanese broadcasting equipment manufacturers, Hitachi Denshi and Ikegami, announced last April that they adopted the M-format system and exhibited the systems at this year’s NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) convention. It now numbers five companies in the M-format family of Ampex’s adoption.

Recent Development

Laservision performed on the Sydney Harbour bridge.

Laservision, in association with SoleilLaser (Australia), is being formed to incorporate the newly-established field of laser productions. Gary Levenberg, an American whose past in laser enter­ tainment goes back to 1975 with the Soleil Company, has joined Geoffrey Rose who was responsible for intro­ ducing lasers as a visual medium to Australia.

Past clients in Australia include Coca­ Cola, DeBeers Diamonds, BMW, Datsun, Chamberlain, John Deere and many others. Pulsar Quartz Watches is the sponsor of the festival show, Laser Visions, which has performed at Mel­ bourne’s Moomba and Brisbane’s Warana Festival.

Recent work includes large outdoor displays, including the opening of Sydney Tower at Centre point and displays emanating from transmitting towers outside Brisbane and Adelaide for 4MMM-FM and 5AD in conjunction with Channel Seven and (in the photo above) the 50th Anniversary of the Sydney Harbour bridge.

R ank Electronics Studio Lighting Division Appointed by Osram Osram has appointed Rank Elec­ tronics Studio Lighting Division to dis­ tribute its range of HMI/MEI lamps throughout Australia. The lamps are suitable for use in most popular HMI Luminaires such as the laniro Sirio range.

Robin Natley, Osram National Sales Manager for Studio and Theatre lamps, said the range of lamps was designed to produce a spectrum of light similar to daylight, at 5600°K, and that they were extremely efficient lamps that required lower power consumption than con­ ventional.

“They have high efficacy light sources from 80 lumens per watt for the 2 0 0 w lamp to 10 2 lumens per watt for the 4000w lamp,” he said.

Natley said Osram would soon be announcing additions to its HMI/MEI range of lamps for film and television work.

Details are available from OsramGEC, Cnr Percy and Boorea Sts, Auburn, NSW, 2144. ★

CINEMA PAPERS August - 351

EVERYTHING THAT WE CAN.... IS OUR BEST

rèjpÉiS

15-17 Gordon St, P.O. Box 355. Elsternwick, Vic 3185.

5286188. Telex: 38366 CINEVEX FILM LABORATORIES Telephone:

AUSTRALIAN FILMS, DOCOS’.

TV SERES, PILOTS ETC. -W A N T E D FOR AMERICAN CABLE DISTRIBUTION

•TRAILERS •T V SPOTS •P R O D U C T REELS M ake the most of your marketing budget with professional production.

m

Film Trailers international 26 Serpentine Road Greenwich Point Sydney NSW 2065 Australia Phone: (02) 438 2213

PHONE REEL MEDIA ON

(03)6905800

Tech, adviser ......................Greg Newbold THE YEAR OF Unit nurse.............................Toni Okkerse LIVING DANGEROUSLY Best boy ........................................ Ian Philp Publicity: Prod, company .................Wayang Prods.

W o rldw ide ....................Dennis Davidson Dist. company ....................................MGM Associates P ro d u c e r................................ Jim McElroy A u stra lia ..............................

Carlie Deans D ire c to r...................................... Peter Weir PRE-PR O D U CTIO N PRODUCTION New Zealand .. .Consultus New Zealand S criptw rite rs................... David Williamson, Unit pub licist............................ Tony Noble Peter Weir, C atering............................ David Williams, Christopher Koch, Location Caterers with additional material DEATHWATCH S tudios....................... Northern Television, ABRA CADABRA

by Alan Sharp Auckland, New Zealand Based on the Prod, company .......... Deathwatch Prods Prod, company ...................Adams Packer L ab o ra to ry......................................Colorfilm novel by .................................C. J. Koch — Virgo Prods Film Prod.

Lab. liaison .............................Dick Bagnall Photography.......................... Russell Boyd P ro du ce r.....................................Judith West P ro d u ce r.............................................. Phillip Adams To ensure the accuracy of your Length ............................................

95 mins Sound recordist .....................Gary Wilkins D ire c to r..................................Peter Maxwell entry, please contact the editor of D ire c to r............................... Alexander Stitt Gauge................................................... 35mm E d ito r.................................... Bill Anderson Scriptwriter ................................. Peter West S crip tw rite r..........................Alexander Stitt this column and ask for copies of Shooting s to c k .......................

Eastmancolor Art d ire c to r.......................... Herbert Pinter Based on the original our Production Survey blank, on Based on the original Cast: Tatum O'Neal (Christie Wllkens), MGM rep..........................John Hargreaves idea by ............................. Michael Ralph which the details of your produc­ idea by ............................ Alexander Stitt Colin Frlels (Nick Skinner), Shirley Knight Prod, su p e rv is o r...................................Mark Egerton P hotography.........................Ray Henman tion can be entered. All details Sound recordist ............. Brian Lawrence, (V irgin ia W ilkens), David Hem m ings Prod.

Sound re cord ist.................... Bob Clayton must be typed in upper and lower AAV Australia (Superintendent Wilkens), Bruno Law­ co-ordinator . . . Carolynne Cunningham Exec, producers .................Brock Halliday, case.

C om p o se r...................................Peter Best rence (Peeky), Ralph Cotterill (Holmby), Prod, manager ...................Tim Saunders Peter West Exec, producer ..................... Phillip Adams The cast entry should be no John Bach (Bodell).

Location m anager................ John Wiggins Prod, m anager.................. Victoria Christie more than the 10 main actors/ Assoc, p ro d u c e r.............................. Andrew Knight Synopsis: Romeo and Juliet: R-rated and (Syd.) A rt director ....................... Owen Patterson actresses — their names and Prod, secretary .........................Janet Arup updated to a New Zealand prison.

Unit manager ..................... Murray Francis Fight choreography............... Jim Richards character names. The length of the Animation director ................Frank Hellard Stunts c o -o rd in a to r..............................PeterWest synopsis should not exceed 50 n „ (S yd ) Key a n im a to rs ...................................... AnneJolliffe, Prod, secretary .....................Lynda House S tu d ios..............................................Artransa words.

Gus McLaren, (Syd.) Laboratory ............................................. Atlab Editor’s note: All entries are Steve Robinson, Prod, secretary .................Sally Blaxland Length .............................................100 mins PO ST-PRO D U CTIO N supplied by producers/producRalph Peverlll (Philippines) G auge............................. 35mm Panavision tion companies, or by their agents.

Painting supervisor ........... Marilyn Davies Business manager ........... Michael Wilcox Scheduled re le a se ..............................March1983 C in e m a P a p e rs cannot, therefore, Director special fx Prod, accountant ............ Elaine Crowther Synopsis: A horror film about a night watch­ a ccep t re s p o n s ib ility fo r the photography................... Mike Browning Prod, assistant..................Ken Richardson man who spends his last shift in a depart­ correctness of any entry.

Art d ire c to r........................... Alexander Stitt FLUTEMAN 1st asst director .................. Mark Egerton ment store. Twelve hours later, two men are Musical director ......................... Peter Best insane, three men are dead and blood Is (Syd.) Prod, company ......... Independent Prods.

Tech, a d vise rs.................. Mike Browning, 1st asst director .....................Wayne Barry everywhere.

P ro d u ce r............................Brendon Lunney Volk Mol (Manila) Director ................................Peter Maxwell Tech, a d v is e r........................ Pudji Waseso Studios...........................................:. ,AI et al 2nd asst dire cto r.................................. Chris Webb S criptw rite r........................................CharlesStamp Best boy ................................ Paul Gantner Laboratory .............................Victorian Film 3rd asst d ire c to r......... Michael Bourchler Photography...................... Phil Pike A.C.S. R unner............... Monica Petellizzari (Syd.) FOR LOVE ALONE Laboratories (Syd.) Sound recordist .........

Rowland McManis Unit publicist ........................ Babette Smith Length .............................................. go mins 3rd asst d ire c to r.....................................KenRichardson Prod, company ........ Margaret Fink Films E d ito r........................................................TimWellburn Catering ...................Joh and Sue Faithful Gauge .......................... 35mm Panavision, (Philippines) P ro du ce r................................Margaret Fink C om poser..............................................

John Sangster S tudios............................................. Artransa Triangle 3D 2nd unit D ire c to r............................Stephen Wallace Exec, producer ........................ Gene Scott P ost-production.......................... F.P.S.-AlanLake Shooting sto c k .......................Eastmancolor 1st asst d ire c to r.................Ian Goddard Scriptwriters ....................Stephen Wallace, Scheduled release .......................Late 1983 Prod, manager .......................... Jan Tyrrell Camera/lighting e q u ip ............Samuelsons Fay Weldon Voices: Jacki Weaver, John Farnham, , Prod, co-ordinator ................... Dixie Betts Continuity ................................Moya Iceton Mixed at ............................... United Sound Production a s s t................ Ken Richardson Assoc, producer ............. Richard Brennan Location m anager............................ MichaelFuller Laboratory .......................... ........ Colorfilm Hayes Gordon, Gary Files, Jim Smilie, (Syd.) Synopsis: Teresa Hawkins, high-minded, Hamish Hughes.

Prod, secretary ........................ Fiona King Lab. lia is o n ................................ Bill Gooley Producer’s s e c re ta ry ........ Wilma Schinella independent, imaginative but emotionally Prod, accountant .................. Peter Layard Length ......................................... 105 mins.

Synopsis: Will Abra Cadabra thwart the Casting........................ : . . . . Allison Barrett starved by her ramshackle family, pins her 1st asst, d ire c to r...................................Tony Wellington Gauge .................................................35mm plans of rotten B. L. Z’Bubb and nasty Klaw, Extras casting co n s u lta n t....... Sue Parker affections on the egotistical Jonathon Crow.

2nd asst, d ire c to r..................................PaulCallaghan Shooting s to c k ...................... Eastmancolor Extras casting a s s t.......................Jo Hardie It is, however, only through her ebullient the Rat King, to control all of the known and 3rd asst, director . . . .

Hamish McSporran Scheduled release ........................ Late '82 unknown universe? Of course he will, with Camera operator .................Nixon Binney and warm-hearted employer, James Quick, Continuity ........................ Caroline Stanton Cast: Mel G ib son (G a ry H a m ilto n ), Focus p u lle r .................Peter Menzies jun. that Teresa comes to understand her power the help of beautiful Primrose Buttercup, Casting..........................

Mitch Consultancy Sigourney Weaver (Jill Bryant), Phipps as a woman and emerges from obsession to Mr. Pig and Zodiac the space dog, among Clapper/loader .................... Sean McClory Clapper/loader ...................Geoff Wharton Hunt (Billy Kwan). others. But not until the end.

Key g r ip ....................................... Ray Brown a real consciousness of sexuality and love.

Camera assistant ....................Keith Bryant Synopsis: Guy Hamilton, an Australian Asst grip ........................ r . . . Stuart Green, . Key g r ip .......................................... GrahameLitchfield Broadcasting Service journalist, arrives in Geordie Dryden 2nd unit photography ...............Phil Dority THE MOST WANTED MAN Jakarta during a time of political upheaval.

PRISONERS G a ffe r..................................................... BrianBansgrove G a ffe r....................................... Derek Jones There he is befriended by an enigmatic Prod, company ........................Ukiyo Films Boom operator ........................Jan McHarg Electricians ...............................Colin Chase, Prod, company .................. Endeavour Film Australian Asian, Billy Kwan, and they pro­ Paul Moyse (Syd.), P roducers........................... Don McLennan, Art d ire c to r.............................................. KenJames Management (No. 2) foundly influence each other’s destiny. He Peter O’Brian (Manila) Zbigniew Friedrich — Lemon Crest Costume designer ................Fiona Spence becomes Increasingly involved with the D ire c to r.............................. Don McLennan Dist. company .................20th Century-Fox Make-up ................................ Fiona Spence Boom operator .................. Mark Wasiutak politics of the country and with Jill Bryant, Design consu lta n t...................Wendy Weir Scriptwriters ............... Zbigniew Friedrich, Ward, a s s is ta n t.................................... KerryThompson Film Corporation an English Embassy secretary.

Eventually, Asst art director ...............Annie Browning Lawrence Held, Producers.......................Antony I. Ginnane, P ro p s ..................................................... BrianEdmonds as these interests diverge, he must choose Costume designer .................... Terry Ryan Don McLennan John Barnett Standby p ro p s ........................................ IgorLazareff between them.

Costume supervisor........... Anthony Jones G auge.................................................. 35mm D ire c to r................................ Peter Werner Carpenter ...................... Geoff Thomlinson Make-up .............................

Judy Lovell Length ............................................100 mins Scriptwriters ........................Meredith Baer, Asst, e d ito r............................................ JudyRymer Make-up a s s t.........................................JoanMostyn Hilary Henkin Neg. m a tch in g ......................................Chris Rowell Quan make-up design........Bob McCarron Based on a story b y ............Meredith Baer Sound e d ito r........................................... BobCogger Hairdresser..........................................CherylWilliams AWAITING RELEASE Photography .......................James Glennon Editing assistant ..................Michelle Cattle Wardrobe m istress.............................. JenniBolton PHAR LAP Sound recordist......................Gary Wilkins M ixe r............................. Julian Ellingsworth Standby wardrobe ................... Phil Eagles, Prod, company ....................... John Sexton Editor ......................................... Adrian Carr Still photography.....................Alan Howard Roger Monk Prod, d e sig n e r................................. Bernard Hides Productions O p tica ls.................................Acme Opticals Props b u y e rs ....................................StewartWay, Exec, producers ............David Hemmings, P ro du ce r................................................ John Sexton Title designer ......................John Frampton Paddy Reardon, Keith Barish, Scriptwriter .................... David Williamson BROTHERS Best boy ............................... Richard Curtis Mark Statescu, Craig Baumgarten P hotography...................................... RussellBoyd P ublicity.......................... Michael Hohensee Sally Campbell Assoc, producer ........................Brian Cook Prod, company ...................Areflex Prods Editor .......................................... Ken Zemke C atering............................................. AM/PM Catering Dist. company ......................... IMC-ISRAM Unit manager ......................Murray Newey Prod, d esig n er.................. Larry Eastwood Mixed at .............................................Atlab Standby p ro p s ...................................... ClarkMunro Standby props asst .................Jenny Miles Producer .............................. Terry Bourke Prod, secretary ........................ Jenny Barty Exec, producer ..................... Richard Davis Laboratory ......................................... c F L Art dept asst ........................Alan Dunstan Prod, accountant ..................Stanley Sopel Director ................................Terry Bourke Prod, c o -o rd in a to r............. Cathy Flannery Lab. lia is o n .............................................JackGardiner Asst accountant.....................................TonyWhyman Prod, m anager......................................PaulaGibbs Scriptwriter .......................... Terry Bourke Length ......................................... 100 mins. Scenic a rtis ts ...................... Billy Malcolm, Michael Chorney Based on the novel by ....... Roger Ward Prod, assistant............... Barbara Williams Prod, secretary .................Elizabeth Wright Gauge .................................................. 16 mm Carpenters .......................... Paul Vosilianis, Prod, accountant .. Moneypenny Services Prod, tra ine e ..................... Tim Coddington Photography .......................... Ray Henman Shooting s to c k .............Eastmancolor 7247 Ron Sutherland, Sound recordist ...................Bob Clayton 1st asst director ...................Murray Newey 1st asst director .............. Terry Needham Cast: John Jarratt (Fluteman), Emil Minty Derek Wyness, C asting.................................................. Alison Barrett 2nd asst directors .................Kevan O’Dell, Editor .................................... Ron Williams (Toby), Aileen Britton (Beatrice Peachley), Geoffrey Spence Composer ................................Bob Young Art department Jonothan Barraud Michael Caton (Oswald Snaith), Patrick Set construction ..............

Peter Templeton c o -o rd in a to r.................... David Bowden 3rd asst d ire c to r...........................Geoff Hill Exec, producers ................Brock Halliday, D ickson (David Hanson), John Ewart Design assistant ...........................Lisa Elvy C on tin u ity.................Jacqueline Saunders Frank Wilkie (Clarence Quint), Ron Graham (Frank Asst editor ........................ Jeanine Chialvo Director’s assistant................................CassCotyTimms), Peter Gwynne (Mayor Cooper), 2nd asst editor ............................Lee Smith W a rd ro b e ...............................................AnnaSenior Assoc, producer ...................John Hipwell Animal trainer Producer's assistant: Prod, managers ................. Ken Metcalfe Sheila Kennelly (Myra Hanson), Debra 3rd asst e d ito r...................................... KarinFoster Asst to Mr Ginnane __ Sylvia Van Wyk Edge n um b e re r.....................Peter Erskine (horsemaster) ......................Heath Harris (Philippines), Lawrance (Sally Cooper).

B u d g e t..................................................... $5.8millionAsst to Mr Barnett ..........Frances Gush Judith West (NZ/Aust.)

Synopsis: Fluteman Is a modern day Aus­ Sound editor ........................Andrew Stuart Casting: Sound editing a s s t..............................RobinJudge P ro g re ss............................... Pre-production Unit manager .......................... Tim Higgins tralian version of the Pied Piper of Hamelin A ustralia__ M & L Casting Consultants Synopsis: The story of the great racehorse Prod, secretaries ...................Mitch Griffin, interspersed with incidents to delight family Still photography................... Jim Townley New Zealand ...................... Diana Rowan NSWFC prod. man. set against the backdrop of the Depres­ Victoria Christie (Aust.) and children.

Camera operator ....................... David Burr sion. It follows Phar Lap’s sudden rise to atta ch m e nt.................................... Sandra Alexander Prod, accountant ......................Ross Lane Focus puller ....................Malcolm Burrows n ational fam e and the co ntro versie s Company accountant ........... Neil Drabsch C lapper/loader........................ Roland Carat! surrounding his career.

Prod, assistant ........... Roy Harries-Jones Camera dept, tra in e e ........ William Grieve Insurance/Completion Key g rip ...........................................GrahameMardell guarantors .............Halliday & Nicholas Asst g rip s ............................................... GaryCarden, 1st asst director ........... Bosie Vine-Miller THE PLATYPUS COVE Richard Scott 2nd asst director ........... Andrew Williams (working title) G a ffe r..................................................WarrenMearns 3rd asst director ................. Peter Kearney Electricians.........................................

Murray Gray, Continuity .......................... Jenny Quigley Prod, company ...................... Independent Ian Beale Director’s secretary . Jennifer Woodward Productions Lighting dept, tra in e e ...........................JohnKaiser Casting ........................... Roger Ward (NZ) P ro du ce r............................ Brendon Lunney Boom operator...................................... MarkWaslutak Casting consultants .................. Eric Cook Scriptwriter .........................Charles Stamp Art director ...................Virginia Bieneman Camera operator ..................... David Burr P hotography.................... Phil Pike A.C.S. Costume designer .......Aphrodite Kondos Focus puller .................Malcolm Burrows Sound recordist.......................................DonConnolly Make-up ......................................Jose Perez Clapper/loader ...................Conrad Slack Editor ......................................... Bob Cogger Make-up a ssista n t........ Robern Pickering Key grip ................................Lester Bishop Exec, producer ......................... Gene Scott Hairdresser ................................ Joan Petch Asst grips . . . . Nicholas Reynolds (Aust.), Prod, m anager........................... Jan Tyrrell W a rd ro b e ............................................... Julia Mansford Prod, secretary ......................... Fiona King Dennis Cullen (NZ) Ward, assistant .................Glenis Hitchens, Gaffer ....................................... Pav Govind Prod, accountant ....................Peter Layard Elizabeth Jowsey 1st asst director ...............Tony Wellington Electricians ......... Mark Friedman (Aust.), Wardrobe dept, tra in e e ........

Jude Crozier Asst d ire c to r..................... Paul Callaghan Johnathan Hughes (Aust.), Props buyer............................................ PaulDulieu C asting........................... Mitch Consultancy Neil Campbell (NZ) Standby p ro p s ................................... TrevorHaysom, C lapper/loader...................................... SeanMcClory Boom operator ........ Graham McKinney Morris Quinn Camera assistant .................. Keith Bryant Art director ................................ Paul Tolley Dressing props ....................... Mike Becroft Art director .................................Ken James Asst art director ................. Rachel Rovay Art dept, tra in e e s...............Francey Young, Make-up ................................. Fiona Spence Costume designer ................. David Rowe Jeremy Chunn Ward, assistant ............... Kerry Thompson Make-up ...................... Robern Pickering Scenic artist ............................... Ray Pedler Asst e d ito r ........................... Michelle Cattle Hairdressers ........... Willi Kennick (Aust.), P a in te r.....................................Paul Radford L a b o ra to ry............................................. CFL Trish Cohen (NZ) Stand-by stage hand ............. Adrian Lane Lab. liaison ..............................Cal Gardiner Ward, assistant ........................ Rima Rowe Set construction .................... Trevor Major Length ............................................100 mins Standby props ....... David Findlay (Aust.), Asst e d ito r...........................Virginia Murray G auge.................................................. 16mm Chris Paulger (NZ) Editing dept, trainee ... Vicky Yiannoutsos Shooting s to c k ............Eastmancolor 7247 Special effects .............. Reece Robinson The Year of Living Dangersously Still photography........................ Rob Tucker Asst editor ................ Annabelle Sheehan

FEATURES

See previous issue for details of: Angel Chase The Sunbeam Shaft

PRODUCERS, DIRECTORS AND PRODUCTION COMPANIES

CINEMA PAPERS August - 353

Musical director ...................Bob Young Runner ................................Mark Lamprell Mixer ......................................Peter Fenton Catering ......................... Cecil B. de Meals Stunts co-ordinator ........... Frank Lennon on Wheels Stunts .................................. Frank Lennon, Studios ..........................................Mort Bay Grant Page, Cast: Gary Day (Ed Ballinger), Penny Peter West, Downie (Cindy), Kim Deacon (Jane), John Ewart (Mr Stollier), Jill Forster (Mrs Stollier), Zenda Graves, Jade Clayton, Peter Collingwood (Mr Hollister).

Kerry Blakeman, Marty Takarang, Rangi Nikora, A DANGEROUS SUMMER Chris Hession Still photography ....................David Miller Prod, company ......... McElroy & McElroy Transport supervisor ....... Barry Branson Producer .......................... James McElroy Director .......................... Quentin Masters Opticals .............................. Acme Opticals Scriptwriters .....................David Ambrose, Title designer .......................... Larry Wyner Tech, adviser ............................ Hine Grey Quentin Masters Based on the novel by ........... Kit Denton (Maori songs) Photography .........................Peter Hannan Best boy . . .•.................................... Graham Mulder Sound recordist .................. Don Connolly 1st unit runner .......................... Chris Cole Editor .................................... Richard Clark 2nd unit runner .....................Stuart Miller Prod, designer .....................Bob Hilditch Location nurse . . . . Glenise Brady (Aust,), Catering ......... David Williams (NZ, Aust.)

Composer .............................Groove Myers Prod, co-ordinator ........... Terry Fogharty Mixed at .........

United Sound Laboratory ...........................................Atlab Prod, managers ............. Peter Appleton, Greg Ricketson Gauge ................................................ 35mm Unit manager .......................David Findlay Screen ratio .........................................1:165 Shooting stock ...................... Eastmancoior Prod, secretary ............... Wilma Schinella Cast: Chard Hayward (Adam), Margaret Prod, accountant ........... Elaine Crowther Laurence (Lani), Ivar Kants (Kevin), Alison 1st asst director ........... Michael McKeag 2nd asst director .....................John Rooke Best (Jeanine), Jennifer Cluff (Alison), Les 3rd asst director ........................ Ian Kenny Foxcroft (Jim), Joan Bruce (Maureen),.

Continuity .........................Roz Berrystone James Elliot (Rev.), Moira Walker (Connie), Casting ..................................Rae Davidson Ricky May (Bill).

Camera operator .................Keith Woods Synopsis: Two b ro th e rs escape the Focus puller ...........................Steve Mason massacre of five fellow Australian news­ Clapper/loader .......................Stuart Quin men in Asia, but their lives are still charged Key grip ..................................Don Andrews with emotion and futility in a small New Asst grip ................................Phil Shapiera Zealand town as they try to escape the holo­ Electrician ............................... Derek Jones caust of their nightmares.

Boom operator ......... Graham McKinney Asst art director .................... John Carroll Costume designer ........... Marta Statescu THE CLINIC Make-up .................................. Jose Perez Prod, company ............. .The Film House/ Hairdresser ................................ Jose Perez Generation Films Ward, assistant .................Catriona Brown P roducers.............................. Robert Le Tet, Props buyers ............................... Ian Allen, Bob Weis Sue Hoyle Director ................................. David Stevens Standby props ...........................Paul Jones Scriptwriter .............................. Greg Millen Special effects ...............Conrad Rothman, Based on the original idea Chris Murray, Alan Maxwell, b y ............................................Greg Millen Peter Armstrong, Photography .............................Ian Baker Jonathon David Sound recordist........................ John Rowley Editor .................Edward McQueen-Mason Set construction .................... John Parker Prod, su pe rviso r................... Michael Lake Asst editor ..............................Doug Frazer Prod, c o -o rd in a to r.................... Trish Foley Sound editor ...........................John Foster Prod, accountant .................... Groliss Fyfe Stunts co-ordinator ........... Frank Lennon 1st asst director ......................David Clark Still photography ......... Geoff McGeachin 2nd asst dire cto r........ Hamish McSporran Best boy ................................ Matt Slattery 3rd asst d ire cto rs .................. Alister Binger, Runner .................................Richard Hobbs Jonathon Balmford Unit publicist .....................Babette Smith C on tin u ity......................... Caroline Stanton Catering .............................. Nene Morgan, Christina Norman Producer’s a ssistan t__ Margo McDonald C asting.............................. The Film House Laboratory ..................................Colorfilm Casting consultants__ M & L Consultants Cast: Tom Skerritt (Howard Anderson), Ian Focus puller ........................... Clive Duncan Gilmour (Steve Adams), James Mason C lapper/loader.................Leigh McKenzie (George Engels), Wendy Hughes (Sophie McCann), Kim Deacon (Maggie Anderson), G rip s ..................................... Barry Hansen, Ray Barrett (Webster), Norman Kaye (Percy Ian Benallack Farley), Guy Doieman (Julian Fane), Martin G a ffe r.........................................Brian Adams Harris (Curly Chester), Michael Petrovitch Electrician.............................. Michael Tanner Boom operator.................Steven Haggarty (Joe Laliniei).

Art director ................................Tracy Watt Make-up ................................ Kirsten Vessy, Dl Biggs W a rd ro b e ...................................Rose Chong THE DARK ROOM Ward, assistant ..........................Gail Mayes Props buyer................................. Cliff Kelsall Prod, company .................. Nadira Pty Ltd Standby p ro p s ................. Andrew Mitchell Dist. company .................... Filmco Limited C a rp e n te r......................... Danny Corcoran Producer .................................Tom Haydon Construction m a na g e r..........Ray Pattison Director ................................. Paul Harmon Still photography............Vladimir Osheron Scriptwriters ...................

Michael Brindley, Title designer .............................Alex Stitt Paul Harmon Best boy .............................Michael Adcock Based on the original idea C atering......................... Anne Dechaineaux by ....................................... Paul Harmon S tudios......................Melt). Prod. Facilities Photography .......................... Paul Onorato Length ............................ .'...............90 mins Sound recordist ................Ken Hammond G auge.................................................. 35mm Editor ..................................Rod Adamson Shooting s to c k ......................Eastmancoior Prod, designer ................... Richard Kent Composer .......................... Cameron Allan Assoc, producer ........... Michael Brindley Prod, co-ordinator .................. liana Baron CROSSTALK Prod, manager ...............Michael McKeag Unit manager .............................. Ian Kenny Prod, company .......................Wall to Wall Prod, secretaries ...................... Lyn Morris, Producer ................................ Errol Sullivan Terry Fogarty Director ..................................Mark Egerton Prod, accountant.... Moneypenny Services, Photography ..................... Vincent Monton Androulla Sound recordist ..................... John Phillips 1st asst director ...............David Bracknell Editor ...................................... Colin Waddy 2nd asst director .....................John Rooke Prod, designer ................. Larry Eastwood 3rd asst director .............. Ken Richardson Composer ................................... Chris Neil Continuity ........................ Roz Berrystone Exec, producer .................Ross Matthews Camera operator ......... David Williamson Prod, manager .......................Julie Monton Focus puller ....................... Jeremy Robins Unit manager ..........................Tony Winley Clapper/loader ................ Robyn Peterson Prod, secretary .......................Cara Fames Key grip ................................ Robin Morgan Prod, accountant ..................... Penny Carl Asst grips ........................Graeme Shelton, st asst director ...............Steve Andrews Robert Verkeck 2nd asst director ...........................Phil Rich Gaffer ..................................Warren Mearns Continuity .....................................Jo Weeks Electrician ...............................Doug Woods Casting ......................... Mitch Consultancy Boom operator ................Andrew Duncan Camera operator ........ David Williamson Art director ............................ Richard Kent Focus puller .........................Steve Dobson Asst art director .................David Bowden Clapper/loader ................. Robyn Peterson Key grip ............................. Geordie Dryden Make-up ................................. Viv Mepham Asst grip ................................ Terry Jacklin Wardrobe .................................... Liz Keogh Gaffer ....................................... Pav Govind Ward, assistant ................... Fiona Nicholls Boom operator ......................... Ray Phillips Props buyer ................................ Jeff Bruer Make-up ...................................... Liz Michie Standby props ...................Nick McCallum Hairdresser ................................. Liz Michie Special effects ............... Conrad Rothman Wardrobe ................................. Jenny Miles Carpenters ................... James Thompson, Max Feutrill, Ward, assistant ...............Miranda Skinner Michael Patterson Props buyer ....................... David Bowden Standby props ............Karan Monkhouse Set construction .........................Fred Kirk, Ian McGrath Special effects ........................ Ivan Durrant Additional editing .......................Alan Lake Asst editor ...........................Christine Spry Asst editor ............................

Julia Gelhard Sound editor ...................... Vicki Ambrose Neg. matching ....................................Atlab Still photography ........................ Bliss Swift Musical director ................ Cameron Allan Best boy ......................................Andy Reid

1

354 -

August

CINEMA PAPERS

Sound editors

.....................Paul Maxwell, Anne Breslin, Jeff Bruer, Peter Foster, Julia Gelhard, Elizabeth Haydon Mixer .......................... Julian Ellingsworth Stunts co-ordinator ........... Frank Lennon Still photography ............... Carolyn Johns Opticals .............................. Rick Springett, Optical & Graphic Pty Ltd Title designer .......................... Mike Berry Best boys ........................... Alleyn Mearns, Geoff Maine Runner .................................Richard Hobbs Publicity ......................... Elizabeth Johnson Catering ............................ Filium Catering Mixed at .............................................. Atlab Laboratory ...........................................Atlab Lab. liaison ............................Greg Doherty Length ............................ 96 mins 46 secs Gauge ................................................ 35mm Shooting stock ...................... Eastmancoior Cast: Alan Cassell (Ray Sangster), Anna Jem ison (N icky), Svet K ovlch (M ike S a n g s te r), D iana D avid so n (M a rth a Sangster), Rowena Wallace (Liz Llewellyn), Ric Hutton (Sam Bitel), Oriana Panozzo (Susan Bitel), Sean Myers (Peter), Sally Cooper.(Sally), Jon Darling (Bob Henning).

Synopsis: A contemporary story of sexual rivalry and obsession: of lost youth and false manhood. A triangle which leads to disaster.

Animation assistant ....... Robert Malherbe Checkers and cleaners .. .Animation Aids, Bruce Warner, Jan Carruthers Laboratory ..................................... Colorfilm Length ............................................. 80 mins Gauge .................................................. 35mm Shooting s to c k ........................Eastmancoior Cast: Drew Forsythe (Santa Claus).

Character voices: Barbara Frawley (Dot), Ross Higgins.

Synopsis: The continuing adventures of Dot and her search for the missing joey. Dot meets with a hobo in her outback home town, the hobo becomes Santa Claus, and takes Dot on a wonderful adventure witnessing various Christmas ceremonies around the world.

G auge.................................................. 35mm Shooting s to c k .................................... 5247 Cast: Bill Kerr (Tom), Noel Trevarthen (Harry), Carol Burns (Clara), John Stanton (Railey Jordan), Nick Holland (Jack), Dan Lynch (Ron), Kati Edwards (Mrs Muspratt), Will Kerr (Jim).

Synopsis: The story of a sheepdog in the Australian outback, based on the classic novel by Frank Dalby Davison.

EARLY FROST Prod, company

....................David Hannay Productions Producers .......................... David Hannay, Geoff Brown Scriptwriter .......................Terry O’Connor Based on an original idea by .........................Terry O'Connor DOUBLE DEAL Photography ............................David Eggby Prod, company ................Rychemond Film Sound recordist .....................Mark Lewis Productions Editor ...........................................Tim Street Dist. company ............................. (overseas) Prod, designer .........................Bob Hilditch Hemdale Leisure Corp.

Composer ................................Mike Harvey P ro du ce rs........................ Brian Kavanagh, Exec, producer ............... John Fitzpatrick Lynn Barker (Filmco) Director ...............................Brian Kavanagh Prod, manager .................... Julia Overton S criptw rite r............................................ BrianKavanagh Unit manager .......................... Di Nicholas Based on the Prod, secretary .................. Belinda Mason original idea b y ................................ BrianKavanagh Prod, accountant ........Howard Wheatley Photography...........................................RossBerryman 1st asst director ............. Stuart Freeman Sound recordist ................... John Phillips 2nd asst director ..........Michael Bourchier E d ito r..............................................Tim Lewis 3rd asst director ............... Annie Peacock Composer ............................ Bruce Smeaton Continuity ........... Margaret Rose Stringer Exec, producer ............................John Daly Producer's assistant ........Vanessa Brown Assoc, p ro d u c e r................................. Carlie Deans DEAD EASY Lighting cameraman ........... David Eggby Prod, s u p e rv is o r................................... JohnChase Camera operator .................. David Eggby P roducer...................................John Weiley Prod.

Focus puller ......................... David Connell Director .................................... Bert Deling co-ordinator . . . Carolynne Cunningham Clapper/loader ........................Erika Addis P hotography......................Michael Molloy, Prod. accountant .................... Lynn Barker Camera assistants ........Salik Silverstein, Tom Cowan Prod, assistant......................................... LynDevine Sally Eccleston Editor ..........................................John Scott 1st Asst d ire c to r................. Ross Hamilton Key grip .......................... Merv McLaughlin C ornposer.............'.............William Motzing 2nd Asst director ........................Bill Baster Asst grips .........................Brett Robinson, Length ............................................. 92 mins 2nd unit d ire c to r.................................. BrianKavanagh Robert Verkerk G auge................................. 35mm (1.85:1) Continuity .............................Shirley Ballard 2nd unit photography ........... Peter Levy, Cast: Scott Burgess, Rosemary Paul, Tim Producer's assistant........Helen Kavanagh Sam Bienstock McKenzie, Tony Barry, Max Phipps, Jack "Focus p u lle r................................... Ian Jones Gaffer ....................................... Roger Wood O’Leary, Joe Martin, Barney Combes.

Clapper/loader ........................... Phil Cross Electrician ................................. Peter Wood Special fx .........................Conrad Rothman Boom operator ....................... Steve Miller G a ffe r....................................Lindsay Foote Art director ........................ :. Bob Hilditch Boom operator .........................Ray Phillips DESOLATION ANGELS Asst art director ...................Robert Jones Art d ire c to r................................................ Jill Eden Make-up ............................ Rina Hofmanis Prod, company .. Winternight Productions Asst art director ........................ Phil Eagles Hairdresser .........................Rina Hofmanis P roducer...................................Chris Oliver Make-up ........................... Deryck De Niese Wardrobe ....................................Bob Lloyd D ire c to r..................................Chris Fitchett H airdresser...........................................PietraRobins Ward, assistant ............... Robina Chaffey Scriptwriters ............................ Ellery Ryan, Wardrobe ................................ Anna Jakab Props ...........................................Tony Hunt Christopher Fitchett Props b u y e r........................ Nick Hepworth Props buyer .."...................................... IanAllen Photography ...............................Ellery Ryan Standby p ro p s ........................................ KenHazelwood Standby p ro p s ....................................... TonyHunt Sound recordist...............Laurie Robinson Special e ffe c ts ................. Conrad Rothman Special effects ...................... Brian Olesen, Editor .....................................Tony Stevens C onstruction...................Geoff Richardson, Alan Maxwell, Prod, d esig n er.................. Josephine Ford Ian Doig Peter Evans C om poser.......................... Mark McSherr7 Asst editor .............................. Ken Sallows Carpenters .........................Russell Jones, Prod, m anager....................... Miranda Bain Still photography.................... . Suzy Wood Morris Evans, Asst d ire c to r................... Tony MacDonald Best boy ................................ Gary Scholes Adrian Storey Camera operator .................. Toby Phillips R unner...................................... Stuart Wood Set construction ................... John Parker.

Sound e dito rs........................ Greg Steele, P ublicity................................................ CarlieDeans Micnael Osborne Jacky Fine unit publicist ........................ Peier Murphy M ixe r...........................Alasdair MacFarlane Laboratory ................................. Colorfilm Asst editor .................Catherine Sheehan Neg. matching .......................Gordon Peck Stunts co -o rd in a to r........New Generation Lab. lia is o n ................................................BillGooley Stunts Budget . L. ...................................... $1 million Musical director .................... Mike Harvey Mixed at ............................... Palm Studios Shooting stock ...................... Easxmancoior Music performed by ................................ Doug Parkinson, L ab o ra to ry.............................................Atlab Cast: Angela Punch McGregor (Christina Naomi Warne, Length .............................................. 95 mins Stirling), Louis Jourdan (Peter Stirling), Malcolm McCallum, G auge................................................... 35mm Diane Craig (June Stevens), Warwick David Spall, Shooting s to c k ....................... Eastmancoior Comber (young man), Bruce Spence (Doug Steve Kiely Mitchell), Peter Cummins (Detective Mills), Sound editor ............................Klaus Jaritz Patty Crocker (Christina’s mother), Kerry DOT AND SANTA CLAUS Editing assistant .................Terry Mooney Walker (Sibyl Anderson), Danee Lindsay Mfxer ...........................................

Phil Judd (Further Adventures of Dot and the ( ju n io r s e c re ta ry ), June Jago (M rs Stunts co-ordinators .. .Peter Armstrong, Kangaroo) Coolidge).

Herb Nelson Synopsis: A psychological thriller, its plot is Prod, company ...................... Yoram Gross Stunts ......................................... Glen Davis, a mystery of manipulation and double­ Film Studio Bev Teague, dealing about the elegant, b ea u tifu l Dist. company . . . Satori Productions Inc., Matthew Hessian, Christina Stirling, her urbane, successful New York Dee James, m a n -o f-th e -w o rld husband, Peter, a Producer .............................. Yoram Gross Chris Hessian, daunting, sensuous young man and Peter’s Director ................................Yoram Gross Rocky McDonald efficient, devoted secretary.

S criptw rite rs......................... John Palmer, Still photography .................Chic Stringer Yoram Gross Opticals ............................. .Andrew Mason Based on the Title d e sig n e r......................................... MikeBerry DUSTY original idea b y .............................. Yoram Gross Best boy ...................................Peter Wood Photography......... Bob Evans (animation), Flunner .................................Mardi Kennedy Prod, company ......................Dusty Prods.

Chris Ashbrook (live action) Dist. company ............Kestrel Film Prods. Publicity ...................Carlie Deans Pty Ltd Sound recordist for Unit publicist ............... Elizabeth Johnson P roducer.....................................................GilBrealey character v o ic e s ....... Julian Ellingworth D ire c to r.............................. John Richardson Catering ................................ Paul Sargent, Character design .................Ray Nowland Scriptwriter ................................ Sonia Borg Eric Larsen, C om p o se r.............................Mervyn Drake Based on the novel Shelleys, Assoc, producer ................ ^.Sandra Gross Plum Crazy b y ............................ Frank Dalby Davison Prod, manager .....................Virginia Kelly Mixed at .............................. United Sound P hotography.......................... Alex McPhee Prod, secretaries/ Laboratory ..........................Atlab Australia Sound recordist..................... John Phillips A dm inistration...................... Meg Rowed, Editor ......................................... David Greig Lab. liaison ........................ James Parsons Margaret Lovell Prod, d esig n er.................... Robbie Perkins Length ........................................... 90 mins Prod, accountant ............... William Hauer Exec, producer ................John Richardson Gauge ............................................... 35mm Producer’s assistant...............Kelly Duncan Assoc, producer ................... David Morgan Shooting stock ......... Eastmancolour 5247 C asting........................ International Casting Prod, m anager.......................................MarkRuse Cast: Diana McLean (Val Meadows), Jon Services Unit manager ...............Michael McGennan Blake (Peter Meadows), Jan Kingsbury Camera operator .......................Bob Evans Prod, secretary ...................Elizabeth Syme (Peg Prentice), David Franklin (David Camera assistant ......... Lynette Hennessy • Prod, assistant......................................... JanTourrier P re n tic e ), D an ie l C u m e rfo rd (Joey Art d ire c to r.............................Ray Nowland 1st asst director .................. Colin Fletcher Meadows), Guy Doieman (Mike Hayes), Scenic a r tis t....................................... AmberEllis 2nd asst d ire cto r..................Jake Atkinson Joanne Samuel (Chris), Kit Taylor (Paul Neg. m a tc h in g .................Margaret Cardin 3rd asst d ire c to r...................................GayeArnold Sloane).

Chief a nim a to r....................... Ray Nowland C o n tin u ity...........................................Andrea Jordan Synopsis: A suburban community is bliss­ A n im a to rs .............................Paul McAdam, Casting...................................................... LeeLarner fully unaware that a killer stalks the streets.

Andrew Szemenyei, Lighting cam eram an............. Alex McPhee A mother and her two sons survive in a dis­ Athol Henry, Focus puller ......................... Brendan Ward integrating relationship. These two ele­ Cynthia Leech, C lapper/loader......................................Chris Cainments come together to form the basis of Nicholas Harding Key g rip ..............................Ian Thorburne this mystery-thriller.

Asst anim ator........................................... KayWatts Sound e d ito rs.................. Louise Johnson, Background a rtis t.............................. Amber Eilis Steve Lambeth P a in ters.................................Ruth Edelman, Still photography............................... BruceHasweil FIGHTING BACK Kim Marden, Dog tra in e r............................Mary McCrabb Steve Hunter, W ra n gle r.................................................JohnBairdProd, company .................. Adams Packer Nerissa Martin, Best boy ................................. Bruce Towers Film Productions Margaret Butler, Runners.................................Mary Sdraulig, — Samson Film Productions Kim Craste Amanda Walker Producers .............................. Sue Milliken, In betweeners ...................Vicki Robinson, C atering................................. Wolfgang Graf Tom Jeffrey Astrid Brennan, Mixed at ................................. United Sound Director ...........................Michael Caulfield Brenda McKie, Laboratory ............................................. VFL Scriptwriters .......................Michael Cove, Paul Maron Length ...............................................90 mins Tom Jeffrey

Based on the novel by ___John Embling Camera operator ................."Race" Gailey Chris Hession Director of Focus p u lle r..........................Paul Giasetti Still photography....................... David Miller photography ........................ John Seale Title d esig n er.............. Optical & Graphics Key g r ip ................................Nick Reynolds Sound recordist ..................... Tim Lloyd 2nd unit photography ......... “ Race” Gailey Dog w ra n g le r........................ Evanne Harris Editor ...................................Ron Williams Camera g a ffe r ........................Conrad Slack G a ffe r..................................................... PeterGailey Exec, producer .................. Phillip Adams R unner....................................... Alex Poliak Boom operator ...............Chris Goldsmith Prod.

P u b licity.................................Liz Johnston Art d ire c to r....................... Melody Cooper co-ordinator ., .Carolynne Cunningham C atering................................Kaos Katering Asst, art d ire cto rs............Steven Teather, Prod, manager ...................Su Armstrong Mixed at ................................United Sound Christine Flin, Location m anager.................................TonyWinley Laboratory ............................................Atlab David McKay Producers’ secretary ......... Mary Williams Lab lia is o n ........................ Greg Dougherty Make-up ................................ Karla O’Keefe Prod, accountant .. Moneypenny Services B u d g e t.............................................$610,000 Asst, e d ito r...............................................GaiSteele (Craig Scott) Length .............................................92 mins Sound editors ......................... Paul Healey, 1st asst director ...............Steve Andrews Gauge ................................................. 35mm Ashley Grenville 2nd asst director ............. Chris Maudson Shooting s to c k .............5247 Eastmancolor Mixer ...................................... Peter Fenton 3rd asst director ..................... Phil Rich Ektachrome Stunts co-ordinator ........... Frank Lennon Continuity ...................... Caroline Stanton Scheduled release ......... December. 1981 Fights co-ordinator.................... David Brax Casting consultant ............. Helen Rolland (Japan) S tu n ts................................Reece Robinson, (HR consultant) Cast: Chard Hayward (Gordon Mason), Ian Lind Extras casting .......................... Dina Mann Louise Howitt (Jenny Nolan). Deborah Still photography......... Robert McFarlane, Focus puller ...............Richard Merryman Coulls (Marie Colbey). Les Foxcroft (Billy “ Race” Gailey Clapper/loader ...................... Derry Field Shepherd). Roger Ward (Officer Clyde ColR unner................................Greg Stephens Key grip ............................Paul Thompson lings). Jam es E llio tt (P atrolm an Rex C atering...............................Merle Keenan, Asst grip .........................Brendon Shanley Dunbar).

Donna Sims Gaffer .......................................Reg Garside Synopsis: A young woman, looking after Mixed at ............... -............... United Sound Boom operator .................Jack Friedman her sister's.house while she is away on loca­ Laboratory ............................................Atlab Art director ...............Christopher Webster Length .............................................. 90 mins tion is unaware that her sister and the care­ Make-up ......................................Jill Porter Shooting sto c k ........................Eastmancolor taker have been murdered. The murderer Wardrobe .................Robyn Schuurmans returns to kill the woman, and so begins a Scheduled release ..................... June 1982 Ward, assistant ...................... Jenny Miles battle of wits.

Cast: Tracey Mann (Karli), David Argue Props buyer .................... Michael Tolerton (Gregg, Trixie, the Hood, the Sprooker), Standby props .......................Colin Gibson Verra Plevnik (Jane), Moira Maclaine-Cross Set construction .....................Hans Theile LONELY HEARTS (Ellen), Julie Barry (Jackie), Esben Storm Asst editor ......................Cathy Sheehan (Michael), Ian Gilmour (Shadow), Henk Prod, company ...................Adams Packer Neg. matching ...............Margaret Cardin Johannes (Ian), Mercia Dean-Johns (Ned), Stunts co-ordinator .............. Heath Harris Ian Nimmo (John).

Film Prods P ro d u c e r............................. John B. Murray Action vehicle Synopsis: “The iron tongue of midnight D ire c to r......................................... Paul Cox manager ..........................Barry Bransen hath toll’d twelve. Lovers, to bed; ’tis almost S criptw riters.......................... John Clarke, Still photography ...................Jim Townley fairy time, I fear we shall outsleep the Paul Cox Actors tutor .......................... Wilfred Flint coming morn As much as we have this night Based on the original Mechanic ...............................Dave Thomas o’er watched. This palpable gross play hath idea by ..................................... Paul Cox Best boy ............................Sam Bienstock well beguiled The heavy gate of night.

Photography............................................ YuriSokol Runner ..............................Richard Ussher Sweet friends, to bed."

Sound recordist ................. Ken Hammond Publicity ................................. David White E d ito r........................................................TimLewis (Brooks White Organization) Prod, designer.........................................NeilAngwin Catering ................................ Nene Morgan, GOODBYE PARADISE C om poser.............................. Norman Kaye Christina Norman Exec, producer .................... Phillip Adams Prod, c o m p a n y ......... Petersham Pictures Studios .....................John Morten Studios Assoc, producer ....................... Erwin Rado Mixed at ............................... United Sound Pty Ltd P ro du ce r..................................... Jane Scott Asst producer .....................Fran Haarsma Laboratory ..................................Colorfilm Prod, manager ................. Jane Ballantyne Lab. liaison ................................ Bill Gooley Director ................................... Carl Schultz Prod, accountant ......... Natalie Hammond S criptw riters............................... Bob Ellis, Length ......................................... 100 mins 1st Asst d ire c to r.................Bernard EddyDenny Lawrence Gauge ...............................................35mm Based on original idea Continuity ............................Joanna Weeks Shooting stock ........... Eastmancolor 5247 by ..................................Denny Lawrence Camera operator ...............Barry Malseed Cast: Lewis Fitz-Gerald (John), Paul Smith Goodbye Paradise Focus p u lle r........................ Nino Martinetti (Tom), Kris McQuade (Tom's mum), Caro­ Sound recordist ............. Syd Butterworth Clapper/loader ...........................Chris Cain line Gillmer (Rosemary), Catherine Wilkin E d ito r..................... Richard Francis-Bruce Key grip ................................. David Cassar (Mary), Ben Gabriel (Moreland), Wyn Prod, designer.......................George Liddle C om poser................................... Peter Best G a ffe r...................................... John Engeler complex. She knew her life was a great pre­ Jones), Ted Hepple (Sam), Danny Adcock Roberts (Payne).

Prod, co-ordinator ........... .. .Fiona Gosse Boom operator ........................Grant Stuart destined adventure, and, if it ended like (Thomas), John Ewart (The Train Driver).

Synopsis: A remarkable relationship be­ Make-up ..................................Viv Mepham Bonnie and Clyde, so be it. It was for girls Synopsis: A period comedy drama set in tween a young teacher and a deeply- Prod, manager ..................... Jill Nicholas Transport/ H airdresser...............................Viv Mepham like this that old tools like Agamemnon died disturbed 13 year-old boy. Tom is written Sydney about two crime queens, Kitty Unit m anager.................................. PeterLawlessAgamemnon and Mike Stacey. Ex­ O'Rourke and Big Lil Delaney. Together, Wardrobe ............................ Frankie Hogan off as a delinquent by most adults until Prod, secretary ......................Lyn Galbraith Deputy Police Com m issioner.

Michael Props b u y e r...........................

Phillip Eagles John, the teacher, fights against all odds to these two remarkable women ruled the Stacey OBE. Financial co n tro lle r.............Richard Harper Asst editor ............................ Peter McBain straighten out his life. underworld of sly-grog shops, gambling Prod, accountant ................... Karen Volich Neg. m a tch in g .................

Margaret Cardin houses, prostitution and hold-up merchants Music recording ......... Alan Eaton Sound Location m anager..................Janene Knight in the rip-roaring 1920s, playing, laughing KITTY AND THE BAGMAN 1st asst director ................Neill Vine-Miller Sound editor ...................... Peter Burgess GINGER MEGGS and fighting with a gusto the city has never 2nd asst d ire cto r.................................. PeterWillesee Asst sound e d ito r........... Chris Ratnarajan Prod, company . .. Forest Home Films for known since.

Prod, company ....................... John Sexton 3rd asst d ire c to r.................................. PeterKearney Mixer ..................................... Peter Fenton Adams Packer Film Prods.

Productions Continuity ! ..................................Pam Willis Still photography...................Robert Colvin P ro d u c e r......................... Anthony Buckley P roducer................................................John Sexton Casting................................... Michael Lynch Title d esig n er....................................Al Et Al D ire c to r........................... Donald Crombie LADY, STAY DEAD D ire c to r....................Jonathan Dawson Casting consultants .. Forcast Consultants Best boy ........................ Michael Madigan S criptw riters....................Phillip Cornford, Scriptwriter ........................Michael Latimer Camera operator ......... Danny Batterham R unner..................................... Tom Bacskai John Burnie Prod, c o m p a n y .......

Ryntare Productions Based on the cartoon b y .......Jim Bancks Focus p u lle r............................ Steve Mason C atering................................................. KerryByrne Director of pho tog ra ph y.......Dean Semler P ro d u c e r............................................... TerryBourke Photography .............................. John Seale Clapper/loader .................... Russell Bacon Sound transfers....................... Gary Wilkins Sound recordist .....................John Phillips Director ................................... Terry Bourke Sound recordist...................................... TimLloyd Key g rip ..............................Paul Thompson Post-production facilities ___The Joinery E d ito r............................... Timothy Wellburn S criptw rite r............................................TerryBourke Editor .........................................Philip Howe Asst grip ........................ Brendan Shanley Mixed at .................United Sound Studios Prod, designer..................................... OwenWilliams Based on the original idea Prod, d esig n er.................. Larry Eastwood 2nd unit photography ............. Jan Kenny, Laboratory .....................................Colorfilm Exec, producer ..................... Phillip Adams by ....................................... Terry Bourke Composers............................... John Stuart, Lab. lia is o n ............................................... BillGooley Frank Hammond Assoc, p ro d u c e r......... Jacqueline Ireland Photography.......................... Ray Henman Kim Thraves G a ffe r............................Graham Rutherford Length .............................................. 95 mins Prod, m anaaer........................ Lynn Gailey Sound recordist ................... Bob Clayton Prod, manager..........................................JillNicolas Boom operator ..........................Noel Quinn Gauge ................................................. 35mm Prod, secretary ...............Antonia Barnard E d ito r.......................................................

Ron Williams Asst d ire c to r........................ James Parker Art d ire c to r............................................ John Carroll Shooting s to c k ........................Eastmancolor Prod, accountant ......... Howard Wheatley C om poser..................................Bob Young Costume desig n ers.......Miranda Skinner, Art dept, c le r k .................. Geraldine Royds Cast: Wendy Hughes (Patricia), Norman 1st asst director ............... Stuart Freeman Exec, producer ........... Alexander Hopkins Larry Eastwood Make-up .................Lesley Lamont-Fisher Kaye (Peter), Jon Finlayson (George), Julia 2nd asst d ire c to r.................................. ColinFletcher Assoc, producers .................John Hipwell, Make-up ................................Michelle Lowe Hairdresser.......................................... JennyBrown Blake (Pamela), Jonathon Hardy (Bruce).

3rd asst d ire c to r......................Chris Short Eric Cook Hairdresser ..............................Gail Bunter Wardrobe ....................................Kate Duffy Synopsis: A tragi-comic love story about Continuity ..................................... Jo Weeks Prod, su p e rviso r...................................JohnHipwell W a rd rob e ...............................................KerriBarnett Ward, assistant ...............Lesley McLennan Peter Thompson, a middle-aged bachelor, C asting................................Mitch Matthews Prod, secretary ........................ Pam Brown Sound e d ito r.............................. Vikki Gates Props assistant ............................. Igor Nay and P a tricia C urnow, a 3 0-ye a r-o ld Camera operator ......... Danny Batterham Prod, accountant .......................

Ross Lane Stunts co -o rd in a to r............................... BobHicks Props b u y e r..................................Ian Allen spinster.

Focus p u lle r...........................Steve Dobson Prod, assistant...............Mary-Anne Halpin Title d e sig n e r...................... Carol Russom Standby p ro p s ........................................ IgorLazareff Clapper/loader . . . . . . . . . Andrew McLean 1st asst director ................. Eddie Prylinski Lab o ra to ry......................................Colorfilm Special e ffe c ts ...................................... Chris Murray Key g r ip .......................... Merv McLaughlin 2nd asst d ire c to r............. David Trethewey Length .............................................95 mins Special effects assistant . . . . David Hardie Asst grip/s ................................. Pat Nash, Continuity .............................. June Henman MiDNITE SPARES Gauge...................................................35mm Choreography .....................Ross Coleman Brian Edmonds Casting..................................................... EricCook Shooting s to c k ....................... Eastmancolor Scenic a rtis t............................................ NedMcCann G a ffe r..................................................... John Morton Prod, company ...................... Wednesday Casting consultants .....................Eric Cook Cast: Gary McDonald (Mr Meggs), Coral Carpenter ............................. Robin Warner E lectrician............................................ Jason Rogers Investments, Management Kelly (Mrs Meggs), Paul Daniel (Ginger Set construction manager . Denis Donelly A Filmco Presentation Boom operator .........................Ray Phillips Lighting cameraman ........... Ray Henman Meggs), Ross Higgins (Floggswell), Hugh Asst editor ................................ Mark Darcy Producer ................................Tom Burstall Art d ire c to r............................................ JohnCarroll Camera operator ......... .......Ray Henman Keays-Byrne (Capt. Hook), Gwen Plumb, Sound editor .................... Andrew Stewart Director .......................... Quentin Masters Asst art director ...................Judith Russell Focus p u lle r..........................................PeterRogers Harold Hopkins, Terry Camilleri, John Editing assistant ............. Ashley Grenville Scriptwriter .............................Terry Larsen Costume designer ........... Judith Dorsman Clapper/loader .................Robert Marriott Wood, Marie Loud.

Stunts co-ordinator ...............Dennis Hunt Photography ...........................Geoff Burton Make-up .................Lesley Lamont-Fisher Camera assistant .................. Peter Rogers Synopsis: All the famous characters from Stuntm en................................... Vic Wilson, Sound recordist ................. Lloyd Carrick H airdresser...............................Willi Kenrick Key g r ip ................................................. PeterMardell, the comic strip come to life. Ginger tries to Mike Read, Editor ................................. Andrew Prowse Ward, assistan ts.....................................

Lyn Askew, Film Unit prove his affections for Minnie Peters, but Ian Lind, Prod, designer ................... George Liddle Kerri Barnett Asst grip ............................Michael'Nelson his plans don’t always work out. Eddie Dog h a n d le r............................Dennis Hunt Composer ...........................Cameron Allen Props b u y e rs .............

Stephen Amezdroz, G a ffe r................................ Chick McDonald Coogan, his rival, has other ideas and, of Still photography.................... Jim Townley Exec, producer ............... John Fitzpatrick Billy Allen, Electrician o n e .................... Alleyn Mearns course, there’s Tiger Kelly to contend with.

Best boys ............................Jack Kendrick, Prod, co-ordinator ........... Cathy Flannery Sue Hoyle Electricians tw o ...................................... BudHowell, Alan Glossop Standby p ro p s .......................... Paul Jones Douglas Wood Composer ...........................Cameron Allen R unner...................................................MerylCronin Special e ffe c ts ....... Almax Special Effects Boom operator .......................... Keir Welch Prod, manager ........................ Jenny Day GOING DOWN P ublicity......... Brooks White Organization Choreography .....................Anne Semmler Art d ire c to r..................................... Bob Hill Unit manager .........................John Warren Unit publicist .......................... David White Scenic a rtis ts .......................................... NedMcCann, Prod, company ..............................X-Prods Financial controller ......... Richard Harper Make-up ................................Sally Gordon C atering.................................. John Faithfull Joyce MacFarlane Hairdresser........................ Jan Zeigenbein P ro du ce r............................... Hadyn Keenan Prod, accountant ..................Karen Volich S tudios............................................. Artransa Carpenters ............................. Len Metcalfe, Wardrobe .......................... Catriona Brown D ire c to r................................. Hadyn Keenan 1st asst director .......Derek Seabourne Mixed at ................................ United Sound S criptw riters.......................................... Julie Barry, Hannes Finger Props b u y e r....................... Sandy Wingrove 2nd Asst director ............. Peter Willesee Laboratory ................................... Colorfilm Set construction .................Richard Weight Standby p ro p s .................................... BevanChilds, Moira Maclaine-Cross, 3rd Asst director ........................ Ian Kenny Lab. lia iso n ................................................BillGooley Melissa Woods Asst editor ...................Annabelle Sheehan Nick McCallum Continuity .................................Ann Walton B u d g e t.....................................................$1.8million Photography.................................... Malcolm Richards Neg. m a tch in g .................. Margaret Cardin Special e ffe c ts ....................Reece Robinson Producer's assistant .. . Margaret Roberts Length ........................................... 110 mins Sound recordist ...................Lloyd Carrick Still photography............................... PatrickRiviere 1st asst editor ........... Antoinette Wheatley Director’s assistant ......... Mardi Kennedy Gauge ................................................. 35mm Additional recordist ............... Peter Barker Best boy ................................... Ian Plumber 2nd asst editor ...................Moira McLaine Casting consultants ......... Michael Lynch, Shooting stock .. Eastman Color Negative R unner............................. Annie Peacock Neg. m a tch in g .......................Gordon Poole E d ito r...................................................... PaulHealey Rae Davidson Scheduled release ...................... Mid 1982 Publicity . . : ......................

Rea Francis Musical director ........................ Bob Young Focus puller .....................David Foreman Assoc, p ro d u c e r...................... Julie Barry Laboratory ................................. Colorfilm Cast: Ray Barrett (Stacey), Robyn Nevin Prod, manager ....... Mitou Pajaczkowska Music performed by .................Bob Young Clapper/loader ..................... Gillian Leahy (Kate). Janet Scrivener (Cathy McCredie), Lab. lia is o n ............................................... BillGooley Location manager................. Julian Russell Orchestra Key grip .................................Lester Bishop Kate Fitzpatrick (Mrs M cCredie), Lex Prod, secretary ...........................Gai Steele Progress ....................................Production Asst grip ............................Nick Reynolds Sound editor ........................ Paul Maxwell Marinos (Con). John Clayton (Bill Todd), 2nd unit photography -----Bill Grimmond Prod, accountant ......... Andrew Snedden Cast: Liddy Clark (Kitty O’Rourke), Val Editing assistants ...................Peter Foster Guy Doleman (Q uiney), Paul Chubb 1st asst, d ire c to r..................... Peta Lawson Lehman (Lil Delaney), John Stanton (The Mixer ..................................... Peter Fenton Gaffer ........................ Graham Rutherford 2nd asst, d ire c to r................................ Chris Maudson (Curly).

Bagman), Gerard McGuire (Cyril Vikkers), Stunts co-ordinator ........... Frank Lennon Electrician ................................ Mark Verde Synopsis: She was all any old fool could ask C asting..................................................... TimBurns, Collette Mann (Doris de Salle), Reg Evans S tu n ts......................................... Grant Page, Boom operator ...................Toivo Lember Ian Gilmour for—a beautiful masochist with an Electra (Chicka Delaney), Kylie Foster (Sarah Dee Jones, Art dept co-ordinator ....... Janene Knight

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Asst art director ......... Richard Houghton Make-up ................................ Carol Devine Wardrobe ....................... Ruth de la Lande Ward, assistant .....................Kathy James Props buyers ..................... David Bowden, Geraldine Royds Standby props ...................Nick McCallum Special effects ................... Alan Maxwell, Peter Evans Choreography ................. Elizabeth Burton Carpenter ............................ Robin Warner Set construction .................. Denis Donelly Asst editor .......................... Robert Grant Dubbing editor .......................... Greg Bell Asst dubbing editor .............. Helen Brown Stunts co-ordinator .................. Vic Wilson Still photography ......... Geoff McGeachin Dialogue consultant ........... Jack Rozycki Mechanic ............................ David Thomas Best boy .............................. Alan Glossop Runners ..................................Janet Mclver, Paul Arnott Publicity ......... Brooks White Organization Catering .................................. Mark Neylon, Robyn Hartigan Mixed at ............................... United Sound Laboratory ....................................Colorfilm Lab. liaison .................................Bill Gooley Budget .........................................$2,583,924 Length ......................................... 100 mins Gauge ................................................ 35mm Cast: James Laurie (Steve), Gia Carides (Ruth), Max Cullen (Tomas), Bruce Spence (Wimpy), David Argue (Rabbit), Tony Barry (Howard), John Clayton (Vincent), Graeme Blundell (Sidebottom), Jonathan Coleman (Wayne), John Godden (Chris the Rat).

Synopsis: The story of young people, their Sunshine City car 'culture', the motor speedway and the criminal world of car-part stealing.

Assoc, p ro d u c e r.................. Russell Hurley Producer ..............................Henri Safran, Composer ........................... Bruce Rowland Composer ................................Laurie Lewis Prod, co-ordinator ................. Peter Abbott Basil Appleby Assoc, p ro d u c e r......................Rea Francis Prod, co-ordinator ......................Catherine Prod, manager ........Christopher Gardiner D ire c to r......................................Henri Safran Prod, c o -o rd in a to r..............Lyn Galbraith Phillips Knapman Prod, secretary ............... Wendy Chapman S criptw rite r................................ Henri Safran Prod, m anager.................... Carol Williams Prod, manager .......................... Irene Korol Prod, assistant.......................................SeanMcLoury Based on the Unit m a na g e r.........................................TomBlackett Unit/location manager ..........Roger Wylie 1st asst director , . . .Christopher Gardiner original idea b y .....................Henri Safran Prod, accountant ..........Spyros Sideratos Prod, accountant ..........Graeme Dowsett 2nd asst d ire cto r....................................PaulCallaghan Photography.......................... Vince Monton Asst accountant................................. Connie Dellios 1st asst director .................Martin Cohen Continuity ......................... Catherine Sauter Sound recordist .................... Ross Linton 2nd asst director ....................John Rooke 1st asst director ................ Stuart Freeman Casting.......................... Mitch Consultancy E d ito r....................................................... DonSaunders Continuity .............................. Sian Hughes :2nd asst dire cto r.................................. Chris Short Camera assistant ....................Keith Bryant Prod, designer......................... Darrell Lass 3rd asst d ire c to r............... Bob Donaldson Casting ................................... Felippa Pate Key grip ..........................Merv McLaughlin C om p o se r.............................................. MikePerjanik Camera operator ........ David Williamson C on tin u ity............................ Shirley Ballard 2nd unit photography ...............Phil Dority, Exec, producer ...................... Max Weston Focus puller .......................Jeremy Robins Producer's assistants........ Maggie Scully, Garry Maunder Prod, s u p e rv is o r................................... BasilAppleby Clapper/loader ......................Tracy Kubler Neil Green G a ffe r.............................................. Ray Ang Prod, c o -o rd in a to r.................. Susan Wild Key grip .............................Graeme Mardell Casting consultants..................... ..Forcast Boom operator ...................... Jan McHarg Unit m anager........................... Kim Anning Asst grip ................................Garry Carden Extras casting....................Miriam Freeman Art d ire c to r............................. Jakob Horvat Prod, secretary ...........Suzanne Donnolley Addn unit Camera operator ..........Danny Batterham Wardrobe ...............................Fiona Spence Prod, accountant . Moneypenny Services, Focus puller ........................ Andrew Lesnie cameraman ............. Matthew Flanagan P ro p s ................................... Brian Edmonds Alan Marco C lapper/loader.................... Robyn Petersen Gaffer ....................................... Alan Walker Asst editor ......................Mickey O’Sullivan 1st Asst d ire c to r................................. SteveConnard Asst electrician ...................... Alan Walker Key g rip ............................ Merv McLaughlin Neg. m a tch in g ...........................Chris Rowell 2nd Asst director ........................ Ian Page Boom operator ................. Andrew Duncan G r ip .............................................. Pat Nash Still photography.................. Fiona Spence, 3rd Asst d ire c to r.................... Mark Thomas Asst g r ip .................................................. EricPressley Make-up .......................... Rina Hoffmanis _ GarryMaunder Continuity ..........................Therese O’Leary G a ffe r.......................................................RobYoung Wardrobe ...................................Liz Keogh P ublicity........... ............. Wendy Chambers Casting...................................................MitchMatthews Props buyer ..........................Jamie Mirams Best boy ..............................Colin Williams Laboratory .............. Cine Film Laboratory Lighting cameraman ........... Vince -Monton Electrician................................................GuyHancock Standby props ..........................Jon Fabian Lab. lia is o n ............................................... CalGardiner Camera operator ...................Nixon Binny Transport manager ................. Tim Sayers Boom operator................................. GrahamMcKinney Length ............................................ 85 mins Focus p u lle r............................................ KimBatterham Editing assistant ................. Christine Spry Make-up .................................. Sally Gordon Gauge ..................................................16mm Clapper/loader ................. Robyn Petersen Stunts co-ordinator ................. Grant Page Hairdresser ......................... Jan Zeigenbein Shooting sto c k ...................... Eastmancolor Key g r ip ................................... Greg Wallace Tutor ................................Victor McKeown a rd ro b e ......................... Rene & Rochford Cast: Aileen Britton (Miss Markham), Henri Asst grip/s ............................. Phil Shapeira W Animal handler ......

Bernadette Hamilton Standby w a rd ro b e .................................. LynAskew G a ffe r..................................................... MilesMoulson Szeps (Mr W ilberforce), John Cobley Helicopter pilot ....................Alan Edwards Seamstress ..............................Amber Rose Generator_operator ............... D[ck Oldfield Props buyers/dressers ..Sandy Wingrove, (Morris), Ray Meagher (Stakovich), Simone Best boy ...............................Alleyn Mearns Buchanan (Kate), Scott Nicholas (Ben), Boom operator ...........Graham McKinney Runners ...................................... Ric Bower, Ken McCann, Art d ire c to r..............................Darrell Lass Jeremy Shadlow (Spider), Robert Geammel Monica Pellizzari Jock McLaughlan (Rocco), Tony Lee (Ah Leong).

Make-up ..............................Tricia Cunllffe Unit publicist ......................... Felippa Pate Standby p ro p s .............................Alan Ford H airdresser....................... Jan Zeigenbeim Synopsis: When three children cross the Catering ............. Take One Film Catering Scenic artist ........................... Ned McCann harbor to explore Castle House — a Wardrobe ........................ Jenny Campbell (Anne Harris) Set construction ................... Digby Stewart Ward, a ssistan ts..................Helen Hooper, strange, unoccupied mansion — they en­ Laboratory ...................................Colorfilm Editing assistants.......Louise B. Johnson, counter sinister baddies, a kidnapping and _ CheynePhillips Cast: Paul Winfield, Rod Taylor, Beau Cox, Andrew Plain P ro p s ..................................................... John Daniell, a hilarious, eccentric lady. Excitement, Ray Meagher.

Supervising sound Tony Hunt mystery and non-stop action and roll-lne d ito r..............................Bruce Lamshed Props b u y e r........................................MartinO’Neill the-aisle comedy for children.

Sound e dito rs....................................... PeterBurgess, Set deco ra to r......................................MartinO’Neill Glen Martin THE PIRATE MOVIE Set construction ............. Stan Wolveridge Asst sound edito rs................ Craig Carter, NEXT OF KIN Asst editor ...................................Ian Munro MOVING OUT Tim Chau Prod, company ...............JHI Productions Sound editor ............................... Ian Munro Still photography................................PatrickRiviere Prod, companies.............The Film House, Producer ............................... David Joseph P ro d u ce rs........................ Jane Ballantyne, Editing assistants ...................Diana Priest, Dialogue coach ....................... Alice Spivak S.I.S. Productions Director ...................................Ken Annakin Michael Pattinson Marianne Rodwell Catering................................................. KaosKatering Dist. company ....................................Filmco Scriptwriter ........................ Trevor Farrant D ire c to r............................................. MichaelPattinson Mixer ...................................... United Sound P roducer.................................Robert Le Tet Photography ...................... Robin Copping NSWFC continuity S c rip tw rite r...............................................JanSardi Still photography..................... Chic Stringer D ire c to r..................................

Tony Williams attachment ...............................Liz Barton Sound recordist ........................Paul Clark Based on the original O p tic a ls ...........................................Colorfilm Production runner ................ Jenny Sharp Prod, designer .....................Jon Dowding idea by .......................................... Jar Sardi Scriptwriters ....................... Michael Heath, Best boy ..............................Richard Curtis Tony Williams Composer ..............................Terry Britten Art department ru nn e r............Steve Volich P hotography...................... Vincent Monton R unners....................

Geraldine Catchpool, Based on the original idea Exec, producer ...................Ted Hamilton Unit runner.........................................

Murray Francis Sound recordist .......................Geoff White Julie Plummer b y ............Timothy White, Michael Heath Assoc, producer ........... David Anderson Unit p ublicist............................ Annie Page E d ito r...................................................RobertMartin P ublicity....................................................ReaFrancis Photography..........................................Gary Hansen Prod, executive ...................Richard Davis 2nd unit cameraman........

Ross Berryman Prod, d esig n er.........................................NeilAngwin C atering.................................Lisa Hennessy Sound recordist..................................... GaryWilkins Prod, co-ordinator ........... Renate Wilson C om posers......................................Umberto Tozzi, Mixed at ................................ United Sound Nurse ......................................... Chris Cole Editor .........................................

Max Lemon Prod, secretary ....................Anne O'Leary Danny Beckerman Laboratory .....................................Colorfilm C arpenters.............................................SeanKillen, Prod, manager ...................... Tom Binns Carsten Schimonovski Assoc, producer .....................Julie Monton C o-p ro d uce r.........................Timothy White Lab. liaison ................................ Bill Gooley Prod, su pe rviso r......

Michael Lake Location manager .................Helen Watts Song ‘Now and Forever’ Prod, consultant ...............Rosa Colosimo Length ...........................................98 mins Prod, accountant ....... G&S Management composed b y ................. Graham Russell Prod, secretary .................... Beverley Frost Prod, co -o rd in a to r............................... TrishFoleyGauge ................................................35mm Unit manager .....................Marcus Skipper Services Performed b y ........................................ AirSupply Prod, accountant ......... Natalie Hammond Shooting stock ...................... Eastmancolor Prod, accountant ...................Wendy Miller Accounts assistant ...................Peter Dons 1st asst, d ire c to r................................RobertKewley Cast: Carol Kane (Rose), Warren Mitchell Mixed at ........... Goldwyn Sound Facilities 1st asst director ............Philip Hearnshaw Prod, assistant ............... Michael McIntyre Lab o ra to ry.....................................Colorfilm 2nd asst, d ire c to r..................................AlanMackenzie (Morris), Myra De Groot (Mother), Tony Asst d ire cto rs.........................................Paul Healey, 1st asst director .................Murray Newey Lab. liaison .................................Bill Gooley 3rd asst, director ....................... Ian Fowler Owen (Norman), David Downer (Michael), Tony McDonald 2nd asst director ...............Andrew Morse Continuity ......................... Catherine Sauter B a rry O tto (C h a rle s ), S a n d y G ore Neg. matching .................. Margaret Cardin C on tin u ity..............................................

Anne McCleod 3rd asst director ...............Murray Francis Focus p u lle r....................................... RobertMurray Length ........................................... 102 mins (Maureen), Virginia Hey (Girlfrield).

Casting............................

Mitch Consultancy Continuity .......................... Jenny Quigley Clapper/loader ...............Christopher Cain S y n o p s is : N o rm a n is a s e n s itiv e , Cast: Cheryl Ladd (Jessie Clarke), Robert Steadicam ope ra to r...............Toby Phillips Producer’s secretary .. Ginny Muldowney Key g r ip ..................................................GregWallace precocious 13 year-old preparing for his Coleby (Ian Clarke), Carmen Duncan Camera operator .................. Gary Hansen Casting ................................Helen Rowland Asst, g r ip ......................................... MichaelMadigan Bar Mltzvah.

Sister-In-Law Rose, the object (Astrid Bonner), Christine Amor (Margaret Focus puller ...........................Phillip Cross Camera operator ..................... David Burr G a ffe r...................................................TrevorToune of his passion, becomes pregnant to the Burton), Aileen Britton (Bethanie), Kris Focus puller ...................... Barry Halloran Boom operator ....................... Grant Stuart ■Clapper/loader................ John Jasiukowicz great surprise of husband Michael (for McQuade (Spencer), John Allen (Martin Key g rip ...................................................Noel McDonald Clapper/loader .................... Ben Seresin Costume designer .............. Frankie Hogan years unable to satisfy her desire for Harrington), Tim Burns (Kent), Henri Szeps Asst g r ip .............................Wayne Marshall Key grip .......................................... Ian Park M a k e -u p /h a ir........... Amanda Rowbottom children), to the delight of parents-in-law (York).

2nd unit photography........... Toby Phillips Asst grips ..............................Kerry Boyle, Stand-by wardrobe ........... Frankie Hogan who at last can bask in the m any Synopsis: The story of a stylish Sydney G a ffe r..........................................Mick Morris Richard Tummel, Props buyer ............................. Harry Zettel exclamations of “ Mazeltovl", but Norman’s boutique owner and her husband, a Gen. op...................................Gary Plunkett Jaime Lechie Stand-by p ro p s ...................... Harry Zettel response raises a preposterous question — promising writer who has not as yet Boom operator...................................... MarkWasiutak Gaffer ..................................Stewart Sorby Set fin is h e r........................ Nick Hepworth who is the father? achieved financial success. On the surface, Art directors ......................Richard Francis, Electricians ....................

David Parkinson, Carpenters ..................................Baz Props, they appear to have a perfect relationship.

Nick Hepworth Geoff Main, Dennis Lee However, their marriage is shattered when NOW AND FOREVER M a ke -u p ......................................... ElizabethFardon Phil Golomdick, Set construction he is accused of rape after a casual indis­ Special prosthetic Tex Foote manager ..........................Ken Hazelwood cretion one afternoon with another woman.

Prod, company ............. Now and Forever m ake-up............................ Bob McCarron Playback operator .................Greg Steele Asst, e d ito rs ..........................................Craig Carter, Their relationship disintegrates as they Film Partnership Hairdresser ....................... Suzie Clements Boom operator .............

Chris Goldsmith struggle to prove, and for her to continue to Mark Atkin Producers............................ Treisha Ghent, W a rd ro b e ................................. Jenny Arnott Art directors ........................ Tony Wollard, believe in, his innocence.

Sound editor .......................... Martin Jeffs Carnegie Fleldhouse Ward, assistant ..........................Gail Mayes Nic Hepworth Mixer .............................. Julian Ellingworth D ire c to r.....................................Adrian Carr Props buyer........................................HarveyMawson Art dept manager ...................David Searl Still photography...................................SuzyWood Additional material directed Standby p ro p s ...................................... John Powditch Costume designer . . .Aphrodite Dowding ON THE RUN T itle s ................................Optical & Graphic b y ...................................Richard Cassidy Special e ffe c ts .......................Chris Murray Make-up ............................. Lois Hohenfels Dialogue c o a c h .................................... PeterSardi Scriptwriter ..................... Richard Cassidy Prod, company .................. Pigelu Pty Ltd Special effects Make-up assistants ..............

Patty Payne, Best boy ............................ Werner Gerlach Based on the novel Producer ..............................Mende Brown assistant................................ David Hardie Nick Doming, C atering............................................Chavelle Exquisite b y ...................................... Danielle Steel Director ............................... Mende Brown Set deco ra to rs...................................HarveyMawson, Robyn Pickering S tudios........................................Soundstage Fitzroy Photography .........................Don McAlpine Scriptwriters .................... Mende Brown, Ken Hazelwood Hairdresser ................................Joan Petch Mixed at ...............................................Atlab Supervising sound Michael Fisher Asst hairdressers ..................Kerrie Davis, Construction m a na g e r..........Ray Pattison Laboratory ........................................... Atlab re cord ist.......................... Kevin Kearney Photography ......................... Paul Onorato Asst Amanda Rowbottom Lab. lia is o n ............................................ GregDougherty Sound recordist..................... John Franks Sound recordist .................Ken Hammond . construction manager . Danny Corcoran Wardrobe ................................Pam Maling Length .............................................. 91 mins Supervising editor .................Adrian Carr Editor ................................Richard Hindley Construction services...... Domenic Villella Standby wardrobe .................David Rowe Cast: Vince Colosimo (Gino), Kate Jason Art directors .................. Rene & Rochford Art director ...........................Richard Kent Asst e d ito r..............................Ken Sallows Ward, buyer ..............................Viv Wilson (Mrs Condello), Peter Sardi (Lino Condello), Neg m atching..................................Filmsync Standby props .......................... Barry Hall Sylvie Fonti (Mrs Simonelli), Luciano Sound e dito rs..................................... LouiseJohnson, Special effects .....................R. J. Hohman, Catenacci (Mr Simonelli), Brian James (Mr Frank Lipson John Egget, Aitken), Ivar Kants (Mr Clarke), Sandy Gore Dubbing assistant..................................RossChambers Conrad Rothman (Miss Stanislaus), Sally Cooper (Sandy), M ixer................................Julian Ellingworth Special effects asst ................. Rick Clise Maurice de Vincetis (Renato).

Fight co-ordinator................ Gus Mercurio Choreography ........................David Atkins Synopsis: Two turbulent adolescent weeks S tu n ts ...................................................... PaulAlexander, Asst choreography ....... Camille Edwards in the life of a teenage migrant Italian boy Archie Roberts, Set dresser ..................................Jill Eden living in Melbourne’s inner suburbs. For this Matt Burns Scenic artist ........................ Billy Malcolm fortnight two fam ilies live in the one Still photography....................... Suzy Wood Carpenters ..............................Dennis Lee, crowded terrace: the recently arrived family Title designer .................................Alex Stitt Alan Fleming, from Italy who will take over the house, the Best boy ............................... Alan Glossop Rory Forest, current family who are preparing to leave.

C atering.................................. Helen Wright llmar Kgruso, Gino must come to terms with giving up his S tudios....................... Cambridge, York St. Hodges & Richter hard-won Inner city life, accept his Italian Construction managers ......... Phil Worth, Mixed at ................................................Atlab background, and start a new kind of life, Laboratory ...............................................VFL Ken Hazelwood hopefully one more step towards maturity.

Ships liaison officers ......... Ian Goddard, Length .............................................. 95 mins Gauge................................................... 35mm1.66 Gordon Kirby Musical arrangers ............... Peter Sullivan, Shooting s to c k ....................... Eastmancolor MYSTERY AT CASTLE HOUSE Roger Savich Cast: Jackie Kerin (Linda Stevens), John Dubbing editor ...................Terry Rodman J a rra tt (B a rn e y), C h a rle s M cC allum Prod, company .......................Independent Stunts co-ordinator ...............Grant Page (Lance), Gerda Nlcolson (Connie), Alex Productions Fencing instructor ...............John Fethers Scott (Dr Barton), Bernadette Gibson (Mrs P ro d u ce r.......................... Brendon Lunney Still photography .................... Barry Peake Ryan), Robert Ratti (Kelvin), Vince Deltito Director ................................ Peter Maxwell Best boy ..............................Peter Moloney (Nico), Debra Lawrence (Carol), Tommy S criptw rite rs.........................Stuart Glover, Best boy (2) .........................Colin Williams Dysart (Harry).

Michael Hohensee Runner .......................... Keith Hanscombe Based on the original idea Publicity .................................... David White b y ............................................Geoff Beak (Brooks White Organization) P hotography..................................Phil Pike NORMAN LOVES ROSE Catering .........................Harold Jene Koch Sound recordist ......... Rowland McManis Cast: Kristy McNichol, Christopher Atkins, Prod, company . . . . Norman Films Pty Ltd E d ito r........................................Bob Cogger Now and Forever Ted Hamilton, Gary McDonald, Bill Kerr, Dist. co m p a n y ..................................... GUO Exec, producer ........................ Gene Scott Maggie Kirkpatrick.

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CINEMA PAPERS August - 357

Synopsis: Loosely based on Gilbert and Sullivan’s "The Pirates of Penzance” . Film includes five Gilbert and Sullivan songs, and six new ones. Story has a con­ temporary beginning and end; most is a long fantasy sequence.

Gordon McIntyre, Philip Chambers Stage h a n d s...................... Stephen Volich, Timothy Higgins Asst editor ............................Linda Wilson 2nd asst e d ito r....................... Helen Zivkovic Music consultant............... Lance Reynolds Stunts co-ordinator ...................Max Aspin P rojectionist................................ Jim Jones THE PLAINS OF HEAVEN Still photography.........................Bliss Swift Stills processing ....................Color Control Prod, company ............. Seon Film Prods.

Black and white .......................Dark Room P ro d u c e r.............................. John Cruthers Model m a k e rs ...........................Tad Pride, D ire c to r......................................Ian Pringle David Pride S criptw rite rs.............................................. IanPringle, Asst model maker ...................... John Cox Doug Ling, Artists' tra n s p o rt........................ Cabcharge Elizabeth Parsons. Unit c a r s ...................... Thrifty Rent A Car P hotography...............

Ray Argali Best boy ................................Paul Gantner Location sound .......................Bruce Emery R unner....................................Meryl Cronin E d ito r........................................................ RayArgali Unit publicist ....................... Sherry Stumm C om p o se r.........................Andrew Duffield . C atering.................................... John Faithful Assoc, producer ...............Brian McKenzie Asst catering ............................Sue Faithful Prod, s u p e rviso r................................... MarkThomas S e c u rity ...................Wormald International Prod, assistants................. Cristina Pozzan, Equipment su p p lie s .................Samuelsons Daniel Scharf, Insurers ................................................. Adair Robbie Ashhurst. Sound transfers.................Film Production 1st asst, d ire c to r................................... MarkThomas Services Continuity ..............................Chris Johnson Laboratory ._.................................. Colorfilm Camera assistant ................Renee Romeril Cast: Alan Arkln (Capt. Invincible), Chris­ G a ffe r................................. John Whitteron topher Lee (Mr Midnight), Kate Fitzpatrick, Boom operator ........... James Dunwoodie Bill Hunter, Graham Kennedy, Michael Art d ire c to r........................Elizabeth Stirling Pate, Hayes Gordon, John Bluthal, Maggie Electronic design ................David Durance Dence, Norman Erskine. ” Set construction .................David Durance, Synopsis: A madcap, musical comedyAnthony Bignall, adventure where the flying super hero Peter Kulesa, crushes Nazis, threatens bootleggers, helps Mars McMillan. boy scouts and battles Moscow.

Asst, e d ito r...........................................DanielScharf Soundtrack d e s ig n ..............................BruceEmery Sound editors ............................ Ray Argali, RUN REBECCA, RUN! Bruce Emery Mixer ........................................Bruce Emery Prod, company .................... Independent Still photography......... Tom Psomotragos Productions R unner.................................................. Julian Darling Producer .......................... Brendon Lunney P ub licity................................................ JennyDarling Director ................................Peter Maxwell C atering.............................. Kristina Frohlich Scriptwriter ......................... Charles Stamp Mixed at ............................... Tony Paterson Based on the original idea by ............................. Gary Deacon Post-Production Laboratory ....................................Colorfilm Photography ................................Phil Pike Lab. lia is o n ............................................KerryJenkin Sound recordist ......... Rowland McManis Length ............................................ 80 mins Editor ..................................... Bob Cogger Gauge ................................................. 16mm Composer ............................ Simon Walker Shooting s to ck.............................. Fuji 8527 Exec, producer ...................... Gene Scott Cast: Richard Moir (Barker), Reg Evans Features manager . . . . Wendy Chambers (Cunningham), Gerard Kennedy (Lenko), Prod, supervisor ................ Chris Gardiner John Flaus (Landrover owner), Jenny Prod, manager ......................Peter Abbott C a rtw rig ht (N urse), Adam B riscom be Prod, secretary ............. Wendy Chapman (Soldier on train): Prod, accountant ................. Peter Layard Synopsis: Two men work in a satellite relay Prod, assistants .................. Sean McClory, station on the Bogong High Plains, one of Fiona Marks 1st asst director ................... Kevin Powell Australia's most isolated and haunting land­ scapes. Each is obsessed in his own way, 2nd asst director ................Paul Callaghan Continuity ........................Catherine Sauter and the film follows the working out of these Casting ........................ Mitch Consultancy obsessions in the men's responses to the Camera assistant .................. Keith Bryant vast and elemental landscape of the plains Key grip ...........................Merv McLaughlin of heaven.

2nd unit photography ....G a ry Maunder, Phil Dority THE RETURN OF CAPTAIN Gaffer .............................................Ray Ang INVINCIBLE Boom operator ...................... Jan McHarg Art director ............................Jakob Horvat P ro d u c e r........................................... Andrew GatyMake-up .............................. Fiona Spence D ire c to r.................................. Philippe Mora Wardrobe ............................ Fiona Spence S criptw rite rs..................................... Andrew Gaty, Ward, assistant .............. Kerry Thompson Steven de Souza Props ..................................Brian Edmonds Based on the original Asst editor ............................. Gina Lennox idea by ................................ Andrew Gaty Neg. matching ........................Chris Rowell Photography...........................................MikeMolloy Sound editor .......................... Bob Cogger Sound recordist ............... Ken Hammond Mixer ..............................Julian Ellingworth Editor .........................................John Scott Still photography ............... Garry Maunder Prod, designer...................... David Copping Animals arranged M u s ic .............................................Bestall & by ...................... Animal Talent Pty Ltd Reynolds Management Catering .................... Sally Greville-Smith Assoc, p ro d u c e r............ Brian D. Burgess Mixed at .............................................. Atlab Unit m anager.................................. WarwickRossLaboratory ............. Cine Film Laboratory Prod, secretary ........... Rosslyn Abernethy Lab. liaison ........................Calvin Gardiner NSWFC prod, a s s t.......... Joanne Rooney Length ...........................................85 mins Prod, accountant ...................... Lea Collins Gauge ................................................ 16mm Asst accountant...................... Kate Highfield Shooting stock ................................... 7247 1st asst director ..............Bosie Vine-Miller Cast: Henri Szeps (M anuel), Sim one 2nd asst d ire cto r.................. Keith Heygate Buchanan (Rebecca), Adam Garnett (Rod), 3rd asst d ire c to r................. Peter Kearney Mary Ann Severne (Mrs Porter), John Continuity ....................................Linda Ray Stanton (Mr Porter), Peter Sumner (Mr Telephonist........................ Marguerite Grey Dimitros), Ron Haddrick (Speaker of Parlia­ Producer’s secretary . . . .Sandra Wheatley ment), John Ewart (Minister for Immigra­ Casting.........................................Liz Mullinar tion), Martin Vaughan (Cranky Member), Camera operator ...................... Lou Irving Cornelia Francis (Member for Southdown).

Focus p u lle r............................ Peter Rogers Synopsis: A young girl taking photographs Clapper/ioader ......................... Stuart Quin of her pet cockatoo is prevented from Key g r ip .............................. Graeme Mardell leaving a lonely island by an illegal Grip ...........................................Gary Cardin immigrant, who fears deportation. After a Front projection operator . . . Paul Nicholla widespread search, she manages to escape Front projection a s s t............. Ken Arlidge with the help of a boy scout. Sympathetic to the immigrant’s problems, she pleads his G a ffe r..................................................... BrianBansgrove cause in Parliament.

1st electrics ..............................Colin Chase Boom operator .................Andrew Duncan Art d ire c to rs ......................Owen Paterson, Ron Highfield THE SEVENTH MATCH Asst art director ................ Robyn Coombs Prod, company .Yoram Gross Film Studio Art dept asst ..................... Vivienne Elgie in association with Art asst ...............................Phillip Colville Sarah Enterprises Costume designer ..................... Kate Duffy and the AFC Make-up ....................

RobertMcCarron P ro du ce r.................................. Yoram Gross Make-up a s s t..........................Robyn Austin H airdresser.............................. Jenny Brown D ire c to r....................................Yoram Gross Asst hairdresser ................ Cheryl Williams S criptw rite r.............................. Yoram Gross Photography .. . Lloyd Freidus (New York); Ward, a s sista n t............... Jenny Carseidine Standby wardrobe ........................ Lea Haig Jenny Ochse, Props b u y e r.....................Derrick Chetwyn Bob Evans (animation) Sound recordist . . . Gary Rich (New York) Standby p ro p s ........................ Igor Lazareff Special effects supervisor . Monty Feiguth E d ito r...................... Christopher Plowright Special effects asst .............. Steve Courtly Director of anim ation................Athol Henry Special asst ....................... Robert Hildltch M u s ic .................Vivaldi’s "Four Seasons” Assoc, p ro d u c e r....................Sandra Gross Scenic a r tis t........... Elizabeth Leszczynski Prod, co-ordinator .................Meg Rowed Asst set finisher .................. Brian Nickless Prod, managers ......... David B. Appleton Construction m anager....... Danny Burrett (New York); Asst construction manager .. Roger Clout Jeanette Toms, Carpenters ......................... Paul Vosiliunos, Kelly Duncan, Roger Briggs, Yolanta Pillich (animation)

358 - August CINEMA PAPERS

Location m anager......... Mitchell Klebanoff Laboratory ......................................Cinevex 3rd asst d ire c to r......................Jess Tapper (New York) Length ........................................... 100 mins Continuity ............................ Christine Llparl Prod, secretaries............. Margaret Lovell, Gauge ..............................................35mm Camera operator ...................Gary Hansen Janelle Dawes Cast Robin Nedwell (Toby), Juliet Jordan Focus p u lle r.................... Peter Van Santen Asst dire cto rs....................Jan Carruthers; (Wendy), John Ewart (Hughes), Jane Clifton Clapper/ioader ............................Phil Cross John Palmer (New York) (Fay), Caz Lederman (Sally), Dina Mann Key g r ip ................................Noel McDonald Script e d ito r...........................................John Palmer (Barbara), Amanda Muggleton (Eva), Julie Asst grips .........................Wayne Marshall,.

Story e ditor/dialogue..........Elizabeth Kata Nihiil (Pam), Lulu Pinkus (Addy), Gwen John Jaslukowicz Dialogue editor .......................Moya Wood Soares (Mei Linn).

G a ffe r........................................Mick Morris Casting.......................... Mitch Consultancy Gene o p e ra to r........................................TomRobinson Camera assistant .....................Neil Haynes Boom operators .....................Greg Steele, SOUTHERN CROSS .

(NewYork) Malcolm Cromie Grip ..................................... Bob Shulman Asst art director ......... Graeme Duesbury (New York) Prod, company ............................ Southern Costume designer ....... Camilla Rountree E lectricians............................................. RafflFeruci, International Film, Make-up ..................................Sally Gordon Tom Drake, — Shinnlhon Eija Make-up assistant ....... Robem Pickering Harvey Rich (New York) P ro du ce r............................... Lee Robinson H airdresser....... .......................Willi Kenrlck Make-up .................................. David Forest D ire c to r.................................Peter Maxwell Seamstress 1 ......................................... RuthTickle (New York) ' Scriptwriter ...........................Lee Robinson Seamstress 2 .......................... Ruth Munroe H airdresser........................................... DavidForest P hotography........................ John, McLean Wardrobe assistant ........... Fiona Nlcholls (New York) Sound recordist...............Syd Butterworth Stand-by p ro p s .........................................RoBruen Wardrobe .............................. Marsha Patter E d ito r...................................... David Stiven Stand-by props a ssistan t___Greg Nelson M o d e ls..................................Phillip Einfieid, Prod, d esig n er.................... Bernard Hides Special e ffe c ts .....................................ReeceRobinsoh John Hull Com poser.....................................Eric Jupp Asst special effects ..................Peter Gloss Asst editor ............................... Linday Trost Prod, m anager..................... Betty Barnard Art department assistant . Steve Fullerton Neg. m a tch in g .................Margaret Cardin Asst d ire c to rs .................. David Bracknell.

Art department animals ........... Earl Gano Music performed by .....................I Musici Charles Rotherham Horse m a s te r...........................................RayWinslade Clarinet music Camera operator ..........David Williamson Asst editor ..............................Karen Whiter played/performed ......... Giora Feidman Make-up ................................. Viv Mepham Still photography.................Penny Tweedie Dubbing editor ................... Denise Hunter Hairdresser ........ Maureen Wroe-Johnson W ra n g le rs .................................................Jim Willoughby, Mixer ..............................................Phil Judd W a rd ro b e ...........................Graham Purcell Barry Groves Still photography................................... Mike Burnhaut Sound e d ito r......................Penn Robinson Wranglers' assistant................................JanMitchell (New York) M ixe r............................................. Phil Judd Best boy ................................Richard Curtis Principal animators ................ Athol Henry, Mixed at ................................United Sound Unit ru n n e rs .......................................Antony Shepherd, Cynthia Leech, Lab o ra to ry...................................... Colorfilm Ian Billing Andrew Szemenyei Length ........................................... 137 mins Unit n u rs e ...............................................Sally Walker Sarah’s character d e s ig n ___Athol Henry Gauge................................................... 35mm Aboriginal a d v is e r................Vikki Christie Addit. animation ........... Irena Slapczynski, Shooting s to c k ......................................... Fuji Driver*......... ............................. Peter Bourne Ty Bosco Cast: George Mallaby, Michael Aitkens, Laboratory ..................................... Colorfilm Asst anim ators..................................... Astrid Brennan, Atsuo Nakamura.

Lab. lia is o n ................................................ BillGooley Maria Brinkley, Synopsis: Operation Rimau, the attack by Length ............................................. 90 mins Marian Brooks, 23 Australian and British soldiers on Singa­ Gauge ..................................................35mm Diane Farrington, pore Harbour during World War 2.

Shooting s to c k ........................Eastmancolor Eva Hellscher, Cast: Angela Punch McGregor (Jeannie Brenda MeKie, Gunn), Arthur Dignam (Aeneas Gunn), Tony Paul Marron, TURKEY SHOOT Barry (Mac), Martin Vaughan (Dan), Lewis Kaye Watts Fitz-Gerald (Jack), John Jarratt (Dandy), Prod, company ....................Second FGH Color d esign.......................... Susan Speer Cecil Parkes (Cheon), Danny Adcock Film Consortium P ainters/tracers...............Margaret Butler, (Brown), Tommy Lewis (Jackaroo), Donald Kim Craste, Dist. company (foreign) ............. Hemdale Blitner (Goggle Eye).

Leisure Corporation Pari Dounis, Synopsis: A story of the hardship faced by Ruth Edelman, Producers ....................Antony I. Ginnane, newly-married Jeannie Gunn which recalls William Fayman Lynette Hennessy, the courage, vitality and humor of early Steve Hunter, Director ............... Brian Trenchard Smith cattlemen and Aboriginal stockmen in a Scriptwriters ...........................

Jon George, Ellen Jackson, harsh, but memorable Northern Territory Neill Hicks Kim Marden, environment.

Narelle Miels, Based on story by .......George Schenck, Robert Williams, Krystyna Mikita, .

DavidLawrence Charmaine Shelton Price Photography ......................... John McLean Backgrounds ........... Zbigniew Dromirecki, WILDE'S DOMAIN Amber Ellis, Sound recordist .........................Paul Clark Kolorkraft Lab. Editor ..........................................Alan Lake Prod, c o m p a n y ......... Independent Prods.

Prod, designer ................ Bernard Hides Recording studios................................Atlab P ro d u c e r............................ Peter Benardos Composer ................................... Brian May Recorded by ............... Julian Ellingsworth Director .................Charles "Bud” Tingwell Exec, producers ......................John Daly, Sound recording S criptw rite r................................ Ted Roberts David Hemmings (New Y o rk )...................... Magno Sound Based on the original Assoc, producer ...................... Brian Cook Mixed at ............................... United Sound idea by ............................ Marcia Hatfield Unit manager .......................Michael Fuller Laboratory ................................... Colorfilm; Photography...................... Phil Pike A.C.S. Movielab (New York) Prod, secretary ....................... Jenny Barty Sound recordist ......... Rowland McManis Facilities manager ...................Chris Short Cast: Mia Farrow (Sarah).

E d ito r...........................................Bob Cogger Voices: Joan Bruce, John Faassen, Ron Prod, accountant ....................... Dean Hill C om p o se r...............................Simon Walker Prod, assistant ................Barbara Williams Haddrick, Shane Porteous.

Exec, producer ............... Brendon Lunney Prod, co-ordinator ...................Dixie Betts Synopsis: The poignant story of a young 1st asst director ...............Terry Needham child, orphaned by war, and her struggle to 2nd asst director ..................... John Rooke Prod, manager .......................... Jan Tyrrell 3rd asst director .....................

Mark Jaffee Prod, secretary ........................ Fiona King survive. It is representative of the plight of children in war-torn countries and acts as Continuity ......................... Therese O'Leary Prod, accountant ................... Peter Layard the voice of all children against the suffer­ Producer’s assistant ...... Sylvia Van Wyk Asst d ire c to r..................................... CharlesRotherham Casting .............................. Carmen Duncan 2nd asst, d ire c to r............. Paul Callaghan ing and hardships imposed by all wars.

Camera operator ....................David Burr 3rd asst, director ...............Hugh McLaren Focus puller ........................ David Brostoff Continuity ....................................Pam Willis Clapper/ioader ....................... Ben Seresin A SLICE OF LIFE C asting.......................... Mitch Consultancy Publicity ....................Carlie Deans (Aust.), Clapper/ioader .....................Sean McClory Prod, company .................... John Lamond Dennis Davidson & Assoc. (L.A.) Camera assistant .................... Keith Bryant Motion Picture Enterprises Unit publicist ........................... Ben Mitchell Key g r ip ................................Robert Verkerk Dist. company ............................ Roadshow Catering ................................David Williams 2nd unit photography ............. ..Phil Dority Distributors Australia Laboratory ................................... Colorfilm Garry Maunder P ro du ce r.............................. John Lamond Lab. liaison ................................Bill Gooley Hans Heidrich Director ..................................John Lamond Length .......................................... 94 mins G a ffe r....................................... Derek Jones S criptw rite r.......................... Alan Hopgood Gauge ...........................35mm Anamorphic Sound editor .......................... Bob Cogger Sound recordist ...................... Paul Clarke Panavision Mixer ............................. Andrew McFarlane E d ito r..........................................................JillRice Shooting stock ........ Kodak Eastmancolor Still photography...................... Alan Howard C om poser..................................... Brian May Cast: Steve Railsback (Paul Anders), Olivia Tech, a d v is e r.....................Stafford Bullen Exec, producer ......... Cinema Enterprises Hussey (C hris W aiters), Noel F errier Animal trainer ........................ Jules Bullen Assoc, producer ..................Michael Hlrsch (Mallory), Carmen Duncan (Jennifer), Best boy ..................................Matt Slattery Prod, s u p e rv is o r................................... JohnChase Lynda S to n e r (R ita), M ich a e l C raig C atering................................................. JemsCatering Prod, secretary .......................... Ann Mudie (Thatcher), Roger Ward (Ritter), Michael Boom operator ...................... Jan McHarg Prod, accountant ............. Graeme Wright Petrovich (Tito), Gus Mercurio (Red), John Art d ire c to r............................... Ian McGrath Prod, assistant.................................DeborahHanson Ley (Dodge), Bill Young (Griff).

Costume designer ...............Fiona Spence 1st asst director .................Ross Hamilton Synopsis: The year 1995 — the world is run Ward, a s s is ta n t.................................... KerryThompson 2nd asst d ire c to r................... Euan Keddie by a strict regime. If you step out of line you Make-up ............................ Rosalina Dunes 3rd asst d ire c to r.................... Stuart Wood are labelled a “ Turkey” . Further failure to Hairdresser ....................... Rosalina Dunes Continuity ................................... Julie Bates conform means you are a candidate for the P ro p s ..................................Brian Edmonds C asting...................................................HelenWatts “ Turkey Shoot” .

Special e ffe c ts ....................... Allan Maxwell Lighting cameraman .........Ross Berryman Choreography.......................................

TaniaPierson, Focus p u lle r............................................ IanJones WE OF THE NEVER NEVER Sydney Youth Ballet Clapper/ioader ...................Brian Breheny Asst, e d ito r..........................Michelle Cattle Key g r ip ................................................... NoelMudie Prod, companies ................ Adams Packer Sound e d ito r.................... Robert Davidson Asst grip ...................................Barry Brown Productions, M ix e r.............................Alasdair Macfarlane G a ffe r....................................Lindsay Foote Film Corp. of W.A. Neg. m a tc h in g ........................Chris Rowell Boom operator ............... Chris Goldsmith P ro d u c e r........... , .................. Greg Tepper Laboratory ......................................... C F L Art d ire c to r............................................. PaulJones D ire c to r....................................................IgorAuzins Lab. lia is o n ............................................. Jack Gardiner Make-up .................................... Jose Perez, S c rip tw rite r............................................PeterSchreck Length ............................................. 7 2 mins.

Joan Petch P hotograph............................................ GaryHansen Gauge .................................................. i6m m Hairdresser.............................................JosePerez Sound recordist ............. Laurie Robinson Shooting s to c k ..............Eastmancolor 7247 Wardrobe ..................................Anna Jakab E d ito r....................................................... CliffHayes Progress ............................. Post-production Ward, a s s is ta n t................ Melanie Velinos Prod, d esig n er............................. Josephine FordCast: Kit Taylor (Dan Wilde), June Salter P ro p s ................................................Matthew Cummings Exec, producer .....................Phillip Adams (Hannah Wilde), Lenore Smith (Alex Wilde), Standby p ro p s ................. Helen Kavanagh C o-p ro d u c e r......................John B. Murray Steven Grives (Yuri), Jeannie Drynan (Liz), Set d eco ra to r................... Ashley Leighton Assoc, p ro d u c e r...................................BrianRosen Henri Szeps (Shenko), Ivar Kants (Curtis), Set construction . . . . Phlummup Film Sets Prod, co-ordinator .................Janet Mclver Alan Lee (David Wilde), Martin Vaughan Set designer .................. Geoff Richardson Unit m anager.......................................... PaulArnott (Tom), Tim Eliot (Andrew Wilde).

Construction manager ..................Ian Doig Prod, secretary ...................

ToniBarnard Synopsis: Drama about the entrepreneu­ Stunts ...........................................Phil Brock Prod, accountant .....................John Foster rial Wilde circus family involved in every­ Asst editor .......................... Peter Carrodus Prod, assistant............. Michael Bourchler thing from lion parks to live theatrical pro­ Still photography...................David Parker Transport manager ........... Gary Reberger motions. Alex Wilde’s love affaire with Best boy ................................Gary Scholes Construction m anager............ Ray Pattison visiting Russian ballet dancer becomes a R unners..............................Brian Gilmore, Asst construction matter of concern to the family when it has a Mike McIntyre m a n a g e r........................ Danny Corloran dramatic effect on several of the business C atering..................................Helen Wright 1st asst director ...................... Tim Higgins enterprises.

S tudios................. Port Melbourne Studios 2 nd assist d ire c to r...........BrendanTavelle

Neg. matching ......................Film Negative WINGS ACROSS THE CENTRE Matching Services Prod, company ......................Wild Pictures No. of shots........................... 400 (approx.)

Dist. company ......................... Max Stuart Mixed at ...........................Film Soundtrack and Assocs.

Australia P roducer.....................Chris Ardill-Guinness L a b o ra to ry........................................Cinevex D ire c to r..................... Chris Ardill-Guinness B u d g e t.............................................$100,000 TRACKS OF THE RAINBOW Scriptwriter ...............Chris Ardill-Guinness Length .............................................50 mins Photography .................. Malcolm Ludgate G auge................................................... 16mm Prod, company ....................... Gittoes and Sound re cord ist............ Bryndon Wooding Dalton Productions Shooting s to c k .....................Eastman 7247 Editor ................................. Duncan Kemiey P ro gre ss...........................Awaiting release P ro du ce r.............................Gabrielle Dalton SWEETS FOR MY SWEET Prod, c o -o rd in a to r............ Cherry Manfiel,d Synopsis: A re-enactment of the first scien­ D ire c to r..............................................George Gittoes 2nd unit photography............Roy Wooding tific crossing of Australia's arid Simpson — in consultation with cast Prod, company .......................... Sweet Film Editing assistant ......................Lydia Koleff Desert in 1939. Includes rare footage of first Productions Scriptwriter ......................... George Gittoes Mixed at ...........................South Australian crossing.

— in consultation with cast Dist. company ..........................Axis Artists Film Corporation Photography ........................George Gittoes P ro du ce r................................................. AlanCinis L a b o ra to ry.............................................Atlab Director ............................. Malcolm Frawley Sound recordist.......................... Bruce Nihill B u d g e t............................................... $65,000 Scriptwriter .......................Malcolm Frawley E d ito rs ............................................... GeorgeGittoes, REMBETIKA — THE BLUES OF Length .............................................. 48 mins Mike Balson Based on the short story GREECE G auge....................................................16mm b y .....................................Malcolm Frawley Location assistant........ Ronaldo Cameron Shooting s to c k ........................Eastmancoior Laboratory .............................................Atlab Prod, company .............. DNM Productions Photography..................................... MichaelKlien Progress ...........................Awaiting release — Video Images Length .............................................. 60 mins Editor .................................... Zyolte Kollyani Synopsis: An action-oriented profile of Dist. company ................ DNM Productions Prod, m anager...........................Neil Jaggers Gauge.................................................. 16mm Hans Werner-Grosse, the 59-year-old guru 1st asst director ..........................Alan Cinis Shooting s to c k .......................Eastman 7247 Producers................ Philippe de Montignie, of long-distance glider flights. The film Zelda Rosenbaum P ro gre ss............................. Post-production C on tin u ity................................ Coral Kollyani follows his exploits as he flies across the Scheduled re le a se ......................June 1982 D ire c to r....................

Philippe de Montignie C asting..................................... Axis Artists eerie, virtually-unlandable terrain of the Synopsis. Seven Aboriginal teenagers, Scriptwriters ..........Philippe de Montignie, Lighting cam eram an..............Eugene Intas Northern Territory.

Gail Holst from North-west NSW, travel into Central G a ffe r................................... Rick McMullen Australia, northwards through the Nor­ Based on the novel Art director .............................Colin Ratcliff b y ................................................

Gail Holst thern Territory and finally to Melville Island Make-up ......................... Wendy Sainsbury YANKS ON R & R following the tracks of the Rainbow Serpent P hotography..........................Alex McPhee P ublicity................................. Max Markson (Working title) and learning about th e ir A b o rig ina l Sound recordists .................John Phillips, L a b o ra to ry...................................... Colorfilm Sean Meltzer Prod, company ...............................CM Film B u d g e t.................................................. $5000 heritage.

Editor ................................. David Pulbrook Productions Length ...............................................12 mins Assoc, p ro d u c e r.......................... Gail Holst Dist. company ........................... Arinya Film G auge....................................................16mm Distributors Prod, secretary .................... Linda Chilton Shooting s to c k ..........Kodak 7293 250ASA Camera assistant .................... John Ogden P roducer.......................................... Carmelo Musca P ro gre ss...................................... Production Asst e d ito r......................... Brett Southwick D ire c to r............................................ Carmelo Musca Cast: Christopher Galleti, Jennifer Don, Neg. matching ............................ Rikki Main Scriptwriter .......................... Barrie Pattison Dylan Hodda, Lucinda Powell, Alan Cinis.

Sound e d ito r..................... David Pulbrook P hotography......................... Geoff McKell, Synopsis: A sensitive study of a neglected M ixer.................................... David Harrison Carmelo Musca child.

N arrator............................... Anthony Quinn Sound recordist.................................. Sergio Zaza C om poser......................Shelter Recording Still photography...................................

John Ogden THE DOLPHIN TOUCH Studios O p tica ls............................................... VFL Prod, company .................Golden Dolphin Prod, m anager.........

Stephanie Madgwick Mixed at ............................ Film Soundtrack Productions Australia Prod, assistants.................... Chris Bartlett, P roducer............................................. RobertLoader John Green, Length .............................................. 50 mins D ire c to r................................. Tristram Miall Piercy Porter, Gauge..................................................16mm Scriptwriters ........................Robert Loader, Shooting s to c k ................... 7247 and 7293 Albert Musca Tristram Miall Eastman Lighting ................................. Hans Versluis Sound recordists .................. Max Hensser, P ro gre ss............................. Post-production Mixed at ................................STW-9, Perth Grant Roberts Scheduled re lease.....................June, 1982 Laboratory ................................. Film Lab 7 Editor ...................................... . .Trevor Ellis Melbourne Lab. liaison ............................ David Dukes C om poser.........................................NicholasLyon Synopsis: A docum entary tracing the Length .............................................48 mins Prod, managers............. Sally Ayre-Smith, history of Rembetika music,from its incep­ Gauge..................................................16mm I AM NO GOD Prue Stewart-Miller tion in the late 19th century in Athens Shooting stock .......................... 7247, 7293 Prod, secretary ....................Barbara Loois through to its current revival in both Aus­ Prod, company ..............................CM Film P rogress......................................................Inrelease Camera operators .....................Peter Levy, tralia and America.

Productions Scheduled release.....................June 1982 Paul Tait Dist. company .......................... Arinya Film Narration: Geoff Gibbs.

Underwater cam eras...............John Ware, Distributors Synopsis: The film crew flew out to join the Jack McCoy, SEAFLIGHT P ro du ce r............................. Carmelo Musca John F. Kennedy, the world’s largest con­ Simon Cotton, Director .................................Barrie Pattison ventionally-powered aircraft carrier, and Hugh Edwards Prod, company .................. Sirocco Prods.

Scriptwriter ..........................Barrie Pattison filmed U.S. sailors before arriving in Perth Dist. company ................................. Sirocco Special fx photography__ George Gittoes Photography .......................... Carlo Buralli, and during their stay on R & R. — Film Bancor Lab o ra to ry...........................................Atlab Carmelo Musca Length .............................................. 48 nriins P roducer................................................ JohnMcLean Sound recordist.................Ian McLoughlin, G auge.................................................. 16mm D ire c to r........................................Peter Cox Piercy Porter Shooting s to c k .................. Eastman Kodak Scriptwriter .........................Craig Kirshner Editor .................................... Barrie Pattison 7247 Negative Research.............................................. EileenNaseby C om poser........ Shelter Recording Studios Synopsis: The Dolphin Touch explores the Photography........................................... BobDraper, Prod, m anager................ Phillip Monaghan very special relationship between humans Steve Newman Prod, secretary ........ Stephanie Madgwick and dolphins. The film examines a number Sound recordist...................Peter Lipscomb Prod, assistants...................................... KimRowlands, of cases where people have had exper­ Clare Moynihan, iences with wild dolphins and questions the Editor .......................................Kim Moodie Albert Musca C om poser................................ Ralph Tyrrell future of the human-dolphin connection.

Editing assistant ...................... Des Harris Prod, accountant .. Moneypenny Services A U S T R A L IA N F IL M A N D L a b o ra to ry..........................................Atlab, Prod, assistants..........Melanie Alexander, Film Lab 7 Gordon Hinds T E L E V IS IO N S C H O O L Due to space limitations, all non­ FROZEN STIFF Lab. liaison ..................... Bruce Williamson Camera assistant ................Sam Bienstock feature entries appear only once, Length .............................................72 mins 2nd unit photography..................

Peter Levy, unless significant changes are Prod, company ...........................Look Film G auge......................................... ........ 16mm Yuri Farrant made in the course of production.

Productions Shooting s to c k ............. Eastmancoior 7247 Asst e d ito r.............................. Helen Martin P roducer.....................................Will Davies First released .................. 7 February 1982 THE ACTOR/DIRECTOR Neg. matching ............................... Colorfilm Director .............................. Arch Nicholson Innaloo Cinema Music performed b y ............. Ralph Tyrrell RELATIONSHIP — WITHIN THE Scriptwriter ................Christopher Leonard Synopsis: Feature documentary filmed Sound e d ito r............. Louise B. Johnstone PRODUCTION OF THE WHITLAM Original idea b y ......................... Will Davies LOVE AND VIOLENCE against the luxury and squalor of the Philip­ M ixer............................... Julian Ellingworth P hotography........................................... BobHawkins SERIES pines following a group of West Australians N arrator................................... Lex Marinos Prod, company ........ Queensland College Sound recordist....................... Mark Lewis and speaking to professors, psychiatrists, of Art Title d e s ig n e r................ Optical & Graphic Prod, company .................. Australian Film Prod, co -o rd in a to r............. Lynne Bespflug doctors, patients and the healer.

Director .......................... Pantelis Roussakis S tudios................................Studio Clip Joint and Television School Casting...................................... Faith Martin Scriptwriter ....................Pantelis Roussakis Mixed at ............................................. Atlab P roducer.................................................. EricHalliday L a b o ra to ry.............................................Atlab Photography ................... Catherine Hughes L a b o ra to ry....................................

Colorfilm Director ..............................

Cynthia Connop B u d g e t.............................................$280,000 Sound re cord ist............................. Jonathon Larsen Lab. liaison ............................ Kerry Jenkin Sound recordist...................... Bruce Emery ON THE ROAD WITH CIRCUS OZ Length ............................................. 50 mins Editor ...................................... Carol Hughes Length ..............................................

50 mins Editor .................................Cynthia Connop, Gauge.................................................. 16mm Prod, company ....................... Ukiyo Films Production m a na g e r......................... KimbelHann Guy Campbell Shooting s to c k .......................................7247 Gauge.................................................. 16mm Australia Camera operator ............. Therese O'Leary Shooting s to cks...........................

7247, 7293 Lighting cam eram an..............Jeff Morgan Progress ............................... Pre-production Dist. company .................................... T.B.A. Camera assistant .......... Nicolette Terakes Progress ...................................... In release G auge.......................................1” videotape Synopsis: Two alpine tragedies in the snowProducers................................................ DonMcLennan, C lapper/loader...................................... IreneEconomou fields of southern New South Wales, one in First released .............................. July 1982 Synopsis: A study of the workshop and Zbigniew Friedrich Boom operator......................Nick Oughton 1928 and the other in 1982, and a look at Synopsis: A look at the development of the developing relationship between directors D ire c to r...........................................Zbigniew Friedrich Art director ........................... Elizabeth Hail sport of w indsurfing in Australia and George Miller, George Ogilvie, John Power, how and why these tragedies occurred.

Photography.................................. Zbigniew Friedrich C on tin u ity............................................TraceyMoffatt overseas, culminating in the attempt by Phil Noyce and Carl Schultz and the actors Sound recordist............................ Pat Fiske three men to cross Bass Strait on wind­ in the Whitlam series.

Editing assistant ...............Irene Economou Editor ............................. Zbigniew Friedrich Titles desig n ers............................. Jonathon Larsen, surfers.

HARDY WILSON: Therese O'Leary C om poser.................................... Circus Oz A Living Memory Exec, producer ................................ Cinema Laboratory .....................................Colorfilm WHEN THE FLAG DROPS A CREATIVE PARTNERSHIP — THE (Working title) Enterprises Pty Ltd Length ............................................... 15 mins Prod, accountant ....Anthony G. Meagher ACTOR AND THE DIRECTOR G auge....................................................16mm Prod, company .............................. Leonard Prod, company ............Polak Productions Lighting cameraman ...Zbigniew Friedrich Shooting s to c k ........................Eastmancoior International Prod, company .................. Australian Film P roducer............................Louise Johnson Progress ..............................Pre-production Focus puller ................................Phil Cross Producers...............................Lyn Turner.

D ire c to r.............................. Louise Johnson and Television School C lapper/loader................... Ann Darrouzet Synopsis: A film about lovers who are Grant Harris P roducer................................. Eric Halliday Length .............................................24 mins 2nd unit photography...............Phil Cross, forced, out of trust, into destroying the Director ................................... Grant Harris D ire c to r..............................Cynthia Connop Gauge..................................................16mm Mike Edols essence of truth and so their love.

Based on the original idea Sound recordist................................... Bruce Emery G a ffers....................................................GinaGascoigne, b y ........................................Peter L. Grove Editor ........................................... Jeff Bruer Geoff Murray Editor ......................................Phil Robinson Prod, m anager................Nancy Wahlquist SHADOWS Asst e d ito r ..........................Robert Sdraulig THE MADIGAN LINE Exec, producer ....................Peter L. Grove 1st asst director .................Mark Lampreil Neg. matching ............................... Colorfilm Prod, company ...............Shadowline Films Prod, m anager..............................Mike Ash C on tin u ity................................................... JoWeeks Prod, company ............. DNM Productions Music performed b y .................Circus Oz Dist. company ..................... Australian Film Lighting cam eram an............. Garry Moore Lighting cam eram an........... Joe Pickering Dist. company ...............DNM Productions M ixe r....................................Tony Patterson Institute Sound e d ito r......................... Terry O’Brien Camera assistant .................Bill Hammond P ro du ce r...................Philippe de Montignie Still photography....................Fiod McNicol P ro du ce r............................................ RoydenIrvine S tudios..................................................ImageEast G a ffe r..................................................... TonyMandl D ire c to r.....................Philippe de Montignie Post-production....................Photoplastikon D ire c to r.............................................. RoydenIrvine Mixed at ......................................Image East Make-up ......................... Rachel Dei Santo Scriptwriter ............Philippe de Montignie Editing Services Based on original idea B u d g e t...............................................$45,000 Length ............................................. 30 mins Based on original idea Mixed at .............................. Tony Patterson b y .....................................................RoydenIrvine Length .............................................48 mins G auge....................................................16mm b y ........................... Philippe de Montignie, Post Production Photography .................Tom Psomotragos Shooting s to c k ................................1" video Progress ............................. Post-production Murray Gartner Laboratory ...................................... Colorfilm E d ito rs ................................. Royden Irvine, P ro gre ss............................... Pre-production Cast: Michael Caulfield, Noni Hazlehurst, P hotography.......................

David Haskins Lab. liaison ............................ Kerry Jenkin Tom Psomotragos, Scheduled re le a se ................................June 1982 John Derum, Lynette Curran, Deborah Sound recordist........................................ IanWilson Length .............................................T2 mins Michael Bladen Synopsis: Following the fortunes of an Aus­ Kennedy.

E d ito rs ................................David Pulbrook, G auge................................................... 16mm Com posers........................Ronny Reinhard, tralian team of drivers in two Grand Prix Synopsis: Tracing a segment of a feature Bob Grieve Screen ra tio .................................... Standard Dalmazio Babare events for Formula Pacific cars, the Malay­ film from casting to the shoot, and the Exec, producer __ Philippe de Montignie Shooting s to c k ..................... Eastman 7247 O p tic a ls .................................................... KenPhelan sian Grand Prix in Kuala Lumpur and the development of the actor-director relation­ Assoc, producer ........................Jack Smith P ro g re ss...................................... In release L a b o ra to ry..................................... Colorfilm Penang Grand Prix. ship through the various stages.

Unit manager .......................

Linda Chilton First released ..............................June 1982 Lab. liaison ................................. Glen Eley Scenic artist ........................Heather Towns Silver Screen

WITH PREJUDICE

Prod, company

.................Sirocco Visual Programming Dist. company ...................Sirocco Visual Programming Producer ............................ Don Catchlove Director ...................................Esben Storm Scriptwriter ....................... Leon Saunders Photography .............................. Peter Levy Sound recordist .....................Mark Lewis Editor .................................Michael Noonan Exec, producer ....................... Jim George Prod, manager ................. Carol Williams Prod, accountant ............. Connie Dellios Prod, assistant .........................Juliet Cobb 1st asst director ............... Mark Turnbull 2nd asst director ..................Keith Heygate Continuity .................................. Jo Weekes Casting ...............................................Forcast Lighting cameraman ............... Peter Levy Clapper/loader .....................Gillian Leahy Camera assistant ...................John Brock Key grip .............................. John Whitteron Gaffer ......................................Reg Garside Boom operator .......................Steve Miller Art director ......................................Bob Hill Make-up ................................. Lloyd James Wardrobe ...................................Lyn Askew Standby props .................. Jock McLachlin Set construction ..................... Dick Weight Asst editor .........................Duncan Taylor Neg. matching ..................................... Atlab Tech, adviser ............................ Irina Dunn Best boy .............................Sam Bienstock Runner ................................ Greg Fitzgerald Catering ............................. Rosie Van Ewyk Studios ........................................... Mort Bay Mixed at .............................................. Atlab Laboratory ...........................................Atlab Lab. liaison ............................... Don Mosely Budget ............................................$250,000 Length ............................................. 72 mins Gauge .................................................16mm Shooting stock .......................... 7247, 7293 Cast: Max Cullen, Richard Moir, Paul Sonkila, Chris Haywood, David Slingsby, John Ley, Terry Serio, Scott Burgess, Tony Barry, David Downer.

Synopsis: A dramatized reconstruction of the tria l, in February, 1979, of Tim Anderson, Ross Dunn and Paul Alister, the three Ananda Marga members charged with conspiracy to murder Robert Cameron.

Length ............................................. 12 mins G auge.................................................. 16mm Shooting s to c k ............Eastmancoior 7247 P ro g re ss ........................................ In release Cast: Adam Briscomb, Dru Parrish.

Synopsis: Sleep movements are explored and altered through the medium of film to create a dream symbolic of the mystery of the unconscious.

Synopsis: A look at life on the road with Circus Oz. Filmed during the Adelaide Festival 1982 and during their country tour of Victoria and South Australia.

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We are presently finalising our 1982-83 Production Schedule.

Your subject may fit our Australian TV Documentary Package.

SUPER-8 SERVICES PTY LIMITED Suite 4 870 Pacific Highway Gordon NSW 2072 Phone (02) 498 7668, (02) 498 7835

Call or write to Brian Morris for a confidential interview.

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P ro du ce r..............................Rob McCubbin Synopsis: A film for the Trade Union Release d a te .....................................August THE 1934 LONDON TO T ra in in g A u th o rity a b o u t th e C lyde N arra to r.....................................Sean Scully D ire c to r................................................LouiseJonas MELBOURNE AIR RACE Cameron College in Wodonga, Vic. Scriptwriters .................Maree Teychenne, Synopsis: A short film for the Department of Louise Jonas Prod, company .................. Australian Film Trade and Resources about the Inter­ Prod, company ......................Film Victoria and Television School P ho to gra p h y.............................. Frank Few in association with national Trade Development Centres.

DEFENSIVE DRIVING Outrider Films London P ro du ce r................................................... EricHalliday Sound recordists ..................Louise Jonas, Director .............................Peter Thompson David Hughes Director Prod, company ..................... Film Australia P ho to gra p h y..........................................Brian Probyn Editor ...................................... Robert Martin (British U n it)......................... Mike Harris Dist. company ....................... Film Australia Sound re cord ist............... John O’Connell Exec, producer .................. Ross Campbell Scriptwriter ...........................Jeremy Press P roducer.............................Elisabeth Knight F IL M V IC T O R IA Prod, m anager.................Nancy Wahlqulst Neg. matching .................. The Neg Room Exec, producer ............. Vincent O’Donnell Asst producer..............................Pam Ennor Camera operator ...............Steve Newman Sound e d ito r......................... David Hughes Prod, c o -o rd in a to r.................Don Dennett D ire c to r.................................................. GregReading Mixed at ............................................. VFL Camera assistant ...............Bill Hammond Length ............................................. 48 mins Script ..................................-..Greg Reading L a b o ra to ry........................................ I .. VFL G auge.................................................. 16mm G auge.................................................. 16mm P hotography..............................Kerry Brown Length ............................................. 15 mins P ro g re s s .....................................Production Progress ..................................... Production Sound recordist....................... Bruce Nihlll ANIMATED MUSIC FILM G auge.................................................. 16mm Synopsis: A dramatized docum entary Synopsis: A demonstration of the use of Editor ................................... Denise Hunter Shooting s to c k ............................ ECN 7247 about the classic air race being filmed in rhythm in filmmaking.

Camera assistant ........................ Mike Roll Prod, company ......................Film Victoria Progress ........................... Awaiting release Australia and England for Victoria’s 150th Lighting .................................... Bruce Galley in association with Synopsis: A d o c u m e n ta ry fe a tu rin g Anniversary celebrations.

Length ........................................... 20 mins Grahame Jackson Animation STEADICAM WITH GARRETT monkeys and apes — their daily activities in G auge................................................... 16mm Dist. company ......................... Film Victoria BROWN close-up and their habitat, the tree.

P ro gre ss............................................. Editing Music a d vise r.................................. Lorraine Milne STREET KIDS Release d a te .......................September C om poser...............................David Hertzog Prod, company ................... Australian Film Prod, company ......................Film Victoria N arrator................................................... TBA Arranger ................................Kevin Hocking and Television School in association with Synopsis: A teaching film for the Depart­ Exec, producer ..............Vincent O'Donnell P ro du ce r...................................................EricHalliday SUMMERTIME York Street Films m e nt of T ra n s p o rt on safe d riv in g Length ...............................................16 mins Director ................................. Mark Sanders Dist. company .......................

Film Victoria Prod, company .................AVRB Film Unit, techniques.

Gauge....................................................16mm G auge.................................... 1” videotape P ro du ce r.............................. Kent Chadwick Education Dept, of Vic. P ro gre ss...................................... Production Presenter: Garrett Brown D ire c to rs.................................

Leigh Tilson, Dist. company .....................................

AVRB Synopsis: An animated film about music for Synopsis: Garrett Brown demonstrates THE GAMES Rob Scott P ro du ce r................................ Rob McCubbin educational distribution. Made for the Vic­ operating techniques and comments on the Scriptwriters ...........................Leigh Tilson, D ire c to r..................................Rob McCubbin torian Education Department. use of the Steadicam unit in a number of Prod, company ....................Film Australia Rob Scott, Scriptwriters .................Maree Teychenne, International feature films.

Dist. company ......................Film Australia Kent Chadwick, Louise Jonas D ire c to r................................................... NickTorrens ART CENTRE FILM Adrian Tame Photography......................... Fiob McCubbin Scriptwriter ............................. Nick Torrens Photography ............................ Leigh Tilson Sound recordists .......................Ian Toohill, P hotography.................... Andy Fraser ACS Prod, company ....................... Film Victoria Harry Mehlman Sound recordist............................. Rob Scott in association with Chief sound A U S T R A L IA N F IL M E d ito r.............................................. Rob Scott Editor ....................................Rob McCubbin Kestrel Films re cord ist..........................Syd Butterworth Research adviser ............... Alex McDonald Exec, producer ............ Ross R. Campbell P ro du ce r................................................ John Richardson Sound recordist C O M M IS S IO N Research assistant...............................LindaJoseph Prod, m anager......................Rob McCubbin (overseas games) ..................Bob Hayes D ire c to rs ............................................... DavidMorgan, Length .............................................. 72 mins Prod, assistant........................................ IanToohill Curtis Levy Sound recordists ....................... Leo Polini, G auge....................................................16mm Neg. matching ..................Warwick Driscoll Exec, producer ..............Vincent O'Donnell Peter Lipscombe, Progress ............................. Post-production No. of sh ots..............................................300 Length ..............................................

20 mins Roland McManis, Scheduled re lease................... August 1982 G auge................................................... 16mm Music performed b y ..........................K.P.M. Project Development Branch Max Bowring Synopsis: A documentary on the urban Progress .............................

Post-production Sound e d ito r......................... Rob McCubbin Exec, producer .................. Peter Johnson Projects approved at Australian Film M ixe r..........................................Wally Shaw­ Assoc, street life of homeless children in Mel­ Scheduled re lease.................October 1982 producer .................Colleen Clarke bourne.

Made for television release.

Commission meeting, May 31, 1982 Still photography...................................... IanToohill Synopsis: A film on the evolution of the new Prod, c o -o rd in ator............ Nick Kospartov Arts Centre. Made for the Art Centre Trust.

O p tica ls..........................Roy Nicklovic, VFL Prod, m anager....................Colleen Clarke Script Development Title designer ..................Jo Anne Ridgway Unit m a na g e r................ Corrle Soeterboek THROUGH A LOOKING GLASS All Girl Big Band — Derek Strahan (Revolve Mixed at .................................................. VFL Location manager ....................Penny Wall — a film a b o u t d ra m a Pty Ltd); script development for 2nd draft; BUYER BEWARE L ab o ra to ry............................................... VFL Prod, accountant ................... John Russell cinema feature — $9000 (formerly The Unsuspecting Length ...............................................16 mins Prod, assistants................................... CathyBietz, Prod, company ....................... Film Victoria Feature Film Discussion Kit — Polygon G auge................................................... 16mm Consumer) in association with Katie Kemp, Pictures; research development funding; Shooting s to c k ....................................... ECN7247 Vincent O’Donnell Louise Willis, videotapes — $13,904 Prod, company ......................Film Victoria P ro gre ss............................ Awaiting release Robin Barren Dist. company ......................... Film Victoria Kimberley — Messrs Shepherd, Baker & in association with Scheduled release................ October 1982 Associate directors ........ Denis O’Rourke, D ire c to r............................................. VincentO'Donnell Schreck; script development for 1st draft; Red Nose Revival Cast: Jane Hall (Jane), Megan Hall (Meg), Exec, producer ................... Kent Chadwick Dick Marks, cinema feature — $4625 Dist. company ....................... Film Victoria Peter Hall (Dad), Liza Hall (Mum), Rohan Length ...............................................12 mins Karin Altman, Love on a Tourist Visa — Jan Sharp; script D ire c to r...................................

-Peter Green M arshall (Boy on tricycle ), M ichelle G auge................................................... 16mm David Haythornwaite development for 2nd draft; cinema feature Scriptwriter ..............................Peter Green McCubbin (Skater), Scott Williams (Skate­ Cameramen........................................... TonyWilson, P ro gre ss...................................................... Inrelease C om poser............................ Chris Copping — $4350 boarder), Danny Irwin (Danny), Sean Fish Synopsis: A film for drama teachers about Ross King, Masque — Ivan Hexter (The Moving Picture Exec, producer .............

Vincent O’Donnell (Fisherman’s son), Sydney Watson (News­ the elements of drama. Made for the Brendan Ward, Co.); script development for treatment; Length .............................................12 mins reader).

Education Department.

Denis O'Rourke, cinema feature — $4000 G auge...................................................

16mm Synopsis: Typicalmidsummer activities Dick Marks, The System — J. Orcsik and N. Syme; Shooting s to c k ....................... Eastmancolor enjoyed by children of all ages. The film Paul Tait script development for 1st draft; television Progress ............................. Post-production shows facets of summer life in the country, Camera assistants ....................Lyle Birmie, series — $9800 Scheduled re lease..........September 1982 the city and at the beaches and is designed Henry Pierce, Feature film and television develop­ Thunderbolt — Grahame Jennings; script Synopsis: An animated film on the pitfalls of as a motivational film for use in schools.

Gene Moller, development for 3rd draft; telefeature — the marketplace. Made for the Department ment John Stokes, of Consumer Affairs. $7500 All productions apart from these have Gary Phillips The Veronica — Bernard Vance; script previously been listed.

G a ffers.....................................Bruce Gailey, development for 1st draft; cinema feature Graeme Rutherford CRIME DETECTION Ballet TV series — Film Victoria is currently — $8000 F IL M A U S T R A L IA Lab o ra to ry............................................ Atlab developing a major television series to be Vocations — Sam son P ro d u c tio n s ; Prod, company ......................Film Victoria Length .......................................... 90 mins produced for the Australian Ballet, the additional 3rd draft funding; cinema feature in association with Gauge................................................... 16mm series 13 x ’/ 2-h ou r episodes of an — $2000 Janina Craig Screen Services Shooting s to c k ....................... Eastmancolor action/adventure format highlighting the P roducer................................. Janina Craig P ro gre ss..........Pre-production (Australia) ANNIE’S COMING OUT essentials of dance capability; concept and D ire c to r..............................

Catherine Millar Production (overseas) scriptwriting in progress.

Scriptwriter ................................ Lyn Ogilvy Production com pany............Film Australia Scheduled re lease..................... May 1983 Breakfast Creek — Ben Lewin: cinema Exec, producer ............. Vincent O’Donnell P roducer.................................................. DonMurray Synopsis: The official film of the XII Com­ feature; scripting.

Prod, co -o rd in a to r..................................DonDennett AVR B F IL M U N IT Asst producer.............................. Ian Adkins monwealth Games in Brisbane.

The Last Star Model — Forrest Redlich: Length .............................................25 mins D ire c to r......................................................GilBrealey cinema feature; scripting.

Gauge....................................................16mm Script ................................. John Patterson, The Caravan Park — Brian McKenzie: Progress ...................................... Production Chris Borthwick cine m a fe a tu re ; s c rip tin g and p re ­ KEN HOWARD Scheduled release.............November 1982 Photography......................Mick Borneman production.

JUST A STORY Synopsis: A training film on the technique Photography Prod, company ..................... Film Australia Your Place or Mine — Patrick Edgeworth: of crime detection. Made for the Victoria (2nd u n it)..........................

Bruce Hillyaid Prod, company .................AVRB Film Unit cinema feature; scripting.

Dist. company .......................Film Australia Police.

Sound recordists ................ Rod Simons, Dist. company ..................................... AVRB Haxby’s Circus — John McRae: cinema George Hart P roducer.............................Elisabeth Knight P ro du ce r..............Barbara Boyd Anderson feature.

Camera assistant ...............Peter Viskovich Asst producer............................. Pam Ennor GOONAWARRA PROJECT D ire c to r............... Barbara Boyd Anderson Blockbuster — Adams Packer Film Pro­ Lighting .................................... Bruce Gailey Director .............................. Daro Gunzburg Scriptwriter ........ Barbara Boyd Anderson ductions (Phillip Adams, John Clarke): D ire c to r.......................... David Bilcock Snr Unit m a n a g e r..............................Gerry Letts Length .............................................. 30 mins Prod, m anager................... Rob McCubbin cinema feature.

Gauge..................................................

16mm Scriptwriter ..............................

Roy Whitney Length .............................................100 mins Prod, secretary ......................Marion Wroe Family Matters — Roger Dunn, Maggie Progress ......................................... Scripting Exec, producer ............. Vincent O’Donnell Gauge................................................... 35mm Length ............................................. 40 mins Miller: cinema feature; scripting.

Release d a te ...............................

September Gauge ..................................................

16mm Shooting s to c k ....................... Eastmancolor G auge.................................................. 16mm Everybody’s Talking — Adrian Tame, Philip Synopsis: The second archival film for the Progress ...................................... Production P ro gre ss............................... Pre-production Shooting s to c k ....................................... 7247 Ackman: television special; scripting.

Synopsis: Progressive filming over three Release d a te ..................................May 1983 Australia Council about a saddler who lives Progress ............................... Pre-production The First Fleet — First Fleet Films (Johnin Adelaide. years on the construction of a major Synopsis: A true story of Annie, who Synopsis: A teenage boy begins to discover athon K ing ): te le v is io n m in i-s e rie s ; housing estate. Made for the Ministry of entered an institution at the age of three, that literature can be a good deal more than scripting. ' Housing. disabled by cerebral palsy. It is the story of RURAL CONTACT “just a story” !

Naked Under Capricorn — David Wad­ Jessica, who taught Annie to commun­ dington, Bloodwood Films: television mini­ Prod, company ..................... Film Australia icate, and took her out of the institution.

HAIR OF THE DOG series; scripting.

Dist. company ....................... Film Australia (working title Gordon — Hugh Stuckey, Sue Woolf: tele­ KOALAS & CO. P ro du ce r............................................. MacekRubetzki BETTY VIAZIM vision mini-series; scripting.

ALCOHOL ABUSE) Asst producer............................Gerry Letts Prod, company .................AVRB Film Unit The Sunbeam Shaft — see survey.

Research....................................

Ron Iddon Prod, company ..................... Film Australia Prod, company ....................... Film Victoria Dist. company ....................... Audio-Visual DOCUMENTARIES Length .............................................. 24 mins Dist. company ....................... Film Australia Resources Branch, in association with OCP Gauge................................................... 35mm Thom astown — a d o c u m e n ta ry on P roducer.............................Elisabeth Knight Education Dept., Vic. Dist. company ......................... Film Victoria Shooting s to c k .......................................5247 Thomastown School, its special structure Asst p roducer.........................................Pam Ennor D ire c to r.........................

Michael O’Connell P ro du ce r...................................................RobMcCubbin Progress .............................. Pre-production and relation to established educational D ire c to r................................ Daro Gunzburg Scriptwriter ...........................Russell Porter Director ................................... Louise Jonas Release d a te .................................

May 1983 procedures.

Photography ......................Peter Viskovich Scriptwriters .................Maree Teychenne, Photography ..............................Alan Cole Synopsis: A wide-screen cinema short Sound recordist....................Ian Jenkinson Sound recordist..................................... LeoPollini Louise Jonas about the replacement of the party-line Editor .........................................Sue Horsley Editor .....................................David Hipkins P ho to gra p h y.............................. Frank Few system in outback Queensland with a solarLighting .................................... Bruce Gailey Exec, producer ............ Vincent O’Donnell Editor ..................................... Robert Martin powered digital radio telephone system.

Length .............................................. 40 mins Exec, producer .................. Ross Campbell Prod, assistant G auge................................................... 16mm OCP L td ..........................................Marion Crooke T A S M A N IA N F IL M Neg. matching .................. The Neg Room P ro gre ss............................Post-production Camera assistant ............Brendan Lavelle Sound e d ito r..........................David Hughes A WINDOW TO TRADE C O R P O R A T IO N G a ffe r.................................... Stewart Sorby Mixed at ...................................................VFL Release d a te ...................................... August Prod, company ..................... Film Australia Make-up ................................Carla O'Keefe L a b o ra to ry............................................... VFL Synopsis: An archival film for the Australia Dist. company ....................... Film Australia Council about a 70-year-old milliner.

Neg. matching ..................Warwick Driscoll Length ............................................. 12 mins P ro du ce r.............................Elisabeth Knight M ixe r........................................... Peter Frost G auge....................................................16mm Asst producer......................................... PamEnnor Medical adviser .................Dr Jan Fraillon GULLIBLE’S TRAVELS Shooting s to c k ............................ ECN 7247 CLYDE CAMERON COLLEGE D ire c to r....................................................SueCornwell L a b o ra to ry............................................... VFL P ro g re s s ...........................................Awaiting release Prod, company ..................................... TFC P hotography..........................................John Hosking, Length ................. r ..........................

20 mins Synopsis: Animals from the Australian Prod, company ..................... Film Australia Dist. company .......................................TFC Kerry Brown G auge................................................... 16mm bush: koalas, tree-frogs, fruit bats, goannas Dist. company ....................... Film Australia P roducer.................................

Barry Pierce Sound recordist...............

Syd Butterworth Progress .............................

Post-production — each dependent on trees.

P roducer.............................Elisabeth Knight Editor ................................. Mike O’Donnell Synopsis: A short film about the early D ire c to r.............................. Damian Brown Asst p roducer......................................... PamEnnor Scriptwriters ......................

Damian Brown, Camera assistants ......................

Mike Roll, detection of alcohol abuse.

Produced for Director ....................Paul Woolston-Smith MAINLY MONKEYS Lindsay Arnold Cran Mortimer the Health Commission.

Photography................................. Ross King Photography ....................Russell Galloway Lighting ...................................

Allan Mearns Prod, company ..................AVRB Film Unit Length ...............................................10 mins Sound recordist.......................Ian Sherrey Length ............................................. 10 mins Dist. company ......................... Audio-Visual G auge....................................................16mm G auge.................................................. 16mm Resources Branch, Progress ............. Awaiting script approval Progress .............................Post-production Education Dept., Vic. Release d a te .................................... October

LESSONS IN VISUAL LANGUAGE SERIES — RHYTHM

Concluded on p. 389

CINEMA PAPERS August - 361

MEET GARY HAMILTON. Gary has recently been appointed to the Australian Film Commission as Distribution O fficer and we’d like you to introduce yourself to him. fia iy can offer independent advice on the distribution and marketing of Australian .films, television programmes docum en­ taries both here and overseas.

You can contact Gary at the Australian Film Commission 4 th Floor, 8 West Street, North Sydney, 2 0 6 0 .

Telephone 9 22 6 8 5 5 . Telex 25157.

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Far East Debi Enker The consistently laudable feature of John Duigan’s work as a writer and a director has been his skilful and com­ passionate social observation. A deli­ berate economy in the use of dramatic incidents has been complemented by a deft, naturalist style to highlight his concern with individuals condemned to dwell on the fringe o f affluent societies.

W hile Far East reiterates this funda­ mental theme, it also reveals a signifi­ cant alteration in style and a departure from the fam iliar terrain of urban Aus­ tralia. The depiction of an unidentified country in South-east Asia aims, in the words of its writer-director, to provide “ a glimpse o f life behind the tourist poster” . Sadly, this admirable inten­ tion is never realized with either the delicacy of Mouth to Mouth or the complexity o f Winter of Our Dreams.

Far East depicts a country fractured with polarities of wealth and depriva­ tion, and victimized by a brutal and repressive m ilita ry governm ent. It exposes a society where government and industry are synonymous with e x p lo ita tio n and c o rru p tio n , but chooses to develop this theme with a n arrative structure popularized by Hollyw ood films o f the 1940s, defin­ itively in Casablanca. The resulting c o m b in a tio n produces a style so dependent on narrative drama that it constrains and dilutes the skills that have distinguished Duigan. The cred­ ib ility and pathos are continually undermined by an unsuccessful attempt to recreate the structure and dram atic momentum favored by directors such as M ichael C urtiz.

A lth o u g h th e film e ffe c tiv e ly contorts any idyllic imagery conjured by travel posters and casts consider­ able doubt on their validity, it often fails to develop beyond the single dimension o f the brochures. Duigan’s ta le n t fo r e co n o m ical c h a ra c te r developm ent appears clumsy when com bined w ith the type o f m elo ­

dramatic dialogue and histrionic action sequences required by the film . When tackling native territory on the terms circumscribed by Mouth to Mouth and Winter of Our Dreams, his films have attained a level of complexity and unobtrusive observation never achieved in Far East. The social and political forces at work in this film are om ni­ present yet somehow nebulous. A sadistic and corrupt arm y is identified, as are the various tentacles of exploita­ tion, yet they are overshadowed and rendered simplistic by a desire to recreate the type of love story that sizzled in 1942, but seems anachron­ istic 40 years later.

From the moment Jo Reeves (Helen Morse) glides into M organ Keefe’s (Bryan Brown) Koala Klub, with her husband Peter (John Bell) in tow, it is Casablanca revisited. Outside the walls of the Klub the world is a dangerous and turbulent place. W ithin its confines Keefe is the arbitrator of authority and m orality. He, like his predecessors, Rick (Hum phrey Bogart) and Rob M cG regor (Bryan Brown) in Winter of Our Dreams, has carved a niche from which he can view the surrounding world with ambivalence, and a distance illustrated by the declaration that he just “ stays in the air conditioning” and has “ almost forgotten what it’s like outside” . .

M o rg a n is lu red fro m cyn ical passivity by his love for Jo and a memory of the relationship that they shared while he was stationed in Saigon during the Vietnam war. His com m it­ m ent to help Jo, by rescuing her husband, activates a chain o f events that not only jeopardizes his business and his relationship with his mistress Nene (Sinan Leong), but also imperils and ultim ately claims his life. H e dies in a barrage of slow-motion machine-gun fire, loaded with the implications of Taxi Driver’s retributive justice and simultaneously suggesting the altru ­ istic suicide of a man who has just seen the woman he loves dutifully return to support her husband in the completion of his work.

It is often difficult to empathize with

Australian journalist Peter Reeves (John Bell), left, political activist Rosita Costanza (Raina McKeon) and expatriate Morgan Keefe (Bryan Brown) in a tight situation.

John Duigan’s Far East.

Keefe (though precedent suggests that we should). His rekindled love for Jo is understandable and his wry pursuit of her attentions quite romantic. Y et his willingness to barter with lives of his em ployees, and b ru squ ely ig n o re N ene’s pain, ascribes a type of callous­ ness and a dubious m orality that seems malevolent, except by the cosmetic con­ struction of a personal, if idiosyn­ cratic, moral code. The portrait of a stoic spurred to participation in a poli­ tical struggle is stretched to unbeliev­ able limits by his single-handed assault on a m ilitary safe house, and further confused by questions of his integrity and allegiances.

Perhaps by way of explanation, or ratio n ale, the past assumes some importance. As in the Paris of Casa­ blanca and the Vietnam moratoriums o f Winter of Our Dreams, which provided a background for Rob and Lisa’s (M a rg ie M c R a e ) romance, the past for Jo and Keefe denotes a tim e of shared values and involvement that necessarily excludes Reeves. H e has no place in the world that they shared and his present commitments and occupa­ tional priorities sim ilarly exclude him from the m orality that continues to unite them. They are further distanced from him by the use of nicknames, referring to an exclusive environment created by them in Saigon. It is the sort of club that How ard Hawks would appreciate, born in times of im minent danger and constructed to reproduce the type o f female, in a triangular rela­ tionship, that both he and Duigan seem to prefer.

Jo is in many respects a replication of the fem ale characters created by Hawks in To Have and Have Not, Rio Bravo and Ball of Fire. H e r effortless transition through a m ale w orld, characterized by card games, darts and an admirable capacity for liquor, is invigorated by consummate fem ininity

CINEMA PAPERS August - 363

Far East

Missing

and d efian t self-expression. H elen M orse exudes an air o f elegance and glamorous sexuality, whether she is lounging on a loo or bluffing her way th ro u g h a p o k e r h a n d . F in a ll y , however, forcing her to forfeit Keefe, as lisa (Ing rid Bergman) did R ick, and contrasting her to the quiet, yet for­ midable, determ ination o f Rosita Cos­ tanza (R ain a M cK eo n), the activist with whom Reeves becomes involved, diffuses the potency o f her character and u n s a tis fa c to rily resolves its ambiguities.

Rosita is the epitome o f integrity, com m itm ent and fidelity, all charac­ teristics that the apolitical, flam boyant adulteress Jo eschews. She may have a conscience, but she has no cause until Rosita and Reeves are apprehended.

H e r sense o f guilt at being with Keefe at the tim e o f their capture, and her distress at the plight o f her husband, finally force her to escape with Reeves, and m ake her support for him and his w ork as a jo u rn a lis t her p rim a ry concern. It is a lukewarm resolution for a character who has generated so much electricity, and one that does not com­ bine easily or well with the image of a w ilfu l, independent fem ale. F o r a woman whose predilection is for tum ul­ tuous environments that satisfy her taste for gambling and applaud her flir­ tatiousness, it is a form of repentant s e lf-s a c rific e best le ft to In g rid Bergman.

Jo’s relationship with her husband provides a useful insight, if not a suffi­ cient explanation, for the film ’s con­ clusion. As in Winter of Our Dreams, the married couple appear initially to be discordant. Reeves, like Rob, is a man who partially enjoys and simul­ taneously resents his w ife’s sexuality.

The film depicts their m arriage as an amiable and affectionate one, solving its periodic clashes of character through m utual respect and tolerance. One could almost believe that Jo would stay with Reeves simply because the casual, comfortable balance o f their marriage is supplemented by an adm iration for him, and the implications of his work.

But, ultim ately, it is an insufficient rationale for a relationship totally u n d e rm in e d by th e s e x u a l and emotional bond established between Jo and Keefe.

It is, however, an additional illustra­ tion o f the pattern identified by Keith Connolly in his review of Winter of Our Dreams.1 He delineates an area o f that film which contemplates “ the disturb­ ing nexus between self-expression and personal responsibility” . The tenuous search for a balance between the two is a recurrent theme in Duigan’s films and most apparent in their female charac­ ters, from Dee (Judy M o rris) and Penny (Briony Behets) in The Tres­ passers, C arrie (K im Krejus) in Mouth to Mouth and now Jo in Far East.

H o w e v e r , w h ile th e d ile m m a is perceived in Jo, its resolution lacks the perceptive ambiguity o f the other films.

The love story, and the triangular nature of its intricacies, dominate the film , yet it is also a depiction o f a society rife with the type o f exploita­ tion that pervades every facet o f exis­ tence. In a country where free speech is tantam ount to sedition, the victims become the workers who cannot ques­ tion their employers, the citizens unable to criticize the government and the women who function as the ornaments of, and servants for, a thriving tourist trade. The sweaty, suit-clad Australian

1.

C in e m a

P apers,

September/October

1981, pp. 395-6.

364 - August CINEMA PAPERS

businessmen and the “ flo ra l shirt brigade” , depicted with suitable dis­ taste as the lecherous patrons o f the K oala K lub, become synonymous with th e m u l t i - n a t i o n a l c o m p a n ie s , devouring anything that they can enjoy or profit by with total disregard for the consequences o f their actions. Tourism is viewed as both a welcome employer and ta w d ry e x p lo ite r, w illin g to consume anything appealing — beer, women, souvenirs and a smattering o f traditional dancing: i.e., local culture — with voracious gusto and an absence o f selectivity.

For a country caught between a need for the dollar and an inability to make qualitative choices through a represen­ tative government, the only source of refuge is the church. It is represented as a supportive yet impotent institution, able to witness the social and political crises, yet unable to embark on any reform atory action.

U ltim ately, the film ’s attem pt to probe the instigators o f injustice and produce “ a protest against the treat­ ment o f the poor and powerless” 2 lacks cohesion. Its convictions are con­ tinually undermined by a style and structure that inhibit both the develop­ ment o f its characters and the proven skills o f its director. The marriage of Duigan’s concerns with a Hollywood love story results in an unconvincing rom ance and a sim plistic p olitical thriller. It is a liaison that does dis­ service to the intentions of both.

F a r E ast: D irec te d by: J o h n D u ig a n . P ro d u c e r: R ichard M ason.

E xecutive p ro d u ce r: F ilm co.

A sso c ia te p roducer: J o h n M a so n . S creenplay: John D uigan. D irec to r o f p h o to g ra p h y : B rian Probyn.

E d ito r: H enry D angar.

P ro d u c tio n d esig n er: R o s s M a jo r . M u sic: S h a r o n C a lc ra ft.

S o u n d reco rd ist: P e te r B a rk e r. C ast: B ry a n B ro w n ( M o r g a n ) , H e l e n M o r s e ( J o ) , J o h n Bell ( P e t e r ) , S in an L eong (N ene), R a in a M c K e o n (R osita), H e n r y F e i s t ( D e C r u z ) , Bill H u n t e r ( W a l k e r ) , J o h n G aden (T albot).

P ro d u ctio n com pany: A lfred R o a d F i l m s . D i s t r i b u t o r : R o a d s h o w . 3 5 m m . 1 02 m in s . A u s t r a l i a . 1982.

Missing Keith Connolly Though it is his first for Hollywood, is a very characteristic CostaG a v r a s f i l m . T e n d e n t io u s , u n ­ ashamedly manipulative and dram a­ tic a lly escalated, it nevertheless confronts genuine realities.

Missing

2. Producer Richard Mason, July 28, 1982.

Basing himself once again on an established case (as in the assass­ ination o f Greek left-wing politician Lam brakis in Z and the killing o f a U .S . police “ adviser” by Uruguayan urban guerrillas in Etat de siege), Costa-Gavras makes involving dram a out o f the story o f Charles H orm an, a U .S . citizen who is presumed to have died at the hands o f the m ilitary in the Chilean coup of September 1973.

The film doesn’t even name the country in which the events occur, but scarcely needs to. I t is adapted fairly closely (though w ith the d ram atic licen ce C o s ta -G a v ra s c u s to m a rily p e rm its h im s e lf) fro m T h o m a s H a u s e r’s w ell-docum ented investi­ gation, The Execution o f Charles Horman: An American Sacrifice .!

C harles H o rm a n , a 31-year-old writer and film m aker, who had been living in Santiago for little more than a y e a r, d isap p eared — along w ith 100,000 Chileans — in the weeks following the bloody overthrow o f the governm ent o f S ocialist president Salvador Allende. Played by John Shea, Charles H orm an is seen in the film only in the opening reels and fleetingly thereafter in flashback.

In the main, the narrative (screen­ play co-written by Donald Stewart and Costa-Gavras) is concerned with the despairing search for Charles by his father, U .S . businessman Ed H orm an (Jack Lem m on), and wife Beth (Sissy Spacek) through hospitals, consulates, prisons, police stations and morgues.

The further they search, the more we learn of the brutal nature of the coup, in which thousands o f Chileans died because they had supported a freelyelected and constitutionally-endorsed government . . . or simply had broken the dawn-to-dusk curfew.

There are many sequences in which Costa-Gavras emphasizes horrifying reality with deft incursions into the surreal: a riderless white horse gallops down a deserted street, spurred on by the volleys o f trigger-happy soldiers; a helicopter gunship threateningly buzzes a resort hotel; patrons rush to a res­ taurant balcony to watch m ilitary rule being exercised in the streets below; un­ identified bodies are glimpsed through the semi-transparent ceiling of an over­ flowing morgue.

Missing is b rig h tly-co lo red and 1. H a r c o u r t B r a c e J o v a n o v i t c h , N e w Y o r k , 1 9 7 8 , no w p u blished as a P e n g u in p a p e rb a c k u n d e r the f i l m ’s t i t l e .

s u n n ily -p h o to g ra p h e d by R ic a rd o Aronovich (the time, o f course, is spring) which tends to m ake the tragedy being enacted on the streets o f Santiago seem even more terrible. (The location is actually M exico C ity. By one o f those ironies o f modern politics, Allende’s Santiago had been used by CostaGavras as the location for Montevideo when he was shooting Etat de siege in 1973 — because the Uruguayan capital was on the verge o f m ilitary takeover.)

As the Horm ans move w arily about a c ity u n d er ag g ressively-exercised m artial law, people are arb itrarily questioned, detained, shot. W om en taken at gunpoint to have their slacks slashed by soldiers are told threaten­ ingly: “ From now on, women w ill wear only dresses!”

M ilita ry lynch-law is still ram pant when Ed H orm an arrives a fortnight after Charles’ disappearance. In their hunt for Charles (made with ineffective co-operation from U .S . Embassy staff), he and Beth are allowed into the national stadium, where thousands are im p r is o n e d (a n d h u n d re d s w e re a c tu a lly e xecu ted ). A fla s h b a c k description o f the arrest o f two other U .S . citizens, F ra n k T eru gg i (Joe Regalbuto) and David H ollo w ay (K eith Szarabajka), shows prisoners being forced to run a murderous gauntlet o f flailing clubs and rifle butts in the stadium corridors. Others are led, naked, to face the firing squad. This is presented, in typical C o sta-G avras fashion, with a cold directness that makes it all the more disconcerting — and no less affecting for being either background or middle-ground to a personal drama.

However, the search for one U .S . citizen among a multitude o f tyran­ nized Chileans is the dram atic focus of the film — a focus sharpened by the performances o f Lemmon and Spacek.

L e m m o n ’ s p o rtra y a l o f th e conservative, deeply-religious business­ man steadily learning from b itte r experience is most persuasive. From his initial position of trust and confidence in the U .S . Embassy’s ability and willingness to find his son, he passes through doubt and bewilderment to reach, Finally, a mood o f contemp­ tuous anger towards the dissembling diplomats and revulsion for the new Chilean regime.

As he leaves Santiago, H orm an sen. tells them that he is going to sue (as the real-life Ed H orm an did). “ T h a t’s your privilege” , says the consul (D avid Clennon). “ N o , it’s my right!” snaps H orm an.

Costa-Gavras pays more attention than usual to character development.

The fusion o f H orm an senior’s political awakening and the softening o f his stiff­ necked puritanism is summed up in one tra u m a tic m om ent, when — after having flinched earlier at his daughterin -law ’s salty language and sexual references — he calls the Chilean coup “ this shit!” .

For her part, Sissy Spacek lends credence to the character’s rather naive counter-culturism (her faintly-yokelish Texas accent helps).

Another indication o f Costa-Gavras’ greater concern for personality is his depiction of a gradual flowering of understanding between the two N orth Americans of differing generations, outlook' and temperament.

The U .S . State Departm ent went to extraordinary lengths in issuing a threepage document denying the Film’s accu­ sations, both explicit and im plied, that U .S . officials “ covered up” Charles H o r m a n ’ s d is a p p e a r a n c e , had

Missing

“ fingered” him to the Chilean junta and w ere c o v e rtly , but d ire c tly , in v o lv e d in the p re p a ra tio n and carrying-out of the coup itself. There is, however, quite a bit of evidence that the U .S . was indeed deeply involved in the coup.

U n lik e most of their Latin Am erican counterparts, the Chilean armed forces had a reputation for respecting the constitution and keeping out o f politics.

But Hauser’s book suggests that from A lle n d e ’ s e le c tio n in 1970, U .S . agencies — on the direct instigation of the W hite House — urged them to prepare a m ilita ry takeover. A nd generals like Pinochet (who became com m ander-in-chief o f the arm y in 1973) needed little urging.

T h e n a iv e ly -in q u is itiv e C h arles H orm an was probably a marked man from the tim e he stumbled upon circumstantial evidence o f the U .S . connection while he and fam ily friend, T erry Simon (played in the film by M elanie M ayron ), made an entirely innocent one-day excursion to the seaside resort of Vina del M a r on the eve o f the coup. When all com m uni­ cations and transport shut down, they were forced to spend several days at the resort, which is adjacent to the Chilean N a v y ’s Valparaiso headquarters and where the U .S . naval mission is located.

According to Hauser, H orm an met several U .S . officers who didn’t exactly disguise their delighted participation in the coup. Several days later, H orm an and T erry Simon were given a lift back to Santiago by Captain Ray Davis, head o f the U .S . M ilita ry Group (a sim ilar character in the film is known as C aptain Tow er, played by Charles C io ffi).

In its document attacking Missing, the U .S . State Departm ent indicated that N athaniel Davis, the 1973 U .S . ambassador to Chile (played in the film

by Richard Venture), and other officials were considering suing U niversal Studios and Costa-Gavras. It would be

in te re s tin g , in the lig h t o f w h at happened to actions launched by Ed H orm an and the Fund for Constit­ utional Government, to see how they fare. ’ The film ’s prologue, incidentally, says that the H orm an case was dis­ missed, but that is an over-simpli­ fication. H o rm a n ’s suit against U .S . diplomats for dereliction of their duties was dismissed “ without prejudice” , on the p la in tiffs own application. In U .S . legal practice, this means that the case cannot be satisfactorily proved or disproved and may be reopened.

The U .S . government had asked the c o u rt to dism iss the case “ with prejudice” . . . and the application was denied. The judge was, o f course, fully aware that the suit was incomplete because the State Department had refused to supply, or grant access to, many relevant documents. (Thomas Hauser, a lawyer, makes in his book a strong circumstantial case that U .S . officials, probably embassy men who w ere also C I A agents, not only instigated Charles H o rm an ’s arrest but acquiesced in his execution.)

A prologue to the film , spoken by Jack Lemmon, concedes that some names have been changed “ to protect the picture” , and this is understand­ able. Costa-Gavras has said (though not in the co n te x t o f d efending

Missing): “ I m ake films based on true stories.

I t ’s not dram atic fiction. I take political and historical themes and organize them dram atically, while obeying the rules o f spectacle .” 2 W hat, then, are the political and historical themes “ organized” so dram atically in Missing? Let us begin in 1970 with the following pronounce­ ment on C hile by the then U .S .

President’s Assistant for N a tio n a l Security, D r Henry Kissinger: “ I don’t see why we need stand by and watch a 2. I n t e r v i e w w i t h D a n M a r c h - A p r i l , 1982.

Y akir,

Film Comment,

“Tendentious, unashamedly manipulative and dramatically escalated, it nevertheless confronts genuine realities’’: Costa-Gavras’ Missing. country go com m unist due to the irresponsibility of its own people” .3 (Chile was not, of course, “ going communist” , though it could have seemed so in the paranoid view of the Nixon W hite House.)

There is ample testimony (collected by such bodies as the Senate Select Com m ittee to Study Governmental Intelligence Operations, chaired by Senator Frank Church) o f a U .S . desire to incite a coup even before Allende assumed office in 1970 (he had topped the presidential poll with a 36 per cent vote and had to be confirmed by the Chilean Congress).

A fter Allende was duly installed by a vote o f 153 to 35, the U .S . had to bide its tim e while the Popular U n ity administration enjoyed an initial period of success and popularity. Food pro­ duction and the gross national product rose steeply, unemployment plummeted and Popular U nity increased its vote to almost 50 per cent in the municipal elections of 1971.

But the honeymoon didn’t last — p a r t i c u l a r l y a f t e r A lle n d e , in accordance with election undertakings, n a tio n a liz e d b a n k in g , c o m m u n i­ cations, the auto industry and — the m o rtal sin — copper (U .S . firm s conducted the w orld’s biggest copper operation in Chile). Because copper n a t io n a liz a tio n was also in th e C h ristian D em o crat p rogram , the Chilean congress passed the national­ ization law unanimously, but all hell broke loose when the big two U .S . companies, Kennecott and Anaconda, received no compensation (on the notunreasonable ground that they had already taken vast fortunes out of Chile).

Washington was heavily displeased 3. Q u o t e d p . 30 .

by

H auser,

Missing ,

P enguin,

1982,

and the U .S . economic squeeze, already being felt by Chile, was intensified. A ll aid (except for m ilitary hardware), loans and exports virtually ceased.

This, together with the costs o f the Allende government’s other mandated reform s (the m inim u m wage was greatly increased, large areas o f arable land nationalized) produced economic crisis, shortages of consumer goods and food as well as protest strikes by small businessmen, professional groups and sectors of the working class — such as copper miners — who had lost advan­ tages they once enjoyed under private enterprise. Demonstrations o f middleclass housewives b ang ing em p ty cooking pots filled the streets and a strike of self-employed truck-drivers disrupted the entire nation. However, in congressional elections held only six months before the coup, Popular U n ity increased its vote to 43 per cent and gained another eight seats.

T hat U .S . agencies played a m ajor role in “ destabilising” Chile in the years 1972-73 seems to be incontest­ able. C ertainly the weight o f evidence laid before his select committee was s u ffic ie n t fo r S e n a to r C h u rch to deplore “ actions conflicting with all our professed principles as a nation ” .4 Leading elements in the arm ed services had been preparing a coup for months, possibly years. Aided and advised by the C IA and U .S . services intelligence agencies, the plotters struck on September 11, 1973. It was all over in less than 24 hours, with Allende and his aides machine-gunned to death in the M oneda Palace and armed force reigning throughout the country.

It is necessary to recount this historical data to evaluate the film ’s charges about U .S . involvement in the coup and its strong im plication that U .S . officials were responsible for H o rm an ’s arrest and acquiescent in his execution. I t also helps put into perspective critical objections (some of them are downright nit-picking) to C o s ta -G a v r a ’ s “ o rg a n iz a tio n ” o f events recounted in Hauser’s book. For instance, at least one A us tra lia n reviewer has pointed out indignantly that it was mutual friend Steve V olk, n o t Jo y c e (B e th ) H o r m a n , who identified the corpse of another U .S . coup victim , Fran k T eru gg i, in a Santiago morgue and that revelations by form er Chilean intelligence agent Gonzalez about Charles’ fate were actually made two years, not three weeks, later. O ther changes, particu­ larly to the names o f U .S . Embassy officials, are more obviously necessary.

C o s ta -G a v ra s has said th a t he believes in film serving as a m irror to society and making people think — aims that are neither very ambitious nor daringly original. But making them work for mass-appeal cinema requires craftsmanship of a high order and that’s something this director has in abundance.

From Compartment tuers (1964) to the present, Costa-Gavras has allied technical command, visual precision and resourceful imagination to a steady commitment to the underdog, usually the virtuous left-wing underdog (like the victim in L’aveu, a good communist fallen among Stalinists). He has also been variously accused o f selectivity, in s e n s itiv ity and in d iffe re n c e to character development (the latter is surely answered by Lem m on’s role in Missing), but the other criticisms seem, in the main, to stem from the consis­ tency o f Costa-Gavras’ outlook.

4. Ibid.

CINEMA PAPERS August - 365

Missing

H e also clearly goes along with Lindsay Anderson’s dictum that there should be no discrepancy between a film ’s being serious and entertaining — and that is perhaps his most grievous defect in some eyes. W ith the exception o f the 1979 Clair de femme, CostaGavras’ films have all been, in essence, thrillers, but those in which political concerns provide the motive force of the narrative. Just as clearly, he is not an ideologue offering “ solutions” — epilogues to Z and Missing both reveal that justice hasn’t been done, while his second film U n homme de trop, about a traito r in a French Resistance group, doesn’t even identify the culprit.

It is also noteworthy that the most sympathetic figures in the m ajor films — Jack Lem m on’s Ed H orm an in Missing, Jean-Louis T rin tig n a n t’s investigating judge in Z and even Yves M o n tan d ’s U .S . policeman in Etat de siege — are all conservatives who don’t abandon their fundamental beliefs.

An im p o rta n t question rem ains about Missing, one that has been asked by several critics: how much relevance does the film have nine years after the events it depicts? Those who deplore the overthrow of a freely-elected govern­ ment by a U.S.-backed-and-influenced m ilita r y putsch m ay w ell reg ard Missing as being quite tim ely — after all, at this moment the people of Central Am erica are being exhorted to put their trust in democratic processes.

And the parallel between the fates of Charles H orm an and the U .S . nuns murdered last year in El Salvador is inescapable.

O f course, Missing won’t be the last screen word on the Chilean coup, alth o u g h to d ate th ere has been precious little else, apart from docu­ mentaries lik e P atricio G u zm a n ’s monumental trilogy La batalla de Chile or the analytical La spirale, by Chris M a rk e r and colleagues.

Lim ited though Costa-Gavras’ film may be in historical or ideological terms, it is nevertheless a powerful reminder about what can happen in the A m e ric a s to a people who vote “ irre s p o n s ib ly ” in a d e m o c ra tic election. One suspects that the lesson won’t need repeating.

Missing: D i r e c t e d b y : C o n s t a n t i n e C o s t a - G a v r a s .

P ro d u c e rs : E d w a rd L ew is, M ild re d Lew is. E x e c u ­ tive p r o d u c e r s : P e t e r G u b e r , J o n P e t e r s . A s s o c i a t e p roducer: T e rry N elson. S creenplay: C o n sta n tin e C o sta -G a v ra s, D o n a ld S te w a rt. D irecto r o f p h o to ­ graphy: R ic a rd o A ro n o v ich . E ditor: F ra n co ise B onnot.

P ro d u ctio n d esig n er: P eter Jam iso n .

M u sic: V a n g elis. S o u n d : D an iel B risseau . J o s e G a rc ia . C a s t: J a c k L e m m o n (E d H o r m a n ) , S issy S p a c e k (B eth), M e la n ie M a y ro n (T erry), J o h n S h e a (C h a rle s), C h a rle s C ioffi ( C p t T o w er), D avid C len n o n (P h il), R ich ard V en tu re (U .S .

A m bassador), Jerry H a rd in (C ol.

P atrick ), R ich ard B rad fo rd (C arter). P ro d u ctio n com p an y : U n i v e r s a l . D i s t r i b u t o r : U . I . P . 3 5 m m . 122 m in s .

U . S . 19 8 2 .

Monkey Grip Brian McFarlane The opening image of Monkey Grip is an underwater shot of legs swimming in a chlorinated pool. It is accompanied by a voice-over saying: “ Looking back, you see you’ve already plunged in when you thought you were only testing the water with your toe.”

The pool is part o f the shifting com­ m u n a l l i f e o f in n e r s u b u rb a n Melbourne; the voice-over suggests what was going on in it for N o ra and her junkie lover Javo. The general sense o f the lives being lived — the variable households, the casual coming and go­ ing, alternative theatre, the experi­

366 - August CINEMA PAPERS

Monkey Grip

mentation with and , in Javo’s case, the addiction to drugs — points to late 1960s/early ’70s.

However, unless I have missed some placing reference, there is nothing to suggest that the film is not meant to be set in 1982. I f that is so, it all feels curiously dated in its attitudes. For Helen G arner’s novel is firm ly set in, and very much a product of, its time which is now a decade ago.

This is not really a m ajor quibble about the film. It is so exact about its ambience, about the lives that drift from pool to bar to theatre to coffee shop, that one wonders — perhaps idly — about when it is all meant to be happening. I am certainly not arguing about “ faithfulness” to Helen G arner’s almost ostentatiously tedious novel. (It won the 1978 N ational Book Council A w ard for Australian Literature, which I would find inexplicable except that most book prize winners seem like that to me.)

The novel is constructed on the string-of-beads principle. So are a lot of q u ite e n te rta in in g novels, but in Monkey Grip, the novel, the beads were themselves, individually, lustreless and the string o f the frailest and tritest ( “ Javo was there when I got home” ). In spite o f not being able to feel a flicker o f interest in or sympathy for any of G arner’s characters, except perhaps N o ra ’s daughter G rad e, I still felt that there m ight be a good film in it somewhere. By “ somewhere” , I meant that a director sensitive to its social/ political setting might make an inter­ esting milieu study from it.

And that is w hat d irector Ken Cameron has done. Abetted by David G ribble’s camerawork, some of the best in an Australian film for some time, he has unclamorously but surely put on film a small inner suburban world of streets and shops, of scungy lanes and grotty-to-com fortable houses. H e has caught accurately the sort of C arlton that the N ational Trust isn’t interested in preserving, and in doing so he has established a mise-en-scene which helps to explain the lives o f his characters.

The film is not merely authenticseeming in its recreation of the physical aspects o f their lives, but also in its sympathetically divided view of their emotional lives. It balances a clear sense of rootless, itinerant cam ara­ derie, stressing the supportive aspect of its drifting non-nuclear households,

ag ain st the e m o tio n a lly -d ra in in g , unfulfilling relationships of people who feel able to come and go at will.

N o ra ’s apparently cheerful “ I ’ll see you when I see you” approach is touching as it becomes increasingly clear that she’d like something more dependable. She and her friends talk so much about their emotional lives and needs that it becomes clear how i n a d e q u a t e to th e m a r e th e uncommitted relationships in which they m ostly find themselves. The endless talk along the lines of “ I love you, but I can’t handle it” , or “ It seems I only get to see you when you want something” strikes again and again authentic notes of unhappiness and banality.

But, as I say, it is not all cheerless.

Against N o ra ’s bleak prospects o f any­ thing permanent with Javo (“ I can’t just stay with you all the tim e” , he tells her) is the warmth of affection between her and Gracie.

Gracie, perhaps 10 or 11, is clear­ eyed about her mother’s somewhat feckless emotional life: without ever becoming a knowing tot, she does know w hat’s what. When N o ra asks her “ W h at do you feel about Javo?” , she

says, “ Y ou should just be nicer to him and le a v e h im a lo n e .” I t ’ s n o t censorious, or wise-childish; just a plain answer to a difficult question.

A nd one o f the sweetest moments in the film shows N o r a and G racie, companionable and relaxed with each other on the M a n ly ferry at night. The feeling between mother and daughter has been established with so much affectionate detail that N o ra ’s final comment on it — about the pleasure and pain o f seeing one’s child “ taking o f f ’ — resonates effectingly with what has gone before.

I f Cameron has been lucky with his cameraman in creating the mise-enscene for these messy lives, he should be even more grateful to N o n i Hazlehurst who plays N o ra. Director, cameraman and, above all, star have in fact con­ trived to give Monkey Grip a narrative purposiveness it never began to have as a novel. W here the novel is a tiresome m o o d p ie c e , its c h a ra c te rs and am bience th in ly realized, the film scores in both areas. F o rm a l and stylistic elements work together to strengthen the film ’s central narrative thrust.

That is, N o ra ’s attachment to Javo (played by a too-healthy-looking Colin Friels) is not just a series o f episodes but the shaping force of the film .

Hazlehurst has just the face for N o ra — moody, intelligent, with accesses of warm th and humor — and she and Cameron have worked successfully to m ake N o ra ’s emotional progress the motivating factor for everything else in the film . It is a fine, unmannered performance that makes us accept her final comment about her life as “ a complicated dance to which the steps hadn’t quite been learnt” , not merely as true about N o ra , but as an illum inating a c c o u n t o f th e f i l m ’ s n a r r a t iv e procedures. M ost of the film ’s relation­ ships suggest more readiness to enter than capacity to sustain com m itm ent.

The other performances in the film unobtrusively and accurately fill in the somewhat shadowy roles of the people who make up N o ra ’s world. Helen G arner’s daughter, A lice, is a very engaging presence, responding with (directed to suggest?) an unaffected warmth and stillness to G racie’s view of her m other’s untidy life. N o one else matters much, but H aro ld Hopkins and C a n d y R a y m o n d a t le a s t m a k e

Dark Times

characters out o f thinly-w ritten roles.

The film ’s strength is, however, less to be found in detailed character­ ization than in its persistent success in evoking a locale and a tim e o f year.

Cam eron has created convincingly one o f those summers when heat and restlessness seem palpable, and by the end o f which emotional resources seem at a low ebb.

The hundred minutes it takes to see the film as opposed to the much greater tim e it took (m e, anyway) to get through the book, undoubtedly works in'the film ’s favor. A single shot in the film can suggest so much more about the physical setting or the emotional state o f a character than the novel was able to do in many pages. The mere presence o f actors can’t help fleshing out what are, in the novel, wispy suggestions o f character. Cam eron’s adaptation, in association with Garner, has been sharply discriminating: it has understood that a film can dram atize monotony and repetitiveness without itself succumbing to either.

M onkey

Grip: D i r e c t e d b y : K e n C a m e r o n .

P r o d u c e r : P a t r i c ia L ovell. E x e c u tiv e p r o d u c e r : Danny C o llin s.

A sso c ia te p roducer: T re ish a G h e n t . S c r e e n p l a y : K e n C a m e r o n , in a s s o c i a t i o n w ith H elen G a rn e r.

D irecto r o f p h o to g ra p h y : D a v id G rib b le . E d ito r: D avid H u g g e tt. P r o d u c ­ tio n d e sig n er: C lark M unro.

M u sic: B ruce S m e a t o n . S o u n d reco rd ist: M a r k L ew is. C a st: N o n i H a z le h u r s t ( N o r a ), C o lin F riels (Ja v o ), A lice G a r n e r (G ra c ie ), H a r o ld H o p k in s (W illie), C a n d y R a y m o n d (L illia n ), M ic h a e l C a t o n (C liv e), T im B u rn s ( M a rtin ), C h ris tin a A m p h le tt (A n g ela), D o n M ille r-R o b in s o n (G e rald ), L isa P eers (R ita ). P r o ­ d u c tio n c o m p a n y : P avilion F ilm s. D istrib u to r: R o a d s h o w . 3 5 m m . 101 m i n s . A u s t r a l i a . 1 9 8 2 .

Dark Times Les Rabinowicz There is a haunting moment at the end o f Die bleierne zeit (Dark Times) when the camera lingers on the expres­ sive face o f Jutta Lampe, who plays the film ’s main character, Juliane. H er sister’s young son wants to know every­ thing about his now-deceased mother who, some years ago, abandoned him and his father to become a terrorist.

Lam pe compassionately reproaches the child for having, a few moments earlier, torn up a photo of his mother. She insists that his mother was an extra­ ordinary woman, but cannot tell him everything about her, only what she knows.

It is a measure o f director M a rg a ­ rethe von T ro tta ’s honesty that she chose to close Dark Times, a film about the personal anguish surrounding Juliane’s attempts to come to terms with her own and her sister’s lives, with this admission. And it is a measure of the complexity o f her subject that her film ends on this note, marvellously c a p p e d -o ff by th e p e n s iv e , y e t e m o tio n a lly -re liev e d , expression on Lam pe’s face.

W inner o f the G rand Prix at the 1981 Venice F ilm Festival, Dark Times is also known in English by other titles: Leaden Times (a reference to a line by Hölderlin: “ I almost feel as if in leaden times” ), The German Sisters and also as Juliane and Marianne.

Also worth noting is that many o f Dark Times’ key elements have some factual basis. The film was the out­ come o f meetings between von T ro tta and the sister o f Gudrun Esslin, a mem ber o f the B aader-M einhof gang, who was said to have committed suicide inside West G erm any’s Stam m heim prison in 1977. And its story, set in the afterm ath o f the student protest move­

Squizzy Taylor

Wolfgang Rüdiger Vogler) and Juliane (Jutta Lampe) in Margarethe von Trotta’s Dark Times. ment of the 1960s, was inspired by the Esslin sisters’ biographies.

The film is dedicated to Christiane Esslin, who, convinced that her sister did not kill herself, spent several years preparing a book, setting out the circumstances surrounding her sister’s death.

Dark Times, th o u g h , does not attem pt to solve the mystery. Instead, von T ro tta has taken the story of the two Esslin sisters as her ‘‘point of departure” and has, as she explained in an interview, fashioned a film that reflects her own preoccupations as much as it reflects what she learnt from her meetings with Christiane.

The result is a film which, despite its unashamedly left-wing and feminist stance, poses questions about its subject, rather than provides answers or makes judgments about its characters.

W hat at first appears to be a slightly predictable story about two sisters born in Germ any during W o rld W a r 2, who choose different paths to bring about political change — the eldest, a prag­ matic and reformist road by becoming a journalist, and the other, the opposite path, by becoming a terro ris t — quickly develops into a film o f many unexpected twists and turns.

The two sisters o f Dark Times each see corollaries in their personal lives for their political beliefs, and one of the film ’s considerable strengths is that von T ro tta doesn’t baulk at posing the attendant moral and political dilemmas or the human costs involved.

Dark Times begins with a vexing issue. A young boy is left with his aunt Juliane by his father who has dutifully looked after the child for two years but can no longer continue to do so. His aunt, though not unloving, is reluctant to take charge o f the boy. W hy should her sister M arian ne (B arbara Sukowa) force her into a lifestyle they have rejected?

A t the film ’s end, the child is adopted by his aunt, after being doused with petrol and set alight by someone who had learned that his mother was a terrorist.

By now, his mother, who had advo­ cated the use o f violence to achieve political ends, has allegedly committed suicide. His aunt, on seeing her dead sister’s body, casts aside her usual caution (and her lover, played by Rudiger Vogler, o f 10 years’ standing) and begins her search for the true story behind her sister’s “ suicide” with a single-mindedness sim ilar to that with

which M arianne embraced terrorism.

Juliane’s efforts, though, are to little avail. In a chilling indictment of left­ w ing jo u rn a lis m , an e d ito r o f a prominent magazine recites the names o f the new, radical issues o f the 1980s: her sister’s cause is not on his list.

Topicality, he explains, is what it’s all about; the rest goes into the history books or on to history’s dungheap.

Perhaps the most inexplicable o f the film ’s reversals is the swapping of identities that has mysteriously taken place between the sisters as they grew out o f adolescence. Through a number o f flashbacks evoking Juliane’s child­ hood memories, one learns that it was M arianne who was the docile and com­ pliant daughter, her father’s favorite, while Juliane was something o f a dare­ devil and outlandish teenage radical.

In the film ’s present, Juliane and M arianne view each other’s chosen political paths with contempt. In their few brief but heated exchanges, before and during M arian n e’s imprisonment, von T ro tta crystallizes the conflicting passions and arguments th at have perennially divided the left in the emotional conflict between them.

Dark Times also captures something o f the animosity felt by the remnants of the Germ an N ew Left toward the m ilitant terrorists of its own genera­ tion, whose radicalism was born o f the same circumstances. And it is interest­ ing that two of its sources are reflected in anti-war films, incorporated into the film ’s flashbacks.

The first, about the horrors o f the N a zi death camps, illustrates the com­ plexity so typical o f the whole film.

Cine-literate viewers will recognize that it is an excerpt from A lain Resnais’ extrao rd in ary 1955 short Nuit et brouillard (Night and Fog). As its images are projected on to a screen in a makeshift auditorium , they are given added resonance when Juliane and M a ria n n e ’ s father (lik e the Esslin sisters, they are the daughters o f a Protestant clergyman) hovers about the projector.

To be sure, Dark Times displays some obvious flaws. For instance’ von T ro tta, in suggesting that the two sisters have exchanged childhood identities, has taken on more than she can handle. U n like Juliane’s other recollections, which establish the sisters’ stifling and authoritarian fam ily background, there is something slap­ dash about her probing here. (Also the flashbacks suffer from a certain clumsi-

ness due to the way in which they are introduced: a childhood recollection is set o ff by an imposing stone courtyard, another by a cup o f burnt m ilk . . .)

A nd more seriously perhaps for purists o f cinematic style is that these flash­ backs, which conform to Juliane’s sub­ jective point o f view, are patently at odds with the objective and austere visual style o f the film .

W h at is distinctive and adm irable about Dark Times is that so much is left to the audience to in te rp re t. Von T ro tta ’s blend o f a number o f strategies which eschew emotional identification — her script doesn’t dram atize what it is actually about and dissipates its more disturbing elements; and her direction extends the duration o f many o f the film ’s scenes — invites the audience to adopt a contemplative attitude toward the film .

And it is fitting that Dark Times should end ambiguously, leaving the audience (and Juliane) to dwell on the young boy’ s so litary insistence on knowing everything.

Dark Times (Die bleierne zeit): D i r e c t e d b y : M a r ­ g a re th e von T ro tta . S creenplay: M a rg a re th e von T ro tta. D irector o f pho to g rap h y : F ran z R ath.

E d ito r: D a g m a r H irtz . M u sic: N ic o la s E c o n o m o u .

C ast: J u tta L a m p e (Juliane), B a rb a ra S u k o w a (M a ria n n e ), R u d ig e r V ogler (W o lfg an g ), D oris S c h a d e (M o th e r), V eren ice R u d o lp h (S ab in e), L uc Bondy (W erner), F ran z R u d n ick (F ath er). P ro ­ d u ctio n com pany: B io sk o p -F ilm .

D istrib u to r: A r c li g h t . 3 5 m m . 106 m in s . W e s t G e r m a n y . 1981.

Squizzy Taylor Jim Schembri opening credits to Squizzy suggest a factually-based period film shackled by matters of accuracy in an attempt to present a cinematic account of a notorious 1920s Melbourne crim inal. Rather, the mono­ chrome credits fading in and out under the well-publicized Squizzy logo to a familiar-sounding, pleasant jazz score carry with them the comforting conno­ tation that the film ’s prim ary purpose is to entertain.

This noble intention, however, is thwarted by the film ’s lack of enter­ prise in exploring, to more engaging depths, aspects of Squizzy’s life. The film certainly has its moments, but view er interest fluctuates between growing involvement with the events on th e s c re e n and o c c a s io n a l bewilderment.

Episodic, je rk y glimpses o f Squizzy’s character and associations create a fractured impression of his career, with lapses in continuity and coherence rele­ gating many initially involving develop­ ments o f his career to off-screen assumptions.

Victim s of this superficiality include the emotional side to Squizzy’s am bi­ valent character, his associations with the rival detectives Brophy (A la n Cassell) and Piggott (M ich ael Long), his manipulation o f the press through his friendship w ith jo u rn a lis t Reg Harvey (R obert Hughes), the ambig­ uity over whether Squizzy’s notorious reputation is valid or a mere media fab­ rication, and, particularly, his involve­ ment with Henry Stokes (C ul Cullen) and his consequent ascent to power and position in the M elbourne underworld.

Squizzy’s ruthlessness and lack of moral concern is well-depicted and is contrasted to a gentlemanly civil and emotional dimension in his personality.

Early in the film , when Squizzy (played with interm ittent excellence by D a v id A tk in s ) is cau gh t fo r the The

Taylor hardly

CINEMA PAPERS August - 367

Squizzy Taylor

attempted robbery o f an accountant, he doesn’t hesitate to in fo rm on his accomplice, Angus M u rra y (Peter Hosking). This strengthens Squizzy’s tie w ith th e r u le -b e n d in g D e te c tiv e Brophy, by helping him outdo his offi­ cious, by-the-book rival, Detective Pig­ gott. Indeed, im mediately after M u rray is violently apprehended, Squizzy is shown shaving, unperturbed by his recent betrayal.

This self-seeking am orality is again displayed when ‘two-up king' Henry Stokes, having provided Squizzy with an alibi for the time of the assault, pres­ sures him to help set up a competitor, W hiting, by robbing a jeweller with him and then informing Brophy. A t first, Squizzy is indignant at the im plica­ tions of such an offer: “ A re you calling me a fizz?” Stokes, however, appeals to his baser priorities: “ You stop W hiting, and it’s worth a hundred quid.”

The next shot shows Squizzy rob­ bing the jeweller with W hiting, who soon after is apprehended (again violently) by Brophy.

In contrast, the type of emotional bond forged by the one-to-one arrange­ ment o f pimp and prostitute living under the same roof that Squizzy shares with Dolly (Jacki W eaver) is all too slight. Consequently, Squizzy’s am bi­ valence merely represents a patchilydrawn character, rather than the extreme ends of a character continuum.

A fter M u rra y ’s capture, Squizzy returns to his flat and asks D olly how business was. Surprised, she says she couldn’t work because she was worried.

Squizzy is angry at this, claiming that what she does is hardly work, to which she replies, “ Some fellas expect a bit extra.”

Squizzy then approaches her, blade in hand, growling, “ Oh, do they?” , while pressing the razor against her neck. T h irty seconds later, he offers to take her dancing and, in one of the film ’s nostalgic touches, prances with D olly like a gent, breaking to knee one of her rude johns in the groin, and continuing sprightly.

Squizzy’s shifting attitude to Dolly

368 - August CINEMA PAPERS

following her pack rape, led by C ut­ more (Steve Bisley) and Slater (Peter P au ls o n ), m ag n ifies the lack o f development in their relationship. His fiery outburst to Stokes and desire for revenge seems to reflect a strong sense of loss and emotional injury as he exclaims, “ She can hardly bloody walk.

There were five of them — that she re m e m b e rs !” Y e t these feelings suddenly reverse to those compatible with suffering damaged merchandise: “ Maybe she is [a m oll], but no one does that to m e.”

This sudden inversion of attitude is incongruous because the personal repercussions of the rape, of Squizzy’s emotional exchange with Dolly after her assault, and her image of him as a pillar of security are ignored.

When Squizzy firebombs C utm ore’s establishment in ‘retribution’ (though his motivation is trivialized by his glee­ ful intoxication), D o lly ’s character is relegated to insignificance as full atten­ tion is on the gang war he starts between Stokes, Slater and Cutm ore by hinting to the eager reporter Harvey that H enry was responsible for the fire.

In fa c t, the next tim e D o lly ’ s presence approaches anything signifi­ cant is two years later, as the madam in Squizzy’s brothel. Squizzy is unim ­ pressed with D o lly’s team of geriatric prostitutes, and warns her that she’d better pull up her socks because “ it’s not like the old days anym ore.” U n fo r­ tunately, the impression o f just what the “ old days” were like, particularly in regard to Squizzy’s professional and personal relationship with Dolly, is too thinly drawn for this remark to carry much weight.

Squizzy’s ascent to power and influ­ ence in the Melbourne underworld is treated with surprisingly little deline­ ation for what one would imagine to be an im portant development in his career, and consequently in the film.

When the warring gangland, leaders are ‘prompted’ to leave town by the police, Squizzy proudly assumes Henry Stokes’ ‘throne’ amid receptive pats on the back for the new ‘two-up king’ . This

Squizzy (D a v id Atkins) and ¡d a (Kim Lewis).

Kevin Dobson’s factually-based recreation, Squizzy Taylor. au to m atic assumption o f power is neither convincing in regard to the impression o f Squizzy given in the early part o f the film , nor in showing by what means he acquires the position.

There is a point later in the film where Brophy warns Squizzy that he’s “ only minding the store for Stokes” . I f this is meant to suggest that Stokes handed over the reins o f his operations to Squizzy until his return, a dire insufficiency in the depiction of this transference of power exists. Stokes saw Squizzy merely as a small-league, petty thief, even disbelieving that it was Squizzy who firebombed the Cutm ore establishment, claiming that he is just “ not clever enough” .

Alternately, if Squizzy employed

some machination to usurp the power o f this prominent position in the under­ world, it remains largely a mystery as to how he curbed the ambitions o f any competitors, how he legitimized his position and how he distinguished him self from the back-street criminals he seems to typify.

The two-year jum p in the film , from 1919 to 1921, covers many significant developments in Squizzy’s career — particularly his growing association with Harvey, his manipulation o f the press, his media image, and the rivalry between Brophy and Piggott. But the audience has to rely on inadequate, and c ertain ly uninteresting, hearsay o f characters to realize what in fact has happened.

A fter Squizzy jumps bail for stealing liquor, he goes for a boat ride with Harvey, reading him an article which, the reporter assures, is front page m aterial. There is a sudden fam iliarity between the reporter and the under­ world figure as they jo ke and chat in casual tones. It becomes (b a re ly ) apparent, in S q u izzy’ s im pressive courtroom speech near the end o f the film , that their association had allowed Squizzy to manipulate Harvey and cultivate his own media image. “ There have been some colorful stories in the press about m e,” he smirks on the stand, “ the best o f which I ’ve written myself. But I ’m only a newspaper hero.”

The extent of this manipulation, however, is not shown in any striking way, and is why H arvey’s previous image o f fearing for his life from Squizzy contrasts too sharply with their subsequent friendly chat in the boat.

The point raised o f media sensa­ tionalism of Squizzy’s exploits, as a means o f selling papers, is also rele­ gated to hearsay, rather than being an engaging development in.the film.

When Squizzy is taken into custody after M u rra y is arrested for murder, Piggott remains to speak with his nervous wife, Ida (K im Lewis), who wants to know why Squizzy’s been taken. Piggott replies sarcastically that Squizzy is a respected citizen, an asset to the community, mentioning, by-theby, stories in the press about Squizzy’s alleged organizing o f knifings and bash­ ings, of threatening the children of un­ co-operative people, of keeping a pros­ titute in line by giving her a ‘rest’ with

Piggott (Michael Long) interrogates Squizzy on his death bed. Squizzy Taylor.

Squizzy Taylor

the broken end o f a beer bottle neck.

Id a denies these accusations, to which Piggott quips, “ W ell, you ought to know better than anyone.”

If, indeed, Id a ’ s relationship with Squizzy allows her to see the essence o f Squizzy’ s character through these sup­ posed fabrications, then too little o f this intim acy is shared with the viewer.

The seething rivalry between Brophy and Piggott set up early in the film is later diffused when Piggott suddenly appears to have superseded Brophy’s position in the police force. The power struggle and value conflict to which the film only fleetingly addresses itself occurs, like many other elements in the film , off-screen. In fact, when Piggott unsuccessfully tries to get Squizzy to adm it on his deathbed to his ‘arrange­ m ent’ with Brophy, the viewer is given too little inform ation to give Squizzy’s final defiance any impact.

W hen Squizzy and Brophy meet to discuss the schoolgirl murder, Squizzy mentions in mock irritation that, “ This is getting to become a habit” , despite it being the first interaction between them that the viewer knows anything about since the gangster’s rise to power.

W hile Piggott searches Squizzy’s flat a fte r M u r r a y ’ s shooting episode, Squizzy pulls Brophy aside and says, “ Fat lot o f good you are. W h at am I paying you for, anyway?” This is actually the first substantial reference to graft money in the film .

When Squizzy is acquitted after giving him self up, Brophy admits to Piggott that he knew where Squizzy was all the time, that he could send messages to him as long as he didn’t run him in, and that Squizzy “ served his purpose” . This verbalization, however, cannot sufficiently displace the dis­ appointment of not seeing enough o f the close, intriguing and mutually-sus­ taining relationship in operation.

H ad Squizzy Taylor capitalized more substantially on the captivating nature o f its namesake’s many aspects, its intention to entertain may have been more satisfactorily fulfilled, with a stronger developmental coherence and sustained viewer interest. This prob­ ably would have complemented the occasionally indigenous, nostalgic touches in the film (the two-up games, costumes, cobblestoned narrows and that bravura shot o f Flinders Street), m aking those unsightly homages to the H o lly wood-gangster-movie-cliches less noticeable, and giving the film more potent local character and entertain­ ment value.

Squizzy Taylor:

D ir e c te d by: K e v in D o b s o n . P r o ­ du cer: R o g e r L e 'M e s u rie r. E x ecu tiv e p ro d u cer: Roger S im pson.

S creenplay: R o g er S im pson.

D ire c to r o f p h o to g ra p h y : D a n B u rstall. E d ito r: D avid Pulb ro o k .

P ro d u ctio n desig n er: Logan B rew er. M u sic: B ru ce S m e a t o n . S o u n d reco rd ist: Phil S te rlin g . C a s t: D a v id A tk in s (S q u iz z y ), J a c k i W e a v e r (D olly), K im Lew is (Ida), R o b e rt H u g h e s ( H a r v e y ) , S te v e B isley ( C u t m o r e ) , C u l C u lle n (S to k e s ), A la n C assell (B ro p h y ), M ic h a e l L o n g (P ig g o tt), T o n y R ic k a rd (D utch),. S im o n T h o rp e (P addy).

P ro d u c tio n com pany: S im p so n Le M e s u rie r F ilm s. D istrib u to r: F ilm w ay s. 3 5 m m .

10 5 m i n s . A u s t r a l i a . 1 9 8 2 .

Southren Comfort* R. J. Thompson

Gumbo File with Blanks Finally, here is a W alter H ill film that didn’t shoot through the down­ town theatres faster than lard through a goose — and one which reviewers took

*That’s no typo, Editor; that’s how folks pronounce "Southern” down South.

Southern Comfort

seriously. The usual irony: after four modest wonders slide past without mention, this film — in many ways the least o f H ill’s films — gets the gravy.

W h ile it does have the Buster Keaton deadpan approach, Comfort lacks The Warriors’ submersion of baroque visual and social elements under absolute k in e s is ; th e d e a th o f R a y m o n d C h an d ler dialogue in Hickey and Boggs; The Getaway’s sparsing o f Jim Thompson; The Driver’s alternation betw een extrem es o f a c tio n and m in im alism ; the ro m an tic, and so doomed, sense o f place and moment o f Hard Times/Streetfighter; and The Long Riders’ strang e s u b tra c tiv e reworkings o f classical Icelandic sagas and Japanese , epics. And while Com­ fort continues to deal with m ale bonding, it does so with much less emphasis or variety than any other H ill S p ecial (cheap but d ead ly on a Saturday night).

film , complete with zydeco music, com­ munity dancing, bon ton festival atm o­ sphere and hundreds o f pounds of d ow n ho m e grub: ja m b a la y a , file gumbo, beer, fresh hogs. But this film subverts even Blank’s wholesome sub­ culture celebrations. L ike the dwindling and confused platoon, we must figure out where we are.

Am erican films have always circled around the relation o f the past and the present. In th eir present baroque p e rio d , this re la tio n s h ip is o ften expressed in terms o f films and film systems: representations o f the past are recruited from Hollywood. The process o f lo c a tio n becomes in c re a s in g ly necessary for access to such films, com­ posed as they are o f several inter­ secting film ic grids/planes/systems: we must first plot the co-ordinates of these convergences. So, this review will take a while before it gets to the film proper.

In fact, this review isn’t particularly

HeySarge, Where Are We? Comfort begins: the platoon

interested in the film proper, but rather in its allusions, appropriations, conver­ gences and Finally what it is not: what Comfort assembles the elements for but never activates.

loses map, compass and radio. Their first roblem is one o f location: they don’t now where they are, where they are going, what they are doing or what sort o f place they are in. They talk a lot about this. But they face another, more puzzling problem: they don’t know what film they are in. A t the outset, it seems to be Objective Burma or Merrill’s Marauders, but that doesn’t work out: Comfort isn’t about the heroism o f perseverance. Then it looks like Too Late the Hero. N o , not about the politics o f war. N ext possibility: The Lost Patrol. N o t for long; this film is n ’ t a b o u t a lle g o r y . F o r som e moments, Flight of the Phoenix looks like the answer, but the film turns a corner and surrenders its brief flirta ­ tion with the theme o f co-operation. So, the survivors decide they are in a revisionist, unpretentious remake of Deliverance, but the film doesn’t deliver a city versus country structure or a fixation on male sexual identities.

Just when it looks like H a rd in (Powers Boothe) and Spencer (Keith Carradine), the last survivors, will never figure their way out o f the meta­ swamp, they stumble into a Les Blank

War Games Comfort proposes

itself as a war film of the type developed in American cinema after W orld W ar 2. A small, contentious m ilitary unit is cut o ff from contact with the larger (m other) body without sufficient inform ation about the war or the environment (including the enemy). In this cultural isolation, members of the group actively rep­ resent various parts o f society (a reworking of an old literary conven­ tion: The Canterbury Tales, Ship o f Fools). Such film s are about the conflict, the social war, within the unit much more than they are about the conflict between the unit and the (usually little seen) enemy.

Bracketing to Get the Range Twinned with the war grid is a second formula which we might call “ Sur­ vival” . Its movement is toward an objective and at the same time toward survival. Its rhythm is attrition. Its issue is: who will survive, why should they survive when others die and what

will they find at the end o f the journey.

This form is common in the type o f war film mentioned, but it spreads through many types o f film: mysteries (Ten Little Indians), horror (Halloween), disaster (The Poseidon Adventure), romance (Beau Geste), space opera (Alien) and social realism /art (The

Wages of Fear).

“ The sun never shines in W a lk e r’s Woods, I doubt if it would come in even if it could, ’Cause the gators and the cottonmouths, The sand that pulls you down, M a k e W a lk e r’s Woods a haven for the damned.”

— Robert M itch um , “ T h a t M an: Robert M itchum Sings” , M o n u ­ ment Records S L P 18086, c. 1967.

I t ’s both a swamp movie and a red­ neck movie. Comfort is virtually ternp la te d by “ W h a t’ s Y o u r 10-20?:

“A haven of the damned’’: lost in a Louisiana swamp. Walter Hill’s Southern Comfort.

Redneck M ovie Travel Notes” in Film Comment, July-August 1980. I t ’s not quite interested in transforming the redneck into a star, but it is very inter­ ested in asking what sorts of heroic status may be available to rednecks and under what conditions.

It is completely a swamp movie. The sw am p is th e f i l m ’ s e n v e lo p in g m etaphor: “ . . . i t ’s w h a t’ s in the swamp, what the swamp stands for, and what the swamp is in us that gives it its potency. The swamp is to the U .S . as the horror film is to the corpus of American film .” On this point the film is single-minded rather than eclectic: it is not interested in any use of the swamp to argue ecological issues (as is often the case: see W ind Across the Everglades, Frogs or Ivan Tors-type television series such as Flipper or G en tle B en). T h e sw am p is not mastered by technology (G ator) or destroyed by it (Ruby Gentry); nor is it a place of potential Rousseauian grace threatened by technology (Louisiana Story). C om fort’s Guard helicopter recurs as a beacon and a tantalizing reminder of the non-swamp, but the

CINEMA PAPERS August - 369

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A Film by M argarethe von Trotta o f exquisite delicacy a n d m o ra l tact. ”

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Southern Comfort

chopper is completely impotent; it can’t help.

The swamp is an other place, and an incomprehensible one. The platoon’s first mistake (as opposed to its original sin) is going into tne swamp in the first place. T he place has its own culture of Cajuns whose language and ways are not understood by these outsiders posing as soldiers. N o r is the swamp made apprehendable by translating it into' biological presences: the few animals we see are either dead (the catch o f tra p p e rs ), d o m e s tic a te d (trained to kill: the Cajun dogs) or ‘ reassuring’ signs o f life outside the swamp (the C ajun’s brace o f pigs). (It is a m ark o f H ill’s carefully-focused dis­ cipline that given a swamp full o f alligators he never shows or refers to them. T h a t’s resisting a mighty tem pta­ tion.)

N o indexation is offered to show the effect o f the platoon on the swamp: the place is untouchable, beyond their power, indifferent. N either are the men indexed: no progressive deterioration of clothing, no lengthening o f beards, no Dirty Harry escalation o f wound upon wound. Granted, Bowden goes cata­ tonic in the middle o f the film , but H ill wants to remind us o f the Colonel in Men in War, as well as act out one of the options available to the intruders: if you can’t get out o f the swamp physically, withdraw mentally.

Targets o f Opportunity H ill films use the narrative arm ature in ways ranging from oblique and ellip­ tical all the way to chthonic and Sphinx-like, but they never indulge in overt anti-narrative moves (they are the opposite o f overt). The effect from this is one o f irony. In Comfort, the elements for many readings are offered, but there the film stops; it doesn’t proceed to m ake the reading. The ecol­ ogical v a ria n t has been discussed: claims have been made for the film as having an ecological thrust, but finally its ecological message is: sending N atio n al Guardsmen into the swamp won’t hurt the swamp but will be pure hell on them. The political extrapola­ tion (and it must be extracted) is: don’t send the Guard.

The role o f the G uard is also central to the most often invoked reading o f the film — as an allegory/parable/sim ulacrum o f Vietnam . Comfort is more like a cavalry Western than most war films, in that the Am erican m ilitary unit is sent into action against an indig­ enous people on their own (and, also, Am erican) ground; in most war films, the a rm y fig h ts th e G e rm a n s or Japanese on ground neither Am erican nor Axis homeland. But this is not the army; this is the N atio n al Guard. The d is tin c tio n is essential fo r v a lid interpretation.

Citizens in Peace, Soldiers in War, We Are the Guard The G uard has its theoretical basis in documents o f the Am erican Revolu­ tion but its specific, enabling legisla­ tion comes from the post-Civil W a r period o f Reconstruction in the South, during which time Federal (N o rth ern ) occupation troops were used to enforce civil and municipal law. Due to abuses, as soon as the Southern states had suffi­ cient power in the national legislature, a bill was passed barring the use of Federal m ilitary troops in domestic situations.

The N atio n al Guard is comprised of volunteer citizen soldiers who train a few weeks each year and who are not

Two Laws

under national authority (the Presi­ dent), but answer to the Governor of each state. They are, as the film makes clear, the quasi-m ilitary forces called out for university dem onstrations, lab o r strikes, race riots; they are amateurs. One would rather have the a r m y , th e M a r in e s , o r even — depending on the city — the police called out than these undertrained, panicky hoodoos. T h a t’s part of what Comfort trades on. These guys use arm y equipment and uniforms, but they are not army.

The other irony is keyed from the initial superimposed title: “ Louisiana, 1973” . I f you were in the Guard in 1973, you were there to avoid being in Vietnam .

In fairness, certain Vietnam refer­ ences should be noted. The swamp itself invokes Vietnam . The Cajuns are seen not as a m ilitary force, but as a native people affronted, and they are indistin­ guishable: you can’t tell a friendly from a hostile. The film ’s first sequence enacts, with blank cartridges, the frag­ ging o f an officer, but more for the purpose o f showing that the same joke, understood within the m ilitary group, will not later be understood by the other (Cajun) culture. And the impaling of the black soldier on a bed of spikes is a tip of the hat to John W ayne and Ray Kellogg’s The Green Berets. Beyond that, the film doesn’t try to tell us much about Vietnam . I f anything, it bur­ lesques: false soldiers w ith blank bullets, no officer and no m ilitary mission.

W e ’ve been going in circles because scribing a straight line through this blue-green-brown-unsunlit film will get us nowhere (and will not be endorsed by the film ). Years ago, U .S . critic M anny Farber called for a criticism o f connoisseurship. That need escalates as even genre film s m ake themselves increasingly un-linear through the use of the m ulti-co-ordinate strategy of appropriation and reference.

Finally, the film belongs in the grid o f W alter H ill films. These films locate within male action genres: “ I think genre films are the best kind of films to write if you’re interested in characters, because the audience understands the convenient handles that the story is being told by, and they’re much freer to concentrate on the characters. I think that’s an unusual point o f view — the

unfam iliar story surroundings m ake for character moods. I feel that’s not true — what you get then is filmed theatre, in which the characters are defined through dialogue.” — W alter H ill .1 H ill films have been seen to be among the most interesting o f the present A m erican film s for their extreme skill with the physical aspects o f cinema (energy, kinesis, composi­ tion, spatial inter-relationships) and their richly-condensed laconic dialogue, continuing a major tradition (see Law ­ rence A llo w a y ’s Violent America).

These are vanishing skills nowadays and, while they are conservative, they deserve our attention and respect. But the riveting aspect of a H ill film is the continuous and unpredictable tension set up within narrative structures and the film ’s movem ent through (or around) them. “ M inim alism ” is a word often used to link these films with those of M onte H eilm an, but a distinction is needed between the unrem ittin g , arid and b la n k e n in g e ffe c t o f progressive minimalism Heilm an goes for, and the shifting balance between minimalist staging and the swarm of references inducted into the meaning of any H ill film (for instance, the two precise and completely functional quotations of central images from Dirty Harry: John Vernon’s Cajun brother on the railway trestle; and H ard in ’s knifing a Cajun in the thigh after Spencer plays the final variation on blanks).

Comfort makes two moves away fro m general H ill film p ra c tic e .

Dialogue is less emphasized and less rich (this film has no equivalent to: The Driver: “ In my line, work is hard to come by.” The Cop: “ Depends on w h e re you lo o k .” T h e D r iv e r : “ Depends on who you are.” ). So you spend the first h alf o f the film thinking this is really a John Carpenter film , what with its obsessive and progressive lim iting o f the characters’ space. But then, apparently innocent bits o f dialogue from the first part of the film return, not as words, but as continuing trains of images and actions, both transform in g and privileging that aspect o f language and pulling the last h alf o f the film inside out and back through the first half.

The second change is spatial. H ill films are generally superb in their rationalization and tabulation of space across complex cutting schemes, but in Comfort, spatial relationships are often

usual is that unfamiliar characters and

1.

Fire fo r Effect

Millimeter, Vol. 6, No. 7, August 1978.

not clear at all — they are gapped or chopped, as in a Sam Fuller combat sequence. This serves again to narrativize abstract tensions and to create a complex point o f view system which is strictly limited within the platoon. The Long Riders has eloquent use o f slow motion, and it recurs in Comfort; but, in its final images, Comfort anticipates perfectly our desire to put the film on an Athena (analyst) projector and pulse the images.

Southern

Comfort: D i r e c t e d b y : W a i t e r H i l l .

P roducer: D av id G iler.

E x e c u tiv e p ro d u ce r: W illia m J. I m m e rm a n . S c reen p lay : M ic h a e l K an e, W a lt e r H ill, D a v id G iler. D ir e c to r o f p h o t o ­ g rap h y : A n d r e w L aszlo . E d ito r: F r e e m a n D avies.

P r o d u c tio n desig n er: J o h n V allo n e. M u sic: R y C ooder.

Sound: G len n A nderson, Jam es U tte r b a c k , T o n y R o m e ro . C a s t: K eith C a r r a d i n e (Spencer), Pow ers B oothe (H ard in ), F red W ard (R eece), F r a n k ly n S eales ( S im m s ), T . K . C a r te r (C ribbs), Lew is S m ith (S tu c k e y ), Les L a n n o m (C a sp er), P e ter C o y o te (P oole), C a rlo s B row n (B ow den), B rian J a m e s (T ra p p e r). P ro d u c tio n com pany: T w entieth C en tu ry -F o x .

D istrib u to r: F o x - C o l u m b i a . 3 5 m m . 100 m in s . U . S . 1981.

Two Laws Susan Tate Two Laws was made by the Borroloola people of Northern Australia with assistance from film m akers Carolyn Strachan and Alessandro Cavadini. It is a feature-length documentary divided into four parts: Part One — Police Times; Part Two — W elfare Times; Part Three — Struggle For O u r Land; Part Four — Living W ith Tw o Laws.

Part One — Police Times deals specifically with an incident in 1933, when Constable Gordon Stott rounded up and chained together a large number o f Aboriginal people and herded them from their various lands to Borroloola — ostensibly as punishment for killing bullock. H e beat them along the way to extract confessions o f this deed. One old woman, D olly, died as a result of this mistreatment on the journey. C on­ stable Stott attributed her death to previous illness.

This event is presented in Two Laws as a simple re-enactment, rather than an elaborate and overblown historical reconstruction such as those favored by period pieces. The process involved in creating the re-enactment — choosing the cast and deciding how events should be depicted — is also revealed in the film . The people involved in this segment introduce themselves and state what parts they will be playing. This has the effect o f placing the historical event in a contemporary context, stress­ ing that the history o f the Borroloola people is a recalled and immediate history, one that is lived with and has been passed on to the younger people of Borroloola and remembered by the older ones who were involved in the event. It is not, as a reconstruction would suggest, a series o f events that happened a long time ago and are finished. As well as the memory, the outcome o f these events is still lived with.

The stylized re-enactments also avoid the over-dram atization that full-scale reconstructions often entail with their emotive and sensationalized content.

The subsequent response to such re­ constructions is often misplaced and relates to the outcome of the events and the action involved in them, rather than the reasons for them. S to tt’s victims loosely drape chains over one another, chastising each other for laughing when they should be crying. The white man who plays a reluctant Stott, and beats

CINEMA PAPERS August - 371

Two Laws

the old man he accuses of bullock killing, only simulates the action. The old Aboriginal man who relates how confessions for bullock-eating were ex­ tracted from him (“ You been eatim bullock?’’ “ N o .” “ You been tuckout bullock?” “ N o .” “ You been tuckout bullock?” “ Yes, I been tuckout bullock, eatim whole lot meself.” ) hits a tree with a stick to demonstrate how it happened. T he re-enactm ents lose nothing of their impact by this playing down of dramatic content.

Part Two — W elfare Times deals with the domination of Aboriginal life by the welfare officer during the 1950s.

It also uses re-enactment in the same style as that used in Police Times. The preliminaries to the re-enactment are im portant as they establish, through discussion with the woman who will play the welfare officer, an Aboriginal woman who will play the recipient of w elfare and the sound technician, exactly what the welfare officer will say and what her tone will be. During these preliminaries they also get affirm ation from others that what they have decided to say is correct. The inter­ change between the two then involves a bartering of promises to conform to white ways in return for “ pretty” dresses and bars of soap.

Once again the little scene is simple and not overblown. It concentrates on highlighting the conflict o f values between white people and Aboriginals, rather than trying to create a con­ vincing reconstruction.

The theme of dispossession which was begun in Part One is reasserted at the end of Part Two, showing the Borroloola people once again being herded o ff to foreign parts on the back of a truck as they sing a lament for their lost land. These glimpses of loss of land are expanded fully in Parts Three and Four, and become the film ’s major concern.

In Part Three — Struggle For Our Land, the method of simple re-enact­ ments is also developed. A beautifullystylized, almost abstract, representa­ tion of the Borroloola region Land

372 - August CINEMA PAPERS

Claim Court of 1976 is staged. During the Land C laim Court, which was pre­ sided over by Judge Toohey, the Borro­ loola people tried unsuccessfully to negotiate to gain large tracts of land, including the Bing Bong area on the coast and islands off the coast, which were wanted by mining companies and the fishing industry. The court scene is staged outside and the participants form a stark tableau against a vast backdrop of orange sand, with just a card table and maps depicting disputed areas for props.

Dispensing with a realistic court scene emphasizes the connection with the land that is the main concern of their claim. The simplicity of the land­ scape also contrasts the complexity and convoluted nature of the white legal system. The conflict between this system and black law is highlighted by the performance of a ceremonial A bo ri­ ginal song, gudjika, that traditionally claims land, alongside the procedures of the white court.

The gudjika is equally as complex as the court system and as old as the land, but is not recognized by the court. It exists entirely outside it. This scene is a pivotal point for the film , in that it contains the concerns of the film in their most compressed and essential form.

Part Three also contains footage of a spontaneous debate between a Borro­ loola man and a white im migrant after the latter has chopped down sacred trees at the order of his boss, over who has the right to the land. It involves a discussion of leases, tangible proofs of ownership — the concerns of the white legal system — and stresses the im possibility of A b o rig in al people claiming land ownership within the parameters of white law unless other factors are taken into consideration.

The direct conflict between white and Aboriginal interests, that is the heart of the film , is contained in a powerful scene from Part Three. A Borroloola man stands in front of a river explain­ ing that it is the Rainbow Serpent dreaming. It is also the dump for the

effluent from M t Isa Mines. N o further dram atization is needed to make the point clear.

The film gathers in strength as it pro­ gresses. There are several reasons for this. One is the nature of what is being discussed. The earlier parts have a fragility that reflects the position of fear and ignorance of rights that the Borroloola people acted from when first confronted by white demands.

When they were told to get on trucks to be carted to different parts of the land, they obliged. The re-enactments are necessarily more cumbersome and less direct than later modes of expression and lack their anger. When discussing contem porary conflicts, the people speak from a position of complete knowledge of, and confidence in, their rights.

A fter the sacred trees have been chopped down, there is a follow-up of discussion about what action can be ta k e n to redress the s itu a tio n , indicating active resistance rather than passive acceptance. In the final scene of Part Four — Living W ith Two Laws a woman summarizes this change in a tti­ tude and the reasons for it saying: “ When the land rights came in, it made us a bit stronger and I think we’ll get stronger still . . . we’re not kids anymore. W e are big people. We know what’s right and what’s wrong now. N o t like in those days. They used to just put us on a truck and take us somewhere else where we don’t want to go. N ow we’ re not get­ ting on a government truck, we’re getting off it and going where we want to go.”

Besides reflecting a historical change from a position of weakness, repres­ sion and fear to one of anger, strength and confidence, the change in the tone of the film also reflects an increased ag ility in the film m edium . Part F o u r — L iv in g W ith T w o Laws works in a broader panorama, showing d etails o f c o n te m p o ra ry life , o f women’s and men’s ceremony, their role in the law of daily life, alongside scenes of setting up cattle stations,

building fences and branding steer.

As well as deviating from the usual documentary film m aking techniques by showing the film m aking process, Two Laws is also exceptional in the use o f a wide-angle lens throughout the film .

This wide-angle lens is instrumental in allowing the film m aking process to be show n and is also e s s e n tia l in emphasizing the importance o f the function of the group in the Aboriginal c o m m u n ity . W hen one person is speaking, others can be seen giving quiet assent or agreeing enthusiastic­ ally, such as the old man in Part Four who affirms bodily what the younger man in the foreground is saying about land rights. A t times when there is a group shot, it is impossible to discern the speaker. It really doesn’t m atter, as it is an expression of a group attitude that is being recorded.

The use of the wide-angle distorts perspective, an effect sometimes used consciously by photographers for artistic reasons. Its use in Two Laws emphasizes the functional, notional concerns of the film rather than any artistic, romantic, aesthetic ones. By this manner, of course, there are some magnificent shots of the land, such as the strip of land at Bing Bong, which contrast the scenes of spoilage. They remain part of the content of the film and its concern with the question of land usage and ownership.

These shots give a timeless quality to the land that stands outside the struc­ tures of the law court and their legal systems. They also accentuate the har­ monious relationship of the Borroloola people with their land. The photo­ graphy never becomes a mere scenic ride through the landscape o f the Northern Territory; there is always some intent to it.

The film uses an unusual editing technique in Part Four: black spaces

Leo Finlay and Northern Land Council representatives. Part 3 — Struggle For Our Land. Two Laws.

Two Laws

are left between spoken passages, which emphasize the process o f editing and the fact that certain parts have been left out, as well as giving pause between points being made. Such attention is an indication o f the integrity o f this film , and how precisely and honestly it has been wrought.

English, the fifth and most com­ monly-shared language o f the people of the area, is spoken for most o f the film ; English subtitles are also used when an A boriginal language is spoken or if spoken English is not clear. T he concern in this area was for accessi­ bility to other Aboriginal communi­ ties, rather than fluency. There is hesitancy in some spoken passages, but once again the function o f the film is more im portant than the packaging.

There are times in the film when it is difficult to work out what is going on and the inclusion o f the film m aking process is confusing and disorienting, hot work and tedious. Suddenly the whole thing shifts into gear and the con­ fusion o f the film m aking preliminaries and discussion is clarified.

The film has an ebb and flow that one needs to ride with until one becomes accustomed. The strength o f the film lies in its insistent instruction and innovatory film m aking techniques. I t is proudly personal, thumbing its nose at any theories o f documentary objec­ tivity, constantly demanding respect.

T w o L aw s (W arajin d a w a /G u d jari Y u w a/G u d ja ra Y u w a / K a n m a r d a ) : T h is film w a s m a d e b y t h e f o u r lan g u a g e g ro u p s a ro u n d B o rro lo o la — M ara, Y a n u la , G a r r a w a a n d G u rd a n d ji — w ith th e a ssist­ ance o f C aro ly n S tra c h a n and A lessan d ro C avadini. D i r e c t o r o f p h o t o g r a p h y : A l e s s a n d r o C a v a d in i. S o u n d : C a r o ly n S t r a c h a n , L in d a M c D in y .

D istrib u to r: Sydney F ilm m a k e rs C o-o p erativ e.

1 6 m m . 130 m in s . A u s t r a l ia . 1981.

Blood Feud Susan Tate Lina W ertm u ller’s films have been criticized for being trite, politically simplistic, didactic, sexist and just plain dull. Despite her critics, she enjoys a strong cult follo w ing in the U .S . and A u s tra lia . H e r film s are less popular in her native Ita ly where her detractors take a nationalistic stance and condemn them for denigrating Italians. Those who admire her films enjoy the art direction o f Enrico Job, and the choice o f colorful, and some­ tim es b izarre, characters like the rogues’ gallery which appeared in The

End of the World in Our Usual Bed in a Night Full of Rain. T h e y also appreciate her hum or and the social and political intent o f her films.

Fatto di sangue fra due uomini per causa di una vedova. Si sospettano moventi politici (Blood Feud) is a film that combines all the elements for which people either like or hate her. It also includes, as if in defiance of those who criticize her for the inclusion of rape scenes in some o f her previous films, such as Tutto a poste e niente in ordine (All Screwed Up) and Travolti da

un insolito destino nell’azzuro mare d’agosto (Swept Away by an Unusual Destiny in the Blue Sea of August), two o f them.

As well as using the same art director, W ertm uller uses the actor who has appeared in most o f her films, Giancarlo Giannini, described by The Times critic David Thomson as her “ lumpen lapdog’’ . W ertm uller, G ian­ nini and Job first worked together as what W ertm uller considered to be a

Blood Feud

successful team in her first play,

Two

and Two Are No Longer Four.

Also appearing in Blood Feud is Sophia Loren, the star o f many B-grade It a lia n and A m e ric a n film s and successful commercial ones such as V itto rio de Sica’s La Ciociara (Two Women). I t is to W ertm u ller’s credit that she has chosen the much under­ rated and often-ridiculed Loren, recog­ nizing qualities in her that would com­ plement her own film m aking interests.

W ertm uller uses melodram a intention­ ally in her films and Loren’s exagger­ a te d , lu g u b r io u s fe a t u r e s an d statuesque proportions, which for all her acting career have ensured her a position as one o f the world’s most popular sex symbols, guarantee a melo­ dram atic touch.

Loren comes from a poor N eapoli­ tan background and she has said that she felt empathy with the role of Con­ cetta, a peasant woman from Sicily.

Loren is also a master o f comedy and farce, another two characteristics of W ertm u ller’s films.

Com pleting the triangle alongside Loren and Giannini is M arcello M as­ troianni. Loren and Mastroianni first worked together in 1953 when they made Alessandro Blaseti’s Anatomy of Love and have appeared in more than 10 film s together since th at tim e, including de Sica’s Matrimonio all’ Italian! (Marriage Italian Style). Loren talks about her working relationship with M astroianni in her biography Living and Loving , explaining. “ W e met in Pompeii in 10 A .D . when he was a chariot driver and I was selling statuettes on the V ia Dei . . . there is no hyperbole too extrav­ agant for describing the cohesions we have before cam era.”

The history of the interaction between these people makes them an interesting combination for this film.

• Blood Feud is a film that uses poli­ tical realism rather than the political Symbolism of such films as Swept Away. It deals generally with Benito M ussolini’s rise to power and speci­ fically with the activities of the fascist Black Shirts. Concetta T itia n a ’s fisher­ man husband is the victim o f an attack by fascists. They kill him because he is striking. During the attack Concetta miscarries. For two years she wanders the villages near her own town pro­ claiming the truth o f the murder which has been vindicated in the court.

Rosario Spallone (M astroianni), a socialist lawyer from Rome, comes to town and, hearing Concetta’s story, is keen to see the murderer charged. He is also keen to further his own career and establish a reputation in the town. He does not bargain on Concetta’s pride and finds she will have no truck with him as she despises what he stands for.

Concetta’s feelings about him are swayed when he saves her from rape by her husband’s m urderer, the local mayor. W ith a loving picture o f her husband, sim ilar to the religious pictures that hang around the room, beaming down on her, she beds him.

But she refuses to commit herself to him, even though an affection for him develops.

Concurrent with the growth o f a tentative and improbable relationship between the two, Concetta becomes involved with her husband’s cousin, N ic k (G iannini). N ick has returned from the U .S ., where he has been involved in nefarious activities, with the symbols o f his m aterial success and cultural change: a brightly-colored m adonna for his native village, a gramophone to play “ il ja z z ” , plus an

am using s p rin k lin g o f A m e ric a n vocabulary.

U ltim ately, Spallone, Concetta and N ic k are united by their conflict with the fascist mayor and his mob. They flee the village together. In a final con­ frontation at the port o f Naples, N ick and Spallone are killed. Before they die, Concetta cradles each m an’s head and tells him he is the father of her unborn child.

The film also concerns itself, like previous films such as All Screwed Up and Pasqualino Settebellezze (Seven Beauties), with the m ore abstract notion o f human dignity — surviving with dignity rather than surviving at all costs. L ike Pedro (G iancarlo G iannini) the anarchist in Seven Beauties, who hurls himself into a tub o f excrement knowing he will be shot, rather than play the commandant’s hum iliating games, Concetta is the character of dignity in this film who will not com­ promise her principles for any reason and who, more perversely for the two men involved with her, maintains a rigorous religious and emotional, if not finally sexual, fidelity to her dead husband, who peers at her from the picture frame.

N ick has always admired her for her fierce dignity and is horrified when he suspects her o f being the village whore.

Rape is the revenge he considers most appropriate. H er nocturnal visits prove to be of a different nature: giving abortions to village women.

Concetta’s character also encom­ passes the human capacity to love and care for two or, counting the murdered husband, three people simultaneously — a theme explored in the more petulant character of Carolyn Cassidy (Sissy Spacek) in John Byrnum’s Heart Beat. The child she is pregnant with at the end of the film , and her assurance to each man that it is his own, con­ solidates the unity.

N ic k worships C oncetta for her dignity. H e totes the plaster of Paris Madonna, symbol o f sanctified woman­ hood, with him on his return, as if presaging the pedestal on which he will continue to place her. N ic k ’s pragmat­ ism has necessitated the development of an amoral code — he has had to kill many people in the U .S . to become successful and secure his position in the pecking order. Realizing the threat of the growth of fascism in Italy he plans to escape with Concetta to the U .S ., rather than confront the situation.

W hile Concetta eats principle for breakfast and dignity for lunch, and N ick has cast both to the winds, Spal­ lone blunders about trying to live by a lofty moral code that has vague intim a­ tions of social betterment and under­ lying currents of individual advance­ ment. When Concetta spurns his offer to revenge the m u rd erers o f her husband, she explains that more than anything she hates socialists and dogooders. The more she reviles him the stronger his attraction to her and her principled stance becomes.

F o r his own esteem he m akes gestures that divorce him from his monied past. To lose his landowner status, he declares he will give his land away. H e uses it as stakes in a card game with N ick. H e tips a plate of spaghetti on his mother’s hair to offend her.

Despite such remonstrations, he goes through periods of self-loathing from which Concetta has to coax him with assurances o f respect and affection. H e is a victim o f an attack by fascists and he drags himself from his sick-bed to revenge himself.

It is his provocation o f the fascists that leads the three to flee to the port of Naples and to the final Western-style shootout. To prove he has not caused the attack at the port as the fascists claim, he gives him self like a lam b on a sacrificial altar to their bullets. The act highlights the sense that Spallone has wanted to make himself a m artyr to a cause to prove the moral fibre that he suspects himself of lacking.

This is high-minded stuff, and if there is any criticism to be made of the film it is the ro ll-c a ll o f causes th at are paraded before us. As usual, W e rt­ muller saves herself from her own pros­ elytizing through humor. Concetta’s saintliness is played o ff and finally broken down by N ic k ’s roguishness.

This element o f their relationship is epitomized when Concetta is shocked to realize N ick is watching her modest bathing routine from the shore, his gramophone resting in a tree. Nick stays despite her protests and Finally she leaves with him.

W e r t m u l l e r a lw a y s uses an interesting camera. It ranges from extreme close-ups to distant shots in which Figures are diminutive, changing the viewpoint from subjective to objec­ tive in rapid succession. The change in point of view prevents her films from developing too strong a narrative sense.

As in many o f her Films, in particular AH Screwed Up, she uses whirling shots when the camera reels around the characters, emphasizing human beings in confusion and chaos.

The su bject-m atter o f the film , peasants in Sicily, could provide a welter o f romanticism for a Bernardo Bertolucci, but W ertm uller keeps the lighting harsh and realistic, in accor­ dance with the conditions o f the poor village where people scratch a living from the dry earth. The gentlemen’s club where Spallone offers his land as stakes is not a glamorous retreat from the v illa g e but a depressed and decaying, physically as well as atm o­ spherically, bastion of Italian gentry.

W hile keeping a realistic camera, W e rtm u lle r is capable o f creating intriguing, at times almost abstract, images — a difficult achievement in the narrative film medium. Spallone’s first e n c o u n te r w ith C o n c e tt a is a memorable one. He is motoring with colleagues on rural roads. He carries a camera. She approaches atop a lum ber­ ing cart stacked high with the bundles of sticks she collects daily. She forms a bundle almost indistinguishable from the sticks — a m ixture of charcoals, greys and browns in capacious trousers, a skirt and cloak. The cart whirls by, the troubled face o f C oncetta is revealed for a moment, then moves on, a strange form on the road.

Such potent images, and W e rt­ m uller’s wry wit, provide an appre­ ciable vehicle for her full bag of content and causes which could otherwise prove indigestible. ★

B l o o d F e u d ( F a t t o di s a n g u e f r a d u e u o m i n i p e r c a u s a di u n a v e d o v a . S i s o s p e t t a n o m o v e n t i p o l i t i c i ) .

D i r e c t e d by: L i n a W e r t m u l l e r . P r o d u c e r : H a r r y C o lo m b o . Screenplay: L ina W ertm u ller. D irector o f p h o t o g r a p h y : T o n i n o D e l li C o l l i . E d i t o r : F r a n c o F raticelli. A rt d irecto r: E n rico Jo b .

M u sic : D angio, Nando de Luca.

Sound reco rd ist: V en an zio Biraschi. C ast: S o p h ia L o ren (C o n c e tta ), M arcello M a stro ia n n i (R o sario ), G ian carlo G ia n n in i (N ick ), T u ri F e rro (V ito ), M a ri o S c a r ­ petta (G e n n a ro ), A n to n e lla M u rg ia (Preg n an t girl), Isa D a n ie li ( H a r b o r w o m a n ) , M a r i a C a r r a r a (D onna), G uido C ern ig lia (S ecretary), L ucio A m e lio (C risafu lli). P r o d u c tio n c o m p a n y : L ib erty F ilm . D i s tr i b u to r : F r a n k C o x . 3 5 m m . 124 m in s .

Ita ly . 1978.

CINEMA PAPERS August - 373

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N o w is your chance to be am ong the first to obtain the new Cinema Catalogue 3 from SO FT FOCUS, the M ovie M em ory specialists. Here yo u will find listed scarce Cinema Books, M ovie Posters, Lobby Cards, Souvenir Brochures, B /W Stills from 1930-50, A lbum s, A nnuals, Scrapbooks. Postcards and Sheet Music. D on't miss the opportunity to get the 1930’s Film Star cigarette cards. These 'Golden Oldies' will not last long at $1 each, fam es Bond, SOFT FOCUS Sci-Fi, R ock & Pop, The Beatles and Elvis material P .O . Box 98 CP, available.

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V ic., 3135.

The English Novel and the Movies Edited by Michael Klein and Gillian Parker Ungar Publishing Co., 1981, $9.95

Dennis Bowers The conventional attitude that film adaptations o f novels and plays ought to be carbon copies of their originals is at last dying a slow death. To cite a recent example, critical reaction to the film version o f The French Lieu­ tenant’s Woman has focused on the different methods used, and effects achieved, in the film , and particularly on director Karel Reisz’ attempt to find suitable equivalents for the con­ tem porary attitudes embellishing John Fowles’ “ V ictorian” tale.

Fewer filmgoers are prepared to countenance a more radical approach, however, one best summed up by H u n ­ garian w riter and Filmmaker, Bela Balazs, who maintained that artis­ tically serious and intelligent adapta­ tions could only result from a process of re-interpretation, of regarding liter­ a tu re as n o th in g m o re than raw material for essentially new works.

That the question is a complex one is apparent when one cites, on the other side, the great French critic, Andre Bazin, who said: “ . . . masterpieces demand that we respect their texts” .

Bazin put to rest for good the facile view that true (rather than literal) fidelity to a classic literary text was invariably an easy option for a Film­ maker. However, his advocacy o f the need for artistic restraint in adapta­ tions, and his labelling o f the urge to “ m ake cinema” as the m ajor heresy of many screen versions, represents a posi­ tion not many Filmmakers are likely to Find attractive, even if we are beyond the day o f the director as superstar.

genial o f texts, a tribute to a bourgeois hero, is shown to result in a subtle critical commentary on Daniel Defoe, a deconstruction rather than a trans­ lation.

Another Fine essay is James Good­ win’s comparison o f Joseph Conrad’s The Secret Agent and A lfred H itc h ­ cock’s Sabotage. Hitchcock’s adapta­ tions are invariably intriguing (at least), and the attention this essay pays to the Film’s mise-en-scene is rewarding. Dis­ cussions o f The Man Who Would Be King (Rudyard K ipling/John Huston) an d Dracu/o/Nosferatu (B r a m S to k e r /W e r n e r H e rz o g ) are also among the best essays in the collection.

Readers may be assured that, despite the occasional descent into talk about characters’ “ interior space” and the “ whatness” of cinema, this volume is generally free from such vague, idio­ syncratic language and, on the other hand, from the impenetrable jargon which disFigures a good deal of recent writing on cinema.

A valuable Filmography o f adapta­ tions is included, together with an extensive bibliography. The editors’ introduction makes some useful obser­ vations about relationships between novel and film , and the best essays in this collection echo their concern to get beyond triv ia l p articu larities and establish valid c rite ria for critical comparisons. They also amply demon­ strate that John Sim on’s dictum con­ cerning the dram atization of novels — “ I f it is worth doing, it can’t be done; if it can be done, it wasn’t worth it” — applies only as a useful warning for Film adaptations (as Simon himself recog­ nized), because the manifold resources of the screen can match those o f the novel.

The English Novel and the Movies has 27 essays on classic English novels, each written expressly for this collec­ tion. It grows out o f a long tradition of the study o f adaptations in the U .S . in countless literature and Film courses, a phenomenon hardly found in Aus­ tralia, at least at tertiary level. The volume, in a sense, both explains and questions such a lacuna: explains, because too many o f the essays turn out to be pedestrian point by point com­ parisons, often bending over back­ wards in the effort to be fair to both mediums, and in the process merely achieving a colorless sort of writing which constantly hedges its bets.

On the other hand, the best con­ tributions go some way to justifying the editors’ claims that the essays illus­ trate a variety o f critical approaches.

F o r in stan ce, R ic h a rd W a s s o n ’ s excellent essay on The Time Machine links the H . G. Wells novel and George P al’s film to social problems of their eras, and to myths and archetypes, notably the social m yth o f class anonymity. In each work, Wasson (following Roland Barthes) shows the strategy of using a classless narrator to be aimed at presenting the qualities of bourgeois man as those o f human nature, External M an.

G illian Parker’s study o f point of view in Luis Bunuel’s adaptation of Robinson Crusoe does what any good analysis should do, throwing into relief the ideology o f novel and Film. Bunuel’s strange decision to tackle what would seem to be for him the most uncon­

1977') or factual, positivist, empirical, often no more than chronologies o f events Finished o ff with an ideological punchline most evident in Bertrand and Collins 2 with their liberalism (gaggles o f pressure groups), determined indivi­ duals (pioneers) and an unthinking, provincial nationalism.

Tulloch’s work ( Australian Cinema, Legends on the Screen) is more d iffi­ cult to characterize (s till less dismiss, as I would Bertrand and Collins’3) in part because it covers so much (social and economic history, thematic and narra­ tive analyses), is so eclectic (dizzying, vertiginous, “ as so-and-so has said” ) and often unfocused, either because it is difficult to Find the principles which govern the use o f others’ ideas (from H orkheim er to Greimas) or because Tulloch’s voice is both occasional and not always there to Find (an entire chapter quotes and paraphrases the Frankfurt School followed by another o f partial quotes which criticizes the F rankfurt School . . . often there are no directions for the reader, no map or voice guide).

Nevertheless, I think the Tulloch books on the Australian cinema need to be valued precisely for the range of issues raised and intersections sug­ gested (o f economy, society, ideology, narratives) and the openness with which they appear; Tulloch is always gen­ erous to the ideas of others, to films, to above all the possibilities o f meanings and relations.

B riefly, A ustralian Cinema dis­ cusses Australian films and the Aus­ tralian film industry in the 1920s, con­ centrating on the organization o f the industry, its relations to overseas (British, Am erican) capital interests, the struggles of groups within the industry, the films made and their social meanings and social contexts, and the narrative models which these films deployed.

I want to address myself not so much to what is discussed in the book than to a question why most studies of the Australian cinema have been more social/historical analyses than ‘ form al’ Film analyses of the kind made fam iliar by journals such as Screen, Camera Obscura, Afterimage , and writers such as B e llo u r, B urch, H e a th , M e tz , W ollen.

It is true that Tulloch partially offers analyses o f this sort using narrative theories over a wide range in relation to specific Australian films (A Girl of the

Bush, The Hordern Mystery, The Man from Kangaroo, Robbery Under Arms),

Australian Cinema: Industry, Narrative and Meaning John Tulloch George Allen and Unwin, Sydney, 1982

Sam Rohdie This is less a review of Australian less a refe re n d u m (good/bad) upon it, than a comment on certain problems connected with Aus­ tralian cinema that this book pro­ voked. Much of the serious recent w ritin g on the A u stra lia n cinem a (book-length, developed, considered studies) has been undertaken not by students o f the cinema, but rather by sociologists (John Tulloch) or his­ torians (Andrew Pike, Ross Cooper, Ian Bertrand, Diane Collins).

The historical work has been either documentary (Australian Film 1900-

C in em a , s till

but the prim ary aim it seems is to dis­ engage from them fairly direct social meanings, social themes, social ideo­ logy of the bush/city constrasts type in all their incredible permutations and gothic traceries.

I believe the reason for this criti­ cal /theoretical direction has to do with particularities of the Australian cinema which lends itself more to work of a historical/sociological kind (not that such work ought not to be carried out, or that it is not merited for cinemas outside Australia which it surely is) than to a structural, semiotic one.

1 think the Australian cinema is on the whole intensely conservative, over­ whelmingly on the side o f what it P ike and R oss C o o p er, Aus­ O x fo rd U n iv er­ sity P ress in asso ciatio n with th e A u s­ tra lia n Film In stitu te, M elb o u rn e, 1980.

2. In a B e rtran d and D ian e C ollins, Govern­ ment and Film in Australia, C u rren cy P ress an d th e A u s tra lia n Film In stitu te, S ydney, 1981.

3. S ee S a m R o h d ie ’s rev iew , Cinema Papers, N o . 37, p. 175.

E A n d rew

tralian Film 1900-1977,

CINEMA PAPERS August - 375

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Book Reviews

denotes, has used models o f represen­ cussed by Tulloch o f the past is, of tation which are im itative o f what is course, still the currency o f the present. most common in the cinema, and has Perhaps in the understanding o f the made no difference to practices o f rep­ conservatism o f Australian cinema resentation in film , at least no differ­ there are the seeds for more radical ence to altering these. practices. A fte r all, with regard to that Quite simply, and starkly, for anyone cinema, it has nothing to lose but its concerned with a transform ation o f the conform ity. cinema, with new directions, new possi­ bilities, a new consciousness o f things, the A u s tra lia n cinem a is w ith o ut interest. It is not simply a m atter o f Mervyn Binns names and all they signify (no Jean-Luc T h i s c o l u m n lists b o o k s re l e a s e d in A u s t r a l i a , as Godard, Jean -M arie Straub, M iklo s a t J u ly 1982, w h ic h d eal w ith th e c in e m a a n d r e l a t e d t o p i c s . A l l t i t l e s a r e o n s a l e in b o o k s h o p s .

Jancso, M argu erite Duras, Chantal T h e p u b lish e rs a n d th e local d is trib u to rs a re A ckerm ann, W im Wenders), but that l i s t e d b e l o w t h e a u t h o r in e a c h e n t r y . I f n o d i s ­ at best Australian films demonstrate a t r i b u t o r is i n d i c a t e d , t h e b o o k is i m p o r t e d ( I m p . ) . skill and expertise in handling what is T h e re c o m m e n d e d p rices listed a re for p a p e r ­ b a c k s, unless o th erw is e in d icated , a n d a re su b ject only rather fam iliar positions: estab­ to v a ria tio n s b e tw e en b o o k s h o p s a n d states. lished modes o f narrative construction, T h e list w a s c o m p i l e d b y M e r v y n R . B i n n s o f t h e estab lis h e d s p e c ific a lly c in e m a tic S p a c e A g e B o o k sto re, M elb o u rn e. codes, established social/com m ercial Popular and General Interest genres (Cinema Papers’ New Aus­ Hollywood Musicals Ted Senett tralian Cinema is a compendium of Abrahams/M acmillan Aust., $65.00 (HC) these: epics, war films, historical recon­ A large coffee table book on the history of the Hollywood musical films, profusely illustrated with color and blackstructions, m elodram as,* social com­ and-white stills. edies and social problems of aliena­ Masterpieces — A Decade o f Classics on British Tele­ vision tion, sexuality, etc.) none o f which it Alistair Cooke has succeeded (or even sought) to trans­ Bodley H ead/Australasian Publishing Co., $35.00 (HC) A superbly-illustrated survey of great British television form , question, challenge, even inflect. programs and their historical backgrounds, such as In a sense, what is of interest in the Upstairs, Downstairs, I, Claudius. Elizabeth R and Lillie.

A u s tra lia n cinem a is precisely the Movies from the Mansion — A History o f Pinewood Studios reasons for its conservatism, its con­ George Perry form ism , its dullness (the qualities Hamish H amilton/Thomas Nelson Aust., $29.95 (HC) A history of Pinewood Film Studios, one of the world’s themselves are not o f interest) and, busiest, where films such as Superman, Outland and the though Tulloch would never pose things James Bond films have been made. A new, revised edition. in this way (and I doubt if he would Twenty Five Years on IT V — 1955-1980 Compiled by ITV and T V Times accept such a pose), the analyses he ITV/M ichael Joseph/G aumont Books, $17.95 (TPB) specifically offers o f Australian films A year-by-year, illustrated survey of the mass of shows screened on British ITV, with illustrations in full color. concern their exact positioning within Large format paperback. established models, while the history/ Vivien Leigh Paper Dolls Tom Tierney sociology he presents details the im ­ Dover/Doubleday Aust., $4.70 m obilization o f the Australian cinema Cut-out dolls, featuring costumes worn by Vivien Leigh in her most famous films. In color. caught between the capitalism s o f Britain and the U .S .

Biographies and Filmographies The Cinema o f Sidney Poitier I believe th at to engage in the Lester J. Keyser and Andre H. Ruszkowski analyses now current o f the cinema in Barnes/Oak Tree Press, $27.50 (HC) relation to Australian films would only A complete, illustrated survey and assessment of the acting and directing work of the man who has changed the role of repeat what is already known, and blacks on screen. would be as redundant, repetitive, fam ­ The Films o f Montgomery Clift Judith M. Kass ilia r as the objects so analysed. I am, Citadel/Davis Publications, $13.95 therefore, not sure what it would be for New paperback edition in the Citadel series. (m ore empirical inform ation, “ W h at is In Search o f M y Father Ronald Howard your favorite color T im , Peter, Fred, William Kimber/Imp., $31.95 (HC) Gillian?” , another unearthed pioneer or A biography of Leslie Howard by his son.

Kim Novak on Camera lost film to complete the unfull-fill-ed Larry Kleno heritage and, worse, the repetition of Oak Tree/O ak Tree Press, $27.50 (HC) The career of Kim Novak. A fully-illustrated survey of her sclerosed theoretical positions which life and films. have lost their edge and so have entered Maurice Chevalier the academy and the titling o f courses).

Michael Freedland Arthur Barker/Hodder and Stoughton, $24.95 (HC) I think the area o f analysis o f Aus­ An intimate biography of a man who, despite his success as tralian film (but obviously, not only) an entertainer, had personal problems which more than once led him to attempt suicide. must be linked to understandings of Peter Sellers A u s t r a lia n s o c ia l re la tio n s and Derek Sylvester ■ economic structures, for I think in such Proteus/Doubleday Aust., $12.95 An illustrated biography of Peter Sellers, covering all his linkages and in such relations one could films. pose more directly questions about the Directors and Producers form ation o f the culture (not simply David Lean detail its inadequacies) and thereby Louis Catelli G. K. Hall/Rem al, $36.95 (HC) understand certain terms for its trans­ A guide to references and resources. Biographical form ation. background, critical survey, complete list of films with synopses, reviews, writings about Lean and indexes.

Some knowledge in this area is pro­ The Films o f Roger Corman vided by the Tulloch book both in the Ed Naha examination o f the rural/populist ideo­ Arco Publications/Prentice Hall Aust., $20.25 (HC) An illustrated history of the filmmaking of Hollywood’s logy expressed in so many films o f the greatest maverick film director, producer, etc.

1920s (and beyond) and in the modes o f Howard Hawks Robin Wood investment and control exercised by British Film Institute/Gaumont Books, $15.95 foreign (p rim arily Am erican) capital in A revised edition of this book originally published in the Cinema One series. It discusses the 40 films made by the Australian economy generally and Hawks and includes a new chapter particularly relating to the A ustralian film industry in p arti­ new theories on individual authorship on films. cu lar. T ullo c h also exam ines the M ax Ophuls and the Cinema o f Desire Alan Williams consequences o f such control in the Arno Publishing/Imp., $34.95 (HC) (never unified) positions open to the Style and spectacle in four films, 1948-1955 — A title in the Arno Press “ Dissertations on Film 1980” series.

A ustralian bourgeoisie (but always the Polanski fact o f their dependence, o f cultural and Barbara Learning Hamish H amilton/Thomas Nelson Aust., $29.95 (HC) social determinations made elsewhere A study of the controversial director and his films. for them, a colonial bourgeoisie still grimacing with the social gestures of Filmmaking The Cinema in the Eighties B ritain). The structure o f economic Edited by Cinema ana TV Division dom ination and a lim p, grovelling, La Biennole/Gaumont Books, $27.95 (TPB) proceedings of a meeting of film people held in Venice, m an a g e rs -o f-fo re ig n -c a p ita l b o u r­ The Septem ber 1-3, 1979: the cinem atic institution, its geoisie (thank you, M r H ow ard) dis­ languages, its industry and its audience.

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Movies on T V 1982-1983 Edited by Steven H. Scheuer Bantam/Transworld, $5.95 New expanded edition.

Rating the Movies Jay Brown Bookman House/Imp., $5.55 (TPB) Large format paperback. Illustrated, with more than 2400 mini film reviews.

A Reference Guide to the American Film Noir: 1940-1958 Roberto Ottoson Scarecrow/James Bennett, $20.25 (HC) A list of films with synopsis, cast and credit details plus length.

Who's Who on Television Compiled by ITV Books and T V Times ITV/Michael Joseph/G aumont Books, $6.95 (TPB) One thousand entries on British television personalities and others appearing on British television.

Screening the Novel Gabriel Miller U ngar/R uth Walls, $8.95 (TPB) New in paperback, this book retrieves the lost literary works that inspired eight popular films.

History of Film Industry and Accounts of Film­ making American Picture Palaces David Maylor Van N ostrand/Thom as Nelson Aust., $40.00 (HC) A profusely-illustrated survey in color and black and white of the world’s film theatres.

Film and Fiction Ben Cohen Yale University Press/Book and Film Co., $20.95 (HC) An overview of the dynamics of artistic change: the development of the cinematic art from literature and art, through silent films and the introduction of sound.

Great Film Stills o f the German Silent Era Compiled and edited by John Kobal Dover/Doubleday Aust., $11.15 A collection of superb scenes from great German films of the 1920s.

A History o f Narrative Film David A. Cook .

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Reference Cinema — A Critical Dictionary Richard Roud, two volumes Seeker and W arburg/William Heinemann Aust., $69.95 (HC) Volume One — Aldrich to King Volume Two — Kinugasa to Zanussi All the world’s major filmmakers and their films discussed in detail. Over 200 articles by leading film critics plus stills.

One of the most important reference books on the cinema published so far.

Cinema, the Magic Vehicle — A Guide to its Achievement Adam Garbicz and Jack Klinowski Scarecrow/James Bennett, $36.95 (HC) A comprehensive listing of films of the 1950s, each covered in detail with credits, synopsis and critical appraisal.

Film Review 1981-82 Edited by Maurice Speed W. H. Allen/Hutchinson Group Aust., $27.95 (HC) The latest annual review of films. A survey of the film world, plus book reviews and more.

Halliwell's Film Guide Leslie Halliwell, 2nd edition G ranada/Gordon and Gotch, $16.95 The very popular reference book giving brief criticisms of hundreds of films. Now in paperback.

The International Film Encyclopedia Ephram Katz Macmillan/Macmillan Aust., $19.95 (TPB) A comprehensive one-volume guide to the cinema.

Scripts Best Film Plays 1943-1944 Edited by John Gasner and Dudley Nichols Farland/Jm p., $67.95 (HC) Ten screenplays including C asablanca, The Oxbow Incident, Watcher on the Rhine and others.

Television Television: The First 50 Years Jeff Greenfield C rescent/lm p., $17.30 (HC) An illustrated history of American television.

Turning On, Turning O ff — Television in the Eighties Sandra Hall Cassell/M ethuen Aust., $9.95 (TPB) The future of Australian television. The issues involving children’s television, news, public affairs, drama, docu­ mentary making, and just what one will see on television are debated.

Novels and Film Tie-ins A ny Which Way You Can Gerald Cole Star/G ordon and Gotch, $3.95 A novel based on the film script of the Clint Eastwood film,

by Stanford Sherman and characters by Jeremy Joe. Britannia Hospital Gerald Cole Star/G ordon and Gotch, $4.50 A Lindsay Anderson film.

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Non-Cinema Associated Titles Show People Kenneth Tynan Virgi/Thomas Nelson Aust., $5.95 Behind the scenes in the theatre by a leading writer and producer. ^

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FILM CENSORSHIP LISTINGS March 1982

Films examined in terms of the Customs (Cinematograph Films) Regulations and States’ film censorship legislation are listed below.

An explanatory key to reasons for classifying non-“G” films appears hereunder:

Flints Registered Without Eliminations

Frequency

For General Exhibition (G) The Assassination of President Kennedy (16mm): Wit­ ness Prods, U.S., 847 m, National Library of Australia The Ballad of the Daltons: R. Goscinny, France, 2286.82 m, Filmways (A'slan) Dlst.

The Champions Part 1 (16mm): National Film Board of Canada, Canada, 638 m, National Library of Australia The Champions Part 2 (16mm): National Film Board of Canada, Canada, 616 m, National Library of Australia Clavlgo (16mm): M. Ophuels, W. Germany, 1510 m, German Embassy Die allseitig reduzlerte persoenllchkelt (16mm): H. Sander, W. Germany, 1100 m, German Embassy Eln tag mit dem wind (16mm): H. Senft, W. Germany, 1063 m, German Embassy Forever My Love: C. Jih-Shen, Taiwan, 2982.01 m, Grand Film Corp.

Forever Young (16mm): R. Lehman, U.S., 638 m, National Library of Australia Going on Distance (16mm): National Film Board of Canada, Canada, 979 m, National Library of Australia Has Anybody Here Seen Canada (16mm): National Film Board of Canada, Canada, 935 m, National Library of Australia Hilfe, hllfe, die globollnks (16mm): R. Sander, W. Germany, 860 m, German Embassy Neues vom rauber hotzenplotz (16mm): G. Ehmck, W. Germany, 1079 m, German Embassy 0 parthenokinigos: Spentsos Films, Greece, 2873 m, Apollon Films Poto and Cabengo (16mm): Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen, U.S., 803 m, National Library of Australia The Red Deer of Rhum (16mm): BBC, Britain, 638 m, National Library of Australia Right Out of History (16mm): T. Ryson, U.S., 803 m, National Library of Australia Ski in the Sun (16mm): W. Miller, U.S., 987 m, Will McDonald Som ething Hurts (Etwas tut weh) (16m m ): Spree/Jungman, W. Germany, 789.64 m, Australian Film Institute Super Monster: T. Shindhara, Japan, 2579 m, Filmways (A'slan) Dist.

Tue recht und scheue niemand (16mm): J. Brueckner, W. Germany, 704 m, German Embassy Vergissmeinnicht (16mm): A. Rabenalt, W. Germany, 1140 m, German Embassy What Will We Do With Our Dead (16mm): Oh-Muvie Film, W. Germany, 1195 m, Australian Film Institute Whitsun Excursion (16mm): M. Gunther, W. Germany, 968 m, German Embassy Xinjiang “Yar-ck-see”: Progressive Training, Hong Kong, 2345 m, Golden Reel Films Yvette (16mm): Neo Film, France, 858 m, National Library of Australia

Not Recommended for Children (NRC) Anna und Toto (16mm): Radio Bremen, W. Germany, 1060 m, German Embassy, S fi- l- j), O fa d u lt th e m e ) Banana Joe: D e rb y /L is a , Ita ly /W . G erm any, 2566.50 m, Fox Columbia Film Dist., L (i- l- g ) , O fs e x u a l in n u e n d o )

Bremer freiheit (16mm): R. Fassbinder, W. Germany, 1012 m, German Embassy, O fa d u lt c o n c e p ts ) Cloud, Stay With Me: Not shown, Hong Kong, 2876 m, Joe Siu Int’l Film Co., O (e m o tio n a l s tre s s ) Crazy Nuts: Filmway Pictures, Hong Kong, 2300 m.

Golden Reel Films, V (i-l-g ) Der arzt vot Stalingrad (16mm): G. Radvanyl, W. Germany, 1205 m, German Embassy, V (i-l-j) El Zorro: Not shown, Italy, 2280 m, Cinema Italia, V (i-l-i)

Feuer urn mltternacht (16mm): G. Ehmck, W. Ger­ many, 1165 m, German Embassy, V (i-l-j), 0 ( a d u lt th e m e )

Geheimagenten (16mm): E. Fechner, W. Germany, 1030 m, German Embassy, O fa d u lt th e m e ) Grey Gardens (16mm): Portrait Films, U.S., 1045 m, National Library of Australia, S (i-l-j) Heinrich (16mm): H. Sanders, W. Germany, 1495 m, German Embassy, V fi- l- j), O fa d u lt th e m e ) 1 Am No God (16mm): C.M. Films, Australia, 789.84 m, C.M. Films, O fa d u lt c o n c e p ts ) I Married You For Kicks (a): G. Cechin, Italy, 2743 m, Cinema Italia, O fa d u lt th e m e ) Kill and Kill Again: Film Ventures Int’l, South Africa, 2733.02 m, Roadshow Dist., V (t-l-g ) Kuhle wampe (16mm): S. Dudow, W. Germany, 810 m, German Embassy, S f i- l- j) , O fa d u lt c o n c e p ts ) L’associe (16mm): Magyar Prod., France, 1045 m, French Embassy, O fa d u lt th e m e ) Le diable dans la boite (16m m ): SFP Cinem ag/M adeleine Films, France, 1100 m, French Embassy, O fa d u lt c o n c e p ts ) Marie (16mm): Bavaria Film, W. Germany, 1092 m, German Embassy, O fa d u lt c o n c e p ts ) Nachrede auf klara heydebreck (16mm): E. Fechner, W. Germany, 710 m, German Embassy, O fa d u lt th e m e )

Nachtdienst (16mm): P. Wohlers, W. Germany, 705 m, German Embassy, O fa d u lt th e m e ) Picasso — A Painter’s Diary (16mm): Net 13, U.S., 979 m, National Library of Australia, S fi- l- j), V fi- l- j) Ragtime: Sunley Prod., U.S./Britain, 4117.20 m, Cinema Int’l Corp., V fi-l-j), O fn u d ity ) Shaan: C. Slppy, India, 5715 m, SKD Film Dist., V fl- l- j) Si mamad (16mm): Matari Film, Indonesia, 1221 m, National Library of Australia, O fd ru g s ) Spooky-Kookles: Cinema City Prod., Taiwan, 2688 m, Golden Reel Films,. V fi-m -g ), L f i- l- g ) Sternsteinhof (16m m ): L u g g i-W a ld le itn e r, W. Germany, 1430 m, German Embassy, S fi- l- j), V fi- l- j) Tatort — Abendstern (16mm): NDR, W. Germany, 976 m, German Embassy, V (i-l-j), O fa d u lt th e m e ) Tatort — Elne todsichere sache (16mm): T. Fantl, W. Germany, 1007 m, German Embassy, V fi-l-j). O fa d u lt th e m e )

Tatort — Platzverweis fur trimmel (16mm): NDR, W. Germany, 1253 m, German Embassy, O fa d u lt th e m e )

S (Sex) — ....................

V (Violence)...........................

L (Language) ........................

0 (Other) ...............................

Explicitness/lntensity

Purpose

Infrequent

Frequent

Low

Medium

High

Justified

Gratuitous

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Trenck Parts 1-6 (16mm): Bavaria Film, W. Germany, Pennies from Heaven: MGM, U.S., 2887.30 m, Cinema 5213 m, German Embassy, V fi-l-j) , Int'l Corp., O f s e x u a l a llu s io n ) Urlaub zur beerdlgung (16mm): M. Guenther, W. Qurbani: F.K. Films, India, 4100 m, SKD Film Dist., Germany, 1219 m, German Embassy, O fa d u lt th e m e ) V ff-m -g ) (a) Previously shown on October 1971 list as I Married The Silent Lake: C. Jih-shen, Hong Kong, 2702 m, You For Fun. Grand Film Corp., S fi- m -j), O fa d u lt c o n c e p ts ) Squizzy Taylor: Simpson Le Mesurier Films, Aus­ For Mature Audiences (M) tralia, 2673.50 m, Filmways (A’sian) Dist., S fi- l- j), Aces Go Places: C. Mak/D. Shek, 2539.82 m, Golden V fi-l-j) Reel Films, V ff-m -g ) Swamp Thing: B. Melniker, U.S., 2459.62 m, United Andy Warhol (16mm): Blackwood Prods, U.S.,' Artists (A’sia), S fi- l- g ) 559.47 m, National Library of Australia, S fi- l- j), L fi- m - j) Underground USA (16mm): New Cinema Corp., U.S., Bells: R. Cooper, Canada, 2513.09 m, Roadshow Dist., 833.72 m, Australian Film Institute, O fa d u lt th e m e ) V fi-m -g ) . , Un sale reveur (16mm): La Gueville, France, 990 m, Chanel Solitaire (reduced version) (a): L. Spangler, French Embassy, L ff- m -g ) , V ff-l-g ) France, 3067.68 m, GUO Film Dist., S fi- m -j) Venom (c): Venom Prods, Britain, 2509.92 m, Road­ Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things: B. show Dist., V fi-m -g ) Clark/G. Goch, U.S., 2370.48 m, G.L. Film Enter­ (a) Reduced by producer’s cuts from 3374 m (Sep­ prises, O fh o rro r) tember 1981 list).

The Day of the Assassin: I. Panajovic, U.S., 2486.35 m, (b) See also under “ Films Board of Review".

Pacific Telecasters (Aust.), V ff-m -g ) (c) Not identical with Venom (May 1975 list).

Death Trap: Warner Bros, U.S., 3099.15 m, Warner Bros, L fi- m - j), O fa d u lt c o n c e p t) Der moerder (16mm): O. Runze, W. Germany, 1203 m, For Restricted Exhibition (R) German Embassy, S fi- l- j), L f i- l- j) All the Loving Neighbors (reconstructed pre-censor Der Starke ferdinand (16mm): A. Kluge, W. Germany, cut version) (16mm) (a): T. Taylor, U.S., 471.70 m, 14th 1065 m, German Embassy, O fa d u lt c o n c e p t) Mandolin, S ff- m -g ) Die erste polka (16mm): K. Emmerich, W. Germany, The Bomb Shell: Verdull Ltd, Hong Kong, 2194 m, Joe 1177 m, German Embassy, S fi- l- j), V fi-l-j) Siu Int’l Film Co., V ff-m -g ) Die vertreibung aus dem paradies (16mm): N. Charlene, He, She, It (videotape): Not shown, U.S., 59 Schilling, W. Germany, 1380 m, German Embassy, L fimins, Astral Dist., S ff-m -g ) l- j), O fa d u lt th e m e ) City of Sin (pre-censor cut version) (16mm): H. The Eagle Fist: H. Ding/C. Ying, Hong Kong, 2706 m, Hopper, U.S., 330.13 m, 14th Mandolin, S ff- m -g ) Comfort Film Enterprises, S fi-l-g ), V ff-m -g ) Dark Eyes: J. Polakof, U.S., 2482.03 m, GUO Film Dist., 80 Blocks From Tiffany’s (16mm): An Above Average V fi-m -g ), S fi- l- g ) Prod., U.S., 647.23 m, Australian Film Institute, L ff- m -j) Goin’ All the Way: Saturn Int'l, U.S., 2342.59 m, GUO Elner von uns belden (16mm): W. Petersen, W. Film Dist., S fi- m -g ) , L ff- m -g ) Germany, 1187 m, German Embassy, L f i- l- j) , O fa d u lt Halloween 2: D. De Laurentiis, U.S., 2468 m, Road­ th e m e ) show Dist., V ff-m -g ) Emanuelle on Taboo Island: Delfino Cinematografica, Last Drlve-in Movie (16mm): A. Pickersgill, Australia, Italy, 2413.84 m, Filmways (A'sian) Dist., S ff-l-g ), 252.31 m, National Library of Australia, S fi- m -j) V fi-l-g ) Monique (videotape) (b): Tigon, Britain, 85 mins, G.L. Filial Son: Hai Hua Cinema, Hong Kong, 2569 m, Film Enterprises, S fi-m -g ) Lilond, V fi-m -g ) .

0.38: Not shown, Hong Kong, 2593.58 m, Joe Siu Int’l The Grass Is Singing: Swedish Film Inst/Chibote, Film Co., V ff-m -g ) Sweden/Britain, 2940.85 m, Filmways (A’sian) Dist., Oriental Blue (reconstructed pre-censor cut version) O fa d u lt c o n c e p ts , n u d ity ) (c): Lolas Films, U.S., 1841 m, A.Z. Associated High Risk: City Films Prod., U.S., 2537.81 m, Hoyts S ff-m -g ), L ff- m -g ) Theatres, Dist., V fi-m -g ) The Possession (reconstructed version) (16mm) (d): The Incredible Kung Fu Mission: Not shown, Hong Kum Films, U.S., 493.65 m, 14th Mandolin, S ff-m -g ) Kong, 2499 m, Comfort Film Enterprises, V ff-m -g ) Rise and Fall of Idi Amin (videotape): S. Patel, Kenya, Karz: Narain, India, 4210 m, SKD Film Dist., V fi-m -g ) 98 mins, Pandel Video Dist., V ff-m -g ) Kung Fu Zombie: The Eternal Film Co., Hong Kong, Silent Rage: Topkick Prods, U.S., 2673.50 m, Fox 2853.66 m, Joe Siu Int'l Film Co., V ff-m -g ) Columbia Film Dist., V ff-m -g ) La drolesse (16mm): Lola Films, France, 990 m, Tanya’s Island: Ifex/Fred Baker Films, Canada, French Embassy, O fa d u lt c o n c e p ts ) 2166.97 m, Regent Trading Enterprises, S fi- m -j), Letzte llebe (16mm): Thuering Engstrom Film Prod., O fn u d ity ) W. Germany, 1360.52 m, Australian Film Institute, Teenage Cruisers (videotape): T.C.X. Video, Britain, 76 S fi- l- j) mins, Star Video, S ff-m -g ) The Line: V. Largent/R. Siegel, U.S., 2593.58 m, Hoyts Under the Cover Cops: Manson Int’l, Canada, Dist., V ff-m -j) 2649.36 m, GUO Film Dist., O fa d u lt s e x u a l c o n c e p ts ) A Man of Immortality (16mm): Central Motion Picture Woman From Deep River: Dania/Medusa/National, Corp., Taiwan, 1415.13 m, Chinese Cultural Centre, Italy, 2454.14 m, Superstar Int’l Films, V ff- m -g ), V ff-m -g ) O fd ru g s ) Melvin and Howard: Linson/Phillips/Demme Prods, A Woman’s Torment: R. Norman, U.S., 2426.26 m, U.S., 2565.70 m, Filmways (A’sian) Dist., O fa d u lt Impact Films, S fi-l-g ), V ff-m -g ) th e m e s ) (a) Previously shown on December 1981 list.

Monkey Grip (b): Pavilion Films, Australia, 2743 m, (b) Formerly “ R” with deletions (March 1972 list).

Pavilion Films, O fd ru g s ) (c) Previously shown on February 1982 list.

Neither the Sea nor the Sand: Tigon/Portland Film (d) Previously shown on December 1981 list.

Prods, Britain, 2733.02 m, G.L. Film Enterprises, S fi- m -j)

On the Society File of Shanghai: Young Shung Film Co., Hong Kong, 2537.81 m, Comfort Film Enter­ prises, V fi-m -g ) Ordinance 17: C. Bo, Hong Kong, 2621 m, Joe Siu Int’l Film Co., V f f - m - g ) .

Films Registered With Eliminations For Restricted Exhibition (R)

Christiane F (German language, English sub-titled version) (a): Golden Harvest, W. Germany, 3589 m.

Fox Columbia Film Dist, L f f - m - j ) , O f d r u g a b u s e )

Reason for deletions: O fs e x u a l a c tiv ity in v o lv in g a m in o r)

Hot Times (b): L. Mishkin, U.S., 2210 m, Blake Films, .

S ff- m -g )

Deletions: 8.7 m (19 secs) Reason for deletions: S fi- h - g ) Sex Mystic (16mm): R. Levi Saloman, U.S., 625.29 m, 14th Mandolin, S ff- m -g ) Deletions: 20.5 m (1 min, 52 secs) Reason for deletions: S fi- h - g ) (a) See also under “ Films Board of Review". (b) Previously shown on June 1981 list.

Films Refused Registration Baby Face (videotape): T.C.X. Video, U.S., 70 mins, Star Video, S ff-h -g ) Fancy Lady (videotape): Not shown, U.S., 57 mins, Astral Dist., S ff- h - g ) House of Hookers (16mm): R. Evans; U.S., 629.50 m, 14th Mandolin, S ff- h - g ) , O fs e x u a l v io le n c e ) Soft Places (pre-censor cut version): Key Films, U.S., 1691 m, Cinerama Films, S ff- h - g ) Women in Peril (second reconstructed version) (16mm) (a): Not shown, U.S., 623.50 m, 14th Mandolin, S ff-m -g ), O fs e x u a l v io le n c e )

(a) Previously shown on September 1981 list.

Films Board of Review Christiana F (German language, English sub-titled version) (a): Golden Harvest, W. Germany, 3589 m, Fox Columbia Film Dist.

Decision reviewed: Classify “ R" with deletions by the Film Censorship Board.

Decision of the Board: Uphold the decision of the Film Censorship Board.

Monkey Grip (b): Pavilion Films, Australia, 2743 m, Pavilion Films Decision reviewed: Classify “ FI” by the Film Censor­ ship Board.

Decision of the Board: Classify “ M” .

Quest for Fire (c): B elstar Stephan, Canada, 2646.76 m, Hoyts Dist.

Decision reveiwed: Classify “ R” by the Film Censor­ ship Board.

Decision of the Board: Uphold the decision of the Film Censorship Board. (a) See also u n d e r "F ilm s R e g is te re d w ith Eliminations” . (b) Previously shown on February 1982 list. (c) Previously shown on February 1982 list.

April 1982 Films Registered Without Eliminations For General Exhibition (G) Arpies kotez (Wild Chickens): P. Filipou, Greece, 2400 m, Apollon Films For the Term of His Natural Life: Australasian Films, Australia 2715 m, GUO Film Dist.

Frauen lernen maennerberufe (Sing, Iris, Sing) (16mm): G. Tuchtenhagen, W. Germany, 990 m, Aus­ tralian Film Institute Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie: Warner Bros, U.S., 2180 m, Warner Bros (Aust.)

Napoleon (videotape): A. Gance, France, 232 mins, Cooke Hayden Price News From Home (16mm): Unit 3, U.S., 932.45 m, Aus­ tralian Film Institute Northern Trekabout (16mm): H. & K. Kummer, Australia, 877 m, H. Kummer Quick (16mm): R. Siodmak/UFA, W. Germany, 980 m, German Embassy The Song of the Shirt (16mm): Film & History Project.

Britain, 1448 m, Sydney Filmmakers Co-op. Ltd Two Laws (16mm): Strachan-Cavadini, Australia, 1645.50 m, Australian Film Institute The Watcher in the Woods: Disney, U.S., 2276.69 m, GUO Film Dist.

Wonders of China: Nam San Film Co., China, 2448 m, Golden Reel Films

Not Recommended for Children (NRC) Cannery Row: M. Phillips, U.S., 3318.67 m, United Int'l Pictures, O fs e x u a l a llu s io n s ) Catch It Being Fate (16mm): Literarisches Colloquium, W. Germany, 1283.49 m, Australian Film Institute, O fa d u lt th e m e )

The Chivalry, the Gunman and Killer: Kim Mah Film, Hong Kong, 2677.25 m, Comfort Film Enterprises, V ff-l-g )

The Cold Eye (My Darling Be Careful) (16mm): B. Mangolte, U.S., 954.39 m, Australian Film Institute, O fa d u lt th e m e )

The Desperado: Progressive, Taiwan, 2313 m, Golden Reel Films, V fi-l-j) Dragon Lord: Golden Harvest, Hong Kong, 2908.80 m.

Grand Film Corp., V fi-l-j) Flüchtlinge (Refugees) (16mm): UFA, W. Germany, 880 m, German Embassy, S fi- l- j), V fi-lj), L f i- l- j)

Concluded on p. 389 CINEMA PAPERS August - 379

"V Nÿ

A tragi-comic love story about Peter Thompson (Norman Kaye), a middle-aged bachelor, and Patricia Curnow (Wendy Hughes), a 30-year-old spinster.

Lonely Hearts is directed by Paul Cox, for producer John B. Murray, from a screenplay by John Clarke and Paul Cox. O p p o site page: P a tric ia C u rn o w (W endy H ughes) an d P e te r T h o m p so n (N o rm a n K aye).

Below: P a tric ia an d P e te r a t th eir first m eeting, afte r having been â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;p a ire d â&#x20AC;&#x2122; by a d a tin g service.

B o tto m left: P a tric ia ap p eals to her th e a tric a l p ro d u cer, G eorge (Jo n F inlayson), left, in an a rg u m e n t w ith h er p aren ts. B o tto m right: P eter is interview ed by a detective (C hris H ay w o o d ), rig h t, afte r having been c a u g h t shoplifting.

Lonely hearts

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Sydney Film Festival 1982

Sydney Film Festival 1982 Continuedfrom p. 34 7 attempt to sanctify his Veronika seem glib) and extends them from a personal to a larger relevance by relating the terrible stress and division in Veronika to the sickness and division of her country.

They share a death wish, and Berlin's Wall and severed Germany are figured in her slashed wrists and throat. A harsh and shocking indictment of national sickness, it hits much harder than Lindsay Anderson’s crude swiping in Britannia Hospital.

The film everyone was waiting to see because of the Censorship crisis and, having seen it, voted it Best Film, was Pixote, a lei do mais fracs (Pixote, Survival of the Weakest). The attempt to

ban it on grounds of undesirability in the public interest, if that was the reason, seems inexplicable.

Can it be undesirable to see an attack on the exploitation and abuse of children? To draw attention to three million homeless street kids who roam the cities of Brazil, and to a law which prevents anyone under 18 years from being prosecuted for criminal acts? To examine the spread of crime in a society so corrupt that when one inmate of a sa distically m ism anaged, crim e ­ breeding reform school is offered a chance to escape says, “ I’m staying — it’s worse out there”?

It is an important document, deeply felt and extremely well-handled in scene­ setting, sequential flow and child perfor­ mances. It has a cumulative effect which makes its two final scenes almost unbearable: the first, in which Pixote finds on a prostitute’s breast the mother he lost, and she the child she aborted; the second, Pixote’s walk along railway lines as predestined as his life of crime — and we ask what monstrous act has been perpetrated upon this child? And what monster has this society spawned?

On the last day of the Festival, David Stratton received an unsolicited tele­ gram from Hector Babenco, director of Pixote, expressing thanks for the defence of his film against what he called “the mentality of totalitarianism” . It is patently a matter of great seriousness for the Sydney Film Festival, -as for other international festivals, that it maintain its independence from censorship inter­ ference. For the moment, the Chief Censor, Janet Strickland, has retired to her corner, but there is some legal strength in her position — the security of the Festival rests on a “deal” made in 1975 without solid legal sanction — and she might test that strength again.

Should the unthinkable ever occur and there be no more festivals of the kind and value of this one, shall we then, having lived in clover, be like Squizzy — “dead all over” ?

John Fox Perhaps the most unfortunate and onerous characteristic of a film festival audience is the expectation of an inter­ national social commentary so bleak and pessimistic in content that a lack of inventiveness in style may be over­ looked in the haste to purge the audi­ ence’s collective conscience. It is par­ ticularly true of the Sydney Film Festival, where the palatial splendor of the State Theatre and the glittering spectacle of a gala opening herald an invitation for an elite intelligentsia to unite and thrive on the controversy of Pixote, or the catharsis of Circle of Deceit.

In an environment that relishes in the delusion of witnessing the most contem­ porary additions to the spectrum of politicaily-provocative, socially-critical and ostensibly non-commercial cinema, comedies, particularly optimistic gems like Bill Forsyth’s Gregory’s Girl, elicit a response tantamount to condescension.

Descriptions of charming, delightful and

engaging abound, but barely conceal a prevalent belief that optimism about the human condition is facile; merely light refreshment between the more substan­ tial courses. To overhear the adjective “entertaining” in the post-session coffee queue is to recognize a vaguelyconcealed insult.

While Gregory’s Girl is indeed all of the above, it is also a hilarious, subtle and satirical glimpse of adolescence, in a spirit that effectively topples many of the traditional preconceptions of sex roles at the most repressive period of life. The awkward, tousled hero, played with con­ siderable charm by Gordon John Sinclair, is smitten with his “spunky” vision of the “ modern” woman, who jogs into his life to replace him on the offen­ sive line of the school soccer team.

U n d a u n te d by the p ro s p e c t of redundancy, Gregory moves to a defen­ sive position and stands amiably by as the film allows its schoolgirls to excel at science, soccer and the strategies of courtship. The boys devote their atten­ tions to perfecting and marketing dough­ nuts and the more passive, voyeuristic pleasures of photography and peeking through windows.

In its affectionate treatment of the trials of puberty, the film suggests that the m ost e du cative rew ards of adolescence are outside the classroom walls. Gregory’s genial receptivity to the upheavals of life provides an admirable basis for a valuable education.

Another comedy feature of the Festival, Paul Bartel’s Eating Raoul, traces the unorthodox methods used by Paul (Bartel) and Mary Bland (Mary Woronov) in the pursuit of their dream: a restaurant in the country which they con­ sider calling Chez Bland. As they murder and pillage their way through a smorgas­ bord of sexual perverts and lecherous swingers, the film constructs an ode to life on the west coast of the U.S., a Gomorrah where “the barrier between food and sex has been totally dis­ solved.”

Shot on weekends, with a skeleton crew and rented camera, the film com­ pensates its periodic lapses of visual variety with an injection of bizarre hilarity. In its treatment of cannibalism, haute cuisine American style and swingers, it becomes a stylistic counter­ part to the acidity and black humor of Sitting Ducks.

The Hungarian satire, Peter Bacso’s A tanu (The Witness), cast some equally barbed, if retrospective, jabs at its society, with an ironic depiction of the corruption rampant in Stalinist Hungary.

With its intermittent cuts to explanatory notes, it resembles a fairytale, tracing the ascent of Jozef Pelikan (Ferenc Kallai) as he is groomed for credibility in the trials exposing allegedly-corrupt officials. The film optimistically suggests that the occa­ sional lapses of integrity in a simple man will be suspended when challenged by such blatant exploitation.

The Atomic Cafe, directed by Kevin Rafferty, Jayne Loader and Pierce -Rafferty, is a documentation of the naivete, ignorance and propaganda that contributed to the Cold War mentality in the U.S. Its compilation of government and educational propaganda and juxta­ position of archival footage success­ fully sifts through the mountain of mis­ information and simplistic platitudes that besieged the U.S. in the 1950s. Its inter­ pretation of recent history is also a chilling testimony to the power of the media and susceptibility of the public, and their combined ability to convert any phenomenon, even paranoia, into a marketable commodity.

The film depicts the transformation of post-war euphoria to atomic fever, a fashionable title effectively used to sell cocktails, clothing and music. Hasty preparation for Armageddon gave birth to a host of cottage industries, from the design of anti-bomb suits, the prepara­

Top: Lindsay Anderson’s “crude swiping”, Britannia Hospital. Above: Gregory (Gordon John Sinclair) checks out the knee of the soccer team’s new star, Dorothy (Dee Hepburn). Bill Forsyth’s Gregory’s Girl. tion of survival kits (with all the serious­ ness of a Sunday picnic), and the furnishing and protection of the most comfortable bomb shelter on the block.

The animated television campaign instructing children to “ Duck and Cover” in the event of nuclear attack displays all the serious intentions of Hector the Safety Cat advising us to “ Look to the right and look to the left . . .” when we cross the street, and an equivalent per­ ception of the conceivable dangers.

Co-producer and director Loader maintained that she hoped the film could aid “ the understanding of the per­ suasive power of propaganda” and make people “ more sceptical about what they hear now.” 1 Indeed, the message of a n a tio n ’s c rim in a l ign ora nce and flippancy, effectively highlighted by the film’s intelligent selection and editing of visual material and music, is more fear­ some in 1982.

The attitudes, and even several of the politicians, depicted by the film seem to emerge with renewed popularity. When viewed in conjunction with another independent documentary, Nicholas Broomfield and Joan Churchill’s Soldier 1. American Film, May 1982, p. 9.

Girls, the over-riding impression is that the scepticism and critical analysis that Loader aspires to provoke can never threaten the U.S. army.

Soldier Girls traces the training of three female recruits in the U.S. army. It is difficult enough to witness the training procedure: the continual humiliation; the pressure to repress any spontaneous display of emotion; the lesson in survival techniques that necessitates biting the head off a live chicken; and the ditch­ digging punishm ents, previously reserved by reprehensible wardens for the fictional criminals in Cool Hand Luke.

But it is impossible to respond with any­ thing but incredulity at the sight of the women chanting “ Kill, maim, rape, pillage” as they jog in formation or the instruction that the safe response, in the event of nuclear attack, is to avert the eyes and casually brush any fallout off your uniform.

In conjunction with its eloquent eye for detail, the real strength of Soldier Girls lies in its detection of motivations. Dis­ cussions between the women reveal their preference for male domination in per­ sonal relationships, and that their specific reasons for committing them­ selves to fight and die for their country

CINEMA PAPERS August - 383

Sydney Film Festival 1982

the promises of an automatic career, fin a n c ia l ind ep en d en ce and the immediate sense of camaraderie that would accompany enlistment in the army. He is locked into a society with a dearth of alternatives.

In a film punctuated by the image of endless dole queues, Mick’s aspiration for a career as a motor mechanic seems chimerical. It is as tempting as the linger­ ing, static shots of open, empty door­ ways, flooded with light, which suggest the possibility of passage, but are never pursued.

In an environment that crushes initia­ tive and imposes a maddening lack of privacy, his escape is to the garage, where he repairs a motor-bike that can guarantee a limited freedom. The bike assumes the significance of the kestrel in Loach’s Kes. It becomes not only the avenue for his skills and the mark of his individuality, but also the vehicle with which he has the power to escape briefly to Bristol with his girlfriend Karen (Carolyn Nicholson).

Loach’s talent as a director is evident in his ability to suggest and explore, without the burden of judgment. The army, introduced at the outset by a recruiting film, provides the only immediate, legal alternative to the rut.

Yet the return of Mick’s friend, who has been stationed in Ireland, reveals a transformation from an apolitical youth at the crossroads to a soldier whose primary emotions are vengeance, bitter­ ness and a barely-concealed racism, which his enlistment has produced and legitimized.

As the title of the film suggests, it is able to look at situations, create a per­ ceptive awareness of the factors that create them and to occasionally smile with the moments that make life worth living.

Volker Schlondorff’s Die falschung (Circle of Deceit) is a thankfully-rare Georg Laschen (Bruno Ganz) beside a terrorist in the war-torn Lebanon of 1975. Volker film, so consummately assured in style Schlondorff,s Circle of Deceit. and technique that it almost manages to obscure the more insidious flaws of its content. While purporting to elucidate a are unclear. There is a vague admission function in the group. complex contemporary crisis, it suc­ that a uniform will enable them to “stand While Ticket to Heaven provides an ceeds only in the type of exploitation that taff” and earn the respect of the folks a bso rb ing a ccount of the c u lt’s arouses with its juxtaposition of sex and indoctrination of potential disciples, it violence, and invites a voyeurism molli­ back home.

But the most revealing and poignant finally relies on dramatic impact rather fied by the reassurance of valid social moment in the film comes from Sergeant than lucid investigation of a perplexing commentary. The smorgasbord of mis­ phenomenon. Its answers are too simple anthropic revelations creates responses Abing, whose lectures, philosophies and training techniques one is encouraged to and its solutions too easily achieved. The that alternate between fascination and resent until the film’s conclusion. As a cast of squeaky-clean devotees chant disgust, in a style that is characteristic of veteran of the Vietnam war, he privately and pray their way through the film with pornography. The civil war in Lebanon despairs that he has lost a part of his uncanny similarity to the extras in a becomes a vehicle, a showcase, for soul. He is unable to cry or to share in Coca-Cola commercial. Yet the reasons displaying atrocities and relishing in the any living relationship. He “can’t give that they have been drawn into the cult, expertise of their depiction. nothing to nobody anymore” . His sole their sense of dislocation and alienation Laschen (Bruno Ganz) is a foreign avenue for self-fulfilment lies in his from secular society, are barely revealed. correspondent who shares the director’s The advent and popularity of fringe ability to train others to do the same. It is predilection for war zones and situations a penetrating glimpse of the function of religions are symptomatic of particular where moral codes are blurred beyond an army and a process of regimentation societies, yet the function they fulfil is not recognition, and their obscurity is seen to that seems to necessitate the destruc­ simply ignored, but actively debased by justify a nihilism. While on assignment in tion of an element of the human spirit if it the film. It proposes that public aware­ Beirut, his disillusionment with life — a ness and action against cults, in the form is to succeed. crumbling marriage, a profession in Ralph Thomas’ Ticket to Heaven in­ of kidnapping and deprogramming, will which he has little faith or commitment — vestigates another form of regimenta­ somehow eradicate the sense of confu­ is temporarily allayed by a brief infatua­ tion and, though its ends are different, its sion and deprivation that has enabled tion with Ariane (Hanna Schygulla). Her fictionalized account of the indoctrina­ cults to thrive. The film relies with dis­ exotic hedonism and lack of concern quieting ease on the simplistic conclu­ tion of an individual by a religious cult with the future activate not only sexual reveals many similarities to the training sion that religious cults are the source desire in Laschen, but also a justifica­ and cause of'social evils, rather than the procedure depicted in Soldier Girls. tion of his own frustration and dis­ When a disillusioned David Kappel symptom of a more com plicated interest. For a while, she becomes his preoccupation, his cause.

(Nick Mancuso) arrives in California to deficiency in the cultures that have visit a friend, he is unwittingly lured into spawned them.

Laschen’s relationship with his photo­ It is precisely the identification of these the extended family provided by a cult. grapher Hoffman (Jerzy Skolimowski) is The film traces his demise and eventual symptoms that concerns Ken Loach in an uneasy liaison. It is a unity firmly redemption from the cult. One follows Looks and Smiles. Yet the subtlety and mired in the ideology that transports males to situations where their charac­ him through the love bombing, the humanity with which Loach constructs ters are tested and spurred by imminent singing and chanting; the intensive, his lyrical black-and-white scenario pro­ danger and sporadically relieved by the exhaustive pace of a group that duce a more complex, and ultimately comparison of sexual conquests. Yet, as emphasizes physical exercise, mental more potent, appreciation of the factors distasteful as its basis may be, it provides discipline and self-sacrifice. He pro­ that govern social trends, without resort­ the only genuine insight in the film, in the gressively forfeits his privacy, his indivi­ ing to a judgment of their validity.

Mick (Graham Green) conveys a sense form of an examination of the role and duality and his sex drive on the road to influence of the foreign press. becoming a heavenly child. He becomes of poweriessness: the frustration of being The depiction of an essentially a fictional counterpart to Sergeant Abing, in limbo, having finished school, being parasitic corps of professionals who as his reliance transforms to total too old to enjoy the swings in the park invade beleaguered countries, and with a dependence on the cult. His value as an and too young to make decisions without minimum of personal involvement profit individual exists exclusively through his parental approval. He is susceptible to 384 - August CINEMA PAPERS

and thrive on their misery, is certainly worthy of consideration. It is supple­ mented by Laschen’s cynical belief that he has a responsibility to alleviate boredom in the loungeroom s of Germany by conveying, inciting or inventing events that will shock and dis­ orient.

Ultimately, however, the film re­ sembles its soulless hero, purporting to a substance and depth of conscience that is nothing more than a facile pretence.

Laschen’s monotone narration teases the audience with the idea that his self­ awareness will produce positive action.

However, the film’s eventual return to the images with which it opened suggests that its narcissistic resolutions and his self-doubt are no more than devices for a circular process that can never pene­ trate its perspective and the rut of his existence.

The film’s exotic backdrop for its tale of disillusionment never penetrates beyond a glossy recreation of the horrors of war. Wars do necessitate violent, un­ justifiable casualties, yet Die falschung evokes no comprehension of political cause beyond allusions to confusion and piles of smouldering rubble. It deliber­ ately exploits what it represents as an in­ comprehensible situation, populated by dislikeable, exhibitionistic factions on all sides. What it supplies is no more than a diversion whose achievement is based solely on its ability to keep the adrenalin pumping through the stalls.

Comparing Jean-Jacques Beineix’s debut as a director in Diva to the stylish, innovative thrillers of Alfred Hitchcock may seem like an effusive over-reaction.

However, its jaunt through Hitchcock territory manages to utilize the themes and techniques that characterized The 39 Steps and North by Northwest and complement them with an originality of design, a fluidity of camerawork and an aptitude for the creation of suspense which pays tribute to its influences without wholesale appropriation.

Jules (Frederic Andrei) is an opera lover with a passion for the work of soprano Cynthia Hawkins (Wilhelmina Wiggins Fernandez). She refuses to record her performances and, in an effort to capture her voice for his private pleasure, he sneaks a Nagra into her concert and produces the first highquality recording of her work. The next day, his inadvertent presence at the scene of a murder involves him in a police investigation. As a result, Jules becomes the unwitting target of the police inquiries, the mob reprisal and a blackmail attempt on his idol, the diva.

He has been hurled into a classic Hitch­ cock scenario; unable to rely on familiar territory, forced into a situation where his survival is dependent on his wits, he becomes the resourceful protagonist of a volatile world.

Happily, Beineix’s concerns are not wholly reliant on Macguffins, exquisite “ bits of business” and the suggestion that everyone is a little guilty. He elevates Paris from a glorious background to an integral character, a technique equally effective in Rohmer’s La femme de I’aviateur (The Aviator’s Wife). The film’s bold originality In the use of color and the sumptuous production design are highlighted by Phillipe Rousselot’s inspired camerawork, evoking an atmo­ sphere so mercurial that it is a continual delight.

The bevy of idiosyncratic characters is as diverse as a black soprano, a Viet­ namese thief, a French detective with a penchant for puzzles, a few sinister thugs and a couple of Taiwanese black­ mailers. The visual feast, enhanced by discriminating selection of music and a host of ebullient characters, makes Diva as stimulating as it is ambitious.

The program notes for Jerzy Skolimowski's Moonlighting reveal his reverence for the work of Robert Bresson, and an inspiration to create a

Sydney Film Festival 1982

film in the style and mood of Pick­ pocket. It is a daunting standard to impose on any film, but particularly one conceived, written, financed and into production within a month. Yet the tension that highlights Moonlighting, its eloquent use of music and silence, ana the impassive faces that convey the innermost thoughts with an almost im­ perceptible flicker make it a homage that is to be appreciated for its influences and applauded for its ironic political allegory.

As the leader of a group of Polish tradesmen flown to London to renovate the house of his boss (briefly glimpsed as the director doing a Hitchcock), Jeremy Irons gives a taut and sensitive perform­ ance. His voice as the narrator affords the mellow, w istful insights that punctuate Brideshead Revisited. As the only bilingual member of the group, he learns through the media of a military coup in Poland. Caught between a desire to complete the project and a responsi­ bility to inform his co-worKers, he post­ pones the announcement with an ambiguity of motivations.

Pressure to inform his acquaintances, coupled with an awareness that any attempt to call or fly home will be frus­ trated and risk delay or cancellation of the renovations, is outweighed by his ambition to prove himself capable of coping with responsibility. His dilemma is compounded by the impossibly-meagre budget provided by the boss and a work schedule that resembles a five-year plan reduced to a single, hellish month. The budget problems are solved by petty theft and, though Nowak (Irons) Is never caught, his close shaves are reminiscent of the suspense and exhilaration in Pick­ pocket.

The decision to leave the other three men oblivious of the coup changes Nowak from simple worker to manager: he exploits the ignorance of his workers and manipulates their activities to avoid detection. His secrecy and periodic impositions of authority breed resent­ ment and his relationship to the men deteriorates. The inevitable explosion of the misinformed and manipulated erupts in the final scene, following the comple­ tion of the project and a six-hour hike to Heathrow.

The depiction of the Polish worker, feverishly laboring on an inadequate diet to repair a house he can never enjoy, is an apt allegory. Skolimowskl uses it as an appropriate vehicle to convey his ambivalent nationalism and cinematic expertise.

Cordier (Phillipe Noiret), the appar­ ently bumbling Police Commissioner of Coup

de

torchon

(C lean

S late),

declares his function as the catalyst that enables people to “ reveal their charac­ ters” . His statement encapsulates not only the preoccupation of Bertrand Tavernier’s accomplished exploratory work, but also the theme that underlies Claude Miller’s Garde a vue (The In­ quisitor) and Michel Deville’s Eaux pro­ fondes (Deep Water). All three films revolve around the construction of a male protagonist, whose initial appear­ ance of ineptitude is gradually unmasked to reveal a calculating murderer, or, in the case of Garde a vue, a character that the audience could accept as a murderer.

As the agent of law enforcement in the African colony of Bourkassa, Cordier assiduously utilizes public opinion of his own buffoonery to conceal a series of vendettas aimed at eliminating the town’s trash. Ostensibly spurred by the vigor of a n e ig h b o rin g p o lic e c h ie f, he systematically disposes of the town pimps and the brutal husband of his mistress Rose (Isabelle Huppert), and then cunningly supplies the ammunition for her to remove two additional mill­ stones from his neck, his wife Huguette (Stephane Audran) and her asinine brother Nono (Eddy Mitchell).

Top: one of the 500 Amazon Indians in Fitzcarraldo — from Les Blank’s Burden of Dreams.

Above: Alain Tanner’s “impressionistic vision of Jonas at 25”, Light Years Away.

Tavernier gradually persuades the audience to formulate a portrait of Cordier In accordance with the opinions of the townsfolk. Having constructed a character we believe to be a genial yet irredeemably sluggish fool, he proceeds to erode that opinion, until the impact of the final scene — a repetition of the film’s first shot — reveals the true nature of Cordier as a devil figure.

Using his status as the reigning law of Bourkassa, he professes an attempt to “ save the innocent” but adds that “there aren’t any” , thus granting himself licence of Raskolnikov, yet enduring none of the guilt. The “ paradise” he has chosen is a state of limbo, where there is no distinc­ tion between good and evil, where temptation is the partner of deceit, adultery and murder, and where there “ is so much time to read that you end up not reading” .

The train trips to and from Bourkassa suggest that it is a place where time stands still. The blind man on the train, who professes to see virgin forests on the barren plains, is an apt symbol for the audience. They are led to believe that

they can see the true nature of the town and its inhabitants, until the final scenes grant them the vision to realize that their impressions have been systematically nurtured and perverted to the extent that they are illusory.

The subtle and intelligent shifts in the tone of Coup de torchon are further enriched by a number of excellent per­ formances. Noiret’s basset hound face and vacant stares provide ideal foils for Audran’s superbly slutty Huguette. The uncharacteristically energetic perform­ ance by Huppert, as Cordier’s amoral soulmate, is not however elicited in her portrayal of Melanie In Eaux profondes.

The adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s story of a husband driven to murder by his wife’s promiscuity labors under the weight of its.source. It is a film so doggedly faithful In its translation that it fails to either clarify or elucidate the depths of its central relationship. The result is a film that suggests the exist­ ence of some fascinating motivations and alliances, but in the absence of sub­ stantial development leaves them to flounder.

the success of Hitchcock and Wim Wenders in capturing the essence of Highsmith novels results from their respective abilities to create a visual language as expressive in style as that of their sources. In the absence of this language, Deville manages only to con­ s tru c t basic re la tio n s h ip s . Eaux profondes lacks the creative interpreta­ tion that must accompany its translation to a new medium.

Light Years Away is Alain Tanner's im­ pressionistic vision of Jonas at 25, and, though its language and location mark a departure for Tanner, its concern with the pursuit of alternatives and individual authenticity is characteristic of his films.

Jonas (Mick Ford) is enticed to a sanctum that civilization has literally by1passed, the redundant garage of recluse Yoshka Poliakoff (Trevor Howard). As Yoshka pursues his ambition to fly by absorbing the wisdom of birds, he initially goads, and later guides, Jonas through a spiritual journey that will enable him to inherit the legacy that will remain after his flight. Jonas’ confusion and periodic outbursts of aggression subside, and Yoshka subsequently transforms from a brooding master to a supportive mentor. Jonas’ growing respect for and harmony with nature enable a unity to develop, based on mutual respect and understanding.

One is encouraged to share his wonder as Tanner creates a universe resplendent with luminous mauve light, spectacular rolling hills, and their contrast to the vivid primary colors of things man-made. The mechanical wreckage that litters the year 2000, a testimony and obituary for an industrial age, is juxtaposed with the promise of natural beauty, and the hope for development through an awareness and appreciation of this beauty.

Light Years is a film that encourages the pursuit of dreams, a theme shared by Les Blank’s Burden of Dreams, a docu­ mentary chronicling Werner Herzog’s production of Fitzcarraldo. Herzog’s films and conception of his role as an artist polarizes his audience. The devotees revere his tireless pursuit of articulation for personal visions. The detractors abhor its fanaticism and question the costs of his dubious achievements.

Blank's documentary is ambivalent about its subject, uncritically exposing the fluctuations between depression and exhilaration that accompany a venture as defiantly ambitious as Herzog’s. Burden of Dreams accomplishes an admirable synthesis; a combination of Herzog’s sensual imagery and Blank’s loving eye for the detail that delineates diverse cultures. The result is a film that cele­ brates men like Fitzcarraldo and Herzog and their mythical counterparts, Don Quixote and Yoshka Poliakoff — men who dedicate their lives to the pursuit of dreams and, in that quest, discover a truth and purpose in their own exist­ ence.

Yet, it is simultaneously a film that illuminates the preoccupations of pro­ ducer-director-cameraman Les Blank.

His ability to elucidate the elements that combine to create and distinguish cultures are evident through juxta­ position. Coca-Cola signs and Mickey Mouse T-shirts intermingle with the cere­ monial ritual of preparing masato and the sport of arrow catching.

The plight of the Peruvian Indians, out­ lined in the film ’s n a rra tio n , is emphasized by Blank’s technique of cut­ ting away from the action in a scene to lingering shots of the extras. He con­ structs an acute awareness of a culture imperilled by the onslaught of indus­ trialization. Finally, Burden of Dreams is a fascinating documentary with an admirable skill for the depiction of dichotomies. ★

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Melbourne Film Festival 1982

firm sense of continuity. What one gets are scenes from provincial life, some of them nicely observed — the two con­ trasting grandmothers going about their lives, the child’s embarrassment at the father’s sexual teasing of the mother — but the film never achieves the unity of purpose characteristic of the bildungs­ roman.

Perhaps Susanna Kail, as Erika, is not quite equal to the demands of this mode.

It is easier, maybe, for authors to write about youthful traumas than for young players to act them; or maybe, Thulin’s script is too thin on the kind of charac­ ter-revealing details of behaviour that would take some of the burden off the young actress. As it is, she is left to walk somewhat irresponsively through the network of ugly relationships which finally pushes her off on her own.

A different kind of growing up is cele­ brated in Michael Blakemore’s A Personal History of the Australian Surf,

Melbourne Film Festival 1982 Continuedfrom p. 337 has passed out at one of his parents’ parties. Some time later, two long legs appear at the right of the frame as the children come running out of school and the lady- comes bearing news of her situation. The boy, Oliviera, enjoys fatherhood, is desolate when mother and baby go to the U.S. and overjoyed when the child, Christian, is returned some years later. The comedy is in Oliviera’s acceptance of parenthood just as his parents have rejected it, let alone grandp a re n th o o d (“ I’ m s till gro w in g, searching” , says his mother).

The second half of the film is taken up with Oliviera’s running away with his son.

Its picaresque treatment allows some sharp observations about fathers and sons, about the Italian ideal of mother­ hood and family life, about respon­ sibility and individuality. It is persistently good-natured, often witty at the expense of stereotypes and, in the end, without being at all offensively so, sentimental.

The Franco-Algerian production, Take the Money and Beat It, takes a serious subject — the cultural problems of an Algerian family repatriated after years in France — and treats it seriously. The film’s drama, often played lightly for comic effect, is in the conflict between generations and the conflict between those who have grown up in different cul­ tures. It is apt to be a bit ioose and predictable as we observe teenagers pulling against their parents’ narrowly superstitious ways or as Mustapha and Aissa, the returning teenagers, are frus­ trated by what can be expected from their Algerian counterparts. Further, the film’s didactic concerns are felt in some

unduly e x p lic it d ia lo g u e (“ He’s corrupting my sister. Does he think he’s in Paris?” ).

In spite of these blemishes, it is not an unpleasing film. The situation is inter­ esting; Zemmouri’s sympathies are fairly and comprehensively spread; and he achieves some well-observed, contrast­ ing scenes of family life which make his social points with unemphatic truth of feeling. It may be irrelevant to add that the exotic setting for familiar problems gives the film an interest that has little to do with its cinematic merits.

There is a sense of strained serious­ ness about the Swedish film Brusten himmel (Broken Sky), written and directed by Ingrid Thulin, one of Berg­ man’s great repertory players. Against a physical background of snow-covered woods and mountains, a political back­ ground of a neutral country in a world at war, and with a remarkably difficult family for its emotional context, Thulin unfolds, in a leisurely, disjointed way, the growing up of 13-year-old Erika. At least I assume this to be the film’s central narrative intention: it is this which seems meant to have motivated and held together the dramas of internecine family strife between violent father and oppressed mother, between father and his brisk, business-like mother, and the child’s observation of her other grand­ mother’s pious rituals. The film is set in the isolated villages in which Thulin grew up and they become a metaphor for Erika’s ignorance of the wider world to which she is straining (and perhaps, wider still, of Sweden’s neutrality in the conflict of World War 2).

The fact is that, though there is inter­ mittent interest and charm, Thulin’s narrative grasp is too shaky to ensure a

the most sheerly enjoyable film of the Festival. Blakemore, now a successful stage director in London, recalls growing up in Sydney in the 1940s. He was, he says, a ‘‘straight poofter” , a mother’s boy who loved the movies and hated rough games, but who developed enough skill in surfing to keep the footballing bully boys at bay. His aesthetic sense is developed partly by his exposure to Humphrey Bogart and others in dark­ ened movie halls, partly by the shim­ mering blues and greens and dazzling white of Bondi Beach — to which, it should be added, Tony Wilson’s camera does the most loving justice.

The other main formative influence of his youth is a witty, sardonic father who, while not overtly opposing his son’s theatrical aspirations, keeps urging him to “ make the most of [his] advantages” .

Young Michael throws himself into his “advantages” : he undertakes a medical course (in the loosest sense of the term) at Sydney University; engages in the expected social life, and that includes too much drinking and not enough sex; and surfs and surfs and surfs. By 1950, he has adequately sampled his advantages and heads for London.

This irresistible film lasts just under an hour which made some of the audience wonder what on earth the judges of the Festival’s best short films were up to since they failed even to mention it. It is ideal supporting program material, or, perhaps better still, television documen­ tary stuff along the lines of the ABC’s Our World.

Despite its persistent lightness of touch and the wit of the narrator’s voice, it is a serious film about the relative shaping pressures on young people’s growth. There is a more obvious serious­ ness at work in the only other major documentary I saw at the Festival: that is, Peter Tammer’s extraordinary Journey to the End of Night. Less wholly success­ ful than Blakemore's film, it could be argued that it attempts more.

War — or rather, the memory of it — is again the film’s raison d’etre. Peter Tammer has persuaded an ex-World War 2 soldier, Bill Neave, to recall his experiences in the jungles of New Britain.

The result is 75 minutes of soliloquy as Bill, one of the lucky 450 (out of 1400) who survived the Japanese attack on Rabaul, addresses the empty air which becomes populated by his comrades of 40 years ago. Bill addresses them directly, familiarly, as if they were there in his suburban sitting-room and the film records the pain, bitterness, fear, anger and danger that were part of his daily life in 1942. It does more than this though.

The method — a sort of “dramatized documentary” — is not concerned merely with recording, but with exploring the fu n c tio n of m em ory and of remembering. As Bill Neave recalls “sticking a Jap with a bayonet” , he comes to terms with the notion of himself as a “ murderer” and weeps to think of

how his father would have responded to the idea of a son who had killed.

“We shall never be at peace until everything has been said once and for all time” , proclaims one of the quotations from Celine which, along with passages from the Book of Job, somewhat porten­ tously punctuate Bill Neave’s soliloquy.

This particular quotation does indeed provide a statement about the docu­ mentary’s procedures: Neave is pushed by himself (how far by Peter Tammer as well?) to remember everything, and to arrive at the bleak consolation of, “ I’ve got to live with it.”

In one sense, Bill Neave’s is the single greatest performance in the Festival; in a more teasing sense, it seems of course scarcely a performance at ail. By collapsing past and present, Tammer has created a remarkable sense of 40 years of one man’s life. Equally, though, there is some uncertainty as one wonders whether, for example, Neave weeps as he recalls his fear of “ lying down and dying” or whether the weeping is part of the dramatization of the episode long ago.

There have been some complaints that the film is too long and too slow in estab­ lishing Neave’s personality, but it seems to be that it needs its hour and a quarter to register not just the recollections but to create palpably the pain of “calling up memory from the crypt” .

The 1982 Festival was remarkable for the number of program changes. The most welcome result of these was the unscheduled screening of Diva, director Jean-Jacques Beineix’s first film and a highly entertaining melodrama. It is romantic, comic, bizarre and exciting by turns and sometimes all at once. A resume of its complicated plot would not merely tax me sorely two weeks after viewing, but would scarcely give a sense of its bold inventiveness. The incidents in which its 18-year-old mailman hero, Jules (Frederic Andrei), becomes involved derive from two main narrative sources: his illicit tape recording of a concert given by an operatic soprano (played by the improbably-named Wilhelmina Wiggins Fernandez) who has refused to make recordings; and his unwitting possession of evidence of underworld vice when a prostitute on the run dumps a tape in his mailbag.

These two incidents are only the beginning. The chains of events they give rise to are unified partly by the way they belong to Jules’ sense of his life as a drama in which he is actively engaged but chiefly by Beineix’s vision of the world. In this vision, order is always on the verge of disruption, threatened by either danger or individuality. His oddball characters, like the Vietnamese girl shoplifter and the meditating gourmet who wears goggles to cut up onions, open up free-wheeling possibilities to Jules — and are also very funny indeed.

The threat of danger is something else again: Jules’ tangles with record pirates, the brilliantly-filmed chase through the Metro and the chilling climax in a deserted warehouse all posit a sharp edge of terror just beyond the well-lit arena of more or less ordinary life.

Beineix has been fortunate in his cameraman, Philippe Rousselot, who announces the film ’s romantic and thrilling intentions In the very confident panning round the faces in the concert hall, in the opening scene, before coming to rest on the black lady in the white dress, singing like an angel. Rousselot responds equally to other romantic inter­ ludes, like Jules’ and the diva’s walk through the night streets and to the possibilities of terror in the sequences I have referred to.

Diva is a really stylish entertainment, a film that seems to delight in being a film without being the mere pyrotechnic display that that may suggest.

Brian McFarlane

★

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Film Censorship ListingsfProduction Survey

The National Film Archive o f Australia

information cannot be overstressed. One of its requirements is that its members bear their own name and demonstrate a measure of autonomy Continuedfrom p. 343 and financial self-sufficiency which allows them to be relatively free from local policy pressures the wrong place geographically. Canberra and conform to the precepts of the international possibly suits the more sedentary activities of the organization. This may seem high-handed, but it National Library, but a film archive needs to be in fact makes sense if film archiving is to be a where the action is: it must be close to the film truly collective worldwide effort as it should be. and television industries upon which it feeds and Strictly speaking, many archives have a with which it requires to be in constant com­ dubious qualification to membership of FIAF munication; and it must be easily accessible to on these grounds, but even within the degree of those who seek its services — the researcher, the flexibility operated by FIAF in the matter, I film student and the filmmaker. I was inter­ would suggest that the Australian NFA’s lack of viewed many times in Australia, by all sections autonomy could at any time put its membership of the media (which in itself suggests a at risk. burgeoning interest in film archiving work), and The question of identity and status touches on on every occasion I detected puzzlement that the another Australian problem, that of its pro­ NFA was inaccessibly tucked away in Canberra. liferation of archives. Australia’s size, govern­ If it is constitutionally possible, I would urge mental structure and state rivalries have led for the sake of its future growth that the NFA be inevitably to the growth of archive collections in made an autonomous body, be properly several regions and centres beyond Canberra. christened, and be re-located in Sydney.

This is not necessarily alarming, and indeed can The notion of autonomy is related to another even be beneficial by focalizing specialist collec­ factor: the NFA’s position in FIAF. FIAF may tions and spreading certain burdens, such as sometimes appear to be a ponderous, rather those of access and information, so long as there restrictive organization, clouded with its own is central control, a clearly-defined program and politics. But its value and importance in ration­ policy for each archive and an avoidance of alizing world film archiving efforts and duplication of effort, particularly in the costly providing for an essential exchange of films and area of preservation.

The National Film A rchive

Film Censorship Listings Continuedfrom p. 379

For Restricted Exhibition (R)

Hum kisise kum naheen: R.H. Films, India, 4150 m, SKD Film Dist., V fi-l-g ) Secret Agent Neill: K. Karajopoulos, Greece, 3307 m, Apollon Films, O (n u d ity ) The Way to Happiness (16mm): C.M.P.C., Republic of China, 1066.80 m, E. Seeto, 0 ( a d u lt th e m e s ) The Young Moon Legend: Not shown, Taiwan, 2750 m, Eupo Film Co., V (f-l-g )

For Mature Audiences (M) Blood Feud Liberty Film/ITC, Italy, 2705.14 m, Valhalla Films, V fi- m -i), L ( i- m -j) The Border: E. Bronfman, U.S., 2956.13 m, Cinema Int’l Corp., V fi- m -j), L ( l- m -g ) Cut Throat Struggle (or an Invaluable Treasure: Not shown, Hong Kong, 2493 m, Comfort Film Enter­ prises, V fi-m -g ) Double Deal: Filmco, Australia, 2468.70 m, Filmco, 0 ( a d u t t c o n c e p ts )

The Foreigner (16mm): A. Poe, U.S., 998 m, Aus­ tralian Film Institute, V fi- m -j), L (i-m -g ) Four Friends: Florin Prod., U.S., 3123.46 m, Road­ show Dist., S ( i- m -j), V fi-m -j) Goodbye Pork Pie: Pork Pie Prods, New Zealand, 2468.70 m, G.L. Film Enterprises, V (i-m -g ), L ( i- m -i) Hungerjahre (16mm): J. Bruckner, W. Germany, 1250.58 m, Australian Film Institute, O fa d u lt th e m e s ) If I Were For Real: Young Sun Prods, Taiwan, 2786 m, Comfort Film Enterprises, V fi-m -j), O fa d u lt c o n c e p ts ) I’m Dancing as Fast as I Can: Scherick/Rudin, U.S., 2872.46 m, United Int’l Pictures, O fe m o tio n a l s tre s s ) I Ought to be In Pictures: 20th Century Fox, U.S., 2880.15 m, Fox Columbia Film Dist., O fa d u lt th e m e ) La ferdlnanda: Horn & H ertzog, W. Germany, 2314.70 m, Goethe Institute, O fd ru g s ) La tragedla di un uomo ridicolo: The Ladd Co., Italy, 3154.45 m, Roadshow Dist., O fs e x u a l a llu s io n ) Liar’s Moon: Hanna Prod., U.S., 2825.29 m, GUO Film Dist., O fa d u lt th e m e s ) Norman Loves Rose: Norman Films, Australia, 2660.71 m, Norman Films, O fa d u lt c o n c e p t) Once Upon a Time: Golden Harvest, Hong Kong, 2565.70 m, Grand Film C orp., S f i - l - j ) , O f a d u lt c o n c e p ts )

The Power of Men ¡8 the Patience of Women (16mm): Sphinx Film Prods, W. Germany, 844 m, Feminist Dist.

Group, V fi-m -j) The Punk Rock Movie: Notting Hill Studios. Britain, 2342.59 m, Rock Film Dist., L fi- m - g ) , O fd ru g s , s e lf­ m u tila tio n )

The Seduction: Yablans/Curtis, U.S., 2844.58 m, Hoyts Dist., V fi-m -g ), O fs e x u a l v io le n c e ) Turkey Shoot: Second FGH Consort., Australia, 2496.13 m, Roadshow Dist., V ff-m -g ) Twins o f Kung Fu: Not shown, Hong Kong, 2442 m, Comfort Film Enterprises, V ff-m -g ) Unmade Beds (16mm): A. Poe, U.S., 767.90 m, Aus­ tralian Film Institute, O fa d u lt c o n c e p ts ) Victor Victoria; B. Edwards/T. Adams, Britain, 3653.33 m, United Int’l Pictures, L ff- m -j)

Production Survey Continuedfrom p. 361 Editor .....................................Kerry Reagan C on tin u ity.....................................Lin Arnott Camera assistant ..........John Jasiukowicz Key g r ip ............................... Garry Clements Electrician............................Rod Therkelsen Make-up ......................... Felicity Newman Set d e c o ra to r........................Jon Bowling M ix e r.....................................Peter McKinley Length ............................................. 10 mins G auge....................................................16mm Progress ............................. Post-production

Au Pair Girls (videotape) (a): G. Coen, Britain, 81 mins, G.L. Film Dist., S fi-m -g ), O fn u d ity ) Bizarre (b): Noteworthy Films Ltd, Britain, 2194 m, Video Classics, S fi-m -g ), V fi-m -g ) Blue Emmanuelle: W. Rubí, W. Germany, 2192.27 m, Filmways (A’sia), S ff- m -g ) The Call of Duty: S. Chein, Taiwan. 2408 m, Golden Reel Films, V fi-m -g ) The Challenge: CBS, U.S., 3151.34 m, Roadshow Dist., V ff-m -g )

Dirty Lovers: J-F Davy, France, 2276.69 m, 14th Mandolin, S ff-m -g ) Don’t Just Lay There (c): Cannon Group Inc., U.S., 2147.38 m, Video Classics, S ff-m -g ) Enforcer from Death Row (videotape): Koinonia Psi West, U.S./The Philippines, 81 mins, K & C Video, S fim -g ), V ff-m -g )

Eruption (pre-censor cut version) (16mm) (d): S. Kurlan, U.S., 581.41 m, 14th Mandolin, S fi-m -g ) The Five Minute Kiss (untitled) (videotape); Not shown, W. Germany, 60 mins, Astral Dist., S ff- m -g ) Harem Hangups (videotape): Janus II Prods, U.S., 57 mins, Intercontinental Video, S ff-m -g ) French Nympho (e): Pierre Unia/Audiovi Int’l, France, 2332 m, Video Classics, S ff-m -g ) The House Where Evil Dwells: M. Cohen, U.S./Japan, 2358 m, United Int’l Pictures, S fi-m -g ), V fi-m -g ) The Last Hunter: Eagle Films, Italy, 2593.29 m, GUO Film Dist., V ff-m -g ) The Love Butcher (videotape): Belsky/Williams, U.S., 85 mins, K & C Video, V ff-m -g ) Maniac (2nd reconstructed version) (f): Magnum Motion Pics, U.S., 2346.90 m,, The House of Dare, V ff-m -g )

The Prodigal Son (pre-censor cut version): Not shown, Hong Kong, 2982.90 m, Grand Film Corp., V ff-m -g ) Sex and the Office Girl (videotape) (g): R. Clark, U.S., 66 mins, K & C Video, S ff-m -g ) Ultima 70 (videotape): Not shown, U.S., 60 mins, Astral Dist., S ff- m -g ) Vice Squad: B. Frankish, U.S., 2573 m, Hoyts Dist., V ffm -g ), L ff- m -g )

Winter Heat (p re -ce n so r cut version (16mm): Sombrero Films, U.S., 405.89 m, 14th Mandolin, S ff- m -g )

Young Love — Hot Love: Jurgenz, W. Germany, 1952.16 m, Filmways (A’sian) Dist., S ff-m -g ) (a) Previously passed "R” with eliminations (Septem­ ber 1972 list). (b) Previously shown on June 1972 list as Secrets of Sex (c) Previously shown on December 1975 list. (d) Previously shown on October 1981 list. (e) Previously shown on May 1977 list as Candice Candy. (f) Previously shown on November 1981 list. (g) Previously shown on December 1977 list.

Special condition: That the film will be exhibited only at the 1982 Sydney/Melbourne/Brisbane/Perth and/or Adelaide Film Festivals and then exported.

Against Wind and Tide: A Cuban Odyssey (16mm):

Cast: Phillip Priest, Susan Weldrick, Guy Dow Sainter, Richard Lawrence.

Synopsis: A ctors d escrib e incidents involving drugs and young Australians travelling overseas. Produced for the Department of Health Services in associa­ tion with the National Drug Education Program.

JUST LIKE MACHINES

In Britain, there are a number of regional or specialist archives (the largest being the Imperial War Museum) which defer to the National Film Archive in matters of preservation and do useful and non-conflicting work. However, I suspect that this is not the case in Australia, and that there is a deal of competitiveness, overlapping and inefficiency. One of the solutions to this is to give proper recognition to the NFA, plus the status and authority to organize and control complementary policies and maintain standards, and to ensure that it remains Australia’s official representative in negotiations with film and tele­ vision organizations and in international archiving matters. Again, I do not see this happening from its present constricted and sub­ ordinate position in the National Library.

I would make a final suggestion: that the means be found to set up an independent detailed study of the work of the NFA by a qualified group (if this is not already the aim of the present advisory committee) with a view to making recommendations on its future develop­ ment, funding and status. I would also recommend that the NFA’s already mooted proposals to host an annual congress of FIAF in Australia be strongly (and financially) supported as a possible key factor in gaining for the NFA the national and international recognition it so badly needs and deserves. ★

Seven League Prods, U.S., 636 m, Melbourne Film Festival All By Myself (16mm): Blackwood Prods, U.S., 1190 m, Melbourne Film Festival The Artist was a Woman (16mm): The Artist Was A Woman, Inc., U.S., 638 m, Melbourne Film Festival Between Rock and a Hard Place (16mm): Blue Ridge Mountain Films, U.S., 649 m, Melbourne Film Festival Brooklyn Bridge (16mm): Florentine Films, U.S., 636 m, Melbourne Film Festival The Day After Trinity (16mm): John Else Prods, U.S., 973 m, Melbourne Film Festival Deep Water (Eaux profondes): Hamster-Gaumont, France, 2771 m, Melbourne Film Festival The Drive to Win (Sha ou): Youth Film Studio of the Beijing Film Institute, People’s Republic of China, 2533 m, Melbourne Film Festival Eight Minutes to Midnight (16mm): The Caldicott Project, U.S., 658 m, Melbourne Film Festival Finnegan’s Chin (16mm): British Film Institute, Britain, 954 m, Melbourne Film Festival The Fragile Man (L’homme fragile), Link Prods, France, 2700 m, Melbourne Film Festival From the Ashes: Nicaragua Today (16mm): Int. Women's Film Project, U.S., 636 m, Melbourne Film Festival Get the Devil Out (Demons de midi): C.P. Production, France, 2640 m, Melbourne Film Festival Greenaway (16mm): Abrakadabra Prods, U.S., 625 m, Melbourne Film Festival Hokusai Manga: Akashi/Hiroyuki Chujo, Chochiku Co., Japan, 3310 m, Melbourne Film Festival Light In the West (16mm): Blackwood Prods, U.S., 633.36 m, Melbourne Film Festival The Logic of Emotion (Loglk des gefuhls): Litera­ risches Colloquium Berlin & Ingo Kratisch Film­ produktion, W. Germany, 2648 m, Melbourne Film Festival Maeve (16mm): British Film Inst., Britain, 1207 m, Melbourne Film Festival Mr Adler and the Opera (16mm): Finley Films, U.S., 644 m, Melbourne Film Festival One More Chance (16mm): Firstmark Prods, U.S., 954 m, Melbourne Film Festival Pablo Picasso: The Legacy of a Genius (16mm): Blackwood Prods, U.S., 1018 m, Melbourne Film Festival Phil Guston: A Life Lived (16mm): Blackwood Prods, U.S., 682 m, Melbourne Film Festival Rough Cut and Ready Dubbed (16mm): British Film Inst., Britain. 642.50 m, Melbourne Film Festival The Stubborn Mule (Der bockerer): Neue Delta Film­ produktion, Austria/Germany, 2800 m, Melbourne Film Festival Survivors (16mm): M ouchette F ilm s/Japanese American Citizens' League, U.S., 636.26 m, Melbourne Film Festival Theatre in Trance (16mm): Laura Film, W. Germany, 960 m, Melbourne Film Festival Tibet: A Buddhist Trilogy (16mm): Thread Cross Films, Britain, 2620 m, Melbourne Film Festival We Were German Jews (16mm): Blackwood Prods, U.S., 666.30 m, Melbourne Film Festival Who Shall Live and Who Shall Die? (16mm): Blue Light Film Co., U.S., 1000 m, Melbourne Film Festival Wilful Murder (Bosatsu shimoyama jiken): Masayuki

Editor .................................. Kerry Reagan Length .............................................15 mins Gauge................................................... 16mm Progress ............................. Post-production Cast: Doug Robertson.

Synopsis: A film designed to promote the effective use of pesticides and herbicides in the agricultural industry. Emphasis is given to correct handling techniques. Made for the Department of Health Services and the A u s tr a lia n V e te r in a r y C h e m ic a ls Association.

Prod, company .................................... TFC Dist. company ...................................... TFC P roducer.................................................. DonAnderson THE UNSEEN ENEMY Director ................................. Don Anderson Prod, company ......................................TFC Scriptwriter ..............................Philip Blake Dist. company ........................................TFC Photography......................... Chris Morgan P roducer.........................-... Don Anderson Sound recordist.................... Ian Sherrey D ire c to r................................Damian Brown Camera assistant .............. Garry Clements Scriptwriter .................. Christine Schofield Prod, assistant.......................... Peter Cass

Sato, Nobito Abe, Japan, 3678 m, Melbourne Film Festival A Wive’s Tale (Une histoire de femmes) (16mm): Ateliers Audiovisuels du Quebec, Canada, 768 m, Melbourne Film Festival The World of Gilbert and George (16mm): Arts Council of Great Britain, Britain, 757 m, Melbourne Film Festival

Films Registered With Eliminations For Mature Audiences (M) Ghost Story (a): B. Weissbourd, U.S., 2940.85 m, United Int’l Pictures Deletions: 8 m (17 secs)

For Restricted Exhibition (R) Barbara Broadcast (16mm): Crescent Films, U.S., 482.68 m, 14th Mandolin, S ff-m -g ) Deletions: 1.5 m (8 secs) Reason for deletions: S fi-h -g ) Talk Dirty To Me (reconstructed version) (b): J. Ross, U.S., 1596 m, Regent Trading Enterprises, S ff-m -g ) Deletions: 7.8 m (17 secs) Reason for deletions: S(i-h-g) (a) Previously shown on February 1982 list. See also under “ Films Board of Review". (b) Previously shown on September 1981 list.

Films Refused Registration The Bloody Fists (videotape) (a): Hong Nik, Hong Kong, 90 mins, J & P Video Hire, V fi-h -g ) China Sisters (videotape): A Spinelli, U.S., 74 mins, Blake Films Vic,, S fi- h - g ) A Coming of Angela (videotape): J. Scott, U.S., 72 mins, Star Video, S fi- h - g ) Confessions of Seka (videotape): L. Gucci, U.S., 80 mins, Landmark Films, S fi- h - g ) D elicato (u n title d ) (v id e o ta p e ): Not show n, Denmark/Spain, 60 mins, Astral Dist., S ff-h -g ) Private Lessons (reduced version) (b): R. Ben Efraim, U.S., 2323 m, Sunn Classic Prods, O fs e x u a l e x p lo ita ­ tio n o f a m in o r)

Pussycat Ranch: Jack Rabbit Prod., U.S., 2145.80 m, Landmark Films, S fi-h -g ) Suckers (pre-censor cut version) (c): C. Everett, U.S..

1816.80 m, 14th Mandolin, V fi-h -g ) (a) Previously shown on January 1973 list. (b) Previously shown on December 1981 list. (c) Previously shown on August 1975 list.

Films Board of Review Ghost Story (a): B. Weissbourd, U.S., 2940.85 m, Cinema Int'l Corp.

Decision reviewed: Classify “ R" by the Film Censor­ ship Board.

Decision of the board: Classify “ M” with deletions.

Porky’s (b): D. Carmody/B. Clark, U.S., 2620.03 m, Roadshow Dist.

Decision reviewed: Classify “ R" by the Film Censorship Board.

Decision of the board: Uphold the decision of the Film Censorship Board. (a) Previously shown on February 1982 list. See also under “ For Mature Audiences". (b) Previously shown on February 1982 list. ★

Photography ................... Russell Galloway Sound recordist.................. Peter McKinley Editor ..............................Mike Wooiveridge Prod, assistant............................ Di Heddle Lighting ..............................Rod Therkelsen Camera assistant ............. Garry Clements Asst editor .........................Debbie Reagan Length .............................................15 mins Gauge................................................... 16mm Progress ............................. Post-production Synopsis: A look at safe food handling in industry, and the common mistakes people make handling food. Produced for the Tas­ manian Division of Public Health.

WHATS COOKING? Prod, company ...................................... TFC Dist. company ........................................TFC P roducer..............................Don Anderson

Director ............................... Damian Brown Scriptwriter .................. Christine Schofield P hotography.......................... Chris Morgan Sound recordist........................................ IanSherrey Editor ......................................Kerry Reagan Prod, assistant.................. Paul Champion C on tin u ity.........................Felicity Newman Camera assistant ..................... Peter Cass Key g rip ..............................Garry Clements Electrician.......................... Rod Therkelsen Asst e d ito r.........................Debbie Reagan Length .............................................15 mins Gauge..................................................16mm P ro gre ss............................ Post-production Cast: Robin Moase.

Synopsis: A young mother thinks she is efficient in her home but discovers her kitchen can harbor germs due to ignor­ ance of safe food handling. Produced for the Tasmanian Division of Public Health.-jfcr

CINEMA PAPERS August - 389

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Anja Breien

AnjaBreien Continued from p. 321 Have you ever worked with Bergman?

No. He saw Wives and we have a friend in common, and met. I have kept in touch, but I wouldn’t say I have been very good at making use of him, to put it that way. It is this independence I have.

Are you afraid of being influenced by him?

Yes. I am not always enough at protecting myself. very careful about that, but I one has to m ake o n e’s mistakes.

good He is think own

It may be a bigger problem, in that you have an interest in similar subject matter . . .

Yes, that too. But I experience it very differently.

I see ours as two different worlds.

I think I’m a great moralist and am very m a rk e d by m o ra lis tic attitudes, but they are more a bour­ geois conditioning than a Christian one. The only thing that has bothered me about Christianity is that God should be watching one everywhere [laughs]. That has always haunted me. I am not a totally unreligious person, but I can’t see why Christianity should be the one and only solution.

Might that point of view give you more distance to the witch hunt material you are working on now?

Yes, I hope so. It could be a weakness as well in that I can’t live myself into it. But it may be an advantage to see it from a ‘heathen’ point of view.

Which would make it a very differ­ ent approach to that of Bergman, with his background . . .

Yes. God, he’s a pastor’s son!

Bergman said that after The Seventh Seal his tremendous fear of death left him. It’s not the sort of thing that is preoccupying me. The Seventh Seal is for me a work of genius. I don’t have quite the same format, but I admire him tremend­ ously as an artist, and he is fantas­ tically inspiring. He’s over 60 and he is still burning. And there is so little of that around.

Here in Norway there is such a Bohemia myth in the arts, and what I am learning from Ingmar is that film is a craft, a profession, one can learn. There are, of course, certain elements that are irrational, and th a t you can’t calculate and control, but what you can control, you must be in control of. So often those who have enthusiasm here in Norway go off the deep end and see themselves as instant geniuses.

People edit their own films and so on.

The Witch Hunt: “You can view the witch hunts as the paranoid reaction of a male society against a female power. ”

I think it is very difficult to make film and I feel I know very little.

The critics have confused the issue because they equate professional­ ism with ‘establishment’ and reac­ tionary things, and that isn’t right.

The medium has been explored too little, not just technically. It is, after all, a poetic medium.

it has resulted in a kind of com­ placency with people losing their curiosity about what they are doing; they think they know it all. I feel like saying, “ Well, if you know your job, we can’t work together, because I haven’t learnt mine yet.

I’m still in the process of learning.”

Are economic conditions good for Do you think the cinema has become people in film? too literary?

Yes, but there is unemployment Yes, I am afraid it is very literary everywhere else. And we are all in the Scandinavian tradition. I am freelancers. I’m a freelancer, too. I have social security, of course. trying to learn another way.

Those who work up at Jar for Do you think it has to do with the N o rsk Film A /S are fully strong tradition of social realism, employed, but otherwise . . . that is dominating in film and theatre in Norway, that art should How do you find working here com­ pared to elsewhere, for instance be social criticism in some way?

Sweden?

Yes, I do, very much so. But why I found it easier in Sweden on a the dickens can’t one have social criticism and still . . . Take Fritz purely professional level because of the tradition of quality. If you say Lang, for instance.

One often confuses form and something isn’t good enough, you content. So many of the films about are not seen as a bitch but as the grey everyday are grey. I think someone who wants to have the the reaction against art for art’s best. We lack something on that sake has been very healthy, but at score, though the chance of exciting the moment we are about to stag­ things happening in Norwegian nate in the opposite direction. It film is as great as in Sweden. I really think things could start becomes a new moralism. happening here.

That film should reflect our lives and Postscript situation . . .

Yes, which I think it should. But our lives are only so much. They are our dreams, too. In the Nor­ wegian film industry we have had a very important struggle to earn professional salaries. To gain a decent living, a lot of people have to prove that they know their job, and

“ People drive out what they fear most in themselves” , Anja Breien says after the completion of the film Forfolgelsen.

It is essentially a film about intolerance, and fear of outsiders; in that sense it is very contem­ porary, Breien suggests. Rather

than a film about witchery or the supernatural, it is essentially a love story, about a woman who is not afraid of expressing her feelings and by doing so steps across invisible boundaries. Breien adds, “She is careless, and suffers the consequences. In a sense, one might subtitle the film ‘How to become a witch without really trying’.”

As to the questions “Was she a witch?” or “What is a witch?” , Breien says, “ If I accept the concept of the witch, I would betray both Eli Laupstad and myself. Why should I accept a concept that hits woman as a sexual being?

There is much fear of women in the concept of the witch. Male sorcerers, however, are allowed to be undeniably attractive. You can view the witch hunts as the paranoid reaction of a male society against female power.”

As to her own work as a director, and future projects, Breien says, “ One has to dare to offer of oneself without privatizing the conflicts of society. Most inter­ esting of all is often that point of intersection between the private and the political.”

Breien is starting to think of a contemporary project: “ Now I have to make up my mind and be more straight­ forward, be simpler and clearer and more personal than before.

The bell has rung for the second round.”

Filmography 1967 Jostedalsrypa 36 mins A short film, based on a medieval legend, a b o u t a yo un g girl in a N o r ­ wegian valley at the tim e o f the plague.

1969 17 Mai, en film om ritualer 12 mins A satirical d o c u m e n ta r y on th e cele­ b ratio n o f the N a tio n a l N o rw eg ian holiday. A w ard ed a prize at O b e r ­ hau sen festival.

1971 Ansikter 8 mins Paintings by Edvard M unch.

1971 Voldtekt 96 mins A yo ung man, wron gly accused of a crime, sees him self being g round down by the judiciary m achine. Shown at the D irecto rs’ F o rtn ig h t in Cannes.

1972 Murer rundt fengslet 12 mins A de nunciation of the N o rw eg ian penal system.

1973 Herbergister 20 mins T h e world o f alcoholics in Oslo, m ad e for television.

1974 Mine soksen, goddag 12 mins A rn e Bendik S j u r ’s g raphic art.

1975 Gamle 34 mins T h e realities and p ro b lem s of old people, m ad e for television.

1975 Hustruer (Wives) 85 mins Wives is ab o u t th ree fo rm er friends who meet du ring a p arty and decide, for a s h o r t ti m e , to f o rg e t t h e ir f e m i n i n e ‘r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s ’ . It is in s p i r e d by Husbands w h ich was directed by J o h n Cassavetes. S how n in Chicago , and aw ard ed a prize at the L o carn o festival.

1977 Den alvarsamma leken (Games of Love and Loneliness) 106 mins Based on a novel by H j a l m a r Soderber g pu blished in 1912, this Film was m ad e in Sweden. A M a u p a s s a n t tone for a love story up set by prejudice and law. A w a r d e d a prize at th e C h icag o festival.

1979 Arven (Next of Kin) 95 mins 1980 Forfolgelsen (The Witch Hunt)

★

CINEMA PAPERS August - 391

The Quarter

The Quarter Continued from p. 309 The major points of contention relating to this application raise the issues of child pornography and sexual exploitation of children. In this regard, it should be recognized that the Films Board of Review has specific respon­ sibilities. These are not to register m aterial which is blasphem ous, indecent, obscene; injurious to morality or an incitement to or encourage crime; or undesirable in the public interest. In essence, it must satisfy itself that a film can be screened for general or restricted audiences without offending on any of these grounds.

Particular attention was paid by the Board of Review to scenes in Pixote where a child is in the presence of people engaged in sexual activity.

These scenes, which made important dramatic points, were an integral part of the film. Their treatment was neither salacious nor prurient.

The Films Board of Review takes into account all relevant states’ legislation, which although representing diverse opinions, nevertheless provides an important indication of general com­ munity attitudes. In reaching its judge­ ment, however, the Board did not con­ sider itself obliged by its charter to comply with any individual state act. In dealing with the application, the Board took into account all states’ legislation dealing with child pornography and sexual exploitation of children.

The Board considered that from the point of view of child pornography Pixote does not breach the NSW Indecent Articles and Classification Act, the Victorian Police Offences Act or the South Australian Criminal Law (Prohibition of Child Pornography) Act. It considered that the context of the child's brief association with persons engaged in activities of a sexual nature was not indecent, obscene, injurious to morality, nor undesirable in the public interest.

The only state legislation which Pixote appears to contravene in this regard is the wider Tasmanian Restric­ ted Publications Act. This Act prohibits the appearance of a child in the presence of a person engaged in an activity of a sexual nature — appar­ ently even if the quality and intent of the context are unexceptionable.

The Films Board of Review does not consider that a decision applicable to all states should be adjusted to meet the legal requirements of individual states alone, when it is the Board’s con­ sidered judgement that the material is not offensive. Accordingly, the Films Board of Review upholds the appeal and classifies Pixote for Restricted Exhibition.

The Cain Letters Mrs J. Strickland, Chief Censor, Film Censorship Board, Piccadilly Court, 222 Pitt Street, Sydney, N.S.W., 2000 Dear Mrs Strickland, Re: 1982 Melbourne Film Festival

I enclose a copy of a letter sent this day to Senator, the Hon. P. D. Durack, whom I understand is the Minister in charge of your Office. You will note my dissatisfaction with your action in banning the film Pixote. I note from ^ your press statement that part of the foundation for your action was a pur­ ported sustainance of the Victorian Police Offences Act. This Act is subject to my administra­ tion and if its terms are breached, I can assure you that prosecutions will ensue. However, it is the function of the appropriate Victorian law officers to decide whether that is the case and it is not a function which resides with you.

You will doubtless be familiar with the terms of the Victorian Films Act

392 - August CINEMA PAPERS

which amongst other things pick up and mirror the classifications decided upon by your Board. Let me assure you of the continued co-operation of the relevant Victorian Authorities concern­ ing the operation of this Act. You may care to comment upon the terms of this letter and that of the enclosed letter to Senator Durack.

John Cain .

Attorney-General Senator the Hon. P. D. Durack, Q.C., M.P., Attorney-General, Parliament House, Canberra, A.C.T., 2600 Dear Attorney-General, Re: 1982 Melbourne Film Festival

You are almost certainly aware of press reports concerning the action of the Chief Censor in calling in and initially banning the film Pixote from screening before the Melbourne Film Festival. I understand you are the Minister having responsibility for the office of the Chief Censor. Now that the appeal process has been completed and the film is available for screening, I write to you on matters of principle without the attendant glare of publicity.

The Censor attempted to justify her action in calling in that particular film and subsequently banning it upon the basis that its contents offended the Vic­ torian Police Offences Act 1958, par­ ticularly those sections dealing with child pornography. Whilst one would hope there was universal support for the proposition that children must be protected from exploitation, it is not the function of the Chief Censor to take it upon herself to decide the application of Victorian domestic law. Certainly her actions must not appear to have pre­ judged the application of that law.

Further she should not do so without seeking my advice, or advising me of her intended actions.

You may recall that at the last meeting of Ministers, it was agreed that the status quo should be maintained until the next meeting. In spite of this, the Censor has taken unilateral and un­ precedented action in an apparent attempt to bring to an end the 1975 agreement with the Film Festivals.

Shortly before the 1981 Melbourne Film Festival, I understand that the Chief Censor called in one film for screening. The film was supplied under protest by Festival organizers and was subsequently released by the Censor without comment. The matter was then discussed at the Ministers’ meeting and it was agreed that the previous prac­ tice of registering Festival films without screening would continue for the time being. This year, instead of maintain­ ing the status quo and leaving it to the Ministers to decide what the future arrangements should be, the Censor has called in five films for screening and had banned one. In my view her action is unwarranted.

I am sure you will further appreciate that the Chief Censor’s intrusion into these matters of films before the Film Festival can and, in fact, has done immense harm to the international reputation of the Melbourne Film Festival. It is not too extreme to suggest that her action could affect the con­ tinued viability of that Festival. My Government supports the contribution that Festivals make to the diversity of cultural life in Australia and my Govern­ ment is strongly of the view that the terms and the spirit of the 1975 agree­ ment with the Festivals should be fol­ lowed so that the independence and integrity of Festivals is protected.

In other words, provided that the organizers of Festivals comply with the conditions laid down in the 1975 agree­ ment, films for Festivals should never have to be screened by the Chief Censor.

Incidentally, I note that as a result of the last Ministers’ meeting you were taking action to amend the Customs (Cinematograph Films) Regulations to remove the apparent requirement for all films to be screened before registra­

tion. I understand that this action has not been taken and, therefore, i wonder why only five films were chosen. If the Censor believes that she is merely following legal requirements, what basis is there for her to act in this dis­ cretionary manner?

I would be interested to know whether you were aware in advance of the Chief Censor's intended actions. If so, why was I not given a chance to consider whether Victorian legislation would in fact prevent the screening of the film Pixote at the Festival? In any case, you are now aware of the Censor’s actions and I would like to know what action you propose to take.

I enclose for your information a copy of a letter I have sent to the Chief Censor.

John Cain Attorney-General

all applicants will receive by post notes on the films and their directors, which will explore the primordial images presented.

For further information and applica­ tion forms, contact John F. Noack, 2 Devon St, Eaglemont, Vic., 3084. Tele­ phone A.H. (03) 459 3530.

The Travelling Film Festival The Travelling Film Festival has been formed in Victoria and will undertake a 10-city tour of that state in March, April and May 1983.

The Travelling Film Festival will present films not usually available to the one million people who live outside the Melbourne metropolitan area. A similarly-named organization, The Travelling Film Festival, based in Sydney, has operated similar tours for past years and features films from the Sydney Film Festival. There is no association between the organiza­ tions. “ Country people have limited oppor­ tunity to see a genuine variety of film,’’ said Graham Davies, general manager of the Victorian Travelling Film Festival: "The Arts in the country are gener­ ally suffering from a lack of funds and a total lack of any diversity in film presentations characterizes this. The essence of our program will be variety and diversity.”

Although a sponsor has been secured and an application for govern­ ment funding is pending, Davies said, “ Corporate sponsors are an integral mechanism in assisting high-quality arts presentations to reach logisti­ cal ly-d isadvantaged populations.

They find it useful to be seen in the local community as willing to inject time and money into the community they serve and share. It should be unnecessary but the reality is that politicians are inextricably favoring city-based populations. Consider the fact that more than 90 per cent of Arts grants are destined for citybased organizations, and that those organizations largely ignore the country population, which com­ prises some 30 per cent of the population of the whole state.

“The Festival is also an oppor­ tunity to inject new life into the movie theatres that exist across the state. A few have closed over the years and the different programming format offered by our Festival is seen as a positive contribution to the local community.”

Jungian Film Festival

The Jung Society of Melbourne will present a second Jungian Film Fes­ tival on September 18-19 at the ERC, Melbourne State College, Carlton.

The theme of the Festival is “ Prim­ ordial Images in Films” , and included in the weekend’s program will be Werner Herzog’s The Great Ecstasy of Sculp­ tor Steiner, Jean Cocteau’s Blood of a Poet and Le testament d’Orphee, Michael Lee’s Black Fungus and Mystical Rose, Nicolas Roeg’s Walk­ about and Ingmar Bergman’s The Magic Flute.

A panel of film critics will offer opin­ ions and respond to questions. As well,

Nicolas Roeg’s Walkabout.

Children ’s Television Investments The recently-established Australian Children’s Television Foundation has announced its first investments.

Foundation director, Dr Patricia Edgar, said “ The investments in the script development of two telemovies and two mini-series are the first of many projects we expect to be funding over the next few months.”

Two of the projects are from South Australia and two from Victoria. They are: Scrap Iron Kid ($20,105, tele­ feature, project development) based on the book Scrap Iron Kid by John Jones.

The investment is to complete scripting of a project funded to first-draft stage by the Australian Film Commission. It is being developed by two Adelaide pro­ d uce rs, Kate W hite and Peter Vaughton, both of whom have had extensive experience in children’s television.

The Children ($5300, tele-feature, first-draft funding) by Melbourne writer Maree Teychenne. It deals with the real-life drama of Jane, Frank and Isaac Duff who set out in 1864 in search of some broom for their home and became lost for nine days and nights in Victoria’s Little Desert.

Tomorrow’s Journey ($3500, treat­ ment funding, mini-series) is an original story by Stephanie McCarthy, a South Australian writer' freelancing in the children’s field.

Salt River Times ($4800, treatment funding, mini-series) to Harris Smart to develop the short stories of William Mayne. Smart has produced drama and documentary programs for ABC Education, published short stories and won various fiction writing awards including The Wallace Stegner Creative Writing Fellowship and The Age Short Story Award.

The Australian Children’s Television Foundation has been established as a non-profit-making company to encour­ age the development, production and transmission of quality Australian child­ ren’s television. It is supported by funds from the Commonwealth government, and the state governments of Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Funding is also being sought from private industry and the community.

For further information, contact Dr P a tric ia Edgar, te le p h o n e (03) 669 8670, or, Jon Stephens, telephone (03) 669 8679. ★

A Shifting Dreaming

A Shifting Dreaming Continued from p. 331 Territory has given Aborigines hope in other states of Australia, and because the relationship between blacks and whites is really bubbling the pressure is really on for all governments to take note of what is happening in the Northern Territory.”

A Shifting Dreaming may have implica­ tions in an altogether unexpected domain, as well as in the realm of providing momentum and support for Aboriginal groups in other parts of Australia. The reason for this is the use of evidence to support the land rights claim that may well stun the consciences of the Australian public and many historians. Most exceptional is the use of material detailing the events surrounding the Conniston massacre of 1928, in which more than 100 Aboriginals were slaughtered. This massacre is a well-kept secret of Australian historians and yet still eats at the hearts of the Warlpiri people. (In Frank Crowley’s general Australian history text, A New History of Australia, the massacre gets no

David Millikan

mention, although Radi’s chapter mentions an inquiry in 1928, but gives neither the tribal names nor the details of the event. And this text has been the primary one for most under­ graduate university Australians since the mid1970s.)

F u rth e rm o re , th e m assacre form s an essential background for the Aboriginal land claims, serving as an illustration of the treat­ ment the Warlpiri and other tribespeople received at the hands of white settlers. The inquiry into this massacre is being re-enacted as a major part of the documentary to assist in the portrayal of official white attitudes towards Aboriginals in Australia just more than 50 years ago. Plasto saw the dramatization of the inquiry as a means of going some way towards coming to terms with the description of the land rights issue.

It is understandable, therefore, that Plasto is enthusiastic about the project and, further­ more, that actors, film crews and investors supported the project. In fact, not only have hundreds of thousands of dollars been raised to support the documentary from private

resolved in some way. We can pre­ tend that it never happened; they can’t, because they'are still trying to deal with it. Can we say that it been able to reconstruct the inquiry doesn’t matter, because it does for into the killing of the blacks in them? I think in the long run it central Australia, and it turns out matters for us. to be one of the great scandals of I think there is a case for forget­ 20th Century Australia. The final ting things, or perhaps a case for summation of the judge is a quite moving on, but you only do that on extraordinary, even devastating, the basis of an adequate resolution statement. of the issues involved. In Aus­ tralia, we can’t claim we have So, you are making a documentary resolved this matter because most that combines the issues of land p eo p le d o n ’t even know it rights with this particular massacre happened.

David Millikan Continued from p. 333

investors, but every actor who was approached agreed to participate, some within minutes of having the nature of the project explained to them. This has resulted in one of the best casts in Australia at any time working together to dram atize the inquiry: Max Gillies, Ray Barrett, Martin Vaughan, Cul Cullen and so on. As one person involved in the project noted, these actors have responded enthusi­ astically partly because of the importance of the issues involved in the documentary and also because the roles they are called to play surpass many of the demands made on their acting skills in television and elsewhere.

For Plasto, then, making A Shifting Dreaming has been “ an unbelievable human experience” , that is, quite simply, “ a historical document that had to be done.

It remains, now, to do the right thing on the screen. We don’t want to lose sight of the fact that no one has seen this before. We must keep track of how far people can be taken and not lose the audience by taking them too far too soon. But it will really change perspectives. I really believe that.”*

Would you say it is a measure of the humanity of a nation to treat its natives in that way?

It may be a measure of the sensi­ tivity of our conscience; it may be a measure of our sense of guilt; it may, if you put a better light on it, be a measure of our generosity and magnanimity. I don’t know. I think there is something peculiar about the way Australia deals with this.

It’s an extraordinary thing that has happened here and, in some sense, unprecedented in the relationship between indigenous people and their conquerors. We are talking What’s your position regarding about an area of land being given Yes, the two are inseparable.

Aboriginal land rights? How would back within the next two years, you like to see the Aboriginal claims which is likely to reach the size of Is that how the Aboriginals see it? to tribal land resolved?

Britain and France combined. No country in the world, no matter Certainly. Part of the process In this particular claim I hope how marginal the land, does that whereby they make their claim they get it. They established most without some profound shift in under the N orthern T erritory clearly the fact that they were the favor of the people who are Aboriginal land rights Act is that original owners, that they have claiming it. So, I think there is in they have to establish the process maintained a profound spiritual the Australian spirit a respect for whereby they were dispossessed of affiliation with the land through the the underdog and a basic aware­ their land. The single most devasta­ years, and that they were dis­ ness of the values that make the ting event in the history of their dis­ possessed of the land in a violent land rights movement in this case possession is the Conniston mass­ and destructive way. Their claims so viable. acre. The whole tribe was dis­ on an ethical level are irrefutable. persed and, in some cases, it has How are you financing the project? been only in the last couple of years Do you see the validity of the claim?

It is being financed by private that they have even gone back. In I can see it on an ethical level, investors. A lot of them were fact there are four tribes: the Warlpiri, Kiditch, Alyarrawa and but it’s not as simple as that. It is attracted to it because of the tax Warramanga. But mainly, it is the difficult to resolve ethical issues in legislation — the normal route the sphere of practical life as simply these days.

Warlpiris. as you can resolve them on the It has been a costly project Are you hoping that a documentary moral plane. I think the Abori­ because it has been very expensive about this sort of issue, or event, will ginals face profound difficulties in to shoot. We felt it important to give people a better understanding of the business of maintaining a viable shoot the country in that area with the background of Aboriginals’ land lifestyle on the land because it is the same sort of expansiveness with marginal land that white people which the Aboriginals had been claims? don’t want, and it’s land they will talking about. And, as we listened Land rights is the focal point; it is only be able to live on with the sup­ to them talking about it, we got the the main symbol of the whole port of the Australian welfare feeling of largeness and grandeur matter at the moment. But that system. And yet, at the same time, and quite a deep mystery associ­ quickly takes you deeper into ques­ it is the one thing that provides ated with it. Translating that into tions that have to do with the rights them with the chance to develop our European visions, we have shot it with helicopters, with broad of those people, the matters of cultural strength.

So that in itself, for me, is sweeping vistas. They see it as an justice that have to do with their claims to be recognized, also their enough. I feel we as a country are internal, spiritual thing of great right to have the question of that enhanced by our capacity to recog­ intensity. Our vision translated on to film has been very expensive. massacre resolved. It has to be nize their rights.

Where do you see the potential markets for the film?

It is a film that will be of great interest to Australians because it deals with a question that will become more and more crucial as the years go by. It is also a film that will be crucial to countries dealing with the same sorts of issues in rela­ tion to their own indigenous people: the Americans, the Canadians. The Germans seem to have a perennial fascination with the Australian Aboriginals; the same is true with the British. So, we have hopes of extensive overseas sales.

Is it directed towards any particu­ lar audience?

No. It is shot in a way that will make it entertaining and interest­ ing for average Australian viewers.

What sort of response do you expect?

I find that very hard to judge.

What sort of response would you like?

Well, you would want people to like it, to think it good. I would like people to find themselves informed and involved in the perception of the issues which they could recog­ nize and perhaps learn from.

And do something about it?

That’s up to them.

Have you planned any follow-up documentaries?

We don’t see ourselves as having shot the definitive statement on the relationship between Aboriginals and white Australians with one tele­ vision feature. In the process of doing this we have found ourselves caught up in a fascinating and huge set of issues. We may well go back into that area. ★ CINEMA PAPERS August - 393

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Two Laws

Two Laws Continuedfrom p. 329 Because it was the first, it was contested from a number of quarters not necessarily directly interested in the land under claim. But there were powerful local interests opposing the claim.

Not least among these is Mount Isa Mines, which hold leases to one of the world’s largest deposits of lead-zinc ore, about 60 km south­ west of Borroloola.

1 The leases fall within the McArthur River Station pastoral lease and they acquired this in 1976. This station had long been sought by the remaining Kurdanji people who were decimated in the 1880s when the station was first set up.

and in Bing Bong Station in particular, the Aboriginals had to negotiate with MIM and the Northern Territory government. All they had to bargain with were the rights to the land which the Aboriginal Land Commissioner recom­ mended be granted to them. Those people who were not traditional owners of successfully claimed land had no bargaining power at all.

Part three of Two Laws shows a dispossessed Kurdanji man at a waterhole on McArthur River Station. The place is a rainbow serpent Dreaming, which is part of his traditional estate.

He is standing on the concrete surrounding a large pipe which, he explains, “goes right in the snake’s mouth” . His despair is clear but quiet.

There is nothing he can do. This man once prophesied that the rainbow serpent would become angry and flatten all the miners with a fiery cyclone. How he wishes this would happen!

An ancient stand of cycas palms was cut down on Manangoora Station. This is also a sacred site, the legacy of a Dreaming shark whose song three cycle pastoral is chanted each year at the initiation of certain young Aboriginal men. The explorer Ludwig Leichhardt camped at this place in 1845, and he described the manner in which the cycas nuts are detoxified and prepared for human consumption.

The owners of Manangoora Station are descendants of stable combo marriages and they inherited the rights to the pastoral lease from their father. They are related to other Borro­ loola Aboriginal people through their mother.

Like their father, they try to integrate their pastoral activities with Aboriginal uses of the land and, in the past, they have protected sacred Aboriginal sites. Nonetheless, they allowed a European staying at Manangoora to cut down the trees, to make a new paddock. This was in the interests of “developing” the station.

depredations and insults. The sacred sites legis­ lation has proved totally ineffective in prevent­ ing the desecration of sites in the Northern Territory.

T

he significance of these sites to Borro­ loola Aboriginals is an indication of the extent to which their lifestyle is integrated with their physical environ­ ment. One aspect of this is the close interweaving of the spiritual and the mundane, and of work and play. This emerges in part four of Two Laws. It opens with some scenes from a mortuary ritual and follows with sections on set­ ting up outstations, women’s role at Borroloola, parts of a young man’s initiation ceremony, a camp corroboree and the playful entertainment hile the Aboriginal Land Com­ with which women perform while on a day’s missioner’s report lay on the hunting. desk of the then Minister for The work scenes from the outstation show a Aboriginal Affairs, Ian Viner, yard being built from bush timber held together Mount Isa Mines bought Bing with wire. Cattle are branded and horses are Bong and Tawallah. With these broken in. The work is very hard, but there is leases, the company controlled most of the land always an element of fun and enjoyment. on three sides of the Borroloola Town Common There is very little prospect that attempts to which was part of the claimed land. Bing Bong set up mini-cattle stations, reminiscent of the lies between the Common and the Sir Edward combos’ enterprises, will provide any substan­ Pellew Islands which were also claimed by the tial cash income. Undercapitalized, working Aboriginals. with outmoded methods and remote from trans­ At the time, MIM was a foreign company and port to markets, the productivity of labor on these purchases required the approval of the these outstations cannot be compared with that Foreign Investment Review Board which of the miners and those on the large capital­ operated under the Foreign Takeovers Act. One intensive cattle stations down the road. But the basis for preventing a foreign takeover under more they rely on store-bought goods, for which this Act was a conflict between domestic policy they have to pay more than their less-remote and the takeover; land rights for Aboriginals counterparts, the more their labor is evaluated in was policy. terms of the market.

The Aboriginal Land Fund Commission, The minority of employable young people, which was under the control of the Minister for who have the most to contribute to the out­ Aboriginal Affairs, as well as the Department of stations, confront a choice: is it better for them Aboriginal Affairs, had been notified of the to leave the outstations and go to work for Euro­ Aboriginal interest in acquiring Bing Bong and wo Laws shows the confrontation pean capitalists who will pay them more in McArthur River pastoral leases before the between an Aboriginal manager of the wages than they could possibly earn on their own site and this European. (Managers of land? mining company’s takeover bid. sites are the children of female There was little doubt that the mining com­ There is a deep dislike of the social conditions owners; owners are the children of of wage labor, the servility of it and its pany’s purpose in buying these stations included male owners.) The argument which ensues is a a desire to have control of the area. In particu­ impersonality.

This is common to Europeans parody of misunderstanding. It appears and that the lar, it wanted a basis for bargaining with the Aboriginals alike. The Borroloola Aboriginals in the event that the land claim was European, a Yugoslav with a poor command of Aboriginals had been relatively free of it until English, believes that, at some time in the past, the Welfare Branch period. Working with the successful.

The mining company’s interest in the claimed the Aboriginals sold their land to the govern­ Macassans and the combos gave them access to land was that it wanted easements for a road, ment which in turn leased it to the pastoralists. some of the foreign goods which they valued and powerlines, a pipeline and, possibly, a railway He asks the Aboriginal manager to prove that it was always a two-way relationship. Even the through the Borroloola Town Common and out this is not the case. If only it were true. larger pastoralists know that the Aboriginals It is hard for white Australians to appreciate prefer to work for someone with whom they can to Centre Island in the Pellew group. MIM wanted Centre Island as a site for a port town what the effect of damage to sacred sites is have a reciprocal relationship, or the semblance and power station. Southwest Island, which lies within the Aboriginal community. The people of one. And today, Borroloola Aboriginals, at between Centre Island and the coast, is needed say that these places are their memory of the times, work with a European because he is a Dreaming. They are also seen to be very much “good old bloke” , even if they may not be for easements.

The Aboriginal Land Commissioner disputed alive and the power residing in these places certain of being paid with much cash. They the traditional ownership of Southwest Island. animates the souls of the living. expect this kind of employer to recognize his Shortly after the trees were destroyed, the obligations in some way, perhaps a lift in his car, Though he found traditional ownership estab­ lished for Centre Island and for North Island most senior owner and the most senior manager or some beef, beer or money when they are (which is the northernmost of this chain of three of the site died. To destroy the place is to destroy short. large islands), he did not recommend they be the people connected with it. There is also a fear It is likely that the Borroloola Aboriginals that people from outside the Borroloola com­ will give up their outstations only if they are im­ granted to the claimants. munity, who are connected to these sites by possible to maintain. That is, if they were forced ne of the weaknesses of the claim more remote links, will punish the local owners off their land by economic circumstances. It was the evidence given by the and managers for allowing the damage to occur. would seem reasonable, now that governments Damage to sacred sites is now occurring more have recognized the Aboriginals’ claims to land, Aboriginals. They were required to give such evidence before an frequently than ever. Photographs of a sacred that appropriate measures are taken to ensure assembly of hostile and derisive burial site in the Sir Edward Pellew Islands were that they are able to use their land. Otherwise published Europeans. They had to read maps pinned on in a book last year. One showed the the Aboriginal Land Rights Act (NT) 1976 will photographer’s wife peering at a skull in a sacred only be, as it is said in Two Laws, a “ piece of walls rather than oriented in the appropriate direction on the horizontal plane, and they had log coffin. An Aboriginal, other than the senior paper” . to read them quickly. They were frequently owners and managers, would be killed for less.

Two Laws shows that Aboriginal people are The author of the book explained that it was a not cultural isolationists or purists. The Borro­ made to give evidence sitting alone in a chair before the whole court. This put the Aboriginal sacred and secret place of the Aboriginals at loola people show themselves willing to change, witnesses, whose experience of courts has always Borroloola. These, he said, had been causing the but only in the directions which they determine. been traumatic, at a terrible disadvantage. The mining company hassles. He hoped the island They are striving to understand the rationale Aboriginal Land Commissioner changed all this burial sites would one day become a museum. behind the values of white Australian society, Aboriginals at Borroloola are angry at the necessarily from the standpoint of their own in later claims.

To protect their vital interests in these islands lack of any power to prevent or redress these values. ★

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