Cinema Papers July 1985

John Schlesinger Isthisnot America?

Facts or Figureheads?

TV news in Australia °

July 1985 Issue 52 $3.95*

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NEWS PLUS . . . Tussles over imported actors and worries about vanishing tax concessions; light at the end of the tunnel in the censorship backlog; and British TV faces an advertising crisis. Plus a look at the business done at Cannes, the AFC’s annual report, the latest graduate films from the Film and Television School, and the recent conference on Kids’ TV. And reports from Cannes, Filmex, Flongkong, Oberhausen and the Pan­ African Festival at Ouagadougou .................................... 2 HOLLYWOOD-ENGLAND

COVER FEATURE

Graham Fuller talks to British director John Schlesinger about his latest film, The Falcon and the Snowman, and about the fact that most of his recent work has been in America ..............10 BEHIND THE BUBBLES m a special series of articles,

Cinema Papers writers look at the wonderful world of the soaps. Pat H. Broeske reports from daytime America, where it all started; Geoff Mayer takes Australia’s soaps apart; Nick Roddick profiles Grundys, the Australian soap factory; and — a touch of class — Saskia Baron talks to Edgar Reitz, director of Heimat, the ‘super soap’ that has been pulling in festival audiences...................... 14

CAREER WOMAN Just back from her first Hollywood film, Mrs Soffel, Australian director Gillian Armstrong talks to Debi Enker about the experience — and about how she’d do it differently next time .............................. 26 HERE IS THE NEWS John O’Hara examines the organization of Australia’s television news, talks to the people who plan it, and looks at how they put together a picture of the world .......................................................... 30 FUNERAL RITES

Graveside humour can be international, as Belinda Meares found out when she talked to Japanese director Juzo Itami, about his film

Above, Channel 10’s David Johnston goes fearlessly in search o f a visually interesting news story. Below, directors Gillian Armstrong and Alan Parker talk about their latest films.

The Funeral ................................................................. 34

A WOMAN’S PLACE Graham Shirley looks at the role women have played in the Australian film industry and talks to the directors of a new documentary, Don’t Call Me G irlie............................................................... 36

WORKING-CLASS HERO

Special Grand Jury Prize at Cannes and opening night gala at Melbourne: Birdy is — and isn’t — like Alan Parker’s other films. Nick Roddick talks to the director ........................................... 40

Editor: Nick Roddick. Assistant editor: Debi Enker. Office and advertising manager: Patricia Amad. Art director: Ernie Althoff. Secre­ tary: Linda Malcolm. Proof-reading: Arthur Salton.

PUTTING THE BUMS ON THE SEATS

Peter Schmideg plunges into the wild world of film advertising — the posters, the trailers and the things you don’t see ..................................................................................... 44

Typesetting by B-P Typesetting Pty. Ltd. Nega­ tives by ABB-Typesetting Pty. Ltd. Colour separa­ tions by Colourscan Pte Ltd. Printed by York Press Ltd. Distribution by Network Distribution Company, 54 Park Street, Sydney 2000 (Australia) and T.B. Clarke Overseas Pty. Ltd.

FACTS AND FIGURES

Founding Murray.

A round-up of the current production scene, with special reports on For Love Alone and Double Sculls. Plus the second part of Fred Harden’s guide to microcomputers — how they can help ■the writer and the sound team — and a brief look at how Robbery Under Arms didn’t exactly walk off with the Australian box office lo o t.................................................. 48

publishers:

Peter

Beilby,

Scott

ISSN 0311-3639

Cinema Papers is produced with financial assist­

FILM REVIEWS Full-length reviews of Birdy, The Company of Wolves, The Falcon and the Snowman, Mrs Soffel, Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment and Porky’s Revenge, The Purple Rose of Cairo, The Razor’s Edge, Starman and Stranger Than Paradise. Plus shorter reviews of all the recent releases............................................................................. 63

ance from the Australian Film Commission and Film Victoria. Articles represent the views of their authors and not necessarily those of the editor.

While every care is taken with manuscripts and materials supplied to the magazine, neither the editor nor the publishers can accept liability for any loss or damage which may arise. This maga­ zine may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the express permission of the copyright owner. Cinema Papers is published every two months by MTV Publishing Limited, 644 Victoria Street, North Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 3051.

Telephone: (03) 329 5983. Telex: AA 30625 Reference ME 230.

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•Recommended price only.

Front cover: Illustration by Ned Culic and Marilyn Newiand. Inset, Matthew Modine in

Birdy.

CINEMA PAPERS July — 1

Writs and recriminations fly over casting dispute Equity objects to Lancaster Miller visa applications In the aftermath of the protracted dispute over foreign actors in last year’s Fortress, a fresh row is .currently simmering over the forthcoming $4.7-million miniseries, The Lancaster Miller Affair Based on the reallife story of a flying ace (Bill Lancaster) and his lady (Chubby Miller) and set in the late twenties, Lancaster Miller has been in pre­ production since early autumn.

Shooting was due to start in mid-June, but has now been delayed for at least three weeks as a result of a casting dispute about two of the lead roles, those of Bill Lancaster and his friend, Hayden Clarke. Kerry Mack has already been cast as Chubby Miller.

There are also rumours of the same dispute causing a budget hike.

According to associate producer David Hannay, the search for Australian actors to play the parts of Lancaster (who was English) and Clarke (who was American) began in March, after both Sam Neill and John Hargreaves had turned down the former role.

Letters to actors’ agents came up with 50 possible Lancasters and 33 Clarkes. Of the former, says Hannay, 38 were tested; five were rejected for age or ethnic reasons (an Italian actor, it was agreed, could not play Lancaster), four were not available, and three were overseas artists anyway, who happened to be represented by Australian agents.

Of the potential Clarkes, 25 were tested; three were rejected for age and ethnic reasons, two were unavailable, and three were overseas artists. None of the remaining 43 actors was suitable for either role.

Four days after the tests were completed, on 24 April, a letter was sent to Equity outlining the steps already taken, and requesting support for visa applications for British actors. Possible names suggested were David Bowie, Sting, Timothy Dalton and Simon McCorkindale.

Equity, says Hannay, took until 23 May to reply, and the answer was ‘No’. Accord­ ingly, the production company went ahead and applied to the Department of Immigra­ tion for visas for the two actors who had been definitely approached, Peter Firth (for Lancaster) and Joseph Bottoms (for Clarke). Equity objected to both applica­ tions.

On 4 June, the applications were rejected. An appeal fared no better, with the National Disputes Committee unan­ imously reaffirming the earlier decision.

Equity’s chief objection to the applica­ tions, it appears, was that the tests of the 43 Australian actors were not properly carried out — a claim which has subsequently become the subject of threatened litigation between director Henri Safran and Actors and Announcers Equity, on the grounds that Equity was making “ an overt attack on [Safran’s] integrity” .

In the meantime, Lancaster Miller Pro­ ductions cast their net again. Finally, on 17 June, the day shooting should have started, Nicholas Eadie was cast as Lan­ caster, and Wayne Cull as Hayden Clarke.

Hannay describes the whole experience as “ a Kafkaesque nightmare” , and says he is “ outraged beyond belief” by Equity’s behaviour. “ It is a question of intellectual,

2 — July CINEMA PAPERS

Lancaster Miller director Henri Safran: an attack on his integrity? creative and artistic freedom being abused,” says Hannay. “ It is every director’s and every producer’s right to choose the best person for the film.”

Both Hannay and Lancaster Miller’s producer, Paul Davies, are adamant that they did everything possible to get a suitable Australian actor before applying for the visas, and that the casting of Firth and Bottoms was not gratuitous. “ We’ve all seen Americans and Englishmen playing Australians,” says Hannay. “ Why should we be insulting the British and the Americans the way they have insulted us?”

John Wiley, President of the Screen Pro­ ducers Association of Australia, set the dispute in a wider context, and said the Association was “ as much depressed as angered by Equity’s attitude to the situation as a whole. Their position seems to be built on the assumption that producers are bursting to import actors for everything that comes up,” says Wiley. “ That paranoia is based on nothing at all: if you look at the figures, actors are imported for less than 5% of the cases.”

What Equity objected to, according to Federal Media Organizer Anne Britton, was not the principle of foreign actors, but the tests carried out for Australian ones. In support of her claim that Equity does not automatically knock back visa applications, she cites recent cases such as KennedyM iller’s The Cowra Breakout and G ru n d y ’ s Professor Poopsnagle’s Steam Zeppelin, where no objections) have been made to foreign actors. “ Many of our members,” says Britton, “ were very dissatisfied with the type of casting exercise that was conducted for The Lancaster Miller Affair”. Specific complaints related to the fact that actors were restricted in their movements, being asked to sit bolt upright in the chairs; that scenes with female partners had to be played opposite a male reader; that the lighting was poor; and that the auditions were done on videotape.

Hannay, an ex-actor, feels the objections are probably fabricated. “ Every actor that doesn’t get the part he wants feels ill-used.

And none of them objected to the tests at the time.”

Britton also remarks on the ‘coincidence’ of the number of 10BA scripts that have major roles for overseas actors, and is concerned that, at a time when the future of 10BA is under threat, the government should not see plum roles in 10BA films going to overseas actors.

Hannay disagrees. “ What this is about is making the best possible film, not just another good-looking Australian picture.

We want it to be great. Equity’s position is an absolute abuse of intellectual and artistic freedom, telling an artist what he can and cannot do. It’s got nothing to do with the defence of employment. How dare they say that, when their knocking back of the application involved the livelihood of 68 crew, 145 actors and 1,060 extras?”

Had Eadie not been available for the title role, Paul Davies is adamant that the production would have been cancelled, despite the $1.5 million that had already been spent on development. “ That,” he says, “ would have been our responsibility to our investors.”

Nick Roddick

Film industry prepares for tax summit White paper proposes end to 10BÂ While the controversial White Paper on the Reform of the Australian Tax System is currently encountering a hostile reception from the trade union movement, it is also causing some concern within the film industry.

In the section of the report dealing with reforms to tax shelter legislation, paragraph 4.14 notes that the 10BA concessions, which were expected to cost the exchequer around $2 million per annum, have actually cost $13 million in 1981-82 and $28 million on 1982-83. The paragraph also notes that the concessions have been “ heavily utilised as a shelter for high income earners” .

In the following paragraph, the report

states that the government “ is disposed to discontinue the immediate 133 per cent deduction of eligible expenditure on films and the 33 per cent exemption. Were this course taken, the alternative already in the law of two-year write-off of the cost could remain and the Government would consult with the film industry on more cost-effective and equitable forms of assistance.”

Representatives of the film industry have been quick to point out that the White Paper is a proposal rather than a fait accompli. “ The White Paper is an options paper and a basis for discussion,” says Australian Film Commission Chairman Phillip Adams. “ It does not in any way conflict with existing

commitments made to the film industry. A month ago, the government publicly confirmed that the film tax concessions would run for the life of the present Parlia­ ment. There is nothing in the White Paper to suggest that this commitment will not be honoured.” .

Adams adds that “ the 10B A concessions are envied and admired by filmmakers around the world” .

Terence McMahon, Director of Film Vic­ toria, echoes Adams’s view, stating: “ It’s only a White Paper — it’s not the law of the land yet, although the Government has indicated its preferred option quite clearly.”

While he notes that the paragraph dealing with the abolition of 10BA leaves room for industry discussion, he adds: “ 10BA will be a hard act to follow. It resus­ citated the film and television industries, and the excesses associated with 10B, the 10BA predecessor, were not apparent under 10BA.” Like Adams, McMahon

adopts a wait-and-see approach — adding, however, that “ one cannot question the prerogative of the Government to follow its preferred option” .

Anne Britton, of Actor’s Equity, took a stronger position on the proposed conces­ sion cuts, stating “ we would obviously oppose any change. Without some form of Government assistance, there is little possibility that the Australian film and tele­ vision industries would survive” .

A cautionary note was added to the debate by John Wiley, President of the Screen Producers’ Association of Australia. “ The 10BA concessions were not just plucked out of the air. Every option known to man was tried at one time or another.

Nothing radically different will work.”

While some factions of the film industry caution against over-reaction and others see the writing on the wall, one thing remains certain: the July tax summit, which will be attended by members of the film industry, should provide the arena for some very lively discussion.

DebiEnker

News Plus

Brakes on the money machine

AFC Report: Mixed blessings

Drop in advertising revenue causes concern for Britain’s ITV

Miniseries mushroom as local film industry hesitates

“ Just like a licence to print your own money” was the way that a television baron once famously described the travails of owning a British commercial TV company.

Virtually alone among the industrial sectors of the U.K. economy, the advertisingfunded Independent Television network (ITV) has prospered almost obscenely during the long British recession. ITV revenue has increased fivefold since 1974, taking total annual income above the £1 billion mark. In the first half of last year alone, advertising income shot up 15% — three times the rate of inflation.

No one knows why, historically, com m ercial television has been so impervious to the ups and downs of the economy. And no one knows why, suddenly, the advertisers have turned away, and the ITV system has been plunged into its biggest cash crisis since 1956.

The alarm bells were first sounded at the end of 1984, as figures showed a year-onyear decline in ad money of 3% for November — the first such dip in three years. Hopes that it was just a temporary hiccup were dashed in the new year: by February, the shortfall was 7.5%, and cutbacks started to bite.

The ITV system is made up of fifteen regional companies — five of them providing most of the programmes — which form themselves into a network during prime time. The largest, Thames TV in London (maker of such shows as Benny Hill and Minder), announced the closure of one of its studios and a 2% cut in all budgets. In Birmingham, Central TV

(Crossroads, Shine on Harvey Moon, Auf Wiedershen Pet) trimmed 5% from costs and delayed several projects. The spectre of redundancies was raised in an industry where eight-man crews are the norm for documentary work, and where individual video engineers have been taking home up to £100,000 a year.

Worst hit were some of the smaller companies. Border TV, second tiniest of the franchise-holders and serving the far north of England, immediately started trading at a loss and warned shareholders that “ advertising has declined disastrously. . . If we do not take action right away, the future of Border becomes doubtful.”

Various explanations were put forward for the slump: the effect of the year-long miners’ strike and the decision of some key product categories, like newspapers and finance houses, to take less air-time for example. But none appeared wholly convincing. Viewing figures have been at an all-time high. And, ironically, there is some evidence that ad-men felt that they could reach the same-sized audiences with fewer spots. There were even suspicions that ITV might be preparing to make its pro­ grammes deliberately more boring in order to counter this syndrome. Confidence wasn’t helped by the decision to delay the usual advance publication of the ITV spring schedule.

In one way, though, the revenue crisis has come at a particularly opportune time for British commercial TV. Spurred on by right-wing members of Parliament, the Thatcher government has set up an inquiry to look into the possibility of the BBC taking advertising for the first time, and the uneasily-partnered ITV fiefdoms fear such a move could have a devastating effect on their long-term prospects. A recent report from the companies suggested that just two minutes an hour of peak-time BBC advertising would drive every ITV station into the red. A year ago, this would have seemed too much like crying wolf; now, no one can be sure.

Whether ITV is heading for a prolonged period of retrenchment after nearly 30 years of spiralling wealth remains to be seen — whether, for example, many advertisers have finally lost confidence in the whole monopolistic system and are systematically moving their resources into radio or the burgeoning magazine sector.

Major structural decline, however, seems improbable. ITV ad revenue picked up slightly in March and April, and it’s hoped that, by autumn, things might be back to normal.

It seems unlikely then, that the pheno­ menal riches of ITV are about to evaporate into the ether. A stake in a system that can pay a variety show host £25,000 for just one appearance or can send a 60-man outside broadcast team to inter­ view the Prime Minister does not seem about to become a licence to lose money.

James Saynor

Fair sales, but no bonanza Australian ‘commercial’ films are the winners in this year’s Cannes market With two films in competition and a film by an Australian director (Peter W eir’s Witness) as the gala opener, Australian hopes were high at Cannes this year. The Australian Film Commission’s new image, like its new marketing director Clive Turner, was brash and confident: a jovial kangaroo inviting buyers to ‘hop in and see an Austra­ lian movie’.

And the parties were bigger than ever.

The one for The Coca-Cola Kid, the first competition film, was manned by bouncers dressed, like the film’s soft-drink sales force, in Father Christmas outfits (which didn’t, however, stop them doing their strong-arm job). It ended with a singsong led by former Split Enz lead, Tim Finn, who did the film’s music.

The AFC’s own bash, with an elaborate invite sealed in a tin can, boasted Gough Whitlam, giveaway beach towels, ■and a gaggle of photographers snapping away at Emoh Ruo’s Joy Smithers — who, generally speaking, attracted more press attention than everyone else put together.

Some of the razzmatazz paid off in sales.

The Coca-Cola Kid arrived with a lot of territories already sold, and managed to mop up most of the rest during the Festival’s ten days. Palace are handling it in the U.K., Cinecom in the U.S. (with Film Gallery taking care of the ancillary markets), and Italy, France, Germany and Scandi­ navia are all well taken care of. Coca-Cola producer David Roe seemed harassed but happy.

The other competition entry, Bliss, was handled by the New South Wales Film Corporation, who made a lot less fuss than the AFC. The print of Bliss reportedly did not arrive until the day of the press show, and the film’s reception became the com­ petition’s talking point. Both press shows and the official Festival screening were marked by large audience walk-outs, with foreign and English-speaking viewers saying they were confused.

Even director Ray Lawrence seemed to feel the film was too long, heading off criticism at a sparsely-attended press con-

According to the Australian Film Commis­ sion’s Annual Report, the financial year 1983-4 was another fairly typical, less than stellar year, with a “ climate of uncertainty” surrounding the film industry.

There are several interesting indications of the money involved in the local industry.

The total gross revenue of the entire Aus­ tralian cinema industry is ‘bro ad ly’ estimated at more than $300 million. In 1983- 4, TV stations spent the same on the acquisition of broadcast rights to Australian programmes alone, while the video market is estimated to be worth $450 million.

The Report identifies some 20 major issues and developments for the financial period under review, which can be boiled down to about eight long-term trends.

1983-4 did, in fact, see two important amendments to the 1983 Division 10BA (Australian Films) amendments of the Income Tax Assessment Amendment A ct 1981 (No. 111). The first is the diminish­ ing of the tax deductions available con­ sequent to investment in Australian films from 150% of the original investment down to 133%, and 50% of returns down to 33% of the amount invested. Accompanying this is a welcome extension of the period required for film completion to two years.

Investment ran at $106 million for 1983-4 (plus another $24.5 million already com­ mitted for 1984-5), much the same figure as 1984- 5.

As a trade-off for the 10BA amendments, the $5-million Special Production Fund was established to kick off or top up private investment, specifically with distribution guarantees, investment non-deductibles and underwriting.

One of the most surprising spin-offs of the 10BA amendments was the apparent move from feature films to TV miniseries.

Estimates place the average feature at $2.17 million, the average miniseries at $4.15 million, the telemovie at $722,220 and the documentary at $164,557. The miniseries has become the new growth area, and is regarded as a more secure, less speculative investment.

Film production remained the same as it has been for the last decade, apart from the 150% plus 50% excesses of the early eighties. The decade average is 21 features per annum: 22 were made during 1983-4 (plus six miniseries).

Video, however, proved to be the real

killer of the film business, spiralling into an estimated 32% of TV households in the period. Though probably not a simple case of cause and effect, the film exhibition business was estimated to be down by one third. Business has picked up in the inter­ vening period, thanks mainly to several imported successes, like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Beverly

Hills Cop Other issues and developments can­ vassed in the report are: the perennial problem of what to do with short films; the question of ‘Australian content’ versus ‘Australian control’; the AFC’s pressure on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation to acquire more independently produced product; a similar, if somewhat lesser, pressure on the Special Broadcasting Service; a Cultural Activities Review and the establishment of the pivotal Film Develop­ ment Division and its Script Office.

Other general policy issues include “ the development and planning of a compre­ hensive industry database, showing some connection between production budgets and financial performance, both here and overseas” , i.e. what audiences want and why.

The dubious fruits of 1983-4 have in­ cluded, at one end of the scale, AFI Awardwinners Annie’s Coming Out and My First Wife, and at the other, The Coolan­ gatta Gold (a full-colour, double-page spread from this box-office disaster intro­ duces the AFC’s Financial Statements!).

The report itself, which is pleasantly designed and produced, contains slightly more information than previous editions, but is poorly bound and soon falls apart.

G.R. Lansell

ference by saying he planned to get the 135-minute film down to under two hours.

Fortunately, a couple of festival directors were among those who liked it, and Bliss will screen at London and Toronto. London Film Festival director Derek Malcolm likened it to The Night the Prowler — a difficult film which might prove ahead of its time — and said it was certainly the most unusual film he had seen at Cannes.

Among the market films, response was good to Emoh Ruo and Morris West’s

The Naked Country The Boy Who Had Everything has a London premiere slated.

And The Coolangatta Gold found a niche in five major markets. It also spawned an ad hoc Iron Man contest on the Croisette, un­ fortunately set for a day which boasted near-monsoon conditions. Towards the end of lunch, a few bedraggled Iron Persons could be seen doing a forlorn breaststroke [sic] in a grey and choppy Mediterranean.

James Parsons of Atlab had a quiet first week, as he tried to drum up release print work (see 'News plus’ in Cinema Papers 51). But things hotted up considerably towards the end of the Festival, and Atlab are poised to announce a major deal with World Film Alliance, the newly organized Melbourne-Los Angeies-London company whose constitution we announced on the same pages of the last issue. Parsons

describes the deal as “ exceptionally exciting” , and reckons his French trip was well worth it.

WFA, with smart offices on the ground floor of the Carlton, was by far the highestprofile local outfit at Cannes this year. The 70th birthday party of WFA and Filmways President Mark Josem attracted a lot of local press coverage (plus Tony Curtis), and WFA’s films — Naked Country, Lorca

and the Outlaws, King of the City — picked up the best foreign sales, with

World Safari II due for an Australian-style try-out in the Seattle area next month.

CINEMA PAPERS July — 3

News Plus The company also came closest to pro­ viding the one major news story from Cannes this year: a tie-up with America’s mushrooming Cannon Films. Cannon’s Menahem Golan boasted of having done $90-million worth of business at Cannes, including a tantalizing $2-million deal with Jean-Luc Godard to make a version of King Lear.

And, on the Festival’s first Sunday (12 May), Golan promised that a big deal with down under was imminent. By Wednesday, however the deal had faded, and Mark Josem was coy about giving details of what had been planned. As of now, Cannon distribute through Hoyts and currently have no production tie-ups in Australia.

Nick Roddick

Log-jam update Moves underway to clear censorship backlog Although distributors and exhibitors are still facing delays of up to six months in getting censorship classifications on their films, recent moves by the Attorney-General’s department have begun to alleviate the problem.

At the end of March, the Film Censorship Board was swamped by a backlog of 2,800 applications comprising film, video and television programmes awaiting classifica­ tion. According to Frank Marzic, executive officer for the Board, the number had been reduced to 1,450 by the end of May, as a result of “ short term firefighting methods’’ instituted by Attorney-General Bowen.

Moves by the department, in response to mounting pressure from the film and video industries, have taken two forms. The short­ term measures have been to assign an emergency task force of four officers to the Board for one month, and to allow in­ creased expenditure on overtime. In addition, the current membership of the Board will soon be increased from nine to twelve, thereby providing three extra full­ time officers to sift through the applications.

Long-term moves include plans to computerize the office over the next twelve months, and to supply additional staff to develop the computer system and transfer approximately a quarter of a million card-file entries on to the computer.

The new Board members should enable a reshuffle of the screening schedule and ratio, which currently stands at a time allocation of 45% to television (comprising only imported product for commercial stations), 30% to video and 25% to cinema.

It should also come as something of a relief to increasingly frustrated film industry per­ sonnel, for while the delay In video classi­ fication is projected to shrink to only two months by July, the delay on theatrical releases, according to Marzic, still stands at three to four months. This figure is, if any­ thing, an optimistic one: some distributors have complained of delays of over twelve months, and of being limited to one screen­ ing per week, even when they had 20 films awaiting classification.

Though most of the distributors con­ ta c te d were clearly agitated, they did not wish to be quoted. “ Antagonizing the Board at this stage can only make it more difficult for us,” one explained. In spite of the havoc that the delays are causing for release timetables, all the distributors stressed that the fault did not lie primarily with the censors, but with legislation dating back to February 1984. When classification of video titles was made compulsory, an enormous new area of responsibility was created for the censors, yet apparently noone had the foresight to provide the addi­ tional staff and finance necessary to cope with the load.

A further complication is the duplication and triplication of services; many films go through three separate evaluations for tele­ vision, video and cinema release. And, if a film is refused registration and subject to

4 — July CINEMA PAPERS

Off-beat themes in this year’s student films Film School screenings reveal more than mere technical skill There may not be an eccentric genius among this year’s graduates from the Australian Film and Television School, but there are certainly some very promising talents. What is more, this year’s best work answers the recurrent criticism that the School promotes technique ahead of creativity.

Interestingly enough, however, those films or videos which dealt with social issues head-on generally failed: it was in the more subtle story-telling and picture­ making that the students shone.

The most whimsical of all this year’s work was an eleven-minute, 35mm colour short, 7.56 AM, written by Robert Marchand and directed by Robert Alcock. Witty, wordless, surreal and technically good (with some excellent editing by Murray Ferguson), it showed great promise in its makers, and has already been picked up for general exhibition by GUO. Ferguson, who majored in editing, came up with a surprise when he somehow squeezed in sufficient time between editing other student works to make his own 30-minute, 16mm colour short, Danny.

With Marchand again writing, Ferguson assembled a strong cast for a deceptively simple romance between a country boy and a city girl in a lodging house. Behind the story, however, a bizarre event — which is only glimpsed — takes place.

Marchand’s The Cellist (27 minutes, colour, 16mm), which he both wrote and directed, showed his special talent for finding and filming human stories with a twist. And Franco Di Chiera’s Life After Death, scripted by John Lonie and made with assurance and minimal words, showed its maker to be a natural, fluent filmmaker, going for expressive and communicative pictures.

The story is accurately observed and illuminating, its central character a 50-yearold woman whose husband's death has more positive results than one might expect. It is an intelligent film, with both flair and technical polish.

The Alcock and Marchand team, this time with Alcock editing, also came up with Jack a Dull Boy, a psychodrama that could have the makings of something if developed to feature length. At thirteen minutes, it does very well in exploring the idea of a night watchman in a department store, who becomes fascinated by a model of the store. When he reaches inside and knocks over a lamp, the incident is reproduced on the floor of the real store.

The school’s women graduates mostly went for issues. Lorraine Stacey, majoring in camera, took herself to Pine Gap to document the women’s protest camp. In over sixteen minutes, however, she failed to find cohesion or even a striking picture,

missing opportunities and taking a very passive role with her lens.

Sue Brooks fared better with an eighteenminute film exploring a daughter/mother relationship, Bearings. Writer Sue Castrique provided the scenario, tackling the conflicts of a career woman and her demanding old mother, and the ever­ present tension under the surface. Well developed, the film also showed Lorraine Stacey to be a capable cinematographer.

Brooks directing a Castrique script also succeeded with The Drover’s Wife, (16 minutes, 16mm, colour) using Drysdale’s famous painting as the starting point in a story which gave scope for technical adventure and some eloquent filmmaking.

Nicolette Freeman went for a feminist theme, but had difficulty with her fifteenminute Letters of Sylvia Plath, (16mm, black and white), based on the poet’s last

Rhys McConnochie as Guy in Robert Marchand’s graduation film The Cellist.

few months of life. It seems that an overdose of earnestness — approaching dullness — is allowed to take over when the subject is considered ‘worthy’.

Those films which stood out were the ones with something to say, like George Karpathakis’s Jess (15 minutes, 16mm, colour), which was set in a working-class family whose criss-crossed relationships were instantly recognizable. Pictures, more than words, were the key.

In general, the films could be slotted into th re e g e n e ra l c a te g o rie s : fa m ily relationships of one sort or another, social issues (one dealing with drugs, the rest with feminist or anti-nuclear themes), and finally the off-beat.

In terms of creativity, it was the off-beat that this viewer found the most stimulating, while the family stories had depth of treatment and showed solid craft, doing more for their particular points of view than those with a more obvious social conscience.

Andrew L. Urban

“ Give me the child . .

Luminaries gather for conference on children’s television

‘Prestigious’, ‘elegant’ and ‘high-flying’ are not the predictable epithets for a children’s television conference. But ‘The Challenge appeal, or needs cuts, it must be allocated of Kids’ TV’, conducted by the Australian additional screenings, which cause further C h ild ren’s Television Foundation at delays for scheduled films.

Melbourne's Regent Hotel in May, was all A recent proposal by the Attorneyof these.

General’s department does, however, The conference was officially opened by suggest a short-circuiting of this prolonged Mrs Hazel Hawke, a member of the procedure. Though it is yet to be officially Foundation’s board, with a glittering dinner implemented, the proposal states that not in the Regent ballroom. Around 200 all films will have to be viewed for video representatives of government, industry, classification, if video distributors furnish a advertising, business, publishing and statutory declaration stating that the video education attended the two-day seminar, version is substantially the same as the ver­ which covered a broad range of topics, sion granted censorship classification for from the concept of mass communication, the cinema.

Though indications of the backlog clear­ to the role of advertising and the future of television for children. ing are more optimistic than they have An impressive line-up of TV VIPs from been in months, it will take some time for Australia, the U.K. and the United States the upheaval to settle. And though bandaid moves are now hurriedly being made, • were in attendance, headed by the keynote many distributors wonder why these speaker, Jeremy Isaacs, chief executive of problems, which they anticipated last year, Britain’s Channel 4. Isaacs advocated weren’t ironed out sooner. pluralist television for a pluralist society, and was one of a number of speakers to set DebiEnker

children’s television viewing firmly in the context of their necessarily complex every­ day lives.

Underlining the need for diversity, Isaacs asserted that “ broadcasting which serves the individual ends up serving the community” . It was, he said, a powerful, persuasive and pervasive medium, and children needed to learn “ about the language of television — who owns it, who writes it, what it says, how it says it, what it says it says, and what else it may be saying” .

Isaacs also produced some useful formulae for the uninitiated who were looking for ways to approach younger viewers. “ Children at all ages,” he said, “ need stories from television. They need stories about a world they know, and stories about worlds that they can only imagine.

They need fantasy. They need the tang of truths they can recognise.”

Jan Sardi, writer of Moving Out and the Just Friends episode of the Winners series, agreed with Isaacs in his address

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about the sub-texts in drama scripts for children. And he added a warning: “ A good story isn’t enough unless it allows for active participation, unless it enables the kids to step into the characters’ shoes, moment to moment, and face the same dilemmas, questions, choices — lets them call on their own personalities.”

James Davern, executive producer of the well-established serial A Country Practice, which attracts a huge number of youthful viewers, pondered on the wisdom of reducing television to a lowest common denominator. ‘‘The secret,” he said, "is to treat your audience not as a mass, but as intelligent human beings. The gutters of the world are full of producers who thought their audiences were dum b.”

And the concept of mass communication came under vigorous attack from a variety

Keynote speaker Jeremy Isaacs, o f the UK’s Channel 4, at the Kid’s TV conference.

of delgates. “ In most societies,” said James Halloran, director of the Centre for Mass Communication in Leicester, “ you can forget mass communication. TV is not a medium, but a social, political system.”

Discussing the future of children’s tele­ vision, Peter Fiddick, media editor and TV critic of The Guardian, warned that “ the challenge appears to be not of kids’ TV, but to it. The challenge to us is to keep space for it to breathe.” And Ian Fairweather, children’s programme co-ordinator for the Ten Network, placed the debate in a dis­ turbing context, quoting a typical child’s vision of the future: “ All I could see was metal and concrete, and no trees or grass and a black, polluted sky” . Said Fairweather: “ Hope for the future has always been manifest in the young. What if the young have no hope of the future?”

According to Ross Howarth, executive media director with J. Walter Thompson (Australia), future advertisers could well look towards direct funding of children’s television. Howarth blamed television stations’ reluctance to support new developments in children’s programming on “ the uncertainty that has existed over advertising and programming standards” . “ Any endeavours by a producer, writer or television station to develop programming of strong appeal to children,” claimed Howarth, “ will receive the full support and e n co u ra g e m e n t of the a d v e rtis in g industry.”

On his second visit to Australia in six months, Jay Rayvid, senior vice-president of WQED in Pittsburgh, voiced a similar criticism, and called on Australian writers and producers to contribute to WQED’s s e rie s of d ra m a s fo r p re -te e n s , Wonderworks, which was funded in 1982 by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting with an initial budget of $6 million. Rayvid echoed the views of many speakers when he spoke of releasing children from the “ do-good ghetto where, in the minds of programmers the world over, kids belong —- a ghetto where children watch alone, isolated from their parents, a ghetto where b u d g e ts th a t are s p e n t on th e ir programmes are either dreadfully low, or only made higher because of their ability to sell related toys.”

Jill Morris

Briefly . . .

AWARDS: Five Australian documentaries were selected for awards at the 1985 U.S. Industrial Film Festival. The festival, held annually in Chicago, is the largest of its kind in the world, with 1,150 entries competing this year in twelve categories. Both Same Seasons, produced by Richard Oxenburgh, and East Meets West, produced and directed by Ivan Hexter, won Silver Screen awards, with the former also receiving recognition as the winner of the Cultural Documentaries category.

Mr B Says No, produced by Anthony Heffernan, took home a Golden Camera award, and insult to Injury, produced by Ann Durrowzet, won a Certificate of Crea­ tive Excellence. The fourth Victorian docu­ mentary in the group, Be a Sport, pro­ duced by Eve Ash, also impressed the jury and took home a prize.

■ H ector Crawford has been accorded the 1985 Sir Charles McGrath Award for Indivi­ dual Excellence in Marketing. The award is presented annually by the Australian Marketing Institute for outstanding contribu­ tion to marketing in Australia. Crawford, a pioneer of local radio and television, and conductor of Music for the People, received the award in recognition of his contribution to the promotion of Australian television at home and abroad.

■Nominations have opened for the 1985 Byron Kennedy Award, which aims to recognise, encourage and reward talented people in any facet of the film and television industries. The award was first announced in 1984, to commemorate the contribu­ tion of Byron Kennedy to the film and tele­ vision industries, and the winner of the trophy and cash prize of $10,000 was Roger Savage of Soundfirm, for his out­ standing contribution to film sound.

Nominations close on 2 August, and should be directed to: The Jury, Byron Kennedy Award, Australian Film Institute, 47 Little Latrobe St, Melbourne 3000.

CORRECTIONS: In the directory of Austra­ lian films screening at Cannes (Cinema Papers, No. 51) we listed the New South Wales Film Corporation as the representa­ tive for The Boy Who Had Everything.

The film was represented by Stewart

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Chilton, for J.C. Williamson Film Distri­ butors, who have exclusive world-wide dis­ tribution rights for the feature.

The directory also listed Emoh Ruo’s scriptwriters as Denny Lawrence and Paul Leadon. The film was in fact written by Leadon and David Poltorak.

Saskia Baron is film editor of City Limits magazine in London.

Rod Bishop teaches film at the Phillip Insti­ tute of Technology.

Pat H. Broeske is a freelance journalist and writer on film and television based in Orange, California, and a regular contri­ butor to Soap Opera Digest.

Rolando Caputo lectures in film at Deakin University and is a writer on film.

Joan L. Cohen works in the film depart­ ment of the Los Angeles County Museum.

Robert Conn is an optical effects tech­ nician.

Allarabaye Daja is the editor of the Senegal-based African cinema review, Unir Cinema.

Derek Elley is associate editor of the International Film Guide.

Graham Fuller is film editor of Stills maga­ zine.

Helen Greenwood is a freelance book editor and writer on film.

Sarah Guest is a director of the Australian Council for Children’s Film and Television and a board member of Film Victoria.

Jimmy Hafesjee is a freelance writer on film.

Fred Harden is a Melbourne film and tele­ vision producer and has a regular column on technical information in The Video Age. Ian Horner is a film, video and entertain­ ment journalist based in Sydney.

Sheila Johnston is a London-based writer and film critic for LAM magazine.

Paul Kalina is a freelance writer on film.

G. R. Lansell is a freelance writer on film and was co-editor of the Australian Motion Picture Yearbook 1983 and The Documen­ tary Film in Australia (1982).

Adrian Martin is a tutor in film studies at Melbourne State College.

Geoff Mayer is a lecturer in film studies at the Phillip Institute of Technology.

Brian McFarlane is a lecturer in English at Chisholm Institute.

Belinda Meares is a New Zealand-born freelance writer working out of Paris.

Jill Morris is a Melbourne-based freelance writer specializing in media for children.

John O’Hara is a lecturer in Media Studies at Swinburne and media commentator for ABC radio.

William and Diane Routt are a couple of Melbourne academics.

Tom Ryan is a lecturer in Media Studies at Swinburne, a contributor to The Video Age and a film reviewer for the 3LO Sunday show.

James Saynor is deputy editor of Stills magazine.

Jim Schembri is a journalist at The Age. Peter Schmideg spent three years in film advertising in London and has returned to set up a company specializing in film posters, trailers and radio advertising.

Sally Semmens works in the documentary division at Film Victoria.

Graham Shirley is a freelance researcher/writer currently working on docu­ mentaries.

Mark Stiles is a Sydney-based filmmaker.

David Stratton is the host of Movie of the Week on SBS TV and reviews films for Variety.

Andrew L. Urban was editor of Encore and is currently managing editor of Event and a regular contributor to the arts pages of The Australian. +

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Pan-African festival celebrates the continent’s identity

Low key in L .A .

Hollywood’s own film festival lacks sparkle Filmex ’85, now in its tenth year in Los Angeles, came and went this March with the blink of an eye. Scaled down and with few frills, it barely seemed like a festival at all: one just seemed to be going to the movies a lot.

Part of the problem was this year’s location. Held in the busy shopping ‘village’ of Westwood, Filmex drew crowds at Mann’s triplex theatres which made it look like business as usual, especially since the lines for Witness, the big hit across the street, were just as long.

Los Angeles, as everyone knows by now, is a city where you park first and decide where to go afterwards. And Westwood is a place with no street parking, and barely enough high-priced lots to accommodate normal filmgoing.

Missed this year, too, were the festival logo and the ubiquitous ‘Voice of Filmex’, announcing the films’ titles in a plethora of languages. (The voice and appreciable talent for tongues belonged to Anneliese Goldman, who was let go this year for financial reasons.)

All in all, the proceedings seemed austere and lacking in a sense of showman­ ship. New Filmex directors Ken Wlaschin and Suzanne McCormick may be good organizers and excellent administrators, but they don’t have the daring and sense of fun that former director Gary Essert had. Where were the opening-night elephants and the balloons? It’s true that such things played havoc with the budget, but at least you knew you were attending an event. This year, you wondered.

Filmex ’85 presented 143 films from 24 different countries. The predominant language was English, with a strong sprinkling of Spanish-language films. The Far East was well represented, too, but offerings from the European mainland were sparse.

For the first time, there were prizes — the ‘Independent Feature Competition', in association with the Independent Feature Project, with three awards to offer. Grand Prix went to The Roommate, directed by Nell Cox, and described in the Filmex programme as “The Odd Couple set in a freshman college dormitory” .

Azis Ghazal’s Before and After won Best Fiction Award, and Best Documentary went to Greta Schiller and Robert Rosenberg’s moving study of early gay political awareness, Before Stonewall.

The opening night premiere was A Private Function from Great Britain, starring Maggie Smith and Michael Palin. At $125 a throw for film and party, the event was less than standing room only, and few Hollywood celebs showed up.

Ken Cameron’s Fast Talking, which proved the most popular Aussie film at Filmex.

Always provided the glitter the opening

African solidarity the theme at Ouagadougou

night lacked, however, boasting many wellknown faces from the film industry, including Steve Martin, Teri Garr, Sally Kellerman and the film’s director and star, Henry Jaglom.

There were several Filmex sell-outs, as word spread quickly about the must-sees.

One of these was Michael Apted’s 28 Up, which had a repeat screening. Made for B ritis h te le v is io n , th is a b s o rb in g documentary follows the lives of several young people at ages 7, 14, 21 and 28.

Colin Bucksey’s Blue Money, another British telemovie, was also a sell-out screening, and featured Tim Curry as a cab driver with showbiz aspirations. Paul Morrisey’s Mixed Blood was perhaps the festival’s, popular hit, and one of the few films talked about by everyone.

In the domain of the more traditional ‘art’ film, Krzysztof Zanussi’s Rok Spokojnego

Slonca (The Year of the Quiet Sun) — recently acquired for Australian release by Sharmill Films — together with Marcel Camus’s Los Santos Innocentes (The Holy Innocents) and Hideo Gosha’s Onimasa, were highlights of this year’s festival. And the inevitable Heimat (Homeland), Edgar Reitz’s fifteen-hour epic, got raves from those with enough stamina to sit through it.

There were only three films from Australia this year — Bill Leimbach’s Monkey Mia, Esben S to rm ’ s S tanley and Ken Cameron’s Fast Talking, which proved the most popular. Bruce Morrison’s Constance, from New Zealand, was eagerly anticipated, but seemed too over­ wrought for many viewers’ tastes.

The Far East provided close to 20 films, programmed in the hope of drawing the diverse Asian population of Los Angeles to Filmex. This never really materialized — Westwood was too far and the $6 tab too steep — in spite of the really interesting selection of films, especially three from Korea, two from Sri Lanka, and a stunner from China, Xie Jin’s Qiu Jin — A

Revolutionary.

Less soberly, ‘All-Night Champagne’ featured frothy screen treats bookended by Top Hat and Breakfast at Tiffanys Champagne was served and, for a few hours, one could forget the general lack of excitement and the various technical hitches that seem to plague every Filmex (mixed reels, curtains going down on the credits).

The closing night film was Almost You, directed by Adam Brook and starring Brooke Adams. A romantic comedy set in affluent Manhattan, it underwhelmed its audience, ending Filmex with a whimper and adding to the general feeling of going to a film festival that wasn’t really festive.

Joan Cohen

With increasing concern over non-African control of the continent's cinema distribu­ tion networks, the ninth Pan-African C inem a Festival at O u a g a d o u g o u (FESPACO) set out to be a fête populaire — a celebration by and for the people of Africa, with African solidarity as its theme.

Held between 23 February and 9 March in the Upper Volta capital, the 1985 event lived up to its three main goals: to be open to all; to give all-comers a chance for self­ expression; and to reflect on the path that future initiatives should take.

Opening and closing with concerts by orchestras of local children, the festival also featured nightly performances by folk dance troupes, a ball in honour of visiting filmmakers, and a series of trips to the countryside around Ouaga. Such care and attention are virtually non-existent at other major festivals — a fact which did much to give FESPACO '85 the authentic feel of an African celebration.

Also designed to give the festival the authentic face of Africa were a series of discussions between African filmmakers and writers. This conference, under the title ‘African Literature and Cinema’, brought together filmmakers, writers and critics, and stressed the need for literature and cinema to be firmly anchored in the traditional richness of Africa’s cultural heritage.

Another feature of the festival were the op en fo ru m s w h ich fo llo w e d the screenings, forcing directors to face up to public questioning of their films and to speak directly about their work. Perhaps inevitably, some of the directors appeared not to welcome this exposure, while others revelled in it.

In the festival itself, over 130 featurelength and short films were shown In the usual festival format. Attendances broke the record set at the eighth FESPACO, and the short films, both in competition and in the information sections, were particularly well received.

Despite the atmosphere of celebration, there was a strong strain of solidarity with African brothers engaged in the liberation struggle (eleven anti-apartheid films), and with those who have been driven overseas (seven films). There were films on the struggles in Palestine and Lebanon, a dele­ gation of black American filmmakers, and a good selection of films from Latin America — a cinema revealing itself, like that of Algeria, to be a model of revolutionary film­ making.

Among the 27 films in competition, however, FESPACO ’85 contained little that was really new. Of the dozen or so feature films, most were familiar from the Carthage

Local children sing in welcome at the Pan­ African Festival at Ouagadougou.

Festival last October. The new ones came from Algeria, the Ivory Coast, Ghana and Zaire.

Histoire d’une Rencontre (Story of a Meeting) by the Algerian director, Brahim Tsaky, was about the dialogue between North and South — a dialogue between the deaf, as it has been called. In the film, two deaf-mute children strike up a touching friendship, only to be dragged apart by their parents’ constant quest for a better material lifestyle. The film won FESPACO’s highest prize, the Etalon de Yennega, which carries a monetary value of two million CFA francs.

Best actor award went to Ablakon, directed by N’Gnoan M’Boala Roger from the Ivory Coast, which was well received for Its humour. And King Ampavo’s Kukurantumi, Road to Accra (Ghana), about the drift from the rural areas and the evils of city life, won the African critics' jury prize. The Zairian film, N’Gambo, by Kwami Mambu Zinga, about how the classical education of young girls leaves them unprepared for real life, won the best screenplay prize.

The audience prize — based on a poll of 1,200 festivalgoers and organized by a local students’ body — went to Euzhan Palcy’s Rue Cases Nègres (Sugar-Cane Alley), from Martinique, which was not officially in the competition.

The real surprise of Ouagadougou 1985, however, came from the shorts section. At a time when shorts in the Northern world seem to be something of a dying art form (see the Oberhausen report on these pages), African shorts were present in abundance and of a generally high quality.

Issa le Tisserand (Issa the Weaver) by Idrissa Ouedraogo from Burkina-Faso, is about a Kurkina village weaver. Like every­ where else, the village he lives in becomes dependent on trash brought in from elsewhere; and the weaver, to adapt, gives up weaving — a sad, 20-minute story told against a background of plaintive music.

The official prize for best short, however, went to Mariamu’s Marriage from Tanzania, by Mangayoma Ngogue Ron and Mulvi Hille. A film about the relationship between traditional and modern medicine, it tells the story of a woman taken ill after her marriage who can, it turns out, only be cured by the traditional village medicine man — a fittin g p riz e w in n e r fo r Ouagadougou’s celebration of African solidarity. .

Allarabaye Daja

CINEMA PAPERS July — 7

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Far Eastern promise Hongkong festival provides a mixed panorama of Asian films Now in its ninth year, the Hongkong Inter­ national Film Festival has grown fat, with some 150 films spread over four venues and two weeks. But, despite Its size, there is little of the usual festival razzmatazz: foreign directors were thin on the ground this year, and most of the slim $HK1.5 million budget went on assembling an impressive inter­ national section, including a sizeable Asian segment, and the now customary array of back-up booklets.

Most of the international selection was familiar to any traveller on last year's festival circuit. But, in arthouse-starved Hongkong

Homecoming, Chinese style: Yim H o ’s Si shui liu nian (Homecoming).

— which has only one film society worthy of the name (Studio One), no archive and a ruthless commercial sector — the films are eagerly devoured. Last year, the festival even managed to make a small profit on ticket sales, This year, the spacious venues of the Ko Shan, City Hall and Kings Theatre frequently bulged at the seams.

But it is the Asian section which has given the HKIFF its deserved reputation. With the demise of Manila, it is the only festival in the region which regularly tries to assemble a representative cross-section of South-East Asian and Far Eastern product.

This year’s, though, was a little below par, due partly to programming difficulties: South Korea, for instance, only made available the somewhat soggy Kuhae

kyo’olun ttattus’haessnoe (Warm it Was That Winter), by Bae Ch’ang ho. But the Inclusion of brief tributes to four ‘Asian masters’ helped to compensate for the relative lack of new product.

One of them, Fei Mu (1906-1951) was something of a discovery. Spurned by official mainland Chinese histories because of his lack of ‘commitment’, he rates the tag of ‘master’ if only on the strength of the extraordinary Xiaochengzhi chun (Spring in a Small Town, 1948)', which avoids both the commercial cliches and the political posturing of much Shanghai cinema of the late forties.

The story of a sick man and his wife visited by an old boyhood friend, it makes much of m inim alist em otions and translucent dialogue. Rarely has a Chinese film relied so much on looks, glances and atmosphere to sketch in its protagonists’ feelings.

For the Hongkong cinema itself, the past year was not a particularly rosy one, though the best of the films traded on the emotions of the debate about 1997, looking to main­ land China for subject matter.

Ann Hui’s Qingchengzhi lian (Love in a Fallen City) is her best work for some time, catching much of the essence of Eileen Chang’s forties love story, thanks to a sensitive, introverted performance by the actress Cora Miao, and some evocative Shaw Bros. sets. And Tsui Hark, though long lost to the commercial mainstream, bounded back with Shanghaizhi ye

(Shanghai Blues), a brilliantly mounted

tacio, a nifty piece of animation featuring

comedy of romantic misunderstandings in chaotic forties Shanghai, which plays on present-day Hongkong parallels as well as evoking classic Chinese tenement comedy.

The third ‘new wave’ director to prove his mettle was Yim Ho, purveyor of previous unmentionables such as Ye che (The Happening), who broke a four-year silence with Si shui liu nian (Homecoming),a moody evocation of a Hongkong business­ woman's return to the mainland to visit her childhood friends — one of whom, played by the superb Siqin Gaowa, is now an energetic party cadre. The film is let down by the expressionless playing of Josephine Koo as the glamorous businesswoman, but otherwise sums up many of the tensions on both sides of the border.

With the con tinu ed exclusion of Taiwanese films from the festival, other Chinese production was represented only by a variab le clutch of m ainland productions. And it was the mainland that provided the coup de foudre of the whole Asian section — Chen Kaige’s extra­ ordinary Huang tudi (Yellow Earth), a balladic tale set amid the dusty landscape of Shaanxi province, which evoked Jancso in its use of music and ritual, and Bresson in its visual choosiness.

Using stylized snatches of dialogue, it tells of the relationship between an Eighth Route Army soldier and a poverty-stricken family whose teenage daughter is to be wedded in an arranged marriage. On the evidence of Huang tudi, the mainland could soon see a ‘new wave’ explosion along the lines of Hongkong (in 1979) and Taiwan (since 1983).

In the event, though, it was Thailand and Indonesia which produced the most satisfying works, paying no lip-service to international tastes, and dealing with their subjects in wholly local terms. Chaetul Umam’s Titian serambut dibelah tujuh (The Narrow Bridge) joined the growing body of Indonesian films dissecting the contrary demands of Islam in a modern rural society, polarizing its theme into the conflict between an older and younger teacher in a gossip-ridden community.

Both his film and Cherd Songsri’s Puen Paeng, from Thailand, featured some evocative use of ‘Scope’, the latter raising a simple tale of two sisters’ love for the same man to an almost balladic level, with minimal plot and a strikingly subtle performance by Chanuteporn Visitsophon as the younger, selfless sister, Paeng.

scenes from the life of an over-ambitious apple, was justly recognised for its impressive draughtsmanship.

Not so Anijam, though, an ingenious ‘chain-cartoon’ from Canada consisting of the episodic adventures of the unlovely Foska drawn by 22 different artists, each of whom was allowed to see only the last frame of the preceding segment. Anijam had the audience in stitches, as well as illustrating a range of animation styles and the essentially arbitrary nature of the classic cartoon narrative.

Harold of Orange was a fetching mini­ feature based on a short story by American Indian writer Gerald Vizenor and neatly directed by Richard Weise under the auspices of Robert Redford’s Sundance Institute. Based on a trickster figure from Indian mythology, its charming, charismatic hero, played by stand-up comic Charlie Hill, sweet-talks millions of dollars out of a wealthy corporation to sponsor his tribe.

Derek Elley

Short, sometimes sharp and occasionally shocking Serious themes and worthy films prevail at Oberhausen Short films get short shrift in cinema culture.

Not only do they attract less critical attention than the 90-minute norm: their chances of theatrical exploitation are virtually nil.

Oberhausen, one of the grand-daddies of short film festivals and now into its 31st year, is. one senses, beginning to feel the pinch. Previous competitions have show­ cased work by such embryonic talents as Polanski and Herzog. And the 1962 festival saw the historic signing of the Oberhausen Manifesto by 26 young filmmakers who, proclaiming their desire to move from shorts to features, paved the way for the emergent New German Cinema.

Oberhausen 1985 continued its timehonoured tradition of favouring serious, socio-critical work from Soviet bloc countries and the Third World. The emphasis was fairly and squarely on the documentary — nearly half the 104 entries in competition were assigned to this category — and on weightiness of subject rather than on formal innovation.

Due, perhaps, to the predominance of entries from the East and the South where,

8 - July CINEMA PAPERS

whether for economic, political or filmcultural reasons, the realist aesthetic holds sway, this focus was also fostered by the festival’s policy of screening films in twohour p ro g ra m m e s u n de r th e m a tic headings, albeit often of the vaguest kind (eg: ‘That's Life').

Worthiness prevailed at the prize-giving, too. Totem was a dour Danish study of disaffected punks, while Hazateres (Homecoming) was a sympathetic but utterly conventional documentary portrait of ethnic Germans who returned to Hungary illegally after being evicted from their motherland. Das Lustige Spiel (The Fun Game) from the GDR took a dour look at a phenomenon — a nuke-your-neighbour board game currently popular In the USA — which cried out for the jet-black comic touch of Dr Strangelove or The Atomic

Cafe.

Another entry from the GDR which netted a number of awards was Rangierer (Shunters). Quietly observing a group of railwaymen shunting trains, this film dispensed with dialogue and voice-over

commentary, simply relying on the beauty of its shimmering black-and-white cinema­ tography and the texture of natural sounds to achieve its effects, and was only spoiled by an end caption announcing that these noble workers had increased production by x%. Pure socialist realism, perhaps, but of a rather superior kind.

And nobody could fault the excellence of the joint first prize-winners, both from Brazil.

Povo da Lua, Povo do Sangue (People of the Moon, People of Blood) was a dreamy, melancholy portrait of a threat­ ened Indian tribe. And En Nome da

Seguranca Nacional (In the Name of N atio n al S e c u rity ) la u n c h e d an impassioned and inspirational attack on the brutal treatment meted out to political dissidents.

Still, one came away feeling that some of the more light-hearted contributions had been unfairly neglected. Czech director Jan Svankmeier was a popular winner for Do Pivnice (To the Cellar), a charming, tongue-in-cheek vignette about a little girl’s scarifying trip downstairs; and Grava-

Homecoming, Hungarian style: Peter Vajda’s impressive but conventional Hazateres (Homecoming).

But the gentle irony of this delightful film travelled and translated badly, and Harold left Oberhausen empty-handed.

As did Rhinus, umpromisingly described in the programme notes as a “ story about housing problems in Rotterdam produced with non-professional actors” . It turned out to be an affectionate and often very funny portrait of a crafty old scrap-merchant with a huge beer gut, an even bigger mouth and poached-egg eyes. Yes, the film did deal with ‘housing problems’, but with the lightest of touches, eliciting friendly laughter at Rhinus’s compulsive wheeling and deal­ ing, while also delicately suggesting the loneliness and isolation of his life in an antiseptic new suburb.

The form/content question which besets Oberhausen was thrown into sharpest relief, however, by one of the Australian entries, Georgia Wallace-Crabbe’s Wood Roads/Wrong Ways, a fictitious account, based on Albert Speer’s prison diaries, of his imaginary odyssey across the world.

The film was bitterly attacked at the press conference and publicity condemned at the prize-giving ceremony for allegedly white­ washing Speer’s Nazi activities. An instance of Australian insularity and historical naiveté, or of the continuing neurosis of the Germans themselves concerning their own past?

Sheila Johnston

News Plus

U .S. films miss out on the prizes Cannes jury and selection committee play it safe It was — or should have been — the year of the Americans. The U.S. had four films in competition — Mask, Pale Rider, Birdy and Mishima; and, with French Minister of Culture Jack Lang bestowing the Legion d ’honneur on the MPAA’s Jack Valenti, efforts were evidently being made to heal the wounds of the past.

Not at jury level, though. With Milos Forman as its president, it voted unani­ mously in favour of an Eastern European art film, Emir Kusturica’s Otac na

sluzbenom putu (Father on a Business Trip), the Yugoslav movie which, with — let’s face it — pure luck, we previewed in the Cannes issue of Cinema Papers. We shall return to it next issue.

Kusturica’s film was well over two hours and, quite frankly, needn’t have been. The same might be said for Redl Ezredes (Colonel Redl), Istvan Szabo’s study of a military careerist, which won the Jury Prize.

The first hour was magnificent — a film that truly filled the screen. But, despite a great performance by Klaus Maria Brandauer, one’s attention began to wander thereafter.

Two founder members of the French new wave came up with rather predictable works. Claude Chabrol’s Poulet au vinaigre (Chicken with Vinegar), a tale of murder and mystery in a small community, with Stephane Audran going over the top as a crippled agoraphobic, could have been Le Boucher crossed with La Decade prodigieuse, but was, instead, merely an acceptable entertainment. And Jean-Luc Godard's Detective, greatly admired by some, assembled bits and pieces of the director’s previous world view, used a star cast — Claude Brasseur, Nathalie Baye, Johnny Hallyday, Jean-Pierre Leaud and Alain Cuny — drawn from four decades of French showbusiness, and ended up as an amusing, self-reflexive but essentially slender film.

The only real excitement — it’s tempting to say: the only real cinema — in the com­ petition came from Nicolas R oeg’s Insignificance (there will be a Roeg inter­ view and an Insignificance review in the next issue of Cinema Papers) and the Argentine entry, La Historia Oficial, directed by Luis Puenzo.

The title of Puenzo’s film links the heroine’s job — as a traditionalist teacher of history — with her unwilling discovery that the 'official version’ of life under the junta is not the same as the truth.

Norma Aleandro plays the wife of a rich industrialist whose daughter, Gaby, is adopted. A series of events make her realise that Gaby’s natural mother is one of los desaparecidos, and that her beloved child was born in jail to a political prisoner.

Under the junta, there was apparently something of a trade in the adoption of babies born to ‘non-existent’ prisoners.

The theme itself is harrowing enough, but what makes the film unforgettable (despite a rather conservative form) is the decision to tell the story, not from the point of view of a relation of one of los desaparecidos, where the reaction could have been com­ fortably conditioned by liberal outrage, but from, as it were, the other side. Norma Aleandro’s performance as a woman whose seemingly solid world falls apart around her as she discovers the real history — of herself, of her country — richly deserved the Best Actress award, which she shared with Cher. Roadshow has bought the film for Australia.

At the end of the ten days Of competition, there were also a couple of engaging oddities — Dino Risi's Scemo di Guerra (Madman at War) and Francis Reusser’s Derborence. Risi is a director whom world film history has missed: as a supposed second-stringer, behind Fellini and Antonioni, even his masterpiece, Una vita difficile (A Difficult Life, 1961), was ignored when Italian cinema was all the

Emir Kusturica’s Otac na sluzbenom putu (Father on a Business Trip) — unanimous winner o f the Palme d ’Or at Cannes this year. But the award still came as a surprise to many. rage. Now, as a senior citizen (he is 67), he is considered past it.

Well, he isn’t, not on the basis of Scemo di Guerra. A wickedly funny look at a desert field hospital during World War II, it boasts a wonderful central performance by the French comedian, Coluche, as an odious, vulnerable, overweight little martinet.

Derborence is the kind of film you see — and probably should only see — once in a blue moon. Based on a classic Swiss moun­ tain novel by C.F. Ramuz, a mystical tale of life and death in the Alps — the title is the name of a village that disappears in an avalanche — it is told with an eerie stylish flourish, magnificently filmed (in Panavision)

by Emmanuel Machuel, and equally magnificently recorded (in Dolby) by Fran­ cois Musy. The result is compulsive cinema:, irritating, awesome and intermittently spell­ binding.

Outside the competition, finding the good films at Cannes is generally pot luck, given that the Festival is strung between the twin poles of the American majors, ensconced at the Carlton, and the ever-so-slightly ‘down’ Market in the new Palais. This year, Fox had a big ad for their forthcoming sci fi epic, Cocoon, in the Carlton forecourt, consisting of huge revolving cubes with the title’s letters on them. The result, every other minute, was to advertize something called Noococ. Down in the Market, one stand, otherwise bare, carried a sign in pink polystyrene letters declaring: "We have lots of commercial films, also some erotic ones too. Ask us, please” . One got the feeling they would be made to order while you waited.

Between these two poles comes the D irectors' Fortnight, now living on borrowed time, since its home is scheduled for demolition to make way for the Cannes Sheraton. Unless a new home is built for it,

that would be an act of gross vandalism, since the Fortnight has almost certainly done more for world cinema than the main Festival, That said, however, this year’s Fortnight seemed a little thin, apart from Juzo Itami’s Ososhiki (The Funeral), featured on page 34, and Susan Seidelman’s Desperately Seeking Susan, a marvellously slick little comedy thriller, like mid-period Hitchcock, with a great central performance by Rosanna Arquette, and a very good one by pop star Madonna.

The main Festival’s own ‘Un Certain Regard' section, often a repository for alsorans, came up with two real gems this year: Francisco Regueiro’s Padre Nuestro (Paternoster), about a terminally ill cardinal (Fernando Rey) who returns to Spain to trace his illegitimate daughter — who has become a whore — and his grand­ daughter^). Only in Spain could a film about that not become a comedy. Gentle and intelligent, Padre Nuestro was charac­ terized by that sense of texture that most Spanish films currently seem to have.

And René Feret’s Mystère Alexina cer­ tainly stood out from the surrounding shrubbery because of its story: a young nineteenth-century woman who abruptly discovers, in late adolescence, that she is a boy (the French word ‘mystère’, which means ‘mystery’, is also how the French pronounce ‘Mister’). Whether it would work as well if, unlike me, you came to it already knowing that Alexina would turn out to be Camille, I’m not sure. But, with a deft script by the veteran Jean Gruault and an out­ standing perform ance by cartoonist Philippe Vuillemin in the title role(s), it left one of the Festival’s strongest memories.

The other strong memory was a market film, the Norwegian Orions Belte (Orion’s Belt), directed by Ola Solum. A highly intelligent political thriller set on the edge of the world — the desolate landscape round Spitzbergen — it provided me with the fort­ night’s one unalloyed pleasure. I haven’t been able to stop talking about it since, and will doubtless be unable to restrain myself in future issues of Cinema Papers.

Nick Roddick

CINEMA PAPERS July — 9

AN ENT3 ISHMAN ABROAD One of the key members of the British ‘new wave5 of the late fifties, John Sehiesinger has made five of tils last seven films in America. Far away from films like Billy Liar and Darling, his latest, The Falcon and the Snowman — about two comfortably-off kids from Southern California who turn traitor — Is probably his most American movie to date. Largely unapologetic about his own defection, Schiesinger talks to Graham Fuller about his career, and about The Falcon — which turns out to have more than a little ‘Australian content5.

The filmmaker as gringo: John Schlesinger on location in Mexico City fo r The Falcon and the Snowman, which was shot at Churubusco Studios.

10 — July CINEMA PAPERS

John Schlesinger

Stili on the run, Boyce phoned Robert Lindsey, author of the book, Falcon and the Snowman,

who told him Hollywood was planning a film about his spying exploits. “ How does it end?” Boyce allegedly asked. “ That depends on you,” Lindsey replied In the spring of 1977, two young Americans, 23-year-old Christopher Boyce and 25-year-old Andrew Daulton Lee, were tried and convicted in Los Angeles of passing top-secret information to the Soviet Union.

Boyce was sentenced to 40 years’ imprisonment; Lee got life.

Even.before John Schlesinger made his film about them, The Falcon and the Snowman, movies would play a part in their story. It was just a few weeks after watching Clint Eastwood in Escape from Alcatraz in the cinema at Lompoc Prison that Boyce, in January 1980, used similar methods to Eastwood’s to spring himself from jail. That October, still on the run, he phoned Robert Lindsey, author of the book, The Falcon and the Snowman, who told him Hollywood was planning a film about his spying exploits. “ How does it end?” Boyce allegedly asked. “ That depends on you,” Lindsey replied. In August 1981, Boyce was recaptured. Very shortly, he would be deep in consultation with Timothy Hutton, the actor hired to play him in the movie.

For two years, Boyce and Lee had made a mockery of America’s defence security systems. And, when they were exposed, their crimes against the U.S.A. were considered as heinous as those supposed to have been com­ mitted by Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

But the boys were not exactly card­ carrying communists, nor even vaguely radical. They came from exemplary middle-class American backgrounds — in Southern California’s rich Palos Verdes peninsula — they had been altar boys together, and their chief interests were falconry and golf. Lee, though, transgressed early, becoming a drug-dealer on the Mexican border, and having several heavy run-ins with the law.

What drew Schlesinger to the story was its two levels. “ I think it’s an extraordinary kind of adventure story on one level, full of black humour and chance and, finally, tragedy. It has been taken on that level, I suspect, by quite a large section of the audience.

On the other hand, it’s about young people in 1975 and their disaffection and alienation from both the society they lived in and their own families. I got more and more hooked on the characters the more we examined them. I’ve dealt before with characters pushed in one way or another by them­ selves or circumstances, and I felt the same was true of this.”

What Schlesinger is quick to dis­ miss, however, is an abiding interest in spies — something which might seem to be suggested by the fact that his pre­ vious project, the award-winning BBC-TV film , An Englishman Abroad, was about English defector

Guy Burgess. “ There are all sorts of implausible things that those boys did in Falcon,” he says, “ but the film isn’t about espionage. And I don’t think An Englishman Abroad is about espion­ age: it’s about the result of putting oneself out on a limb, by whatever action. We don’t know the extent of what Burgess did, because he was never brought to trial. That, anyway, is a different kettle of fish. I’m not really interested in anything except the human story in that anecdote — and the one in Falcon, too. If it had been an ordinary sort of cloak-and-dagger story, I don’t think I’d have done it.”

So, although the film shows Christopher Boyce discovering the unimaginable in the cold, computer­ ized defence dungeon where he worked,- and Daulton Lee wheeling and dealing with grave Soviet officials in the equally chilly embassy, there is no attempt on behalf of Schlesinger and his writer, Steven Zaillian, to make The Falcon and the Snowman a tense spy thriller along conventional genre lines: their concern is with character.

Boyce, a candidate for the priest­ hood and the son of a former F.B.I. man (who pulled a few strings to get his son a security job when he quit his seminary), was employed from July 1974 as a code clerk with the defence contractor, TRW Systems Incorpor­ ated, which operated in close col­ laboration with the C.I.A. Working as a ‘byeman’ in TRW’s ‘Black Vault’, Boyce had to monitor coded intelli­ gence messages coming in from around the world via TRW’s spy satellites. But he was shocked and disillusioned to learn, through messages he decoded, that the C.I.A. was interfering in the internal policies of other countries.

What particularly disturbed Boyce was the C.I.A.’s infiltration of trade unions and the Labor Party in Australia, and the Agency’s likely role in the 1975 sacking of Labor Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam. During

testimony, Boyce implied that the top secret security installations at Pine Gap, near Alice Springs, and at Nurrungah, near Woomera, were bases for covert C.I.A. operations into Australian affairs. Whitlam, who had been told that Pine Gap was an electronic intelligence gathering station with no weapons potential, had asked the Australian defence establishment for more information about C.I.A. activities at the bases, a politically embarrassing move that jeopardized their security. Defence officials put pressure on Whitlam to ‘curb his behaviour’, and Governor Sir John Kerr was duly briefed. Three days later, the Whitlam administration fell.

Chris Boyce was so incensed by what he considered to be the C.I.A.’s perfidy that, in an act of what now seems like impulsive retribution against his own country, he turned traitor. Via the drug hustler, Daulton Lee, who was seeking a viable new trade, he began to peddle documents to the Soviet Embassy in Mexico City.

Thousands of defence secrets were leaked for cash to the Russians between April 1975 and January 1977, when Lee was finally arrested. Much of the information they passed on concerned spy satellites: after their convictions it was revealed that, most damagingly, they had sold their spymasters crucial data about two functioning C.I.A. satellite systems called Rhoylite and Argus — ‘listening posts’ that were previously unknown to the Russians.

Unlike Timothy Hutton and Sean Penn, Schlesinger chose not to meet the convicted men. “ I’d seen Chris Boyce on television, and it struck me that he was taking up a certain position years after the event. It seemed to me that I should remain objective and think of the characters as they were when it was happening to them. We took them quite seriously. I don’t think our attitude to the characters in any way condones what they did,

because it was an act of considerable impetuousness and stupidity. On Chris’s part, though, it was an act of considerable frustration, revenge and rebelliousness; and, in a sense, I can understand what he was thinking at that moment. He really wanted to throw a spanner in the works. “ On Daulton’s part, it seemed to me that I was dealing with something that I’d dealt with before: the idea of some­ body who can’t come to terms with his life, and who lives in a fantasy world — pretty venal, but nevertheless a pathetic figure. Obviously the Daulton character is more theatrical, and very easy for an audience to identify with, because his actions are so outrageous — which is another element in it that’s appealing. But I was particularly interested in Chris. Maybe he wasn’t thinking too clearly, but he was definitely conscious and in a muddle about what was going on around him — about a war which they all knew to be pointless, and about Watergate. It must have made a lot of people wonder. It seemed to me there was no point in coming down heavily against them. It would have been too easy to do that. History has already judged them.”

The Falcon and the Snowman began its four-year gestation period at Fox, where Schlesinger prepared two scripts with Zaillian for Gabriel Katzka, with whom the director was to co-produce the picture. Then it all fell through. “ We were out in the wilderness for quite a long time, during which I thought we’d never make the film,” says Schlesinger. “ I came home to Britain and did An Englishman Abroad and Separate Tables for TV. Then, suddenly, it all seemed to be coming together again.” Orion were the new backers and, with Schlesinger, Hutton and others (including the Schlesinger goes West (Nathanael): lining up a shot fo r 1975’s The Day o f the Locust.

On the left, cinematographer Conrad Hall.

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cinematographer, Allen Daviau) all taking reduced salaries, $11.5 million was raised. “ We all knew we had to make considerable financial sacrifices to get this film off the ground,” says Schlesinger. “ We also knew we had to do as much of it in Mexico City as we could, to cut costs. So we built sets in the Churubusco Studios. It just meant that one had to think more in advance about detail. It wasn’t a question of saying to a prop man, ‘Go out and get me a yoghurt carton for the secretary’s desk’, because it would have been labelled in Spanish. We had to think of every single prop before we made the sets, because you simply can’t go out and get American-looking props in Mexico.”

Nor buildings, it would seem. “ The linchpin of whether we could make the movie or not,” Schlesinger recalls, “ was finding two homes where we could shoot in Mexico City.” After what seemed like an endless search with estate agents, production designer James D. Bissell found what they were looking for: two Palos Verdes-style houses in suburban Mexico City.

Schlesinger compares the experience to seeking Moscow-like buildings in Scotland for An Englishman Abroad, and stresses the importance of that kind of improvisation.

Dressing the sets and the officials for the Soviet ^outpost in Mexico for Falcon seems to have been reasonably straightforward, however. “ I wanted to see how people dressed at the Soviet Embassy. We stood outside one day and followed a car in, so that somebody would come out to us. And I saw this man dressed in cowboy boots, jeans and a rather nice leather jacket. He came out and was very friendly: ‘What do you want? What

are you doing?’ We didn’t say we were doing a film, but at least I could see the reality of the place and how they dressed. One of the things I find endlessly fascinating as a director is observation — using actual experience as a sketchpad.”

Using a similar approach, Schle­ singer had a two-week rehearsal period with his actors before shooting started, using a tape-recorder and transcrip­ tions to build their improvisations into the script. The technique seems to have worked well with Timothy Hutton and Sean Penn, who give very strong per­ formances. As Boyce, Hutton is all brooding intensity — dark, troubled, irritable. As Lee, Sean Penn veers between a coke hustler’s swagger and a heroin addict’s private mayhem. One scene, where Boyce confronts his accomplice at the airport and Lee’s face crumples into that of a sobbing baby, has an unnerving quality — the ‘fantasy’ seems to have turned into something more like a nightmare, only real.

Says Schlesinger: “ That, ironically enough, was one of the easier days we had on the film. We did it terribly smoothly in one day, and went on our way. It is a very strong scene, but there was a sort of resistance on Sean’s part to playing any kind of vulnerability with Tim. There was a kind of competitiveness between them which Tim — I think rightly — resented. It was stormy between them. “ It was a hard film — one of the least enjoyable for me, because I usually have enormously cordial relationships with my actors. An Englishman Abroad, for example, was a total joy, because I was working with very good friends to whom I was — and am — devoted. But I find the young American actor quite a tricky

Couples in conflict: Above, Timothy Hutton and Sean Penn in The Falcon and the Snowman. Below, left, Richard Gere and Lisa Eichhorn in Yanks (1979). And, right, Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight in Midnight Cowboy (1969).

animal, because you don’t know where the performance stops and the real person starts — they really do get into their parts. “ Tim Hutton, I found, needs reassurance and wants full discussion.

Sean is pretty certain of what he’s doing, but we had some tussles. I can only explain his behaviour as rebelling against any kind of authority figure, as he does in the film. But the brilliance of his performance — and Tim’s — is undeniable, so what more can I say? It doesn’t matter what you go through in the end, if you get the result. I don’t think we’ve ever seen a drug addict like the one played by Sean Penn.”

The Falcon and the Snowman is Schlesinger’s fifth American feature, and he has been happy to commute between the U.S.A. and Britain for film projects since Midnight Cowboy (1969). His other three American films have been The Day of the Locust (1975), Marathon Man (1976) and Honky Tonk Freeway (1981). The latter was a massive portmanteau film with over a hundred speaking parts, whose financial disaster has passed into Hollywood lore without, on the surface at least, unduly affecting Schlesinger’s critical standing. Falcon, on the other hand, has made money on both sides of the Atlantic.

In Britain in the same period, Schlesinger has made Sunday, Bloody Sunday (1971) and Yanks (1979), atmospheric and conscientious movies that succeed in capturing the spirit of a certain time — though not, one feels, with the brilliance the director displayed earlier in his career. Born in London in 1926, Schlesinger came to prominence on the crest of the British ‘new wave’ of the late fifties and early sixties — a period of transformation from postwar austerity to affluence and permissiveness.

A Kind of Loving (1962), Billy Liar (1963) and Darling (1965) spanned the gulf between dour, working-class life in the North of England, and the chic and shallow ‘swinging London’.

Schlesinger is understandably quite firm about the fact that he is finished with such material, considering it now to be the domain of television. And he is not over-enthusiastic about the British cinema’s new ‘new wave’. He expresses admiration for David Puttnam, Roland Joffé, Bill Forsyth and Simon Relph, but otherwise laments the lack of entrepreneurial talent in Britain. His own bitter experience of trying to raise finance in his home country seems to have dulled his appetite for its film industry. “ I am anxious to work in England again,” he says, “ but I find the eternal struggle of getting something off the ground not worth it. I find thinking in Britain pretty unimaginative on the whole, and I resent people being rather hostile to me about my American films. I do unashamedly like working in America, because it’s full of stories and opportunity, and there is enthusiasm for one’s work. One knows money’s always the problem. We’re talking about substantial differences in budget and salary, which is fine for me — I don’t care, provided somebody really wants what you’re doing. But I think that I am able to work in both places, and very lucky to be able to do that.” ★ CINEMA PAPERS July — 13

illicit affairs, illegitimacy, dread diseases, great clothes . . .

Welcome to the world of the soaps, or ‘daytime dramas’ as they used to be known, before they invaded the nighttime schedules and took over the top of the TV ratings.

Long-time soap addict Pat H. Broeske looks at the history, the histrionics and the economics of the American soap opera, and (in the inset interview) talks to Bob and Eileen Pollock, the powers behind the day-to-day running of Dynasty.

¡IP

Once television’s bastard child, soaps no longer want for respectability. By day and night, they boast potent ratings, thereby boosting the profits of the American networks. And they have star power. Unlike sitcoms and shoot-’em-ups — not to mention the majority of today’s feature films, with their teen-oriented fetishes — night­ time’s super soaps abound in faces that are . . . well, faces. From the weekly wickedness of Dynasty’s Joan Collins to the guest-star scheming of legends like Lana Turner (Falcon Crest) and Ava Gardner (Knots Landing), they provide welcome visions that require neither laugh tracks nor special effects.

The daytime soaps aren’t doing badly in that department, either. Ever since Liz Taylor flashed her violet eyes on General Hospital — where she appeared in 1981 at the wedding of Luke and Laura, as the evil and wealthy widow, Helena Cassadine — it’s been fashionable for stars to do guest bits on their favourite afternoon delights.

Marriage (here between General Hospital’s Luke and Laura in 1981) can end a soap character’s sex life.

Soaps

—

American

According to legend, the soaps got started in the early twenties, when a radio announcer filled empty airtime by picking up a book and reading aloud. The next week, he was besieged by listeners’ letters clamouring to know what happened next Actually, the tradition was estab­ lished in 1964, when a storyline for The Doctors found a group of cele­ brities — including TV talk-show king, Johnny Carson — dropping by to promote a message for the National Association for Mental Health. At around the same time, Joan Crawford stepped in to sub for ailing daughter Christina, a regular on The Secret Storm.

In more recent years, rock group The B-52s and ballet dancer Edward Villela have visited The Guiding Light, Dick Cavett (wearing his hair greasy and parted down the middle) was a slimy travel agent on The Edge of Night, a mystery soap which has since been cancelled, and television health guru Richard Simmons has played to type — as an exercise instructor — on General Hospital.

If soaps are easy on the eyes, however, they do demand a certain suspension of disbelief. For every gritty reality explored — and there can be no doubt that soaps have long been in the forefront in probing social issues — there seems to be at least half a dozen convenient cases of amnesia. All those perfect faces and dressed-to-kill

figures likewise defy credibility: cellulite and varicose veins have yet to invade the soaps, and doubtless they never will. Within the nighttime realm in particular, glamour, accompanied by swelling music, dominates the suds of time.

According to legend, the soaps got their start in the early twenties, when a radio announcer filled empty airtime by picking up a book and reading aloud. The next week, he was besieged by listeners’ letters clamouring to know what happened next.

Radio had its first continuing char­ acters in 1929, with the nighttime favourite, Amos ’n’ Andy. But it remained for schoolteacher Irna Phillips and advertising writers Frank and Anne Hummert to bring con­ tinuing characters — and sin and suffering — to daytime. The earliest shows set the trend. Literally created to sell soap, they included the nonetoo-subtly titled Oxydol’s Own Ma Perkins (1931) and Betty and Bob (1932),, with its tale of struggling sec­ retary Betty, who marries Bob, son of a millionaire, despite objections from his family. The Depression, it seemed, could easily be overcome.

Dynamic pairings from three o f soap opera’s ‘big Ds’: left to right, Larry Hagman and Linda Gray o f Dallas; Lisa Trusel and Michael Leone o f daytime’s The Days o f Our Lives; and Joan Collins and Diahann Carroll in Dynasty.

Backstage Wife (1935) told of Mary Noble, who struggled against all odds — starlets included — to hang onto her matinee-idol husband, Larry Noble.

Meanwhile, Our Gal Sunday (1937) asked the fateful question, “ Can a girl from a little mining town in Colorado find happiness with the rich and titled Lord Henry Brinthrope?”

TV’s first soap bowed in in 1950.

Titled The First Hundred Years, it was the dramatic story of young marrieds Chris and Connie Thayer, and its bubble burst in less than eighteen months. CBS’s Love of Life, which premiered in September 1951, and the radio soap The Guiding Light, which met the light of the cathode ray just under a year later on the same network, were TV’s first soap hits.

More than 40 soaps made their way onto daytime television between 1950 and 1960. The dominant theme of the day: how to keep a marriage intact.

The most controversial issue: alcohol.

The characters also had time for endless cups of coffee. Themes heated up in the sixties, when The Guiding Light featured a storyline — by soap pioneer Agnes Nixon — on uterine cancer. Suddenly, daytime soap was going where nighttime TV feared to tread. But the soap audience began to waver, especially in the mid-seventies, when women — who have historically comprised the bulk of daytime soap audiences — sought social change during the halcyon days of the women’s movement.

Nonetheless, the daytime soap audience had swelled to an impressive 20 million by 1976, largely due to increasing boldness in the bedroom and toward social issues. Among the hip topics: male rape (Love of Life), artificial insemination (Days of Our Lives), venereal disease (The Young and the Restless), interracial romance (Days of Our Lives) and women’s liberation (All My Children). The audience grew to a reported 30 million by the end of the decade. Among the most avid fans: Andy Warhol, Sammy Davis Jr., Carol Burnett, Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and the Baltimore Colts.

CINEMA PAPERS July — 15

Left, the recording o f a radio soap, sound effects and all. Below, Elizabeth Taylor and Rick Springfield in General Hospital.

Facing page, Dynasty’s Joan Collins, John Forsythe and Linda Evans.

Before the daytime soaps came of age — with a star system all their own, and salaries said to be as high as $500,000 a year — soap credits went unmentioned in the official bio­ graphies of many a major performer.

It wasn’t considered respectable to do the soaps.

All the same, a lot of respected names have done them and, to set the record straight, a roll call includes: Ellen Burstyn (The Doctors), Warren Beatty (Love of Life), Lee Grant (Search for Tomorrow and One Man’s Family), Sandy Dennis (The Guiding

Light), Eva Marie Saint (One Man’s Family), Robert DeNiro (Search for Tomorrow) and Susan Sarandon (A W orld A part and Search for Tomorrow). Not to mention Jack Lemmon (A Brighter Day), Martin Sheen (As the World Turns), Cicely Tyson (The Doctors), Marsha Mason (Love of Life), Christopher Reeve (Love of Life), Mark Hamill (General Hospital), Tom Selleck (The Young and the Restless), Jill Clayburgh (Search for Tomorrow), Kathleen Turner (The Doctors) and Rick Spring­ field (General Hospital).

John Frankenheimer is another soap alumnus: he directed episodes of Search for Tomorrow. Before he made his way to the mammoth miniseries The Winds of War, director Dan Curtis had a stopover as creator and executive producer of the cult soap, Dark Shadows, where the characters included vampires and witches.

Director Mark Rydell and screenwriter Ernest Thompson also had sudsy forays as actors: Rydell appeared in both As the World Turns and The Edge of Night, while Thompson did Somerset.

Continuity is one of the big appeals of the soap opera: our lives may go up and down, but the soaps go on for ever. Our ability to live vicariously through characters whose emotional conflicts are, despite the gossamer trappings, realistic, is another lure. So is voyeurism. Hormonal rampages — long integral to the soaps — are par­ ticularly rampant during daytime hours, especially between unmarried lovers. In fact, young, impressionable soap fans could easily be misled. In soapdom, married couples have sex less than unmarried ones, all the char­ acters seem to be doctors or lawyers, and amnesia is the commonest illness.

But why does one soap succeed and another fail? Network executives cer­ tainly haven’t found the answer. The roster of recent primetime casualties is dominated by shows that had the tight, closely-confined settings which are the uniting factor among the genre’s successes. Among them, Flamingo Road (set in the sultry south), Bare Essence (about the perfume industry), Paper Dolls (about modelling), King’s Crossing (another slice of smalltown life), Emerald Point N.A.S. (a sea­ faring soap) and Barrenger’s (set in a glitzy department store). None has rung the bell.

Aside from the ‘big D’ stalwarts, Dallas and Dynasty, only Knots Landing, set in a community of cul-desacs and connivers (led by Donna Mills and William Devane), and Falcon Crest, where Jane Wyman rules with wicked grandson Lorenzo Lamas, have successfully withstood the tumul­ tuous ratings game.

Young, impressionable soap fans could easily be misled. In soapdom, married couples have sex less than unmarried ones, all the characters seem to be doctors or lawyers, and amnesia is the commonest illness But that doesn’t mean that sched­ ulers have given up on giving audiences new soap habits. This past year saw daytime welcome Santa Barbara; and, this fall, Dynasty will spin off Dynasty II: The Colbys. The genre’s persistence can obviously be attributed to its proven ability to earn that same green stuff that comes so easily to the Dallas and Dynasty clans. There are currently thirteen morning and afternoon serials on the three U.S. networks (CBS, NBC and ABC). Along with the game shows, they bring in some $1.4 billion in annual advertising revenue. And, because production costs of the daytime serials are significantly lower than their nighttime counterparts, they can bring in twice the profits of a primetimer like Dallas. When General Hospital’s vital signs are humming (read: top ratings), it racks up an estimated $150 million in annual profits. All My Children is said to bring in around $120 million in profits.

A single rating-point boost for a hit

Soaps — American

For most of us, Alexis and Blake and Krystle and Fallon and the rest of the Dynasty gang are figments of the small screen — and, of course, of our wildest, most mercenary dreams.

For Bob and Eileen Pollock, however, they are near and dear friends. As supervising producers of Dynasty and its impending spin-off, Dynasty II: The Colbys (which will debut this fall in the U.S.), they help co-ordinate the lives of the show’s characters. “ We seem to be the only kids on the block who know the stories of every character,” says Eileen. “ We get phone calls from the writers asking, ‘What was that fight between Jeff and Fallon about, the night they were at that motel . . .?’ ” Former actors and married for 38 years — “ we are a one-type­ writer, one-bed, one-car, ongoing love affair,” jokes Eileen — the Pollocks first got together as a writing team during the so-called ‘Golden Years’ of the fifties. “ I cringe a little when I hear that phrase, ‘Golden Years’,” says Eileen, “ because I think about what it’s going to look like in print.

People will have images of these two dear old parties in their rocking chairs.”

She needn’t worry. A vivacious and glamorous brunette, she gets so anim ated when talking about Dynasty that she sometimes jumps midstream into her husband’s sentences. He doesn’t seem to mind at all: writing teams develop a habit about sharing sentences.

From the prestigious evening shows, Robert Montgomery Presents and The U.S. Steel Hour, the Pollocks moved to daytime, writing A Brighter Day and Love of Life.

When they were named chief writers on The Doctors, they decided to bring some of their dramatic exper­ tise to bear on the soap opera format.

The series wound up winning an Emmy, as Best Daytime Series — the first such honour for a soap.

Following a stint with General Hospital and a much-needed break — “ to let the fresh air blow through

our minds” — the Pollocks returned to nighttime, as head writers for Dynasty.

They came aboard the show after its thirteenth episode, following the dramatic courtroom appearance of a mysterious woman in black in the season cliffhanger. “ Nobody knew who the woman in black was,” explains Eileen, “ and with good reason: she hadn’t been cast yet.”

But there were certainly plans for that character. In a meeting with producer Aaron Spelling, the Pollocks learned that Sophia Loren was being sought as a four-episode guest star. “ We nearly fell over when we heard that,” says Bob. “ We were convinced that that character had to be major, not someone who exited after only four hours.”

Along with Dynasty’s creators — and good friends — Esther and Richard Shapiro, the Pollocks helped to pick Joan Collins to play the scheming Alexis. With John Forsythe and Linda Evans, she formed the series triumvirate that sent the show climbing the ratings. Casting coups aside, however, the Pollocks believe that storyline and characters are the superstars of the series. Says Eileen, “ You must give audiences people they can give a damn about. They must hate them enough to sit there aggravated, waiting for them to get it in the neck, or love them enough to root for them. If you don’t give them people to care about, why in the world should they bother caring about what happens to them?”

And the appeal of the show? “ It’s the temper of the times,” says Bob. “ The whole hunger for glamour, for a return to times that are glittery and beautiful.” “ All those people with no monetary problem s,” adds Eileen, “ but every other kind of problem. So what we have is this wonderful fantasy trip. We’ve built in honest-to-God human values that viewers can fasten onto. But there’s that added bonus of watching the characters suffer in absolutely spec­ tacular-looking clothes, and of watching their hearts break behind the wheels of absolutely spectacular­

looking cars. I think there’s an element of fun in the midst of all this suffering. A person can come away saying, ‘You see: you can have all the money in the world, but it still can’t buy happiness’.”

The Pollocks work with a staff of writers who do their best to tangle further the already tangled lives of the Dynasty clan. Background stories — even those spanning seasons past — must always be considered. “ That mining of the back story is what makes your canvas so rich and your texture so rich,” says Eileen, “ because your people have a life before the curtain goes up. We work until our canvas seems full — and correct.”

Sometimes, the background stories can limit the range of a particular character. For example, Claudia Blaisdel Carrington (Pamela Bell­ wood) had to be written out of the series for a season. “ The character had been mentally ill — she was a wounded sparrow,” says Eileen. “ It would have taken a whole season to play her rehabilitation. There was no way to play that on Dynasty, because hers was a very down, very grim kind of story. We had to take her off the show, so that she could return cured.

That opened her up, to let her play a whole new range.”

Stressing that “ the actors on our show do not dictate the characters: they interpret the characters” , the Pollocks nevertheless admit that they frequently have to smooth out their stars’ problems with individual scenes. In particular, Bob Pollock recalls the time Collins questioned whether Alexis should kiss a king, as the script dictated. “ I made a couple of dialogue changes, so she didn’t have to kiss him. Later, when we were shooting that episode, I happened to be on the set. The king, who hadn’t been cast when Joan first read the script, happened to be a very attractive man. And Joan came up to me and said, ‘Why is it that I don’t kiss the king? I think I should kiss the king . . .’ So we made a few more changes. And she kissed him. Quite well.”

show can bring a network an additional $57 million in a year.

Though the daytime soaps have been with us for 35 years, the nighttime ones are older than we sometimes like to remember: ABC brought Peyton Place to primetime, twice a week, in 30-minute episodes, from 15 Septem­ ber 1964. Based on Grace Metalious’s novel about the sins of smalltown America, the series launched the careers of Mia Farrow and Ryan O’Neal, and became one of prime­ time’s earliest super soaps. It ended in 1969, the same year that Bracken’s World bowed. Set in Hollywood, it boasted sleek production values and casting ploys that would later come to identify the realm of nighttime soaps, namely skilled (and glamorous) veterans — in this case, Eleanor Parker — opposite fresh young talent.

The show fizzled within a year.

It was with the April 1978 debut of Dallas that sinning — and soap — again proved winning on nighttime.

Fixations about wealth and power (and everything else oil wells in Texas can buy) have since made the Ewing clan an American institution, and an inter­ national hit, topping the ratings from Hong Kong to Iceland. So popular was the series that, during its 1980 ‘Who shot J.R .?’ cliffhanger, Las Vegas bookmakers quoted odds on possible guilty suspects. At the Republican convention that year, Reaganites wore buttons that proclaimed ‘A Democrat Shot J.R .’.

Dynasty, which attempted to do for Denver, Colorado, what Dallas did for the open range, made its lacklustre entry a year later. So uneventful was the series’s first season that it tied for 28th place on the A.C. Nielsen list of TV hits (the Nielsen listing is the American TV industry’s measuring tool of success and/or failure). Dallas was still very much No. 1.

Dynasty didn’t make ratings inroads until its second season, when the char­ acter of Alexis Carrington — played by a show-stopping Joan Collins — was introduced. In the years that have followed, it has been a veritable battle

At the 1980 Republican convention, Reaganites wore buttons proclaiming ‘A Democrat Shot J.R.’ of the vixens and the villains, with both shows scuffling for the top spot.

The race for the ratings was most evident this May, when Dallas and Dynasty attempted to outdo one another with cliffhanger endings — the now-traditional way to cap a season’s programmes, and to bring viewers back for the next slate of shows.

Dallas did in Bobby Ewing (played

by Patrick Duffy), that 'once noble character, via a careening car. Mean­ while, back at the ranch, the everruthless J.R. (Larry Hagman) once again had poor Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) locked up after her latest bout with the booze.

On the other side of the Rockies — indeed, the other side of the world (in the fictional principality of Moldavia) — the wedding of Amanda Carrington to Prince Michael ended in bloodshed.

Who among those gathered — including series luminaries John For­ sythe, Linda Evans and Joan Collins — survived?

Tune in next season . . . ^ CINEMA PAPERS July — 17

Channel 7 recently promoted Sons and Daughters by showing a crystal ball with the hands of a fortune teller around it. Off-screen, voices asked the fortune teller questions about the central characters: “ Is it David or Andy?” An anonymous narrator — the fortune teller? — promised that “ All will be revealed!”

Therein lies the unique quality and the source of attraction of the serial form — the pleasure in the implied promise that all will be revealed, coupled with the pain of an openended narrative form which can never fulfil this promise without destroying the basis of its existence.

One of the most clearly discernible trends in recent Australian television has been the popularity of the con­ tinuing story over the traditional closed, linear narrative which has dominated film and television since their inception. There are currently 40 hours of soap opera on Melbourne television, feeding the habits of devotees from early morning (All My Children) through mid-afternoon (Days of Our Lives) and early evening (Neighbours) to mid-evening prime­ time (Prisoner and the rest).

The genesis of this particular narrative form, at least in the visual media, can be traced back to the cover of an American magazine, the August 1912 issue of The L ad ies’ World.

Beneath the portrait of an attractive young woman was an enticement to buy the magazine and turn to page three. “ One Hundred Dollars,” it promised, “ If You Can Tell WHAT HAPPENED TO MARY.” Whilst magazines had, for some years, used the continuing story to boost circulation, W hat H appened to M ary became the basis of the first attempt by the motion picture industry to employ such a narrative form: an agreement between the editors of The L adies’ W orld and the manager of Edison’s Kinetoscope company to release episodes in the life of Mary both in the magazine and on film resulted in the first visual soap opera.

The emphasis in the first chapter, entitled T he Escape from Bondage’, established the dominant thematic concerns of the soap opera: a domestic conflict between Mary and her foster father, the search for Mary’s true parents, and a series of romantic 18 — July CINEMA PAPERS

triangles. The story begins with baby Mary being left on the doorstep of a small town shopkeeper called Billy Peart, with one hundred dollars and a note promising a further thousand dollars when Mary is married to one of the local boys. Eighteen years later, Mary discovers the facts behind her ‘adoption’ and, taking her one hundred dollars, decides to leave the home of her foster father. The episode ends with Peart and a spurned local suitor in hot pursuit, and the now familiar cliffhanger question: “ How long would the hundred dollars last?

What would she do when it was gone?”

The initial appeal of the open-ended narrative to film producers was the same as its appeal to today’s Australian television producers: serials were relatively cheap to produce and generated a reasonably stable following. It appealed to audiences because it exploited what E.M. Forster has described as the basic, primordial essence of storytelling: the ability to involve its audience in the pattern of ‘. . . and then . . . and then . . .’. The intense desire to speculate on and learn the fate of interesting people is central to both the traditional close narrative and the open serial. But, in the latter, total knowledge must be denied.

In What Happened to Mary?, this denial extended to twelve chapters/ episodes (although the story was extended a further six chapters in Who Will M arry M ary? the following year).

In Sons and Daughters, A Country

Practice and Neighbours, on the other hand, it is implied that this denial will last forever. Even the end of produc­ tion is unable satisfactorily to resolve the com plex in te rre la tio n sh ip s generated by the multiple, interwoven plot developments — as the script editors of Carson’s Law and Posses­ sion are no doubt well aware.

The soap opera, a continuing, openended narrative about the domestic and romantic entanglements of a series of multiple relationships, has been a staple of American and Australian afternoon television for many years.

The Channel 2 serial, Bellbird, deserves a special mention, both for its quality and for its historical function as Australia’s first evening serial. The narrative pace, the setting — a small rural town — and the thematic concerns provided the basis for A Country Practice, currently Aus­ tralia’s most popular evening serial.

Following the nighttime success of Bellbird and the U.S. import, Peyton Place (1964-9), Number 96, The Box, The Sullivans and The Restless Years went on, during the seventies, to establish the commercial viability of the serial format in primetime. The dramatic context for these pro­ grammes, as well as for the current serials, has been largely established by the aesthetic and narrative basis of the American daytime serial — something which has probably been influenced by cost more than any other single factor.

Despite the patriotic pride of the supporters of The Sullivans and A

Watermarks Australia’s longest-running soaps in broadcast hours (up to the end of June 1985) The Young Doctors Prisoner Cop Shop Number 96 The Sullivans Bellbird The Restless Years The Box A Country Practice Sons and Daughters

November 1976-October 1982 February 1979November 1977-December 1983 February 1972-December 1977 November 1976-March 1983 January 1967-December 1977 December 1977-February 1982 February 1974-September 1977 November 1981February 1982-

698 583 582 579 557 424 390 350 318 304

Country Practice for the supposedly indigenous qualities of these pro­ grammes, the differences are largely superficial ones — setting, accent, period. The dramatic structure is ’ essentially the same as that of the American ones.

The protagonists of a soap opera, daytime or nighttime, are clearly identifiable — or stereotypical — characters, caught in convoluted and often bizarre plot complications. Yet the paradox is that, within this highly artificial dram atic context, the programmes seem, for the viewer, to be closer to some form of experiential reality than virtually any other form of drama. In other words, soap operas are able to break through the ‘psychic distance’ generated by fictional representations, so that the viewer, at

As Wandin Valley says farewell to Molly, Geoff Mayer takes a cold, hard look at Australia’s soap operas — at where they came from, how they tell their stories, how they hold on to their viewers, and what sort of world they portray.

least for the duration of the programme, feels he or she has an almost intimate involvement with the characters.

Unlike the Hollywood domestic melodramas of the forties and fifties with their complex mise-en-scène, the Australian soap opera, like its Am erican daytim e counterpart, concentrates almost entirely on dialogue. It is a ‘world of words’, which locks the viewer into caring about Molly’s leukemia (A Country Practice), Max and Maria’s separation (Neighbours) and Barbara Hamilton’s tw o-husband plight (Sons and Daughters). Just as the sets are purely functional, indicating the setting in a minimal fashion, so the camera set-ups (mostly medium close-ups, or talking two-shots) and the editing are entirely

dictated by the demands of the dialogue. Movement by the character is likewise generally very restricted, so that nothing interferes with the continuous dialogue exchanges about never-ending personal and domestic crises.

The net effect is to position the viewer in a series of kitchens, living rooms, hospital corridors and doctors’ (or vets’) surgeries, where the same issue can be discussed, analyzed, agonized over, but rarely resolved. The emphasis is on dialogue, in other words, but it doesn’t advance the plot.

Consider, for example, the decision of the mainstays of Ramsay Street (Neighbours), Max and Maria (Francis Bell and Dasha Blahova), to separate over the long-kept secret about the birth of her son, Danny (David

Clencie). The episode opens with Max and Maria telling their other son, Shane (Peter O’Brien), of the decision.

Shane then discusses the problem — i.e. the hidden secret, the ‘why’ — with Daphne (Elaine Smith); this is followed by another resident, Jim Robinson (Alan Dale), announcing the break-up to his nosy daughter, Julie (Vicki Blanche).

Shane then agonizes over the separation with his mother, after which Max and Maria discuss the effects of their split on the estranged Danny. Maria and Shane then go over much the same ground again to Facing page, Vicki Blanche and Peter O ’Brien in Neighbours. Below, all o f Molly’s friends assembled fo r her (last) birthday party in A Country Practice.

conclude the episode. If that is not enough, the trailer for the following night shows Shane discussing the problem with Jim’s mother-in-law, Helen (Anne Haddy), while the voice­ over unnecessarily observes that “ Shane is still not getting any answers’’. Thus, while dialogue is the focus of the serial, rarely is it meaningful in the sense of plot development, which leaves ample time for the viewer to consider the ramifications of every action.

A languid pace characterizes the Australian soap opera. Unlike the dis­ comfort generated by the rapid temporal and narrative jumps in a series like Hill Street Blues (which nevertheless retains some of the open narrative characteristics of the serials), A Country Practice, Sons and Daughters and the rest offer the security of always knowing what is happening. Narrative coherence, an im portant ingredient for many viewers, is an implied promise in each of these programmes.

Unlike the strong conflict/confrontation/climax pattern of Dallas and Dynasty (which, at the end of each season, borders on the farcical), the gentle narrative rhythm of the Australian soap opera — with the exception of Possession and Prisoner — fails to disguise the basic similarities between the programmes. Particularly evident is the lateral — rather than linear — movement of the narrative, involving a series of often dis­ connected issues. A recent episode of Sons and Daughters crosscut continu­ ally between a triangle of characters with a problem: Samantha, Amanda and Carolyn; David, Lee and Tim; Wayne, Julie and Julie’s father; and Beryl, Jim and Kingsford. Finally, the narrator extended each of these ‘problems’ in the trailer which concluded the episode. The problem can never be resolved.

Whereas the entire thrust of the traditional closed narrative is to resolve the problem, the soap opera functions according to the same principles as the classic striptease: it tries to involve and excite through a series of intensification devices, and builds to a strong emotional peak.

Ultimately, however, it denies a complete and satisfying climax, for the resolution can only temporarily CINEMA PAPERS July — 19

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alleviate the desire to know. Thus, where the closed narrative of ‘socially conscious’ dramas such as Quincy, or sitcoms like Family Ties eventually contain the contradictions and ambiguities of the world, the soap opera offers — potentially, at least — a radical alternative, because of its narrative form and repetitive thematic concerns.

The paradox of the soap opera is that, while the text superficially cele­ brates marriage and heterosexual love as ideals, the narrative continually exposes them as unobtainable goals.

Breakdown and heartbreak are essential to the problem -based narratives. Anne Haddy, who plays Helen in Neighbours, showed herself quite aware of all this when, considering the possibility of a ro m an tic relatio n sh ip for her character, she commented that she hoped it would be unrequited, “ because as soon as anyone achieves happiness, that’s the finish” .

A Country Practice is something of a hybrid between the traditional closed narrative and the open soap-opera form. This is largely a product of the programme’s determination to inject a recurring series of social issues — child abuse, wife-bashing — into the usual, open-ended construction. Generally, the effect of these issues is to persuade the audience that they can be resolved (i.e. contained) by society — unlike the irreconcilable domestic differences of the less socially conscious soap operas.

Another factor which links all the soaps, daytime and nighttime, and which would otherwise seem to disturb the surface realism of the programmes, is the use of intensification devices to carry the viewer across commercial breaks, and from episode to episode.

The most obvious is the time-honoured cliffhanger technique. At the end of the first episode of The Henderson Kids, Steve (Paul Smith) and the local bully appear to fall — literally — over a cliff. We cut to Tam (Nadine Garner) screaming and, as we move into a tight close-up, her scream is echoed over the freeze frame of her distraught face.

The reaction shots on the face of Alexis’s daughter and lover when she announces that she is going to get married at the end of a Dynasty episode achieve the same effect as the frozen stare on the face of Caroline (Abigail) when she tries to convince Stephen (Michael Long) that she has seen the ‘ghost’ of her missing daughter in Sons and Daughters.

Other intensification techniques include the often blatant use of dramatic music to generate excitement, coupled with the ‘empty look’, which allows the viewer to speculate on what is going on in the mind of a particular character. Commercial breaks provide an obvious punctuation point. For example, Tracey (Anna Hruby) tells of a plan she has hatched with Leigh (Lisa Crittenden) to frame Jim (Sean Scully) and break up his relationship with Beryl (Leila Hayes) in Sons and Daughters. The camera moves in to a close-up of Leigh as her father asks, “ Is that true?” After the commercial break, however, the confrontation continues as if there had been no break — except that the opening long shot of the group lessens the tension which had previously been built up to a mini­ climax. The effect of such techniques is always to leave an emotional residue, either between episodes or in breaks during episodes. The emotional grip on the audience is never released: they must always be concerned about ‘what is happening to Mary’. ★

Though they don’t much like the word, soap operas are what have kept Orundys in business — that and game shows. With Sons and Daughters, Sale of the Century, Perfect Match and Prisoner on the current production line, the Grundy Organization is firmly established as one of the chief suppliers of primetime product for Australian television. Nick Roddick sketches in a brief profile of the company, and talks to its Managing Director, Ian Holmes, about approaches, programmes, and the failure of Possession to make the splash that was expected of it.

At first sight, the thing that makes the Australian film production scene different from that in other countries is the lack of big production houses.

Where Hollywood has its majors, France has its Gaumont, Japan its Toho and even Britain its Thorn EMI, the production of Australian movies — at any rate before Hoyts Edgley began to test the water — has tended to be done by small to medium-sized companies, sometimes set up with the sole purpose of making a particular film.

Obviously there are historical reasons for this, not least the fact that the mid-seventies revival in Australian filmmaking was more government sponsored than it was a joyous growth from out of the needs of the market­ place. To put it bluntly, commercial companies have not jostled one another for a share of the Australian film production scene because the market is neither big enough nor strong enough to offer regular, reliable profits.

Television is a different matter.

With its unique combination of solid public service broadcasting and an aggressive multi-channel commercial sector, Australian television has, over the past decade and a half, been an industry whose growth has been out of all apparent proportion to the size of its potential audience. And it is in tele­ vision that the two big independent production companies, Crawfords and Grundys, have emerged, each feeding the commercial networks with a flow of (generally) highly successful quizzes and game shows, serials and series, plus the occasional drama, docu­ mentary and telemovie. Product has been the name of the game. “ We are very much commercial people,” says Ian Holmes, President and Managing Director of the Grundy Organization, without so much as the

hint of an apology. Holmes came to Grundys in 1977, after 25 years in broadcasting, and im m ediately following a five-year stint as General Manager of Channel 10 in Sydney. As he arrived, Grundys Chairman and founder, Reg Grundy, took off for the other side of the Pacific — he now lives in Bermuda — to pursue what Holmes calls “ a natural desire to try new Fields” .

By the time he left, the Grundy Organization had been in operation for just under 20 years. In 1959, Reg took his 2CH radio quiz show, Reg Grundy’s Wheel of Fortune, across the street to the new medium, where it filled a one-hour Saturday afternoon slot on Sydney’s TCN-9. That was the start of an empire. In those early days, Reg presented the show; but it was as a programme packager that he proved

“ We are very much commercial people” CINEMA PAPERS J u ly — 21

most successful, and it is with the packaging of program mes that Grundys have prospered ever since.

Shortly after Wheel of Fortune was established, Grundy put together another quiz show, Concentration, also for TCN-9, but this time hosted by so m e o n e e ls e . I n i t i a l l y , Melbourne’s GTV-9 was running the same show, but hosted by the young Philip Brady (the Sydney show was hosted by Terry Dear). The result of the packaging deal was that the Dear show could be syndicated to M e lb o u rn e fa r c h e a p e r th a n Melbourne could produce its own show. Grundy had gone nationwide — or as near nationwide as was possible on those restricted airwaves of the early sixties.

Packaging still remains the key to the Grundys method. The Grundy Organization develops a project — a game show or a serial — to the point where it can be presented to a network (though nowadays the network is likely to put up production money, and amortize it across the eventual serial).

With network interest enlisted, the project is then developed to pilot stage.

The third and final stage, if all goes well, is for an agreed number of episodes to be made for an agreed price. In general terms, the system is like a combination of the advertising business and the movies: the initial development of a project is — or should be — at the company’s risk; the actual making of the programme depends on a pre-sale. It is as near to a solid business set-up as the volatile world of the entertainment industry will allow, and it is very profitable for the packagers.

Currently, Grundys are involved in the production of 26 hours of television a week in Australia, with a further ten hours (Sale of the Century, The happy, smiling faces o f the primetime profit-makers — or mainly. Clockwise, from below: Delvene Delaney and John Walton in The Young Doctors; Perfect Match presenters Greg Evans and Debbie Newsome camping it up in costume; Tony Barber, with Sale o f the Century hostesses Judy James (left) and Simonette Gardiner, amid the show’s spoils. And, top, the non­ money-spinning odd one out: Tracey Callander and David Reyne in Possession.

Scrabble and Time Machine for NBC, with Sale of the Century also syndicated) being produced out of Los Angeles by Reg Grundy Productions Inc. With offices in the U.K., Hongkong and the U.S., Grundys programmes are now seen in over 60 countries, and a major development in Europe is planned for the end of the year, probably in France.

Of the Australian output, around 60% is currently game shows, and the remaining 40% serials. Though the late seventies saw them embark on tele­ movies in a big way — in 1978 alone, Grundys made Image of Death, The Death Train, Roses Bloom Twice, Demolition, The Scalp Merchant and The Newman Shame — that is an area that has been cut back since Holmes moved in. The decision was obviously a commercial one: even with the burgeoning world ancillary rights market, which can make territory-by­ territory sales of a telemovie to broad­ cast television, cable, satellite and video a very profitable undertaking, the cost of developing and producing a one-off is such that it is just not capable of generating the same continuous cash flow as a successful serial or a hit game show.

And a regular turnover is the main­ stay of the Grundys philosophy.

Turning over particularly well right now are Sons and Daughters, with a rating in the mid-to-high twenties, closely followed by Sale of the Century, with a slightly lower rating but at the less-than-peak viewing time of 7 o’clock, and the magnificently vulgar Perfect Match, with a rating in the low-to-mid twenties — “ but at a time,” says Holmes, “ when that is exceptionally good” .

Definitely not in the top range is Grundys’ most recent bid for the soap audience, Possession, the serial in which everyone seems to get a chance to shoot the central character, some time detective and frequent victim Vince Bailey (David Reyne). Listed in the company’s 1984 slate as a drama serial — that is, a continuing story with a central cast and a cliffhanger at the end of each episode — Possession has now been downgraded in the 1985 list to a ‘series’ (a number of episodes with recurring characters but each with a self-contained storyline). It has also sunk from primetime into the dog hours of the evening. What all this means is that, unlike all true soaps, Possession will not go on forever. 52 episodes will be it: the programme will not be back next season.

Obviously this is not the first time a Grundys programme hasn’t worked: Punishment, the follow -up to Prisoner, didn’t exactly light up the sky either. And Holmes is relatively sanguine about the failure of Possession: “ With hindsight,” he says, “ we probably tried to get too far away from the norm.” But it is the sort of hiccup which a company like Grundys will do its best to avoid, since it is, claims Holmes, only when a pro­ gramme goes into its second season that the profit really starts to flow.

As with any area of commercial tele­ vision, ratings have been as crucial to Possession’s demise as they have been to the success of other Grundys product. Interestingly, though, ratings are of indirect rather than direct importance: the actual success of a show doesn’t affect the amount of money Grundys get from the network, since this was determined before the show ever went to air, as part of the original commissioning deal. What ratings do determine is whether or not

.

Soaps

vvork renews the contract. And that’s where the money is.

Renewal is thus the cornerstone of Grundys’ success. “ A company like ours,” says Holmes, “ needs a pretty healthy output of weekly productions.

Having established that, you do have the opportunity to do other things.” In the past, The Young Doctors (1976-1981) and The Restless Years (1977-1981) have been rosy sources of health. Currently, it is Prisoner (in production since 1979), Sale of the Century (since 1980) and Perfect Match (since 1983). The first two are Grundys originals, the last was Below, the grittier side o f primetime drama: Judy Bryant (Betty Bobbitt) is restrained by Vera Bennett (Fiona Spence), while Bea Smith (Val Lehman) struggles with another officer in a past episode o f Prisoner. And, underneath, Gordon Hamilton (Brian Blain) suffering — with Amanda Morrell (Alyce Platt) and Andy Green (Danny Roberts) looking on, in Grundys’ Sons and Daughters.

licensed in from the United States, where a version has been in syndication since 1967. Brightest hope of this season’s new shows is the enormously successful European participation show, It’s a Knockout — a sort of World War III fought with inflatable dolls and buckets of water — which was licensed from France’s Guy Lux (a man, not a company) for an undisclosed but almost certainly substantial amount.

The other thing Holmes has done since his arrival at Grundys is pursue a policy of diversification. This has included a travel company, GO Grundy Travel, a $7-million family entertainment complex at Surfer’s Paradise — a sort of Grundyland — and a share in the Sydney Entertain­ ment Centre. At the moment, how­ ever, there are no plans to repeat Grundys one and only venture into the movies, the 1974 film , Barry McKenzie Holds His Own. A plan, announced in 1978, for a $ 1.5-million development deal with the Australian

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Grundys

Film Commission, never came to is some inevitable grumbling about it fruition. But Grundys are going back being a factory — it used to be a joke to the single-story form at. A that no one working on the major $4-million, six-hour miniseries is now drama serials had ever set eyes on Reg in development with the 7 Network. himself — there is a general feeling And, claims Holmes, Grundys have that producers and directors are left to “ eleven to twelve” made-for-TV get on with the job, without the front­ movies at various stages of develop­ office interference that is a regular ment. The healthy output, in other feature of some TV production words, is now allowing the other houses. The result, as any Australian teleview er knows, can be the things.

The bottom line of Grundys’ occasional classic episode, which estimated $40 million turnover, brings the formula to life.

But formula is-, in the final analysis, however, is the packaged material — the game shows and the soap operas. what soap opera — or ‘primetime Not surprisingly, Holmes resists the drama’, as Holmes prefers to call it — word ‘soap’: “ I don’t like the is all about. Grundys works because expression, because it doesn’t relate to the product keeps flowing. And, what we do. That form of serial though it will probably never feature in production, which was started by the an anthology of great Australian soap powder manufacturers, is not drama, it certainly seems to hit the much like the ones we do. They were button as far as the Australian viewing faster made, with a lower scene-count. public is concerned. For game shows, Our production values are much the formula is even simpler (though not, of course, simple to predict): the higher.”

Certainly, Grundys’ stock is quite vicarious experience of at least one of high within the industry. Though there the seven deadly sins, usually avarice.

Perfect Match, with its constant hint of naughtiness and conflict, and its astute manipulation of the game show trick of secondary sponsorship (the giving of prizes whose brand names are endlessly mentioned on air); and Sons and Daughters, with its closely contained dramas and hothouse

“ I don’t like the expression ‘soap’, because it doesn’t relate to what we do. That form of serial production, which was started by the soap powder manufacturers, is not much like the ones we do” atmosphere, are among the most commercially successful products currently available on Australian television. “ The most successful show,” says Holmes, echoing the movie moguls of past decades, “ can be very quickly capsulized as to what it is about.”

Again with hindsight, that was one of the problems with Possession: it defied immediate capsulization and required, instead, some vague notion of style to explain its appeal. The best soap operas — or serials, or primetime dramas — certainly need to put all their emotions under a magnifying glass, but there also need to be real human beings lurking somewhere in there, and there needs to be a back­ ground which, if it isn’t real, is, like Dallas and Dynasty, very, very rich.

Because money, it seems, changes everything. It is only if we know that the people on our screens aren’t the sort who keep their eyes glued apprehensively on the meter every time they take a taxi or check every item on the supermarket bill, that we can forgive them for behaving outrage­ ously. The people in Possession are patent meter-watchers and billcheckers, but they keep carrying on as though they are not. And audiences don’t easily forgive that. The package, in short, was wrong. It is not a mistake that Grundys often make. ★ CINEMA PAPERS July — 23

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HOMETRUTHS The phenomenal success of Heimat seems even more extraordinary when you know its uneven history. Reitz’s previous film, Der Schneider von Ulm (The Tailor of Ulm), was savaged by critics and snubbed by the public when it appeared in Germany in 1978. It was the most expensive movie he’d ever made and, in despair and bad debt, he decided to give up the cinema and write a novel instead. He retreated to a friend’s cottage on Germany’s Baltic coast for what was to be the worst winter this century, and found himself snowed in for six weeks. “ All I could do was write,” he says, “ and take short walks. By the time the snow melted, the most important char­ acters and the village were on paper. I returned to Munich and showed it to a friend of mine.”

That friend was a book editor who also happened to be a producer for WDR TV. The producer in him became excited right away, and he told Reitz to turn his synopsis, not into a novel, but into a screenplay. So, back in motion pictures, Reitz needed assis­ tance. He called in an old collaborator, Peter Steinbach, and together they started to work on Heimat.

But Steinbach didn’t know the Hunsruck, where Reitz grew up and where the film was set. They wanted to get the dialect, atmosphere and social life right, so Reitz decided to return home for his first visit in years. “ My mother liked Peter, and told him many, many stories she hadn’t told me. We got in the mood for writing and stayed, not in my mother’s village — that was too close for comfort — but nearby. After two or three weeks, we were so involved that we phoned our families in Munich for the things we needed. We had no more money, and still no idea how we would ever realise the film.”

Reitz’s producer friend read the script as they wrote, and WDR finally bought the rights. That was a start, and preparations for shooting began in July 1980. But there still wasn’t enough money. Enter another TV company, with money to invest. They looked at Reitz’s mammoth script, and asked if it could be shortened. “ I promised them anything,” says Reitz.

Cash for the first six hours of film was finished up after three months’ shooting. In steps a Berlin TV station: another contract, another six hours.

They were up to twelve now, after eight months’ filming. By the time they ran out again, the actors and tech­ nicians had such faith in the project that they worked for several weeks without pay. The TV people were invited to visit them and watch them work — and so they got the rest of the money.

With a running time of fifteen hours, 40 minutes and ten seconds, Heimat is one of the most improbable hits of the eighties. Yet everywhere it has been shown — first in Germany (both in the cinema and on television), then in France, Britain, Italy — it has hooked audiences like some upmarket soap opera. They have become fascinated by the lives of the characters, hanging on for hour after hour to find out what happens next. At the screenings in Frankfurt, the audience stayed all night to see the whole film, then made themselves breakfast in the cinema and, in some cases, settled down to watch it again.

Heimat is the story of life in the small village of Schabbach, in the Hunsrück area of south-west Germany, it has 140 speaking parts, and covers a timespan from 1919 to 1982.

Saskia Baron talked to Heimat’s writer and director, Edgar Reitz (who grew up in Hunsrück), about the origins of the film, and in particular about one of its most difficult sections — the Nazi years in Schabbach.

After eighteen months’ shooting, Reitz returned to Munich, and spent another eighteen months editing the film. By June 1984, they had the first print, which was screened at the Munich Film Festival for the actors and crew, but also for Bernd Eichinger, Germany’s top independent producer. He told Reitz that he’d do the premiere run without a fee. “ What German movies lack,” said Eichinger, “ is the necessary shot of captive insanity. That is why Edgar Reitz’s Heimat has my support, because a sixteen-hour film — that’s insane!”

When the first episode of Heimat was shown on German television, it scored ratings of 26%. “ Something very strange started to happen,” says Reitz. “ German people began to write down their personal experiences and memories. They did it in the style of Heimat: it gave them a language and a framework. I recently got a 600-page script from a lady who saw it in December and had needed all this time to write it. She sent her memories, her life to me. Maybe it’s that the German collective memory has been unlocked.

This May was the 40th anniversary of

the end of the war, and there’s so little on film, so few documents about the war and the period afterwards. People are looking for their history. “ We Germans have a hard time with our stories. It is our own history that is in our way. 1945, the nation’s ‘zero hour’, wiped out a lot, and created a gap in people’s ability to remember.

As Mischerlich put it, an entire people has been ‘unable to mourn’. In our case, that means ‘unable to tell stories’, because our memories are obstructed by the great historical events they are confronted with. Even now, 40 years after the war, we are still troubled by the weight of moral judge­ ments, we are still afraid that our little, personal stories might recall our Nazi past and remind us of our mass par­ ticipation in the Third Reich. “ We didn’t want to ‘demonstrate’ anything through Heimat’s characters, or use them to prove a point about a political or sociological situation, because we didn’t have an abstract, analytical idea about the century.

People already have a received chrono­ logy of historical events, which they get from education, and which I think is false, because the actual experience doesn’t have that neat causality. It’s not innate. So we tried to avoid that, and to find out what was surprising instead. For instance, in portraying the Nazi period, you are always under a moral weight, and all the answers you can give have already been said. “ On the other hand, you have to consider this problem: what does it mean if we tell the story of someone living in the Nazi period who gives no answers for their actions — who, in a sense, is involved but not involved?

Where’s the dividing line between private, family life and political life?

It’s normal in cinema to divide them: it makes things simpler. “ In Heimat, all the elements are mixed up, so that I can explain how it could happen, how it was possible.

But we had a lot of problems with this, because people like to get a simple answer, and this answer could never be simple. People asked me, ‘Isn’t this image of the Nazi period too light?’

But that was the moral question we had to explore. “ One of the problems people had after the war was understanding Nazi­ dom. Hollywood had a wonderful time after 1945, because they had limitless possibilities for evil Nazis in their films, whereas before they’d had to content themselves with a limited repertoire of historically-known villains. But, in reality, the person­ ification of evil doesn’t exist. The Nazi people were as normal as everyone else; in special moments of their lives, they acted as Nazis.” if CINEMA PAPERS July — 25

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Gillian Armstrong’s anecdotes about the production of her first American film, Mrs Soffel, are full of tales of literally numbing conditions, studio diplomacies and difficult decision­ making. She talks to Debi Enker about her recent work with Diane Keaton and Mel Gibson, the studio system, the revival of the local film industry and the lure of music video.

The big temptation, writing on Gillian Armstrong, is effusively to proclaim the return of yet another great Aussie achiever. The last two years of her life have certainly offered all the right cliches. With only two features under her belt, she travels to the glitter capital and secures a project with MGM. Though they implore her to sign a three-picture deal, she politely declines, stating: “ I don’t want to tie myself up like that, and I definitely want to come back to Australia.

Thank you, but no thank you.” The patriotic undertones of this decision alone send the mental flags proudly unfurling.

Then there is the American project itself: a respectably budgeted produc­ tion boasting two of the box-office’s favourite attractions, Mel Gibson and Diane Keaton, and a supporting actor — Matthew Modine — who clearly has a healthy career ahead of him. The feminist spirits soar along with the nationalistic stirrings as one conjures up images of a plucky young female director at the helm of a production that few American women would get a crack at.

Facing page, Armstrong in 1985; below, at work on Smokes and Lollies ten years ago.

Finally, there are the muchpublicized stories of this headstrong filmmaker steadfastly holding off armies of studio executives who want to dilute her vision . . . and winning!

Now we’re really cooking: a female David taking on a polyester-clad Goliath . . . an artist locking horns with businessmen . . . a proud Aussie battler returning to her native shores in triumph . . . a woman assaulting the male bastion. The right ingredients are all there.

But there is one major obstacle to an overblown ode to Gillian Armstrong: the director herself. Her humour, candour, instinct for irony and will­ ingness to admit error soon discourage any such tendencies. There are no horror stories, juicy bits of gossip or tales of temperamental actors. The three leads were, in fact, “ very profes­ sional, working in hideous conditions without complaint” , the studio exec­ utives proved to be reasonable human beings who ultimately applied “ very little creative interference” , and the romantic allure of shooting a thirteenmillion-dollar film on exotic locations is reduced to an anecdote about slight homesickness and learning useful lessons for next time. “ I was away eighteen months

making this film,” Armstrong asserts, “ and if I ever make another American one, I’ll make sure I edit it in Aus­ tralia. That’s what Peter Weir did with Witness, and I will put it in my contract next time. They’re so fright­ ened of you taking anything to Aus­ tralia — it seems so far away — but it was silly. Here I was, cutting away in an editing room in Toronto. I may as well have been in Sydney, going home to my own bed. It was nice to live in Canada, but it got a bit boring after six months. We went into summer and it was boiling and there was no beach!”

The impression that Armstrong conveys is of a selective, clear-sighted and pragmatic person, with a shrewd eye, a keen awareness of her goals and an almost embarrassing willingness to give credit where it is due. Very little time passes without reference to the support given by Gibson, Keaton and Modine, the sensitivity of scriptwriter Ron Nyswaner, or the creative con­ tributions of cinematographer Russell Boyd and production designer Luciana Arrighi.

Although the prospect of testing her talents in the capital of commercial cinema was attractive, Armstrong held out on committing to a film until she was convinced that the project offered both a script that suited her interests, and one that would not duplicate her past efforts. When the idea for Mrs Soffel was first proposed, her reaction was far from ecstatic, “ I heard it was set in the past, and I thought: ‘Oh, no, I’ve done that’. It wasn’t inspiring until I read the script and realised, ‘Hey! This is the city, it’s gritty and it’s jails’. Then it became inspiring to think of creating a whole new look that I hadn’t been involved in before.” She was emphatic that she did not want to recreate the romantic hues of My Bril­ liant Career, though the films are set only a few years apart. It would be a romance set in a sombre, oppressive environment, with a resolution as defiant, yet unconventional, as that of My Brilliant Career.

In discussing the design of the film, with its bleak vision of industrial Pitts­ burgh at the turn of the century, Arm­ strong explains: “ Our major concept was to make it look like a black and 28 — July CINEMA PAPERS

¡¡¡■ ¡¡È white film. For me, the strongest image was blood on the snow. There was really to be no colour in the overall design until the blood red on the snow.

I didn’t want it to be a romantic sort of past, because it wasn’t a romantic time at all. It’s a story about romance — love and passion — but the environ­ ment was hideous, which may have been the very reason that the passion was so heightened. It wasn’t meant to be a pretty love story.”

Working closely with Boyd and Arrighi, Armstrong evolved the concept for the visual design from images of Dickensian England — of “ an ugly, tough environment at the beginning of the industrial age. We finally decided to go with photos of the industrial revolution,” explains Armstrong, “ rather than the paintings of the time. We hated that sepia look of the past, where everyone seems to be in nice browns.”

To introduce the notion of a story that occurs in the industrial age, Arm­ strong decided on a series of shots of the pock-marked Pittsburgh skyline taken by the second unit, which did

“ Our major concept was to make it look like a black and white film. The strongest image was blood on the snow” not appear in the script. “ I liked the idea of opening the film with some­ thing that was quite modern. It evolved with the composer, Mark Isham. We started off with that sound from the steel mill — that thump, thump. There was meant to be a feeling of machinery pounding and of something trying to get out.”

‘Trying to get out’ is a state that applies to more than one aspect of Mrs Soffel. All three central characters are shown as perpetually incarcerated — either by prison bars, religion, social convention, clothing, class or family.

Even though Kate (Keaton) and Ed

(Gibson) briefly break out, Kate liter­ ally ends up back where she started. As in My Brilliant Career, Mrs Soffel concludes with the couple separated and the woman alone. However, the image of Kate alone is not meant to suggest defeat. “ I was hoping that people would leave the film with the feeling in her face, with the sense that it was worth it,” Armstrong explains. “ Despite everything, she’d had a rare experience: real love, a great love.”

The real problem, however, was that most people thought she was locked up for ever and a day, says Arm­ strong. “ I realise now that I should have used a title saying that she was a model prisoner who was released two years later on a good behaviour bond, that she worked as a seamstress and died nine years later. I didn’t realise that people assumed that she was there for life. I regret now that I didn’t put that in, but I was being more self­ conscious about my films than I needed, to be. I ended My Brilliant Career with a title saying ‘the book was published and blah blah blah’.

The general public would never remember, but I thought, ‘I can’t end two films the same way’.”

Although Armstrong and Keaton had been looking for a mutually suit­ able project for some time, the circum­ stances that preceded the production of Mrs Soffel were not ideal. Gibson had completed shooting on The River only six weeks earlier, and Keaton had only two weeks holiday between The Little Drummer Girl and rehearsals for Mrs Soffel. “ It wasn’t an ideal situation for me,” Armstrong recalls. “ I was particularly worried, in Diane’s case, that I would have a tired, cross person on my hands. It is a very difficult situation for an actor.” The productive two-week rehearsal period, however, soon removed these doubts. “ Diane, Mel and Matthew got along very well and, by the time we started shooting, Diane was becoming Mrs Soffel — goodbye Little Drummer Girl.”

Armstrong’s high regard for her cast is constantly evident. “ They were great troupers,” she enthuses. “ There are many stars who would just walk out of their caravans and say ‘C’mon, I’m

This page, left, Mel Gibson in the snow as Ed Biddle; and, above, Diane Keaton visit­ ing the cells as Kate Soffel in Mrs Soffel.

Opposite page, left, Sam Neill as Harry Beacham and Judy Davis as Sybylla Melvyn in My Brilliant Career (1979); and, far right, Angus (Ross O ’Donovan) and Jackie (Jo Kennedy) in Starstruck (1982).

not going out there, it’s too cold’.

They never complained. We were in our Arctic gear, but they were in period clothes. Obviously, we tried to keep them warm — they had 20 pairs of long underwear on under their costumes — but it was very cold out there.”

She is particularly pleased with the duality that Gibson puts into the role of Ed Biddle — the uncertainty about his feelings for the prim, devout mother who becomes, albeit briefly, his liberation. “ That was the thing that attracted Mel and a lot of other actors who were after that role. That was the great challenge: to play that ambiguity and to identify the point where he changes and the game starts to back­ fire on him.” Though she explains that the process of change in Ed is a slow and subtle one, she adds that, “ for me, the scene where you really feel that he is falling in love with her is the scene where she brings him the saws. There’s that moment after he’s got them — sure, he’s happy: ‘Great it’s all worked’. But there’s a moment then, when she’s reading the bible. And it’s actually something that they impro­ vised. She was supposed to read three lines from the bible, and she kept reading. They kept playing with each other. He was smiling, and she was reading and trying not to smile. We left it in because I thought there was a moment of real warmth between them.”

• Making decisions about what will stay in the film and what will be cut is not, however, something that is accomplished in blissful isolation by the director. “ My biggest worry,” Armstrong recalls, “ was that, finally, my picture was in the hands of a team of studio executives who could take it away and do whatever they wanted to it: change the music, shoot a new ending. But, really, I wasn’t asked to

compromise too much. MGM agreed that we were all out to make a tragic love story, so they didn’t try to give it a happy ending. It wouldn’t have been an easy thing to do anyway, because it would have upset two very powerful people called Diane Keaton and Mel Gibson, who were very supportive to me, and who had both seen the film and really liked it. “ And they didn’t want to offend me totally,” she grins, “ because they wanted me to make more pictures for them. Our biggest struggles were about the budget: they wanted me to shoot faster and cheaper.”

In the end, the studio objected to only three scenes. The first was the long pan across the faces of the Biddles’ captors, which the studio believed slowed the film down. Arm­ strong argued that it was more effec­ tive to play the deaths on the faces of the posse than on the Biddles’ last breaths in the snow. She does, however, concede that “ it works for some people, and other people don’t like it at all” .

The second- tussle came over the scene of the Soffel family packing to leave the Allegheny jail following Kate’s capture. The studio maintained that seeing a forlorn Peter Soffel (Edward Herrmann) would turn the audience' against the heroine, by reminding them that she had aban­ doned her family. “ I didn’t want to whitewash the story,” asserts Arm­ strong. “ I don’t think that it was necessarily a good thing she’d done, and I also think that it was a terrible tragedy in the lives of those children.

But the point was that it did happen and I wanted to show all the sides of the story.” Like the objection to the death scene, the Boston preview solved this problem. It was clear that Kate did not suffer any moral backlash; and the studio, to its credit, immediately dropped its objections.

Not surprisingly, the third con­ tentious scene — the love scene between Gibson and Keaton — turned out to be one of audiences’ three favourite scenes, and therefore won its place in the film without the premature cut that the studio, rather chastely, requested. With some incredulity,

Armstrong explains that “ they wanted me to cut it when they fell back on the bed. I said, ‘C’mon, this is what the film is about: two people falling in love!’ ” Armstrong also notes, with evident relief, that the Boston audience was a hurdle that was quite gracefully over­ come. Two weeks earlier, at the same cinema, an audience, knowing that the studio executives were present for a test screening, booed, hissed and stamped their feet at Falling in Love with such gusto that the film was hastily transported to Chicago for a second opinion. Taking into account the possible peculiarities of a single audience, MGM had allowed for three test runs before insisting on any changes, but the positive reaction to the first screening spared Armstrong the two further trials.

Having experienced a taste of the studio system, she regards future projects in Australia in a new light. “ In some ways, it would be more difficult to do a picture here again,” she muses. “ I had more money, I had a bigger set than I’d ever worked with before and a slightly bigger crew. But

“ Our biggest struggles were about the budget: they wanted me to shoot faster and cheaper” they waste money in a way that we can’t afford to, For instance, the transport union — the Teamsters — specify that non-union people can’t drive a vehicle to the set. Every single person had a driver. Even the props van had to be driven by a transport person. So, we had 20 people who just drove the trucks, picked people up, sat around all day playing cards, and then drove them home. “ The overtime laws are another example. If you went five minutes past the dot of a ten-hour day, you paid overtime for an hour. In Australia, thanks to the generosity of our crews,

you can say ‘I’ve just got one more take of this shot, do you mind if we go for five more minutes?’ And they say ‘Okay, sure’.”

The increased budget does, however, bring obvious advantages. “ We got into a real jail because we had the money to pay the jail, pay the city council and make donations to charities, so they closed city streets for us.” The notion of working in a film­ m aker’s utopia, where generous funding allows scope for costly crea­ tive manoeuvres, is something of a misconception, though. “Mrs Soffel was a twelve-week shoot and Star­ struck was a ten-week shoot,” says Armstrong. “ So, even with all that money, your dream of shooting over five months, waiting for the right cloud and going back and doing a scene that you don’t like again the next day, is an illusion. With all that thirteen million, the overheads were higher, the actors were paid a lot more and I was paid a lot more.” While the personal financial advantages are clearly an enticement, she adds: “ I’d be working for a lot less money, but I still want to make films in Australia. I certainly want to live here. I don’t like living in America at all.”

Armstrong believes that the local film industry has changed radically since the days when she made My Bril­ liant Career. “ The honeymoon is over.

We seem to have come out of a very bad patch, when the stockbrokers had the power and chose the scripts. A lot of very bland films were made because they were seen as commercial. Before 10BA, films were made out of love and passion.” It is with some satisfaction that she notes: “ All the sharks have had their fingers burnt, so it seems we’ve come out of the spate of stock­ brokers saying, ‘No, no, you should invest in films that have car chases and sex, they’re commercial’, to a time when investors realise that they should trust people with a track record and go with things that are interesting and imaginative.” She points to Bliss, The Coca-Cola Kid and For Love Alone, which she sees as the beginning of a renewed willingness to invest in more diverse properties — adding, however, that it took Margaret Fink, who

successfully produced My Brilliant Career, a long time to raise the money for her current production.

Armstrong’s next project may also be one that has been on the backburner for some time: Clean Straw for Nothing, with producer Pat Lovell “ It’s like a do-or-die effort now,” she says. “ Pat’s been very patient, because I left to do Mrs Soffel in the middle of working on the script. She’s now given me maternity leave and is trying to raise the finance. But, because it’s mostly shot in Greece, we have to shoot before the tourist season, while it’s still warm, so that’s April or May next year. If Pat hasn’t got the money by the end of this year, it will have to wait another whole year.”

The subject of maternity leave intro­ duces discussion of her new status as mother of a baby daughter called Billie. The demands of motherhood have again aroused her interest in directing video clips, which only demand commitments for short periods of time. Although she is quick to remind the unwary interviewer that she has worked in this area before, with Pat Wilson’s Bop Girl (nomi­ nated as one of the best clips of 1983 on the Countdown awards), the field offers more than just the attraction of short-term income. “ It can be great fun. You can go to town and do fantasy and be totally silly.” The expression of an interest in music videos apparently had A & M sending up proposals by the boatload, though Armstrong points out that she will only do “ artists whose music I like” .

When reminded of a statement from the past, when an independent female director observed that “ a lot of women’s major creative energies have gone into bringing up children” , Arm­ strong seems pleasantly relieved by her own second-hand perceptions. “ I see now why I said that,” she chuckles. “ Having a baby has changed my attitude to life, totally, I may never make another film now. I’ll be a mother.” Given her enthusiasm for Clean Straw for Nothing and the prospect of work in music video, as well as a mischievous look in her eye and the characteristic irony in her tone, that seems unlikely. ★ CINEMA PAPERS July — 29

When the ABC changed over to The National, there was a knock-on effect on the other channels’ TV news formats. But how much has really changed? And how much has all the new technology and the emphasis on international coverage created a better understanding of the world in which we live?

John O’Hara looks at the changes at the ABC, talks to those responsible for Australia’s television news, and suggests that, with a few exceptions, it sets out to provide a pretty reassuring picture of the world.

Television news, like television itself, has become a common language, a way of referring to things that is taken for granted. It appears translucent, except when the presentation changes, as it did recently with the ABC’s National. The news has become a kind of microcosm of television, blending together highly produced, fragmentary narratives of fact, fiction and fantasy, constructed according to a formula about what makes a ‘good story’ and how it should be told.

News is a powerful way of producing and confirming knowledge about events, issues and institutions.

The term ‘news’ itself is ambiguous, referring both to the product (stories and programmes), and to the practices and routines of collecting and pro­ cessing it. What is more, the practices shape the product.

There may be large gaps in the account television news offers of the world — it may be superficial, quickly dated and disposable — but it remains the primary source of information for most people. The Australian Broad­ casting Tribunal survey on news found that people rated the best coverage of news as follows: television 63%, press 22%, radio 15%.

Television news is also a good deal more than just information. It estab­ lishes an agenda, lays out an order of priorities about events and issues, and appears to reveal and connect the whole world. There is a kind of seduc­ tion in its immediacy, in the colour and transparency of its stories, and in the sense of drama, urgency and involve­ ment contained in those brief segments that arrive from around the world.

News is information, but information presented as a kaleidoscope of images, which generate a sense of conviction that what you see is happening — that the story is accurate because you are watching it. Television news depends for its impact on the notion that seeing is believing: the camera doesn’t lie.

News derives its impact, too, from its immediacy, from the vividness of the pictures which gradually come to constitute what we expect from news: images of terrorism, natural disaster, accident, crime, confrontation . . .

The relatively restricted sources, with their pronounced Anglo-American bias, are concealed beneath the apparent range and scope of the images.

News establishes expectations about what matters in public life — about what can be said, who can say it and, particularly, how it can be said. The average story length is one minute, ten The Bradford football stadium fire o f 11 May 1985, cited by news editors as the sort o f story television can do better than anyone else.

seconds for a half-hour newscast, and one minute, 30 seconds for an hour bulletin. This places a premium upon simple, assertive, unqualified state­ ments, and upon the depiction of direct oppositions and clear resolu­ tions. News thus lacks a sense of history, and can depend heavily on the personality of the reporter.

This kind of brief coherence, holding together simple, uncompli­ cated statements on the surface of an issue, becomes the visible and approved discourse of public life.

Other ways of speaking — more dis­ cursive styles — are likely to appear, by contrast, over-elaborate, over-com­ plicated, obfuscating or just plain unnecessary: we want our information neat.

This style of reportage is shaped in part by the technology. Huge invest­ ments are involved in news organiza­ tions, in the international television news agency agreements, in the tech­ nology — satellites, earth stations, microwave links, ENG equipment, computers — and in local resources for news gathering. The National has a reported budget of $25 million a year; for commercial stations, the range is between an estimated $6 million for Channel 10, to $10 million for Channel 9. At SBS, the figure is $2 million.

The news that flows from these systems, far from being neutral, is shaped by technical, economic and political considerations. This gives rise to certain questions: Why should Los Angeles be the centre for producing and transmitting so much international news? What does it mean for a net­ work to have two journalists in Los Angeles, whose responsibility is the coverage of North America, Canada and South America? And what sort of coverage is it when all this impressive technology results in an average of two or three international stories appearing each night in £ half-hour commercial news bulletin?

Although we are now saturated by information, there is no necessary increase in understanding: we may know more and more about less and less. The real question is whether the new technology and the uses to which it is put have opened up new view­ points, alternative sources of informa­ tion and different understandings of what is at issue.

On the surface, a great deal has changed recently in Australian tele­ vision news presentation: the timing of the major evening bulletins and their formats has been altered considerably this year. Channel 9 has moved to a half-hour service at six o’clock, followed by (Mike) Willesee. Channel 7 at 6.30 is now followed by Day by­ Day in Melbourne, and by Terry Willesee Tonight in Sydney. Channel 2

has moved to an hour’s bulletin of news and current affairs at 6.30.

Channel 0/28 has moved to the seven o’clock slot, and Channel 10 has an hour of news from six to seven.

The most controversial changes have occurred at The National. “ We’ve had to turn over the whole organization,” says executive producer Ian Carroll. “ There’s literally not one person doing the same job that they were doing before the start of the programme, which is a measure of the decay that had set in. Having a new programme has allowed us to have a whole lot of new positions which we could refill.

We split radio and television, because most of the news was coming from radio reporters. We wrote a style guide about television production tech­ niques, mostly emphasizing the re­ establishment of systems of quality control about voice-over techniques, shooting film and editing film. “ A lot of it was to do with bureau­ cracy. How do you run a roster in thé video department? How often do you have a vision mixer on duty in one pro­ gramme? We were getting different people every night: that’s where the mistakes were coming from.”

The other change has involved a broader definition of ‘news’ — which is also something implicit in the sched­ uling of current affairs programmes immediately after the evening bulletins on Channels 7 and 9. “ Our phil­ osophy,” says Carroll, “ is to do a broader-scope newscast, that isn’t confined to the recording of basic facts, because that is far too basic a concept, which no one sticks to anyway. We wanted to end this artificial distinction between news and current affairs, and attempt to get a format that has the ability to give s to rie s m ore c o m p re h e n s io n .

Basically, I believe that television has been an AAP, rip-and-read service, with a few pictures on the stories they could predict early in the day. “ One of the things you notice is that, in the news services, nearly everyone tends to be going for the same events, because they’re working off the same diaries and they are working to things they can predict and plan. Our aim is to be able to go further. We won’t achieve that over­ night, because we’re aiming to develop a full range of specialist reporters out in the field: medicine, science, the law — the law in particular, because it’s an unreported area in society, which tele­ vision does very poorly.”

Audience response to these changes has been less than enthusiastic, par­ ticularly in Victoria. Although the National audience in Sydney is steady on 10-12%, in Melbourne it is down by half. Where Channel 10 has been attracting 25% of the audience,

Channel 9 24% and Channel 7 18%, the Victorian audience share for The National has dropped to 4-5%. On some nights, the audience for SBS news has matched The National’s audience.

Audience research, commissioned by the ABC in Sydney and Melbourne, suggests the following reasons for dis­ satisfaction: the new mix of news and current affairs, the increased number of angles now developed on stories, and the length of the new programme.

The earlier time slot does not appear to have been a major turn-off (though ratings figures are slightly higher for the second half of the programme from seven o’clock, suggesting that some bemused viewers are still tuning in hoping for the old News). ABC audience researcher Mark Colbert says it is unlikely that the ABC will get back the audience simply by telling them that the programme is better than they think it is. He says they are looking instead to develop a six o’clock winner — a youth-oriented local programme to pull in an audience for The National.

The changes in the presentation of The National might be seen as adopting a commercial format. “ But,” says Carroll, “ I think as time goes by and people start taking good quality graphics, better shot film and better edited film for granted; all that becomes irrelevant. That’s just like learning to read at a more proficient level.”

Other channels have also found technological changes opening up new approaches and new content areas, like finance and court reporting. “ News is more highly produced now,” says Channel 10’s Deputy Director of News, David Johnston, “ because there are more production techniques available to us. There’s the DPE, for instance — the Digital Picture Effects generator — which is the thing that makes the pages turn and the square box tumble over — all those sorts of things. Then there’s the paintbox, which enables you to do practically anything. It has a palette and all the colours. Once upon a time, graphs and other sorts of information were done laboriously with Letraset and put on a flip card. A number of cards were produced, and then you dissolved between them — a very lengthy production process. Now, it’s all electronically stored: you push a button and it all comes out. So you can get a complicated financial story that maybe breaks at three o’clock, and you can get that to air at six as a lead. “ This means that you can give greater coverage to different kinds of stories that were sometimes very difficult from the television point of view, because all you ended up with were talking heads. If the story is big CINEMA PAPERS July — 31

“ There are some cabinet ministers whom we avoid using if we can, because they are simply bad television talent. It’s not their fault, but that’s the way it is”

“ If the story is big enough, that’s OK: if you had the Prime Minister announcing the Third World War, you wouldn’t need anything else” D a vid Johnston, C hannel 10

G raham C odding ton, C ha n n e l 9

enough, that’s OK: if you had the Prime Minister announcing the Third World War, you wouldn’t need anything else. Some stories are impor­ tant, but there is no vision. To get the point across properly, you need some sort of graphic illustration. So we would do these stories now with graphic illustrations, whereas before they may have been put down the bulletin or maybe not done at all.”

Nor are timing, format and tech­ nology the only things that have changed: major changes have taken place in securing international coverage of news. Each of the networks has arrangements with agencies providing news film (see accompanying diagram). Granted the complexity of the arrangements and the shareholdings in international news film companies, there is some room for confusion about exclusivity and copyright, to say nothing of the independence of news sources.

The situation, according to Ian Carroll, is immensely unstable. One of the major news wire services, United Press International, has collapsed, with debts of US$30-40 million. The previous UPITN news film agency, formed by UPI and Independent Tele­ vision News in England, has changed its name to WTN — World-Wide Tele­ vision News — following the with­ drawal of UPI. The present share­ holders in WTN (the name was changed only three months ago) are ITN: 41 Vi %, ABC (American Broad­ casting Company): 421/2%, and the 9 Network in Australia: 10%.

The sm allest of A u s tra lia ’s channels, SBS, makes the most of its overseas sources, which are Visnews (subscribed to by all networks except 9) and a weekly feed from World-Wide Television News and Asiavision.

Dermot O’Brien, Chief of Staff at the 7 network, points out that NBC is exclusive to them. But the 10 network takes Visnews from the U.S., which allows them rights to NBC. “ That’s the hassle,” explains O’Brien. “ Even though you might have the exclusive rights to an overseas service, it becomes incredibly difficult, because everybody gets a slice of everything, basically, as was highlighted by the Bradford fire. The 9 network had exclusive rights, but 10 were able to buy the vision on a one-off basis. We were able to negotiate enough for our purposes on a broadcaster-to-broadcaster basis, negotiated by our London bureau. It’s a can of worms. Being exclusive doesn’t mean much, because everything crosses everything else.”

For interstate news, each station depends upon sister stations and on co­ operative arrangements with regional broadcasters.”

With all this manpower and tech­ nology, it is clear that news is not simply what happens, but a con­ structed version of events. All tele­ vision news services use only a fraction of the stories available to them, so there are decisions to be made about what to use and what to reject. There 32 — July CINEMA PAPERS

Putting together a picture o f the world: the sites and personalities o f Australia’s television news. Top, the Channel 7 newsroom in Melbourne. Above, Jennifer Keyte at the Myer Music Bowl with a Channel 10 news crew. Below, left, SBS’s Greek-born newsreader, George Donikian; and, right, Geraldine Doogue, presenter o f the ABC National.

are also decisions about the order and balance of items, about the viewpoints to be included, and the angles to be developed. “ There needs to be a flow in a bulletin,” says Channel 9 news editor Graham Coddington. “ It’s not just an unstructured thing. It’s got to have a balance in it, and there’s got to be some sort of logical progression from one story to another. For example, you wouldn’t come out of a story about the memorial service for the victims of the Bradford fire into some sort of funny, Mickey Mouse story. Also, we try to have a flow of stories, so the bulletin doesn’t taper off in interest. And we try to end the second break with a slightly lighter story, particularly if we’ve had a heavy day — if there’s a lot of gloom and doom and disaster.

So we try and put a little bit of light­ ness into the bulletin, too. Maybe that reflects our audience somewhat.”

Stories are rated according to ‘news value’. “ The number one considera­ tion is vision,” says Channel 7’s Dermot O’Brien. “ Coupled with that is the effect it has on people, on the public. Everybody wants to know about the budget and the National Wage Case, but those two stories are boring visually and boring to present on television. The pictures of the Brad­ ford soccer fire, however, had you actually sitting on the edge of your chair; and that also affected people, because there’s not one person who hasn’t been in a football crowd or who hasn’t sat back and watched soccer.

Things like that make the best stories, if you like.”

Channel 9’s Graham Coddington approaches the matter more caut­ iously, but comes up with much the same sort of criteria for stories. “ One characteristic is that they must be good stories to begin with. A good story can be a Costigan Royal Commission: with electronic graphics, we can make a thing like that into a good television news story. But probably, if I’m honest with you, the best television news stories are those which television can do best of all — you know, the bush fire type of thing: something where the visual element is probably greater than the story element. No words in a newspaper can convey Ash Wednesday the way television pictures did. “ A good human interest story is a good television story if it relates to someone who can express themselves well. We rely a lot on the ability of people — the sorts of people we call ‘talent’: ministers, or whoever is being interviewed. Their ability to convey what they’re saying is important. For example, there are some cabinet minis­ ters whom we avoid using if we can because they are simply bad television talent. It’s not their fault, but that’s the way it is. We’ll get a reporter to paraphrase what they’re saying, rather than get them to say it themselves.”

News, we clearly need to recognize,

TV News

SOURCES OF INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Channel 2 (ABC Offices in Brussels, London New York, Washington, Los Angeles, Singapore, New Delhi and the Middle East

Channel 0/28 SBS)

Asiavision

NBC (rights to the whole service, not just the selections available through Visnews)

Visnews (access to BBC and NBC) including the American Visnews outlet Viscom from New York

AAP

Channel 7

Bureaus: London, Los Angeles

ABC (American Broadcasting Company) CNN (Cable Network News) CBS

Bureaus: London, Los Angeles, New York

WTN (World-Wide Television News: access to Independent Television News in England and the ABC in America)

Bureau in Los Angeles, stringer in London

Channel 10 is more than information presented in discrete stories: news is a process, part of an information order. News is the product of certain practices and routines. And it expresses basic under­ standings about what matters in society. News is a constructed version of events, a carefully selected and edited presentation. Stories are chosen for their value as television stories, within an agenda that is largely taken for granted.

SBS is something of an exception, with its emphasis on multi-cultural stories, and three-quarters of its bulletin given to overseas news. The service used to pay even more deliber­ ate attention to stories with a multi­ cultural angle, but now concentrates on more general coverage. The news service represents a shrewd use of limited resources; and, in its inter­ national emphasis, fills what Chief of

“ Even though you might have exclusive rights to an overseas service, it becomes incredibly difficult, because everybody gets a slice of everything” D e rm o t O ’Brien,

7 n e tw o rk

Staff Rick Carter calls “ an obvious gap” . Currently limited to Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra, the network will transmit to four further cities — Bris­ bane, Adelaide, Newcastle and Hobart — from the middle of this year. From next year, Perth will be included, and probably Darwin. Perhaps the most distinctive aspect of this news service,

however, is its more conservative format, relying heavily on a news­ reader who gives an outline account of information that would otherwise be hard to come by.

In all cases, however, news is by definition what has happened since the last newscast, and television does not have the time to develop background pieces, or to place items in context, beyond what can be taken for granted.

Part of this process of compensating for lack of history involves reliance on a familiar iconography of contem­ porary culture: shots of petrol pumps, pickets, files of refugees, war-torn streets, airport lounges . . . The pictures appear to mean more than they do.

Television news also lacks specialist knowledge of situations. It is essen­ tially reactive, a quality expressed in the comments that “ there isn’t anywhere in the world that we can’t get pictures out of” (Dermot O’Brien) or “ we are not a news service of record, as The Age is probably a journal of record: we are a daily front-page-cumpage-three spot news service” (Graham Coddington). Part of this lack of specialized knowledge lies in the practice of using generalist reporters, and part of it in the depend­ ence on other sources for so much of the news, particularly from overseas.

Finally, television news concentrates on surface detail at the expense of more complex, subtle or qualified information. Thus the news becomes politically conservative, because of its concentration on what is familiar, already known and recognizable.

The language of news tends to simplify and polarize events. It is terse, clear, succinct, reducing events and relationships to a succession of crisp, positive statem ents. W hat this language leaves out of account is doubt, uncertainty, ambiguity and openness about outcomes. Such

language does not acknowledge sources, nor does it allow for alter­ native versions. So the language of news perpetuates its own myth of a single, authoritative version of events.

This is particularly disturbing when one considers the complexity of many of the events and negotiations that make up the news, and the difficulty of disentangling the real story from state­ ments made for the record. As part of this problem, there is the highly developed capacity of certain interests — government media units, public relations firms, even intelligence services — to shape the news by putting out their own information already packaged.

What news represents, then, is a consensus about values. Different journalists describe this consensus differently. “ I think what we do,” says Channel 10’s David Johnston, “ is reflect at the end of the day the sort of things that people would be talking about, and reflect the sorts of decisions they may have come to in any sort of group discussion in the office or the pub or the home. The issues an^i topics they talk about and the con­ clusions they come to would be similar to the sort of things they would see on the news.” “ We’re not in favour and wer’re not against anything,” says Channel 9’s G rah am C o d d in g to n . “ W ell, obviously we’re in favour of the ‘motherhood’ things — things like famine and attacks on old ladies, blatant racism: that sort of thing — but we don’t have an editorial -policy on particular issues.” “ In the end,” says the ABC’s Ian Carroll, “ I think we’re trying to make a programme for people who are inter­ ested in what is going on around them .” Mightn’t the commercial stations make the same claim? “ Well, we’ve followed all the developments in Queensland, and a lot of people in

Victoria don’t care a bugger what happens in Queensland: they don’t really see it as affecting their immed­ iate lives. But there’s another section of the population that sees it as being highly relevant, and we are interested in that section. Let’s face it, we all have a sneaking suspicion that com­ mercial news tends to be in part titilla­ tion, talking point, entertainment. By covering all the major world events quickly, it gives people a sense that they know what is going on. “ But it comes back to the fact that I think what’s going on in Queensland is interesting and important, and we’re basically saying we’re making a news service for that audience who also find that important and want to know what’s going on.”

All of the journalists I talked to found it difficult to describe the con­ sensus they felt the news represented, and all of them fell back on specific examples. Their conversations tended, perhaps unsurprisingly, to reflect the qualities of the news itself: persistent reference to concrete illustrations; difficulty of establishing criteria for decision-making in the news process; references to instinct, gut feeling, experience and training to describe news values, and correspondingly less interest in what is systematic and institutional.

They were reluctant to admit institu­ tional constraints on the news process (except for Ian Carroll, who had set out to overthrow them). The meaning of the news service tended to be described not in terms of achieving certain understandings, or of making things coherent, but in terms of mastery of the craft, of getting the job done. “ I’m happy if I don’t miss any stories,” said Channel 7’s Dermot O’Brien. “ I’m happy if I’ve got one or two good stories that the others haven’t got. I’m happy if they’re all in, all edited, and go to air without a hiccup. That’s a really good day.”

And G raham C o d dington put accuracy first on his list of what mattered. “ If we’re not accurate, then we’re putting on a fiction show. That is the thing of primary importance: it must be accurate. Accuracy and balance — they’re the important things.”

The aims of the ABC news, though, stand out as an attempt to go beyond the given agenda. When commercial

“ Obviously, we’re in favour of the ‘motherhood’ things — things like famines and attacks on old ladies, blatant racism: that sort of thing” G raham C oddington, C hanne l 9

journalists describe ‘good’ stories, they tend to choose exceptional ones: the KAL airline disaster, Ash Wednes­ day, the Bradford fire. Ian Carroll’s emphasis on the Queensland story and its significance represents a different u n d e r s t a n d i n g , as d o es his programme’s mix of information and analysis — a way of not fulfilling the tacit role of so much television news: to confirm that things today are pretty much as they were yesterday, that there are certain stable reference points in the world, that it hasn’t all got out of control yet. i t CINEMA PAPERS July — 33

The film which opened the Directors’ Fortnight this year, Juzo Itami’s The Funeral, surprised Cannes audiences considerably, and will probably do the same for festival audiences in Melbourne. Belinda Meares talked to itami just after the Cannes screening of The Funeral — which Is not, as its title might imply, a dour reflection on mortality, but a very funny film.

Juzo Itami

“ The contradiction between ancient and modern life is the biggest, if not the unique, problem facing us today”

brusquely called away from their Tokyo film studio — where they are shooting a commercial — to attend to the urgent business of burying Chizuko’s father, victim of a sudden heart attack. Funerals have seemed to be the subject of many Japanese films — one remembers the scene in Kurosawa’s Ikiru (Living, 1952) — but Itami doesn’t think they are a partic­ ularly Japanese subject, and his explanation is something of a key to the unique tone of the film. “ Many filmmakers have treated the subject of funerals in their films, you know — Kurosawa, Hitchcock, Ford, Dreyer . . . The way I see it is this: films and funerals participate on the same essential level. A funeral is like a film: it is not a sad thing, because people want to see the dead person off into the next world, the dreamworld — that’s what the funeral ceremony is for. It’s a kind of ritual, based on the belief that there is a next world.

The medium of film creates the idea of another world, too: that’s why fun­ erals and films participate in the same fantasy.”

The key to Itami’s film is the clash between the modern world in which Wabisuke and Chizuko live, and the ritualized, traditional world of the funeral, officiated over by the funeral director, Ebihara (Nekohachi Edoya), and, ultimately, by an elderly priest (played by that veteran of every Ozu film, Chishu Ryu). “ In film,” says Itami, “ my personal desire and my instinct is to show contradiction, to

“A funeral is like a film: it is not a sad thing”

Though The Funeral is his first feature, Juzo Itami is, at 50, a wellknown figure in Japan, with a repu­ tation as an essayist, a translator, a TV newscaster and an actor. Since his debut in Hiroshi Edagawa’s Kirai, kirai (Dislike, 1960), he has appeared in films by Kon Ichikawa, Nagisa Oshima and Shuji Terayama. His most recent role was as the father in Yoshimitsu Morita’s 1983 film, Kasoku geemu (The family game).

In The Funeral, Wabisuke Inoue (Tsutomu Yamazaki) and his wife, Chizuko (Nobuko Miyamoto), are

achieve a telling juxtaposition — in the same frame, if possible. I like to mix modern and traditional. In one of the early scenes, we see Chizuko in the studio going to answer the phone. She is wearing a classical kimono and sandals, and stumbles over the trailing wires and the pieces of modern electrical equipment as she hurries across the studio floor. “ What I want to do is confront people with life’s contradictions — like when the old man comes back from the doctor with avocados and eels for the evening meal: he eats them with relish, even though he knows he is dying.

Food is the image of life. And the sex scene . . .’’ At the funeral, the feverish activity generated by their new responsibilities plunges the whole group into irrepressible moods of hilarity, and Wabisuke engages in a reckless romp with a lady mourner.

The Cannes audience found this scene hilarious, which rather puzzled Itami. “ A non-Japanese public has very different responses to the film,” he notes, though he is pleased by the evident signs of enjoyment. “ They laughed a lot during the sex scene, whereas the Japanese didn’t laugh at

all at that part. Humour is based on my two children are in it as well. The reference, and if you don’t share the house is mine, with all my belongings same context, humour doesn’t always in it. But I wouldn’t go so far as to say work. As for the sex scene: sex at a it is an autobiographical film, funeral is completely inappropriate. although it is based on a personal Wabisuke knows this, and the idea experience I had at a funeral. It is a bothers him far more than the fact of mixture of truth and lies — about 30% being unfaithful to his wife. But life’s reality, which is the backbone on impulses are strongest when they are which I have built the 70% fiction.” most inappropriate!”

Not content with this headlong The Funeral, though it deals with excursion into areas of taboo, Itami is death, money, food and sex, never considering a number of other danger disintegrates into vulgarity, nor areas for his next films. “ The first is hardens into ferocity. It is, as the about food and eating because, as I French would say, ‘sympathique’ — said before, food is the image of life. funny, indulgent, intimate, oldfashioned and refreshing, a methodical film, composed of a wealth of gently provocative images. The images are “ A non-Japanese public those of contemporary Japanese has very different people swept unprepared into a mystifying period of ceremonial living: responses to the film. images of three generations of westernized Orientals finding their They laughed a lot during unshakeable modern habits con­ the sex scene, whereas fronted with the trappings of an ancient culture. the Japanese didn’t laugh “ The co n tra d ic tio n between at all at that part” ancient and modern life is the biggest, if not the unique, problem facing us today,” says Itami. “ Japan’s culture has been violated by western culture.

The old way of thinking — the cosmo­ The other is about a new kind of logical way of thinking, which includ­ relationship which is developing in ed life, death and everything — has Japan, between young girls and been disturbed by the intrusion of married men. You might think this has western values. The Japanese have always been a common form of internalized the fight between the old liaison but, in Japan at the moment, and the new ways of being in day-to­ it’s really becoming a fashion. It’s day existence, but they have never because men are less mature, meaning that young women can’t establish a really resolved the basic problem.”

The Funeral is Itami’s first film, but satisfactory kind of love affair with he has tried not to approach it men their own age.”

For all his iconoclasm, however, differently from his other creative work. “ Every time I embark on a new Itami is careful to end The Funeral on act of creative composition, I try a new a more sensitive note. Saving the cause style, a new formula: I like experimen­ of decency at the crematorium, the ting. I also like filming from unusual widow (Kin Sugai), the misused wife of angles. For instance, I had the group a cantankerous old boor, declines to around the coffin filmed from the go round the back of the furnace with point of view of the dead person. That the others to gape at the roaring flames makes the living themselves look engulfing her husband’s remains. And, ghoulish.” at the end of the ordeal, she delivers a He denies that the specifics of the beautiful speech of which no one film come from his own life, but thought her capable, becoming the admits a solid base of autobiography. only member of the family to redeem “ My wife plays the leading role, and herself — and, indirectly, Itami. ★

CINEMA PAPERS July — 35

A couple of years back, For Love or Money examined the whole history of women at work in Australia. Now, a new documentary, Don’t Call Me Girlie, zeroes in on women in the film industry, charting their contributions to Australian cinema, off-screen as well as on. Graham Shirley looks at the background to the project, and talks to the film’s co­ directors, Stewart Young and Andrée Wright.

Her )*o<xl name gone —her respect of herself the respect of others—the love of a man she had trusted too much!

LYRIC THEATRE 36 — July CINEMA PAPERS

T o -m o rn m a m i n il th e W eek.

Writing in 1933 about the McDonagh sisters’ fourth film, Two Minutes Silence, Dance magazine made the observation that the sisters’ work was the result of “ courage and conviction to create what others had deemed im possible. It m ig h t,” Dance continued, “ be the story of the Australian Film Industry, for it is typical of the fight that Australian pro­ ducers must face in a country which has everything under God’s creation — except courage and confidence.”

It is interesting now to read this as a typical example of publicity for early Australian filmmakers, rather than as a reflection on the position of women in the Australian film industry. In fact, almost none of the publicity for the McDonaghs — or, indeed, for other women filmmakers of their day — mentioned the difficulties that women faced in achieving that position. For, while it was rare for women who had key creative roles behind the camera to be discriminated against, it was not until the seventies that any sustained attention was paid to why so few women had got there in the first place.

To give an instance: only ten months before the September 1926 preview of the McDonagh’s first feature, Those Who Love, the death had occurred of Lottie Lyell, an Australian film star with many times the production experience the McDonaghs would ultimately achieve with their four features. Lyell’s death, however, attracted scant press attention, and the same could be said of the recognition she had received for the increasing amount of work she had done on the production and direction of a total of 28 features officially credited to her partner, Raymond Longford.

Lottie Lyell was certainly well known to contemporary Australian audiences for her appearances in no

less than eighteen of Longford’s films, and she is best remembered for her role as Doreen in Longford’s 1918 The Sentimental Bloke. But less than a handful of people have ever known the full extent of her involvement in the making of the Longford films, especially in the areas of co-direction, writing and editing. And, while historians have identified Lyell as one of the key figures in Australian film­ making, it has not been until Stewart Young and Andrée Wright’s docu­ mentary, Don’t Call Me Girlie, that Lyell’s story has been used as a benchmark to illustrate the immense amount that women in Australian film have been able to achieve when given the opportunity.

The inspiration for Don’t Call Me Girlie came in 1981, when Stewart Young was working as editor and Andrée Wright as researcher on John Pilger’s documentary, Island of Dreams. While looking for suitable extracts in Charles Chauvel’s The Rats of Tobruk (1944), Young came across a scene in which Pauline Garrick — as Kate Carmody, a woman running a cattle station — was asked by her lover Blue (Grant Taylor), if she wasn’t being a bit mid-Victorian. Seeing this as one of the more intriguing ways in which Australian women had been reflected throughout the history of filmmaking in this country, Young suggested to Andrée Wright that they collaborate on a documentary that looked at the screen images of women from the early years on. Wright’s immediate response was to think he was joking. “ He has a rather quirky sense of humour,” she says, “ and he used to make little teasing comments about my feminism every day. And I thought, ‘Oh, right! This is another one!’ ” Young, however, was already

Don’t Call Me Girlie familiar with many early Australian films as a result of his work on Anthony Buckley’s 1967 documentary, Forgotten Cinema, and he remem­ bered “ lots of entertaining areas” in them. His main aim was to make a documentary that would entertain as well as inform, and he kept the idea brewing in his mind for another eighteen months, until he and Wright met in another cutting room, where he was re-editing Angels of War for American television. As Wright recalls it, Young said, out of the blue: “ Look, I was serious about that documentary, and I don’t understand why you never seemed enthusiastic about it!”

As co-directors of what would become Don’t Call Me Girlie, Wright and Young were to collaborate on choosing extracts from the archives, on planning how the interviews and stills would be shot, and on discussing the impact of the editing. While Young concentrated on the latter, Wright focused on research, and on scripting and conducting the interviews.

P ro d u cer H ilary F urlong also commented regularly on the editing, and took complete charge of the financial side of the film. She was, in Wright’s words, to be “ an enormous source of energy, insight, clear thinking and support” .

It was not until Wright commenced research on the film, however, that its orientation began to move from being one about women’s on-screen roles to being one which also embraced women’s work behind the scenes.

Indeed, Wright was to unearth so much information about the latter that she decided to end the coverage of women in film at 1940, rather than bring it up to the eighties.

Of crucial importance here was what she discovered about Lottie Lyell. The starting point was her first viewing of The Sentimental Bloke. Knowing little about the film apart from its reputation, Wright placed it last in the first twenty films she was to view at the National Film and Sound Archive. “ I put it on late one afternoon and I played it through. I got to the end, and I simply rewound it and played it again. I’d fallen in love with it, and I’d certainly fallen in love with Lottie Lyell. I had previously thought she sounded interesting, but really no more than that. You have to actually see her act; then you realise that, what­ ever star quality is, she had it. Seeing

Three decades o f Australian women on the screen. Top, Lottie Lyell in A Maori Maid’s Love (1916). Centre, Shirley Ann Richards (left) and Aileen Britton on the set o f Cinesound’s Tall Timbers (1937). Bottom, teenage star Jean Hatton, in her Cinesound image o f a perky, pet-loving Australian Deanna Durbin.

Lyell and Longford had shared the same grave from the time of the latter’s death in 1959. Inquiring into the circumstances behind this, Young learnt that Longford had arranged for Lyell’s inscription to be placed on the top half of the headstone after her death, but that Longford’s own name had not been inscribed until the early seventies.

Among the reasons for this were the fact that Lyell was Longford’s lover as well as his creative partner, and that Longford had two wives, neither of whom was Lyell. Wright considers the fact that Longford should want to be buried with Lyell 35 years after her death meant that her influence on him must have been very strong, adding ironically that this was the only time Lyell ever got top billing.

To give visual support to the information Wright had researched on Lyell’s production abilities, Don’t Call Me Girlie filmed an interview in London with 93-year-old Marjorie Osborne, star of the Longford-Lyell film, The Blue Mountains Mystery (1921), and another with Ted Hood, who clearly remembers eight years of accompanying his father, stills photo­ grapher S.J. Hood, onto the Longford and Lyell locations. To illustrate Longford and Lyell’s personal relationship and the social convention it defied, Young and Wright were also to make adroit use of The Woman Suffers (1918), a Longford-Lyell film which the National Film and Sound Archive found while Don’t Call Me Girlie was being researched.

The Woman Suffers is the story of two women who find themselves pregnant after being deserted by their lovers. By the standards of 1918, both could have been regarded as ‘fallen’ women, and therefore in the wrong.

But the film is partly a repudiation of this attitude. Although the first woman commits suicide, the second, played by Lottie Lyell, goes on to have the baby and enjoys a happy ending.

Wright feels that Lyell’s view of her relationship with Longford was to some extent mirrored in her writing and performance of the role she played in The Woman Suffers. “ She knew very well from her own experience that “ I put The Sentimental the idea of ‘the right woman’ and ‘the wrong woman’ was a false one. She Bloke on late one inadvertently carrying out the idea afternoon and I played it was of the wrong woman in her relation­ with Longford, and it was quite through. I got to the end, ship obvious that it didn’t suit her.” and I simply rewound it The emphasis on Lottie Lyell in the first part of Don’t Call Me Girlie has and played it again. I’d meant paying far less attention to fallen in love with it, and other Australian woman filmmakers and stars of the silent period. In the I’d certainly fallen in love same way, the industrial dominance of Cinesound Productions through the with Lottie Lyell” thirties made it hard for Young and Wright not to focus on that studio as the centre of the period’s film that film made it incredibly exciting production aspirations, achievements for the project, and I suddenly wanted and images of women. Under the leadership of Ken G. Hall, Cinesound to know all about Lottie Lyell.”

Accordingly, Wright set out to find was Australia’s most prolific maker of Lyell’s grave, a quest which brought a features during the thirties, with rush of unexpected information on the eighteen films produced between 1931 relationship between Lyell and Ray­ and 1940, and it came closest to mond Longford, personally as well as achieving the Hollywood-style pro­ professionally. According to the tomb­ duction and promotional methods familiar to Australian audiences. stone which Young visited in Sydney, CINEMA PAPERS July — 37

Don't Call Me Girlie

But, if Cmesound gave good opportunities to women as actresses and in positions like script girl, assistant editor and lab worker, it employed no one woman whose creative responsibilities were com­ parable to those of Lottie Lyell. Away from Cinesound, the obvious 1930s equivalents to Lyell were the McDonagh sisters and Elsa Chauvel, the latter collaborating between 1927 and 1958 in production and script work with her husband, director Charles Chauvel. But Wright and Young had difficulty highlighting the work of these women during the th irties: the M cD onaghs’ only complete sound film, Two Minutes Silence, turned out to be lost, and Charles and Elsa Chauvel’s most impressive work postdates 1940 (which also made it impossible to include the Kate Carmody scene from The Rats of Tobruk, which had been Girlie’s original inspiration).

That left Cinesound, whose output brought the industry its most outward

38 — July CINEMA PAPERS

and visible form throughout the decade. Wright considers, however, that the added technical and financial complexities of sound film required two different people to achieve even half of what Lottie Lyell had been able to in the silent era. Two Cinesound women are, therefore, highlighted in Don’t Call Me Girlie: the leading actress, Shirley Ann Richards, and the publicist, Nancy Gurr. Wright sees their place in the documentary as representing the work of an on-screen woman and an off-screen woman. “ In the first part of the film, it’s as if Lottie Lyell is both.”

Off screen, Nancy Gurr, the publicist, was confident of being able to gauge the tastes of women, whom she believed made up the main part of cinema audiences, and she always emphasized publicity angles which would appeal to women. In Don’t Call Me Girlie, she tells how her male colleagues airily dismissed her protest that no woman would want to see a Cinesound film called Ants in His

Shirley Ann Richards delivers the documen­ tary’s title line in Dad and Dave Come to Town (1938).

Pants (1939), after its title had been changed from Come Up Smiling. The film opened to meagre audiences, the original title was restored, and Come Up Smiling went on to attract good business.

On screen, meanwhile, having lost its first female star, Jocelyn Howarth, to Hollywood after two features, Cine­ sound did not find a permanent replacement until Ken G. Hall saw the work of Shirley Ann Richards in the studio’s It Isn’t Done (1937). Richards was then signed to a long-term contract, and appeared to great effect in four more Cinesound features until, with the outbreak of war and the closure of feature production at the studio, she, too, sailed for Hollywood and further stardom under the name of Ann Richards. At Cinesound, Nancy Gurr helped Richards become the top film star south of the equator, guiding

and elevating her image to that of Cinesound’s greatest public asset — a woman of obvious talent, beauty and intelligence.

The title, Don’t Call Me Girlie, is actually a line spoken by Shirley Ann Richards in Dad and Dave Come to Town (1938), a film in which she plays a businesswoman able to deal shrewdly with opposition from male rivals. And it is Richards’s part in this film which completes the documentary’s survey of women’s on-screen roles between 1906 and 1940, a period during which they ranged from spirited girls of the bush, sweethearts and virgins, to their counterparts, the fallen women, vamps and sophisticates of the city. What we see of Richards in Dad and Dave Come to Town comes close to what she says in one of the Don’t Call Me Girlie interviews about her formative years, when she was surrounded by women of strong character and independence.

The two other Cinesound actresses who tell their own stories in Don’t Call Me Girlie are Aileen Britton, who played an unwed mother in Tall Timbers (1937), and Jean Hatton, the teenage singing star of Mr Chedworth Steps Out (1939) and the afore­ mentioned Come Up Smiling, who suffered the trauma of having her image and personality overwhelmed by the studio’s promotion of her as ‘Australia’s Deanna Durbin’. The interview with Hatton is something of a scoop, since she has been reluctant to talk about her career since it was terminated by the war. “ Jean was highly talented in so many ways,” Ken Hall has said of her, “ and it was with genuine regret that I did not see her career blossom as I believe it should have done.”

Don’t Call Me Girlie’s most notable achievement, sums up Stewart Young, is that of “ putting on the map the contributions that women have made in film in Australia. Basically, I think that people haven’t really considered women as working in the film industry until the seventies.” For Erika Addis, who shared the camerawork with Geoff Burton, involvement in Don’t Call Me Girlie gave “ a sense of my history” and a different perspective on her place in today’s film industry. And Andrée Wright hopes that the docu­ mentary will give more women confidence to join the industry, “ because women have been doing it for decades, and they’ve been doing it well. And that’s an inspiration.”

As to whether there will be a Part 2, looking at women in the industry from 1940 to the present, Young and Wright are fully aware that the number of issues to be covered would make it a much harder film to tackle. But, in Young’s words, “ it’s begging to be done” . ★

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Edited by Peter Beilby and Ross Lansell

AUSTRALIAN

MOTION PICTURE YEARBOOK , ‘|

1983

Ip

W ords a n d Im ages is the first Australian book to examine the relationship between literature and film. Taking nine major examples of recent films adapted from Australian novels — including The Getting of Wisdom, My Brilliant Career and The Year of Living Dangerously — it looks at some of the issues in transposing a narrative from one medium to the other. This lively book provides valuable and entertaining insight for all those interested in Australian films and novels.

P ub lish ed by H einem ann P ublishers A u stralia in association with C inem a Papers.

210 pp

At the end of the 1960s Australia had virtually no film industry. By 1983 its movies were being shown throughout the cinema-going world, from mainstream theatres in America to art houses in Europe.

In a rapid transformation, a country which had previously been best known for its kangaroos and koalas produced something new and surprising: to quote T im e magazine, “ the world’s most vital cinema, extravagantly creative, fiercely indigenous” .

A u stra lia n M o v ie s to the W orld looks at how this transformation came about and how those movies broke into the international market. And, through interviews with Australian and overseas directors, producers, actors, distribution executives and critics, it tells the story of the people who made it all possible.

P u b lish ed b y F o n ta n a A u stra lia a n d C inem a Papers.

1

Take advantage o f our special offer and catch up on yo u r missing issues. M u ltip le copies less than half-price!

CINEMA IftPERS

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Number 1 January 1974

Number 2 April 1974

Number 3 July 1974

David Williamson. Ray Harryhausen. Peter Weir.

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

Antony I Gmnane. The

Violence In the Cinema.

Alvin P u rp le Frank Moorhouse. Sandy Harbutt.

Film U n d e r A11 end e Nicholas Roeg. B etw een

Jo hn P a p a d o p o lo u s .

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

W ars

The T ru e Story of Eskim o Nell

Number 14 October 1977

Number 15 January 1978

Number 16 April-June 1978

Phil Noyce. Eric Rohmer.

John Huston. B lue Fire

Tom Cowan. Francois Truffaut. Delphine Seyrig.

Lady

Th e Irishm an. Th e C hant of J im m ie B lack sm ith Sri Lankan Cinema. T he Last W ave

Swedish Cinema.

John D uigan. Steven Spielberg. Dawn! Mouth to M outh Film Period­ icals

C ars That A te Paris

S u m m e r fie ld

Chinese Cinema.

P atrick.

I

Number 10 September-October 1976 Naglsa Oshima. Phillippe Mora. Gay Cinema. John Heyer. Krzysztof Zanussl.

Marco Ferreri. Marco Bellocchio.

Number 11 January 1977

Number 12 April 1977

Number 13 July 1977

Emile de Antonio. Aus­ tralian Film Censorship.

Sam A r k o ff. R om an Polanski. T h e P ic tu r e

Kenneth Loach. Tom Haydon. Bert Deling Piero Tosi. John Scott. John Dankworth. The G etting

Louise Malle. Paul Cox John Power. Peter Sykes.

Bernardo Bertolucci. F.J.

S how M an. Don's Party.

S torm Boy

Bruce Petty. Albie Thoms.

N e w s fro n t. Film Study R e s o u rc e s . K o s t a s .

M oney M overs The Aus­ tralian Film and Tele­ vision School.

Number 24 December 1979 January 1980 Brian

Trenchard Smith.

Brazilian Cinema Jerzy Toeplitz.

C om m unity Television.

Arthur Hiller.

P a lm

B each.

Number 25 February-March 1980 C h a in

David C e n so rsh ip .

R e a c tio n

Puttnam

Stir. Everett de Roche.

Touch and Go Film and

o f W is d o m . J o u r n e y Am ong W om en.

Number 17 August-September 1978

Number 18 October-November 1978

Number 19 January-February 1979

Bill Bain. Isabelle Hup­ pert. Polish Cinema. The Night the P row ler. Pierre Rissient. New sfront. Film Study Resources.

John Lamond. D lm boola.

Indian Cinema. Sonia B o rg A la in T a n n e r.

A n to n y I. G in n a n e Jeremy Thomas. Blue Fin. A ndrew S a rris. Asian C in e m a S p o n s o re d Documentaries.

C athy's C h ild Tasm anian

T h e Last

In d e x: V o lu m e 4

Number 22 July-August 1979

^ ^ 2

Number 26 April-May 1980

Number 27 June-July 1980

The Films of Peter Weir.

Charles Joffe. H arlequin Nationalism in Australian Cinema The L ittle C o n ­

The New Zealand Film Industry. T h e Z M e n .

Peter Yeldham. M a y b e This Tim e. Donald Richie.

H o ld e n In S e a r c h Anna.

In d e x : V o lu m e 3

of

Number 20 March-April 1979 Ken Cam eron. French Cinema. Jim Sharman.

My B rillia n t C a re e r Film Study Resources. T h e N ight the P row ler

Number 28 August-Septem ber 1980

Number 29 O ctober-Novem ber 1980

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

B re a k e r M o ra n t Stacy K e a ch R oadgam es.

Bob Ellis Actors Equity D e b a te U ri W in d t O u tla w . Philippine Cin­ ema Th e C lub

C r u i s in g

The

Last

Politics.

vict.

In d e x: V o lu m e 6

Number 37 March-April 1982

Number 38 June 1982

Number 39 August 1982

Number 40 October 1982

Number 41 December 1982

Number 42 March 1983

S tephen

G e o ff B u rro w e s and George Miller on T h e Man

Em pty.

A u z in s , L o n e l y Paul Schrader, Peter Tammer, Liliana Cavani, We of th e N e v e r N ever, Film Awards, E .T ..

Mel Gibson, M o v in g O ut, John Waters, Financing Films, L ivin g D a n g e ro u s ­

James Ivory, Phil Noyce, Joan Fontaine.

Henri Safran, M oving O ut, Michael Ritchie, Pauline Kael, Wendy Hughes, Ray B a rre tt, R u n n in g o n

H e arts,

F ro m

Helen Morse on Far East, Norwegian Cinema, T w o L a w s , Melbourne and Sydney Film Festival reports. M o n k e y G rip.

ig o r

S tarstruck.

G r e n d e l, G rendel

G r e n d e l,

In d e x: V o lu m e 5

Number 36 January-February 1982 Kevin Dobson, B low Out. W om en in D ra m a .

Michael Rubbo. M a d Max 2 P uberty Blues.

MacLean on Jacki Weaver.

Peter Ustinov. Women in Drama. Reds, H eatw ave.

Number 43 May-June 1983

Number 44-45 April 1984

Number 46 July 1984

Number 47 August 1984

Number 48 October-November 1984

Number 49 December 1984

Number 50 February-March 1985

Sydney Pollack, Th e Dis­ M oving Out, Graeme Clifford, Dusty, G and hi, 3-D Supplement.

Special Tenth Anniversary Issue, History of Cinema Papers, David Stevens, P h a r L a p , Mini-series,

Paul Cox, S tre e t Hero, R azorback, Jeremy irons,

Richard Lowenstein, R o b ­ U n d e r A rm s, Wim Wenders, David Bradbury, T h e B o u n t y , S ophia Turkiewicz, Hugh Hudson.

Ken Cameron, M y First W ife , ABC tele-features, S trike b o u n d , Motor-cycle Boys, S ilv e r C ity, B o d y ­ line.

Alain R esnais, 1984, Horror Films, Ic e m a n , Film Student’s Guide to

Stephen

m is s a l,

M an o f Flow ers .

A n n i e ’s

Snowy

C o m in g

R iv e r ,

O u t,

Alan J. Pakula, the NFA.

bery

C lichè, O n c e U p o n T im e in A m e ric a .

a

ly, T h e P lains o f H e av e n .

Wallace, T h e C lu b , Walerian Borowczyk, The films of Ian Pringle, Le bai, Bill Gooley.

C o tto n

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A director who has had his actors bite out tongues in the dungeons of Malta, do full-scale dance routines on the streets of New York and destroy one anotherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tennis courts in the woods of Northern California, Alan Parker has a reputation for grabbing his audience by the lapels. But, as Nick Roddick found out, his latest film has taught him how to whisper.

Alan Parker At least a decade before the current, much-touted British ‘film renaissance’ — which might uncharitably be described as a lot of hot air and a number of rather tepid films — there were some rather more substantial glimmerings amid the moribund gloom of the British film industry, which was then in the process of becoming a service outpost for the Hollywood empire. Like most good things in British cinema recently, it started in television, with directors like Ridley Scott (The Duellists, Alien, Blade Runner and the forthcoming Legend) and Hugh Hudson (Chariots of Fire, Greystoke — The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes and the forthcoming Revolution), whose experience was chiefly in commercials. Above all, there was Alan Parker, who also started in commercials, but who had directed two television plays (No Hard Feelings and The Evacuees), two short films (Footsteps and Our Cissy) .

With the exception of The Evacuees, written by Jack Rosenthal, he wrote them as well — and had written one com pleted screenplay, Melody, directed by Warris Hussein in 1971.

Parker’s style was heavily marked by the commercials he had done, and it was this which, initially, made his films stand out in the drab landscape of British cinema, which even the late fifties revival — the films of John Schlesinger, Karel Reisz and Tony Richardson — had done little to brighten, at any rate from the stylistic point of view. In British cinema, story had traditionally been king, with words as its chief courtiers. In the sixties and early seventies, while London swung, the nearest Britain’s audio-visual media came to a distinc­ tive visual style were the bright, hard colours and dolly-bird aesthetic of the early James Bond movies and the Avengers TV series — a style which, in Joseph Losey’s Modesty Blaise, proved the undoing of at least one major director.

Check back through British film criticism of the time, and it’s easy to see at least one of the reasons for this: the atmosphere was distinctly hostile to visual showiness. Thematic density and narrative ‘experiment’ were the preferred modes, and strong visuals were generally dismissed as ‘slick’, as though they were somehow vulgar imports from across the Atlantic or from the world of advertising. They had no place in the half-timbered world of Pinewood, a studio complex which is almost a world-view in its own right.

Alan Parker’s films — Bugsy Malone (1976), Midnight Express (1978), Fame (1980), Shoot the Moon and Pink Floyd The Wall (both 1982) and Birdy (1984) — were certainly enough of a departure from the British norm for his work to be recognized in Europe (three of his films have been invited into competition at Cannes), and for all of them (with the possible exception of Shoot the Moon) to have solid in te rn a tio n a l com m ercial successes. As recently as last D e c e m b e r, L o n d o n ’s le a d in g commercial radio station, Capital Radio, conducted a poll of its listeners to find their Top Ten films. Against all the odds — since such polls rarely reveal a race memory of more than six months — Midnight Express emerged the clear winner.

None of this has brought Parker the critical acclaim he has, for all his Debuts: Alan Parker on the Bugsy Malone set, with Scott Baio and Florrie Dugger.

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denials, always wanted. Though Midnight Express was clear favourite for the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1978, it went away empty-handed. And much the same happened this year: hot favourite among European journalists for the 1985 prize, Birdy came away with only a Special Jury Prize — pres­ tigious, but not quite the same as a Palme d’Or. In Britain above all, Parker’s work has been consistently treated with a kind of indulgent condescension, as though he had committed the two cardinal sins for an indigenous film­ maker: success and a regular output. A few of the phrases lavished on his films by the British Film Institute’s Monthly Film Bulletin — not surprisingly, one of the director’s particular betes noires — give some idea of the response.

“Midnight Express is characterized by the artful commercial veneer it applies to a subject which, if it must be approached at all, surely deserves either a more objective or a more authentically outraged directorial attitude” (July 1978). “Fame is characterized, like Parker’s previous features, by bulldozing directorial self­ confidence . . . so relentlessly over­ played . . . that for the most part it ends up ludicrously overblown” (July 1980). “ Shoot the Moon is, in short, an Alan Parker film, complete with a characteristically overblown final sequence which drags in a burst of apocalyptic violence, ending in the tired cliche of a frozen shot” (June 1982). “Pink Floyd The Wall . . . is a vacuous, bombastic and humourless piece of self-indulgence” (August 1982). And only two of those were written by the same person: the epithets appear to be in-house.

In his darker moments, Alan Parker refers to the British Film Institute and “ the Sight & Sound mafia” as “ the Wank Organization” , bracketing it

exception of Bugsy Malone, more often abrasive than amiable. But they have about them an energy and a control of visual storytelling which make them rare indeed in British cinema. They have (pace the MFB's Shoot the Moon review) also varied sharply between portraying a harsh, dog-eat-dog sort of world (from Midnight Express through Fame to Pink Floyd The Wall), and the interiorization of that same harshness into personal relationships. This last has resulted in what, for me, are

opposite that other dreadnought of British film culture, the Rank Organ­ ization. (For the latter, Parker has reserved one of his cartoons, in which a filmmaker is surveying a poster announcing plans for a Museum of the Modern Image and commenting,

In Britain, Parker’s work has been consistently treated with a kind of indulgent condescension, as though he had committed the two cardinal sins for an indigenous filmmaker: success and a regular output “ We’ve had one of those at Pinewood for years” ).

But it is clear that the critical rubbishings cause him some pain. “ Like most artists,” he says, “ I find it incomprehensible that other people don’t actually enjoy what I do. And it always hurts more when you see people put your work down in a very articulate way — more so than some drunken newspaper hack not liking it.” As a result, Parker has taken to retaliating, extremely successfully, with a series of widely published cartoons. “ As that boring working class kid that I am,” he explains, “ my natural reaction is to fight back when people attack me.”

Admittedly, Parker’s films — like Scorsese’s — are, on occasion, difficult to like: they are, with the

“ Like most artists, I find it incomprehensible that other people don’t actually enjoy what I do.

And it always hurts more when you see people putting your work down in a very articulate way — more so than some drunken newspaper hack not liking it” Parker’s two best films, Shoot the Moon and Birdy — best because they do not have about them the lapel-grab­ bing anger that characterizes Midnight Express.

Even Pink Floyd The Wall, a hugely ambitious fresco of a movie, is at its most successful in a brilliantly conceived and executed twelve-minute segment in the middle, when the young Pink (played by Kevin McKeon, before he turns into Bob Geldof) searches for his lost father. Like the best of Parker’s work, the sequence is about harshly simple emotions — the same harsh simplicity that marked Shoot the Moon — treated with evident sincerity and enormous technical competence.

It is, of course, the technical skill which has provided Parker’s critics with their broadest target, especially in the post-Godardian seventies, when technical roughness was a revolution­ ary statement. “ I suppose the basic argument is that we are too involved with technique, rather than in what we’re trying to say,” comments Parker. “ I don’t entirely accept that, insofar as I think that, from the point of view of technique, our work is extremely sophisticated — infinitely more sophisticated than people really acknowledge in Britain. The visual conception of things has never really been part and parcel of our heritage of films: it’s always been very much word-based, and it still is. On the other hand, I’ve rewritten every single screenplay that we’ve done, and I’ve never made a film yet which I didn’t think had my point of view within it.”

Born in the inner London suburb of Islington on St Valentine’s Day, 1941, Parker’s early filmmaking experience was in advertising, which is where he met his permanent collaborator, pro­ ducer Alan Marshall, as well as frequent associate, David Puttnam. In those early days of British television commercials, the directing job usually went to someone imported for the day from feature films. Parker and Marshall, however, started making little presentation commercials in the basement — 30-second slots to be shown to clients, to give them a better idea of the campaign. In the end, the CINEMA PAPERS July — 41

Alan Parker

basement tapes were better than the finished films, so Parker graduated to directing commercials: for Hovis bread, Cockburn’s port, Bird’s Eye frozen foods, Nescafe, Benson & Hedges, Hamlet cigars, Guinness . . .

In time, the two Alans also did cinema commercials, including one that will be remembered by any British cinemagoers of the late seventies, the Benson & Hedges ‘Zulu’ ad, which had a horde of Zulus besieging a party of British Boer War soldiers and offering them two weeks to get used to the brand’s new extra-mild taste. It ended with a raucous battle in which all the British kept saying “ Sorry!” , and the Zulu chief took time off to tell the camera about a new washing powder.

That, of course, was after cigarette commercials had been banned from British television. It was a three-day shoot, and it cost the then astro­ nomical sum of £80,000. But, says Marshall, it was all on the screen. “ We are very honest filmmakers. Whether you like or dislike our films in terms of storyline, nobody could ever criticize them for what they look like, or what the professional attitude to film­ making is.”

Parker’s breakthrough into feature films preceded-the ‘Zulu’ commercial by some three years, and was made against considerable odds. “ Bugsy Malone was a terribly pragmatic exer­ cise. It was made in 1975, at a time in the British film industry when no one could set anything up — a very, very difficult time. A great deal of what’s happening now is because of the leg­ work people like Puttnam and myself did then. I’d written five screenplays, all about things that were very close to me, about Islington, where I grew up — very English, very London, very angry working class. All I ever wanted to be was Ken Loach, because he was my favourite filmmaker. “ With those screenplays, the rubber stamp that everybody had was: Too parochial. If I’d just walked up and down Wardour Street trying to get those films made, I’d still be there. I had to think ‘What do I know about?’

And what I did know about was American movies. So I did a parody of them. It seemed to me, not having the intellectual pretensions I would have had if I’d come another route, that you could actually make a film for children

“ All I ever wanted to be was Ken Loach, because he was my favourite filmmaker” — for ‘the family audience’ — that didn’t talk down to the kids, and that I didn’t feel embarrassed about making. “ When I’d finished it, and with everybody giving us a standing ovation at Cannes, and every single American studio after us to do stuff, I got those five screenplays out again. And I didn’t like them: I didn’t want to do that kind of film any more. Something had happened — the seduction of world cinema. During that seduction process every director goes through when he’s hot, I was asked to go to New York and do a film of The Wiz, Diane Keaton with her ‘fam ily’ in Shoot the Moon: left to right, Tracy Gold, Tina Yothers and Viveka Davis. Underneath, Parker talks to Bob Geldof about a scene in Pink Floyd The Wall.

42 — July CINEMA PAPERS

which Sidney Lumet ended up making.

I saw it on the stage, and I didn’t like it at all. And then, Peter Guber from Columbia said to me, ‘We’ve got the galley proofs of a book by this kid who’s just got out of jail: will you have a look at it?’ ” The result, of course, was Midnight Express, which started the trend of Hollywood films which Parker escaped only for Pink Floyd The Wall.

But some things stayed the same.

Given the fact that he has worked with the same producer since the outset, it is not surprising to find that one re­ current emphasis in conversations with Alan Parker is the importance of his crew — which, with minor variations, has remained unchanged throughout. “ I wouldn’t go if I couldn’t have those people with me,” he says, “ because they’re the only ones I make films with. The most important is Alan.

There’s Geoffrey Kirkland, who is the production designer, and Gerry Hambling, who is our editor. Then there’s Michael Seresin, my director of photography. I’ve been working with him for sixteen years. He’s a friend,

and that certainly helps if you’re going to be locked away in the wilds of Northern California or in a dungeon in Malta. And his visual tastes are very similar to mine. His interest, when he works with me, is lighting rather than photography. Because the other important person is John Stanier, the camera operator. I think it’s a com­ bination of Michael’s taste in lighting and me working directly with John. I don’t work the American system, with th e d ire c to r o f p h o to g ra p h y instructing his people. I work directly with John, and the three of us have evolved a very good rapport over the years, which means that I can go” — he makes a framing gesture with his fingers — “ and they know the track and the lens. That kind of shorthand is very, very valuable.”

Parker is also insistent that they are British filmmakers. “ We’re a bunch of yobbos who got lucky. What we do is, we get on aeroplanes and go and make movies somewhere else. We went on location to Malta to do Midnight Express, and it was a totally British crew. On the other films, I’ve had the

“ We’re a bunch of yobbos who got lucky. What we do is, we get on aeroplanes and go and make movies somewhere else” same key personnel. It’s just that, in order to do my job, I have to go on location. What I want to do next is a film based on the Tom Sharpe novels.

When I go to Africa to do that, I’ll be on location in Africa: I won’t have joined the African film industry.”

That statement, however, was made during the editing of Pink Floyd The Wall, which was followed by a twoyear gap. In the meantime, the African project receded, and Parker returned to the U.S. to make what is perhaps his most American movie of all, Birdy — the story of two teenagers in Philadel-

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phia who are traumatized in different ways by the Vietnam war. One of them, A1 (Nicolas Cage), is badly burned; the other, Birdy (Matthew Modine), retreats into a private world in which he becomes one of the birds that fascinated him through his teenage years.

Strangely enough, Parker feels that Birdy is the closest he has come to those five screenplays he didn’t make before Bugsy. “ I love Philadelphia.

It’s a horrible place to make a movie, but the feel of it is like where I grew up, and it’s an excuse for me to do the English film you used to keep saying I should have done. Philadelphia is the best-kept secret in America, because half the city’s derelict: it’s almost like it’s been abandoned. All the decisions are taken at street level. I mean, we had all the co-operation in the world from the Mayor’s "department, but they were powerless and they would never admit it. So it meant street-by­ street negotiations in a tough black area, which isn’t easy. It wasn’t me that did it, of course. I’d just keep on shooting. It was the production department who had all the pressure.”

For Parker, the film is less about birds — “ I hate birds: I really can’t stand them” — than about the Vietnam war: the screenplay, by Sandy Kroopf and Jack Behr, has updated William Wharton’s original novel to post-Vietnam. “ I thought it was better, because Vietnam was such an unpopular war. And, without wanting it to sound pretentious, in a way Birdy is in shock and America has been in shock since Vietnam, because they lost and they were wrong. You know where A1 says, ‘In any other war, I would

“ I hate birds: I really can’t stand them” have been a hero’? I loved that line: they went there and they were scared shitless and they lost limbs, then they came back and they were spat on. I couldn’t have had that with a Second World War story. “ In fact, I wrote a whole speech for Al, which we didn’t use, and which was my anti-Vietnam war speech. It was all about class. Vietnam was a working-class war. The kids from

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Bookends o f Parker’s career. Above, dancing in the street five years before Fame — Fat Sam’s gang do the ‘Bad Guys’ number from Bugsy Malone. Right, Birdy and buddy: Nicolas Cage (in bandage) cradles Matthew Modine (in shock) after the baseballs have failed to work in Birdy.

South Philly, which is where these kids come from: they had to go. They were too stupid to get out of it. The middleclass kids who went to university waving their notes from their shrinks, they got out of it. I think it was one of the best speeches I’ve ever written, but in the end, I thought, ‘No, you’re preaching. Your movie should tell all this’. So I just had this one line: ‘We didn’t know what we were getting into with this John Wayne shit. In any other war, I would have been a hero.’ ” Crucial to Birdy were the flying scenes, where Parker and Co. exper­ ienced with a Skycam — a contraption operated by wires and a gyroscope. “ We had four days to do it, and three of them were disasters. It’s such a highly complicated, computerized thing, and it was the first time it had been used in an urban situation. It’s supposed to be used in a sports stadium. In the end, we had to find another way of doing it. So, in the flying scene, there are actually eight cuts. It doesn’t look like it, but there’s a cut each time you go up in the sky.

Mostly, we used a Steadicam. There’s 40 seconds of Skycam, which gives you the illusion that you’re low, then suddenly you’re 150 feet up in the air.

You could never have done that with a crane, and you can’t get a helicopter into the middle of Philadelphia.”

The other ‘difficult’ scene was the extraordinary love scene, in which Matthew Modine strips and climbs into the aviary he has made for Perta, his beloved canary. It is a scene which treads a knife-edge between absurdity and some kind of unwatchable perver­ sion. In the end, though, it is disturb­ ingly beautiful — amour fou of the kind you rarely find in a Hollywood film. “ We took it very seriously, because if the audience had laughed at it, I would have failed miserably. We were a little bit out of control, because the bird would only do what it wanted to do. It was pretty hushed on the set, just like we were doing a normal love scene. In fact, to be honest, with you, I don’t remember a crew so quiet and so taken aback at the end of it.”

It is, indeed, one of the most restrained scenes in the whole of Parker’s work; and he readily admits that the film as a whole is his most gentle. “ I think it’s just me getting a bit more mature. I think it’s the best of my films, because it’s the most

balanced. I think that, too often before, I was shouting. Now I know that you can shout and you can whisper, and people still listen. I think those two years of reflection allowed me to stand back and look at what I was doing.” ★ CINEMA PAPERS July — 43

M

What makes us want to see a film — some kind of sixth sense, or an inspiration that falls from the skies? The answer, for most of us, is advertising — the posters, the trailers, the radio commercials, the TV spots, which offer a tantalizing glimpse of the goodies to come. A bad campaign can sink a film, a good campaign can make it. But film advertising has always been a rather private part of a very public business.

Here, Peter Schmideg, who spent three years working on campaigns in Wardour Street, heart of the British distribution industry, lifts the lid on the whole business.

Incest or intertextuality? Opposite, the slightly tongue-in-cheek poster for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and the spoof o f the tongue-in-cheek: the U.K. poster for Top Secret.

Working in the cramped, smoke-filled cutting rooms along L ondon’s Wardour Street, you soon come to realise that putting together a film advertising campaign is, in miniature, every bit as tortuous — and just as fraught with pitfalls, fascination and fun — as making the film itself.

Ultimately, it is a question of selling — of ‘putting bums on seats’, as they say. However, everyone has his or her own idea of what is going to work, starting with the producers. After all, they say, they should know: they’ve been involved with the film since its inception. Often, however, this means they can’t see the story for the celluloid. Then you have the distributors. They know how the film should be sold: they know their market, they’ve been doing it for years . . .

Previous experience can be mislead­ ing, though. Every film is different, and the public can be very fickle: what has worked in one market can be a disastrous flop somewhere else. In addition, some films are ‘sleepers’ — they suddenly take off without warning. Like Trading Places: nobody really expected it to be such a hit.

Caught in the middle of the crossfire between producer, director and un­ predictable public are the people who are actually going to create the posters, trailers and other elements: us. It is, of course, like planning a battle. Even the jargon is militaristic: ‘strategy’, ‘tactic’, ‘spearhead’. Often, it ends up with the producer or the distributor — sometimes both — saying: “ It’s a love story. Forget everything else: it’s all about relationships.’’ Which just about covers everything from A Night at the Opera to E.T. When we presented our posters to the client, we would generally produce at least a dozen or more concepts: it’s what they wanted. With Reds, there were apparently 150 concepts (and I bet you can’t remember what the final poster looked like). A concept is a highly finished ‘rough’, with all the copy typeset. Working for clients like

U.I.P. in London, we weren’t obliged to follow the U.S. poster concept.

Thus, for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom we came up with about a dozen concepts, including a late entry which I only finished on the morning of the presentation: it simply said, “ The Hero is Back’’. The ones they liked best were then placed into market research, along with the original American campaign.

At this stage, I should add that the whole process of creating the cam­ paign was carried out without the benefit of having seen the film, since Indiana was in the final stages of post­ production. What we did get was a press release, a synopsis, and around 400 35mm slides, which we stuck on

It is, of course, like planning a battle. Even the jargon is militaristic: ‘strategy’, ‘tactic’, ‘spearhead’. the office windows, like some bizarre attempt at stained glass. From these, we chose a number of shots, sent them off to the labs for blow-ups, cut them, trimmed them and pasted them, until we had both upright and horizontal posters.

The work we were doing was for all territories except the U.S., including the U.K., Europe and Australasia, and the shot we chose for- ‘The Hero is Back’ was a rather brood­ ing one of Harrison Ford striding towards us. In the original, he was actually accompanied by an elephant, but what you don’t see can’t bother you. As it was, it looked as if he was walking straight out of the poster to­ wards us, still a bit dusty and weary from his adventure. But the film is in fact a prequel: the action takes place a year or so before the hero was chased CINEMA PAPERS July — 45

by that giant steel Jaffa in that cave in Peru. We decided to ignore this, however, and tried not to place the film in any sequence, either before or after Raiders.

Although the ‘Hero’ concept won at research level, it was decided to give the figure a bit more life by adding a machete. Then someone else piped up with the suggestion that he should be holding a whip, as his trademark. So our brooding hero, emerging from the shadows of a cool, leafy jungle, was lost forever. In his place was a cross between Errol Flynn and a circus ringmaster. One saving grace, though, was that the campaign was liked enough to be used throughout the U.S.A., which I am told is a very rare event indeed.

Presentations always had their complications. There was the question of how well it would work in black and white (in newspaper ads, for instance), For this purpose, one organization had on its staff a chap who I’m sure had monochrome vision: he probably viewed the world as one huge newsprint photograph. He would be called in at the appropriate moment, and would give us his verdict.

Then there were the ‘contractuals’.

These were the rules, specified in the contract, that governed the position (above or below the title) of the star’s name. A ‘likeness’ clause also stipulated photography or illustration, and how realistic the latter had to be. And there was a mathematical relationship, expressed as a percentage, between the

star’s name and the title of the film. A1 Pacino’s name had to be the same size as Scarface, wherever it was printed, You weren’t sure whether the film was called ‘Pacino’ or ‘Scarface’. Apart from these minor considerations, however, we were free to do as we liked . . . as long as we remembered that it was a love story, With trailers, time was at a premium . Three-m inute cinema trailers would take a few days to get to the stage of rough-cut double-head, but TV trailers would often have to be finished on the afternoon of the day we were briefed. A trailer doesn’t have to tell a story, and it doesn’t need a beginning, middle or end. Sometimes, we choose to see a film because of only one particular scene in a trailer. For example, the Clint Eastwood film, Sudden Impact, had a very short trailer, with Eastwood spitting out the now immortal words: “ Go ahead . . . make . . . my . . . day!” It was enough to convince people to see it or not.

When you’re editing a trailer, you very quickly become aware of the power of the splicer. You can take any film, whether it’s Mary Poppins, Terms of Endearment or Rocky, and turn it into anything from a thriller to a soppy drama to a comedy.

When you cut a trailer, your edit points are crucial. You can create pace where it doesn’t exist, or butt two un­ related pieces of action together and make it work. The all-important thing is choosing the right exit and entry

Above, Clint Eastwood delivers the line that was to become the catch fo r the Sudden Impact trailer: “Go ahead: make . . . my ... day!” Below, Brainstorm: sold as sci fi, it could have been sentiment.

point for a particular shot. With the movie Brainstorm, we decided the most effective way of positioning it was as a sci fi action film, which it really wasn’t. (It could also have been promoted as a mushy romance, because there was a real surfeit of that, too.) The U.S. poster showed what appeared to be a female window dummy with a vast halo of light around it. It really conveyed very little.

For our trailers, we used a lot of short, quick cuts, punctuated by computer effects. The voice-over was kept to a minimum, but we would keep cutting back to a computer monitor, full­ screen, printing out some very enticing information.

In trailers, drama can be enhanced by overlapping dialogue from a rather boring shot over a more exciting­ looking scene. Something that is already funny visually can be made twice as funny by overlapping it with humorous dialogue. You can do almost anything, as long as you

Al Pacino’s name had to be the same size as Scarface, wherever it was printed. You weren’t sure whether the film was called ‘Pacino’ or ‘Scarface’ remember that your job isn’t to re-edit the film, but to sell it, and that you are trying to convey the sort of film it is.

In other words, cheat.

Take 48 HRS, which starred Nick Nolte and launched Eddie Murphy into super stardom. It was a violent film, but it was also a very funny film.

The trailer could have made it look like a Neil Simon farce or, by concentrat­ ing on the violent elements, have appealed to the heavy mob. It’s these sorts of situations which send distrib­ utors rushing to their market research reports, the way other people rush to the medicine cabinet for an aspirin.

The research, however, like the

46 — July CINEMA PAPERS

aspirin, cures the symptoms only, not the cause. Is it a comedy? Is it a drama? Will you be selling yourself short if you try to combine both? Is the market you’re aiming at interested in (a) a comedy, or (b) a violent cops­ and-robbers shoot-out picture? Or is it a love story? Back to square one.

Audio-trailers, promoting films on radio, can also be very effective if done properly. You are still trying to sell the film, capturing some of its essential ingredients or creating a certain mood, but all you are using is sound — often a mixture of sound­ track lifts and voice-over, leaving enough room for a tag which tells people where the film is playing. For Airplane II — The Sequel, known here as Flying High — The Sequel, rather than get bogged down in detail, we took two of the funniest scenes (ones that would work on radio), and wrapped some similarly funny com­ mentary around them, allowing the film dialogue to be the star of the com­ mercial. When picking bits of sound­ track, it’s essential to make sure they’re clear, without too many other effects, and intelligible in their own right, because what works on screen as dialogue won’t necessarily work on radio.

Lately, it seems to me, far too much emphasis has been placed on The Poster. The poster is strictly point-ofsale, at best a reminder. Usually when you see a poster — I mean, really see a poster, nicely framed and back-lit — you are already standing in line to buy your ticket. You also have in front of

You can do almost anything, as long as you remember that your job isn’t to re-edit the film, but to sell it, and that you are trying to convey the sort of film It is. In other words, cheat you a jumble of stills — a sort of static, freeze-frame trailer, showing you bits of the movie. Many people in the business seem to think that the poster is the only bit of publicity that the average filmgoer will see. But the filmgoer doesn’t live in a vacuum: there are reviews, interviews with the stars, and 30-minute television advertisements masquerading as docu­ mentaries about how the film was made. Viewers get a pretty good idea of what the film is about, who’s in it, what era it takes place in, and whether it’s funny. So where does this leave the humble poster? On the wall: it’s a reminder, nothing more, nothing less.

And, as a single selling tool, without other elements, it has a lot of drawbacks. You can’t compare a poster or a press ad to a three-minute trailer or a 30-second TV spot. Posters are seen but not heard. TV is both.

Selling a film to an unsuspecting public is very complex, and it is a process which tends to be taken for granted. The film is complete. Actors, director and crew are all involved in other projects. But, somehow, the posters and the trailers materialize. No matter how good and how clever the campaign is, though, let’s not forget the most powerful and unpredictable force of all in film advertising: word of mouth. But that’s another story . .

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On location With the end of the financial year looming, May and June did not provide bumper crops of new feature productions getting underway, though activity was a little more buoyant in television.

The $2.32-million feature, The More Things Change . . ., commenced produc­ tion on locations in Neerim, near Warragul in Victoria, late in April. Produced by Jill Robb, this contemporary look at role reversals marks actress Robyn Nevin’s debut as a film director. Nevin, who is on leave from her post as a director with the Sydney Theatre Company, was ap­ proached by Robb to direct the film because the producer believed that the script demanded strong performances, "relying on the nuances of acting far more than stunts, locations or art direction".

In a strategy common in theatre, the novice director was teamed with a crew of considerable experience, headed by cinematographer Dan Burstall, who has recently tried his hand at directing episodes

mKSÊÊÊk

of Crawford Productions’ Special Squad.

It was felt that Nevin’s ability with actors would complement Burstall’s talent for visual Imagery and provide an ideal working combination.

The windfall to the shooting schedule provided by an Indian summer in Victoria was quickly offset on the second day of production when male lead Barry Otto broke a bone in his foot. Timetables were hastily altered and interiors that did not require his presence were shot. When Otto hobbled back on to the set a week later, Victorian weather showed its true colours and sent showers down on the cast and crew. Meanwhile, in New South Wales, Magpie Films’ Short Changed completed production on 28 May. Several television projects began in May. Simpson-Le Mesurier’s family saga, Sword of Honour, got underway on 13 May, and JNP’s Land of Hope, also focusing on family relationships over a number of decades, went before the cameras. Pro­ duction on the five part miniseries, The Lancaster Miller Affair, was put back by a week (see News story) and is now due to commence on 24 June. Roadshow, Coote

and Carroll’s Archer, tracing the exploits of a horse who walked from New South Wales to Victoria to win the Melbourne Cup, is also due to begin shooting late in June.

Further down the production track, Barron Films’ I Own the Racecourse and Collins-Murray’s Marie Claire (still the working title, though World Film Alliance were promoting it as Devil in the Flesh at Cannes) moved to post-production in May. In South Australia, the SAFC’s Playing Beatie Bow finished shooting on 13 June.

Final touches were added to the newly retitled The Leonski Incident, which has been previewed to potential distributors in the U.S. In the same period, Mermaid Beach’s A Street to Die and Nilsen Prem­ iere’s je n n y Kissed Me were completed.

In Sydney, PBL’s activity continued with production on the miniseries Double Sculls, while the feature For Love Alone completed its eight-week shoot on 25 May. Paul Kalina visited both locations and reports on the big- and small-screen projects: The day after seeing Stir In 1980, Mar­ garet Fink sent the film’s director, Stephen Wallace, a copy of Christina Stead’s auto­

biography, For Love Alone. The previous year, Fink’s production of My Brilliant Career had earned itself far-reaching critical acclaim, good overseas sales and a strong boost for the imminently rising careers of Judy Davis, Sam Neill and the film’s debut feature director, Gillian Arm­ strong. Nevertheless, it has taken Fink six years to raise the $3.8 million to make For Love Alone — and to this day she remains baffled as to why.

What attracted Wallace, who also wrote the script, is that “ it tries openly to explore love: It treats love as a noun, and shows someone who is passionately pursuing what she believes in, in a way that most Australians don’t.”

The story follows Teresa Flawklns (Helen Buday) from Sydney to London in the thirties, as she seeks her ideals of love, career and marriage within the rigid confines of contemporary social and moral attitudes.

Below, left, Barry Otto, Victoria Langley and Owen Johnson in The More Things Change . . right, Helen Buday as Teresa Hawkins in For Love Alone.

Right, Stephen Wallace puts Helen Buday on the right tracks in the Margaret Fink production o f For Love Alone. Below, Ian Gilmour, left (with director o f photography Vince Monton, focus puller Derry Field and — partly hidden — sound recordist Tim Lloyd), prepares to get the show on the water in PBL Productions’ telefeature,

Double Sculls.

For Helen Buday, it is only her second film role. Since graduating from N.I.D.A. in 1983, she has acted on stage, and played the role of Savannah Nix in Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. She describes Teresa as a strong character, “ original in everything she does, even little things like not wearing gloves and a hat. She wants to be a writer, but she really wants love. She pines after one character for years and years, and finally comes to her senses.”

Jonathan Crow (Hugo Weaving) is the object of Teresa’s pining. For Stephen Wallace, “ he is so awful and yet so believ­ able. And that excited me. I think that there is a bit of every man in Jonathan.” There is an ironic twist to the difficulty Wallace had in presenting a story told from a woman’s point of view: the main male character is so hated by the author, the hero so admired, that if they were presented as they are in the book, Teresa would appear as a silly girl.

For the art department of For Love Alone, the first few weeks were something of a nightmare, with torrential rain threaten­ ing the exterior sets. In fact, more than half the film’s sets have been built, with suitable locations sought out for the rest. As most of the film is set in London, production designer John Stoddart has looked for the most English of interiors. The mezzanine of the soon-to-be-demolished Winter Garden Theatre, which might once have been one of Christina Stead’s retreats, is being used as the dining room of the ship which carries Teresa to England. On board, she meets the worldly James Quick (Sam Neill). “ Oh! A colonial!” he says. “ I’m a great admirer of Captain Bligh.”

In designing the film, Stoddart has gone for fairly low-key naturalistic effects. “ After all," he says, “ when you look around, nothing looks absolutely up-to-date: all periods are mixed. Although this is a film set in the thirties, we’re not treating it as a period film. There are references to the Depression, but that is not what the film Is about.” “ We didn’t get obsessed with historic artefacts,” says Wallace. “ In the end, I think the art direction is going to be symbolic rather than historically accurate.” Wallace, whose previous work as a director and writer has concentrated on contemporary issues, is determined that the film be rele­ vant to people today. The period setting has only restricted him by limiting places they could film (though glass shots and front projection have also inhibited him slightly). In terms of directorial style, however, Wallace is approaching For Love Alone as a naturalistic drama. Maintaining faith in his ability, Fink jokingly told him to direct like it was an ABC drama.

For Richard Brennan, producer of Double Sculls, however, the small screen is providing a happy union of pragmatics, aesthetics and budgetary concerns. “ I think that movies made for television always had a bit of an odour about them,” he says. “ We’re making Double Sculls exactly the same way as if it were a feature, except it’s being shot on 16mm. It’s the same coverage, the same attention to perfor­ mance. What really attracts me is the size of the audience you can reach. I was really jealous when I watched A Town Like Alice: I thought, ‘More people are watching this tonight than any film I’ve made’. “ The only thing I have against working on that very large scale is the hubris it encourages — people believing that, because it is bigger, it must be better. I think you can get lost in the logistics: personal relationships suffer because you are waiting for the helicopter."

Double Sculls is the second of eight

planned productions under a joint venture between PBL Productions and the Aus­ tralian Film Commission. Based on the ‘feature film made for television’ model of Britain’s Channel 4, the project aims to unearth new writers and directors. “ What we’ve tried to do,” says Brennan, “ is get a really good cast and crew, especially cameraman, first assistant, production manager and editor. One of the reasons I was approached is because nearly every film I've produced has been the director’s first or second feature.”

Ian Gilmour graduated from acting to directing two years ago, after completing a one-year course at the Film and Television School designed to train industry personnel to direct. As promised, Gilmour’s cast is one of the finest in the country: John Har­ greaves, Chris Haywood, Angela PunchMcGregor, Judi Farr and Bill Kerr.

As an actor who has worked with directors like Fred Schepisi, John Duigan and Carl Schultz, Gilmour recalls the rapport they had with their casts, rather than the technicalities of their directing style. “ Paramount for me," he says, “ is keeping a loose, easy-going feel to the action, while maintaining a coverage which is going to cut and be cinematic.”

The storyline of Double Sculls concerns the friendship of two men, whose lives, both past and present, intersect in the sport of sculling. Although scriptw riter Chris Peacock has based one of the film’s themes on current medical research into indigenous opiates, Gilmour sees the film’s drama as essentially that of the relation­ ships between the major characters.

For the roles, both Hargreaves and Haywood have become skilled scullers. “ It’s a nice change,” comments Har­ greaves. “ It feels more real than fake.” He doesn’t see his character as being a terribly aware person: the challenge, he claims, is to make a boring person interesting. At the same time, he says, madness is an occupa­ tional hazard for the psychiatrist he plays.

Meanwhile, on the set, Gilmour’s dictum of keeping it loose and easy is getting a good test. A runaway wind-surfer smashes into John Hargreaves’s scull. The current keeps moving the scull away from its mark as the scene is ready to shoot. Hargreaves has temporarily disappeared. “ Check for bubbles,” suggests Chris Haywood. ★

Bes ’ ck, I draw your attention to the errors in the May issue ’Facts and Figures’ column, with regard to The Leonski Incident.

1. The picture did not come to a stop. No shooting time was ever lost, and the picture came in eight days ahead of schedule.

2. There was no dispute between the completion guarantee company and p ìe director, , 3. Cuts to the script were made by Philippe and writer/producer Bill Nagle m consultation with myself. Cuts made in no way affected the narrative and were in the interests of maintaining a reasonable and realistic running time.

Far better to cut the script than shoot the scene and cut it out, ■ The good sense of this mutual decision is borne out by the fact that John Scott's first assembly ran two hours and 40 minutes. The cut s c l rrentty ur ining at.92 minutes While appreciating your interest in our picture, we must point out that your comments were damaging to the picture, the producers and especially to the reputation of the director. ' Yours sincerely, David A. Hannay Producer, Suatu Film Management.

.

■ '

CINEMA PAPERS July — 49

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Based on the original idea Sound recordist......................... Rob Cutcher John Prescott, by................................... Anthony Wheeler Jeanne Taylor Editor................................... Andrew Prowse Prod, designer.......................Phil Monaghan Prod, designer........................George Liddle Director....................................John Prescott Composer................................................. KenWalther Composers......................... Garry McDonald, Scriptwriter.............................. John Prescott Line producer......................................... BasilAppleby Laurie Stone Photography........................... Stephen Frost Prod, manager............................Pam Borain Assoc, producer........................... Bruce Moir Sound recordist.................................... KieranKnox Prod, secretary................................... MaggieHegarty Prod, supervisor.............Pamela H. Vanneck Editor....................................................TrevorHawkins Prod, accountant.......Moneypenny Services, Prod, co-ordinator..............................BarbaraRingProd, co-ordinator...................Jeanne Taylor Help us make this Production Marie Brown Unit manager...........................................

Ron Stigwood Prod, assistants.............. Rosemary Hawker, Survey as complete as poss­ Budget........................................ $2.4 million Prod, accountant.................................... JohnBurke Sue Ward ible. If you have something Length..............................................100 mins 1st asst director.....................................PhilipHearnshaw 1st asst director................................... TrevorHawkins which is about to go into pre­ Gauge.................................................. 35 mm 2nd asst director....................... Judith Ditter Continuity................................ Pat Laughren AUSTRALIAN DREAM Cast: Michael York (Simon Etherton), Pat production, let us know and we 3rd asst director......................... Vicki Sugars Lighting cameraman.............................JamieEgan Prod, company........................... Filmside Ltd Evison (Daisy).

Continuity.................................................AnnWalton will make sure it is included.

Camera assistant.................... Amanda King Producers...................................Susan Wild, Synopsis: A kind of love story that explores Producer’s assistant............................. ChrisHoward Boom operator..................................... JamesKesteren Call Debi Enker on (03) Jacki McKimmie human need in circumstances that are Casting................................................AudineLeith Additional photography.......... Chris Strewe, 329 5983, or write to her at Director...................................................JackiMcKimmie sometimes hilarious and sometimes tragic.

Casting consultants.... Maizels & Associates Peter Nearhos Cinema Papers, 644 Victoria Scriptwriter............................................. JackiMcKimmie Simon Etherton, a well groomed English­ Camera operator...................................DavidForeman Art assistants.........................Ross Puibrook, Based on the original idea man, on the run from a domestic tragedy S tree t, N orth M e lb ourne, Focus puller.......................................... MarlinTurner Stephen Nothling b y ........................................................ JackiMcKimmie meets Daisy, an earthy old bushwoman im­ Victoria 3051.

Clapper/loader.......................................DavidWolfe-Barry Wardrobe...............................Lesa Hepburn, Photography..........................Andrew Lesnie prisoned by her environment — the pitiless Trainee camera assistant...........................JoMurphy Luba Bogomiagkoff Editor.........................................Sara Bennett outback. Their relationship is tentative at first Key g rip ................................................. RobinMorgan Set construction.................................. LeannePetersen Prod, designer........................................ChrisMcKimmie and develops into a moving climax.

Asst grips..................................................JonGoldney, Still photography.......................................JayYounger Exec, producer......................Ross Matthews Rod Boulton Runner/transport.................... David Pollock Mixed a t..................................................Atlab END OF THE LINE 2nd unit photography............................DavidGraham Catering............................ Loaves and Fishes Laboratory...............................................Atlab Steadicam operator...................................

IanJones Prod, company............................ Helen Boyd Laboratory.............................................. Atlab SOMETHING GREAT Budget............................................. $600,000 Special fx photography.......................Mirage Lab. liaison............................................BruceWilliamson Productions Pty Ltd Prod, company............. Boulevard Films P/L, Length.................................................90 mins Gaffer................................................... TrevorToune Length...............................................110 mins Producer................................... Helen Boyd HSV7 Gauge................................................. 16 mm Electrician.............................................. KeithJohnson Scriptwriter................................Jeff Holland Gauge..................................................

16 mm Director................................ Jonathan Hardy Shooting stock..........................Eastmancolor Boom operator..................................... ShaneWalker Shooting s to ck.................. Kodak 7291,7294 Length..............................................120 mins Scriptwriters..........................Frank Howson, Cast: Noni Hazlehurst, Graeme Blundell.

Trainee boom operator..........................ScottHeysen Gauge..................................................35 mm Cast: John Flaus (Joe Hart), Ian Nimmo Jonathan Hardy Art director..........................................AndrewBlaxland Synopsis: A contemporary comedy. A witty, (Lucan), Ray Meagher (Lawker), Carmen Synopsis: The film is based o,. the true story Exec, producers................... Frank Howson, uncompromising expose of the sexual and Design assistants................................... NickiRoberts, Duncan (Rita), Shelley Friend (Netha), Max of the Varischetti rescue at Bonnievale in Peter Boyle social mores of life in a typical middle-class Vicki Niehus Western Australia in 1907.

Meldrum (Walter Stone), John Gregg (T. C. Budget.............................................$5 million Art dept co-ordinator.......................... WendyHuxford Brisbane suburb, where all is not what it Brown), lain Gardiner (Miko), Penny Jones Synopsis: The true story of Australia’s Art dept runner........................................JohnCollias seems.

(Deslene), Tracey Tainsh (Linda), Chris Betts FIRESTORM golden boy of boxing who fell from grace and Make-up......................Lesley Lamont-Fisher (John), Jennifer Biocksidge (Marie), Ros was resurrected as a hero, when he died in Prod, company.............................

De RocheAVENGERS OF THE CHINA SEAS Hairdresser............................................ SashLamey Vidgeon (Christina), Errol O'Neill (Barber).

Phelan Film Prods Memphis, lonely, bewildered and reviled at Wardrobe supervisor............................. AnnaWade Prod, company................... Nilsen Premiere Synopsis: Joe Hart, a private investigator on Producer..................................................TomBurstall the age of 2 1 .

Ward, assistant.......................................JeanTurnbull Producer.................................................. TomBroadbridge assignment in Queensland, becomes Director.............................Everett De Roche Ward, standby....................................... PeterSevan Director.....................Brian Trenchard-Smith involved with a bootleg music racket, a Scriptwriter....................... Everett De Roche TERRA AUSTRALIS Asst ward, standby............................... KathyHerreen Scriptwriter.......................................... PatrickEdgeworth prostitute, the anti-nuclear movement and Based on the original idea Based on the original idea Prod, company......................... Yoram Gross Props buyer/set dresser....... Brian Edmonds various nefarious thugs. b y............................................. Max Phelan Props buyer......... Christopher Webster b y ..................................................... PatrickEdgeworth Film Studio Photography......................................... DavidConnell BURKE AND WILLS Editor............................................. Alan Lake Producer................................... Yoram Gross Standby props........................................ LiamLiddle Sound recordist...................................... GaryWilkins Director..................................... Yoram Gross Asst standby props................................ PeterDavies Producer’s assistant..........Virginia Bernard Prod, company.............. Hoyts Edgley Prods Editor.......................................... Adrian Carr Special effects.......................................ChrisMurray, Laboratory........................................Colorfilm Scriptwriters...........................................Greg Flynn, in association with Prod, designer...........................Leslie Binns David Hardy, Budget.......................................... $4.6 million Yoram Gross Graeme Clifford Composer............................................. BruceRowland John Armstrong Length................................................ 94 mins Photography........................Graham Sharpe Producers...........................Graeme Clifford, Exec, producer.......................... Max Phelan Movement coach................................MichaelFuller Director of Gauge............................ 35 mm anamorphic John Sexton Assoc, producer................ Brian D. Burgess Scenic artists.............................................IanRichter, Synopsis:A contemporary action-adventure Director............................... Graeme Clifford Prod, manager....................................... JohnChasemodel design................................. NormanYeend .

PeterCollias story set on the South China Sea. Consultant zoologist..................Dr M. Archer Scriptwriter..........................Michael Thomas Prod, co-ordinators..............Meredyth Judd, Length................................................80 mins Construction Photography........................................RussellBoyd Jenny Tosi managers............... John Whitfield-Moore, THE BEE-EATER Gauge.................................................. 35 mm Casting......................................................LeeLarner Sound recordist..................

Syd Butterworth Wayne Allen Synopsis: Based on scientific findings, the (working title) Editor.........................................................TimWellburn Extras’ casting............................................JoLarner Asst editor........................................... DeniseHaratzis film is set in prehistoric Australia.

Prod, designer........................................ RossMajor Prod, company.........Daedalus Films Pty Ltd Art director..................................Leslie Binns 2nd asst editor............................ Pip Karmel Assoc, producer....................Greg Ricketson Producer................................................HilaryFurlong Make-up............................... Fiona Campbell Sound editor..........................................Frank Lipson TRANSMISSION Prod, Director...............................................GeorgeOgilvie Special effects....................................... ChrisMurray M ixer....................................................JamesCurrie co-ordinators................. Lynda House, Julie Forster.

Prod, company...................................... HelenBoyd Scriptwriter............................................HilaryFurlong Wardrobe............................................... JaneHyland Stunts co-ordinator.............................. GlennBoswell Jane Griffin Productions Pty Ltd Based on the unpublished Scenic a rtist........................................ RobertMancini S tunts....................................Glenn Boswell, Prod, manager.......Carolynne Cunningham Producer....................................Helen Boyd short story b y .............................Jane Hyde Musical director.................................... BruceRowland Ric Bowe, Location unit manager............

Ron Stigwood Scriptwriter................................Jeff Holland Sound editor.......................................... TerryRodman Budget.......................................... $2,478,561 Tim Perry, Cast: John Hargreaves (Neil McAdam).

Still photography.................................. SterioStillsBased on the original idea Mike Read Asst location unit manager......Mason Curtis Sydney location manager......... Elaine Black by............................................ Jeff Holland (David and Lorelei Simmonds) Synopsis: A bitter-sweet comedy about love, Still photography....................................GregNoakes Sydney location assistants.... Peter Lawless, Length.......................................................120mins Publicity.............................Burson-Marsteller sex and growing up in the sixties.

Dialogue coach.................................. AudineLeith Gauge......................................................... 35mmVoice coach........................ Edward Caddick Henk Prins Budget........................................................ $5million Transport manager............................... RalphClark THE BIG HURT Length....................................................... 120mins Animal handler.......................................LukeHura TWELFTH NIGHT Prod, accountant...............Spyros Sideratos Gauge............................. 35 mm anamorphic Storyboard artist................ Scott Hartshorne Prod, company.................................. Big Hurt Accounts assistants.......................CatherineRyan, Cast: Gus Mercurio (Ugo Mariotti).

Prod, company............Twelfth Night Pty Ltd Tutor......................... Colleen Van Der Horst Producer................................................. ChrisKiely Lorraine McDermott Synopsis: The story of a man’s rise to Producer.................................Don Catchlove Best boy............................................. WernerGerlach Director.................................................. BarryPeak 1st asst director...................................... MarkTurnbull leadership in an emergency, when a Director.....................................Neil Armfield Runner................................................. MasonCurtis Scriptwriters.......................................... BarryPeak, Dunkirk-style evacuation is used to rescue 2nd asst directors...................................

TonyMahood, Scriptwriter..................

William Shakespeare Publicity.................... Suzie Howie Publicity Sylvia Bradshaw Craig Bolles thousands of holiday-makers from a bushfire Photography................................Louis Irving Catering................................................ FrankManley Based on the original idea (Aboriginal sequences) on the Mornington Peninsula.

Prod, designer......................

Stephen Curtis Studios...............................................HendonStudios b y ....................................................... BarryPeak, 3rd asst director..................................... CraigSinclair Composer............................................... AlanJohn Mixed a t............................................. HendonStudios Sylvia Bradshaw FRENCHMAN’S FARM Exec, producer........................... Tom Stacey Laboratory........................................Colorfilm Asst director Photography.....................Malcolm Richards (Aboriginal sequences)...... Annette Boyes Prod, company................J.J. Nominees Ltd Prod, supervisor.......................Patricia Blunt Lab. liaison..................... Richard Piorkowski Exec, producer..............................Phil Dwyer Continuity.................................. Moya Iceton Dist. company..................Frenchman's Farm Prod, accountant................................. MartinEllisBudget.........................................$4.4 million Prod, supervisor...................................... RayPond Director’s assistant................... Michele Day Productions Pty Ltd Musical director..................... Cameron Allan Length......................................................... 90mins Gauge..................................... Super 16 mm Casting.................................... M & L Casting Producers........................... James Fishburn, Laboratory...............................................CFL Gauge.................................................. 35 mm Synopsis: Action-adventure set in Mel­ Matt White Budget........................................... $590,000 Shooting stock......................................Kodak Extras’ casting..............................Sue Parker bourne.

Director.................................................... RonWayLength............................................ 105 mins Cast: Peter Phelps (Judah), Imogen Camera operator...................... Nixon Binney Focus puller..................... Peter Menzies Jnr Scriptwriter.........................................WilliamRussell BLOWING HOT AND COLD Gauge......................................................... 35mmAnnesley (Abigail), Mouche Phillips (Beatie), Based on the original idea Cast: Peter Cummins, Julie Forsyth, Robert Moya O’Sullivan (Granny), Nikki Coghill Clapper/loader...................................... GarryPhillips Prod, company........................ Celsius Prods Camera assistant.....................................RobAgganis by.....................................................William Russell Grubb, Gillian Jones, Jacquy Phillips, (Dovey), Don Barker (Samuel), Lyndell Rowe Producer................................. Basil Appleby Photography...........................Ron Johanson Geoffrey Rush, Kerry Walker, John Wood.

(Kathy), Barbara Stephens (Justine), Jo Key grip.................................................... RayBrown Director......................Brian Trenchard Smith Grip....................................................... StuartGreen Composer.............................. Tommy Tycho Synopsis: A modern dress production of the England (Doll), Damian Janko (Gibbie).

Scriptwriters......................... Rosa Colosimo, Exec, producer................................... ColsonWorner popular Shakespeare play, with Calypso Synopsis: Teenage Abigail finds herself Asst grips......................... Brendan Shanley, Reg McLean Greg Mossop Art director............................................ PhillipWarner music backing. transported through time to the Sydney of Script editor...................... Everett De Roche 2nd unit photography................ Louis Irving Budget..................................................... $2.3million one hundred years ago where she must fulfil Exec, producers......................Reg McLean, 2nd unit camera assistant............ Terry Field Length.........................................................95minutes the Bow family prophecy before she can Rosa Colosimo Gauge..............................35 mm Panavision return home. Through a series of extra­ Gaffers............................... Brian Bansgrove, Cast: Giancarlo Giannini (Nino), Arkie Peter O’Brien Synopsis: Barry knew he’d witnessed a ordinary adventures Abigail succeeds in Whiteley (Sally). murder down on the farm, the others were Electrics........................ John Bryden-Brown, saving the Bow’s Celtic “ Gift” as well as Synopsis: The story of a friendship between Colin Chase not so sure. But when they opened that finding love and then losing it again along two men who struggle to conquer differences Pandora’s box the consequences were Boom operators......................... Phil Tipene, the way. of culture, temperament and values in order horrific for everyone.

Gerry Nucifora to survive the dangers of their adventures Art director...............................Brian Hocking DOT AND THE BUNYIP and achieve their goal. The action moves KANGAROO Asst art director................................Kim Dary Prod, company.................................... YoramGross from the vast expanses of the Australian Art dept co-ordinator....................Penny Lang Prod, company................... Introndie Pty Ltd Film Studio desert to the peaks of treacherous, snow­ Costume designer..................George Liddle Dist. company.................................Filmways Producer.............................................. YoramGross capped mountain ranges.

Design assistant......................... Warren Field Producer................................... Ross Dimsey Director................................................ YoramGross Make-up.................................Bob McCarron, Director........................................Tim Burstall Scriptwriters...........................................GregFlynn, CACTUS Wendy Sainsbury, Scriptwriter............................................. EvanJones Yoram Gross Ivonne Pollock, Prod, company..................................DophineLtd Based on the novel b y ........... D.H. Lawrence AUSSIFIED Length................................................80 mins Sonja Smuk Producers................................................ PaulCox,Exec, producers........................Robert Ward, Gauge..................................................35 mm Prod, company...............

Screencrafts Prods Hairdresser..........................Shayne Radford Jane Ballantyne Bill Marshall, Synopsis: A circus owner attempts to cap­ Producer............... Ralph LawrenceMarsden Wardrobe....................................

Anna Wade Director............................................Paul Cox Peter Sherman, ture a mysterious Bunyip, but Dot and her Director................. Ralph LawrenceMarsden Standby wardrobe................ Julie Middleton Screen Adaptation.................................. PaulCox, Mark Josem bushland friends try to foil his plans. Dot Scriptwriter............ Ralph Lawrence Marsden Asst standby wardrobe.........

Annie Peacock Bob Ellis, Publicity...................................... Wendy Day soon discovers that the circus is merely a Photography........Ralph Lawrence Marsden, Wardrobe assistants...............Andrea Hood, Norman Kaye Budget.............................................$3 million front for an international wildlife smuggling Stewart Neale Jean Turnbull, Based on the scenario b y .............. Paul Cox Gauge................................................. 35 mm operation.

Sound recordist.......... Peter Mandei (Britain) Linda Mapledoram, Photography................................. Yuri Sokol Composer (in part).......................... Sean Ore Jeanette McCullogh, DOT AND THE WHALE Art director.....................................Asher Bilu MALCOLM Casting adviser.................................... MarcelCugola Rita Crouch Cast: Isabelle Huppert (Colo), Norman Kaye Prod, company.........................Yoram Gross Casting consultants.......The Actor’s Agency, Prod, company..........Cascade Films Pty Ltd Props................................................. Ian Allan (Tom).

Rim Studio Frog Promotions, Producers.............................................NadiaTass, Props buyers............................ Peta Lawson, Synopsis: A love story between two blind Producer...................................Yoram Gross Sascha Management David Parker Brian Edmonds, people who teach one another to see.

Director................................................. NadiaTassDirector.....................................Yoram Gross 2nd unit photography............................... WilfWatters Sally Campbell, Scriptwriters..............................John Palmer, (Britain) Scriptwriter................................

David Parker Peter Forbes DEAD-END DRIVE-IN Music performed by (in p art)..........Sean Ore Yoram Gross Photography.............................. David Parker Standby props.......................................... IgorLazareff Length................................................80 mins Prod, company...Springvaie Productions P/L & Nuefrunt Prod, designer......................................... RobPerkins Asst standby props....................... Aran Major Laboratory............................................... VFL Gauge.................................................. 35 mm Producer.............................Andrew Williams Composer................................................PaulCoppins Special effects.................................... Mirage Synopsis: In a desperate bid to rescue a Length................................................ 90 mins Director.................... Brian Trenchard-Smith Exec, producer.................... Bryce Menzies (Andrew Mason, whale stranded on a beach, Dot and Shooting stock......................................Kodak Scriptwriter..............................Peter Smalley 1st asst director..................................... TonyMahood Tad Pride) Neptune the dolphin hunt the ocean depths Cast: Chris Waters (David), Amanda Mc­ Based on the short story b y ....... Peter Carey Producer’s assistant.......... Debra Goldsmith Set dressers.............................................PetaLawson, searching for a wise, old octopus called the Namara (Wendy), Bronwyn Gibbs (Chrissie), Budget.........................................$2.3 million Camera operator...................................NixonBinney Brian Edmcfhds, Christine Andrew (Claire), Peter Tabor Oracle who knows how to save whales.

Gauge.................................................. 35 mm Focus puller.............................................RexNicholson Sally Campbell, (George), Susan Mantell (Stephanie), Martin Synopsis: Set in a quirky, futuristic world, a Carpenter...................................................IanMcLay Peter Forbes Trainor (Barry), Esme Gray (Bea), Con PLAYING BEATIE BOW young man becomes trapped in a drive-in.

Still photography....................................GregNoakes Scenic artist................................................IanRichter Babanoitis (taxi driver), Margaret Younger Laboratory.........................................Cinevex Prod, company..........SAFC Productions Ltd (disco lady).

Asst scenic artists.................................. PeterCollias, THE DISTANCE Budget............................................. $999,000 Dist company.......................................... CEL Chris Read (formerly Daisy) S ynopsis: Contemporary drama set in Length................................................ 90 mins Producer........................................Jock Blair Art dept runner.......................................PeterForbes London and Melbourne.

Gauge.................................................. 35 mm Prod, company......... Argus Motion Pictures Director...............................Donald Crombie Standby carpenter................................ DerekWyness Shooting stock..........................Eastmancolor Producers.................................. Hugh Kitson, Scriptwriters.................................Irwin Lane, Carpenters.........................Brendan Shortall, BOOTLEG Colin Borgonon Cast: Colin Friels (Malcolm), John Har­ Peter Gawler Geoff Howe, greaves (Frank), Lindy Davies (Judith), D irector.............................Richard McCarthy Prod, company........................ Bootleg Rims Based on the novel by................... Ruth Park Kevin Kilday, Beverly Phillips (Mrs Tamarack).

Scriptwriter........................ Anthony Wheeler Producers............................ Trevor Hawkins, Photography....................... Geoff Simpson Simon Miller,

FEATURES

PRE-PRO D U CTIO N

PRODUCERS

PRODUCTION

POST-PRODUCTIO N

CINEMA PAPERS July — 51

Still photography...........Martin Glassborrow »»ararooe............................................. LesleyMcLennan Music performed b y ..................... Kate Reid Gordon McIntyre, Military adviser/ Ward, assistant........................... Kate Green Sound editor.................................Mark Atkin Julie Peters, Rory Forrest, safety officer......................................„.Ken McLeod Ward, standby........................................ Julie Middleton Mixer....................................... Roger Savage John Robertson, Peter Longley, Arm ourer...................... Robert Hempenstall Pattern makers.......................... Judy Parker, Vicky Robinson, Still photography................... Maria Stratford Allan Brown, Period vehicle co-ordinator.......Rob McLeod Kerry Barnett Runner....................................... Vic Mavridis Jan Stephen, Boris Kosanovic Best boy................................................... DickTummel Props buyers........................................SandyWingrove, Bela Szeman Catering.............................................. Tartine Construction managers..........Denis Donelly, Runners...............................Chris Gilmartin, Jock McLachlan, Mixed a t.......................................SoundFirm Danny Rollston Painting & tracing..................Robyn Drayton, Melinda Foster Miv Brewer Laboratory........................................Cinevex Mimi Intal, Construction runner............ Daniel Morphett Publicity.....................Les Jabara and Assoc.

Standby props........................................TonyHunt Corallee Munro, Lab. liaison.................................Bruce Braun Asst editor............................Jeanine Chialvo Unit publicist.................................

Les Jabara Scenic artists.............................Ray Pedler, Joseph Cabatuan Length...............................................

60 mins 2nd asst editor........................Liz Goldfinch Catering ...,.......................... Beeb Fleetwood Brian Nickless Gauge.................................................. 16 mm Backgrounds...............................Amber Ellis Sound e ditor.................................. Lee Smith Laboratory...............................................Atlab Carpenters................................

Geoff Howe, Shooting stock..................Kodak 7291,7294 Graphics........................................ Eric David Still photography.................... David Parker Lab. liaison................................................JimParsons Andrew Tickner, Cast: Kate Reid (Elizabeth), Tony LlewellynSpecial fx ...............................Jeanette Toms Livestock co-ordinator.... Kayleen Donnellan Budget.......................................... $3,000,000 Errol Glassenbury, Jones (Christopher), Chloe Cunningham Asst editor..............................Stella Savvas Horsemasters.......Heath and Evanna Harris, Length.............................................105 mins Andrew Chauvel, (Vanessa), Lucy Henry (Georgina), Merle Alan Fitzsimmons Publicity....................Helena P. Wakefield — Gauge...................................................35 mm David Stenning, Dalmaine (Joan).

International Media Marketing Horsemasters’ assistant..........Ann Stevens Shooting stock...................................... Kodak Grant Longley S y n o p s is : C hristo p h er believes the Laboratory....................................... Colorfilm Coachmaster......................... Graham Ware Scheduled release......................... Late 1985 Set construction.......................Alan Fleming Length...........................................80 minutes marriage will work only if Elizabeth retrieves Wranglers.................................Hugh Barnet, Asst editors.........................................PamelaBametta, Cast: Bill Hunter (Adams), Maurie Fields the goir clubs from the pool.

Derek Fisher, Gauge.................................................. 35 mm Gai Steele (Martin), James Coburn (Dannenberg), Reb Bruce Emery, S ynop sis: After shrinking to insect size, Dot Brown (Leonski), Don Gordon (Fricks).

Brushhand............................................

Gillian Nicholas finds herself in a terrifying world of huge i OWN THE RACECOURSE Max Mitchell, Synopsis: The violent crimes of Private Model maker.......................................WarrenField spiders and massive ants. Desperately, she Don Fitzsimmons, Prod, company.................... Barron Films Ltd Edward J. Leonski of the American Army in Musical director..................................

Nathan Wax and her friend, Keeto the Mosquito, hunt for Robert Watchirs, Dist. company...................................... NilsenPremiere Melbourne during May of 1942, his Editing assistants...............................PamelaBametta, Stephen Moxham, the magic bark that will return her to her Producers............................................... JohnEdwards, subsequent apprehension and the political Gai Steele normal size.

Daphne Phillips, Timothy Read and military ramifications of his trial and Still photography.........................Vivian Zink Emma Erback, Director..............................Stephen Ramsey Best boy.................................... Matt Slattery execution.

DOT AND THE KOALA Gale Coutts, Scriptwriter............................. John Edwards Runner.................................................. AdamSpencer MARIE CLAIRE Mandy Beaumont Prod, company.................................... YoramGross Based on the novel b y..... Patricia Wrightson Transport.......................... Sue & Ralph Clark Camel dresser....................... John Wittacker (working title) Film Studio Photography..........................................GeoffBurton Publicity...............

Marita Blood & Associates Best boys................................... Colin Chase, Producer..............................................YoramGross Sound recordist.....................Kevin Kearney Prod, company............. Collins Murray Prods Unit publicist.................................. MadeleineRead Paul Gantner Director................................................ YoramGross Editor..................................... Denise Haslem Producer................................John B. Murray Catering.................................................Kaos, Exec, producer........................................ PaulBarron Runners.................................................LionelCurtin, Scriptwriter............................................. GregFlynn Director.......................................Scott Murray Kathy Trout, Robin Newell Based on the original idea Prod, manager..................... Adrienne Read Scriptwriter................................ Scott Murray Helen Rixon Voice coach...................................Gina Pioro b y..................................................... YoramGross Unit management/ Script consultant...................John B. Murray Studios..............................Pyramid, Mort Bay Music teacher..................................... ColleenLeonard Director of photography...... Graham Sharpe Location manager............ Filminc Pty Ltd/ Photography....................... Andrew pe Groot Laboratory........................................Colorfilm Doctor................................................... GillianDeakin Photography........................ Jan Carruthers, Jake Atkinson Sound recordist....................................LaurieRobinson Lab. liaison......................Richard Piorkowski Researcher...................................... ChristinaNorman Ricky Vergara Prod, secretary....................................... Julie Plummer Editor.............................................Tim Lewis Budget........................................ $3.8 million Vet.................................................Dick Jane Director of animation............... Gairden Cook Prod, accountant......................................Lea Collins Exec, producer.....................

Peter C. Collins Shooting stock......................................Kodak Unit publicist....................Santina Musumeci Assoc, producer.................................SandraGross 1st asst director................Corrie Soeterbeck Line producer.......................................... TomBurstall Cast: Helen Buday (Teresa), Hugo Weaving Catering................................................. JohnFaithfull Prod, co-ordinator.......................Meg Rowed 2nd asst director..............................

Adrienne Parr Prod, manager........................................JohnHipwell (Jonathan), Hugh Keays-Byrne (Andrew), Catering assistant................................... GaryFrame Prod, manager.......................Narelle Hopley Location/unit manager..............Stuart Beatty Judi Farr (Aunt Bea), Regina Gaigalas 3rd asst director............................ Kit Quarry Budget......................................................$8.9million Administration........................................ KylieWhipp Continuity....................... Stephanie Richards Prod, secretary..............................Ann Mudie (Jean), Nicholas Opolski (Lance), John Cast: Jack Thompson (Burke), Matthew Prod, accountant................ Libay de la Cruz, Extras casting.......................................

Jenni Kubler Prod, accountant................................ PaulineMontagna Poison (Leo), Odile le Clezio (Kitty), Sam Fargher (King), Ralph Cotterill (Gray), Chris Peat Marwick, Mitchell & Co. Focus puller..............................................KimBatterham 1st asst director....................................... Tom Burstall Neill (James Quick), Linden Wilkinson (Miss Haywood (McDonagh), Drew Forsythe Animators.......................................... GairdenCook, Clapper/loader.................................... DarrenKeogh 2nd asst director.................................MarcusSkipper Haviland).

(Brahe), Monroe Reimers (Dost Mahomet), Jacques Muller, Key g rip ............................................ BrendanShanley 3rd asst director............................... NicholasReynolds S ynop sis: The story of a young girl’s Greta Scacchi (Julia), Nigel Havers (Wills), Wal Louge, Gaffer.......................................................RickMcMullen Continuity...............................

Shirley Ballard passionate search for love and sexual fulfil­ Boom operator............................ Eric Biggs Barry Hill (Landells), Ron Blanchard Nick Harding, Casting asst/unit runner...........Nimity James ment, and the men who help her find it.

(Patton).

John Berge, Art director............................Richard Roberts Casting consultant........................Lee Lamer Synopsis: The story of the first two explorers Stan Walker, Costume designer...............Miranda Skinner Camera operator................................... DavidWilliamson FORTRESS to cross the continent from south to north Joanna Fryer, Make-up............................................ AmandaHunt and back.

Andrew Szemenyei, Ward, assistant.......................................SuzyCarter Prod, company................................CrawfordProds Clapper/loader..................................... MandyWalker Paul McAdam Props buyer.......................................... LouiseCarrigan Producer...................................................RayMenmuir Key g rip ................................................. DavidCassar CHANNEL CHAOS In-betweeners............................. Paul Baker, Standby props......................................LouiseCarrigan Director..................................Arch Nicholson Asst g rip ............................................. MarcusMcLeod Steve Becker, Asst edito r............................................ CathyChase Scriptwriter........................Everett De Roche Prod, company......................................HatfulProds G affer..................................................... JohnEngeler Karen Boubouttis, Dubbing editor......................................CathyChase Based on the novel b y ........... Gabrielle Lord Producer....................................... Chris Kiely Boom operator............................Grant Stuart Bela Szeman, Still photography......................... Vivian Zink Photography..........................David Connell Director........................................ Barry Peak Art director............................................ PaddyReardon Julie Peters, Tutor.................................Claire Carmichael Sound recordist..................................AndrewRamage Scriptwriters.................................Chris Kiely, Asst art director..................................... KerithHolmes Lu Rou, Best boy................................................ShaunConway Editor.................................................... RalphStrasser Barry Peak Costume design Vicky Robinson, Prod, designer..........................Phil Warner Runner............................................... MichaelLavigne Photography..................................... MalcolmRichards consultant...................................RosemaryRyan Maria Haren, Catering.....................Out To Lunch Catering Exec, producers................Hector Crawford, Sound recordist..........................John Rowley Make-up....................... Amanda Rowbottom Domingo Rivera, Laboratory.............................................. Atlab Ian Crawford, Editor..................................................... DavidHipkins Hairdresser..................Amanda Rowbottom Wayne Kelly, Lab. liaison............................................BruceWilliams Terry Stapleton Prod, designer............................. Ian McWha Costumes and wardrobe Denise Kirkan, Budget............................................. $700,000 Assoc, producer.......................Michael Lake Music............................................John Rees, standby........................................... FrankieHogan Jan Stephen, Length.........................................................73minutes Prod, co-ordinator............. Elizabeth Symes Bernadette Holloway, Ward, assistants.......... Bernice Devereaux, Rodney Brunsdon, Gauge........................................Super 16 mm Prod, manager...................................... HelenWatts Greg Macainsh Michelle Leonard Judy Howieson, Shooting stock............. Kodak Eastmancolor Location unit manager....................Grant Hill Exec, producer......................................... PhilDwyer Standby props.......................................... RobMcLeod Murray Griffin, Cast: Gully Coote (Andy Hoddel), Safier Prod, accountant.................................. Vince Smits Prod, supervisor...........................Ray Pond Asst edito r............................................. PeterLitton Joanna Fryer, Redseposki (Terry), Rodney Burke (Joe), Continuity.....................................Jenni Tosi Prod, accountant................................... MarieMayall Sound editor............................... Craig Carter Anthony Mangan (Mike), Brett Adlard (Matt), Greg Farrugia Casting.......................... Maizels and Assoc.

Continuity.......................Joanne McLennan Sound transfers................................. EugeneWilson Tony Barry (Bert Hammond), Bob Noble Painting & tracing................. Robyn Drayton, Lighting cameraman............................. DavidConnell Lighting cameraman.........Malcolm Richards Asst sound editor.......................... Rex Watts Mimi Intal, (Sgt. Willis], Brett Climo (Const. Eadie), Tim Camera operator...................................DavidConnell Camera operator...............................MalcolmRichards Still photography..........Giorgio Mangiamele Corallee Munro, Elston (Const. Keogh), Rob Steele Focus puller................................. Greg Ryan Focus puller................................John Ogden Best boy................................................. PeterMaizey Joseph Cabatuan (Evangelist), Paul Bertram (Connelly), Gillian Clapper/loader.......................................Bruce Phillips Key grip.....................................................OrvMudie Runners............................. Stephen Shelley, Backgrounds.............................. Amber Ellis Gaffer...................................Robert J. Young Jones (Mrs Hoddel).

Gaffer......................................................GaryScholes Dylan Hyde Synopsis: A touching story of a very likeable Graphics........................................ Eric David 3rd electrics...........................................BruceTowers Boom operator......................John Wilkinson Production asst/ but somewhat slow teenage boy who is led to Special fx painting.............. .......... Christiane Boom operator..........................................JoeSpinelli Make-up................................................PietraRobins unit runner................................ AnnemarieKiely Van der Casseyen, believe that he has bought the Harold Park Art director................................................PhilWarner Wardrobe................................... Anna Jakab Production office asst................Kim Jonsson Racecourse for $20. His warm, ingenuous Jeanette Toms Props.....................................................PaddyReardon Props buyer........................................ PaulineWalker Catering.......................Bande Aide Catering, nature wins over the personnel at the race­ Asst editor.................................Stella Savvas Props buyer..........................................PaddyReardon Food For Rim Asst art director/ course and they accept him as the owner.

Publicity................... Helena P. Wakefield — Neg. matching..........................................MegKoernig Edge numberer......................Oliver Streeton props buyer...................... Nick McCallum International Media Marketing Sound editor.......................................... DavidHipkins Laboratory....................................... Colorfilm Costume designer................................. ClareGriffin THE LEONSKI INCIDENT Laboratory....................................... Colorfilm Mixer......................................................DavidHarrison Lab. liaison................................................ BillGooley, Make-up.................................................. JosePerez Length.......................................... 80 minutes Dolby stereo consultant........................... DonConolly Richard Piorkowski Prod, company........................... A Bill Nagle/ Make-up assistant.............................. LynetteHarding Gauge..................................................35 mm Still photography............ Oggy Photography Length........................................... 95 minutes David Hannay Production Standby wardrobe..........Margot McCartney, S ynop sis: Dot and her pal, Bruce the Koala, Runner....................................Bruce Nicholls forSuatu Film Management Gauge..........................................................35mm Phil Eagles try to stop a group of domestic animals from Catering................................. Emerald Diner Shooting stock........................ Eastmancolor Producers...................................... Bill Nagle, Standby props................ Shane Rushbrook a tiny town from building a dam across a Special effects....................................... BrianPearce Synopsis: A love story.

Studios.......................................Pan Pacific David Hannay local river. The “ townspeople” — a strange Scenic artists.......................................... JohnHedges, Laboratory........................................ Cinevex Director.................................... Philippe Mora THE MORE THINGS CHANGE mixture of haughty cows, ruthless pigs and Lab. liaison................................. Bruce Braun Scriptwriter................................................ BillNagle David Francis, dopey dogs — need the dam and its power to Prod, company................Syme International Length............................................... 82 mins Based on an historical event in 1942 Martin Keljoch catapult their town into the 21st century.

Productions Gauge....................................... Super 16 mm Photography.......................................... LouisIrving Carpenters............................................... RodHayward, Producer.......................................Jill C. Robb Shooting stock......................... .Kodak 7291 Sound recordist.....................................GeoffWhite Hugh Bateup FOR LOVE ALONE Director................................................

RobynNevin Cast: Jay Hackett (Mike), Tim Scally Editor.............................................John Scott Best boy...................................... Laurie Fish Scriptwriter.................................Moya Wood (Kookie), Lyn Semmler (Helen), Clive Hearne Prod, company.....................Waranta Pty Ltd Runner..................................Margaret Eabry Exec, producers....................................OscarScherl, Photography..............................

Dan Burstall (George), Peter Thompson (Sir Ninian Producer................................. Margaret Fink Richard Tanner Cave construction............................ Will Flint Sound recordist...................................... JohnPhillips Assoc, producers...............................HonnonPage, Richards).

Director.............................. Stephen Wallace Teachers/chaperones............... Jan Harfield, Editor.......................................................... JillBilcock Synopsis: Comedy set in a television Scriptwriter......................... Stephen Wallace Richard Jabara Jo Buchanan, Prod, designer................................... Jo Ford Script editor.........................................SandraLevy station.

Steven Hartley Prod, supervisor..................Geoffrey Pollock Assoc, producer..................Greg Ricketson Prod, co-ordinator...............

Vicki Popplewell Based on the novel by...........Christina Stead Publicity..................... Chris Day Enterprises DOT AND KEETO Prod, co-ordinator............ ........ Lynda House Prod, manager...................................... DavidClarke Photography........................... Alun Bollinger Catering...........................................ChristinaFrolich Prod, company......................... Yoram Gross Prod, manager............................

Trish Foley Sound recordist................. Syd Butterworth Laboratory.............................................. Atlab Unit manager.....................Leigh Ammitzboll Film Studio Unit manager.................... Leigh Ammitzboll Prod, secretary.........................................SueEvans Editor.......................................Henry Dangar Lab. liaison............................................ PeterWillard Producer...................................Yoram Gross Prod, accountant.................

Belinda Williams Prod, accountant...............Howard Wheatley Prod, designer.......................John Stoddart Gauge.................................................. 35 mm Director..................................... Yoram Gross Prod, assistant............................Kim Tyshing Composer............................................NathanWax Shooting stock......................................Kodak Asst accountant............................... AnthonyShepherd Scriptwriter.............................................John Palmer 1st asst director................. Adrian Pickersgill Exec, producer....................................... UAA Cast: Rachel Ward (Sally Jones), Dennis Prod, associate................................ JeanetteLeigh Photography..................................... GrahamSharpe 2nd asst director............. Hamish McSporran Assoc, producer...................................SusanWild Miller (“ Father Christmas” ), David Brad­ 1st asst director..................................... BrianGiddens Director of animation............... Ray Nowland 3rd asst director.................... Simon Rosethal Prod, co-ordinator.......... Suzanne Donnolley shaw (“ Pussycat” ), Vernon Wills (“ Dabby 2nd asst director..............Hamish McSporran Photographers....................Jan Carruthers, Continuity....................................................JoMcLennan Prod, manager..................................... SusanWild Duck” ), Roger Stephen (“ Mac the Mouse” ), 3rd asst director..................................... PeterCulpan Ricky Vergara Producers assistant............................ Judith Hughes Location manager...................Maude Heath Sean Garlick (Sid O’Brien), Rebecca Rigg Continuity...........................................JoanneMcLennan Assoc, producer......................Sandra Gross Lighting cameraman................................DanBurstall Unit manager..............................Chris Jones Producer’s assistant................................

Sue Robinson (Narelle), Anna Crawford (Sarah), Beth Prod, co-ordinator...................... Meg Rowed Focus puller............................................BarryHelleren Prod, secretary........................Michael Davis Casting consultants..................... Lee Larner Buchanan (Leanne).

Prod, manager...........................Vicki Joyce Key g rip............................... Paul Ammitzboll Prod, accountant.................................. ElaineCrowther Focus puller.................................

Derry Field S ynop sis: A group of school children and Administration............................Kylie Whipp Gaffer......................................................BrianAdams Accounts asst......................... Trish Griffiths their teacher are kidnapped by four men. Clapper/loader..................................... LaurieKirkwood Prod, accountant................ Libay de la Cruz, Best boy.................................................... JonLeaver Prod, assistant........................Robin Newell Key g rip......................................................

Ian Park The story tells of their fight to escape.

Peat Marwick, Mitchell & Co. Genny operator........................................ GuyHancock 1st asst director.......................Mark Turnbull Grips..................................................... JamieLeckie, Animators................................Ray Nowland, Boom operator..........................................RayPhillips 2nd asst director..... Carolynne Cunningham Barry Brown GEESE MATE FOR LIFE! Andrew Szemenyei, Make-up/hair..............

Joan Hills 3rd asst director...................... Peter Voeten Gaffer..................................................... TonyHoltham Ariel Ferrari, Prod, company..............

Goosey Continuity................................Daphne Paris W ardrobe................................................ AnjeBos Asst elect™............................................... LesFrazier Nicholas Harding, Producer.................... Tony Uewellyn-Jones Ward, assistant................... Anne McAllister Extras casting......................... Nene Morgan Generator operator...............................AdamWilliams Rowen Avon, Director...............................................VirginiaRouse Casting consultants............... M & L Casting Props buyer................................ Warren Hoy Boom operator.......................................ChrisGoldsmith Paul McAdam, Scriptwriters.......................................Virginia Rouse, Lighting cameraman.............. Alun Bollinger Standby props............................ John Stabb Art director............................................. GeoffRichardson Stan Walker, Sarah Jaffe Asst art director..........................................JillEden Camera operator............... Danny Batterham Set decorator..................Steve Jones Evans John Berge, Photography............................ Jaems Grant Focus puller........................................AndrewMcLean Set construction....................................DavidFranks, Costume designer.............................. SandraTynan Wal Louge Clapper/loader....................................... ChrisCole Sound recordist........................Sean Meltzer James Gannon Make-up.............................. Deryk De Neise, In-betweeners..............................Paul Baker, Editor...................................................... MarkAtkin Runners............................ Bruce Thompson, Front projection Michelle Lowe Jenny Barber, technician.............................. Ken Arlidge Composer............................................... KateReid Ian Neyland Asst make-up...........................................NickSeymour Mark Benvenuti, Key grip.................................................. RossErickson Prod, accountant.................................HellenGalbraith Art department runner..............Alistair Reilly Hairdresser........................................StephenMahoney Rodney Brunsdon, Asst g rip ........................................... GeoffreyFullAsst director............................. Juliet Darling Catering................

John Faithful Wardrobe supervisor..................Gerry Nixon Hanka Bilyk, G affer.........................................Reg Garside Continuity.....................................................DiGiuleri Laboratory.............................................. AtlabAustralia Standby wardrobe............................ AmandaSmith, Barbara Coy, Second electrics..................................... AlanDunstan Lighting cameraman................Jaems Grant Lab. liaison............................... Peter Willard Gail Mayes Greg Farrugia, Boom operator......................................... SueKerr Camera operator...................... Jaems Grant Gauge............................ 35 mm, anamorphic Props...................................................... KeithHanscombe Murray Griffin, Art director............................................. John Wingrove Focus puller.................................ChristopherCainProps buyer........................ Phil Chambers Shooting stock..................Kodak 5247/5294 Max Gunner, Art dept co-ordinator......... Christine Dunstan Clapper/loader............................ ChristopherCain Cast: Judy Morris, Barry Otto, Victoria Standby props........................................ JohnStabb Debbie Horne, Art dept asst..................Matthew Cummings Grips.......................................................PeterKershaw, Longley, Owen Johnson, Lewis Fitz-Gerald, Special effects....................................... BrianPerace Joseph Cabatuan, Costume designer............................... Jennie Tate David Cassar Set decorator..............................................JillEden Peter Carroll.

Domingo Rivera, Make-up........................... Lesley Vanderwalt Gaffer.................................Antony Shepherd Synopsis: Contemporary story about role Construction manager.......Geoff Richardson Wayne Kelly, Hairdresser...........................................CherylWilliams Boom operator.................................... LouiseHubbard reversals and relationships.

Stunts co-ordinator.................................... BillStacey

52 — July CINEMA PAPERS

WARDROBE • MAKE-UP VANS • CAMERA TRUCKS • CAST VANS • PROPS VANS • UNIT VEHICLES • TRACKING VEHICLES

FOR THE SUPPLY OF ALL FILM PROTECTION TRANSPORT CONTACT DAVID SUTTOR

PROUD TO BE SUPPLYING • Sword of Honour • Lancaster Miller • The More Things Change • Crocodile Dundee • Archer

318 WILLOUGHBY ROAD, NAREMBURN STATION WAGONS • SEDANS • HI-ACE VANS * 4 X 4 TOYOTA LANDCRUISERS • ACTION VEHICLES • TRAY TOPS • BUSES

Prod, manager....................Donna Shepherd Dist. company............... ABC-TV (Education) GREAT PUBLIC BARS Based on the original idea SHORT CHANGED Prod, accountant............. James Henderson Producer...................................Robin James b y .... ....................................... Philip Dalkin (Episode 3: An Australian Crawl) Prod, company............Magpie Films Pty Ltd Lighting cameraman..............Mathew Kelley Directors.................................Robin James, Director of photography.......... Gaetano Nino Prod, com pany............

CM Film Productions Producer............................... Ross Matthews Camera operator........................ Carlo Buralli Peter Cooke Martinetti Producer........................................... CarmeloMusca Director ................................George Ogilvie Camera assistant.....................Steve Peddie Scriptwriter............................... Robin James Sound recordist..........................................IanRyan Director.............................................

Carmelo Musca Scriptwriter...........................Robert J. Merritt Editor....................Edward McQueen-Mason Asst edito r................................... Julie Grant Sound recordist...................... Quentin Black Scriptwriter........................................CarmeloMusca Based on the original idea Neg. matching....................... Tang Thien Tai Prod, designer...................................... TracyWattEditor...................................... David Halliday Photography................................Ian Pugsley by................................. ... Robert J. Merritt Sound editor................................Christopher Lynch Prod, manager.........................................DickRead Composer..................................Red Symons Sound recordists..................... Piercy Porter, Photography...... r..................................PeterLevy Still photography................................... PeterFlanagan Producer’s assistant.............. Debbie Overell Prod, co-ordinator..................Leonie Jansen Susan Duits, Sound recordist......................................PeterBarker Laboratory.............................................. Atlab Lighting cameraman................Peter Cooke Prod, manager.......................RoslynTatarka Clare Moynihan, Lab. liaison.................................. ...GaryKeir Editor......................... Richard Francis-Bruce Camera operator.................... Colin Hertzog Location manager.............................. MurrayBoyd Roseanne Musca Budget............................................. $100,000 Prod, designer................ Kristian Fredrikson Asst editor................................ Roger Carter Prod, accountants...............................MargotBrock, Presenter..................................................JonSainken Assoc, producer..................................... RossMatthews Length.................................................50 mins Neg. matching......................Barry McKnight Pat Crozier Laboratory....................Cinevex, Melbourne Prod, m anager..................................BarbaraGibbs Gauge.................................................. 16 mm Sound editor........................... David Halliday Prod, assistant....................................MaggieDunn Gauge.................................................. 16 mm Unit manager........................................ Phillip Patterson Shooting stock ................................... 7291/84 Mixed a t..................................

ABC Brisbane 1st asst director...................................... John Wild Shooting stock.............. ...................... Kodak Prod, secretary........................................DixieBetts Scheduled release.......................July, Perth Laboratory.......................................Colorfilm 2nd asst director................................ MichaelMcIntyre Synopsis: The colour and diversity of the Cast: The West Australian Ballet Company, Prod, accountant..................................JennyVerdon Length..........................................................25 mins Continuity.............................................. HelenGaynor great Australian pubs and bars.

1st asst director.................................... SteveAndrews Charles Blackman, Kevan Johnston.

Gauge.................................................. 16 mm Casting.... .................................... Liz Mullinar 2nd asst director.................................... ChrisWebb Synopsis: The West Australian Ballet Com­ Shooting stock.........................Eastmancolor7247 Casting consultants.............. M & L Casting JAM TARTS AND NANSING ON 3rd asst director.................................... HenryOsborne pany’s world premiere production of Alice in Synopsis: As one in a series of docu­ Lighting TOUR Continuity....................................................JoWeeks Wonderland is the focus for this docu­ cameraman................................... GaetanoNinomentaries on Northern Australia, this film Focus puller............................ Bill Hammond mentary, which also follows the company to looks at the life of a crew member on board a Martinetti Prod, company.............21st Century Dingo/ Clapper/loader........................Mark Sullivan the North West and Central Australia.

Camera operator..............................GaetanoNinolarge bulk bauxite carrier, on voyage from PTW Key grip................................Paul Thompson Weipa to Gladstone.

Martinetti Dist. com pany................21st Century Dingo Asst grip..... ..........................George Tzoutas Focus pulle r.............................. Phillip Cross Producer................................................ ChrisGosfield Gaffer.,.....................................................SamBienstock Clapper/loader.................... Leigh McKenzie Director................................. John Robinson Electrician.......................

Brett Keeping FREIGHT TRAIN Key g rip .......................Paul Ammitzboll Scriptwriter............................ John Robinson SNO RTS Boom operator...............................David Lee Asst grip....................................................KenConnor Prod, company....................................... ABC Based on the original idea Make-up......................................................LizFardon Gaffer......................................................BrianAdams Producer................................... Robin James by......................................... Chris Gosfield Hairdresser.................................... Ljz Fardon Electrician................................................. JonLeaver Director.... ............................... Robin James, Photography.................Paul Worstenhotme, Wardrobe...............................................AnnaFrench Peter Cooke Boom operator..........................................RayPhillips Neville Ballard, Ward, assistant.......................................ChrisMawdsley FREE CLIMBING Trevor Sutherland, Art director.................................... Tracy Watt Scriptwriter................................Robin James Standby props................. Karen Monkhouse John Robinson, Asst art director.............................. GeorginaGreenhill Sound recordist................................. MichaelCharman Producer.............................................. StevenSalgo Asst editor.................................. Louise Innes Chris Gosfield Editor...................................... David Halliday Costume designer.................................. RoseChong Director................................................NatalieGreen Sound editor............................................. TimJordon Make-up.............................................. KirstenVeysey Editor.................................Sonya Pemberton Producer’s assistant.............Joanne Harvey Scriptwriter........................... Louise Shepard Still photography..... ............... Carolyn Johns Assoc, producer.............Chris Roberts Boyd Hairdresser...................................... Rochelle FordLighting cameraman............ ....Peter Cooke Photography........................................ NatalieGreen Best b o y .................................................ChrisFleet for PTW Exec, producer................ Vincent O’Donnell Wardrobe...............................................KarenMerkel Neg. matching......................Barry McKnight Runner.............................................JonathanCohen Prod, manager.........................Chris Gosfield Exec, assistant.................Mary Gustavsson Ward, assistant.................................... RobynAdams Sound editors....................... David Halliday, Publicity............................Elizabeth Johnson Props buyers.............................................JanHing, Steve Rhodes Prod, secretary...................................... LindaMcCann Length......................................................... 20minutes Catering............................Janette’s Kitchen Carl Habal Music performed b y ..... ................. Jam Tarts Mixers....................................................... MelRadford, Gauge..... ..................................Super 16 mm Lab. liaison....................... Warren Dolbridge and Nansing Shooting stock......................... ....... Eastman Mike Charman Standby props....................................... HarryZettel Budget............................................... ....$1.25million Choreography.....................................JoanneRobinson Synopsis: A documentary of Jam Tarts and Synopsis: A film that promotes rock Narrator................................Max Carmichael Cast: David Kennedy (Stuart), Susan Leith Nansing’s first tour as guest stars at the climbing and encourages others to try the Scenic artist...................................... GraemeGalloway Opticals........................................Ken Phelan (Alison), Ray Meagher (Marshall), Mark Little E sperance C ou n try M usic F estival, Set construction....................Nick Hepworth, sport. The film will feature experienced Mixed a t...................................................

ABC Brisbane (Curly), Jamie Agius (Tommy).

December 1984.

Ken Hazelwood, Laboratory........................................Colorfilm women climbers.

Synopsis: A young aboriginal shearer fights James Gannon, Lab. liaison..................................Tom Angel to be reunited with his part-aboriginal son.

Martin Kellog, NEVORIA PROJECT MICK MAKES A RESOLUTION Budget................................................$10,610 Matthew Scott Length..........................................20 minutes Prod, company............... Richard Oxenburgh Producer......................................Robert Bull A STREET TO DIE Asst editor................................. Erwin Husch Gauge.................................................. 16 mm Productions Director........................................Robert Bull Neg. matching...................................Cinevex Shooting stock..........................Eastmancolor Prod, company.......... Mermaid Beach Prods Dist. company..................Richard Oxenburgh Scriptwriters................................Robert Bull, Musical director.........................Red Symons 7247/7293 Producer.......................................Bill Bennett Productions Mike Innes Editing assistant.....................Colin Tudhope First released............................... April 1985 Director........................................Bill Bennett Producer......................... Richard Oxenburgh Budget.................................................. $1500 Stunts co-ordinator............... Glen Ruehland Synopsis: A story about the railwaymen and Scriptwriter.................................. Bill Bennett Director....................

Richard Oxenburgh Length................................................ 20 mins Still photography................................... RosieCass their two-day journey from Forsayth and Based on the original idea Scriptwriter......................Richard Oxenburgh G auge........................................ Super 8 mm Wrangler.................................Evanne Harris Cairns, and the people of the communities by.............................................. Bill Bennett Laboratory...................................... Colorfilm Shooting stock............................... Kodak 40 Runner.................................................... MarkDavis whose existence depends solely on the Photography.............................. Geoff Burton Lab. liaison.................................................RicSheilds Scheduled release.............September 1985, Publicity................................................. ChrisRyan ancient line staying open.

Sound recordist..........................Leo Sullivan Length............................................... 24 mins FTI Cinema 2 Unit publicist..................................... Di White Editor................................................... DeniseHunter Gauge...................................... ......... ,.16 mm Cast: Mike Innes (Mick).

Laboratory......................................... Cinevex Composer..........Michael Atkinson (Redgum) Shooting stock........................................7291 Synopsis: A very special period in the life of GREAT PUBLIC BARS Lab. liaison.................................Bruce Braun Exec, producer............................. Multi Films Synopsis: The building of a gold mine in the a man living alone in a little, run-down farm­ Length........................................100 minutes (Episode 1: Drinks All Round) Assoc, producer .....................Jenny Day Yilgarn district of Western Australia. house.

Gauge.................................................. 35 mm Prod, supervisor................................ PaulineSavage Prod, com pany............CM Film Productions Shooting stock....................... Kodak 5247/94 Location manager.............................. PaulineSavage THE SPIRIT OF UNCLE EDWARD MURDER CAFE Producer...............................Carmelo Musca Cast: Gary McDonald (Robert O'Hara Financial supervisor................................. PhilGerlach Director.................................Carmelo Musca Prod, company........................................ABC Prod, company............................Eye and Ear Burke), Kim Gyngell (William Wills), Roy Prod, accountant......................................PhilGerlach Scriptwriters................................

David Witt, Producer..............................

RobinJames Dist. company............................. Eye and Ear Baldwin (Charlie Gray), Mark Little (John Prod, assistant...,................. Debbie Samuels Kevin Hume Director..................................................RobinJames Producers........... ........... Pantelis Roussakis, King), Rod Williams (George Landells), Peter 1st asst director...... .........................Phil Rich Photography................................Ian Pugsley Scriptwriter............................................ RobjnJames Kimbel Hann Collingwood (Sir William Stawell), Jonathan Continuity................................................. RozBerrystone Sound recordist....................... Piercy Porter Photography...................... Michael Fanning Director..... ..................... Pantelis Roussakis Hardy (John Macadame), Alex Menglet Lighting cameraman................ Geoff Burton Editor......................... ............Peter Pritchard Sound recordist........................................MelRadford Scriptwriter..................... Pantelis Roussakis (William Brahe), Henry Maas (Charles), Focus puller....................................... .DarrenKeough Production...........................Clare Moynihan, Editor...................................... David Halliday Based on the original idea Nicole Kidman (Julia Matthews) Clapper/loader................................... MirianaMarusic Stephanie Madgwick Producer’s assistant.............. ..Dianne Parr b y ................................ Pantelis Roussakis Synopsis: “ Wills and Burke” — The Untold Gaffer......................................................... IanPlummer Susan Duits Camera assistant...........................

Rod Jong Photography....................Johnathon Larson Boom operator......................................... SueKerrStory. When the writer Philip Dalkin Roseanne Musca Neg matching....................Barry McKnight Editor.............................. Pantelis Roussakis Art director............................................... IgorNayresearched the history of Burke and Wills Continuity.................................. Jan Piantoni Sound editor...........................

David Halliday Composer...................................Colin Timms expedition he found a story that could only Asst art director.................... Stephen Harrop Asst editors...........................Linda Newland, Mixer.......................................Quentin Black Prod, co-ordinator.................. Cathy Hughes be told as a comedy: truth being funnier than Make-up.... ...........................Marjorie Hamlin Gillian Walker, Narrator..................................

Belzah Lowah Prod, managers.............Pantelis Roussakis, fiction. Dalkin traced the epic journey adross Wardrobe............................................ MaggieWoodcock Soulla Alexandrou Opticals................................John Tollemache Cathy Hughes the continent that ended in tragedy that Ward, supervisor.................................... MagiBeswick Music.......................Andy Priest Productions Title designer.............................................Jim Skinner Casting........................................Eye and Ear should have been victory but for the incom­ Ward, assistant.... .............. Linda Thompson Sound m ixer............ ......... ..............Kim Lord Mixed at.................................. ABC Brisbane Clapper/loader.....................................StevenMackerras petence and blundering of Burke and his Props buyer...!......................Alison Goodwin Presenter............ .............. ....... Jon Sainken Laboratory........................................Colorfilm Camera assistant................................ StevenMackerras back-up team. A comedy of errors, Asst editor............................................ RobertWerner Laboratory.........................................Cinevex Lab. liaison................................... Tom Angel Make-up...................................Elizabeth Hall ridiculously improbable and strange; and a Music performed b y .........................Redgum Gauge............................................. .....16 mm Budget............................................... $10,247 Hairdresser............................ Elizabeth Hall tale of extraordinary heroism.

Sound editor...............................Leo Sullivan Shooting stock...................................... Kodak Gauge...................................... ,.......... 16 mm Special effects............ .............. Peter Mullins Mixer..................................... Brett Robinson Synopsis: A look at the people and estab­ Shooting stock........................ Eastmancolor Still photography.................... Cathy Hughes Still photography .................. Joyce Agee lishments that are the great pubs and bars of ' 7247/7249 Catering.................................................

MariaRoussakis Runner........................................Kylie Burke New York.

First released..........................January 1984 Laboratory....................................... Colorfilm Publicity........................Robin Campbell-Huff DO CUM ENTARIES Synopsis: In October 1982, an elder of Length........................ ........................20 mins Unit publicist.......................................... RobinCampbell-Huff Yorke Island died, and his death had a Gauge............................................... ,.16 mm GREAT PUBLIC BARS Mixed a t.................................. Sound on Film Shooting stock........................

Eastman 7291 profound impact upon the people.

The film Laboratory...........................................Atlab (Episode 2: Mahogany & Marble) crew had arrived on Yorke Island in the Cast: Kimbel J. Hann (woman), Steven Lab. liaison............................................ BruceWilliams BELLEVUE REVISITED Torres Strait to film a sequence for a docu­ S tockw ell (cook), Colleen O ’ Rourke Prod, company .............CM Film Productions Length...........................................92 minutes mentary on Trochus Shell divers, when the (waitress).

Producer........................................... CarmeloMusca Gauge..........................................................35mm Prod, company.................................. RichardOxenburgh Director...............

Carmelo Musca news came that the island’s chief had died. Synopsis: Is it a daydream in a cafe? Or Productions Shooting stock..................................EastmanKodak Days of negotiations followed, and even­ ritual execution? When our fear outgrows the Scriptwriters.........................................PiercyPorter, Dist. company.....................................RichardOxenburgh Cast: Chris Haywood (Col Turner), Jennifer * Kevin Hume tually permission was given by the islanders real world.

Productions Cluff (Lorraine Turner), Peter Hehir to film the funeral ceremonies; the first time Producer „ ...............

RichardOxenburghPhotography............................ Ian Pugsley (Solicitor), Susannah Fowle (Julie), Pat NO DANCE such a burial has been filmed.

Sound recordist....................... .Piercy Porter Director.............................................. RichardOxenburgh Evison, Peter Kowitz.

Prod, company............................Dunb Films Editor....................................Owen Carpenter Scriptwriter.........................................RichardOxenburgh Synopsis: The true story of an Agent WONDERLAND Producer............................ !........Rod Bishop Production..............................................ClareMoynihan, Length................................................24 mins Orange victim’s fight for survival.

Prod, company..................... Rebus Films Ltd Director..................................... Philip Brophy Stephanie Madgwick, Gauge................................ .................16 mm Dist. company..............................Arinya Film Scriptwriter............................... Philip Brophy Susan Duits, Shooting stock....................................... 7291 W ILLS AND BURKE Distributors Photography............................................. RayArgali Roseanne Musca Synopsis:The rebuilding and re-opening of Producer............................................HeatherWilliams Editor.........................................Philip Brophy Presenter...................................Jon Sainken Prod, company............ Stony Desert Limited one of Western Australia’s oldest goldmines Composer............................

PhilipBrophy Director........................................ChristopherLynch Laboratory........................................ Cinevex,Melbourne Dist. company.............GUO (Australia only) in the North East Gold Fields.

Prod, assistant....................................... MariaKozic Based on the original idea Gauge..................................................16 mm Producers...................................... Bob Weis, b y ............................................. ChristopherLynch Laboratory........................................ Cinevex Shooting stock....................................

Kodak Margot McDonald BIG SHIP Sound recordists...........Christopher Lynch, Length......................................... 23 minutes Synopsis: A look at some of the great old Director...........................................Bob Weis (Working title) Leigh McDonald Gauge................................................,.16 mm pubs of England and the people who can be Scriptwriter .......................... Philip Dalkin Editor.............................. ..Ronda Macgregor Shooting sto ck...................Fuji 8521 & 8522 found in them.

Prod, company............ .......................... ABC Script editor............. .............. ,...... John Wild

CINEMA PAPERS July — 53

Directors............................................. MarcusCole, THE TOUCH Mark Joffe Prod, company.................... Tasmanian Film Scriptwriter........................................... PhillipCornford Corporation Pty Ltd Prod, company........................Somnambulist Based on the original idea Producer.................................Damian Brown b y ...................................................... PhillipCornford Productions Director................................... Damian Brown Director..................................... Greg Masuak Photography................................Ellery Ryan LOCAL AREA TRAFFIC Scriptwriter.................................. Marion Ord Camera operator.............. Bronwyn Nicholas Sound recordists................................... LloydCarrick, MANAGEMENT Based on the original idea Max Hensser (U.K.) Length.......................................... 20 minutes b y..............................................Marion Ord Prod, company.........................OmniGraphic Gauge................................................... 16 mm Editor...................................................... KerryRegan Producer...................................... Alan Taylor Length................................................ 52 mins Progress........................................Production Prod, designer................................... MichaelRalph Director.................................................. PeterRadford Synopsis: This is the story of a 13-year-old Cast: Kris Wyld Prod, supervisor................ Christine Godfrey Length................................................ 16 mins girl, one of the thousands of children in S ynopsis: A black comedy about a woman Prod, co-ordinator............... Vicki Popplewell Gauge................................................... 1-inchvideotape Australia each year who are the victims of who suddenly decides to clear her life of all Prod, manager........................................JohnJacob SOME BROADY BOYS Synopsis: An examination of the problems incest. It is also the story of a family in crisis memories, including those of herself.

Prod, accountant........Moneypenny Services associated with traffic management and when disclosure of the secret causes dis­ Prod, company........Verbal Graphics Pty Ltd 1st asst directors.................................... EddyPrylinski, demonstrating ways in which the general integration, shatters the system of relation­ Euan Keddie Producer............................................. MarcusBreen public can be involved through their local ships and poses frightening questions for the Director............................................... MarcusBreen 2nd asst director............. Hamish McSporran councils. future. It is hard-edged drama based firmly in Continuity............-.................. Jenny Quigley Photography...........Steve Mason (Bathurst), fact, but its thrust is positive and it allows a Casting......................................................JoySargant Scott McBurnie (Melbourne) OUTBACK — NEW SOUTH WALES safe conduct zone on the far side of the Lighting cameraman........................... ..ElleryRyan Sound recordists.......Ruth Beech (Bathurst), David Goldfayl (Melbourne) Boom operator.................... Chris Goldsmith Prod, company............................... Editsweet minefield. Its aim is to raise awareness of incest in the community, and to show that Editor........................................................NeilBrown Art director.................................................. IanGracie Producer........................................AntoinetteWheatley the result of breaking the silence surround­ Wardrobe............................................... DavidRowe Exec, producer....................................MarcusBreen Director..........................................AntoinetteWheatley ing it can be positive rather than a continuing Ward, assistant..................Kerry Thompson, Assoc, producer.................................. DebbieBreen Photography..............................Geoff Brown victimization of the child.

Heather Laurie Still photography....................Marcus Breen, Length......................................................... 17mins Debbie Breen Props buyer........................................RichardHobbs Gauge..................................................16 mm VINNIE AND THE SRC Laboratory..........Victorian Film Laboratories Standby props.........................................JohnOsmond Shooting stock..........................Eastmancolor Length................................................ 45 mins Synopsis: The many attractions around Prod, company............................. TasmanianFilmSet construction.................. Graeme Gilligan Gauge.................................................. 16 mm Unit publicist................................LynQuayle Corporation Pty Ltd Broken Hill provide a wide variety of unique COMPETITIVE EDGE Shooting stock................. Kodak 7294, 7291 Length.......................................... 6 x 60 mins places for the visitor to explore.

Dist. company...........Focal Communications S ynop sis: Two young people from BroadGauge.................................................. 16 mm (formerly Beyond 2000) Producer........................................ Peter Kay meadows, a working-class suburb on the Synopsis: On April 21, 1976 the unimagin­ OVERSEAS ADOPTION — Director.......................................John Honey Prod, company........................................VTC northern outskirts of Melbourne, spend their able shattered the traditional calm of the Scriptwriter................................ John Honey OLDER CHILDREN Producer............................... Janet Coleman lives preparing their motor cycles and racing venerable Victorian Club in Melbourne.

Photography........................................RussellGalloway Director......................................Mai Bryning Prod, company..................Television Makers Sound recordist.......................... Julian Scott them. From the preparation and activity in Masked gunmen burst through the doors to Scriptwriter............................... Alex Dumas Producer.................................................JohnCulliton Broadmeadows, the film documents their relieve the bookmakers present of over $2 Videotape editor................. Alvin de Quincey Sound recordist.............................. Ian Ryan Director...................................................John Adey efforts at the annual Easter motor cycle million in untraceable cash. This mini-series Assoc, producer..................................WendyRimon Editor........................................ John Barber Scriptwriter.............................................. DeeDorgan races at Bathurst in New South Wales. comes as close to the truth as anyone may Prod, manager.....................................Wayne Cowen Composer.............................. Chris Copping Length......................................................... 30mins ever come. To this day no one has been Prod, accountant.......................................

Ian Shadbolt Exec, producer................... Vince O'Donnell Gauge...................................................1-inch Continuity........................................... WendyRimon charged with the crime.

Prod, assistant.............. Samantha Toffoletti Shooting stock...............................Videotape Key grip..................................Gary Clements TAKING A LOOK Art director............................................ ChrisWorrall Synopsis: An extension of “ Is It For You” Boom operator....................................... MarkTomlinson HANDLE WITH CARE Mixed a t.................................................. VTC dealing more specifically with the problems Make-up.......................................... MargaretPierce (Formerly In The Pink) Prod, company...........................Alsof Pty Ltd Laboratory............................................... VTC and the joys associated with adopting child­ Asst editor..........................................MichaelHampton Prod, company......................... Market Street Producers........................................ AndrenaFinlay, Lab. liaison........................................ MichaelConkey ren from overseas countries.

Studios.........................................TasmanianFilm Films Ltd Budget............................................... $80,000 Anne Landa Corporation Pty Ltd Producer..................................David Noakes Director........'................................... Paul Cox Length......................................................... 20mins POWER HOUSE MUSEUM Length......................................................... 20mins Director...............................Madelon Wilkens Scriptwriter........................Anne Brooksbank Gauge............................................................1inch Gauge................................................... Video Prod, company.............Cadillac Productions Scriptwriters......................Madelon Wilkens, Photography..................................Yuri Sokol Shooting stock...............................Videotape Producer...................................Mike Conway Shooting stock...................................... 1-inchAmpex in collaboration with Length................................................75 mins Synopsis: Victorian promotional film for use Director.....................................Mike Conway Cast: Rebekah Robinson (Vinnie), Jane Michelle Denton, Gauge.................................................. 16 mm with senior m anagem ent personnel, Length................................................ 7 mins Clark (Alison), Carol Smithies (Vinnie’s Jacqui Reid, Synopsis: The story of two women dealing especially corporate investors and in mum), Mathew Thallon (Sean), Michael Gauge..................................................16 mm Delia Allen with the spectre of breast cancer.

European and the northern Pacific ring Shooting stock..........................Eastmancolor Chapman (Danny Moore), Robert Clarkson Based on the original idea countries.

Synopsls:An overview of the Power House (Michael Kovacs), Sarah Ingleton (Meredith b y.................................................. MadelonWilkens INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF THE Museum, demonstrating some of the Jacobs), Jan Edwards (vice-principal), Geoff Photography..........................Martha Ansara THE FRENCH COLLECTION YOUTH exhibits already restored and showing the Collis (Mr Cavanagh).

Sound recordist........................................JenHortin Prod, company..............................

MT Prods Prod, company............ Communique Pty Ltd space as it is today and envisages the future Synopsis: Vinnie is a bright non-conformist Editors........................Kerstine Hill-Harrison, Producers............................................ HanafiHayes, Power House Museum through computer 15-year-old whowants to continue her Frank Rijavec Producer............................................. StevenCozens Director................................................StevenCozens Jim George education. During the holidays, she and her graphics.

Composer.............................................. HelenLawrence Liaison......................................Juliet Grimm Director................................................. HanafiHayes friend Alison go out of their way to look at Exec, producer................................. MadelonWilkens (Film Victoria) Prod, co-ordinator........................... MeredythJudd employment prospects and to find out what Asst prod, manager............Rebecca Whiton Exec, producer............. Vincent O’Donnell Post-production......................... 20-20 Vision happens to people on the job market. She Prod, secretary...... ....................Susan Wells Length.........................................................23mins Length..........................................8 x 30 mins tries to convince the Student Representative Prod, assistant.........................................KatyClarke Gauge...........................................

Videotape Shooting stock.............................. Videotape Council at her school that school careers 1st asst director....................................SusanWeis Synopsis: A film about Madame Toussaint’s Synopsis: The project is a series of eight programmes needmore input from the 2nd asst director — visit to Australia to study the Neville Scott students themselves, but most of the SRC television programs designed to reflect the crowd sequences......................... Jim Kerr Collection. members do not feel they want to become realities of being a young person (youth) in Continuity..................................Francine Orr involved in such a project. However, when Australia in 1985.

Casting......................................Faith Martin, NATIONAL HERBARIUM the vice-principal finds out what Vinnie is DRIVER TRAINING Rebecca Whiton Scriptwriters..................................Jill Morris, LONG TAN doing, and looks favourably on it, things Focus puller............................... Alison Fuller Prod, company................... Tasmanian Film Mary Lancaster Clapper/loader...........................Alison Fuller Prod, company..........The Long Tan Film Co. ’ Corporation Pty Ltd begin to change.

Length.........................................................20minutes Key grip................................................ NevilleBallard (proposed) Producer................................Wayne Cowen Asst g rip .............................................MathewKayGauge..................................................16 mm Scriptwriters.......................................... DavidHorsfield, Director.................................. Damian Brown Scheduled release.............. December 1985 Gaffer......................................Daryl Binning Lex McAulay, Scriptwriters...........................Daryl Peebles, Synopsis: A film to delve behind the bland Boom operator....................... Gary Gbravac Bruce Horsfield, Alex Jerrim scientific walls of an herbarium, to reveal the Art director.................................Jill Kempson Julianne Horsfield Based on the original idea rich matrix of history, scholarship and Child care............................... Victoria Brown Based on the original idea by......................................................... AlexJerrim common utility found there.

Hairdresser............................................ DougLeslie by...................................................... BruceHorsfield Photography....................................... RussellGalloway Props..................................................YvonneMyer Sound recordist.................................... JulianScott Exec, producer..................................... BruceHorsfield Set construction......................................... BillHodge INTEGRATION OF DISABLED Prod, accountant..... Manfred and McCallum Videotape editors............... Ross Thompson, PEOPLE INTO CAMPING Asst editor.............................. Jan Louthean Alvin de Quincey Length..............................................110 mins PROGRAM Neg. matching.................... Cinevex Film Lab Gauge.................................................. 35 mm Prod, secretary....................Carmel Johnson Musical director.................................... HelenLawrence Synopsis: A recreation of the Battle of Long Prod, accountant....................................... IanShadbolt Prod, company.................................Can-AusFilms Music performed b y ............Helen Lawrence, Tan, when an Australian patrol of 108 men Continuity.............................. Wendy Rimon Director...................................................MikeBoland Christine Evans, fought off more than 1000 experienced Viet Producer’s assistant............Mark Tomlinson Sound recordist.................................. GeorgeCraig THE BODY BUSINESS Dennis Byrne, Camera assistant.................................. AdamKropinski Cong. Based on survivors’ own gripping Exec, producer................ Vincent O’Donnell Prod, company...................PBL Productions Denise Masters Key g rip.................................................. GaryClements accounts, the story illustrates the thesis that 1st asst director....................................TanyaJames Dist. company....................PBL Productions Sound editor.......................................... FrankRijavec Art director................................. Jon Bowling the war in Vietnam was won militarily, but Camera operator.....................................MikeBoland Director................................ Colin Eggleston Editing assistant................ Madelon Wilkens Make-up.............................. Margaret Pierce lost politically.

Musical director......................Chris Copping Scriptwriters.............................................TedRoberts, Mixer..........................................................IanMcLoughlin Wardrobe.......................................... Kay Alty Mixer.......................................Dave Harrison Michael Fisher Still photography.................. Helena Williams NOT SUITABLE FOR ADULTS Asst editors...........................................KarenWeldrick, Laboratory.........................................Cinevex Opticals....................... Cinevex Film Lab Michael Hampton Assoc, producer............................. Jan Tyrell Budget............................................... $24,000 Prod, company................ it’s About Time Ltd Prod, co-ordinator................Cathie Flannery Runner.............................................. GraemePerkins Mixer....................................................... TomGiblin Length................................................20 mins Producers...................................Pat Hunder, Casting..................................................... JoySargant Catering............................................... MarianSeeber Studios................................ Tasmanian Film Gauge..................................................16 mm Geoff Pollock Length..........................................4 x 60 mins Mixed a t................................................... FilmAustralia Corporation Pty Ltd Shooting stock......................................Kodak Performance director................ Leon Devine Gauge..................................................35 mm Laboratory....................................... Cinevex Mixed at............................... Tasmanian Film Synopsis: A film aimed at encouraging and Visual director.......................

Garry Dunstan Lab. liaison............................................ BruceBraun Corporation Pty Ltd Synopsis: A mini-series set amid the world Art director.............................. Gilbert Moase promoting the integration of disabled people of high fashion. A story of romance, glamour, Budget (includes deferrals)............. $60,000 Length Series of 3 into residential camping programs.

Costume designers..........Chong and Merkel Length......................................................... 25mins 1 x 15 mins, 1 x 10 mins, 1 x 5 mins murder and intrigue.

Musical director......................Greg Thomas Gauge.................................................. 16 mm Gauge...................................................Video Budget.............................................$695,000 CALL ME MR. BROWN Shooting stock.................................Eastman7291 Shooting stock.......1-inch videotape Ampex Length.................................13 x 30 minutess Scheduled release.................................. July1985 Synopsis: A series of three shorts to be used Prod, company................. The Kino Film Co. Synopsis: A series for children/adolescents Cast: Arna-Maria Winchester (Anna), Lucy Producer................................................TerryJennings as a training aid by driving instructors. using comedy and music to explore the Suriano (Helen), Michael innes (Steve), Director....................................... Scott Hicks growing up process as experienced by a FILM Claire Hayward (Miranda).

MORE THAN JUST AN Scriptwriters........................ Terry Jennings, diverse group of 16 year old Australians. The Synopsis: Anna lives alone with her young Scott Hicks world is explored through the eyes of the INDUSTRY daughter, when she enters into a relation­ Photography.............................................RonJohanson adolescent and, as the title suggests, no Prod, company.............................TasmanianFilmEditor................................................. AndrewProwse ship with a petty criminal (Steve) she finds adults are seen. The format is “ zany” and ADOPTION OF SPECIAL NEEDS Corporation Pty Ltd Length................................................90 mins herself entering forbidden areas. The film different and explores controversial issues.

Dist. company.........Focal Communications CHILDREN looks at the tenuous moments where differ­ Cast: Chris Haywood (Peter Macari).

Producer......................................

Peter Kay ence interacts and expresses itself in Synopsis: A drama based on the extra­ Prod, company...............................TelevisionMakers THE PACK OF WOMEN Director................................................... JohnHoney sexuality. ordinary events surrounding the 1971 Producer................................................ John Culliton Scriptwriter............................Peter Campbell Qantas bomb hoax.

Prod, company......................Sideshow AlleyLtd Director........................................ John Adey Photography....................................... RussellGalloway Dist. company........................Sideshow AlleyLtd Scriptwriter.............................................. DeeDorgan Sound recordist....................................JulianScott Producer.................................Diana Manson Length.................................................7 mins THE UNBROKEN SPIRIT THE CHALLENGE Editor................................ Mike Woolveridge Scriptwriter..............................

Robyn Archer Gauge.................................................. 1-inch (Working title T h e S to c km a n ) Prod, manager........................Wayne Cowen Prod, company...........................Roadshow, Based on the play b y...............Robyn Archer Shooting stock..............................Videotape Prod, secretary...................................Carmel Johnson Coote and Carroll/ Prod, company.....................Gittoes & Dalton Prod, designer..............................

Roger Kirk S ynop sis: A short video for screening at the Prod, accountant....................................... IanShadbolt Golden Dolphine Production Productions Pty Ltd Composer........................................... Various Royal Easter Show, Sydney. The video Producer’s assistant...........................

Wendy Rimon Dist. company..........................Nine Network Producers............................George Gittoes, Assoc, producer...............

Sandra Alexander demonstrates the involvement of the Depart­ Camera assistant.................Adam Kropinski Producers............................... Tristram Miall, Gabrielle Dalton Prod, accountant....... Rosenfeld, Kant & Co. ment of Youth and Community Services and Key grip................................Gary Clements Bob Loader Director............................................... GeorgeGittoes Casting...................................Sideshow AlleyLtd to show the general public aspects of Boom operator.....................Mark Tomlinson Scriptwriter.............................. David Phillips Scriptwriters........................ George Gittoes, Musical director...........................Andrew Bell adopting children who have Special Needs.

Asst editor............................................. KarenWeldrick Exec, producers......................... Greg Coote, Gabrielle Dalton Budget........................................$280,022.40 Matt Carroll Scheduled release............. ABC TV, Nov. 85 Neg. matching.................................. Cinevex Photography....................................... GeorgeGittoes FOSTERING SPECIAL NEEDS Studios.........................................TasmanianFilmLength.........................................6 x 6 0 mins Sound recordist................................GabrielleDalton Synopsis: The programme is based on the CHILDREN Corporation Pty Ltd Synopsis: The Challenge traces behind the successful cabaret produced in London and Editor.................................................. GeorgeGittoes Laboratory........................................ Cinevex scenes winning by Australia of the America’s across Australia. Consists of songs, prose Prod, company...............................TelevisionMakers Editing asst........................................... GinnyHeydon Lab. liaison............................................ BruceBraun Cup. A full dramatization of the guts, deter­ and poetry fitted together to make up a Producer................................................ JohnCulliton Video effects............................... Image East mination and the who-did-what-to-whom Length.........................................................26mins Director.........................................John Adey mosaic of new ways of looking at women.

Laboratory....................................... Colorfilm stories that have never been told before.

Gauge..................................................16 mm Scriptwriter.............................................. DeeDorgan Old images are juxtaposed with new lyrics, Lab. liaison......................Richard Piorkowski Shooting stock.....................................

Kodak Length.................................................

6 mins Length................................................ 58 mins layers of irony and humour bring out startling Synopsis: Tasmania is Australia’s newest Gauge.................................................. 1-inch meanings in familiar songs and new songs S ynop sis: The new generation of Northern THE GREAT BOOKIE ROBBERY wine producing area and is fast gaining a Shooting stock.............................. Videotape Territory stockmen carry on a unique Austra­ celebrate new women. reputation as one of the world's foremost Prod, company................... PBL Productions S ynop sis: A short video programme made lian tradition and lifestyle. This dramatized producers of premium quality cold climate Pty Ltd as a companion to the A d o p tio n o f S p ec ial documentary allows the audience to get to PETROV wines. This film looks at techniques and Dist. company.................... PBL Productions N e ed s C h ild ren . The video demonstrates know these characters, and the drama and philosophies of five major Tasmanian wine Pty Ltd Prod, company................... PBL Productions the involvement of the Department of Youth excitement of their way of life, through a Producer......................................Ian Bradley producers.

Dist. company.................... PBL Productions and Community Services in the procedures season in the saddle.

Progress....................................... Production Kim Beissel (The Body Dance), Jillian Burt (The Record Buyer), Lino Caputo (The Linn Drum Computer), Merryn Gates (The Twist), Peter Lawrance (The Listener), Bruce Milne (The Radio D.J.), Robert Pearce (The No Dance), Julie Purvis (The Modern Dance).

S ynop sis: A film not about dancing (made

by Tch! Tch! Tchl). ' Cast:

WHEN I KISSED YOUR LIPS THIS MORNING

of fostering Special Needs children. The pro­ gramme was made for viewing by the general public at the Sydney Royal Easter Show.

GOVERNMENT FILM PRODUCTION FILM V ICTO R IA

TASMANIAN FILM CORPORATION

TELEVISION

PRE-PRO DUCTION

NEW SOUTH WALES CORPORATION

54 — July CINEMA PAPERS

Scriptwriter..................................Cliff Green Based on the original idea b y .............................................Sam Lipski Length......................................... 4 x 60 mins Gauge...................................................16 mm S yn o p sis : The story of the defection of Soviet diplomat Vladimir Petrov in Canberra in 1954.

Budget..........................................S1.1 million Head wrangler........................Evanna Harris Gauge.................................................. 16 mm Boom operator....................................... MarkKeating Length..................................... 8 x 50 minutes Wranglers...............................John Briggs, Cast: Maureen Green (Young Maureen Art dept administrator...........................DavidBowden Gauge.................................................. 16 mm Quinn), Patricia Kennedy (Old Maureen Derek Fisher, Art dept assistant................................LeanneCornish Shooting stock......................... Eastmancolor Quinn), Patrick Dickson (Paddy Quinn), Ian May, Make-up/hairdresser........Margaret Lingham Scheduled release..................February 1986 Benjamin Franklin (Kevin Quinn), Penelope Anne Stevens Wardrobe.............................................BarbraZussino Stewart (Young Nesta Quinn), Melissa Jaffer S ynop sis: A worldwide investigation of tradi­ Best b oy..................................... Paul Booth Special effects supervisor......Michael Bolles Art dept runner.....................Helen Macaskill (Old Nesta Quinn), Drew Forsythe (Old Frank tions and methods of alternative healers.

Asst editor........................................... AntonyGray The series shows there are methods of Production office Quinn), Melita Jurisic (Kathleen Quinn), Still photography.................................... HughHamilton runner............................ Kristin Sanderson Computer systems engineer .Steven Roberts Peter Kowitz (Leo Quinn), Richard Moir healing, used for thousands of years, SAIGON developed through constantly changing Completion guarantor.......Film Finances — (Dominic Quinn).

Elicon motion control Sue Armstrong Synopsis: The saga of an Irish-Catholic societies but remaining essentially the same. operator....................... Robert Sandeman Prod, company............................Roadshow/ They work on the root cause of illness and working class family, set against the bitter­ Special fx model supervisor...... Peter Evans ■Anglia Television/ Catering..................................... John Welch Laboratory........................................Colorfilm ness, successes and disappointments of the take the whole being into account, mind, Special fx prosthetics...... Margaret Lingham Action Time/ body and spirit.

Lab. liaison......................Richard Piorkowski Australian labour movement through the Matte painting supervisor..................... GlennFord Alan Landsburg Cast: Brett Climo, Nicole Kidman. years 1890-1972.

Dist. company.........................................CBS Special fx artist/ Synopsis: Archer is based on the true story glass paintings...................................MitchLovett Producer......................................Matt Carroll RAFFERTY’S RULES o f the horse that walked from Nowra, NSW, Stunts co-ordinator............. Dee Arlen Jones Director.................................................. PhilipNoyce NEIGHBOURS to Remington Racecourse to Win the first Best boy................................................ShaunConway Scriptwriter........................... S. Lee Pogostin Prod, company...... Amalgamated Television Melbourne Cup. Prod, company.................Grundy Television Runner.................................................. BevanChilds Based on the novel b y ...................... AnthonyGrey Services Pty Ltd Pty Ltd Unit publicist............................................. LynPhillips Photography..........................................GeoffBurton Producer...................................Denis Phelan DANCING DAZE Dist. company.................. Grundy Television Catering................................................. KaosCatering Exec, producer.......................David Puttnam Directors.................................Leigh Spence, Pty Ltd Studios...............................................PyramidStudios Length..........................................8 x 60 mins Prod, company........................................ABC Steve Mann, Producer.................................................JohnHolmes Gauge.................................................. 35 mm Laboratory..............................................Atlab Ric Pellizzeri Dist. company.........................................ABC Directors.................................................

Greg Shears, Lab. liaison........................

Bruce Williamson S yn o p sis : Based on Anthony Grey's novel Scriptwriter................................Louise Home Producer................................ Jan Chapman Mandy Smith, Length......................................................... 62mins ‘Saigon’ the story traces an American’s Scriptwriters..........................Michael Cove, Based on the original idea Russell Webb, Gauge.................................................. 35 mm experience in Vietnam from French colonial b y.......................................................... BenLewin John Misto, Mark Joffe Shooting stock................... Kodak 5294 ECN days to the last helicopter out of the U.S. Editor ..................................... Michael Hagan Debra Oswald, Cast: Phillippa Scott (Sam), Vince Martin Scriptwriters................ Adrian Van Den Bok, Embassy. The broad sweep of a troubled Mark Stiles Prod, designer........................ Bernard Hides Valda Marshall, country seen from both sides.

(Keiron), Marko Mustok (Raab), Tony Barry Based on the original idea Composer............................... Simon Walker Robert Leys, (Moulen), Terry Miller (Karbath), Rob Exec, producer........................Alan Bateman b y ....................................... Michael Cove, Ginny Lowndes Fuwster (Karbath), Steve Richard (Karbath), Assoc, producer..................... John Vomero Chrissie Koltai THE SHIRALEE Based on the original idea Steve Grimmer (Karbath).

Prod, manager.........................Patricia Blunt M usic.....................................Martin Armiger Prod, company.......................... SAFC Prods b y ......................................................... RegWatson S ynopsis: A special effects, science fiction Prod, secretary................................Roz Cowl Choreography....................... Chrissie Koltai Editor..................................................... DavidJaegar Director................................................DonaldCrombie adventure about three people in a machine Length.........................................6 x 50 mins 1st asst directors................ Peter Fitzgerald, Exec, producer........................................ RegWatson Scriptwriter..............................................TonyMorphett m anipulated enviro n m en t and th e ir Bob Howard Synopsis: The Green sisters leave the pig Assoc, producer................................ AndrewHowie Story editor....................... Graeme Koetsveld adventures through space. farm in Wagga determined to follow in their 2nd asst director...................Lisa Hennessey Prod, co-ordinator......................... Jan Irvine Based on the novel b y ............. D’Arcy Niland mother’s footsteps and go dancing in the 3rd asst director....................... Nick Alimede Prod, manager............................... Mick Mills Exec, producer...............................Jock Blair THE LANCASTER MILLER AFFAIR city. They meet up with Joe Wyatt and form Producer's assistant...........Claire O’Connor 1st asst director......................... Peter Askew Studios.................................Hendon Studios their own troupe.

Casting.......................... Stephanie Weissner Prod, company............................... LancasterMiller Casting........................................... Jan Russ Length......................................... 2 x 120 mins Technical director.............. David McCulloch Productions Pty Ltd Make-up........................................ M. Brown, Gauge.................................................. 35 mm Studio cameraman...............Doug Hampson DOUBLE SCULLS Dist. company................................ LancasterMiller B. Smith S ynop sis: To Macauley, the child was his Location cameraman..............

Craig Watkins Productions Pty Ltd Prod, company................... PBL Productions Hairdressers............................. Daryl Porter, “ shiralee” : a burden and a handicap, and Art director...............................Caroline Poliri Producer-................................... Paul Davies Pty Ltd Doug Glanville also a constant reminder of bitterness and Make-up.........................

T...Michelle Barber Director......................................Henri Safran Producer............................ Richard Brennan Wardrobe..................... Lucinda McGuiggan failure. It was in his nature to do things the Hairdresser.......................... Patricia Newton Scriptwriter............................Peter Yeldham Director.......................................Ian Gilmour Ward, assistant.................. Frennesey Cook, hard way: the way he saw it, there was no Wardrobe................................................

AlanBums Sound recordist......................................RossLinton Scriptwriter.............................................ChrisPeacock Di Helbig other choice. What he hadn’t taken into Ward, assistant....................... Mary Alterator Prod, designer...................... David Copping Based on the original idea Runner..........................Marcus Georgiades account was the child’s overwhelming need Props.......................................Mark Dawson Assoc, producer...................... David Hannay Studios................................................. HSV-7 b y........................................................ChrisPeacock for love.

Props buyer.......................... Bryce Kershaw Prod, supervisor..................................... IreneKorol Photography..........................................VinceMonton Rrst released..............................March 1985 Standby props........................Dallas Wilson Prod, co-ordinator................Sally Ayre-Smith Cast: Francis Bell (Max Ramsay), Dasha Sound recordist....................................... TimLloyd THRILLER Set construction......................Danny Burnett Prod, accountant...............................

Howard Wheatley Editor..................................Marc van Buuren Blahova (Maria Ramsay), David Clencie Still photography..................................ATS 7 Prod, company..........SAFC Productions Ltd 1st asst director.................Michael Bourchier (Danny Ramsay), Peter O’Brien (Shane Prod, designer............................. Ross Major Legal tech, adviser................................ TerryWolfe Producer...................................................SueMilliken Continuity...............................................

Judy Whitehead Composer....................................Chris Neal Ramsay), Alan Dale (Jim Robinson), Kylie Publicity................................................ATS-7 Scriptwriters.........................David Boutland, Casting......................................................LeeLamer Exec, producer...........................................IanBradley Flinker (Lucy Robinson), Darius PeTkins Catering....................................Anne Harris Richard Cassidy, Art director...............................................

Ken James Assoc, producer................................ MichaelMidlam (Scott Robinson), Stefan Dennis (Paul Studios.................................. ATS-7 Studio E Bob Ellis, Asst art director..................................JulianaMills Prod, manager........................................Julie Monton Robinson), Vicki Blanche (Julie Robinson), Post-production..................................CustomVideo John Emery, Costume designer................................ BruceFinlayson Unit manager.............................................. DiNicholas Anne Haddy (Helen Daniels).

Mixed a t..............................................CustomVideo Graeme Koetsveld, Make-up.................................................. JosePerez Prod, secretary......................................PerryStapleton Synopsis: Love ’em or hate ’em, but every­ Laboratory............................................ Atlab Terry Larsen, Wardrobe............................................. BruceFinlayson Prod, accountant...... Moneypenny Services, one’s got 'em; Neighbours. Ramsay Street Length.......................................14 x 60 mins Tony Morphett Standby props............................

John Danial Val Williams . . . the stage for an exciting drama serial. . . Cast: John Wood (Rafferty), Catherine Story editor............................... Peter Gawler Set decorator........................................ KelvinSexton Accounts assistant ....Moneypenny Services, drawing back to curtain to reveal the intrigue Wilkin (Paulyne), Simon Chilvers (Flicker), Exec, producer...............................Jock Blair Construction manager...........

Danny Burnett Robina Osborne and passions of Australian families . . . and Arky Michael (Fulvio).

Length....................................10 x 90 minutes Editor..................................................RichardHindlay 1st asst director....................................StuartFreeman their neighbours.

Synopsis: Television series on the fictional Musical director.................... Frank Strangio 2nd asst director............................ Ian Kenny work and life of Michael Rafferty, SM of the Sound editor.......................... Roger Savage TRACY 3rd asst director........................................ IanFreeman Manly Court.

Catering.............................................Mai Kai POKERFACE Continuity............................................. JennyQuigley Prod, company.........................................PBLProductions Laboratory........................................ Cinevex Casting...............................................Forcast Dist. company..........................................PBLProductions Prod, company........................................ABC Budget................................... $4,725 million Extras casting.............................. Sue Parker Producer.....................................................BillHughes Dist. company.........................................ABC Length.................................... 5 x 60 minutes Focus puller.................................

Derry Field Director..............................................RichardSarell Prod, manager........................................ TerriVincent SWORD OF HONOUR Shooting stock..................................

16 mm Clapper/loader....................................FelicitySurtees Scriptwriters...............................................Bill Garner, Research..............................Graham Shirley Scheduled release......................March 1986 Key g rip ..............................Merv McLaughlin Prod, company........... Simpson Le Mesurier Peter Corns Length..........................................6 x 60 mins through the 9 Network Asst grip..........................................Pat Nash _ Rims Pty Ltd Sound recordist.............................. Bill Doyle Gauge.................................................. 16 mm S ynopsis: A sweeping true life story, Electrician......................................... StephenCarter Producer.......................... Roger Le Mesurier Script editor...............................................BillGarner S yn o p sis : A mini-series based on the true scandal and breathtaking adventure, set Gaffer..................................................... PeterO’Brien Directors...................................Pino Amenta, Prod, designer...........................

Frank Earley story of cyclone Tracy, which virtually Best b o y .................................. Alleyn Meams against the epic days of pioneering long­ Catherine Millar destroyed Darwin in December 1974.

Rim editors.................................Bill Murphy, distance aviation.

Boom operator......................................PhillipTipene Scriptwriters........................Roger Simpson, Rui De Sousa Costume designer................................ HelenHopper Kathy Mueller, Exec, producer...................................... KeithWilkes THE TRAILBLAZER LAND OF HOPE Make-up................................................. SallyGordon Peter Kinloch, Prod, manager....................................... GeoffCooke Prod, company.........................................PBLProductions Hairdresser.........................Jan Zeigenbein Prod, company.....................Filmrep Limited Tom Hegarty Unit manager..........................................Anne Bartlett Dist. company.......................................... PBLProductions Ward, assistant.................... Barbara Zussino Dist. company................... JNP Rims Pty Ltd Based on the original idea Prod, secretary.....................Tracy Robinson Creative development Art dept asst......................................... DanielMorphett Producer.............................. Suzanne Baker by...................................................... RogerSimpson 1st asst director......................................Peter Murphy producer................................... Joan Long Props buyer............................................ PetaLawson Directors................................ Gary Conway, Photography.......................... David Connell 2nd asst director.......................................JoeWalters Scriptwriter............................ Peter Yeldham Standby props.......................................HarryZettel Chris Adshead Sound recordist...................... Andy Ramage Producer’s assistant............ Christine Llpari Exec, in charge of Set dresser............................................. PetaLawson Scriptwriters........................ John Patterson, Editor...............................................Phil Reid Casting......................................... Greg Apps production.......................... Stanley Walsh Asst editor...............................................VickiAmbrose Anne Brooksbank, Prod, designer........................Bernard Hides Extras casting..................................... MarionPearce Length...........................................100 mins Stunts co-ordinator.................................. BobHicks Tony Morphett Lighting cameraman..............Ian Warburton Composer...............................Greg Sneddon Gauge.................................................. 35 mm Still photography................................. RobbieGribble Photography............................. Geoff Burton Exec, producer......................................RogerSimpson Camera operator....................Ivan Johnston S ynop sis: Harry Radford steals one thou­ Rowing coach.................... Rusty Robertson Sound recordist........................................ DonConnolly Assoc, producer.................Brian D. Burgess Camera assistant................................. SimonEvans sand head of cattle and pioneers the over­ Runner....................................Jonathan Tate Editor............................... Stewart Armstrong Prod, co-ordinator............Rosslyn Abernethy Grips...............................

Tony Woolveridge, land stock route from southern Queensland Prod, designer...................................... OwenWilliams Unit publicist............................... Lyn Quayle 'Jnrt location manager................. Paul Healey Phil Oyston to Adelaide in the 1880s and becomes an Composer................................................MikePerjanik Catering.........................Feast Rim Catering Prod, assistant............................ Jenny Gray Electricians............................................. MickSandy, Australian folk hero.

Laboratory.......................................Colorfilm Exec, producer......................James Davern Prod, accountant................. Candice Dubois Andrew Holmes Lab. liaison.....................Richard Piorkowski Prod, manager..... Rosanne Andrews-Baxter 1st asst directors................. John Powdrtch, Generator operator.............................. D’arcyEvans Length................................................94 mins Prod, co-ordinator............... Susanne Darcey Bob Donaldson Asst recordists.............................Gary Lund, Unit manager....Christiaan Hoppenbrouwers 2nd asst director..................................... BrettPoppowell Gauge.................................................. 16 mm Ian Cregan Prod, secretary.....................Lynn Rowlands 3rd asst director............................Ian Kenny Shooting stock....................................... 7291 Make-up...............................................DeniseGakov Prod, accountant..................R. J. Chalmers, Continuity......................................Jenni Tosi Cast: John Hargreaves (Sam), Chris Wardrobe design.................................. DavidWalley Bolten & Assoc., Haywood (Paul), Angela Punch McGregor Casting....................................

M & L Casting Wardrobe............................................ NormaLondregan, Casting consultants....................Lee Larner, (Edwina), Bill Kerr (Curly), Judi Farr (Ellen), Anne Holmes Rhonda Shallcross Mercia Deane-Johns (Melanie), Vincent Ball 1st asst directors.................... John Warran, Jo Lamer Props buyer........................................... BrentMacDonald ARCHER (Stuart), Cecily Poison (Older Nursing Keith Heygate Staging................................................... JohnMcCulloch, Camera operator...................................DavidConnell 2nd asst director.....................Peter Kearney Focus puller.................................Greg Ryan Sister), Philomena Lonergan (Sr Arnott), Prod, company............................ Roadshow, Glenn Dunham 3rd asst director....................................NicolaLong Colleen Clifford (Mrs Fenwick).

Coote & Carroll Clapper/loader...................................... BrucePhillips Special effects............................ Rod Clack, Continuity.................................................. LizBarton Key grip......................................................IanBenallack Synopsis: Sam Larkin allocates a year of his Dist. company...........................Ten Network Terry Barrow Casting.............................Mary-Ann Eckstein Asst grip................................................ StuartCrombie life to rehabilitate an alcoholic friend. The Producer................................................ MoyaIceton Publicity................................Georgina Howe Lighting cameraman................Geoff Burton Gaffer.................................................... StuartSorbey means he uses is an attempt at the Austra­ Director................................................ DennyLawrence Studios.................................................... ABC Camera operator...................... Geoff Burton lian Rowing Championships in double sculls.

Art director.........................................VirginiaBieneman Scriptwriter....................... Anne Brooksbank Length..........................................3 x 50 mins Focus puller............................. Daren Keogh What first appears as a human and kindly Photography..........................................FrankHammond Art dept secretary.................................. MariaPannozzo Cast: Bruno Lawrence (Crawley), Jo Clapper/loader....................Miriana Marusic gesture soon blurs in intensity and in the Editor.............................................. Ted Otton Costume designer..................................JaneHyland Kennedy (Roxy), Nigel Bradshaw (Campion), Key g rip .................................... Bruce Barber Tim Robertson (Huck), Richard Moss (Miles), entanglements of the lives of the two men, Prod, designer................................... HerbertPinter Wardrobe supervisor..........Margot Lindsay Asst grip....................................Guy Williams and the others who surround them.

Standby ward.

Composer....................................Chris Neal Paul Vane-Mason (Snow), Melita Juristic Gaffer........................................Ian Plumber assistant..........................Jeanie Cameron Exec, producers........................Matt Carroll, (Lou), Maud Clark (Steph).

Best boy................................. Shaun Conway Synopsis: A tale of unemployment, decep­ Gregory Coote Props buyer........................ Colin Robertson KEIRON — THE FIRST VOYAGER Electrics assistant............. Jonathon Hughes tion and revenge. An undercover agent from Set construction manager......... Ray Pattison Prod, co-ordinator.....................Julia Ritchie Prod, company.... Network Rim Corporation Boom operator......................................... JoeSpinelli Prod, manager............................. Jenny Day Asst construction manager..Danny Corcoran the dirty tricks department of an Australian Art director........................ Owen Patterson Producer............................................ MichaelMilne Location manager....................Mark Thomas security service gets the sack. He plots his Asst accountant........................... Debra Cole Director.........................................Bert Deling Art dept co-ordinator............................

Penny Lang Prod, accountant..................... Jenny Verdon comeback with the unwitting assistance of a Asst editor..............................Peter Burgess Scriptwriter...............................................BertDeling Costume designer................................. TerryRyan Military dresser......................Phil Chambers Asst accountant.......................Therese Tran pair of young would-be terrorists.

Make-up............................................. MarjoryHamlin Photography................................ Guy Furner Costumiere.................................Mary Gazzo 1st asst director.................... Deuel Droogan Hairdresser................................ Willi Kenrick Sound recordist........................................ BobClayton Asst wardrobe.......................................KathyTurnbull 3rd asst director......................................TobyPease QUEST FOR HEALING Editor..................................................... ChrisBenaud Wardrobe buyer................ Christian Chearer Storyboard artist.......................................SueMaybury Continuity............................... Sian Hughes Ward, assistant.........................Fiona Nicolls Prod, designer.....................Dean Mortensen Still photography.....................................SuzyWoods Casting................................... Allison Barrett Prod, company..... Independent Productions Props buyer................................... Billy Allen Assoc, producer.....................................GeoffTalbot Focus puller.............................. Ross Emery Pty Ltd Production office runner..... Cameron Mellor Standby props........................................ ColinGibson Prod, supervisor............................... CatrionaBrown Key g rip.................................................. PeterLedgeway Catering..............................Beeb Fleetwood Dist. company........Independent Distributors Scenic artist...................................Eric Todd Prod, co-ordinator.................................. KateJarman G affer........................................Derek Jones Pty Ltd Mobile bus driver....................................KevinBryant Construction manager..............................PhilWorth Prod, secretary...........Roseanne Donaldson Archival research....................................... JillBuckler Asst art director.........................Stewart Way Producer................................. Richard Davis Asst editor.......................................... MelissaBlanch Prod, accountant.......................................LynJones Costume designer..................... Anna Senior Mixed a t..................................................Atlab Director...................................Bill Leimbach Sound editor........................... Hugh Waddell 1st asst director...................................... JohnWarran Laboratory..............................................

Atlab Make-up.................................Joanne Santry Scriptwriter............................. Richard Davis Editing assistant....................................CathyFenton 2nd asst director.....................................MarkClayton Hairdresser........................... Joanne Santry Based on the original idea Lab. liaison............................................ PeterWillard Runner....................................

Peter Warman 3rd asst director.....................................Kerry Jackson Standby wardrobe................. Paula Eckerick Length................................. 4 x 120 minutes b y .......................................... Danae Brook Publicity............... Harrison Communications Continuity...............................................JenniQuigley Props buyer...................... Jock McLaughlin Gauge.................................................. 16 mm Photography........................... Hans Heidrich Unit publicist............................ Mandy Cook Camera operator...................................DavidPetley Shooting stock......................................Kodak Standby props......................................RobertMoxham Soundrecordist........................... Noel Quinn Catering..................................Kaos Catering Focus puller...........................................DavidPetley Cast: Tracy Mann (Esse Rogers), Andrew Scenic artist........................................MichaelChorney Exec, producer............................ Gene Scott Studios........................Filmrep Ltd, Mort Bay Clapper/loader....................................... AnnaHoward Clarke (Tony Lawrence).

Carpenter........................................... MichaelChorney Prod, manager................... Cheryl Buckman Mixed a t..... :........................... Custom Video Key g rip....................................Simon Quaife Set c o n stru ction ...................... John Parker Still photography................Cheryl Buckman Synopsis: A love story and family saga set Laboratory..............................................Atlab Asst grip...............................................WayneStead against the turbulence and optimism of Asst editor.............................. Margaret Sixel Mixed a t..........................................Colorfilm Budget......................................... $4,595,000 Gaffer....................................... Ric McMullen fifteen of the most significant years in Aus­ 2nd asst editor....................... Linny Gompes Laboratory...................................... Colorfilm Length....................................... 10x50 mins Electrician................................ Bede Ireland tralia's history — 1965-1980.

Dubbing editor..........................Anne Breslin Lab. liaison......................Richard Piorkowski

PRO DUCTIO K

CINEMA PAPERS July — 55

(3=D D

Based on the novel b y .......... Tasman Beattie (Flanagan), Peter Finlay (“ Bluey” ), Alec Photography.............................. Russell Boyd TUSITALA THE DUNERA BOYS Photography.......................................... DavidEggby Wilson ("Pudden” Parsons), Mark Hembrow Sound recordist...................................... MarkLewis Prod, company.........................ABC/Portman Prod, com pany......................... Jethro Films Sound recordist.......................................GaryWilkins (Dick Baker), David Lynch (Max Earnshaw).

Editor....................................................... SaraBennett Dist. company.........................................ABC Producer.........................................Bob Weis Editors.....................................................TonyPaterson, Synopsis: A dramatization of Australia's Prod, designer........................................LissaCoote Producer................................................... RayAlehin Director......................................... Ben Lewin Pippa Anderson participation in World War 1.

Composer............................................... JohnCharles Director..................................................... DonSharp Scriptwriter....................................Ben Lewin Prod, designer...............................Tel Stolfo Exec, producers............................... MatthewCarroll, Scriptwriter.............................Peter Yeldham Based on the original idea Composer.............................................. Bruce Smeaton Greg Coote Photography.......................................... PeterHendry b y ...............................................Ben Lewin BELOW THE BELT Prod, co-ordinator.......................... RosemaryProbyn Prod, supervisor..................................... LynnGailey Sound recordist........................................RonMoore Synopsis:1939: German Jews in exile in Prod, manager............................ Paula Gibbs Locations manager............................... RobinGriffin Prod, company.............................. AustralianFilmEngland, suspected to be Nazi sym­ Editor.................................... Tony Kavanagh Unit manager......................................EdwardWaring Prod, manager.........................Carol Hughes Theatre Ltd pathizers, are sent by Churchill’s govern­ Unit m anager......................... Tim Callaghan Prod, designer..................... Laurie Johnson Prod, secretary.........................................SueHayes ment to an unknown destination on the ship Exec, producers..................................... ChrisMuir,Dist. company..................... J. C. Williamson Prod, accountant....................................... Jim Hajicosta Prod, secretary.......................................JaneGriffin Film Distributors P/L “ Dunera” .

Ian Warren 1st asst director................... Bob Donaldson Prod, accountant.......Moneypenny Services, Producer.................. Australian Film Theatre Prod, manager..................................... DennisKiely 2nd asst director................. Brett Popplewell Alan Marco Director................................................... John Power EMMETT STONE Prod, accountant....................................Judy Murphy 3rd asst director............................ Ian Kenny 1st asst director...................... .Colin Fletcher Scriptwriter.............................................MarkPoole Costume designer................................JamesMurray Continuity............................... Jackie Sullivan Prod, company.............................. AustralianFilm 2nd asst director...............Murray Robertson Based on the original idea Still photography.....................................SallySamins C asting.....................................Susie Maizels Theatre Ltd 3rd asst director............................... ElizabethLovell by.........................................................MarkPoole Unit publicist.......................... Leslie Jackson Lighting cameraman..............................DavidEggby Dist. company.......................................... J.C.Williamson Photography..................... Vladimir Osherov Continuity................................ Pamela Willis Length..................................... 6 x 50 minutes Camera operator................................... DavidEggby Film Distributors P/L Producers assistant...........Nicole Rowntree Sound recordist.................. Chris Thompson Synopsis: A series tracing the last four years Focus puller...................................... WarwickField Producer............

Australian Film Theatre Ltd Casting.....................................Alison Barrett Editor.......................................................... IanLang in the life of novelist Robert Louis Steven­ Clapper/loader.........................David Lindsey D irector......................... Elizabeth Alexander Casting consultants ....Alison Barrett Casting Prod, designer....................... Chris Kennedy son, which were spent in the South Pacific, Key g rip ............................... Gregory Wallace Scriptwriters......................................

Michael Gurr, Focus puller.......................Geoffrey Wharton Composer................................................ BrettGoldsmith Sydney and Western Samoa. The title is Elizabeth Alexander, Clapper/loader....................................ConradSlack Asst grip........................................... GrahameDewsbury Exec, producer.......................................HughRule taken from the name that the Samoans gave G affer.........................................................

IanDewhurst Roger Dunn -Key g rip .................................................... RayBrown Assoc, producer................................... LucilleRogers to their beloved friend. It means “ teller of Electrician.......................................Nick Pain Based on the play b y ......................... MichaelGurr Asst g rip ................................................StuartGreen Prod, supervisor..................................DenisePatience tales” .

Boom operator........................................

Mark Wasiutak Photography..................................... VladimirOsherov Gaffer.................................. Brian Bansgrove Prod, manager................................. MargaretKossatz Sound recordist................. Chris Thompson Electrician................................

ColinChase Art director..................................... Tel Stolfo Unit manager............................................ SueByrne Editor..........................................................IanLang Asst art director...................Syd Guglielmino Boom operator........................................ JackFriedman Prod, secretary....................................MarilenTabacco Prod, designer.................................ChristineJohnson Costume designer,........................Robin Hall Make-up.................................................. JudyLovell Prod, accountant...............................JenniferDavies Composer................................................BrettGoldsmith Make-up.................................................Carla O’Keefe Hairdresser.............................................Judy Lovell Prod, assistant.....................................DebbiePackham Exec, producer.......................................Hugh Rule Wardrobe...........................................GrabamPurcell Wardrobe......................................... Clarrissa Patterson 1st asst director.........................................RicLappas Ward, assistant.....................................LouiseWakefield Assoc, producer................................... LucilleRogers Standby wardrobe................................ SusiePullen 2nd asst director..................................WendyClarke Prod, supervisors............. Andrew Wiseman, Set dresser.............................................DavidMcKay Props buyer.................................Mary Harris Continuity.............................................. RobinCrawford Denise Patience Props buyer........................................... DavidMcKay Standby props........................................Chris James Casting................................................. LucilleRogers Prod, co-ordinator..............

Debbie Packham Set decorator........................................ BernieWynack Standby props.................... George Zammit Camera operator................................... SoniaLeber Prod, manager................... Margaret Kossatz Set decorator.......................................... Sally Campbell Set construction.......................... Derek Mills Focus puller........................................... SteveMacDonald Prod, secretary...................

Marilen Tabacco Musical d irector.................................... BruceSmeaton Asst editor................................... Emma Hay Clapper/loader............... Valek Sadovchikoff Prod, accountant............................... JenniferDavies ANZACS Still photography....................................... Jim Townley Sound editor....................... Jeanine Chialvo Camera assistant.............. Steve MacDonald 1st asst director......................................... RicLappas Best boy.........................................Lex Martin Asst dubbing editor............ Stephanie Flack Asst grips.......................... Michael de Florio, Prod, company........................ The Burrowes 2nd asst director..................................WendyClarke Runners....................................................RayBoseley, 2nd asst editor.....................Duncan Sinclair Veronica Maughan Dixon Company Continuity................................................ Julie Migues Don Keyte Stills photographer..................... Jim Sheldon Electricians............................ RoryTimoney, Producer..............................Geoff Burrowes Casting................................................. LucilleRogers Nurse.....................................

Meredith Clark Publicity.......................................Wendy Day Peter O’Brien Directors..................................... John Dixon, Technical director............................... StevenCozens Tutor......................................Kevin Meagher Laboratory..............................................

Atlab Boom operator......................................

Phillip Healy George Miller, Camera operator...................................

Sonia Leber Lab. liaison................................

Peter Willard Best boy.................................... Paul Gantner Asst art directors.................................. DarrylTilson, Pino Amenta Camera assistant............Valek Sadovchikoff Budget......................................................$4.4million Runners........................................... RoxanneDelbarre, Lucy Maclaren Scriptwriters................................John Dixon, Asst grips.......................... Michael de Florio, Sam Trumble Cast: John Walton (Smithy).

Costume designer..................................JaneHowat John Clarke, Dianne McGregor Unit publicist.........................Barbara James Synopsis: The story of Australia’s most Make-up..................................................

Vicki Friedman James Mitchell Electricians............................. RoryTimoney, Catering.....................................Kevin Varnes famous aviator, Sir Charles Klngsford-Smith.

Make-up assistant.................................. SallyRosenhain Based on the original idea Peter O’Brien Mixed a t ............................................... UnitedSound Wardrobe....................................

Adele Flere by.............................................. John Dixon Boom operator............................. Anne-marieKiely Laboratory....................................... Colorfilm Sound editor...................................... MichaelBladen Assoc, producer.....................Dennis Wright UNFINISHED BUSINESS Technical assistant..................................SueByme Lab. liaison................................................BillGooley, Editing assistant.......................................RayBoseley Photography..........................Keith Wagstaff Asst art directors................... Chris Kennedy, Prod, company............ Lipsync Productions/ Richard Piorkowski Still photography.............................. VladimirKromas Sound supervisor...................Terry Rodman Darryl Tilson Length................................................ 90 mins Unfinished Business P/L Runner.................................................DianneMcGregor Sound recordists................... Lloyd Carrick, Costume designer................................. JaneHowat Producer....................Rebel Penfold-Russell Gauge.................................................. 16 mm Catering................................. Jane Lawless, John Schiefelbein Make-up................................. Vicki Friedman Cast: Jacki Weaver (Barbara Gunn), John Director............................................ Bob Ellis Kim Laufer Editor.............................................Philip Reid Make-up assistant.................................. Sally Rosenhain Scriptwriter......................................Bob Ellis Waters (Stuart Gunn), Noel Ferrier (Jack Laboratory..........Victorian Film Laboratories Prod, designer..........................Lesley Binns Wardrobe...............................................AdeleFlere Photography......................... Andrew Lesnie Gunn), Steven Vidler (Erik), Kate Fitzpatrick Length................................................ 96 mins Composer..............................Bruce Rowland Music performed by............................ SandraMorgan Sound recordist........................ Gerry Nucifor (Su), Jennifer Claire (Shirley Gunn), Linda Gauge..................................................16 mm Prod, supervisor.........................................BillRegan Sound editor......................................

Michael Bladen Editor.................................................AmandaRobinson Cropper (Margaret Bridges), Adam Willits Shooting stock.................................... Kodak Prod, manager....................................AndrewMorse Editing assistant.........................Ray Bossely (Shaun Gunn), Shane Tickner (Tom Gunn), Exec, producer.......................Andrena Finlay Cast: Tina Bursill (Billie), Steve Jacobs Prod, co-ordinator............................Jan Stott Runner............................

Veronica Maughan Assoc, producer.................................... PatricJuillet Elliot Jurd (Nick Gunn), Maggie Dence (Richard), Jane Clifton (Lee), Pamela Rabe Location manager................. Phil McCarthy Catering................................................... KimLaufer, Prod, manager....................................... JuneHenman (Rosie Peters).

(Margaret), Esben Storm (Paul).

Unit manager........................................... RayPattison ' Jane Lawless 1 st asst director.......................................JakeAtkinson Synopsis: An incisive and very humorous Synopsis: An independent woman of 35, Asst unit managers........................... DominicVilleila, Mixed a t............... Film Soundtrack Australia 2nd asst director............ Michael McGennon look at the pressures inherent in a twoBillie decides to have a baby on her own.

Danny Corcoran Length.........................................................

75 mins Key g rip ...................................................... VitMartinek career marriage.

The lives she damages on the way because Asst co-ordinator..........................Jan Irvine Gauge...................................................1-inch Gaffer......................................................... VitMartinek of her determination, are the elements in this Prod, accountant..................................... StanSeserko Shooting stock...............................

Videotape Art director.............................................. JaneJohnston STOCK SQUAD sensual, bitter-sweet romance.

Account assistant...............Natalie Rothman Cast: Kevin Miles (Emmett Stone), Patricia Asst editor................................ Anthony Gray Prod, company..... Independent Productions 1st asst directors..................Bob Donaldson, Kennedy (Beatrice), Dinah Shearing (Muriel).

Sound editor........................................ AshleyGrenville Pty Ltd Phillip Hearnshaw, BUTTERFLY ISLAND Synopsis: Emmett, twice-married political Laboratory............................................... CSL Dist. company........Independent Distributors John Powditch journalist, is finally returning home to his Cast: John Clayton, Michelle Fawdon, Prod, company................Independent Prods Pty Ltd 2nd asst directors................................ StuartWood, sister Beatrice to mend their life-long Norman Kaye.

Dist. company............................ IndependentDists Producer..................................... Tom Jeffrey Synopsis: A warm sexual comedy focusing Paul Healey troubled rift in their twilight years.

Producer........................................... BrendonLunney Director...................................Howard Rubie 3rd asst directors................................... PeterCulpan, on the situation when two old lovers meet Director................................................. FrankArnold Scriptwriter.............................Hugh Stuckey Unsay Smith HANGING TOGETHER after fifteen yeaars and find that they still Scriptwriter............................................ DavidPhillips Based on the original idea Continuity.................................... Jennl Tosi, have unfinished business.

Series devised b y.................................... FlickSearle Prod, company.............................. AustralianFilm b y ............................................. John Shaw, Chris O’Connell Photography......................... Ross Berryman Theatre Ltd Brian Chirlian Casting........................... Maizels and Assoc.

Sound recordist...................... David Glasser Dist. company.......................................... J.C.Williamson Photography...........................................RossBerryman Camera operators..................David Connell, Editor........................................................ BobCogger Rim Distribution P/L Sound recordist..................................... LloydColman Mark Hayward (Unit A) Prod, designer................................... HerbertPinter Producer..................Australian Film Theatre Editor........................................................ BobCogger John Haddy, Composers............................................ GarryMcDonald, Director................................................... JohnRuane Exec, producer............................ Gene Scott Ron Hagen (Unit B) Laurie Stone Scriptwriter.........................................Gordon Graham Assoc, producer..................................... BrianChirlian Camera assistants...................... Greg Ryan, Photography.....................................VladimirOsherov Exec, producer...................................RichardDavis Prod, manager........................... Tony Winley David Stevens (Unit A) Prod, co-ordinator................................

Margo Tamblyn Sound recordist.....................................

Chris Thompson Prod, co-ordinator................................

MargoTamblyn Ian Thorburn, Prod, manager.............................. Jenny Day Editor..........................................................IanLang Location manager.................... Bevan Childs Peter Van Santen (Unit B) Location/unit manager.............

Peter Abbott Prod, designer........................................Jane Howat Prod, accountant......................Peter Layard AFTS trainee........................Rosemary Cass Composer................................................BrettGoldsmith Prod, accountant.,................................. PeterLayard Asst accountant....................... Donna Willis Key g rip ............................... Ian Bennallack Exec, producer.......................................HughRuleProd, assistant.........................Vicky Wright Prod, assistant...................................... VickyWright Grip (Unit B)................................ Jack Lester Assoc, producer......................Lucille Rogers Asst directors.............................Gerry Letts, 1st asst director............................... Phil Rich Gaffers................................. Stewart Sorby, Prod, supervisor................................. DenisePatience Peter Fitzgerald 2nd asst director.....................................MarkClayton Jack Wight (Un'rtB) Prod, manager................................. MargaretKossatz 2nd asst director............................... StephanElliott 3rd asst director.................................StephanElliott Electrician............................ Peter Moloney Prod, secretary................................... MarilenTabacco 3rd asst director..................................... HugoLanger Continuity........................ Margot Snellgrove Boom operators........................................JoeSpinelli, Prod, accountant...............................JenniferDavies Continuity.................................. Jan Newland Producer’s assistant.......... Christine Gordon Steve James Prod, assistant.................................... DebbiePackham Casting............................ Maizels and Assoc.

Camera operator.................................... RossBerryman Asst art directors....................................PeterKendall, 1st asst director.........................................RicLappas Focus puller......................... Brian Breheney Focus puller.............................Brian Breheny David O’Grady, 2nd asst director..................................WendyClarke Clapper/loader.................................... FelicitySurtees Clapper/loader........................ Philip Murphy Robert Leo Continuity.............................................. RobinCrawford Key grip..........................................Geoff Full Key g rip ....................................Bruce Barber Costume designer.....................Jane Hyland Casting..................................Lucille Rogers Asst grip..................................David Nichols Asst grip................................... Guy Williams Make-up................................Fiona Campbell Technical director.................Steven Cozens Underwater photography.......Kevin Deacon Best b o y ........................................Paul Booth Hairdresser................................ Daryl Porter Camera operator............Valek Sadovchikoff Gaffer........................................ Derek Jones G affer.......................................John Morton Wardrobe mistress...............Margot Lindsay Camera assistant..................................SoniaLeber Boom operator......................................... EricBriggs Boom operator....................................... MarkKeating Military dresser.................... Phil Chambers Asst art director..................................StewartWayAsst grips....................... Dianne McGregor, Art director....................................... Ian Allen Props buyer.................... Keith Handscombe Michael de Florio Art dept assistant..................... Peter Forbes Costume designer..................Fiona Spence Props construction.................. Peter O’ Brien Electricians............................. Peter O’Brien, Make-up........................................... BronwynFitzgerald Costume designer..................Anthony Jones Standby props.......................Barry Kennedy, Rory Timoney Make-up....................................Viv Mepham Standby wardrobe.................................KerryThompson John Whitfield-Moore, Boom operator.............................Anne-marieKiely Props buyer......................... Jock McLachlan Brian Lange Wardrobe...........................................ShaunaFlenady Technical assistant.................................. SueByrne Standby props..................... Robert Moxham Props b uyer....................................... MichaelTolerton Special effects.................. Conrad Rothman Art director............................................. Jane Howat Special effects.................... Steve Courtney, Standby props......................................AlisonGoodwin Armorer.................................... Mike Warwick Asst art directors................................... ChrisKennedy, Mai Ward Asst editor......................>........... Erin Sinclair Set construction...................... Bruce Michell Darryl Tilson Sound editor............................................. BobCogger Scenic artist....................... Michael Chorney Asst editor..............................................PeterBurgess Costume designer............ Christine Johnson Stunts co-ordinator...............................BernieLedger Construction manager...........Danny Burnett Editing assistant.................. Annette Binger Make-up..................................................Vicki Freidman Asst editor..................................Erin Sinclair Still photography.............. Robert McFarlane Mixer..................................... David Harrison Make-up assistant.................................. SallyRosenhain Still photography....................... Mark Burgin Runner................................................... PeterBrewer Stunts co-ordinator....................... Bill Stacey Wardrobe...............................................Adele Flere Tutor/chaperone......................................... JoBuchanan Unit publicist................................ChristopherDay Still photography...................... Greg Noakes Sound editor......................................

Michael Bladen Boat master/water Catering............................ Marike Janavicus Title designer....................David Lancashire Editing assistant.........................Ray Boseley Laboratory........................................Colorfilm safety officer.........................................BobPritchard Quartermaster..................Lt Col. Mike Clark Still photography.............................. VladimirKromas Best b oy....................................... Paul Booth Length......................................................... 96minutes Army liaison................. Major Tony Webster Runner........................... Veronica Maughan Unit publicist...................................Chris Day Gauge............................................... 16 mm Horse master............................. Gerald Egan Catering................................................... KimLaufer, Catering.............................The Katering Co. Shooting stock................................. Eastman Unit nurse............Patsy Buchan-Hearnshaw Jane Lawless Laboratory.............................................. Atlab Publicity......................Suzie Howie Publicity Cast: Martin Sacks (Ric Santana), Gerard Length......................................................... 96mins Post-production...................... Custom Video Story consultant.............. Patsy Adam Smith Kennedy (Ken Ritchie), Kris McQuade (Caro­ Gauge...................................................1-inch Lab. liaison......................................... WarrenDelbridge line Marshall), Richard Meikle (McCabe), Jay Catering.................................................FrankManley Shooting stock............................... Videotape Length........................................... 8 x 30 mins Hackett (Andy Marshall), Michael O’Neill Laboratory............................................... VFL Cast: Gary Day (Craig), Pat Evison (Jean), Gauge.................................................. 16 mm (McIntyre).

Budget..........................,...................... $8,196million Cast: Grigor Taylor (Charlie Wilson), Penne John Larking (Wally), Catherine Lynch (Gail), Synopsis: Rural crimes have become con­ Length........................................ 5 x 120 mins Ian Mortimer (Trevor).

Hackforth-Jones (Mary Travers), David sistent and organized. The Stock Squad Gauge...................................................16 mm Synopsis: Craig, a TV reporter, uses Jean Chiem (Vo Diem), Mark Kounnas .(Greg division of the police is called in to solve Shooting stock............. Kodak Eastmancolor Tebble’s impending marriage as a means to Wilson), Kerri Sackville (Sally Wilson), these local mysterious events — but not Cast: Paul Hogan (Pat Cleary), Tony Bonner pursue his obsession, with macabre results. without threats to life and other invitations.

Steven Grives (Carl Madden), Bruno Baidoni (Harold Armstrong), Andrew Clarke (Martin (Sergio Galllo), Vincent Ball (Sgt Pat Barrington), Patrick Ward (Tom McArthur), THE PERFECTIONIST Connolly), Duncan Wass (Andrew Wilson), Shane Briant (Kaiser Schmidt), Megan A THOUSAND SKIES Prod, company............. Pavilion Partners Ltd Mouche Phillips (Jackie Wilson).

Williams (Sister Mabel Baker), Noel Dist. company.............................. Roadshow, Synopsis: A resort island on the Great Prod, company..................A Thousand Skies Trevarthen (Field Marshal Haig), Rhys McCoote & Carroll Barrier Reef, owned and run by the Wilson Dist. company................. Network Seven Connochie (Lloyd George), Christopher Producer..................................Patricia Lovell family, finds itself the unwilling home of Viet­ Producers.................................Ross Dimsey, Cummins (Roly Collins), Bill Kerr (Lt Gen. Sir Director..................................Chris Thomson namese refugee teenager and the desired Robert Ginn John Monash), Ilona Rodgers (Lady Barring­ prize of an avaricious businessman who has Scriptwriter....................... David Williamson Director................................... David Stevens ton), Jim Holt (Dingo Gordon), Jonathan Based on the play by......... David Williamson oil on his mind.

Scriptwriter.............................. David Stevens Sweet (Bill “ the Pom” Harris), Jon Blake

PO ST-PRO DU CTIO N

ANYTHING MISSING?

Is your production listed?

If so, are the details correct?

Please help us to make this survey as comprehensive and accurate as possible. If you spot any errors or omissions, contact Debi Enker on ( 03) 329 5983 .

56 — July CINEMA PAPERS

TITLES

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Call us and compare our prices.

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to the film and TV industries We have a fully equipped cutting room that can handle both 16mm and 35mm produc­ tions with Ultra air cleaner throughout. We promise total professional care for your film 24 hours a day.

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March-April 1985 April total: $152,381

Robbery Under Arms Total: $21,368

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If January and February were hardly bumper months for local films at the home box office, March and April were even worse, with only one new Aussie film on the circuits. And that, it seems fair to say, didn't exactly perform to expectation.

In March, there was hardly an indigenous title to be seen on the city-centre screens of the nation’s capitals. World Safari II, oblivious to its almost daily title changes on the world market, mopped up its Sydney run with $1,776 in the first week of March, and bowed out in Perth with a still-strong $2,273.

In Melbourne, Melvin, Son of Alvin (see letter) soldiered on into the first two weeks of March, with a combined box office of just under $1,000 for those two weeks. The Coolangatta Gold returned briefly to Perth for a $969 week, and My First Wife also had a second outing in that city, for a or>^~ week return of $898.

Robbery Under Arms opened at the end of the month, with all the publicity that a good promotional budget can buy. It didn’t help. The reviews ranged from lukewarm to appalling, and the public — to put a charit­ able interpretation on it — decided to wait for the miniseries. Only in Perth — that place again! — did they turn out for it with any real enthusiasm: even in its home city of Adelaide, the returns were just so-so.

In the east coast capitals, however, the response was dismal. In Brisbane, it didn’t play. In Sydney, reports came in of the film playing to empty suburban cinemas, while in the city centre the combined take only nudged past the $10,000 mark in one of the four weeks. In Melbourne, it bombed, and would almost certainly not have got a third week if it hadn’t been Australian.

All in all, then, a disappointment for what was, despite its length and a certain un­ evenness of tone, quite a decent film (even if saying so does get you into Filmnews).

58 — July CINEMA PAPERS

For all enquiries contact:

Peter Moore 9 Myers Street Toowoomba Qld 4350 Telephone: (076) 35 0532 (076) 34 4063

The Australian Alternative Cinesure —the only Australian underwriter to specialise in film and television insurance.

The support of Australian film-makers and their brokers has made us the leading insurerinthefield.

From: Jim McElroy, McEiroy & McElroy Pty Ltd, St Leonards, NSW. I refer to the box office piece in your Special Cannes Issue and your report­ ing on Melvin, Son of Alvin. So that your readers may have the facts, I report the following.

The film, in fact, ran twelve weeks in the city of Melbourne, and grossed almost $100,000 in that situation alone. It could not be described as a failure, having a box office in excess of $500,000 to date. In particular, the picture performed very well in drive-in situations throughout Australia.

The Australian Film and Television Insurance Specialists A Division of Terence Lipman Pty Ltd, Sentinel House, 49-51 Falcon Street, Crows Nest, Sydney 2065, Australia.

Telephone (02) 929 0611.

Telex AA24696 (TELIP).

BS

In the May issue of Cinema Papers, Fred Harden iooked at the use of microcomputers in production accounting and scheduling. In the concluding part of his survey, he examines ways in which micros can help the writer, make things easier for the sound recordist and revolutionize the business of sound editing — an area in which Australia is now a world leader.

As an independent producer working from a home office, I have found the computer essential to my business.

Quotes, call sheets, cost summaries and invoices are all done with word­ processing software . . . and I’ve learned to touch type! All this has allowed me to present myself in a

professional manner to the agencies and clients I work with, without the overheads of a typing service. For me, the computer has become an essential tool, so much so that I have bought myself a smaller, portable model as well.

As a writer, the gains have been even greater. The ability to revise as often as necessary, to shift blocks of text around, to correct mistakes and to incorporate parts of earlier stories from the files — all this has allowed me a lot of creative freedom. It took me a while to become familiar with the complexities of the system, but it is now second nature, and I tend to forget that it was, at times, extremely frustrating.

There is not a screenwriter I know who hasn’t purchased or is not plan­ ning to purchase a computer. One of the most useful programmes for the screenwriter is an American one called

Scriptor. Made by Screenplay Systems in Burbank, California, and sold in Australia through Scorpio Computers in Sydney (88 Darling Street, Glebe, NSW 2037. Ph. [02] 660 6005), it is a text-formatting package with a lot of unique features.

Geoff Baxter o f Iloura Visual Services: “We use the Sontron edit control system mostly fo r commercial video production, and also fo r our Interscreen system. ”

SmartKey is an Australian pro­ gramme that has achieved success around the world. Distributed by FBN Software in Canberra (16 Coles Place, Torrens, ACT 2067. Ph. [062] 86 1102), it is a small programme — about 4K — that you include on each of your programme disks, so that it is loaded before you start work. It then lets you assign any keys on your keyboard as function keys. The advan­ tage for scripting is that full character

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names can be assigned to just one key, which speeds up the writing process. It also means that the sometimes long sequences of keys and control keys needed to change margins with pro­ grammes such as Wordstar can be set up for one key. These definitions can be saved at the end of the session, and stored in a special compressed format for the next time you work on that script. When I used SmartKey to revise the first draft of an unformatted script, I estimate that it saved about a full day’s work on a hundred-page script. Used in conjunction with Scriptor, it works even better.

Writer Garrie Hutchinson has had much the same experience. “ Scriptor formats your screenplay after you have written it on your word-processor,” he says, “ with Wordstar or, in our case, PerfectWriter. If you use it with SmartKey, it means that all that repe­ titious writing out of character names and TNT’s and ‘EXT’s are taken care of with one key stroke. At the format­ ting stage, Scriptor puts all the columns in the right place, makes all the page breaks work properly — without ‘widow’ lines — makes sure that all the things that should be capitalized are capitalized, and asks you on-screen questions where things are mucked up. If you take out a page or make something longer, it will re­ adjust all the page breaks and ‘continueds’. ‘‘I would think, what Scriptor costs, you would save in typing costs on one script. And I think the benefit of word­ processing programmes, including this one, is that they prompt you to revise.

Anything that makes revision easier has got to be worth it. Anyone who is writing a script not using Scriptor is doing it the hard way.”

If computers have made script­ writing easier, they have revolution­ ized sound recording — ‘bringing it out of the Dark Ages’, as Graeme Thirkell of Sontron puts it. Sontron’s involvement in film sound goes back to the turn of the decade. “ Our introduc­ tion to what we are doing now with audio, film and editing controllers came from a company we were running some years ago, in the seventies, called Optronics,” says Thirkell. “ We were manufacturing audio mixing consoles and audio multi-track recorders, and we were looking at using microcomputers to control them. That interest in computer control of (mainly) audio machines locked to video images led to the first microcomputer store in Aus­ tralia, The Byte Shop. We got a lot of exposure to microcomputers, because the type of customers then were mainly serious hobbyists, or research people in universities and hospitals. We held the position of supplying that sort of equipment from 1975 to 1977, when Computerland started in Australia. “ But there was such an explosion in that area that we would have had to spend a lot of money to stay in the race, so we got out in 1981. We’d started with editing systems in 1980, using our knowledge of micros and the audio industry with the first editing system we did for Channel 10. That has produced all their Prisoner, H oliday Island and C arson’s Law projects. The system was a marriage of film, video and audio, using the same basic hardware building blocks to do audio production or post-production linked to film or video.”

Top, the Editron controller. Below, Roger Savage (standing) with Graeme Thirkell o f Sontron. Thirkell previously worked in microcomputers, Savage in music.

60 — July CINEMA PAPERS

CMX was Sontron’s main com­ petitor, but Thirkell reckons they won out initially because of cost: Sontron cost about a third. “ It’s about two and a half times less than the CMX now,” he says, “ and, scattered around Aus­ tralia, we have about 30 systems. Some of the early ones were hybrids — part ours and part someone else’s product.

But, for the last three years, they have been totally our design, and locally manufactured. “ A lot of the video development work was done here in Melbourne, in conjunction with Chris Schwarz at Complete Post Productions, and at Iloura Visual Services. The early audio systems were done with people like Channel 10 and the Swinburne Institute of Technology. When we became involved -with Roger Savage and the Soundfirm project, the whole audio system was looked at very much

from an international point of view: we wanted to make a product which would be acceptable on a world market. Some of the software and features have come out of a collabora­ tion between Roger and ourselves, and have given us a product that leads most other audio editing systems at the moment. When the second stage of software is completed, it will certainly be a clear leader on a world scale.”

Roger Savage, who worked on the sound re-recording of Return o f the Jedi at Lucasfilm and has just finished mixing Mad Max: Beyond Thunder­ dom e, started out in the music field. “ But my interests moved gradually from music towards films,” he says, “ because I’d done a lot of film scoring, way back in the days of Tim Burstall’s Stork (1971) and things like that — early Melbourne stuff. “ But when I m oved into film , the

only place to do it was in Sydney.

There was nothing in Melbourne: people were even going to Adelaide.

There was basically nothing here for mixing 35mm. So, that was the first reason for setting up. The other was that, coming from the music side, which was so advanced technically in processing sound, going back to a film mix was like going back to the Dark Ages — very crude. I found it exciting and interesting to see how you could apply what had been developed in the record industry to film. “ When I went to Lucasfilm, it con­ firmed everything. Their company, Sprocket Systems, was using multi­ track — not to the extent we were using it, but Ben Burtt was using it to piece together sound effects before they went onto sprockets for the mix.

They used a multi-track synched to film to create the elem ents, which is

what we are doing here, except we are also using multi-track for the final mix. “ Before I went to Jedi, I had bought the computer from Graeme at Sontron, and purchased the actual synchroniser, although we hadn’t developed the software for it. The reason I went to Graeme was because the missing thing was something that could easily control sprockets and timecode, because even at this stage there are things you can’t do outside of sprockets — just as there are things you can do much faster on tape.

Graeme’s synchronizer was the one we wanted to use, and we developed the software specifically for this applica­ tion with film and video sound. “ The controller allows you to inter­ lock or synchronize a videotape machine — in this case a Sony Umatic, but we have also used a 1” for re-striping. We can interface the video, any audio machine, multi-track or two-track and, in our case, Magnatech sprocketed dubbers, which includes the projector. You can have up to fifteen of these machines on-line. We also have a KEM flatbed editor inter­ locked. This has a video camera fitted, which we use mostly for doing film-totape as our workprint or mixing dupe.

The reason it works is that the KEM controlled by the com puter is absolutely frame-accurate, whereas the two are not normally synchronous. “ The system is more than just the synchronizer, though. For example, it can run the multi-track backwards in sync, for film-style rock and roll. It has built-in VCAs for automatic fading, comparators for dropping into and out of record, and the next expan­ sion on it is the interface with a laser disc player for accessing sound effects.

“ Coming from the music side, which was so advanced technically, going back to a film mix was like going back to the Dark Ages — very crude” R o g e r Savage

That would become just like another machine to it: it would grab a sound from our specially prepared sound effects disc and, depending on how many discs you had on-line, you could play a whole sound-track from disc.

And all to half-frame accuracy.”

Geoff Baxter, chief engineer at Iloura Visual Services in Melbourne, is also a Sontron user. “ It was able to leapfrog ahead of the overseas editing systems in a number of ways,” he says. “ First, it was able to do it on price, because the overseas companies had not seen the wisdom of going to a mass-produced microcomputer, and were staying with their own, fairly old and inflexible systems. They were overtaken by developments in the home and hobby market that brought a flood of low-cost components to the advantage of companies like Sontron and Automatic Edit Controllers in Sydney. “ You can now purchase a system that will essentially do everything that a $125,000 CMX will do for around $25-$35,000. And the Australian edit systems are by no means behind the overseas ones. Sony and Ampex have produced very good systems but, to

use them, you are virtually locked into using their equipment as well. The greater the amount of their peripheral equipment you have, the bigger advan­ tage you will get from their pro­ gramme. People who wanted to mix and match equipment were then brought to systems like CMX, which will drive virtually anybody’s equip­ ment. There are others which offer similar equipment, but at similar prices. Which left a nice gap for AEC and Sontron to get into. Plus they were here, so they could be more responsive to ideas and feedback from the local editors, because it is a distinctly separate market from the rest of the world. “ We use the Sontron edit control system mostly for commercial video production, and also for the assembly of material for our Interscreen system.

The Interscreen computer is run in a

Ln-rd

“ The overseas companies had not seen the wisdom of going to a massproduced microcomputer, and were staying with their own, fairly old and inflexible systems” G eoff B a x te r

similar way to the edit system, except that, initially, it synchronizes the three cassette machines required in replay.

When that’s achieved, it goes about the business of switching the signals from these three machines, plus a colour generator, to any one of the twelve monitors. And it will do this every single frame if you want it to, which produces a truly dynamic display. The switching decisions are entered into the computer and syn­ chronized to an SMPTE timecode on one of the U-matic cassettes. “ Related to the Interscreen but on a separate computer is our stock library.

Because the Interscreen programmes require so much material and we often use a lot of stock footage, finding the material on a large reel of tape is diffi­ cult. After the material comes in and is cleared for copyright, each reel is logged by hand and the information entered into the computer. You can then use a sorted print-out to search for a specific entry, or use the computer to find it. “ The programme was modified from one I wrote to keep track of the cables in a building! The library needed almost the same features. It runs on a cheap, $2,000 CP/M com­ puter, with two disk drives and just 64K of memory, which is hooked up to a Brother typewriter. We also use it for word-processing, and soon it’ll be doing our invoices.”

For the working sound recordist, the technology needs to be both simpler and, of course, lighter. But microcom­ puters have also come to play an important part in the life of sound recordist Ian Wilson. “ The one thing I hate about sound recording,” says Wilson, “ is sound sheets. On a docu­ mentary, it is always difficult writing in the wind. So I developed a system to automate that, using the Sharp 1500 computer. I found that it was possible to write a programme that did all the work for me, was quite small, fitted on my belt and allowed me just to push one button at the end of a take and

Above, sound recordist Ian Wilson with his highly portable Sharp 1500.

enter the slate information. I could add a description at the time or later; and, at the end of the shoot, print it out on a very small plotter attached to the end of it. It’s all very compact, and it travels well. “ The print-out can use a number of different colours so, for example, you can use red for the ‘print’ takes, etc.

With the 24K memory, it will hold about a week’s recording information.

The programme itself only takes up about 7K. So, with the new 64K memory chips here soon, you could keep a five- or six-week production in memory. You can download it to a small cassette recorder if you like, and I do that at the end of the day because, computers being what they are, anything can happen. I then stick the print-out strips on to the tape box, and supply a copy for the editor or whoever needs them. The advantage of that is that, while you can lose sheets, you hardly ever lose a tape box.”

Wilson has found a number of spin­ off benefits as well. “ I’ve got a pro­ gramme that calculates my cash flow, that does my invoice on the day of the shoot, and there is even a simple text editor that lets you shift lines around.

It’s a versatile machine: there are a couple of camera assistants I know

who are using them to run quick depth-of-field calculations. And an editor friend, Graeme Preston, is using one to do the conversions from his film footage and frame-count lists, to work out the equivalent timecode numbers.

It is then printed out as a video-edit decision list that he takes to the tape house.”

Wilson has found his microcom­ puter especially rugged, and with some surprising fringe benefits. “ I t’s survived from snow to desert temper­ atures: it’s probably worn better than me. And it’s actually a help in some of those locations, because it is such a novelty. We were filming with children in the Hunza Valley for The Fountain of Youth; and, although they spoke some English, they were a bit scared of us. I had a short programme that let them type in their name and then printed it out in big letters. Then you tore the strip off and gave it to them, and they rushed round delighted! “ And once, we struck a customs guy where we changed the carnet — some­ thing which can get you into a lot of trouble. I had already entered the changes into the computer, and when he questioned us, I said: ‘Hang on, I’ll get it for you’, and out it printed. He could have said, ‘Smart aleck’. But he was fascinated: we talked computers for fifteen minutes, and he let us through.” ★ CINEMA PAPERS July — 61

The Gibson Group would like to thank the Festival for staging the Australian Premiere of

AN YVONNE MACKAY FILM

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Wednesday, May 15, 1985 "Geoff Murphy has taken a man-alone theme and turned it imaginatively to strong and refreshing effect in The Quiet Earth.

"A cast of three might spell doom for a less accomplished and innovative hand. M urphy makes it seem an asset."

"The emotions unleased by this trio in their struggle for survival propels the story, which has an intriguing mystical dimension, to a shattering conclusion."

"What it achieves w ithout question is the establishment of Murphy as a director of international, commercial caliber." â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Nic.

A GEOFF MURPHY FILM World Sales: T he G ib so n G ro u p Ltd PO Box 6185 Te A ro W ellin g to n N ew Z ealan d T e le p h o n e (04) 847-789 T elex NZ 30598 G ib so n

Prisoners

drained of response, its attention deflected towards their tragedy. Armstrong’s dedica­ tion to an intellectual concept is clear (if at times overwhelming) in its control of the style, fee! and acting of the film.

MRS SOFFEL

Helen Greenwood

There are evident similarities between Gillian Armstrong’s debut feature, My Brilliant Career (1979), and her recent film, Mrs Soffel.

Both films depict a woman trapped by her sex and circumstances: in the case of My Brilliant Career’s Sybylla (Judy Davis), the trap was poverty; in the case of Kate Soffel (Diane Keaton), it is marriage. Both films are period pieces in m is e -e n -s c § n e only: their themes are contemporary and seem to detach themselves from the visual style of the films. And both films use their m is e -e n -s c e n e — the interiors of homes and landscapes — to represent the moods and predicaments of their characters.

Indeed, Mrs Soffel extends these elements into a stylized comment upon the status of women.

Kate Soffel, the wife of a prison warden in turn-of-the-century Pittsburgh, is desper­ ately unhappy, seeking solace in religion and her children, and taking to her bed when neither provides a remedy for her dilemma. For Kate, unlike Sybylla, has gone one step further: she has entered the marriage institution against which Sybylla fought, and so is doomed. And, like Aunt Helen (Wendy Hughes) fn My Brilliant Career, Kate also offers “ a model of what to avoid: the subservience of women to passion” , as Brian McFarlane put it in

Mrs Soffel: D irected by Gillian Armstrong.

Producers: Edgar J. Scherick, Scott Rudin, D av id A. Nicksay. Associate producer: Dennis Jones. Screenplay: Ron Nyswaner. D irector of photography: Russell Boyd. Editor: Nicholas Beaum an. Music: M ark Isham. Production designer: Luciana Arrighi. Sound editor: Bob Grieve. Cast: D iane K eaton (Kate Soffel), M el Gibson (Ed Biddle), M atthew M odine (Jack Biddle), Edw ard H errm ann (Peter Soffel), Trini A lvarado (Irene Soffel), J en nie D und as (M argaret Soffel), D an ny Corkill (Eddie Soffel), H arley Cross (C larence Soffel), Terry O 'Q uinn (Buck M cG overn).

P roduction com pany: Edgar J. Scherick/Scott Rudin for M G M /U A .

Distributor: U.I.P. 110 minutes. U.S.A. 1984.

Reel life THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO

W o rd s a n d Im a g e s .

Kate’s passion manifests itself in her aid to and love for the convicted murderer, Ed Biddle (Mel Gibson). Kate and Ed are drawn to each other as they realise that each is the captive of society’s dicta. It is no accident that bars, claustrophobic camera angles, stifling .interiors and sombre shadows mark the visual style of the prison scenes, in sharp contrast to the clear, white open spaces of the cold Canadian land­ scape into which they eventually flee. Arm­ strong — and her directorial voice cannot be ignored — constantly counterposes images of fire and steel, dark and light, and themes of conformity and risk, religion and fate. .

Kate never seems to belong in her surroundings: there is constant tension between her and the settings of the first part of the film. Her haunted eyes, her uneasy movements through the cells delivering bibles, the camera which captures her in the stifling interiors of her home, over­ whelmingly filled with objects, or behind the bars of the prison — all testify to the concept of a woman kept in place only by force of circumstance.

The contrast and comparison with Ed is beautifully portrayed in a scene in which she is beating carpets with her maid behind a cage which ostensibly serves to protect her from the prisoners, but is photographed with a reverse tracking, high-angle shot that clearly establishes h e r as the prisoner.

However, while the tension is created visually between the characters and their environment, there is a lack of it between Kate and Ed. Heightened awareness and sensitivity are present, but little erotic friction. Gibson gives an excellent portrayal of ambiguity as his manipulation of Kate gradually turns into love and recognition of her plight, but there are no corresponding nuances in Keaton’s performance. She

captures the hysterical and neurotic aspects of Kate Soffel nicely, but not the icy fire or the powerful emotions lurking below.

She never ignites, just warms up.

A rm strong and scree nw rite r Ron Nyswaner develop their minor characters carefully: Peter Soffel (Edward Herrmann) is neither ogre nor fool, just an ordinary man who cannot, like so many others, under­ stand the frustrations of a woman who does not belong. Jack Biddle (Matthew Modine, in a fine performance) illustrates an aspect of Ed’s character that enables the audience to believe in the depth of his feeling for Kate.

More interesting are two of Kate’s children, Irene (Trini Alvarado) and Mar­ garet (Jennie Dundas). They represent the two sides of Kate: the former is the obedient young woman ready to shoulder the res­ ponsibilities of her station in life; the latter is the questioning girl who sees the other side

Bustles, bibles and bars: Diane Keaton as Kate Soffel, trapped by marriage in Gillian Armstrong’s Mrs Soffel. and cannot accept that the status quo is immutable.

Both girls will be marked by their mother’s actions. Yet, strangely, it is Irene, the one who disapproves of her mother, who visits her after her disgrace. Therein lies the sole note of optimism in the film: the hope that future generations will benefit from the experiences of a woman such as Kate Soffel. For no hope lies in the fate of Kate: her attempt to escape her emotional prison is foiled by her ‘subservience to passion', and she is once again behind bars.

The poignant final scene firmly refocuses the film on the plight of Mrs Soffel, at a point when the devastating climax (the shooting down of the Biddles) leaves the audience

The last Woody Allen film I saw was Annie Hall. I rather liked Annie Hall, but some­ thing about it warned me away from what was to follow. The Purple Rose of Cairo would not have tempted me into the cinema if I had not been asked to review it. Now it seems as though my worst fears have been realised. This is a suspicious concatenation of circumstances indeed and, if I were you, I would take what follows with a healthy dose of salts.

The Purple Rose of Cairo is an entertaining film: only cranks and purists won’t be charmed by it. It is not hilarious, I suppose, but is what is called 'gently funny’. It is also what is called ’bitter-sweet’.

The story concerns an innocent dreamer whose dreams come (all too briefly) true.

Apt social: comment squirms through the fantasy. Poverty and apathy are contrasted with ersatz Tinseltown lu xe, Allen’s narrative is deftly structured — a model of its kind. His observation of social detail is witty and precise. The film is jam-packed v/ith understated virtues (for example, Gordon Willis’s cinematography recalls Charles Burchfield’s streetscapes, with all the ways out cut off within the frame). Best of all, this is a movie about movies: self-reflexive, hip, aware. And you get to cry at the end.

Actually, you could start crying right at the beginning: it is the Depression. Men out of work, women trying to put bread on the table, dark colours, no make-up, untidy hair, old clothes. Mia Farrow is this waitress.

Only she’s really not much of a waitress.

Her old man doesn’t have a job, and he probably knocks her around some — you know the kind. He doesn’t even go to find work when there’s work around. So, she’s waitressing, but what she really likes to do is go to the movies.

She goes to this movie, this Purple Rose of Cairo movie. Right away, you figure maybe something is up because you have been noticing that there’s not much funny . going on up to now. If you want to know the

CINEMA PAPERS July — 63

finally ruled by the. conventions of the possible.

Allen, by contrast, postulates a universe of marvels, then pointedly withdraws it, so that when his film finishes with the same unctuous message, we know that it might equally well have ended otherwise — with Cecilia on the screen, for example, or the screen in the town, or a thousand other ways.

Ultimately, The Purple Rose of Cairo is an ‘author’s’ film with no alibis, and the overweening pretense of its ending can only be attributed to the overweening pretense of the author inscribed on its surface.

Bill and Diane Routt

The Purple Rose of Cairo:

truth, there isn’t much of anything going on.

Only Depression. Mia's the sole support and she drops a plate and gets fired. And then she goes home and her old man is playing around with this fat broad. You are asking yourself, "Is this a comedy, or what?"

So, she walks out and goes to the movies again. The Purple Rose of Cairo. And you wouldn’t believe what happens: this guy in the movie looks right out at her and says, "You must really like this picture, you’ve been here seven times!" And he walks right down from the movie and into h e r life\ It is a moment of madness, the best moment in the movie. It is also the premise upon which the narrative of the film is built — a premise whose implications are ulti­ mately rejected by the picture’s sudsy finale.

Indeed, once it has been established that the worlds of ‘fiction’ and ’reality’ can intersect, the film seems bent on running away from the premise. Tom Baxter (Jeff Daniels), the c h a ra c te r from the screen — not the star who plays the character, who appears later in his own right — falls in love with Cecilia (Farrow), and she with him.

But they never get it on together. They kiss some. More significantly, they talk a lot about what happens when the screen fades to black (Tom doesn’t know, Cecilia does).

And there is a clever sequence in which Tom visits a brothel. But the line is not crossed. Worst of all, it isn’t even approached. The idea of sexual relations between the 'reel' character and the real one functions only as titillation, and thereby the film refuses to acknowledge what the possibility or impossibility of such contact could mean.

At the end, Cecilia is once again alone in the audience at the movies, her misery solaced by images of Astaire and Rogers cheek to cheek. Tom Baxter has gone back to the reel world. Gil Shepherd, the star who might have loved her, has gone back to Hollywood. She will soon have to go back to her yukky husband.

Things are as they were before, with only the sweet surcease of dreams to assuage the pain of daily living. Where once two worlds had interpenetrated and anything could happen, now they are separate, and only what has been economically fore­ ordained can occur.

Certainly, a social moral can be drawn. A species of dissatisfaction with things as they are does flutter across the frontal lobes as we weep with Mia at the end. Yet I suspect that something less worthy has been at work and that, finally, not social but psychological forces have dictated this unhappy conclusion.

I am pretty sure that the ending is meant to remind us of Preston Sturges’s picaresque comedy, Sullivan’s Travels, where Joel McCrea eventually discovers that the reason one makes entertaining movies is so that black men on chain gangs can every now and then have a laugh. The difference is that Sturges’s narrative was

64 — July CINEMA PAPERS

D irected a nd written by W oody Allen. Producer: Robert Greenhut. Executive producer: Charles H. Joffe. Associate producers: M ichael Peyser a n d Gail Sicilia. Director of photography: Gordon Willis. Editor: Susan E. Morse. Music: D ick Hym an. Production design: Stuart Wurtzel. Costumes: Jeffrey Kurland. Sound: Jam es Sabat. Cast: Mia Farrow (Cecilia), Jeff Daniels (Tom Baxter/Gil Shepherd), D anny Aiello (Monk), Dianne Wiest (Emma), Van Johnson (Larry), Zo e C aldwell (The Countess), John W ood (Jason), Milo O ’Shea (Father Donnelly), Deborah Rush (Rita). Production com pany: Jack Rollins a n d Charles H. Joffe for Orion Pictures. Distributor: Roadshow. 35m m .

8 2 minutes. U.S.A. 1985.

Pigging out POLICE ACADEMY 2: THEIR FIRST ASSIGNMENT and PORKY’S REVENGE By that unfortunate middle-class reflex which haunts film reviewing and criticism, the first films in the Police Academy and Porky’s series were, upon release, instantly flung into the ‘despicable’ cate­ gory reserved for most teen movies. The reflex is middle-class in the sense that a righteous condemnation of these films may express a deep-set hatred and resentment of that cultural (life)style known as ‘the vulgar’ — vulgarity being spectacular, unsubtle, stereotypical and offensive to the canons of good taste.

Unashamedly vulgar in this tradition, Police Academy had, in fact, a lot going for it: a certain wild, anarchic humour; a level of manic energy guaranteed by the rising curve of its catastrophe narrative; and an occasionally unsettling abrasiveness in the way it hurled its stereotypes of law, order and morality (and their opposite numbers) against each other. Porky’s (a fine, underrated film, directed with great verve and invention by Bob Clark) had even more going for it: a reasonably complex thematic structure involving a grid of class, race, gender and family deter­ minations within which the characters struggled.

Police Academy 2: Their First Assign­ ment and Porky’s Revenge (the third in its series) are sad, tired sequels. They demon­ strate what seems to happen with films that are made quickly and in order to cash in on an audience’s happy memories: calculation replaces invention, plot material gets sappy, construction goes soggy.

These films are strangely unfocused and often quite daft: they sleepwalk through the form ulae established by the initial successes. Almost every major comic scene in both films weighs in sluggishly as a protracted replay of a scene in the original — another spectacular destruction of the brothel (this time, a riverboat) provided by Porky’s Revenge; an ‘Internal Cavity Examination’ in Police Academy 2, replacing the famous head-up-the-horse’sarse of the first film.

Police Academy 2 is an insufferably

cute movie. Even, the leader of the punk gang, supposedly the supreme embodi­ ment of crazed, evil lawlessness, is a teddy bear. Bearing no relation to even a symbolic social reality, and hence having no interest in the hard edges and tough lines of the original, it becomes purely a comic book. Porky’s Revenge provides not even a desultory, routine pleasure; it is dull, witless, narratively implausible at every moment, stupefyingly adolescent, and hardly worth seeing.

What has happened to film comedy?

There is nothing in these films resembling a classic ‘gag’ — nothing to remind one of Buster Keaton’s elaborate spatial set-ups, Preston Sturges’s multilayered narrative, or Jerry Lewis’s brilliant split-second changes of mood and register. Each film is simply a procession of shaggy-dog one-liners and spectacular inversions of the ‘norm’.

A cop shoots tear gas at a bratty kid, a timid woman suddenly punches a guy unconscious. Funny stuff, huh? The humour is ‘easy’ in several senses — arrived at without much consideration or elaboration, and also politically conserva­ tive, playing on wink-nudge responses to anything faintly ‘weird’ or deviant.

If we ask why Porky’s Revenge, in par­ ticular, registers so strongly as ‘adolescent’, an Interesting scenario emerges, above and beyond the intrinsic quality (or lack of it) in the film itself. A simple but nagging ques­ tion arises: Why is the worldview of this film (and, in fact, many teen movies) so obsessed with sexual humiliation? Over and over, characters are cruelly ‘set up’ in embarrassing situations, or their un­ checked libido lands them in such situa­ tions, or they are caught on the brink of (or in the middle of) some titillating, kinky act.

Sex is always public and ‘dirty’.

Is it any wonder, then, that a code of ‘ norm al’ (private, domestic, genital) sexuality is endlessly defined in the dialogue ("You don’t lick her waist, it’s not one of the designated areas’’)? Or that the plot is structured on an elaborate series of blackmail photos, stag movies and so on, that self-referentially implicate Porky’s Revenge, and indeed the entire institution of cinema, as irrevocably dirty, voyeuristic, impersonal, humiliating, exposing private acts to public eyes — a kind of (non-explicit, but none the less fully operational) porno­ graphy? ' ' But then, as if in horrified self-realisation at this depressingly moral conclusion, Porky’s Revenge turns elsewhere. As in so many teen movies involving schools, gangs or police academies, a certain positive message is eventually inserted, so as to transcend the narrative’s hitherto established grid of irreconcilable differ­ ences, oedipal intrigues and rebellions against tyrannical authority.

It is generally a message of community.

The films end with an almost ritual celebra­ tion, in which conflicts dissolve, humiliation disappears and all evil elements (e.g.

Porky) are expelled. At last, sex is not a dirty or furtive act, but a proud and public social identity; even ‘kinkiness’ can be celebrated in such endings. This is in fact the fantasy of

Shades o f fantasy. Top left, black-andwhite style: Mia Farrow and Jeff Daniels in The Purple Rose of Cairo. Below, boys-inblue style: Michael Winslow in Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment.

Pee Wee (Dan Monahan) at the start of

Porky’s Revenge: the crowd at Grad­ uation Day cheering his naked erection.

But what happens when the film finally tries to realize Pee Wee’s fantasy? Earlier, when the film tried to be ‘positive’, it only managed to look cornball and ludicrous. So here, it gives up, deflating Pee Wee’s dream with a final crowning act of sexual humiliation. “ Kinda gives you a warm feeling,” is the wisecrack that closes the film. But, in truth, the opposite effect is achieved: Porky’s Revenge remains a depressing vicious circle of a film, infinitely and unknowingly sad beneath the tacky surfaces of its teen-movie antics.

Adrian Martin

Porky’s Revenge: D irected by Jam es K o m a c k . P ro d u c e r: R o b e rt L. R osen.

Executive Producers: Melvin Simon a n d Milton G oldstein. S creenp lay: Z ig g y Steinberg, b a sed on characters created by B ob Clark.

Director of photography: R obert Jessup.

Production designer: Peter Wooley. Editor: John W. Wheeler. Music: D ave Edmunds.

Cast: Dan M onahan (Pee Wee), Wyatt K night (Tommy), Tony Ganios (M eat), M ark Herrier (Billy), Kaki H unter (Wendy), Scott Colom by (Brian), N ancy Parsons (Ms Balbricker), C huck Mitchell (Porky). Production com pany: Simon Film Productions. Distributor: Roadshow.

35m m . 9 0 minutes. U.S.A. 1985.

Police Academy 2: Their First Assign­ ment: D irected by Jerry Paris. Producer: Paul M aslansky. C o-producer: L e o n ard Kroll.

E x e c u tiv e p r o d u c e r : J o h n G o ld w y n .

Screenplay: Barry Blaustein a n d D avid Sheffield, bas e d on characters created by N ea l Israel a n d Pat Proft. Director of p h o to ­ graphy: Jam es Crabe. Editor: B ob Wyman.

Production designer: Trevor Williams. Sound: Bill Nelson. Cast: Steve G uttenberg (C arey M ahoney), B ubba Smith (Hightower), D avid G raf (Tackteberry), M ichael Winslow (Larvell Jones), Bruce M ahler (D oug Fackler), Marion R am sey (Laverne Hooks), Colleen C am p (Kirk­ land), H ow ard H essem an (Peter Lassard).

Production com pany: Paul Maslansky, for the L a d d C om pany.

Distributor: R oadshow .

35m m . 8 7 minutes. U.S.A. 1985.

The goulash archipelago STRANGER THAN PARADISE Willie lives in a shoe-box in New York City.

He sleeps slouched on his bed, while the TV plays flickering all night re-runs of the fifties cult sitcom, The Honeymooners. His life is one of cool gambling, on horses, on cards. Willie is hip, and doesn’t have to try too hard: it comes natural. The only ruffle in his world is when the phone rings and the voice is Hungarian. “ Speak English,” he says, " I ’m an American now.” And, coming to intrude on his ordered, dis­ orderly life, is a little Hungarian girl-cousin, Eva, on her way from Motherland to Cleveland.

Willie’s best friend, Eddie, looks forward to this arrival. Willie wouldn’t do anything so uncool as be enthusiastic. And, when Eva arrives, enrobed in baggy black pullover, shapeless trousers and sullen glances, Willie finds out that he’s met his match in laconic charm.

Bearing her portable cassette which plays only a plangent Screamin’ Jay Hawkins blues, Eva soon proves herself as capable of shoplifting life’s little niceties (Chesterfields, TV dinners) as the boys. She can also wield a Hoover, and doesn’t sulk too much when they go off to see Ozu films without her.

When Eva leaves for Cleveland, Willie’s goodbye present to her is a frock. She puts it on over her pullover, and shrugs it off later in the street and into a trashcan. Eddie watches, admiringly. End of Part One,

Part Two. Eddie and Willie have done well in a rigged card game, New York’s winter runs out of charms, and they head off in a borrowed car for Cleveland and Eva. In a frozen house they find The Aunt, playing bridge, dispensing growls and soup, and refusing to speak English. Eva is working in a diner, courted by a serious boy, and bored. After exploring the wonders of Cleveland (a lake invisible in freezing fog, bad movies and a teasable boyfriend), the trio takes off for the watery winter sun of Florida, equipped with all that is vital: sunglasses from a garage, and Eva’s endless Screamin’ Jay Hawkins tape.

Part Three. They hole up in an out-of­ season motel. Eva lies flat on the car’s back seat so they need only pay for two. Eva and Willie beat slow Eddie to the single beds, leaving the less wily American to grapple with the collapsible. Again, the boys leave the girl on men’s business, this time at the dog-track, where they lose their New York winnings and return to sulk.

But Eva wasn’t going to take a motel in Florida as she took a shoe-box in New York City. This is her holiday, too, and she’s been off on her own adventures. The final sly curves of the tale are too good to be disclosed. Suffice to say that the unexpected becomes the unpredictable.

The fact that the director of Stranger Than Paradise isn’t Hungarian is one of the many remarkable things about Jim Jarmusch and his film. He observes America with such a foreigner's amuse­ ment and fascination, and portrays Willie, Eva and The Aunt with such an insider’s clarity and wit, that one takes him for the model Magyar emigre. But he was born 31 years ago in Akron, Ohio. His film won the Camera d ’Or in Cannes in 1984, th e prize for a first feature.

Couple that to his artistic background: a writer turned filmmaker, teaching assistant to the legendary Hollywood exile, Nicholas Ray, and assistant on Wim Wenders’s Lightning Over Water, that painful testimony to Ray’s last fight with cancer.

And add to that the fact that Stranger Than Paradise was shot in nineteen days, took six weeks to edit over a two-year period, and was made on distressed blackand-white film stock donated by Wenders from The State of Things. The result sounds ominously like a movie thumbmarked for the film buff's interest.

But it’s far better than such film references would suggest. Composed as a series of single takes which fade to black between each grainy ‘scene’, Stranger Than Paradise is coolly hilarious, blessed with a witty script, quirky characterization and a loose-limbed sax score. It’s a film which possesses a reassured, easy irony, absent in the work of Jarmusch’s mentors, Ray and Wenders, but which catches more than a tinge of his other (obviously structural) hero, Ozu. And, before this gets into an auteurist ramble, it’s well worth pointing out the extent of the collaboration between actors and director in the film. Willie is played by the mutant-handsome John Lurie, recently

Loners: top left, Matthew Modine in the title role o f Birdy (with Perta); below, not particularly rhapsodic Hun­ garian Eszter Balint in Stranger Than Paradise.

seen as the bar-pimp in Paris, Texas. He’s also the composer of the film’s score, drawing on his considerable experience with New York’s new wave jazz band, The Lounge Lizards.

Richard Edson, in the role of side-kick Eddie, could be a jerky young DeNiro, and, though he’s never acted before, he performed live with Jarmusch in their twoman band, The Lone Rangers. And caustic moll Eva is played by genuinely Hungarian Eszter Balint, dancer and classical viola player.

Which leaves only The Aunt and secret star of Stranger Than Paradise, a part for which Jarmusch auditioned all the ‘proper’ Hungarian actresses available, only to find them too glamorous. With 68-year-old Cecilia Stark, his lawyer’s aunt, he found a natural. Nobody cheats at bridge like she does, nor feeds youth in such an insistent way. May Cecilia Stark and Jim Jarmusch have long careers.

Saskia Baron

Stranger Than Paradise: Directed, written a n d edited by Jim Jarm usch. Producer: Sara Driver. Executive producer: Otto Grokenberger. D irector o f photography: Tom Dicilto.

Co-editor: M elod y London. Music: John Lurie, Aaron Picht, S cre a m in ’ Jay Hawkins. Sound: G reg Curry, D rew Kunin. Cast: John Lurie (Willie [Bela Molnar]), Eszter Balint (Eva), Richard Edson (Eddie), Cecilia Stark (Aunt Lottie), D anny Rosen (Billy), R am ellzee (M an with money), Tom Dicillo (Airline agent), R ichard Boes (Factory worker). Production c o m p a n y : C inethesia Productions (N e w York)/Grokenberger Film-Produktion (Munich).

D istributor: Sharm ill Films. 8 9 minutes.

U.S.A ./W est Germany. 1984.

Feather fetishist BIRDY “ You like pigeons?’’ Birdy’s eponymous hero (Matthew Modine) asks his new friend near the start of the film. “ What’s to like?” asks Al (Nicolas Cage), in that curious, clipped syntax that seems to characterize working class heroes In American films. “ They fly,” says Birdy.

Like most of Alan Parker’s main char­ acters, Birdy is a monomaniac. The prob­ lem with his monomania is that it takes him, quite literally, over the edge. Dressed in a ridiculous feather suit (“ This way, the pigeons’ll think I’m one of them” ), he climbs, with Al in terrified tow, to the very top of a power station.

Hanging over the edge to catch pigeons, he slips, and ends up clinging to a gutter, around a hundred feet up. Desperately, Ai tries to pull him back. Birdy, however, is not so much calm as exhilarated — high, one might almost say. “ You’re going to ju m p T Y ' asks Al, incredulously. “ No, Al, I’m going to fly,” replies Birdy. And does so, plunging gracefully through the air and landing on a heap of sand — where, as they say, he sustains only minor injuries.

Throughout the Philadelphia section of the film, Birdy’s behaviour is eccentrically obsessive — “ that weird kid,” as Al refers to him before they meet — rather than truly nuts. And his obsession is lightly handled — except, perhaps, in his love scene with Perta, the canary.

Birdy’s first attempt at manpowered flight, for instance, is a wacky affair, con­ ducted from the front of a grocer’s delivery bicycle (pedalled by the faithful Al), on top of a massive garbage tip, to the strains of that late fifties classic of musical bubble­ gum, Richie Valens’s ‘La Bamba’. It ends in a pool of mucky water, at the bottom of a garbage-strewn slope. Briefly, though, Birdy flew.

What really clips Birdy’s wings is Vietnam — ironically, perhaps, since it is the traum­ atizing experience of Nam that pushes him over the mental edge and leaves him squat­

ting, naked in a barred room in an Army psychiatric hospital, convinced he is a bird.

The dark shadow of the Vietnam war falls across the whole film — the metaphor that extends Birdy’s obsession into full-blown madness, much as it ended America’s ridi­ culously protracted national adolescence.

Birdy is told in flashback, starting with Al, his face wrapped In bandages which conceal the Vietnam-inflicted scar tissue that has replaced his face, being taken to visit Birdy in hospital. The army doctor — a performance by John Harkins nicely balanced between avuncular authority and plain, bloody-minded military authoritarian­ ism — hopes Al may be able to pull Birdy out of it.

Eventually, he does, but not in the ‘required’ way. At the end, Birdy and Al erupt into violence against an institution — read the Army, read America — whose only interest in making Birdy better is to get him back under control. They flee to the roof where, to A l’s horror, Birdy leaps again. But he doesn’t fly and he doesn’t die. Instead, ‘La Bamba’ plays.

It is this mixture of anarchic humour and dark metaphor that makes Birdy Parker’s best film to date, combining that manic skill at creating visions of hell that he manifested in Midnight Express and in some of Pink Floyd The Wall, with the ability to get actors to go deeper into their characters — and the confidence to follow them there — which characterized Shoot the Moon.

Matthew Modine and Nicolas Cage are both superb — Cage manic and bemused, as though wanting a street-legal confidence that his friendship with Birdy will not allow (and whose time has, in any case, not yet come); Modine tight, tense and obsessive, as much In smaller things — like how long he can hold his breath — as In the larger matter of flight.

C inem atographer M ichael Seresin creates a poetry out of the girders and garbage of South Philadelphia (see, for instance, the early scene in which Al and Birdy catch pigeons beneath the elevated railway). And the work of Gerry Hambling, Parker’s permanent editor (and the man who made Fame bearable) sews together the complicated time structure of the film — Philly, Nam, now — with the sort of effort­ less, classic skill that seems to hide itself.

There are, in fact, so many things unquestionably righ t about Birdy — the look, the feel, the strangeness, the balance between exhilaration and despair — that it seems churlish to pick up on the things that are wrong. And yet, it is those things that hold it back — still — from being the great film that Parker undoubtedly has it in him to make.

It is not the details — the fact that Cage and Modine are too old for the early scenes; that Dr Weiss Is suddenly turned into a bogeyman that the story seems to think it needs: it is that final lack of confidence in the material that causes Parker to push it just a little too far.

There is little doubt that it has been the barnstorming quality of Parker’s films that has kept his commercial prospects bright at a time when other British directors have come and gone. But, beneath it, there has always been a director with an authentic, original voice, a sensitivity to nuance, and an uncommonly firm grasp of film narrative — things which have too often been stifled by a temptation to go for broke, to shoot the moon.

In Birdy, that other Alan Parker is only ju s t below the surface, bursting through in the early hospital scenes, the scenes with Al’s family, and the one in which Birdy goes down to the boiler room to visit his dad (George Buck). “ I used to make a better wicker chair than anybody in Philadelphia,” his father remembers. “ I still could, if anybody wanted them.” What Parker him­ self needs to trust, it seems, is that there is still a market for wicker chairs.

Nick Roddick

Birdy: D irected by Alan Parker. Producer: Alan Marshall. Executive producer: D avid Manson. Associate producer: N e d Kopp.

Screenplay: S andy K roopf a n d Jac k Behr, based on the novel b y William Wharton.

Director of photography: M ichael Seresin.

Editor: Gerry H am bling. Production designer: Geoffrey Kirkland. Costum e designer: Kristi Zea. Music: Peter Gabriel. Sound recordist: D avid MacM illan. Bird trainer: Gary Gero. Cast: Matthevr M odine (Birdy), Nicolas C ag e (Al Columbato), John Harkins (Dr Weiss), S andy Baron (M r Columbato), Karen Young (H annah Rourke), Bruno Kirby (Renaldi), N an cy Fish (Mrs Prévost), G eorge Buck (B irdy’s father), Dolores Sage (B irdy’s mother). Production com pany: Delphi III Productions, for Tri-Star Pictures. Distributor: Fox-Colum bia. 35m m .

120 minutes. 1984.

A man is not a bird THE FALCON AND THE SNOWMAN In 1983, John Schlesinger made a TV film, about Guy Burgess, the British spy who, having outlived his usefulness for the Russians, is seen passing his days in oblivion in a dreary Moscow flat, still longing for suits from Savile Row. It was an amusing look at a lonely man whose changed loyalties had not altered his love for all things British. It was also the ‘after’ scenario of a professional spy who had turned. in his new film, The Falcon and the Snowman, Schlesinger takes a more serious look at what turns a man into a traitor — a question that is raised but never fully answered, because real life can be stranger than a John Le Carre novel.

The truth in this case is based on Robert Lindsey's bestseller about two young Americans who were imprisoned in 1977 for passing on U.S. satellite codes to the Russians. Christopher Boyce (Timothy Hutton) steals classified documents from the aerospace defence establishment where he works and sells them to the Soviet Embassy in Mexico City through his child­ hood friend, Andrew Daulton Lee (Sean Penn), a drug dealer.

What triggers Boyce’s treason are coded C.i.A. messages to destabilize the Whitlam government in Australia. As an experi­ enced falconer, Boyce recognizes the predatory nature of the C.I.A. which, according to him, has outgrown its appetite for legitimate intelligence and has now taken to preying on small nations.

For Lee, his friend and go-between, the motives are purely mercenary. With his getrich-quick approach to life, the information he sells is just another business transaction, no different from the heroin he hustles. He is not easily cowed by K.G.B. tactics, and

An Englishman Abroad,

CINEMA PAPERS July — 65

Film Reviews on character, it succeeds better as an espionage thriller than as a study of human behaviour.

Jimmy Hafesjee

The Falcon and the Snowman. D irected by John Schlesinger. Producers: G abriel Katzka a n d John Schlesinger. Executive producer: John Daly. C o-producer: Edw ard Teets.

Associate producer: M ichael Childers. Screen­ play: Steven Zalllian. based on the bo ok by R obert Lindsey. Director of photography: Allen Daviau. Editor: R ichard M arden. Production design: Jam es D. Bissell. Music: Pat Metheny, Lyle Mays. Sound: R ene Borisewitz. Cast: Timothy Hutton (Christopher Boyce), Sean Penn (Andrew Daulton Lee), D avid Suchet (Alex), Lori Singer (Lana). Pat Hingle (M r Boyce), Dorian H arew oo d (Gene), Richard Dysart (Dr Lee), M a d y K aplan (Laurie), M acon M cC alm an (Larry), Boris Leskin (Mikhail), G e o rg e C. G rant (K arpov).

P roduction com pany: Gabriel K atzkaJHem dale Film, for Orion Pictures. Distributor: R o a d s h o w 35m m .

131 minutes. U.S.A. 1985.

Spying on the spies: Timothy Hutton dis­ covers the C.I.A. plot to overthrow the Whitlam government in The Falcon and the Snowman. Below, brothers in arms: Bill Murray (right) and real-life brother Brian Doyle-Murray in The Razor’s Edge.

High anxiety THE RAZOR’S EDGE

One’s first response is to wonder why on earth anyone would w a n t to film The does not play the game by the rules: at one Razor’s Edge in the eighties, and to stage, he even suggests to the Russians marvel at its makers’ nerve in supposing that they use their diplomatic pouches for there is still an audience for such highdrug-running. toned tosh. Somerset Maugham’s social Tension increases as the Soviets demand observation retains a certain bite and more sensitive documents, and Boyce finds campy wit, but what about all that soulful himself increasingly isolated. Indeed, the searching for truth, so popular In post­ film generates more sympathy for Boyce World War II cinema, when the first version than it does for his dope-dealing partner, was made, but now gone with the partly because Tim Hutton's subdued windcheaters of the early seventies, with handling of Boyce's inner turmoil contrasts their chestfuls of simple piety? sharply with the bravado and friskiness that Well, director John Byrum and star Bill characterize Daulton Lee — .a part played Murray (who together wrote the script) are with cocky charm by Sean Penn, as a on record as finding a range of timeless Robert DeNiro clone. qualities in the story of Larry Darrell’s “ cur­ The clandestine operations of the two iosity about a larger world beyond the one men speak volumes about the security in which he was born". arrangements at U.S. strategic installations.

They are, no doubt, sincere men with an If key appointments are made via the old eye for what will work; but, insofar as The boy network (Boyce’s father, an ex-F.B.I. Razor’s Edge works in its newest incarna­ man, gets his son the job), champagne tion, it does so on the level of some very bottles are kept in filing cabinets and well-achieved human relationships. And surprise checks are more the exception where the film markedly exceeds the 1946 than the rule, is it any wonder that Boyce version is in Bill Murray’s Larry. The early could remove classified material from the scampishness gives point to his sobering office with impunity? wartime experiences, as these in turn do to But what makes a young man from a his postwar malaise. perfectly respectable home become a law­ The easy humour and sexuality he breaker? Principles? Impulse? The reveals early on feed into the later Larry, as pressure of family expectations? Dis­ if the new sense of a meaning to life hasn’t appointment results when expectations are displaced everything else about him. His pitched high and too great a value is placed relationship with the two women, Isabel . on conformity: for an F.B.I. operative, the ultimate shame is to see his son trafficking . (Catherine Hicks) and Sophie (stunningly well-played by Theresa Russell), form the with the communists. core of the film. Their episodes follow the And this becomes the story's real focus. old film very closely, but they are here Earlier in the film, when Boyce gives up the Imbued with a firmer sense of character priesthood, his father finds it difficult to detail. accept his son’s failure and, as if to shore up his own confidence, asks him to recite 'The Charge of the Light Brigade’, which he had taught him during his childhood.

Chris recalls the verses — including, ironically, the lines: "Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die". As it turns out, Boyce does question the system and tries to buck it with misplaced righteous­ ness.

So his capture provides, in a sense, the escape he is seeking from his mental torment. Significantly, it happens in open country, where he flies his falcon, the bird having always symbolized freedom for him.

That symbol was tarnished when the C.I.A. satellites spying in space also came to be known as electronic 'birds’. As Boyce lives more and more dangerously and becomes further ensnared by his own actions, we see less and less of the falcon. . Like the flight of the falcon, the film keeps up a swift pace, which makes for an absorbing narrative. Indeed, for all its focus

66 — July CINEMA PAPERS

The prewar and wartime glimpses of Larry help to explain, first, his and Isabel’s mutual attraction and, second, the later incompatibility of their aspirations. The present film is stronger for the use of these early sequences (both novel and 1946 film begin postwar, in 1919): they discriminate quite sharply between Larry and his rich friend, Gray Maturin (James Keach), who at this stage seems the more serious of the two, and between Isabel and Sophie.

Sophie’s sensuality, established early in a playful moment with Larry, is both erotic and self-destructive. And, when she reappears in Paris years later, promiscuous and alcoholic, one feels pity for an instinc­ tive, loving nature which has lost the objects of its love, her husband and child having been killed in an accident. Isabel, less sensual, knows what she wants (which is a good deal); but, by looking after herself and denying her instincts, she loses what she wants most (which is Larry).

The film observes the widening contrast between these two women with shrewd intelligence. Their physical appearances are alike in the early scenes. But, later, it is clear that experience has written different lines in their faces, just as it has created different lines in their posture and clothes.

Larry’s gradual separation from Isabel and his taking on of Sophie grow convincingly out of what we know of him and of them.

His affair and near-marriage to Sophie are credible and touching: devoid of Tyrone Power’s saintly do-goodism of 1946, Murray's Larry wears his new wisdom along with his old traits, in a way that suggests a whole new man rather than a moral reclamation unit.

Isabel, having married Gray for the wealth and security he has since lost, tempts Sophie (in the film’s best scene) with a bottle of delicious liqueur. Sophie loses her precarious place on the wagon and sinks, fatally, back into the mire of the Parisian underworld. And Larry returns to America, having let Isabel know he under­ stands her part in Sophie’s death.

As to philosophy, the film scarcely detains the mind. It takes seriously the novel’s cliches about those experiences that make one question what it all means, and the Search for Truth in picturesquely difficult places is given slightly more body here than in the 1946 film (which, oddly, contrived to be both stylish and ponder­ ous).

However, the Indian sequences involving a Himalayan holy man (Kunchuck Tharching), with his warning to Larry that “ the path to salvation is as difficult to walk as the razor’s edge” , seem as philosophically threadbare as when poor, wimpish Power received the same solemn adjuration 40 years ago. Curiously enough, despite expensive and visually gorgeous location­ shooting in India and the use of a local actor, it doesn’t seem any more ‘real’ than did Cecil Humphreys intoning against a shaky painted backcloth. Being on the spot doesn’t guarantee inner authenticity.

To give the film its due, it doesn’t merely succumb to the tempting physical beauties of its locations. Even in India, and in the

context of the present vogue for regarding India as synonymous with mystic verities, there is some attempt to subdue the exotic immensities to the drama of a man’s search for spiritual knowledge in a setting free from the familiar clutter of everyday life.

In fact, the film is visually distinguished in a number of ways. The graceful tracking shots over the Illinois sports field, through wartime trenches, along Paris streets and, symbolically, up immense sets of stairs and mountain slopes diagonally dividing the screen, make their contribution to the narrative motif of search. As well, the film’s dramatic staple, the two- and three-shots (interspersed with telling reverse-angles), Indicate that director and cameraman (Peter Hannan) have been restrained and intelligent in their decisions to keep the camera where it matters: on the people, especially on their faces.

Elsewhere, bold cutting underlines the bold oppositions on which the film’s narrative is posited. For instance, the cut from the romantic squalor of Larry’s Paris garret to the palatial apartment of Isabel’s Uncle Elliot (Denholm Elliott, savouring a few witty morsels) underlines a contrast that motivates Isabel’s rejection of Larry.

Sometimes the effect is simplistic, but the shuttling between spiritual questing and material aspiration has a kind of time­ hallowed validity about it that holds the film together.

Brian McFarlane

The Razor’s Edge:

D irected by John Byrum.

Producers: R obert P. M arcucci a n d Harry Benn. Executive producer: R ob Cohen.

A s s o c ia t e p r o d u c e r : J a s o n Laskay.

Screenplay: John Byrum a n d Bill Murray, based on the novel by Som erset M augham .

Director o f photography: Peter Hannan. Editor: P e ter Boyle. P roduction design: Phillip Harrison. Costumes: Shirley Russell. Music: Jack Nitzsche. Cast: Bill M urray (Larry Darrell), Theresa Russell (Sophie), Catherine Hicks (Isabel), Denholm Elliott (Elliot Templeton), Jam es Keach (Gray Maturin), Peter Vaughan (Mackenzie), Brian D oyle-M urray (Piedmont), Stephen Davies (Malcolm), S a e ed Jaffrey (R aaz).

Production c o m p a n y : M arcucci, C ohen a n d Benn, for Colum bia Pictures. Dis­ tributor: Fox-Colum bia. 35m m . 129 minutes.

U.S. A. 1984.

Alienation STARMAN Recent American science fiction films have transformed the Image of the oft-maligned aliens of the past. The extraterrestrials who grace the mainstream fantasies of the eighties appear like fairy godparents, whose mission is to fulfil the dreams and longings of wistful humans. These benign, omniscient yet curiously innocent beings arrive in a blaze of glory, and adopt the roles of surrogate parents, career guidance counsellors and lovers.

Like their predecessors in television (Uncle Martin in My Favourite Martian and Samantha in B ew itched), they possess magical powers and sophisticated intelligence, yet they display an appealing naivete about the lifestyles, languages, rituals and values of earthlings. Gone are the vengeful blobs of Alien, The Thing and even the malevolent beachball of Dark Star. They have been superseded by a new generation of outsiders, whose purity announces that any threat to the planet comes from the nature of its inhabitants, rather than from the designs of little green men.

The title character of Starm an arrives, literally and punctually, as the answer to an unspoken prayer. In an early scene, widowed Jenny Hayden (Karen Allen) sits alone in a dark house, watching home movies of happier days. She and her husband, Scott (Jeff Bridges), cavort together on the small screen, singing

Film Reviews

“ Whenever I want you, all I have to do Is dream” . When Jenny falls into a drunken doze, her dreams are realized in the form of the Starman, a creature who clones Scott’s body and proceeds to provide the love, companionship and, ultimately, the family that she craves.

E.T. chose Elliott, the disconsolate child of a broken home, and granted him celebrity status and paternal guidance.

Centauri scooped a stifled pinball wizard from the confines of a caravan park to the fantastic heights of starfighting.

The Starman functions in the same way, by filling the gaps in Jenny’s life. In each case, the alien graces a home deprived of a father figure or husband, and alleviates the loneliness and frustration produced by death or divorce. In a sense, he rejuvenates the cosy ideal of the nuclear family, pro­ viding the positive guidance and com­ passion that seems to have died with Spencer Tracy.

In addition, Starman is essentially an E.T. with sex appeal. He is a filter through which American society is observed, deservedly (but not too harshly) rapped over the knuckles, and finally celebrated. While E.T.’s expedition through American culture was confined to a middle-class neighbour­ hood, Jenny and her alien embark on a journey through America and its inconography. Her visitor has three days to enjoy the offerings of the planet, and then head home via a meteor crater in Arizona.

On the journey from Jenny’s house to his destination, he is introduced to the idiosyn­ cratic ways of earthlings and to the peculiar benefits of their lives: love, sex, music, diversity and apple pie. As the trip takes in Americana — hamburgers, hand guns, diners, baseball caps, poker machines, mobile homes, rednecks, hot rods and highways — the film makes a game attempt to present both a glimpse of the dark side of the dream and a hearty cheer for America.

Starm an juggles images of barbarity with a highly traditional brand of patriotism.

And, when the hero departs for home, he leaves with impressions of a world populated by a diversity of people and values. His penchant for cherry cobblers becomes a shorthand for an appreciation of what contemporary, conservative America idealizes: family, home cooking and freedom.

Though the film provides many delights — including an irresistible performance by Jeff Bridges, playing the alien like a curious bird — this creeping complacency, so foreign to John Carpenter’s previous films, is disquieting. As in E.T., the sustaining force for humans and aliens is ‘home’, that secure, familiar haven that nurtures and nourishes. The human home may be jeopardized by sinister forces (in both cases represented by the military), but these forces are defused in the plot resolution.

The army has become the primary repre­ sentation of evil. Any suggestion of a

further, omnipotent threat, either from man or alien, has been replaced by a less dis­ turbing demon, and one that can be exorcized by positive influences. Our world is a cosy if occasionally troubled place, where malice lurks in misguided men who can be conquered.

This comforting philosophy is a marked departure for Carpenter. His past offerings have hurled characters into isolated, hostile environments, where a potential threat lurks in every scene (Dark Star, The Thing), or else have catapulted their heroes into warzones to survive on their wits (Assault on P recinct 13, Escape from New York).

Suburban existences have been decimated by eruptions from a dark past (H allow e’en, The Fog, Christine). In Starman, the evil is contained, the family is restored and the values represented by the society are cele­ brated. .

As Starman sends up three cheers for home and homeland, one needs to question this easy optimism. Where recent American pastorals have drawn upon the pioneering heritage for inspiration and affir­ mation, science fiction seems to be looking to extraterrestrials to help restore faith in our society. And one is left wondering why, exactly, we need so much reassurance and guidance.

Debi Enker

Starman:

D irected by John Carpenter. Pro­ ducer: Larry J. Franco. Executive producer: M ic h a e l D o u g la s .

C o -p r o d u c e r : B arry Bernardi. Screenplay: Bruce A. Evans a n d R aynold Gideon. Director o f photography: D onald M. M organ. Editor: Marion Rothm an.

Music: Jac k Nitzsche. Production designer: D an iel A. Lomino. S pecial visual effects by Industrial Light a n d Magic. Cast: Jeff Bridges (Starman), Karen Allen (Jenny Hayden), Charles Martin Smith (Shermin), Richard Jaeckel (Fox). Production com pany: Larry J. Franco a n d M ichael D ouglas for Columbia Pictures. Distributor: Fox-Colum bia. 35m m a n d 70m m . 115 minutes. U.S.A. 1984.

Barking up the wrong tree THE COMPANY OF WOLVES Imagine the film that could be made about the figure of the wolf: contradictory mytho­ logical associations (fear and desire, threat and a ttra ctio n ); the c o m p le x and marvellous archaeology of stories told about it down the ages; the cinematic spectacle of wolves in motion . . . hunting, preying, spying, in packs . . .

The Company of W olves, sadly, is not the film to realise such imaginings. It is full of good, exciting intentions and hunches, which it painstakingly announces with each new scene. But it all seems to get bogged down in those misty marshes so overdone by the production’s art department.

The Com pany of W olves demarcates for itself a very particular fictional territory, the kind of territory that we associate with the novels of its screenwriter, Angela Carter. It is indeed concerned with the complex historical and mythical resonances of the wolf figure. But, more centrally, it views them retrospectively, through a whole series of current cultural obsessions, in par­ ticular current theorizations of female sexuality and desire. It is as if the old myths and fairy tales were being ‘re-read’ with modern, feminist eyes, turned over and made strange in the process.

We shall be guided through this territory via the unconscious of a pubescent girl.

What better psychic stage is there on which to play out all the ambivalence and uncert­ ainties of female sexuality? The Company of W olves almost seems, at times, like an attempt to re-present the theories of Gilles

Above, hovering on the brink o f bestiality: Sarah Patterson and Micha Bergese in Neil Jordan’s The Company o f Wolves. Left, spaced out: Karen Allen and Je ff Bridges in John Carpenter’s Starman.

The Company of W olves wants to be a film about desire. But it is altogether too academic and too well-mannered — dare one say too ‘British’? — for that. Angela Carter’s idea of a modernist style is one that (as in her novels) endlessly a n n o u n c e s what it is doing, deliberating on its own Deleuze and Felix Guattari (a clear exquisite playfulness. influence on Carter’s novels), with their ex­ This spills over into Neil Jordan’s hortations to all people to ‘become woman' direction, which painfully emphasizes every and 'become animal’ , to lose themselves twist in sight — each plunge into fantasy on the unpredictable paths of their cued at length, each Chinese box delicately migrating desires. fitted. Watching it, one longs for a bit of To speak in the name of such a desire, to real modernist pace, a stray moment of be itself a film overrun by unconscious crazy narrative acceleration or a logical forces or drives — or at least to give that permutation to make the mind boggle just a impression — The Com pany of W olves little. But no: The Company of W olves must have a form suitable to the task. plods all the way to a ‘shock ending' — a Hence, the film will not be a single story, a final confusion of reality and fantasy, a final single thesis, but a Chinese box of multiple blow against a simple or comfortable inter­ stories, overlapping and dovetailing (think pretation of the fiction, which is hardly of Pasolini’s Arabian Nights). even surprising, let alone disturbing.

The links between these stories and the Even as a straight fantasy film, leaving pathway through them should not be clear aside the modernist pretensions, The but, rather, unsettling, never quite decid­ Company of W olves is far too reliant on able. And the viewer's journey through the cliche — misty marshes, lusty maidens, a film should itself be like a plunge into a howling synthesizer soundtrack — ever collective unconscious of myths and effectively to evoke a child’s or a teenager’s desires, somewhat irrational, playing on inner fantasy life. strange displacements of fictional logic and Again, one is left remembering other startling associational leaps (think of Roeg’s . films: Carlos Saura’s Cria Cuervos (Raise Eureka, or Yvonne Rainer’s Journeys Ravens) or Roy Rowland’s The Five from Berlin). Thus, the film should Thousand Fingers of D octor T. And, as a insinuate the viewer into a kind of dream film attempting to draw complex links state, in which the dramatic principle of between fear and desire, sexual drives and verisimilitude (plausibility, realism) is well gendered identities, nature and culture, and truly lost by the end of the film. one has to prefer even the moody, tortured A film of this form would not only be a sexism of Schrader’s Cat People to the ‘para-fiction’, with stories spiralling out from academic feminism of The Company of a central prem ise, perhaps never Wolves. comfortably to return, but also funda­ But imagine . . . This film, written by Italo mentally ambiguous on the level of its Calvino and directed by Raul Ruiz — theme or its semantics. The ‘meaning’ of erudite and crazy at the same time. Then, the twin figures of the wolf and the really, we’d be in the company of wolves. pubescent girl would never quite fall finally Adrian Martin into place. Rather, different meanings would be suggested, connoted, played off against one another, in an endless process The Company of Wolves: D irected by Neil of displacement and indecidability (think of Jordan. Producers: Chris Brown a n d Stephen Last Year at Marienbad). The film would Woolley.

E xecutive p ro d u c e rs : S te p h e n not be arbitrarily playful or ‘meaningless’, Woolley a n d Nik Powell. Screenplay: A ngela but would produce strange thrills, frissons Carter a n d Neil Jordan, b a s e d on the stories of meaning, in which the viewer might The C om pany of Wolves a n d Wolf Alice by positively e n jo y not entirely ‘getting the Charles Perrault. D irector of photography: point’.

B rian Loftus. E ditor: R o d n e y H o llan d .

If I read these intentions correctly, then Production designer: Anton Furst. Costum e The Company of W olves’ pretension design: Elizabeth Waller. Sound: D avid John could only be this: to be a m o d e rn is t film.

(Effects unit: N eil Kingsbury). Special m ake-up Not a comfortable children’s fantasy like effects: Christopher Tucker. Music: G eorge E.T. or The N everending Story, but a Fenton. Cast: A ngela Lansbury (Granny), strange and disorientating object such as D av id W arner (Father), Sarah Patterson might be carved by any of the filmmakers (Rosaleen), Tusse Silberg (Mother), G raham or writers cited above. The trouble with the Crowden (Old priest), Georgia Slovye (Alice), Kathryn Pogson (Young bride), S tephen Rea film is symptomatically pinpointed in the (Young groom), Terence Stam p (Prince of constant reflex it produces of such cine­ D arkness), M ic h a B e rg e s e (H untsm an ). matic memories and citations. In other Production com pany: Palace Productions. words, it makes one wistfully recall those Distributor: Roadshow. 35m m . 9 5 minutes. truly modernist works which do this kind of U.K. 1984. wild and/or playful stuff a hundred times better.

CINEMA PAPERS July — 67

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Film Reviews

Short Reviews:

An A-Z Am erican Dream er offers a pleasant, if patchy, variation on the frothy romantic comedies of the thirties and forties.

Jobeth Williams stars as a perky suburban wife whose success in a super­ market writing competition wins her a trip to Paris. After she is hit by a car in front of one of the many monuments exhibited by the film, she awakens with the conviction that she is the glamorous, fearless sleuth, Rebecca Ryan — the heroine of her pastiche novel.

What ensues is a spirited, if slightly pro­ longed, romp through the City of Love, with Williams zealously pursuing real and imagined villains and Tom Conti trailing amiably behind her.

For those of us who had tired of Conti’s parade of loveable rogues, the film offers some relief. He is gratifyingly subdued and content to play straight man to Williams’s ebullient crimebuster.

Unfortunately, the actors’ energies are undermined by some uninspired plot twists and hamfisted direction. Whenever a scene has clearly lost its fizz, the problem is skirted by forcing Williams to do a grand - exit swathed in Givenchy or Dior creations. She does manage to carry it off with sufficient elan the first half dozen times, but after that, one wonders why the film wasn’t more rigorously pruned, D e b i Enker

Winner of six Israeli Oscars (out of a poss­ ible nine) and nominated for an American one, Uri Barnash’s Beyond the Walls (Me’Achorei Hasoragim) has caused riots on its home turf.

With a cast and crew made up of both Jews and Arabs, it is every inch a prison drama, with riots, violence, emotional scenes in the visiting room, hints of homo­ sexual rape, and even a man who keeps birds.

To be honest, it is not a very good film , pushing even its central characters into

stereotype, and choreographing its con­ frontations along strictly conventional lines.

What makes it fascinating, though, is what it has to say.

Conflict between Jews and Arabs in the jail is intensified with the arrival of a young Jew (Assi Dayan) convicted of dealings with the P.L.O. But the leaders of both ‘com­ munities’ (Arnon Zadak as Uri, a Jew in for twelve years for armed robbery, and Muhamad Bakri as the P.L.O. man, Issam, who got 50 years for terrorism) keep the sides apart. In the end, however, they unite in a hunger strike when a head guard tries to frame the Arabs for the murder of a Jewish drug dealer.

Clearly courageous in its even-handed treatment of both sides, the film is really memorable for its subtext: the unmistakeable implication that it is the authorities, inside and outside the walls, who are responsible for perpetuating the violence between the two races, through the shame­ less manipulation of prejudice and the planting of false information about events.

Rod Bishop

Assembling a diverse group of characters in a confined space can be a simple and effective way of focusing on character developm ent and in te ra c tio n . T he Breakfast Club uses the library of a Chicago high school as the arena for exploring teen themes: parents, teachers, sex, peer groups, popularity and rebellion.

While the film’s narrative is familiar, its witty, pacy and occasionally savage script

and the ensemble of vibrant performances breathe vitality and poignancy into the subject.

The disparate captives of an eight-hour Saturday detention comprise a handful of the classic cinematic stereotypes of adolescence: pretty prom queen Molly Ringwald, insolent rebel Judd Nelson, shy bookworm Anthony Michael Hall, arrogant athlete Emilio Estevez and sullen outcast Ally Sheedy.

Having established the cliches, however, writer/director/co-producer John Hughes proceeds to dismantle them, highlighting the characters’ common values and problems. Their progress towards unity and

N ic k R o d d ic k

Joel and Ethan Coen, both associated with Sam Raimi’s smash horror hit, The Evil D e a d , have debuted with a surprisingly mature addition to the recent and fashion­ able revival of film noir. A big improvement on B o d y H e a t , S tra n g e r's Kiss and The P o s tm an A lw a y s R ing s Tw ice, Blood Sim ple seems less constricted by the genre’s framework, and the Coens have effortlessly subverted their story with recurring false clues and unpredictable aberrations.

The basic ingredients are pretty standard: husband, wife, infidel, private detective, gun, lots of murders . . . But the Coens, with a cheeky self-confidence, have transcended it all, leaving the audience with a string of memorable moments.

Their consistent, double-edged ironies make it difficult not to admire their talents; and, for most of the film, they imaginatively blend the keep-’em-guessing plot with a strikingly stylish and humorous approach.

In fact, the siblings show such control over their narrative that the easy, playful manipulation of genre almost borders on

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68 - July CINEMA PAPERS

arrogance. But the film has an integrity which means that it never loses control over its gentle, self-mocking style.

Above, M. Emmet Walsh as the fated detective in Blood Simple. Belows, the kids from The Breakfast Club, seeing out their detention.

Film Reviews their emergence from the rigid roles is set against their irreverence towards the repressive environment.

Hughes and his lively cast seem to revel in the spatial limitations of the film, and the emphasis is on dialogue and performance.

And, while it never trespasses into the unexpected, the film’s liveliness, humour and sensitivity are consistently engaging.

DebiEnker

Caravan of Courage, An Ewok Adven­ ture is no more a film for children under eight than was R e tu rn o f th e J e d i. The important difference this time around is that Lucasfilm is not trying to dupe the cosmos into believing that its tale about a race of warrior teddy bears is a grand, portentous, metaphysical epic.

The story concerns two children who enlist the help of the Ewoks to rescue their parents, who were captured by a monster on the forest moon of Endor.

Beautifully streamlined, fluidly paced and incident-packed, the film uses the fairy-tale elements of humour, emotion, conflict, danger, loss and heroism to good, if some­ what pedestrian, effect.

The special effects, by Industrial Light and Magic, provide some exciting high­ lights, including a stop-motion battle with a forest beast and a dazzling night scene where 1,000 Tinkerbell-like creatures fill the air.

Ironically, the production of this relatively low-budget S ta r W ars offshoot is more successful at evoking the alien world of Endor than J e d i was, though the predomin­ ance of close and medium shots perhaps betray the film's original television target.

To its credit, the film wisely avoids tying the story into the struggle against Darth Vader, of which we have seen quite enough for the time being, thank you very much.

Jim Schembri

Melodrama is a tricky genre. Stuff up on it and you get a Possessio n, where sweat replaces styles, and the camera scuttles round after the actors, seeking the fluid, intensifying movements of a Minnelli or a Sirk, but looking like an outside broadcast.

Get melodrama right, though, and the result can be magic — a view of the world that is rooted in reality, but that can take off into transcendance at the first opportunity, like grand opera or a children’s story.

Bruce Morrison’s Constance almost gets it really right. Set in the primly stultify­ ing climate of postwar Auckland, the film tells the story of its heroine, who is lured by G ild a (the film) and seduced by V o g u e (the magazine). Her attempts to live in the world they present, however, bring her into headon conflict with reality. And reality, as in all the best melodramas, wins.

Steering a neat course between the over­ dressed — Richard Jeziorny’s production design is a major plus — and overkill, Morri­ son’s film only rarely lapses into picturebook pathos. For most of the time, it. grips us with Constance’s descent into hell, thanks not a little to two magnificent central performances — by Donogh Rees in the title role, and Judie Douglass as her mother.

Only Shane Briant is a bit lacklustre as the cad. But that does not detract from a fine film in which, for once, style is integral to the story, not laid on top with a trowel.

Nick Roddick

The Flamingo Kid belongs with those teen movies that cast a critical eye on the ideological underpinnings of American culture — a group that includes films such as S a tu rd a y N ig h t F e v e r, R isky B usiness and F a s t Tim es a t R id g e m o n t H ig h .

Young Jeffrey Willis (Matt Dillon) migrates from Brooklyn for the summer to do odd jobs around the El Flamingo Beach Club, a haven for the bejewelled, narcissistic nouveau-riche to bathe in the reflection of their prosperity. For Jeffrey, the place becomes the promised land of opportunity,

the American dream come true, and the WASP beauty (Janet Jones) who beckons to him looms like a human equivalent of the Statue of Liberty.

It is the summer of 1963 — according to producer Michael Phillips, “ probably the last moment of our national innocence’’ — and the film becomes a moral fable abgut the disillusionment of an era. Framing Jeffrey’s odyssey between Independence Day and Labor Day, it represents the values of the past: honesty, loyalty, the work ethic.

In a sense, it is a modern version of The W izard o f O z , and equally conservative: the bottom line is, “ There’s no place like home’’. But its interweaving of personal drama with the iconography of American life provides further evidence of the creative potential to be found in the recurring ele­ ments of the teen movie.

Tom Ryan

The early line, “ Frankly, gentlemen, the atti­ tude of this division sucks” , introduces us to the familiar but enjoyable clash between the little man and the (American) system. In the case of Flashpoint, it is U.S. border patrol­ men Kris Kristofferson and Treat Williams versus Washington Feds Kurtwood Smith and Mark Slade.

Each side is after the various contents of a wrecked jeep, and each side has its own secret: the patrolmen want the cache of $800,000, and the Feds want to keep the skeleton quiet.

Writers Dennis Shyrack and Michael Butler use crisp, well-written dialogue and bright characterizations to develop a highly entertaining story, which is enhanced by some stunning desert locations, proficient playing and direction, and effectively un­ obtrusive music by Tangerine Dream.

F las h p o in t is a first feature for producer Skip Short and director William Tannen, whose award-winning teamwork on com­ mercials is evident in the film’s economy.

But references to the 1963 Kennedy assassination and the epilogue’s ominous claim that those with knowledge of the assassins have been murdered in circum­ stances ‘equally mysterious’ prove un­ necessary: the film works well enough without such gratuitous attempts at credibility.

Two types o f kids in action. Above, Eric Walker in Caravan o f Courage, where he is helped

by Ewoks. Below, Matt Dillon as The Flamingo Kid, where the help comes from WASPS (in this instance, Janet Jones).

Ian Horner

“ Has the show started?” ask members of the on-screen audience on two occasions, as trauma interrupts preparations for the feminist cabaret show of Micha (Helle Ryslinge) and Laura (Annemarie Helger) in Christian Braad Thomsen’s Ladies on the

Rocks (Koks i kulissen).

Styled somewhat on the road-movie format, tranquil scenes of the women’s little yellow Renault motoring through foggy D a n ish c o u n try s id e s e p a ra te th e encounters with the worlds of performance and people.

Missing from the show’s repertoire is the song ‘It Ain’t Easy’. But, even so, the women battle on, dealing with men — most of them painted in melodramatic black — and their own shades of grey.

Their difficulties in coping with problems, coupled with their laughter-filled successes, makes them all the more plausible, and the film’s politics all the more accessible. Of course, Thomsen did have excellent material to make a film: the women and their show are taken from real life.

And it is the footage of the various acts, intercut with shots of a bemused — and certainly varied — audience of Danes, that provide much of the film’s wit and laughter.

4

Ernie Althoff

Directed by Richard Donner — he of the see-saw career, with S u p e rm a n as its peak, and The Toy as its nadir — and shot by no less than Vittorio Storaro, Ladyhawke is a widescreen, action-packed, tragi-comic, sword-and-sorcery mess.

Straining hard for instant myth, a ponder­ ous script by newcomer Edward Khamara,

expatriate Australian Michael Thomas and Bond-movie veteran Tom Mankiewicz focuses on Rutger Hauer as Etienne of Navarre, who is man by day and wolf by night, following some complicated curse put on him by the evil Bishop of Aquila (John Wood).

As if this were not enough, Navarre’s beloved, Isabeau of Anjou (Michelle Pfeiffer), similarly cursed, is woman by night

and hawk by day. Until they are put back on the same track at the end, thanks to one of those eclipses that can ruin the best of spells, the only time Navarre and Isabeau are part of the same species is one snowy dawn, when they get to lock fingers as the sun rises.

The film’s failure to make anything out of even this moment, however — beyond over-exposure, optical effects and solid

CINEMA PAPERS July — 69

Film Reviews

Above, the Shogun o f Harlem (Julius J. Carry I I I ) at play in Berry Gordy’s The Last Dragon. Below, Tom Selleck at bay in Runaway. Left, the Pope’s mother: Geraldine Page in The Pope o f Greenwich Village.

bursts of synthesizer — is symptomatic of its overall failure.

The landscapes are breathtaking, and Storaro occasionally has fun with a crane.

But the result isn’t even base metal: it’s un­ allayed alloy, wasting Leo McKern (an actor who now seems to be typecast by his nose) as a bucolic monk, and dragged beyond the boundaries of even amused indulgence by the inept playing of Matthew Broderick as a kind- of medieval superbrat, forever ingratiating himself with the camera.

Nick Roddick

The Motown crowd responsible for Berry Gordy’s The Last Dragon obviously have a talent for picking out what’s hip and making it funny.

A fresh-faced, bright little comedy, the film manages to tap in on the kung fu craze, the video boom and New York’s cultural diversity all at once, and to keep its pace up with two plots: one about a young black martial arts student, Leroy (Taimak), in search of 'the final level'; and one about a video show hostess, Laura (Vanity), battling a comic villain called Eddie Arcadian (Christopher Murney), who wants his video played on her show.

The best laughs stem from the reversal of cultural stereotypes. Leroy — who seems to believe that kung fu has more to do with strange noises and ‘attitude’ than physical skill — walks about in oriental garb, his hands in the prayer posture, asking people where he should go to- find his ‘master’, while orientals talk and "act like streetwise blacks. Leroy’s father owns a pizza parlour, and is proud of it.

70 — July CINEMA PAPERS

There are also some predictable — though serviceable — emotional elements (Leroy’s romance with Laura, and a kung fu terrorist smashing up his father's pizza parlour) to keep the audience on side, and to help make the chop-socky finale a tribute to the genre’s compulsory scene.

The problem is, however, that Rosenberg isn’t interested in street life; he almost keeps the characters oblivious to their surround­ ings. It is, therefore, not surprising that the tempo, flux, movement and moods of the street are not consistently evoked.

Sally Semmens

Rolando Caputo

Jim Schembri

Two scenes from The Pope of Greenwich Village give an indication of what this film could have been, but unfortunately fails to be.

A languid, leisurely-paced scene shows Italian cousins Charlie (Mickey Rourke) and Paulie (Eric Roberts) together with a number of hoods, hitting up a ball in an inner-city neighbourhood (presumably Little Italy). When director Stuart Rosenberg cuts to a high-angle long shot, showing these impeccably dressed hoods swaying in unison to the melodic sounds of Frank Sinatra’s S u m m e r W ind, one knows the meaning of the phrase ‘making an impres­ sion’.

As in so many films dealing with Italian sub-culture (M e a n S tre e ts , S a tu rd a y N ig h t Fever), characters are caught within a blatant narcissism — a way of dressing, posing, speaking, acting, in bars and on the streets.

In the second scene, Charlie and Paulie mumble their way down a street, entering one store for some bread, another for cheese, another for salami, and finally resting at a park bench to have their lunch.

These characters belong on the streets, and as long as the story can keep them there, it works well enough.

politics of representation, P rostitute would have seemed direct, daring and full of integrity. Now, though, the issues and methods of the film seem didactic and plodding.

dramatized documentary about the work of British prostitutes and their development of a self-help parliamentary lobby group, Prostitute is concerned with the conditions of work, customer relations and labour involved in prostitution.

Its passing reference to Michel Foucault and its frequent debunking of middle-class academia and sexual neuroses places the work of prostitutes firmly within the realm of employment, and prevents the film from being the usual trendy flirtation with skinflick entertainment often associated with the subject.

By positioning the audience as if it were actually a third party to the discussions and events within the film, director Tony Garnett — whose first feature this is, after producing the work of Ken Loach — manages to enhance the social realism of the subject, and to give the illusion that the prostitutes’ point of view is also ours.

The film has been banned for four years by the Australian Censorship Board, and is only now getting a commercial release in Melbourne, five years after it was made. At a time when prostitutes were seeking legitimation as workers, and sexuality, women and pornography were strong issues both within the women’s movement and within groups concerned about the A

Michael Crichton’s Runaway creates a totally credible urban environment of the near future (by logically extending our current technology) and crosses it with a thriller: in the police department, a ‘runaway squad’ has been formed to retrieve and repair malfunctioning robots.

The squad’s Sgt Ramsay (Tom Selleck) comes across a non-standard microchip in a murderous robot, and this puts him on the trail of the evil Luther (Gene Simmons).

Thematically, the film is engaging, with its glimpses of a highly possible future. And the action scenes are breathtaking. In one, Luther fires a 'smart bullet’ (which locks in on a person’s body and tracks it down like a heat-seeking missile), and we cut to a POV shot of the bullet tracking round corners and through pipes as it homes in on its target.

In fact, the respective champions of the endless ‘form versus content’ debate could have a field day with the film. The bare bones of its derivative narrative contain all the elements: sympathetic good cop stalk­ ing evil bad guy, car chases, close calls, shootouts, an emotionally charged climax . . . But what brings it all to life are a crack­ ing pace, technical wizardry, some breath­ taking cinematography (by John A. Alonzo) and ah intriguing, realistic setting.

Jim Schembri

Film Reviews

Jonathan Demme (C itiz e n ’s B a n d , M e lv in a n d H o w a r d ) originally approached New York art band Talking Heads with the idea of filming their strongly visual stage show.

The result, Stop Making Sense, is a surprisingly satisfying 80-minute concert film.

Avoiding both the hysterical cutting of the three-minute pop clip and the prolonged interviews that marred The L a s t W altz, Demme concentrates on showcasing the band in performance, and his restrained direction is both a relief and a delight.

An army of clapper-loaders is kept busy as the 35mm Panavision cameras swoop and glide around the band. The fluid cam erawork and the stage lighting effectively dissolve the static relationship between audience and performers, there are invisible miracles of coverage and cutting, and the sound is superb.

At screenings, the audience has applauded each number as if at a live concert — a new twist on Senssurround.

Ninety points for the movie, and a hundred points for the band.

Mark Stiles

One might have been forgiven for expect­ ing more from The Sure Thing. Director Rob Reiner was, after all, responsible for the irreverent This is S p in a l Tap and its hilarious trailer, both of which took on a particular kind of self-serving seriousness and satirized the hell out of it. The news that he was to move into the territory of the teen movie for his second feature was, therefore, tantalizing.

Alas, the satirist has surrendered his throne. Despite some occasionally witty writing, the tale and its treatment are all too familiar. For the likeable lad, Gib (played with considerable zest by John Cusack), the object of desire is the strait-laced Alison (Daphne Zuniga).

With more than a casual nod towards It H a p p e n e d O n e N ig h t, the film puts the pair on the road to California together, he pro­ pelled by the fantasy of ‘the sure thing’ (Nicollette Sheridan), she going to visit her bespectacled boyfriend, Jason (Boyd Gaines) — and we know what glasses mean.

The journey sees Alison discover what it means to have a good time, largely defined

in terms of beer, belching, bums and boobs. In this, the film’s celebration of spontaneity seems dangerously like a rationale for adolescent crudity, so that the jock and jockette can do their thing.

Equally dubious is its representation of the two girls, who play very minor variations on the roles of the nice girl and the tart, the virgin and the whore, both ‘things’ defined by a kind of thinking that makes one em­ barrassed to be male.

Tom Ryan

Tail of a Tiger, scripted and directed by Rolf de Heer, follows a theme so well estab­ lished in children’s filmlore as to be tradi­ tional. Orville, played by Grant Navin, is a misfit whose enthusiasm for old aeroplanes fails to find him a place in the local gang.

The story follows his adventures and growing confidence as he restores an old Tiger Moth, and culminates with his accept­ ance by the gang and a triumphant flight in the Moth.

The somewhat confused subplots consist of a smorgasbord of the current, socially acceptable wisdoms. A cheerful group of boys live in terror of one thin girl, an abori­ ginal woman displays intelligence and generosity, an odd old bloke (ageism is out) makes it all happen, and there is an appar­ ently successful example of single parenting.

But the real strengths of the film lie in the challenging field of directing children, and the portrayal of sibling relationships. While the overall quality is variable, one brilliant scene at the family meal table shows us what de Heer is capable of when he forgets the messages and listens to the music.

My thirteen-year-old male companion did not look back on this glimpse of childhood with favour. He found the film slow and at times confusing. But the younger children in the audience said they enjoyed it, laughed at the right moments and did not pay too many visits to the loo. One nineyear-old, despite obvious enjoyment, asked me nervously if parents really called child­ ren names like Orville.

Sarah Guest

Above, fishing fo r a date: Gib (John Cusack) cons Alison (Daphne Zuniga) into some after-hours revision in The Sure Thing. Below, jumping fo r joy: Paula Kelly, Shirley MacLaine and Chita Rivera in the ‘There’s Got to Be Something Better Than This’ number from Sweet Charity, one o f the excerpts in That’s Dancing!

The repercussions of an education system that is run like any old bureaucracy provide the dramatic framework for Teachers, which sets forth a world in which moral and social responsibility have been conveniently pigeonholed, both for ‘prag­ matic’ reasons and because of the absence of ideals. .

The plot revolves around a handful of characters whose personal and profes­ sional lives intersect when it is discovered that a graduate of John F. Kennedy High School is illiterate. Unions, lawyers and teachers answer the call. A compromise is reached, and the ‘real’ issue is skirted.

Alex Jurel (Nick Nolte), a once inspira­ tional but now disillusioned teacher, finds himself at the focus of these forces, which threaten his position. A cocky and laconic character, Alex’s interactions with an ex­ student (Jobeth Williams), his deputy (Judd Hirsch) and a defensive, alienated student (Ralph Macchio), force him to redefine his role as a teacher.

Not surprisingly, John F. Kennedy High is more like an asylum than a school. And Te a c h e rs , something of a sixties film, is con­ cerned more with ideals than with pragmatism. Ultimately, though, it is its equation of protagonist with seer that lends the film its ambiguous sense of optimism and forbearance.

Paul Kalina

Channel 9 has its 'Classic Catches’, Channel 7 its ‘Marks of the Year’ and MGM has its ‘That’s Whatever’ series.

1974 and 1976 were the years of T h a t’s E n te rtain m e n t, Parts I and II. For 1985, we have T h a t’s D ancing!, a collection of various dance styles, courtesy of the movie camera, and arranged by writer/director Jack Haley Jr. Like the above-mentioned compilations of sporting highlights, Haley’s film extracts its components from their sources and assembles them for display. And, at the level of spectacle, there are many choreo­ graphed pleasures, from Busby Berkeley to Michael Jackson. There are also some archival treasures, including a dance sequence which was cut from the ‘If I Only Had a Brain’ number in The W iza rd o f O z.

There’s also footage of Gene Kelly and Carol Haney performing the ‘Schehera­ zade’ number, which we then see superbly animated for In vitation to th e D a n c e , as well as a segment from a thirties Vitaphone short, R ufus J o n e s for P re s id e n t , featuring Sammy Davis very Junior. And there’s Bill ‘ B ojangles’ Robinson, the Nicholas Brothers, Fred Astaire and even Mikhail Baryshnikov.

As a history, though, the film is a deception. Any grasp of the place of dance within its various contexts — social, dramatic, aesthetic — is abandoned for the sake of a celebration of style.

Tom Ryan

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Supertramp CHAPLIN — HIS LIFE AND ART by David Robinson (William Collins, 1985. $27.95.

ISBN 0 00 216387 X) Inspired, no doubt, by the painstakingly researched books of Kevin Brownlow, film critics and historians have recently started to provide minutely detailed studies of key figures from the cinema’s past. Last year, there was Richard Schickel’s magnificent book on D.W. Griffith, and now comes David Robinson’s exhaustively detailed account of the life and films of Charles Spencer Chaplin.

Robinson, who received the complete support of Lady Chaplin and her family, spent countless hours combing through the filmmaker’s archives at Vevey in Switzer­ land, his home for the last 20 years of his life. Chaplin, it seems, rarely threw anything away: Robinson discovered scripts, letters, memos, financial records and other memo­ rabilia by the crateful. Plus there were the films themselves, not to mention the care­ fully catalogued out-takes (which formed the basis of The Unknown Chaplin, Kevin Brownlow’s three remarkable one-hour programmes for Thames Television).

Although Chaplin, in his 1964 auto­ biography, was quite detailed about his poverty-ridden childhood in the East End of London, Robinson is able to correct a few minor errors, and reproduces some fascinating old documents — vaudeville

playbills listing Chaplin’s father and mother, as well as the comedian’s first press notice: an announcem ent, in the show biz magazine The M a g n e t, of the birth on 15 May 1899, to “ the wife of Mr Charles Chaplin, née Miss Lily Harley — of a beautiful boy” .

Robinson is also able to fill in the gaps that Chaplin himself left, particularly in the later years, when he deals with the genesis of the films themselves, and with Chaplin’s chaotic private life.

With access to more material than he might have thought possible, Robinson gives us the clearest possible picture of one of the great men of the cinema, and reveals him in all of his very human contradictions.

He was desperately shy, but quick to take the floor — as long as his private life was kept well out of it. He was an inveterate womanizer, and especially fond of very young women, which got him into trouble more than once.

He was an anarchist who was unjustly accused, by right-wing Americans, of being a communist. He found the process of creation deeply painful; and, when he could afford to, he took endless time over each and every artistic decision, and was not afraid to scrap the work of months and start all over again.

This is a vast book, rich in detail and in affection for its subject. It contains no less than ten a p p e n d ice s, in c lu d in g a chronology of Chaplin’s life, three Keystone screenplays and a Chaplin’s 'Who’s Who’ (thumbnail sketches of important people in his life and career). The book is also copiously illustrated, with rare reproductions of early London theatre programmes (including S h e rlo c k H o lm e s , in which Chaplin played a ‘straight’ role as Holmes’s servant, Billy).

There are even some still photographs from Sea Gulls, the legendary drama produced by Chaplin in 1926 and directed

by Josef von Sternberg with Edna Purviance in the lead. The book provides much more detail about the film than has been available before, and includes a copy of the certificate of destruction of the only existing negative, dated 21 June 1933.

Robinson has, in this magnificent book, given us a definitive portrait of Chaplin the filmmaker and Chaplin the man. It is essential for every film enthusiast.

David Stratton

Left turns ART POLITICS CINEMA: THE CINEASTE INTERVIEWS edited by Dan Georgakas & Lenny Rubenstein.

(Pluto Press, London/Sydney, 1985. $16.95. ISBN 0 7453 0014 6) A r t P o lit ic s C in e m a : In te rv ie w s comprises a

The

C in e a s te

selection of 35 interviews taken from the pages of C in e a s te , the American left-wing journal founded by Gary Crowdus in 1967. From its inception, the magazine’s orientation has been towards overt political film practices, and its interests have included thirties radical politics — which feed into the radical realist docum entary — the screenwriters’ ‘wars’, the unionization of the

Harvey Keitel and Richard Pryor in Paul Schrader’s Blue Collar (1978). Schrader is interviewed by Cineaste about the possi­ bility o f making political films within the mainstream. Left, pure artifice: Charles Chaplin makes up fo r Limelight (1952). film industry and the Hollywood black­ listings.

No doubt C in e a s te 's interest in the thirties as a period of film history is partly due to the fact that the exchanges in politics and art were carried out most evidently in the domain of popular culture: within Hollywood itself, capital of the commercial film industry.

With few exceptions, the impression given by The C in e a s te In te r v ie w s is that of the journal itself: predominantly interested in that political cinema which operates within the mainstream of film production, distribution and exhibition, in terms of the contemporary American cinema, C in e a s te seeks out what it calls ‘Hollywood’s political cinema’, represented here by Bruce Gilbert (producer of The China Syndrome), Paul Schrader (Blue Collar), Gordon Parks (Shaft) and Jane Fonda (introduction to

the Enemy).

The question that arises in such interviews is: can a politically controversial cinema be produced from within the system, or are such films ideologically compromised as a result of being produced in that system? The issue is somewhat clouded by the fact that C in e a s te favours a cin e m a w h ic h m ay be p o litic a lly compromised, but which addresses a majority audience, rather than a cinema which is more radically interventionist in its political and aesthetic thrust, but engages a minority audience, generally as a result of distribution channels being closed to it.

CINEMA PAPERS July — 73

Book Reviews This certainly explains why ‘political’ directors such as Constantin Costa-Gavras, Bernardo Bertolucci, Elio Petri, Gillo Pontecorvo and Andrzej Wajda, to name a few, are given priority over more intellectually rigorous and unconventional directors, such as G odard, Kluge, Straub/Huillet and Jancso.

The absence of these filmmakers cannot simply be excused by the fact that the journal “ lacked interview opportunities” .

Surely a magazine that has been in existence for roughly eighteen years — and has been as committed to radical politics as C in e a s te — must, tor the sake of comprehensiveness, make opportunities available?

Less surprising is the omission of interviews with avant-garde filmmakers.

C in e a s te devotes little attention to the traditional avant-garde, seeing it as predominantly apolitical and ahistorical.

The issue of the avant-garde is raised only once in the book and, ironically, it occurs during the interview with the N e w York Tim e s film critic, Vincent Canby. Both the interviewer and the interviewee agree that “ there really isn’t an audience for those films” . For C in e a s te , that ends the debate about the political effectiveness of the avant-garde.

One can also take issue with the presentation of the book itself. Why is it necessary to have an establishment critic such as Roger Ebert provide a less than adequate Foreword, which displaces the focus from ‘politics’ to ‘art’? Surely Ebert could not have understood Third World filmmakers like Rocha, Littin and Alea, who speak in their respective interviews of the specific political context of their cultures and their films. Is it not the abstract humanist ideology of “ universal human emotions” , set as a standard by Ebert, which they seek to avoid?

Ebert falls prey to Andrew Sarris’s statement, which he quotes approvingly: “ Art and Revolution. Choose one. I choose Art” . It is a false opposition to begin with: Sarris has the habit of turning polemic into slogan.

The Preface by the editors also has its faults. The index to C in e a s te interviews, published at the back of the book, lists over 100 interviews. Yet the Preface isn’t at all clear about the process of selection. It is not the final choice with which one necessarily disagrees, but the reasons for such a choice need to be clarified.

In the case of documentary filmmakers, it is explained that their exclusion is due to the prospect of the future publication of an entire book on the subject. But why is the Third World cinema not more fully represented? Of the 35 interviews, only four are with Third World filmmakers, as opposed to 20 with European directors and screenwriters. As the general index shows, there were more than four to choose from.

The interviews with Rocha (Brazil), Littin (Chile) and Alea (Cuba) are among the most interesting in the book, and they leave one wanting to read more from such filmmakers.

Other interviews available to C in e a s te but not published in this volume were with Bellocchio, Oshima and Mrinal Sen. AIL three directors have made a significant contribution to the political film, but for some reason they do not make the grade.

One is not asking that C in e a s te provide us with a com plete guide to political filmmakers, but a few words about why a certain selection was made (over and above the obvious space considerations) would have helped to define the current scope of interest.

Having noted C in e a s te ’s orientation towards a particular kind of political cinema, little remains to be said about the specifics of the actual interviews. With one or two possible exceptions, they are a significant contribution to the debate on politics in and of film. And, for those of us with a less than complete set of back issues, the publication makes a worthy addition to one’s collection.

Rolando Caputo.

74 _ July CINEMA PAPERS

Make your own movies AUSTRALIAN FILM & TELEVISION FINANCE & INVESTMENT GUIDE (Australian Film Commission, 1985. Pbk, Free of charge).

This large-format, eighteen-page booklet is a useful introduction to what can be a labyrinthine subject, beset in its upper reaches with silk-suited sharks. As Australian film inexorably loses its inter­ nationally acclaimed innocence, it moves equally inexorably towards American practice, where the deal itself becomes the art form. Here beginneth the Lesson for T oda y. . .

It falls into four parts. The first is ‘Invest­ ment in Film Making’, which is more or less a list of handy hints, verging somewhat on the platitudinous, but necessary for the growing ranks of novice investors. (For the already street-smart investor, William Bayers’s now slightly dated B re a k in g Th ro ugh , S e llin g O ut, D ro p p in g D e a d [New York, 1971] is recommended.)

The next section is a fairly easily comprehensible explanation of the 1981 and 1983 Division 10BA amendments of the original Income Tax Assessment Act of 1936 (No. 27). Study it by all means, but also unhesitatingly seek professional advice. Much the same can be said for the third section, ‘Structures for Raising Finance for Film investment’.

The fourth and final section is a ‘Glossary of Terms’, a little over 100 in all, from scrounging for finance through production personnel to getting ripped off at the other end — specifically, from A & B Editing to Wardrobe. Note that some terms are defined not in this section but earlier on, while others such as ‘Major Distributors’ are out of date (cf. the fairly regular Who’s Who rosters of U.S. film production, distribution and exhibition companies in V ariety). The present glossary is OK, but for slightly more advanced information, see the section on motion picture terminology in Don Ethan Miller’s The B o o k o f J a rg o n : A n E s s e n tia l G u id e to th e In s id e L a n g u a g e s o f T o d a y

(New York, 1981), and also Donn Delson’s The D ic tio n a ry o f M a rk e tin g a n d R e la te d T e rm s in the M o tio n P ic tu re In d u s try (Los

Angeles, 1979).

In fact, a further reading guide should have been appended (on that blank last page!). But, as it goes, recommended. And it’s free.

G.R. Lansell

Miracles take a little longer . . .

SPECIAL EFFECTS —

WIRE, TAPE AND RUBBER-BAND STYLE by L. B. Abbott, ASC. (ASC Press, Hollywood, 1984. ISBN 0 935578 06 4).

In these days of motion control cameras, computer image generation and advanced production hardware, the names of the great film technicians of yesteryear are being all too rapidly forgotten — names like Jack Pierce, the make-up wizard of the original Frankenstein and Wolfman movies, and John P. Fulton, head of special effects on Cecil B. DeMille’s 1954 The Ten

Commandments.

Is this what it takes to get the money to make a film? — the poster fo r Bruce Beresfo rd ’s 1979 film, Money Movers.

Book Reviews These are names which, among others, are totally unknown to today’s young effects afficionados. The technical wizardry of Star Wars and Tron has seemingly eclipsed the truly great work of the previous generation of special effects men.

Because of this unfortunate trend, a book

by L. B. Abbott, one of the real legends of special effects, is something to welcome.

Spanning over half a century, his career includes credits on some of the most spectacular and successful films of all time.

And, in S p e c ia l E ffe c ts — W ire, T a p e a n d R u b b e r -B a n d S ty le , which is part auto­ biography, part technical manual, Abbott takes us behind the scenes of just a fraction of the films upon which he performed his wizardry.

Born in California in 1908, Abbott was surrounded from the start by the world of film. The Sunday dinner table was the meeting place for a continuous flow of motion picture and photographic tech­ nicians, and Abbott’s father was a pioneer in his own right in the field of colour cinema­ tography.

Abbott’s initial intention was to study geology, but a chance meeting with a department head from the William Fox Studios steered him into the movies. His first assignment — a baptism of fire — was a non-stop stint as a camera assistant on Raoul Walsh’s What Price Glory? (1926).

He describes his subsequent experi­ ences with obvious pleasure, particularly his adventures as a horse-riding assistant cameraman. He talks about the introduc­ tion of early sound techniques, and mentions his teaming with various camera­ men to produce basic effects (even though he was not yet officially labelled as an effects man).

It is this first part of the book that is the most enjoyable. The rest is rather dry: the following section, for instance, describes some of the basic principles of special

effects — miniature photography, glass shots and various types of travelling mattes — and is probably a little too technical for most readers.

But it does contain quite an eye-opener, when Abbott describes his work on Robert Wise’s The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). As the flying saucer lands in W a sh in g to n , D .C ., the h ig h -a n g le background shot necessitated the pro­ duction of a shadow under the spacecraft.

Abbott and his team shot a two-foot model saucer against black (from which they could pull a matte), with a props man lowering it on wires while they timed it with a metronome. Next, a white background was used, the model painted black, and the props man did his stuff again to produce the shadow. Who says you need a computer?

In the final part of the book (which takes up the remaining two thirds) Abbott talks in detail about a dozen of his better-known credits, which turn out to be those that I remember most fondly from my own childhood — films that took you to worlds that existed only in the imagination (and, for a s h o rt w h ile , on a s o u n d s ta g e somewhere). These include Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1960), The Lost World (1960) and Fantastic Voyage (1966). Abbott’s more recent credits have included Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970), The Poseidon Adventure (1972) and The Towering Inferno (1975).

Apart from these obvious ‘special effects’ movies, Abbott also includes The Boston Strangler (1968) and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), making the point that special effects can be used to advantage in any kind of movie.

For The Boston Strangler, Abbott describes the process by which the extremely complex split-screen shots were thought out, planned and executed. And, in Butch Cassidy, when the duo jump off the

Things go a little wrong at the Glass Tower’s housewarming. L.B. Abbott did the special effects fo r The Towering Inferno. cliff Into the raging river to escape the law, what we actually see are two stunt men jumping off a tall crane parked beside the lake on the Fox ranch. The cliffs they seem to be missing by inches are no more than paintings on a sheet of glass placed about ten feet In front of the camera!

Overall, the book is most enjoyable, although the summaries of each film’s storyline tend to be far too long, and the

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space could have been better used for more behind-the-scenes information or more stills. And, since the colour stills throughout the book have, with a few exceptions, been taken from old prints of the films themselves, their quality leaves a lot to be desired.

Despite these faults, however, L.B. Abbott’s book contains more than enough valuable material, memorable anecdotes and hints for the professional and the interested layman to recommend itself very highly.

Robert Conn

S SIDERATOS & CO Chartered Accountant

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Season screens: SYDNEY Chauvel Cinema Paddington from June 25th HOBART State Cinema from June 26 CANBERRA National Library Theatre from July 1st BRISBANE Community Arts Centre Brisbane from July 1st ADELAIDE Capri Cinema, Goodwood from July 12th PERTH FTI Cinema Fremantle from July 8th MELBOURNE Classic Cinema Elsternwickfrom July 24th Season will open June 25th Sydney with DANIEL SCHMID presenting‘HECATE’.

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