Cinema Papers January 1987

Registered by Australia Post — publication no. VBP 2121

JANUARY 1987 ISSUE 61 $4.50*

SID AND NANCY: love kills GOING SOUTH: the Adelaide connection

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FEBRUARY 20 - MARCH 3.1987

Editor Philippa Hawker

Publisher Patricia Amad

Assistant Editor Kathy Bail

Art Director Mick Earls

Editorial Assistant/Subscriptions Luke Nestorowicz

Proofreader Arthur Salton

Consulting Editors Fred Harden Brian McFarlane

Founding Publishers Peter Beilby Scott Murray Typesetting by B-P Typesetting Pty. Ltd. Printed by York Press Ltd. Distribution by Network Distribution Company, 54 Park Street, Sydney, NSW 2000.

Signed articles represent the views of their author, 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 pub­ lishers can accept liability for any loss or damage which may arise. This magazine 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.

AA30625 Reference ME 230. © Copyright MTV Publishing Limited, No 61, January 1987

•Recommended price only.

Cover: Michael Hutchence in Dogs In Space. (Photo: Steve Pyke)

Nick Roddick, who edited Cinema Papers for two years, has returned to England to take up a position with Screen Inter­ national. We would like to thank Nick for all he has done for the magazine, and wish him well for the future.

Cmtnisswtu

Cinema Papers is published with financial assistance from the AUSTRALIAN FILM COMMISSION and FILM VICTORIA

DOGS IN SPACE: Waiting for the sky to fall

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NEWS: What do we want after 10BA? Will we get a Western Suburbs Hollywood?

PROFILES: Philippe Mora gives us mora the same Robin Hughes talks up Film Australia Martin Armiger sounds off on soundtracks LAUNCHING DOGS IN SPACE: How to sell a movie, an album and a belt buckle SYDNEY TOO FAR AWAY?: Making movies in the deep South (Australia) SID AND NANCY: Punk’s ‘Perfect Match’ PIRATES: Polanski at sea again ^ J i A TIflN WITH HOWLING III: Werewolves of

3 4 REVIEWS: The long and the short of the new film and releases

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VIDEO WATTERS: Why Prince and Santa didn’t make the WtfScreen

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BOOKS: Babble on Hollywood; acting up 56 OVERSEAS R E P O R W fia in , USA, New Zealand, ermany, Italy and Japan iP 6 2 FESTIVALS: Hof to the pictures, Cork draws crowds TECHNICALITIES: Wild about Harry 6 8 PRODUCTION: Who’s doing what where in Australia

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10BA RIP? Taxing questions for the film industry Have reports of the death of 10BA been greatly exaggerated? Is there still life in the tax rort? Taking the initiative in the debate, the Australian Film Com­ mission has put out a dis­ cussion paper on the future of the industry which examines the op­ tions for financial assist­ ance, and comes up with a proposal that would re­ place the often-maligned 10BA with a governmentbacked loan fund. The AFC is now canvassing in­ dustry views on its plan, and will report to the government in February.

NO PRE-SALES . . . NO WORRIES: Crocodile Dundee tells the Yanks how it’s done There has not been so much talk about tax since the heady days of the infamous “ Bottom of the Har­ bour” tax avoidance schemes. With the Federal Government determined to increase its tax take and reduce the level of tax avoidance, often coyly referred to as “ minimalisa­ tion” , the sharp focus fell on the film industry and on its position as Aus­ tralia’s trendiest tax shelter.

Division 10BA of the Income Tax Assessment is its rather snappy title and since 1980 it has been the finan­ cial backbone of the Australian film business. By providing film investors with tax deductions on both invest­ ment in and returns from films, the government has effectively pro­ moted filmmaking in Australia from the status of cottage industry to a ranking right up there with other boom businesses in Australia. Unfor­ tunately, like other high-risk, highreward industries, it seems there could be a bust very soon.

With the introduction of the new marginal tax rate of 48 per cent on 1 December 1986 and the reduction of the level of tax exemptions on offer for both film investment and returns, the government has all but killed 10BA, or at least given it an early retirement with the chance of limited part-time work.

A lready film investm ent has dropped worryingly. The first hint of a long-term change in the Federal Government’s attitude towards the film industry’s cosy tax set-up sent investors rushing to look for other tax havens. In the 1986 financial year investment dropped to $159 million with most of that money being targeted at films which still qualified for the 133-33 exemptions. Most expect that figure to drop dramatic­ ally next year.

The reason for the change to 10BA was that the government was convinced that in its previous in­ carnations 10BA was too effective and was costing too much. Arts Minister Barry Cohen summed up the feeling of the government in September last year when he said: “ Obviously the thing (10BA) got out of hand. It was costing too much and worse than that it kept going up and up. And after all the other tax shelters are closed off it would have gone through the roof. The whole country would have been making films.”

Last month the government re­ leased figures which tend to support its argument. Federal Treasury esti­ mates that in 1984/85, when invest­ ment in the film industry reached its zenith of $186 million, 10BA cost the government $155 million in lost revenues. The figures show that in 1983/84 more than $100 million in tax was forgone through film invest­ ment and in 1982/83 about $60 million went uncollected. When 10BA was put in place it was thought it would cost the government about $2 million annually in lost revenue.

But the rules were framed before either the Federal Tax Office or Aus­ tralian film industry understood the real power of pre-sales. The realisa­ tion of the amazing advantages of pre-sale took about 12 months to hit home but when it did the film and tax minimalisation industries began to reap a rich harvest.

Even so, the Screen Production Association has argued for a long time that Treasury estimates of the film industry’s cost to revenue are misleading; that the gross figure needs to be netted down and quali­ fied; and that tangibles like multiplier effect and employment, and intang­ ibles like cultural value and creation

of an Australian identity need to be taken into account.

The government, perhaps quite correctly, believes the film industry has matured, that it has grown in a protected environment and that now is the time for it to find a more acceptable means of both private and public funding. In essence the government expects the industry to survive through the quality of its product rather than because it is the most acceptable form of tax rort.

Whether that is a sound policy is yet to be seen. But it will not work unless the government is prepared to offer more direct assistance to Australian filmmakers.

That is the belief of the Australian Film Commission and many others involved in both funding and making Australian films. While many recog­ nise the failings of 10BA and the advantages of a slowdown in industry growth, no one in the invest­ ment business believes the industry can survive in any sort of healthy form without significant government assistance. No one except perhaps the Federal Government.

That is why the AFC produced its m u c h -ta lk e d -a b o u t d is c u s s io n paper, which concluded with the interesting proposal that the govern­ ment, either through the AFC or a combination of other governmentbacked authorities, establish what would effectively be a bank, or last lending resort for filmmakers. The “ bank” would be funded by an issue of government-backed bonds and the first issue would raise $120 million. The money would be lent on classic project-financing lines, which means that losses would be ex­ pected. The government would be asked to provide $60 million a year for a sinking fund which would cover the “ bank’s” losses and the new

lending authority would lend in the form of convertible notes, which means that if the film was a success the “ bank” would have the option of converting the loan into a share of the film. Whatever profits were made would be directed back into the “ bank’s” loan fund which is an effective way of forcing the industry to cross-subsidise itself.

A low budget fund for what is called high-risk drama and docu­ mentaries would also be estab­ lished. Applicants for this fund would not need to prove that their project had m a in stre a m c o m m e rc ia l interest. The fund would have an initial appropriation of $10 million, and an estimated recurrent cost of up to $7 million. “ Look, we realise this is some­ thing different than current think­ ing,” says David Court, the AFC’s policy adviser, “ but we think the government has a very relaxed atti­ tude towards 10BA, that there are no plans to change it at the moment and that if it doesn’t the next few years look pretty bad.”

The plan contains the “ design parameters” put forward by the AFC last year as criteria for examining assistance proposals.

These were: a fixed cost to revenue; a minimum benchmark level of production; different treat­ ment for different types of produc­ tion, taking into account cost, demand and revenue potential; a guaranteed period of operation of not less than five years.

David Court and AFC chief execu­ tive Kim Williams were on hand at the Screen Production Association conference to sell their proposal to producers. Curiously many pro­ ducers, found themselves overcome with a sudden sense of loyalty to the tax-based system, and felt they were ^

CINEMA PAPERS January — 5

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< 10B A not ready to offer it up as a pre­ mature sacrifice. There was a certain suspicion about what some saw as the “ one-stop shopping’’ loan fund.

A few suspected that this would lead to qualitative judgments on projects, even though the AFC is adamant that this is not the case. Some pro­ ducers now claim that feature films are still a viable proposition under 10BA, although no one is prepared to stick their neck out for television.

However, there is a strong argu­ ment that with 10BA in the shape it Is in at the moment the film industry will no longer be attractive to the tax minimalisers — who, interestingly enough are mostly from the middleincome brackets. The sort of support that films in Australia have been enjoying from the investment com­ munity will then freeze up. Even those producers who have worked so hard at coming to grips with the possibilities offered by 10BA over the past four or five years, recognise that the tax exemption rule has brought with it problems for the industry. But equally everyone in the business knows that without a rejuvenated 10BA or an adequate replacement for it, the film industry will enter its very own mini-reces­ sion; the number of new productions is already on the decline, the 5000 jobs provided by film are already under threat, and perhaps worst of all, there is a very real prospect that before the end of the decade the film business will again be cottage industry.

According to James Baillieu of merchant bankers Rothschild, one of the major players in the oncegrowing game of film underwritng, the new marginal rates, on top of the changes to 10BA, will make it very difficult for films to attract investment.

The new rates wHI effectively take the gross break-even point for a film from 28 per cent of investment under the old rules to a 41 per cent return on funds invested. “ That,” says Mr Baillieu, “ means the end of the salad days. “ The marginal rate, more than anything else, will mean that people investing in film will be doing it because they like the look of the pro­ ject. And let me tell you, the num­ bers of people doing that are very small indeed and are certainly not powerful enough to carry the Austra­ lian industry. The simple fact is the days of film being a tax attractive investment are over and that means hard times for filmmakers,” he said.

Another broker experienced in gathering financial support for the film world, Oliver Beaumont of Mel­ bourne stockbrokers McCaughan Dyson, commented: “ I think we’ll see, for the first time, investors actu­ ally trying to read scripts and make a decision on the commercial viability of these things. Until now all they’ve wanted to see is the budgets and the tax exemption possibilities.”

But even before the new marginal tax rates hit taxpayers the govern­ ment had been chipping away at 10BA. First it reduced the original level of exemptions from the remark­ ably advantageous 150 per cent of investment and 50 per cent of returns to a slightly more realistic 133-33 per cent split. Last Septem­

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ber the rules changed again and the Federal Treasurer, Mr Keating, began to put the pressure on by reducing the allowance to a 120-20 per cent split. Mr Baillieu and others involved in the business of invest­ ment believe that 120-20 would have made it difficult but very poss­ ible to fund films. “ But now things will be all but im­ possible. Certainly we, at Roths­ childs, will not be underwriting many films in the present environment.

There will be a contraction in the industry and a lot of people who cropped up In the years after 1980 will disappear,” Baillieu said.

The difficulties facing filmmakers under the new rules become very apparent after only a cursory glance at the figures. Under the 133-33 regime, with an average pre-sale agreement covering about 40 per cent of the budget, investors could be guaranteed a 12 per cent return on their investment after tax. That means that not only are films more interesting and exciting than invest­ ing in a high interest bank account, but more profitable too. Under the new rules investors will need to see a pre-sale of about 70-75 per cent of budget before being convinced to put their money In, because that is the only way similar returns can be promised.

The problem with that is not only is it virtually impossible to reach that level of pre-sales but if it is reached it virtually negates any possibility of the film making any money for the people who actually make it. What pre-sales do is re-assure investors but restrict profitability. If Crocodile Dundee had been pre-sold it is doubtful that investors would have made any money from its tre­ mendous success. But then Croco­ dile Dundee is the only Australian film to be funded by risk capital last year.

In this climate the AFC will be working hard on consultation with the industry over the next few months. But there are many who believe there is little chance of the AFC c o n v in c in g this Federal Government to contribute signifi­ cantly to filmmaking. The AFC pro­ posal asks government to under­ write all Australian filmmaking and to secure that underwriting with an extra $60 million annually to cover losses. And this is the same govern­ ment which has effectively crippled the industry’s chances of raising funds by chopping into 10BA. Another suggestion for an alterna­ tive to the 10BA funding is for the government to establish an Austra­ lian version of the very impressive British television station, Channel 4.

Channel 4 is like a cross between a commercial television station, the BBC — because it is government backed — and an independent film production company. It is largely self-funding and spends its adver­ tising revenues on both television and film productions. Some say the merge> of the ABC and SBS net­ works provided the perfect oppor­ tunity to establish the new commer­ cial public television channel which would fill the gap left by the dismant­ ling of 10BA. It is an argument hard to resist, even for a government con­ cerned about committing too much money to the film industry.

The Dunera Boys (Warren Mitchell) and Malcolm (John Hargreaves)

AFI AWARDS: Cut the speeches, cue Pamela Stephenson Once upon a time there was the 1986 AFI Awards. It was a grand occasion: an industry dinner at the Regent Hotel Ballroom in Sydney, the “ biggest and brightest names” , and the “ latest in television tech­ nology” . It was not to be a long night of long acceptance speeches. The new-look awards were to be racy, informative and entertaining, with a live telecast (independently pro­ duced by Richard Sattler Produc­ tions and broadcast on the ABC) of the presentations of the major awards, intercut with pre-taped inter­ views and further presentations recorded “ on location” .

In part it worked, but no one will forget the disastrous technical hitches, the wicked jokes — often at the expense of industry people, Pamela Stephenson as the fairy queen, the hurried announcement of the Kodak Awards, and the kindly gestures: Paul Hogan was given an award for special achievement in recognition of the success of Croco­ dile Dundee (which wasn’t entered in the Awards). But it was Nadia Tass and David Parker’s quirky comedy Malcolm that scooped the pool and, for many, that made up for all the technical bungles. A few extra Malcolm-type gadgets and the 1986 AFI Awards: On Location may have been a winner.

The winners of the 1986 AFI Awards were as follows: FEATURES Best Feature Film: Malcolm (Nadia Tass and David Parker); Best Achievement in Direction: Nadia Tass {Malcolm): Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: Colin Friels {Malcolm): Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Judy Davis {Kangaroo): Best Per­ formance by an Actor in a Support­ ing Role: John Hargreaves {Mal­ colm): Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Lindy Davies {Malcolm): Best Achievement in Cinematography: Peter James {The R ight H and Man): Best Achievement in Costume Design: Terry Ryan {K angaroo): Best Achievement in Editing: Ken Sallows {Malcolm): Best Original Music Score: William Motzing and Martin Armiger {Young Einstein): Best Achievement in Production Design: George . Liddle {Playing Beattie Bow): Best Achievement in Sound: Malcolm (Roger Savage, Craig Carter, Dean Gawen and Paul Clark); Best Original Screenplay: David Parker {Malcolm): Best Adapted Screenplay: Bruce Beresford and Rhoisin Beresford {The Fringe Dwellers).

NON-FEATURES Best Documentary: Chile: Hasta Cuando? (David Bradbury); Best Short Fiction Film: The Mooncalf (Ian Rochford); Best Experimental Film: My Life Without Steve (Gillian Leahy); Best Animated Film: The Huge Adventures of Trevor, a Cat (John Taylor); Best Sponsored Documentary: Down There (Sabina Wynn); Best Direction: David Brad­ bury {Chile: Hasta Cuando?): Best Screenplay: Pat Fiske {Rocking the F o un da tion s): Best C inem a to­ graphy: Paul Tait and Michael Dillon {Flight of the Windhorse).

BRIEFLY...

■ Victoria tops the list on the creativity scale according to results of the recent six monthly assessments by the Creative Development Fund'and the Women’s Film Fund, 86 applications were made to the CDF requesting a total of $3,392,909 and 21 of these were successful, receiving total funds of $501,708.

A large number of the applications, mostly for short drama, were from Victoria, possibly linked to Film Victoria’s Independent Filmmaker’s Fund. Instituted in 1985, it also aims to provide finance for independent film and video. The Women’s Film Fund invested in five projects worth $93,000, with two being co-funded by the CDF.

MINISERIES Best Miniseries: The Dunera Boys (Bob Weis); Best Direction: Ben Lewin (The Dunera Boys)] Best Screenplay: Ben Lewin (The Dunera Boys)\ Best Actor: Simon Chilvers (The Dunera Boys)] Best Actress: Deirdre Rubenstein (Palace of Dreams).

TELEFEATURES Best Telefeature: The Perfectionist (Pat Lovell); Best Direction: Geoffrey Nottage (Displaced Persons)] Best Screenplay: John Misto (Natural Causes)] Best Actor: Peter Kowitz (The Long Way Home)] Best Actress: Candy Raymond (Breaking Up).

The Raymond Longford Award went to Barry Jones.

OBITUARY Film distributor Michael McLernon died in Germany on 30 November.

He had a particular interest in German cinema, and brought films like Fassbinder’s Querelle, Edgar Reitz’s Heimat, Reinhard Hauff’s Stammheim and Patrice Chereau’s L ’homme blesse to Australia. His next release was to have been von Trotta’s Rosa Luxemburg.

Brighton Bay Cinema manager Michael Walsh, who worked on a number of releases with him, remembers Michael McLernon as unassuming and gentle, and devoted to the films he had acquired, “ almost to the point of obsession. He would talk about them for hours, if given half a chance. “ Without doubt, the distribution of German cinema has been dealt a heavy blow by his passing.”

■ The next round of funding has been announced with 22 projects receiving support from the CDF. Production investments were made in Lightfall (Matt Butler), Love Shed (Denise Hare and George Evatt), The Universal Providore (Mark Jackson and Mark Stiles), Nice Coloured Girls (Tracey Moffatt), The Crane (Margaret Smith), Gone Tomorrow (Mark Stow-Smith and Alan Ingram), Saxaphone (Nabil Fassy and Mark Chapman), Suburban Encounters (Jo Bell), The Man Who Lost His Head (James Clayden), Jo (Lynn Maree Millburn), Higher Than High (Virginia Murray), Home Scenario — Italians at Home (Ettore Siracusa) and Sky's Witness (Terry Maybury). Production grants were approved for The Letter I Never Sent You (David Arthur-Simons), Charivari (Kathy Drayton) and Treasures of the State (Rhonda Thwaite and Lucinda Clutterbuck).

One Potato Moor and the Ghosts on Chat Hill (Bruce Currie), Southern Quest: The Musical (Kate .

Gilroy and Amanda Dusting), Howard (Roger Monk) and Al Dente (Karl Goiser) received post­ production grants. Script develop­ ment investments were made in Mr Wright (Louise Hubbard) and The Hitchhiker (Paul Payne). The Women’s Film Fund financed four projects: Tracey Moffatt’s Nice Coloured Girls, Zana Dare’s Radio Burn, Monique Schwarz and Ann Darrouzet’s Shadow Play and Tish Phillips' Irene.

■ Of the 43 applications received

by Film Victoria for the 1986/7 Independent Filmmakers Fund, seven projects worth a total of $285,062 were approved. They are: Higher Than High (Virginia Murray), Trevor Island (John Taylor), A Swimmer Swimming (Jan Sardi), Cruel Youth (aka Stella Beach) (Tony Ayres), Arguing the Toss of a Cat (Christine Stammers and Paul Brown), The Ventriloquist (James Clayden) and Your Money or Your Legs (Mark Hanlin).

■ If you know more about 'Fine Cotton’ than Australian Cotton, then read on. Australian Cotton is an eight-minute industrial documentary and it has recently been awarded, along with two other Australian productions, Paradise Camp and Under Pressure, Gold Medal honours at

the 1986 International Film and Television Festival of New York.

Produced and directed by John Meagher, Australian Cotton will be used as a promotional piece for the Cotton Foundation and also distributed theatrically by Greater Union. Paradise Camp is the story of “ the Nazis’’ hoax camp” Theresienstadt and it follows Where Death Wears a Smile (winner of Best Political Film at the 1985 Festival). It screened on SBS-TV in September as part of Peace Week.

Under Pressure, directed by Mario Andreacchio, is a 25-minute dramatized documentary dealing with the problem of work-related stress. It was produced by the South Australian Film Corporation.

■ The inaugural general manager (film development) of the Australian Film Commission, Malcolm Smith, has left the AFC at the end of his three-year contract period. His term saw the introduction of the Documentary Fellowships, the Comedy Programme, and the streamlining of procedures relating to script assessments and the Special Production Fund. He is succeeded by Greg Ricketson, whose associate producer credits include Gillian Armstrong’s latest feature, High Tide, The More Things Change and Burke and Wills. Greg Ricketson has worked for the past five years as a consultant to producers, film commissions and completion guarantors. He joins the AFC in January 1987.

■ The third annual Women’s Video Festival, held in Tucson, Arizona, in October, attracted more than 200 entries this year. Initiated as a showcase for the work of women writers, producers and directors, the event tries to encourage emerging talent by charging no entry fees, awarding some cash prizes and sending back jury feedback forms to all producers.

Australian independent filmmaker Briann Kearney was a workshop presenter and award-winner at the festival. Her films — And/Or = One and children’s film Jeremy and the Teapot (with Brian Syron and narration by Jack Thompson) — won first and second prizes in the drama section. She presented workshops on the life of an independent producer, and feminism, art and erotica.

The festival is part of a larger organisation, the women’s consortium cable, which in turn is part of a larger networking system that operates throughout the US. The cable network is available to independent film and video makers and is open to product from anywhere in the world.

Any filmmaker, male or female, who is interested in finding o\M X about the consortium should contact: Linn Lane, project director, Tucson Women’s Cable Consortium, 628 N 10th Avenue, Tucson, Arizona 85705. Tel: (602) 624 6441.

■ Cary Grant, 82, died in hospital in Davernport, Iowa, on 30 November. An appreciation will .appear in the next issue of Cinema Papers.

CONTRIBUTORS Saskia Baron Is a freelance writer on : film./ Rod Bishop teaches film at the Phillip Institute of Technology.

Matcus: Breen is a Melbourne-based journalist, freelance writer and documentary filmmaker.

Mick Broderick works as a publications officer with the Australian Conservation Foundation and is a freelance writer on film.

Pat H. Broeske writes regularly about film for the Los Angeles Times, and is Hollywood correspondent for the Washington Post and other publications. ' Raffaele Caputo is a freelance writer on film.

Tony Cavanaugh is a freelance script editor.

Lorenzo Codeili is a freelance journalist based in Trieste, a contributor- to Positif and Italian correspondent _for- the International Film Guide.

Mary Colbert is a Sydney-based film researcher, writer and lecturer.

Keith Connolly is film critic for The .

Herald.

Danny Cusack tutors in the Department of Ethics and Politics at University College, Dublin.

Dan Fainaru is a journalist at the Jerusalem Post.

Michael Freedman is a freelance film writer and editor of Australian Horticulture./ .

Anna Grieve works at Film Australia as a ’young filmmaker’ in production and research.

Fred Harden is a film and television producer.

Paul Harris is co-host of Film Buff’s Forecast on 3RRR and a regular contributor to The A g 0 T : Paul-Kalina is a journalist at Video Week.

Tony Llewellyn-Jones is an-actor.

He is.currently producing Vincent for Paul Cox. Mike Ni.colaidi is a freelance writer and contributor to Variety.

Norbert Noyaux works as an interpreter for the French Commercial Office in Melbourne and is a freelance writer on film.

Fiona O’Grady is a freelance writer on film.

Dieter Osswald is a journalist and contributor to Filmecho.

Georgina Pope and Naoko Veda work at the Tokyo-based company, Goanna Films.

Nick Roddick is deputy editor of Screen International.

Tom Ryan-lectures in media studies : at Swiriburne.

Jim Schembri is a journalist at The Age. Mark Spratt is a freelance writer on film.

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

Michael Visontay is a journalist at the Sydney Morning Herald.

James Waites is a freelance writer on the performing arts.

CINEMA PAPERS January — 7

ROBERT LAGETTIE & N O R M A N W ILKINSON on lo c a tio n w ith THE TIME G U A R D IA N

"Where could we have found a location as good as this with an airconditioned studio right alongside?" asked co-producers Robert Lagettie and Norman Wilkinson...“and our non-deductibles as well!"

How did they do it? Ring Michael Rowan on (08) 452277

H£A/t>OA/ a s-rur?3os 113 Tapley’s Hill Road. Hendon, South Australia 5014

Telephone (08) 45 2277. Telex AA88206 (SAFC).

Mora way of life

by Nick Roddick “ You make a picture like The Return of Captain Invincible,” says Philippe Mora, a director with more inter­ national experience than almost any other Australian filmmaker. “ It comes out in Australia and gets trashed. Then it comes out three years later in Germany and England and gets rave reviews. In between, it makes things difficult.”

Not difficult enough to stop Mora making films, however: after a fifteen-year career in which difficulty has rarely been absent, Mora has grown philosophical. “ It’s just part of the business, you know. It’s difficult, making films, it really is. The only reason I’m in it is that I love shooting them.”

Mora’s love affair has been going on since 1972, when he side­ stepped a successful career as a painter to make a more or less un­ seen film called Trouble in Molopolis in London, whither he had fled Mel­ bourne at the age of seventeen.

Since then, he has made three films in Australia, one in Britain, one in Canada, two in the USA and one (a lb e it A m e ric a n -fin a n c e d ) in Czechoslovakia.

Only his second feature, the com­ pilation documentary, Swastika, pro­ duced by David Puttnam and shown in competition at Cannes in 1974, has had a more or less trouble-free run. Mora tends to put the problems with the others down to marketing, with which he would rather not meddle. “ If I decided to get involved in the marketing, that would take a year and I could make another film.

There’s nothing you can do. The dumbest film may be a giant hit; or a film can be a masterpiece and no one will go and see it. Things eventu­ ally come out the right way, you know!”

Mora’s love of films also saw him in at the start of Cinema Papers. He contributed a bizarre little article on comic-strip aesthetics to an early issue; and it is a style which has stayed with him ever since, in his films as much as in his paintings.

His latest movie, Death of a Soldier, is quite a departure, how­ ever. Set in Melbourne in 1942, it deals with the ‘Leonski case’, in which an American Gl committed a series of grisly sex murders, was court martialled by the US Army and, despite clear evidence of insanity (which would have been a mitigating circumstance), executed, pour decourager les autres.

Death of a Soldier had its share of problems, too, including a set-to during the shooting, which saw the film change production companies overnight and, for a few brief hours, dispense with the services of Mora himself. “ I was really not very in­ volved with what was going on,” he says diplomatically, “ because I was on set every day, shooting. I was fired at 2 o’clock in the morning,; but I was actually fired by the production company that had already been fired itself. When that was ail sorted

“There’s nothing you can do. The dum bestfilm m ay be a giant hit; or a film can be a masterpiece and no one will go and see it” out, a new production company took over and we started shooting again. It’s water under the bridge, really,” he goes on, adding to the Mora philosophy, "and sort of irrelevant to the finished pic­ ture.” Indeed: the finished picture shows little sign of conflict or disrup­ tion.

Since those fateful days in March 1985, Death of a Soldier has been through two title-changes and a dispute with the ATAEA that looked, for a while (see the AFI Awards story in Cinema Papers 59, September 1986), as though it was going to keep the film off the screen for good.

Now, however, it is due to open here

at Christmas, having played to excellent reviews but disappointing business in the United States back ¡n May. There is nothing comic-strip about the film: it is a sombre, exciting thriller, starting out (before the court martial) with a series of moody scenes leading up to and encom­ passing the murders. “ I originally wanted to shoot in black and white,” says Mora, “ but we ended up going for a monochrome. It has all the characteristics of a film noir: the psychotic killer, the terror, the period . . ” The film’s big surprise is the per­ formance of Reb Brown in the role of

Leonski. Mora cast Brown after working with him on Howling II, con­ vinced that, despite the handicaps of a wardrobe-like physique and a jaw to match, he had the sensitivity to play the tortured hunk whose story the film tells. “ It’s like that old thing about beautiful women in showbiz,” says Mora. “ Everyone says: ‘Oh, they can’t act! They’re just good looking!’ It applies to men, too: the stereotypical, good-looking men don’t often get the chance to act.”

But was the real Leonski that big? “ Exactly that big. Ira C. Rothgerber, who was his Defence Counsel, gave us a lot of information, and he was mesmerized. We were at dinner, and he said: 'You know, there is one memory I have of the court martial that you may find interesting. When they came in to give sentence, Leonski suddenly said: “ Ira, can you hold my hand?” ’ — in exactly the way we have it in the film. Reb was there and he said: ‘How did you hold the hand?’ And they did it for real. “ It was very moving for the lawyer: he’s still defending Leonski.

He feels very badly that he couldn’t crack the bureaucracy and get through to the Supreme Court [which would, in all probability, have revoked the death sentence]. And all that stuff about Macarthur pro­ moting him is true, too: it actually helped Macarthur that Leonski got such a good trial.”

It is now eighteen months since Mora completed the film. Since then, he has shot a rock clip and a horror movie. The rock clip was the Divinyls’ ‘Pleasure and Pain’, for which the record company wanted a feature-film director to bring out the character of the lead singer Chrissie Amphlett. Mora did so so success­ fully that Countdown insisted on a two-second cut before it would show it.

More recently, Mora has been shooting The Marsupials: Howling III. Howling II (for Hemdale) was an experience that has strained his philosophical approach. “ Commer­ cially,” he says, “ it did very well: it made a lot of money. But I wasn’t happy with the story, and there were some things done to it after I left the film. They added the repeated shots of Sybil Danning’s tits. That was done by John Daly [of Hemdale], He thought it was very amusing to see the actress’s tits 50 times. I didn't find it that amusing, especially with my name on it as director. Howling II is just tacky. We're setting the record straight with this one.”

For Howling III, Mora has raised the money himself, outside 10BA, with his co-producer, barrister Charles Waterstreet. This time, he wants full control. Not, he hastens to point out, that he is unreasonable when it comes to essential additions or deletions. On Captain Invincible, for instance, an urgent message came through from New Y o rk,. asking if a print had been sent for the approval of its star, Alan Arkin. Arkin wanted a close-up of his feet. Mora had no problems with that.

CINEMA PAPERS January — 9

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Rocking the boat at Film Australia

by Mary Colbert Few captains voluntarily select a sinking ship as their command, but that’s what Robin Hughes opted for when she accepted the position of general manager of Film Australia, the production house of the Austra­ lian Film Commission, in August last year. She took the job because of its problems. “ I wasn’t interested in being a pro­ fessional manager or bureaucratic administrator, but I wanted the pro­ ject,’’ she explains. “ I felt I knew what to do with it; that I could be useful here at a time when the organisation needed leadership as a style, and I was valuable because I was a filmmaker and cared. I had a feeling the place had a great deal more potential than it fulfilled.

Besides, there are certain times in one’s life to put action where one’s mouth is.”

As a filmmaker she had excellent credentials (with several awards for docum entaries) and 20 years industry experience behind her as a researcher, writer and producer with the ABC, BBC and Willesee, and numerous other assignments for film bodies. She had spent 1977 to 1981 at Film Australia (where she set up the first animation unit), so that she was returning to familiar territory.

And she knew she was heading back into troubled waters. “There were problems across the board; scarcely an area that didn’t possess any,” she recalls. “The previous 18 months had been spent in dispute with my predecessor, there was an acting head, everyone was acting.

There was no sense of permanency or direction. Of course all that had a major effect on morale and productivity.

"It was important to move quickly so that people could see confirma­ tion of action and change,” she says. She analysed the situation rapidly and implemented new pro­ cedures now outlined in a succinct 71/2-page document, totally devoid of the usual public service jargon, called Change At Film Australia.

Her priorities were reorganisation, re-focus and articulation of a clear philosophy of programming. She wanted to bring Film Australia to a stage where no review could con­ sider closing the place down. (There is a review due to be tabled in Federal Parliament in February.)

One of the most radical moves was the restructu ring of the organisation, bound as it was by the constraints and intricacies of bureau­ cracy. “ The public service analogies and the size (a staff of 150) were designed in such a way that there was a tendency to forget that' the institution was here to make films.

Now it places the emphasis on the end-product. Basically I turned a vertical hierarchical structure into a horizontal one.”

She cut through layers of middle management — what she calls the protective checking system — and

10 — January CINEMA PAPERS

structured production and manage­ ment around four units, each headed by an executive producer (with a p ro d u ctio n m anager, accountant, secretary) involved in a wide range of projects. The EPs — currently Janet Bell, Ron Saunders, Geoff Barnes and Tristram Miall — take responsibility for production, get together creative teams, formu­ late policy with the general manager at weekly meetings and adopt an entrepreneurial role with govern­ ment departments in generating ideas for projects.

Hughes felt there was also a need to raise the profile of the institution within the industry. “ I felt we needed to be more flexible about our rela­ tionship with the industry and use filmmakers to contribute to the value of this place. I’d love to expand pro­ duction and bring in new blood, use freelance people on projects. To make it a vibrant place of innovation and excellence as in the days when people like Peter Weir, Stephen Wallace, Gil Brealey and Gillian Arm­ strong were here. There should be opportunities for development of new filmmakers and extension of established ones.”

But realistically, what does restruc­ turing and “ new blood” mean for some of the current staff? Hughes approaches this issue cautiously

with diplomatic tact. ‘ ‘This is a bit of a problem,” she admits. “ It would be nice to have some positions freed up and the staff are conscious that to be more productive we may need to do that. But I don’t want people to feel insecure and we are concerned with reallocation of staff to achieve maxi­ mum efficiency.” There is a review of job functions currently taking place.

To foster professional exchange with the industry Film Australia has inaugurated monthly screenings and seminars to which members of the industry are invited. So far they’ve focused on animation and 16mm film production, with an even­ ing on women’s films scheduled for early in 1987. The aim is to discuss programme and production values, not deals.

Her major objective is to increase quality of product and reach wider audiences at less cost to the tax­ payer. According to the charter, the main functions of Film Australia are to make, promote and distribute pro­ grammes, in particular those for government departments and those “ of national interest” designed to interpret aspects of Australian life; a function Hughes thinks is very important in society’s understanding of itself in a form accessible to the majority.

She explains that the national pro­ grammes need to fulfil the purposes of the act yet be innovative and marketable. For brainstorming ses­ sions, leading thinkers (she places a lot of emphasis on ideas) in different disciplines were invited to contri­ bute, but she acknowledges the pro­ gramming will be a balancing act between two priorities. “ On the one end of the spectrum we will be m aking program m es that are technically innovative such as Bruce Petty’s The Movers which couldn’t raise the presale and otherwise wouldn’t have been made. Towards that end we are prepared to take risks. “ At the other end of the spectrum are the commercially viable projects which should pay for the innovative ones. It’s a balance of payments situation. For instance, with two in de pen de nt com m ercial com ­ panies we are working on a Bicen­ tennial project, Willesee's Australia, a 13-part drama series on the history of the common man, celebrating those who were not centre stage figures yet contributed so much to typify the Australian character.”

She puts an emphasis on the need for commercial viability. It is not coincidence that the EPs all have commercial TV experience and con­ tacts. “ This is a terrific facility but with a budget of $6.2 million allo­ cated this year to run the place, we need to do everything possible to generate more cash . . . I’d love tp get more animation going, especi­ ally after the success of our last few ventures (Double X, Down There and Ironbark Bill), but again we strike the same problem, finance.

We want to expand production but we need to be very imaginative about how to do that and discipline what is spent. A great deal of streamlining is necessary.”

With that in mind she’s introduced a cost effectiveness scheme and re­ structured marketing. Before any money is committed to projects, marketing officers look at objectives, target audiences and marketing prospects.

Hughes recently returned from a whirlwind junket with marketing manager Robyn Watts — six cities, up to 20 people a day in fourteen days — to the UK, US and Canada to find new markets, and line up some international co-production deals.

Two major projects were dis­ cussed, one a 4 x 1 hour series on China’s history and philosophy, the other a major international co­ production series with PBS, BBC, and WGBH about global agricultural and environmental problems.

She is not even half way through her contract so it’s interesting to speculate on other developments that will take place. What happens when her three-year term is up? “ Once the place is moving I’ll be delighted to hand over to someone else,” she claims. “ I’ve never pla n n e d my career: it ’s just happened . . . ”

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The sounds of Martin The rather unlikely combination of Martin Armiger and William Motzing won the 1986 AFI award for best music score, for a film that is itself a bizarre combination of elements, telling the story of a Tasmanian-born Einstein, played by the film’s director Yahoo Serious, who discovers rock ’n’ roll in 1906. It interweaves a semiorchestral, semi-rock soundtrack, with Armiger contributing the rock score. “ It was weird doing an out-and-

out com edy,” recalls Armiger, "Yahoo’s real thing is to go for the cliche. If you cut to France, you hear the Marseillaise, if you see Einstein and you want the audience to think he's a good guy and he’s from Tas­ mania, then you play ‘Waltzing Matilda’.” He grimaces. "I was say­ ing ‘Waltzing Matilda’, oh no, there’s no way I want to do it. But Yahoo kept on hammering and hammering at me, so finally I sat down and worked out an arrangement of

'Waltzing Matilda’ that I was kind of happy with.” Armiger starts laugh­ ing, "and he loved it, loved it to death — and it works. It was like all these cliches work when you grit your teeth and do it. It’s just a different attitude to music. It’s not try­ ing to discover something new, I suppose. It’s making reference to things that make people feel warm and happy.”

He was, "completely surprised to win the AFI award,” he says. "We felt we’d achieved something by the time we’d finished but it was under such pressure that you don’t really know whether anyone else would think anything of it at all.”

The experience of Young Einstein — “ We’ve got three weeks to the mix . . . we don’t have any money . . . but can you do something?” — is certainly not unique for Armiger.

He has found himself in many pres­ sure cooker composing situations in his recent and prolific years in the film business. Often he misses out on seeing a script or is still com­ posing, as was the case with the miniseries The Challenge, while the programme is being mixed. Even though everyone knows how important music is, it’s usually the last decision made on a picture.

"The problem,” Armiger explains, "is that music is hard to talk about.

You can say, I’ve got this theme, you describe it and they all say great, you play it and they say great and then you put it up against the picture — and nobody is sure. It’s just one of those things. Even the most experienced producers and direc­ tors want to hold back until the last minute.” He adds wryly, "You have to be very flexible.”

If there is anything typical of Armiger’s career it is just that flexi­ bility. From a degree in politics and drama at Flinders University in the early seventies, his interest in what he describes as, “ the problems of music and narrative” has led him onto many different forays into popular culture. There was an early Adelaide performance band, Toads Nightly, whose members also in­ cluded Tim Robertson and Noni

by An Grieve

H a zle h u rst. “ A c tu a lly ,” says Armiger, “ we were a group of actors masquerading as a band.” After performing at demos and pubs they found their way to working at the Pram F a c to ry . F rom th e re , A r m ig e r ’ s in te re s t in m u sic developed with writing, composing and performing with The Toads (with Jane Clifton), Bleeding Hearts (with Jo Camilleri) and Hi Rise Bombers (with Paul Kelly). He composed the soundtrack for Bert Deling’s film of the Melbourne junkie underground, Pure S\ he had only two days to develop and record the soundtrack.

Soon after, he joined The Sports for two weeks and ended up staying seven years. He eventually found life at what he describes as, "the grind­ ing edge of popular culture” too a lie n a tin g and g ru e llin g and “ retired” to Melbourne. Retirement for Armiger meant working as a free­ lance journalist, a DJ for 3RRR, a producer for ex-Sports singer Steve Cummings on his solo album, and finding time to go to the racetrack.

All that changed in 1984 with a phone call from ABC producer Jan Chapman, asking Armiger to organ­ ise the music for Sweet and Sour.

Since then, he has notched up a formidable list of credits: Dancing Daze, telemovies like Two Friends and Displaced Persons, the mini­ series Cyclone Tracy and The Chal­ lenge, as well as the feature films, The Empty Beach and / Own the Racecourse.

As he says, " I ’m just at that stage where I don’t want to look back at the end of the year, two years, and think what chaos that was, how we just scraped through . . . It is frustra­ ting being at the end of the produc­ tion process, because all the decisions have been made. You can’t do anything about the script, the cast, you can’t do anything about anything — it is all there, given. You can say, ‘I really hate that shot’, and they say, ‘Yeh, so do I, can you do something about it, can you find something to cover it?’ ” Armiger chuckles, “ something to cover it — covering it is like drawing attention to something you hate.”

Armiger is now feeling, "a certain frustration with what you can do. I’ve got a lot to learn. I haven’t done nearly enough work with real instru­ ments and writing music. I tend to sequence a lot of things. I came out of it really from pop music and every music cue I write, it’s like a little three minute pop song without words.

There’s a lot more about music I have to learn.”

However Armiger has always been a chameleon and he might change his colours again before long. At the moment as well as finish­ ing Perhaps Love, an ABC telemovie written by Bob Ellis, and reworking the music for Young Einstein, which has found its way back into the cut­ ting room since the AFI awards, Armiger is, “ interested in being in­ volved in the earliest stages of pro­ duction” . He is writing two features and a situation comedy but adds with typical Armiger understate­ ment, “ Who isn’t?” .

CINEMA PAPERS January — 13

BEGINNING AS 'A THROW AWAY THING", RIGHARD LOWENSTEIN'S SECOND FEATUREDOGS IN SPACE HAS BECOME "A MONSTER" BEDEVILLED WITH AN R-GERTIFICATE, THE FILM STARRING INXS LEAD SINGER, MICHAEL HUTCHENGE, MAY NEED ANOTHER LAYER OF PACKAGING IF IT IS TO ENTICE AUDIENCES BACK TO A PERIOD TOO CLOSE TO BE GLAMOROUS. ROCKED BY RATING: Richard Lowenstein

For Lowenstein, Dogs In Space started out as an exercise.

He was living in a m anic house shared by students, punks and hippies (very similar to the one depicted in the film), collecting snatches of dialogue, recording funny incidents for a script. He intended to workshop a bunch of ten actors and shoot a low budget film in a couple of weeks.

It became, however, a $2 million feature that attracted attention, though not huge financial support, from the m om ent the prospectus appeared. “ W ith a script called Dogs In Space (the opening lines of which were ‘Hey dog face show us your snatch’!), an unconventional n a rra ­ tive, a director who d id n ’t have a mile-long track record and a producer with no track record, on paper we looked like a most unattractive proposition,” says producer Glenys Rowe, whose background is in film distribution and m arketing.

And add to that recipe the music, which totally shocked potential investors. “ People would ask us if we were going to have good m usic,” says Lowenstein, “ and I ’d say ‘No, it’ll be terrible, but w e’re going to play on the fact that it’s absolutely terrible. I t ’s like ten novelty tracks. Y ou’ll have music that ranges from the obnoxious to the sublim e.’ It was a strange thing to d o .”

Eventually the m oney was raised through the “ unholy alliance” of the Burrowes Film G roup and E ntertain­ ment M edia, with m uch encouragem ent from Fred

Schepisi. At that stage, one of the m ain selling points was the star, M ichael H utchence, though Glenys Rowe believes, m ore idealistically, that it was also the concept of youth and energy — “ a new way of doing it’ ’. M ost of the crew were in their twenties and not all had had experience on feature films.

T he m aking of Dogs In Space is indeed full of idiosyncracies: characteristic of the production was the fact that the shooting of particular scenes themselves turned into m edia events.

T he setting for the opening scene of Dogs is a queue at the M C G ; people are waiting to buy tickets for the 1979 David Bowie concert. I t’s wild — there are fights, fires, cars, take-away food and smashed bottles. T he shot required 600 extras, all looking like punks, so the pro­ ducer organised Countdown to put out a plea, with an offer of a free trip to T hailand. T he response was huge and after m aking arrangem ents with Equity, they had crossed one of the first logistic hurdles. T hree crews who wanted to film the shoot were refused access. “ It was crazy,” exclaims Rowe, but people were talking . . .

According to Lowenstein, part of the plan of attack was to create interest through word of m outh w ithout too m uch paid hype. “ W e were always aware of the build-up to the dis­ tribution, which, of course, had a lot to do with

IN 1979 "LITTLE BANDS" LIKE , THE EARS AND THE BOYS NEXT DOOR WERE \ MAKING A LOT OF NOISE IN MELBOURNE, SPACE SHUTTLES WERE TAKING OFF, SKYLAB WAS FALLING, AND POLITICS AND FASHION WERE MUDDLED. THE LAUNCHING OF DOGS IN SPACE IS LINKED TO THE SELLING OF THIS ERA. BUT H O W AND TO WHOM?

SKYLARKING: Saskia Post (Anna) and Michael Hutchence (Sam)

< D O C S IN SPACE Glenys’ background.” The technique was street promotion and it was crucial in the casting of the film: posters went up around Fitzroy and St Kilda asking for emaciated punks to take a role in a movie.

For Rowe, the casting was one of the most difficult parts of the production “ because nobody looks like that any­ more. The in-look now is one of health and vibrancy. You’re not meant to be ravaged, under-nourished and pale! So when we went to cast, all the actors were wrong. In the end, we had to literally go to the streets — rock ’n ’ roll gigs, schools, laundrettes. Much of our cast was drawn from life as it were.”

The graphics that were used on the signs for finding extras are consistent with the style for all of the merchandising. It was these details that Rowe and publicist Kim Lewis (who also worked as unit manager) say they were continually tying in.

Flaving organised the campaign for Lowenstein’s first feature, Strikebound (a huge country event with brass bands, union leaders and the Prime Minister), Rowe was prepared to give Dogs In Space “ gourmet promotion” . Australian Tour Merchandising are handling the spin-off products such as posters, cards, badges, beltbuckles and T-shirts (“ the grottier they are the better,” according to A TM ’s Andrew Gaffney) with selling points in cinemas and record shops. One of the crazier publicity stunts was to ask owners of VWs to call radio station 2JJJ for a double pass to the film, $20 and a Dogs In Space stencil for their car — battered VWs are part of the Dogs In Space lifestyle.

The poster, says Rowe, is “ Michael Hutchence looking like Jesus with a crown of thorns” , an image of him more earnest than any in the film. Hutchence’s opinion is that “ it is too much me. I hoped I would not be exploited to such a point” . But it is understandable. Casting the INXS singer in the lead role is regarded as their biggest coup, akin to casting Madonna in Desperately Seeking Susan. Hutchence is the central character, Sam. Addicted to TV, music and love, he plays cute and lives recklessly, singing in the band “ Dogs In Space” . He is the antithesis of the teen pop star many would expect Hutchence to have portrayed in his first movie role. “ I didn’t want to make a Purple Rain,” says Lowenstein. “ Showing a pop star on the road to success seems to be the formula for rock ’n ’ roll films. I ’ve done the opposite and shown someone on the downhill. You don’t get the impression that he’s going to end up a famous rock singer, rather that he has many personal problems. I think kids watch films like Street Hero knowing that it is not like the real world and that it is designed as fantasy. But it is all a bit of a con-job.

People will respond to the authenticity of Sam’s character.’’

It is this that worried Hutchence’s management company MMA, who have a reputation for keeping tight control over

their artists. Putting their boy in a film where a clean-cut image is scrapped for grotty hair, obnoxious music and drugs was something of a risk.

The band was taken off the road for seven weeks so Hutchence could take on the role. “ Dogs In Space was the obvious film for Michael to do because he’d been a part of that scene,” says Gary Grant of MMA. “ We supported him and it was a lot of unpaid hours of work for us. But the arrangement was that he didn’t do any scenes which glorified the use of drugs.”

Although Lowenstein had worked with MMA on the INXS video clips “ Burn for You” and “ What You Need” , he says they were still “ a little terrified” about the feature: “ They liked the script and always thought it was very funny. But we did give them right of approval over the drug and sex scenes: they were worried

about that. They didn’t want hard-core porn, which I can understand! They probably would have been a lot less co­ operative if Michael hadn’t been so keen about the film.”

Hutchence has analysed the part of Sam to the last gesture, dismissing any possibility of ever playing “ a groovy guy in a sports car” : “ That isn’t what I got into movies for. It’s not a whim. Acting is what I always wanted to do.” He says his is an unusual character who survives in the middle of chaos. “ Sam is influenced by different things: his girlfriend Anna (played by Saskia Post), space, dogs and cricket. At the beginning of the film he is a nihilist, but he is shocked into attaining something. ’’ Hutchence feels that Dogs may be alienating to many INXS fans but makes no apologies: You can’t say ‘no, no, no’

YOU KEEP ME HANGING ON:

to drugs. It’s better to present a balanced account and give the facts. The film shows people taking drugs and having a good time, but it also shows the conse­ quences.”

This is not an interpretation echoed by the Film Censorship Board who assigned the film an R-rating in early November.

They found that, “ notwithstanding the final element of tragedy, this realistic depiction of the youth/drug/music sub­ cu ltu re g lam ourised the lifestyle sufficiently to make it appear not only acceptable but also ‘trendy’ and attrac­ tive.” Drugs were seen to be “ a pleasant adjunct to daily life” . Even after an appeal by the distributors, Hoyts, to the Films Board of Review (who did give a more measured, appreciative account) the classification was upheld.

At the time of going to press, Rowe had

Saskia Post and Michael Hutchence

written letters to the Federal AttorneyGeneral Lionel Bowen and the board’s chairman Peter Sheehan asking for a re­ consideration of the ruling if a disclaimer about the use of drugs were inserted at the beginning of the film as well as on the publicity.

The decision, Lowenstein believes, is inconceivable and frustrating: an R classification is denying the teen audience that the film was made for. Rowe, though she is still continuing the appeal to the last possible moment, must work on strategies based on the R-rating: “ It necessarily makes us more specific in the targeting of our campaign. We were going to have people handing out leaflets on the last day of school and obviously that can no longer happen. We’re going to have to shift our energy from that end of the market to the top end.”

She will be seeking press not so much based on Michael Hutchence, as Richard Lowenstein as a filmmaker. And circum­ venting the Board’s intention thinks “ all the thirteen year olds will still get the film on video, and those that don’t, will sneak in with their school uniforms in their bag.” “ The classification did make Hoyts nervous, but they didn’t drop the picture.

W e’ve still got the optimum release time (set back to 1 January from the original release date 4 December) and the same amount of promotion. “ Everybody thinks ‘Michael Hutch­ ence’ therefore it’s got to be for a teen audience. In fact the film is about adult concepts. Hutchence is in it and, yes, it might have been a plus if twelve year olds had gone along, but they wouldn’t have liked it. “ I always wanted to stress the formal innovation in the film — the excellence of craft — and I guess I was at odds with the distributors who wanted a wide audience by promoting teenage heaven: ‘sex, drugs and rock ’n ’ roll’. I would hope it is received with the same degree of serious­ ness as a film like Stranger Than Paradise.”

Tony Malone, general sales manager of Hoyts Distribution, says he always intended to give the film a “ specialized” release and that the R-rating is not likely to reduce the number of screens. It will, however, affect the session times and it means that the trailer and the video clip (made in conjunction with the film) can only be shown before other films with restricted classification.

Malone feels that Dogs In Space has the potential to be a cult film — “ there’s a chance that it will be the Easy Rider of the eighties” — and is quick to point out that INXS fans are not only teenage girls! He now has his eye on the long term market.

What the makers of the film don’t want is for people to think they are going to see a “ dirty movie” . “ They’ll be terribly dis­ appointed. At least the film has its integrity intact. If it goes out with an ‘R ’ and people respond to it in that strong way, then that suits me better than it going out half-baked as an ‘M ’, ” Rowe says.

The classification does mean more of a battle on the promotion side. The Daily Mirror ran a headline “ In Excess! Hutch­ ence Movie Ban. Idol’s debut film rapped over drugs, sex scenes” and TV Week reported “ Michael Hutchence hits out at heroin” .

The flip side of the Dogs In Space image is, of course, the music. The title for the film was from a song that Melbourne band The Ears used to play and Lowen­ stein remembers the words “ Dogs In Space” sprayed on the footpath in front of the band’s house. With the help of Ollie Olsen (who used to play in one of the “ little bands” Whirlywirld) the music of a particular era was revived: bands like Primitive Calculators, Thrush and the Cunts and Too Fat To Fit Through the Door. While some of the music was

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D O C S IN SPACE horrendous, some of the bands went on to “ great things” and Dogs In Space sets out to capture this nihilism and unpredict­ ability.

The live music has been re-recorded and many of the tracks are re-mixed ver­ sions of the original recordings. Two Whirlywirld songs ‘W in/Lose’ and ‘Window to the W orld’ had been recorded on cheap eight track machines.

The original tapes were found, trans­ ferred onto 24-track and then re-mixed.

In a scene filmed at the Seaview Ball­ room, music and dialogue were recorded together using an 8-track tape recorder, which created chaos, but also gave a very authentic feel. “ It is interesting using music that is five or six years old,” says Lowenstein. “ The film portrays a musical develop­ ment that was years ahead of its time.

You play it now and everyone thinks they’re great songs. Play a Christie Allen song and people think it’s embarrassing!”

The Dogs In Space album is being handled by MMA and is set for release in January. There is also a single and video clip for ‘Rooms for the Memory’ sung by Hutchence and written and produced by Ollie Olsen. The video portrays Hutch­ ence as himself rather than as Sam. “ I didn’t want to do a normal clip where we just showed parts of the film,” says Lowenstein. “ We took black and white

^ or the title sequence o f Dogs In 4 Space, Ray Strong was given a fantastic brief. L ow en stein w anted som ething slick, an im age that contrasted w ith the mess and chaos of the opening events: “ the glossiest space ship effect y o u ’ve ever seen, som ething huge and ex citin g that w ill overpow er the grottiness o f the characters’ life s ty le .” T h e result, they say, is “ m agic” .

Strong produced the flashy chrom e logo on a m otion control rig o f his ow n design. C ontrolled b y an IM C com puter that can also be attached to his O xberry an im ation stand, Strong has been d evelop in g his m ulti-axis system over the last few years.

T he title was a good test o f a m otorised pan and tilt head that, Strong exp lain s, “ was really fancy.

I looked at designs in L on d on and Los Angeles and b u ilt som ething that was much m ore com pact, ligh tw eigh t and robust and d riven by m otors that

1

stills from the film and hand-painted them, like old period photographs — but of punks! It’s more nostalgic than the film — which is pretty nostalgic. Watching it is like sifting through memories and the song is very emotional.” Hutchence describes the song as the most “ polished” piece of music on the soundtrack and thinks the clip works well as another inter­ pretation of the film: “ It will add a lot more interest and hopefully it will mean something outside alternative circles.”

But again the audience has been dimin­ ished. With an R-rating, the video can’t be used for general exhibition because it is still regarded as an overt trailer for the film. It can, however, be shown on tele­ vision. Perhaps Countdown will have to come to the rescue again . . .

Outside the film’s hometown, the plans have not been modified. For Rowe, every market has to be approached differently. “ The idiosyncracy of the film necessitated us having a particular marketing strategy.

It’s not a general film, not one that you can immediately transpose into every place. W e’ve searched for distributors who are entrepreneurs, in the old fashioned sense, who can see where a film fits in and then exploit it to the hilt. I ’m very confident about places like the UK, France and West Germany. Some aspects

the A m ericans d id n ’t th in k possible.

T his has b een a good run for it, the accuracy of the m attes is spot o n .”

T he attraction of com puter m otion control rigs is, once a m ovem ent is program m ed, it can be repeated again and again, w ith only the m echanical tolerances o f the rig m ovin g on the rails, and motors turning shafts, that could introduce errors. O n the Dogs In Space title, this allow ed the cam era to m ove over large chrom e letters (m ade from brass b y H en ry Sm ith) and produce m ultiple runs w ith effects such as different coloured ligh t, star filters and, most im p ortan tly, a back­ lit run to create a silhouette m atte shape. T he m atte is used in the laboratory to p rin t the letterin g over the selected liv e-a ctio n background.

T he film in g took place over a w eek w ith Strong and D O P A ndrew de

of the film might look familiar to a small group of people in Melbourne but there are some very odd things in it! “ We might have a problem in the States because of the language in the film.

We may have to do a modified sound­ track. But we have targeted who we want and we’ll walk straight in. It’s not an un­ certain move for us.” While the pro­ ducers can rely partly on the popularity of INXS, the biggest catch is advertising. It is simply not worth spending big money on a mainstream release for such a small film.

In the end, Lowenstein might be selling back to the Americans their own space programmes. Although it was never written into the script, Lowenstein has cut space footage (courtesy of NASA) into the main story. Instead of ‘fades to black’ you get a shot of Skylab or Sputnik. In the context of the film, it is fantasy, a sugges­ tion of a clean, other world. “ Everyone used to sit up and watch the space shuttles taking off. Space was really big. Now space shuttles take off all the time and it’s only when they blow up that everyone notices. I liked all that floaty stuff. You never wanted to miss it!” says Lowenstein. The Richmond household depicted in Dogs in Space, full of the weirdest collection of people, is like a space ship “ totally alien from everything around it” . But now only the box-office will let us know if it is going to take off.

Groot w orking on the fram e b y fram e anim ation m ove, to produce over eight different fron t-lit effect rolls that were com bined b y K e v in W illiam s at Y FL on the optical printer. “ W e were u sin g a 15m m N ik o n len s, right up against the letters, and the m ove took place over 11 feet o f track so that the im age slides from extrem e close-up beneath the cam era and goes to in fin ity . T he com ponents w ere m ounted on clear perspex and w h en w e did the b acklight run w e found the best w h ite diffu sin g m aterial was a piece o f vacuum form ing p lastic. W e could on ly use a sm all area so w e had to have exten sive hand-draw n ju n k w ipes to hold back the area around the w h ite .”

W hile it works w ell over the liv e action, Strong prefers the version produced for the trailer, w h ich is on a black background, and show s o ff all the com p lexity and m id n igh t to il that w as put in to it.

Fred Harden

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GOING SOUTH: The The South Australian Film Corporation made its name with historical features, won a marketing award for its campaign Blue Fin, go t in at the beginning o f the m ini­ series boom with Sara D ane, and had its fingers burned with R obbery Under A rm s.

W hat’s happening now? In the first o f a series on the state film bodies, Philippa Hawker goes South.

am m utì

m m m m .

mm Hendon Studios manager Michael Rowan presides over the Theatre 1 console. Pic: Len Szablinski

20 — January CINEMA PAPERS

Adelaide Connection n the foyer of Adelaide’s Hendon Studios, a giant image of Edward Woodward dominates; throughout the studio complex posters, certificates and photographs from South Australian Film Corporation products are very much in evidence, but it is Breaker Morant that seems to loom largest of all.

Breaker Morant symbolises the peak of a phase of the corporation’s activity when it was synonymous in many people’s eyes with successful Australian filmmaking. It is a phase that everyone at the SAFC acknow­ ledges has passed, when a spate of feature films worked at the box office and with the critics, and made an impact overseas. “ No­ body now has the reputation we had then, except perhaps Kennedy Miller, they seem to be able to do no wrong,” says SAFC man­ aging director John Morris. “ But we’re not the funny little organisation we were then.

I can’t help being nostalgic about the early days when we only had a tiny staff, and we were doing everything for the first time . . .

We were the only state corporation and we had the pick of any film we wanted. With Picnic A t Hanging Rock, the only place they could get money was from us, and the only way we’d give it to them was if they filmed in South Australia . . . In those days we didn’t have any difficulty getting a contract with Bruce Beresford for three films. Imagine trying to do that now.”

The SAFC was the first state corporation, set up under the Dunstan government in

I

1972, given the task of creating a film industry in South Australia virtually from scratch, and paying its own way. The Premier predicted that the corporation would show a profit within ten years. It has operated very much in the market place, with virtually no financial support from the state, and it has always maintained a vigorously commercial outlook. It is the only corpora­ tion which produces its own films, and main­ tains production facilities.

To characterise an approach as “ commer­ cial” is not to say anything very specific; the term can be used equally for praise or blame.

An attention to marketing strategy has always been an important part of SAFC strategy from the outset. The corporation has had a marketing division from its earliest days, and its handling of Sunday Too Far Away is said to have contributed consider­ ably to the film’s success in Australia. At the same time, executive staff at the SAFC wryly acknowledge that Sunday would probably not get made now; it would be regarded as not sufficiently “ commercial” .

It was nothing but unabashed commercial­ ism that led the SAFC into a partnership with soft-core filmmaker John Famond, investing in his films Felicity and Pacific Banana. It was not a particularly happy collaboration, but it is not one that many people would con­ sider typical of the SAFC. Sunday Too Far Away was the first Aus­ tralian film to be invited to Cannes. The films with which the SAFC was associated in

its first few years, like Sunday, like Picnic at Hanging Rock, like Breaker Morant, like Storm Boy, gave it a successful profile and a specific image: an organisation specialising in historical features, in literary adaptations, in graceful good taste productions that found an audience. “Those were heady days in the early seventies, with three or four successes in a row,” recalls one SAFC staff member. “ But even then, the corporation was an unwieldly monster that didn’t know where it was going.”

Those “ heady days” were followed by a spate of critical and commercial failures: Dawn!, The Money Movers, The Fourth Wish, Weekend o f Shadows, Freedom. (In fact the SAFC posted its first and only profit in 1983-84. In the 1984-85 financial year the State Government gave the corporation a grant of $550,000 for basic administrative costs and assistance with project develop­ ment, and is committed to providing this grant until the end of the 1986-87 financial year. It also relieved the company of its debenture loan debt, capitalising an amount of $6 million.)

“Those failures gave everyone a sense of reality, they showed you couldn’t be right all the time,” says a philosophical staff mem­ ber. “ But there was a lot of panic at the time.”

For the 1980s, the corporation found a new direction, and a new home: it turned its attention to television, and it moved to a disused Philips factory in Hendon, 15

CINEMA PAPERS January — 21

i SAFC minutes from the centre of Adelaide. Jock Blair came from Crawfords to produce Sara Dane, the SAFC’s first excursion into the miniseries market, once again a period piece adapted from a book.

Until then, the SAFC had operated from a converted cinema, with a sound stage in the stage area and a mixing theatre in the dress circle. “ There was something magic about making films in a cinema,” says Michael Rowan, who joined the SAFC in 1974 as manager of technical services, and is now studio manager at Hendon.

There was also something claustrophobic about it: the sound stage was getting smaller, as sets stored around it took up more and more space. The new premises were found and designs drawn up between July and November 1980. Building began in Novem­ ber 1980, and shooting started on Sara Dane in January 1981, “ with everything more or less finished” . Hendon Studios is a separate division within the corporation.

The corporation is particularly proud of the sound division, which includes a Dolby mixing studio, a post-sync recording studio with separate control room for the sound recordist and two sound stages; a special TV mixing studio is planned. Hendon also in­ cludes workshops, a wardrobe department, editing rooms, production offices and a backlot, which at the moment is still occu­ pied by the turn of the century Sydney Rocks set from the SAFC’s Playing Beatie Bow, and a rock pool set used in the science fiction feature, The Time Guardian.

Hendon obviously needs a steady flow of productions to provide an economic base for the SAFC. At the moment it is working at full stretch. Three features now in post­ production that were shot in South Australia and used Hendon’s facilities were offered the inducement of non-deductibles subsidised by the corporation.

Hendon also houses a couple of independent companies; marketing manager Jim Henry runs his own company within the complex, as does head of drama production Jock Blair. Hendon is home to a small animation company, Anifex, run by Richard Chataway and Michael Cusack, whose clay animation short, Waltzing Matilda, made for the SAFC, won several AFI awards. The SAFC had hoped to make a feature length animation, The Sorcerer’s Scrapbook, with Anifex, but the project had to be abandoned for lack of funds.

The State Film Library is also a part of Hendon. In recent years it has been making a determined attempt to woo the ¿public, identifying target audiences and preparing catalogues aimed at them, and generally trying to set up a range of programmes with extremely limited resources.

Jim Henry worked in America as a marketing consultant for the AFC for many years, and now runs his independent con­ sultancy, with the SAFC as his principal client. (He also acts as consultant to Film Victoria, and represents a number of small independent producers.) “ It’s no accident that the corporation is concentrating on TV; our first love is the cinema, but we are also businessmen who want to make a profit,” he says. “ I have quite a lot of input into what the corporation actually does . . . If I say ‘Yes, OK, that will work, but only if you give SOUNDS OF HENDON: Theatre 1, dubbing machinery, sound stage one (top to bottom)

22 — January CINEMA PAPERS

me this director and that actor, because I can’t sell it without those ingredients’, it takes note. “ The SAFC is very conscious of what the market will accept, and tries to provide material that is as close as possible to this. “ We’re not truly government-supported, unlike the other corporations, we’re seen as a state resource and yet we get so little help from the public purse. “ Sometimes the Australia industry thinks of us as calculating businessmen who don’t feel for what we do, and I suspect our colleagues in Melbourne think of us as a monolith,” he says.

The calculations don’t always work out, of course; the most notable example in the SAFC’s recent history is the Robbery Under Arms saga. It looked at first sight like the classic SAFC property: adapted from Rolf Boldrewood’s novel and turned into a bush­ ranger epic, with elephants, a hot air balloon and Sam Neill. It was to be a six-hour mini­ series, but the budget was too high, and it was shot for theatrical and television release by two different directors. Robert Holmes a Court’s ITC Entertainment took on overseas distribution and put up half the $7 million plus budget. The film sank in the cinemas; the corporation now acknowledges that the doubling-up was a disastrous approach.

ITC were to invest in another SAFC project, a $12 million, 10-part series of tele­ vision thrillers, but this then fell through, leaving the SAFC in with a bleak, production-less 1985.

This gap in production caused consider­ able concern in the state, particularly among film unions. Although the corporation has always emphasised that television is a safer direction to take, it proved not to be the case here.

Equity and the Australian Theatrical and Amusement Employees’ Union both expressed fears for the future of the industry

in South Australia, following the problems of 1985.

Equity state secretary Colleen Ross says that some of these fears have been allayed by a busy 1986, but maintains that when activi­ ties taper off in early 1987, film industry em­ ployees in South Australia might be facing difficulties again. “ But the whole industry has its problems at the moment,” she says.

The corporation’s relationship with local filmmakers has been a delicate one. It is acknowledged that the SAFC has played a major role in setting up and maintaining the industry in the state, in providing training and job opportunities. At the same time, there have been producers who have regarded the SAFC as a competitor, and feel that its role has made it hard for other pro­ ducers to establish themselves.

In the corporation’s salad days, any film­ maker from South Australia was thought to be part of the SAFC; it exercised that kind of central role in people’s minds.

It is also acknowledged that avant garde and experimental filmmakers have not been particularly well-served in the state. Even the South Australian Film and Television Financing Fund, set up 18 months ago to provide funds for features and television, and to seed projects with writing grants, has an avowedly commercial intention. Institu­ tions like the South Australian Media Resource Centre and Flinders University, which provide some focus for filmmakers working outside the mainstream, do not have production resources or funds.

Jock Blair says that he feels the corpora­ tion could have done more to foster local writers.

On the other hand the corporation’s docu­ mentary division has been a steady source of work for local filmmakers.

At first, the SAFC acted as producer; now the documentaries, mostly government spon­ sored, are put out on a “ concept tender system” , where three producers are chosen

from a tender list and invited to attend a briefing meeting by the relevant sponsor.

The SAFC normally has 24 or 25 projects going in a year. The budgets vary greatly, from a remarkably low-cost eight hours of television for $14,000 to a 25-minute docu­ mentary costing $120,000.

The SAFC outlook for the future still puts the emphasis on television, although there have been some gestures towards feature pro­ duction in recent years.

Although the demise of the miniseries and so-called “ event television” has been pre­ dicted, Jock Blair is still confident that the expansive and expensive format still has a market. He would love to put a series together, but so far has not found the right project, he says. “ We are not and never will be, a Grundy’s or a Crawford’s. They’re the department stores of TV, we’re the upmarket boutique.”

Projects in hand at the moment include a miniseries on the life of war photographer Neil Davis (“ a real life Crocodile Dundee,” according to Jim Henry); a science fiction miniseries for children, scripted by Tony Morphett; a feature film in the tradition of The Goonies; and a program based on the autobiography of a young woman doctor on Kangaroo Island.

John Morris says he “ firmly believes that for this organisation we should concentrate on TV; feature films should be left to independents. They are a high risk, and they don’t offer the sort of relative certainty that we need to get work going through the studios.

“The time will come when the SAFC will not have to produce, when there is enough independent work going through the studio mills and then we can pick and choose. “ Locally our reputation is high at the moment, because we have $25 million worth of productions happening here. But twelve months ago we were to blame when there was nothing.”

TWO FACES OF THE SAFC: Breaker Morant and Pacific Banana (spot Graeme Blundell, top right)

CINEMA PAPERS January — 23

A G E D 31 A N D W IT H T W O F E A T U R E S U N D E R H IS B E LT - T H E C U LT M O V IE , R EP O MAN, A N D SID AND NANCY , T H E S T O R Y O F T H E FA TA L L O V E A F F A IR B E T W E E N T H E S E X P IS T O L S ’ S ID V IC IO U S A N D H IS G R O U P IE G IR L F R IE N D , N A N C Y S P U N G E N A L E X C O X H A S E M E R G E D A S O N E O F T H E M O S T Q U IR K ILY D IS T IN C T IV E F IL M M A K IN G V O IC E S O F T H E E IG H T IE S .

N IC K R O D D IC K T A LK S T O HIM A B O U T T H E FILM S , B U T M A IN L Y A B O U T SID AND N A N CY, W H IC H O P E N S H E R E S O O N . ook a t t h a t , ” says H a r r y D e a n S ta n to n to E m ilio E stev ez in R e p o M a n , p o in tin g to a g ro u p of in n o c e n t A ngelenos s ta n d in g in a fro n t y a rd . “ L o o k a t th o se assholes o v e r th e re . O rd in a r y fu c k in g people! I h a te ’em! Y ou se e ,” he goes on, “ an o rd in a ry p erso n spen d s his w hole life a v o id in g tense s itu a tio n s . A rep o m a n sp en d s his life g e ttin g in to ten se s itu a tio n s .”

T e n sio n is im p o rta n t to th e p eo p le in Alex C o x ’s film s. B u d a n d O tto (S ta n to n a n d E stev ez), Sid a n d N a n c y (G ary O ld m a n a n d C hloe W eb b in th e film of th e sam e n am e) keep g o in g on te n s io n — ten sio n b e tw e e n each o th e r, a n d ab o v e all b etw een th e m a n d a w o rld th e y c o n sta n tly p ro v o k e , lest it sh o u ld sim p ly let th em b e. As R e p o M a n p ro g resses, B ud a n d O tto repossess cars fro m p a y m e n t d e fa u lte rs of a n in c re a sin g ly v io le n t a n d d an g e ro u s d is p o sitio n , u n til th e y en d u p , as if in e v ita b ly , w ith th e m y sterio u s ’64 M a lib u a n d its P a n d o r a ’s b o o t. F ro m th e o u tse t, S id a n d N an cy abuse o th ers a n d th e ir ow n b o d ie s to th e p o in t o f self-d e stru c tio n . T a k e th e scene a little u n d e r h alf-w ay th ro u g h , w h e re Sid is b e a te n u p on a ra ilro a d tra c k b y th re e p u n k -h a tin g T e x a n good old b o y s.

M alcolm [M cL aren ] (D a v id H a y m a n ) looks on. “ H e loves i t , ” co m m en ts M ale, b efo re fin a lly d is p e rsin g th e a tta c k e rs w ith a h a n d -g u n im p e rso n a tio n . I f th e o rd in a ry p eo p le d id n ’t h it b a c k , th e te n s io n w o u ld be gone.

A lex C o x ’s style as a film m a k e r is itse lf a m a tte r of te n s io n a n d a stru g g le ag ain st o rd in a rin e s s : th e o rd in a rin e s s of B ritis h re a lism , a n d th e o rd in a rin e s s of H o lly w o o d n eo-seam lessn ess. S tru n g o u t b e tw een th e tw o, it d ra w s its s tre n g th from b e in g n e ith e r E u sto n F ilm s n o r N ew W o rld — n e ith e r a slick p a stic h e of tw o decades of B ritis h T V th rille rs (lik e, say, S te p h e n F r e a r s ’s T h e H it) , n o r a re w o rk in g of th e classic H o lly w o o d m odes to th e rh y th m of a ro ck s o u n d tra c k (lik e , say , J o h n L a n d is ’s In to th e N ig h t). As R e p o M a n h in te d a n d S id

a n d N a n c y c o n firm s, C ox is, fo r all h is p u n k is h le a n in g s, so m e th in g o f a ro m a n tic , b o th in th e old sense (o f th e e arly n in e te e n th -c e n tu ry re b els) a n d in a new one w h ic h it is p ro b a b ly too soon to d efin e. B u t R e p o M a n ’s O tto a n d S id a n d N a n c y ’s e p o n y m o u s lead s d e fin ite ly go th ro u g h a k in d o f ro m a n tic ag o n y .

T h e ir s ta rtin g p o in t is o rd in a rin e s s : O tto ’s p a re n ts are b o rn -a g a in , T V a d d ic te d S an F e rn a n d o V alley su b u rb a n ite s ; S id ’s M u m is a w o rk in g class C o ck n ey w ith b u llfig h t p o ste rs on th e w alls; N a n c y ’s G ra n d m a a n d G ra n d p a h a v e a re a l n ice h o u se w ith a ru m p u s ro o m . F ro m o rd in a rin e s s , O tto a n d S id a n d N a n c y pass th ro u g h d e g ra d a tio n ; b u t a k in d of tra n sc e n d e n c e is w h a t th e y a c h ie v e: b o th film s e n d w ith a m o m e n t of ro m a n tic release.

A n o t p a rtic u la rly tr a n s c e n d e n t in d iv id u a l w ith a lo t o f te e th a n d h a ir , A lex C ox h im se lf k n o w s all a b o u t o rd in a rin e ss. H e w as b o rn (lik e m e, I sh o u ld p ro b a b ly a d d ) on T h e W irra l, a stu b b y p e n in s u la o f la n d b e tw e e n th e R iv e r D ee a n d th e R iv e r M e rse y in n o rth -w e st E n g la n d . T h e W irra l p ro b a b ly n e v e r h a d m u c h to re c o m m e n d it in th e first p lace ; b u t, since th e m id ­ n in e te e n th c e n tu ry , it h as b e e n a d o rm ito ry fo r L iv e rp o o l, to w h ic h it is lin k e d b y th e M e rse y T u n n e l, th e oncec e le b ra te d ‘fe rry ’cross th e M e rs e y ’, a n d one of th e m ost m a g n ific e n tly a n tiq u a te d u n d e rg ro u n d ra ilw a y system s in th e w o rld . T h e W irra l h as w h a t is p ro b a b ly E n g la n d ’s h ig h e st c o n c e n tra tio n of m id d le -m id d le a n d lo w e r-m id d le -c la ss h o m es. “ H a ro ld W ilso n w as o u r first h e a d b o y ,” says C ox o f h is o ld a lm a m a te r, W irra l G ra m m a r, “ a n d lo o k w h a t h a p p e n e d to h i m . ” C ox escap ed to O x fo rd , w h e re he stu d ie d law a n d b e g a n to d ire c t th e a tre . “ I t w as th e lu c k ie st b re a k I e v e r g o t,” he says, “ g o in g th e re a n d fin d in g o u t th a t acad em ics w a s n ’t re a lly v e ry in te re stin g , b u t th a t th e re w as all th is d ra m a tu rg y y o u c o u ld p lu n g e in t o . ” A fte r O x fo rd , h e s tu d ie d film fo r a y e a r

a t th e U n iv e rs ity o f B ris to l, th e n got a F u lb rig h t F e llo w sh ip to s tu d y it a t th e U n iv e rs ity o f C a lifo rn ia a t L os A ngeles.

A t U C L A , C ox m a d e a s h o rt, S le e p is fo r S issies ( “ i t ’s b a sic a lly th e s to ry o f a L im e y g o in g m a d in L A ” ), th e n w ro te a co u p le o f sc rip ts th a t w ere n e v e r m ad e: o n e fo r M G M ; a n o th e r, T h e H a p p y H o u r, a b o u t th e la s t h o u r b e fo re th e b o m b h its N ew Y o rk . I t w as fo r A d ria n L y n e , b u t h e m a d e F la sh d a n ce in s te a d .

Y ou c an see all of th is in R e p o M a n : th e liv in g -o n -th e -e d g e fre n z y o f th e n u c le a r age, th e L im e y m a d d e n e d b y L A . T o an e x te n t, C ox p la y s th e ro le h im se lf. H is a c c e n t, a fte r n e a rly a d e c ad e m o re o n th e W est C o a st th a n T h e W ir ra l, h o v e rs b e tw e e n la id -b a c k a n d L iv e r p u d lia n , a n d h e w e a rs — o r w as w e a rin g w h e n I ta lk e d to h im — a b a se b a ll cap g iv en h im b y o n e o f th e L os A ngeles cops a ssig n ed to tra ffic c o n tro l o n R e p o M a n .

I t h as th e L A P D sh ie ld o n it, a n d a v e rs io n o f th e d e p a r tm e n t’s m o tto . “ T o serv e a n d to p r o t e c t,” it says, a d d in g : “ W h e n w e fu c k in g feel lik e i t . ” S id a n d N a n c y , th o u g h , fo r all th a t o v e r h a lf o f it is set in th e U n ite d S tates (m a in ly N ew Y o rk ), is a v e ry E n g lish film . “ I d o n ’t th in k I c o u ld h a v e got th e S id a n d N a n c y sto ry h a p p e n in g in th e U n ite d S ta te s ,” says C o x . “ T h e r e ’s a slig h tly y o u n g e r c o n tin g e n t o f p eo p le in v o lv e d in p r o d u c tio n in E n g la n d .”

N o t a t G o ld c re st, th o u g h , w h e re h e firs t to o k th e p ro je c t. “ T h e p e o p le a t G o ld crest a re lik e H o lly w o o d : i t ’s j u s t as d iffic u lt to get a n y th in g o n th e re .

G o ld c re st sh o w ed us th e d o o r a t a v e r y e a rly stag e. I t ’s fu n n y , b e c a u se G o ld c re st are n o w th e in te r n a tio n a l sales a g e n ts.

B u t, m a n , th e y h a te d th is film ! I tell y o u , th e y d id n ’t w a n t to do it a t all.

C o m p a n ie s lik e Z e n ith [w ho fin a lly m a d e th e film , as th e y d id T h e H i t a n d In s ig n ific a n c e , a n d w h o a re c u rr e n tly w o rk in g w ith A u s tra lia n p ro d u c e r D a v id E lfic k o n th e m in is e rie s , F ie ld s o f F ire ] a re fa irly h ip p e o p le .”

S tra n g e ly e n o u g h , a t th e tim e th a t C ox a n d h is c o -w rite r w e re firs t p e d d lin g

PRETTY VACANT: Chloe Webb (Nancy), Gary Oldman (Sid)

HE BOLLOCKS

< S ID A N D N A N C Y th e id e a a ro u n d , th e re w as a p p a re n tly a n o th e r sim ila r sto ry in th e o ffin g . “ I w ish th e y ’d m a d e i t , ” says C ox, “ b ecau se it w o u ld h a v e b e e n so g re a t if th e re w ere tw o S id a n d N a n c y film s a t th e sam e tim e . T h e o th e r o n e w as su p p o se d to b e h a p p e n in g v ia A tla n tic a n d V irg in . R u p e rt E v e re tt w as S id , a n d m a y b e M a d o n n a as N a n c y !”

I n th e e n d , C ox d id h a v e o n e m in o r set-to w ith Z e n ith . T h a t w as o v e r th e title . H e w a n te d — he still w a n ts — th e film to b e called L o v e K ills , w h ic h is th e title of th e song (b y ex -C la sh le a d sin g e r J o e S tru m m e r) w h ic h p la y s o v e r th e fin a l c re d its. H e d e scrib e s th e c u rr e n t title as “ n a ff” , a n a ll-p u rp o s e E n g lish co llo q u ia lism w h ic h im p lie s (a m o n g o th e r th in g s) a d eg ree o f m a in s tre a m ta c k in e ss. C h o ru s L in e , th e m o v ie , fo r e x a m p le , is p r e tty n aff. So, a c c o rd in g to C ox, is S id a n d N a n c y , th e title .

C o x ’s c o lla b o ra to r on th e s c rip t th a t w o u ld e n d u p w ith th e n a ff title w as a fellow U C L A film school g ra d u a te , A b b e W ool, w ho h as a c re d it as ‘V id e o C o ­ o r d i n a to r ’, on R e p o M a n , in w h ic h she a n d C ox also p la y th e ca r-w a sh a tte n d a n ts . O n S id a n d N a n c y , W o o l’s n am e “ a p p e a rs on th e c re d its a b o u t fiv e tim e s ,” says C ox, “ in c lu d in g ‘K itte n W ra n g le r’, w h ic h is h e r m o s t-p riz e d c re d it. She got so e x c ite d w h e n she fo u n d o u t th a t S id a n d N a n c y h a d a c a t, b ecau se it m e a n t th a t she got to fin d th e k itte n . She still has it. T h e n , o f c o u rse , she n e g o tia te d fo r it to re c e iv e a c re d it: ‘A n d in tro d u c in g th e y o u n g C a t V icio u s . . . ’ “ W h e n I w e n t b a c k to L o n d o n a t th e e n d o f ’84 fo r th e L o n d o n F ilm F e stiv a l [w h ere R e p o M a n h a d its B ritis h p re m ie re ], I m et p eo p le w h o h a d k n o w n S id a n d N a n c y . I s ta rte d in te rv ie w in g th e m , b ecau se th is w as so m e th in g I ’d w a n te d to do fo r a lo n g tim e . I ’d co m p ile d a b ig sw ath e o f in te rv ie w m a te ria l, b u t I w a n te d to w rite th e s c rip t w ith so m eb o d y else, a n d w ith a w o m a n . B ecause I ’d k n o w n A b b e fo r a lo n g tim e — w e u sed to go to p u n k gigs all th e tim e; w e ’d b e e n b o y fr ie n d a n d g irlfrie n d fo r q u ite a w h ile — th e re w ere lots of reaso n s w h y w e sh o u ld do it to g e th e r. “ W e m et in N ew Y o rk . W e sta y e d at th e C h elsea H o te l [w h ere , a p p a re n tly , th e y fo u n d th e w o rd s “ S id w as in n o c e n t.

N an cy R . I . P . ” scraw led b e h in d th e m ir r o r in th e ir ro o m — o r t h a t ’s w h a t th e f ilm ’s p re ssb o o k says] a n d w ro te a v e ry d e ta ile d tr e a tm e n t to g e th e r. T h e n she flew b a c k to LA a n d I d id th e firs t d ra f t on m y ow n. I se n t h e r a c o p y a n d she w ro te m e th is g rim le tte r a b o u t h o w it w as re a lly b a d a n d I h a d to do b e tte r.

T h e n w e m et a g a in in L o n d o n a n d d id th e second d ra f t to g e th e r. I t w as re a lly , re a lly good, w ritin g w ith h e r, b e c a u se n o t o n ly is she a v e ry good w r ite r , b u t th e tw o of us to g e th e r w ere v e ry c ritic a l o f each o th e r ’s stuff. T h e re w a s n ’t th a t c o u rts h ip of, y o u k n o w : ‘W ell, I ’d h a te to c ritic iz e a n y th in g h e re , b u t . . . ’ Y ou d o n ’t h a v e to do th a t: y o u c a n b e v e ry s tr a ig h t.”

N o r w as W o o l’s in v o lv e m e n t re s tric te d to th e s c rip t. “ T h e scene w ith th e d u stb in s fa llin g fro m th e sk y is e n tire ly h e r id e a . W e h a d a n o th e r scene to lin k th e b its b efo re a n d a fte r th a t, b u t w e

26 — January CINEMA PAPERS

c o u ld n ’t get to sh o o t it, b e c a u se w e w ere lite ra lly le a v in g N ew Y o rk th a t a fte rn o o n , a n d th e re w as n o tim e to do a n e la b o ra te th in g in v o lv in g w in d o w s b re a k in g a n d lo ts of e x tra s a n d a fire a n d all th a t. A b b e said : ‘W ell, w h a t a b o u t S id a n d N a n c y k is sin g in a n alley w ith d u s tb in s fa llin g fro m th e s k y ? ’ A n d I said : ‘ Y ea h , L e t ’s d o th a tV A lso, th e scene w h e re N a n c y goes to M a x ’s K a n sa s C ity a n d p e rs u a d e s th e m a n a g e r to le t S id h a v e a gig w as s o m e th in g A bbe a c tu a lly im p ro v iz e d w ith C h lo e a n d J e a n n ie M c C a rth y , who" p la y s N a n c y ’s frie n d , T re ll. I , th e d ir e c to r , w ho gets c o n g ra tu la te d fo r th ese th in g s, h a d n o th in g to do w ith th a t scene at all.

A bbe d ire c te d it, a n d th e y d id it th e m se lv e s.”

S id a n d N a n c y is n ’t a b o u t th e h is to ry o f p u n k , a n d it is n ’t a b io p ic a b o u t th e Sex P isto ls: i t ’s a ro m a n c e . B u t th e p u n k b it is c ru c ia l, says C o x . “ I th in k th a t p u n k w as c e rta in ly th e b e st th in g th a t h a p p e n e d to m u sic in th e se v e n tie s, m a y b e th e b e st th in g th a t h a d h a p p e n e d since E lv is a n d E d d ie C o c h ra n e a n d L ittle R ic h a rd . P u n k w as m u c h m o re in te re s tin g th a n th e B eatles o r th e R o llin g S to n es. I ’m p ro b a b ly m o re a C lash fa n th a n a P is to ls fa n in th e e n d , b ecau se th e y h a d m o re o f a b o d y of w o r k ” — im m e d ia te ly a fte r th e C a n n e s F ilm F e stiv a l (w h ere S id a n d N a n c y w as in th e D ire c to rs ’ F o rtn ig h t), C ox to o k off fo r S p a in to m ak e a lo w -b u d g e t, sp o o f w e ste rn , S tr a ig h t to H e ll, w ith J o e S tru m m e r as its s ta r (a n d w ith sp ecial a p p e a ra n c e s b y E lv is C o stello , D e n n is H o p p e r, J i m J a r m u s c h ,G ra c e J o n e s a n d T h e P o g u es) — “ b u t th a t a lb u m , ‘N e v e r M in d th e B o llo ck s’, h a s n ’t ag ed a t all: i t ’s ju s t as good n o w as it w as th e n . “ I lo v ed th a t tim e . B u t, th e n a g a in , th is is n ’t th e sto ry o f th e Sex P isto ls in th e ir so c io -p o litic o -h isto ric a l c o n te x t, b ecau se t h a t ’s a lre a d y b e e n to ld b y T h e G reat R o c k ’n ' R o ll S w in d le , J u b ile e , D .O .A . a n d P e n n y S p h e e ris ’s d o c u m e n ta ry , T h e D e c lin e o f W estern C iv iliz a tio n . Y ou c o u ld b e g in th e film w ith a te n - m in u te th in g of: ‘T h is is th e re a l E n g la n d . T h e r e ’s te n m illio n u n e m p lo y e d . I t ’s a m o n a rc h y . I t ’s th e S ilv er J u b ile e . . . ’ — all th a t. B u t th e n y o u ’d be g o ing o v e r o ld te r r ito r y . W e ’re ta lk in g a b o u t th e Sex P isto ls in th e ir tim e o f f .”

In e v ita b ly , th o u g h , th e so cio -p o litico h is to ric a l c o n te x t cro p s u p fro m tim e to tim e in th e film , lik e w ith th e m e th a d o n e c lin ic m a n (C y R ic h a rd s o n , c o -star o f S tr a ig h t to H e ll), w h o tells th e m th a t h e ro in is a g o v e rn m e n t-b a c k e d d ru g , k e e p in g th e m u n d e r c o n tro l a n d p re v e n tin g th e m fro m e x e rc isin g th e ir “ a n a r c h y ” (h e ’s o b v io u sly a closet P isto ls fan ). “ A t th a t s ta g e ,” says C ox, “ y o u r s y m p a th y sh o u ld lie o n b o th sides, in th e sense th a t, if y o u ’re w ith S id a n d N a n c y , y o u ’re go in g to re s e n t th a t guy a little b it , te llin g th e m all th a t stuff. A n d y e t, i t ’s all tru e! F ly in g T ig e rs , th is w o n d e rfu l c o rp o ra tio n fo u n d e d b y a co u p le o f W o rld W a r I I fly in g aces, w as a fu c k in g h e ro in -fly in g ra c k e t fin a n c e d b y th e C IA . T h e C IA n o w has such a b ig b u d g e t, th e y d o n ’t e v en k n o w h o w m u c h m o n e y th e y ’ve got! A n d th e re a s o n th e y d o n ’t k n o w is th a t th e y ’re tie d u p in th e h e ro in a n d c o cain e tra d e s . E v e ry th in g th a t g u y says is tru e . O f co u rse, i t ’s a b it m u c h to e x p ect th e a u d ie n c e to ta k e n o te s a t th a t p o in t. B u t i t ’s tru e : h e ro in is a m e a n s of

c o n tro l u se d b y g o v e rn m e n ts to k eep th e ir su rp lu s p o p u la tio n in o rd e r a n d to stop th e m ta k in g to th e stre e ts a n d c a u sin g h a v o c . . . ” R a d io a c tiv e m a te ria l a n d g u n law s (R e p o M a n ) a n d h e ro in a d d ic tio n (S id a n d N a n c y ) a re th e re a lity . B u t, lik e R e p o M a n , S id a n d N a n c y re p e a te d ly a n d e x h ila ra tin g ly ta k e s off fro m re a lism in to a d re a m -lik e , su rro g a te re a lity . O n e of th e first tim es it does so is a fte r th e P is to ls ’ in fa m o u s c ru ise o n th e T h a m e s, w h ic h led to th e a rr e s t o f all th o se on b o a rd th e b o a t. I n th e film , th o u g h , as th e ste a m e r docks a n d th e p o lice sw arm o n to th e la n d in g stag e, c h a sin g a n d sw in g in g at th e d is e m b a rk in g p u n k s , S id a n d N a n c y , a rm s ro u n d each o th e r, follow a m agic co u rse th ro u g h th e m a y h e m , u n to u c h e d a n d u n b u s te d , as th e c a m e ra tra c k s a w ay in fro n t o f th e m .

C ox te n d s to be ev a siv e a b o u t th is a n d o th e r m o m e n ts, lik e th e one w h e re N a n c y firs t sets o ff to b u y d ru g s fo r S id , h o p p in g a b o a rd a b ig re d L o n d o n b u s th a t a p p e a rs as if b y m ag ic in a stre e t d o w n w h ic h L o n d o n T ra n s p o r t h as p a te n tly n e v e r ro lle d . “ Y e a h !” he sq u aw k s in d e lig h t, “ a n d i t ’s on th e w ro n g side o f th e ro a d , a n d n o b o d y ’s g e ttin g o f f . ” B u t h o w , I ask p o rte n to u sly , does h e set a b o u t c re a tin g th is k in d o f d re a m sc a p e L o n d o n ? “ Y ou ju s t fo rg et to p u t in th e e x tr a s ,” re p lie s C ox, “ t h a t ’s h o w : y o u fo rg e t to p u t in th e p eo p le g e ttin g o ff th e b u s ! ” I n th e seco n d h a lf o f th e film , h o w e v e r, a fte r S id sings ‘M y W a y ’ in P a ris , C ox a d m its th e re is a d e fin ite ch an g e o f to n e . “ A g ain , i t ’s A b b e ’s id e a ,” h e says. “ H e r th in g w as: once th e y ’re in th a t ro o m in th e C h elsea H o te l, e v en in R o o m 2 0 1 , b e fo re th e y get to 100, y o u sh o u ld n e v e r re a lly be su re if th e y ’re in th e ro o m o r o u t o f it: w h e n th e y ’re in th e alle y , o r th e second gig a t M a x ’s, w h e re S id does ‘I W a n t to Be Y o u r D o g ’, o r in th e su b w a y — y o u ’re n e v e r su re if i t ’s re a lly h a p p e n in g o r if i t ’s in th e ir m in d s .”

T h is u n c e rta in ty w as a fe a tu re o f R e p o M a n , to o , esp e c ia lly to w a rd s th e e n d . B u t, in g e n e ra l, C o x ’s a p p ro a c h to film in g w as d iffe re n t th e seco n d tim e , as w ell as d iffe re n t to th e w ay h e ’d p la n n e d it. “ O n R e p o M a n ,” h e says, “ I w o u ld d ra w little s to ry b o a rd s a n d stu ff. I ’d get som eone to d riv e m e in , a n d I ’d do th e s to ry b o a rd s on th e w ay . I ’d show th e m to R o b b y [M u lle r, th e D O P ], a n d R o b b y w o u ld go: ‘A h, yes, g u t, g u t ’, a n d w e ’d set u p th e shots m o re o r less a c c o rd in g to th e s tra te g y . O n S id a n d N a n c y , I tu r n e d u p on th e firs t d a y w ith m y little stic k m e n d ra w n on th e b a c k o f th e en v e lo p e to show R o g er [D e a k in s]. H e sees th is th in g , a n d h e la u g h s. T h e n he show s it to h is a ss ista n t c a m e ra m e n a n d th e y all la u g h . T h e n th e y te a r it u p a n d th ro w it aw a y . So, I re a liz e : ‘A h, rig h t!

I t is n ’t g o in g to be lik e th a t th is tim e ! ’ “ W e re a liz e d , as w ell, th a t in R e p o M a n , a lo t o f th e film is tw o p e o p le s ittin g side b y side in a c a r, ta lk in g to each o th e r. B u t th is is, lik e , th re e o r fo u r o r fiv e o r six p e o p le in a ro o m , u n til th e e n d , w h e n th e y get to th e C h elsea H o te l. W e w e re in n ew lo c a tio n s q u ite o fte n , a n d n o th in g w as re a lly p lo tte d o r w o rk e d o u t, so i t ’s la rg e ly im p ro v iz a tio n : w e d i d n ’t k n o w w h a t th e a c to rs w e re g o in g to do u n til th e y tu r n e d u p a n d s ta rte d d o in g it. So it e n d e d u p b e in g 6 0 -7 0 % sh o t in th e h a n d , o r on th e sh o u ld e r, w h ic h w a s n ’t w h a t w e

a n tic ip a te d . W e h a d all th ese d o lly tra c k s a n d d o llies a n d c ra n e s th a t ju s t w e n t to w a ste . W e u sed th e cra n e s to d ro p th e d u s tb in s fro m . “ I liste n e d to a lo t of p eo p le w h ile w e w ere sh o o tin g — A b b e m o re th a n a n y o n e else, b e c a u se o th e rw ise s h e ’d h a v e ta k e n th e k itte n h o m e. B u t I ’d liste n to a n y o n e — m o re so, I th in k , on th is o n e th a n on R e p o M a n , b e c a u se y o u get m o re c o n fid e n t a fte r a w h ile . Y ou d o n ’t feel so p a ra n o id , y o u k n o w , a b o u t y o u r p o w e r b e in g u s u rp e d o r y o u r p re ro g a tiv e b e in g d isp la c e d or w h a te v e r .”

W h a t a b o u t th e cast? “ G a ry w as a stage a c to r w ith th e R o y al S h a k e sp e a re C o m p a n y . H e ’s also d o n e som e te le v isio n : M e a n tim e , fo r M ik e L eig h ; a n d a film called R e m e m b ra n c e . C h lo e is a stage a c to r fro m N ew Y o rk . She c u rre n tly liv es in L A . W h e n I saw h e r th e first tim e , I th o u g h t: ‘T h is is p ro b a b ly N a n c y ’. W ith G a ry , I w a s n ’t su re, b e c au se he d o e s n ’t re a lly look lik e S id — u n til h e sm iles. T h e n , h e h as one o f those c ro co d ile sm iles th a t goes all th e w ay u p to h is ea rs. D re w S ch o field , w ho p la y s J o h n n y : h e ’s fro m T h e W irra l, to o . H e ’s a b it o f a n u tc a s e , b u t h e ’s a n ice g u y , a n d a g o o d a c to r. H e w as S cully in th a t T V series, a n d I th in k h e ’s g o in g to do H a m le t a t th e L iv e rp o o l P la y h o u s e .”

G len M a tlo c k , th e Sex P is to ls ’ d ru m m e r, c o lla b o ra te d on th e film ’s m u sic . B u t th e b a n d ’s m o st fam o u s s u rv iv in g m e m b e r, J o h n L y d o n , alias J o h n n y R o tte n , w o u ld n ’t h a v e a n y th in g to do w ith it. W as th is b e c au se it w as in a c c u ra te ? “ I th in k th a t i t ’s p ro b a b ly n o t fa c tu a lly c o rre c t in te rm s o f th e ro c k ’n ’ ro ll h is to ry o f th e P is to ls ,” says C ox, “ a lth o u g h a lo t o f it is. I th in k S id w h a c k e d N ic k K e n t o f th e N M E w ith a b ik e c h a in o r so m e th in g . W e h a v e h im h it D ick B e n t w ith h is bass g u ita r. A n d th e T e x a s to u r is fa irly a c c u ra te , I th in k .

T h e y p la y e d a successio n of cow boy b a rs , in c lu d in g o n e called ‘T h e L o n g h o rn ’ in D alla s, w h ic h h a d once b e e n o w n e d b y J a c k R u b y . W e h av e ‘J a c k R u b y ’s O lde T o w n ’. A n d , e v e n if S id d i d n ’t w a lk th ro u g h a p lateg lass d o o r, he c e rta in ly ju m p e d th r o u g h a lo ad of w in d o w s a n d , y o u k n o w , d id h is b e st to fu ck h im se lf u p in th e ab sen ce of N ancy. “ As fo r J o h n , I tra c k e d h im d o w n in N ew Y o rk , sh o w ed h im th e s c rip t a n d liste n e d to h is o b je c tio n s. W e ’d got his c h a ra c te r w ro n g , in th e sense th a t w e ’d w ritte n h im lik e som e so rt of d ia trib e p e rs o n — a so rt o f W o rk e rs ’ R e v o lu tio n a ry P a r ty k in d o f g u y . H e said : ‘I d o n ’t n e e d to u se lo n g w o rd s to get m y p o in t a c ro ss’. So A bbe a n d I w e n t th ro u g h a n d cro ssed o u t all th e lo n g w o rd s a n d p u t in little w o rd s in s te a d . H e ’s seen th e film . H e d o e s n ’t lik e it, a n d I d o n ’t b la m e h im , b e cau se i t ’s a b ig c h u n k o f h is life , a n d S id w as h is b e st frie n d . Y ou k n o w , I h a v e a co u p le of frie n d s w h o a re in th e ir e a rly tw e n tie s a n d a re , lik e : ‘I ’ll do a n y th in g !

I ’ll stick m y h e a d in th e f ir e ! ’ I f th ese guys e n d e d u p ju n k ie s a n d d e a d , th e n so m eb o d y cam e a lo n g a n d w as g o in g to m a k e a film a b o u t th e m , I ’d b e v e ry , v e ry d is tru s tfu l a n d a n g ry . So I d o n ’t b la m e J o h n at all. B u t I h o p e th a t, in th e e n d , e v e n if h e d o e s n ’t lik e it, h e at le a st w ill b e lie v e it w as m e a n t sin c e re ly : it w a s n ’t m e a n t as, lik e , a n e x p lo ita tiv e th in g . ’ ’

CINEMA PAPERS January — 27

Never a director to fall back on his laurels, Roman Polanski has managed to surprise almost^everyone with his latest film, Pirates, a fairly Straightfoiwarcl swashbuckling adventure ^

n r t H ith every new film he ■ i t J m akes, ^ seems th at ■ A ■ R om an P olanski has to § ¡^ ^ ^ s ||§ d e a l w ith th e sa m e question. It goes som ething like this: “ M r Polanski, why did you depart from your usual style and m ake a m ovie like th is? ” In the past, he has been inclined to respond with an abrupt: “ W hy n o t? ” A t the Cannes press con­ ference after the screening of Pirates, however, he had w orked out a som ew hat fuller answer. “ To understand how I pick the subjects for my film s,” he said, “ I m ust explain I am first a spectator and only then a film director. I like movies. I go to the cinem a a lot, and when I do a picture, it is because this is som ething I felt I w ould like to see on the screen.”

Pirates was som ething he had started cooking up after finishing C hinatow n, in conjunction with G érard Brach, with w hom he used to write scripts years ago. “ I felt at the tim e th at audiences were in the right fram e o f m ind for this kind of m ovie,” he says, “ as a reaction against the m any heavy, m essage­ laden films. The project did not work out for a variety of reasons, the m ost obvious being the budget involved. T hat was before the L ucas-Spielberg syndrom e took possession o f H ollyw ood. But, when I saw the trem endous success o f Star Wars, I felt com pletely justified in my opinion, because w hat is Star Wars, if not sw ash­ buckling in space?”

Polanski went back to the old classic m ovies, read the literature, learn t the su b ject th o ro u g h ly .

Reviewing the old movies was less of a thrill than he thou g h t it w ould be, he says: there were very few m em orable hits. “ But, having w ritten the script and becom e attached to the characters and the situations, my belief in the project grew, and with it my ten acity .”

W hat he was not really prepared for were the problem s th a t w ould accom pany the Pirates project. “ H ad I know n from the very begin­ ning th at this w ould m ean ten years o f struggle, I w ould have gone straight to som ething else.”

28 — January CINEMA PAPERS

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In Cannes.

POLANSKI HALF SEAS UNDER: a portrait shot for the cover of French Vogue, never used

M ight it not have been better to go back to the sm all, intim ate pictures he once m ade? “ I w ould go back to the sim ple movies w ith no h esitatio n ,” says P olanski, “ but even sim ple m ovies a re n ’t simple an y m o re . T e c h n o lo g y h as developed; the audience dem ands m uch m ore. Y ou have to be plausible: there are no easy movies.

Still, if I could find the right subject for a sm all, inexpensive picture, T would be the happiest director o f a ll.”

L ast tim e P o la n sk i was in C annes, six years ago, he had been dragged there to p rom ote Tess. The press conference turned into a fiasco — a sort o f vicious contest between sensation-hungry m edia eager for the low dow n on the scandal which had m ade P olanski a sex offender in the States, and critics gunning for a director about whose com m ercial career there were, at the tim e, serious doubts.

He was prepared to discuss the movie, but certainly not his private life.

N or was it ju st the press he had begun to have enough of. “ I was disgusted with all the so-called creative script m eetings with the various studio executives,” he says. “ I was sick o f law yers, agents and stockbrokers. I really thought: this is not w hat I w ant to do with my life.”

So, he went back to the stage, to direct the Paris pro d u ctio n o f A m a d eu s, in which he also played the role o f M ozart. In this, he found com plete satisfaction, feeling no urge to get back behind a cam era. T hen, an Israeli producer, A rnon M ilchan, offered to pick up Pirates, and P olanski c o u ld n ’t resist the tem p tatio n . H e went to Israel, checked costs and locations, but finally to no av ail: M ilc h a n couldn’t put together the necessary budget ($US30 m illion). P olanski was ju st ab out to give up a lto ­ gether, when T unisian producer T arak Ben A m m ar m aterialized.

W as this a reason to rejoice? In retrospect, P olanski isn ’t to o sure. “ W hen the galleon on which we shot the m ovie arrived in C an n es” — it was one o f the features o f this

year’s festival — “ everyone was very im pressed and expected me to share their feelings. But, frankly, what I felt was nausea! I ’d seen the dam n thing for m onths on end, from every side. I d id n ’t w ant to see this any m o re .”

In any case, shooting on w ater isn ’t his cup of tea; 24 years ago, he put three people on a small b o at in P o lan d , and the result was Knife in the Water, the film which m ade his re p u ta tio n . N ow , a fte r sailing again, he says he should have know n better. “ It was very hard then, and it was m uch, m uch harder now. To m ake this film was pure hell, like signing my own death

w arrant. Everything is som ehow against you when you shoot on a boat, on w ater. To do it with costum es, special effects, fights and pistols on top o f everything is really crazy. “ Also, shooting the m ovie in T unisia with a crew alm ost as in ter­ national as the UN was like trying to run the Tow er o f Babel. I speak m any languages, but to get certain notions to my crew was quite often both tim e-consum ing and exhaust­ ing. I had to repeat m yself five or six times in different languages, and people were looking at me and laughing.”

N ot to m ention the streak o f bad i

MATTHAU ON THE HIGH SEAS: cutting a dash in Pirates

CINEMA PAPERS January — 29

< POLANSKI luck th a t pursued the p ro d u ctio n all along. They knew they had to w orry ab o u t W alter M a tth a u ’s health; they suspected the galleon m ight create problem s. “ But bad luck never strikes w here you expect it t o ,” says P olanski. “ O ne acto r died o f a stroke while visiting the islands with his wife. O ne assistant broke his heels falling from a b o at. I h u rt my back and c o u ld n ’t m ove for a couple o f weeks. You nam e it: we had i t.” W hich m eant th a t it to o k nine m onths to shoot the film in w eather th a t, typically, “ was the w orst for 20 y ears!”

P o la n sk i’s P ira te s is certainly unexpected. To get from this m ost sardonic o f aesthetes a sw ashbuck­ ling k id ’s adventure is genuinely am azing. H e has p u t W alter M atth au in rags — a later version o f W allace Beery in his prim e. H e has fitted him w ith a w hole set o f w ooden legs and m ade him the m ost appealing villain to sail the seas since Long Jo h n Silver. A nd the d ire c to r also w allow s in th e po rtray al o f grotesque C astilian courtiers so evil they becom e funny.

But P ira te s is not an entirely rosy picture: if you look carefully, you will find an im age o f a w orld in which everything, from religions to m orals to w isdom , is scorned. The only solid, reliable value is gold.

N or is there any chance th at W alter M a tth a u w ill e n d a n g e r E r ro l F ly n n ’s rep u tatio n with a sw ord, or B u rt L a n c a s te r ’s d e x te rity in clim bing m asts. A nd P olanski isn ’t ab out to replace M ichael C urtiz or Jacques T o u rn eu r as the m aster o f the light, period, action m ovie. But, for audiences for w hom these nam es w o n ’t m ean m uch, the m ixture ought to w ork quite well, judging by the C annes reception, where the picture was better liked by the public th an the p ro fe s­ sionals.

O ne o f the very few directors the public easily identifies, even when they do not go to see his m ovies, P olanski is less th an happy w ith his d o u b tfu l celebrity, feeling he owes it to the tragic m u rder o f his wife, Sharon T ate, by the M anson gang.

The fact th a t, shortly before th at happened, he had ju st finished R o s e m a r y ’s B a b y , which show ed S atan being born in New Y ork, and th a t, soon a fte r his p e rso n a l tragedy, he directed The F e a rle s s V a m p ire K ille rs (aka D a n c e o f th e V a m p ire s ), a b o u t a p rofessor and his assistant (played by P olanski him self) chasing the evil creatures o f the night, linked his private life for ever w ith his screen w ork, to the poin t th at one was used as a reference for the other.

30 — January CINEMA PAPERS

CUT! — the director’s famous cameo from Chinatown

“ It was a silly thing for the press to do at the tim e ,” he says now , “ and it keeps pursuing me to this day. The fact is th a t, here I am , sitting with you and allegedly talking a b o u t P ira te s , and yet we are dragging my private life in once m ore. I think the A m erican m edia were relieved when I had my troubles with justice there. A fter the m urder o f Sharon T ate, they had a guilt feeling. N ow , they are rid o f it: the victim has becom e the c u lp rit.”

A fte r p ro m o tin g P ir a te s in C annes, P o la n sk i’s next p ro ject took him back to Paris, to sta rt

w ork w ith G érard B rach on a thriller th at will be shot in F rance.

F or next year, he has already co m ­ m itted him self to direct a n o th e r stage p ro d u ctio n o f an o th e r P eter S haffer play, The R o y a l H u n t o f th e S u n . Top French acto r C laude B ras­ seur will play the Spanish co n q u is­ tad o r, P izzaro, tram pling the Inca civilization o f P eru un d er his feet.

But Polanski has, as yet, no one in m ind for the p a rt o f the King o f the Incas. M aybe he will play it him self.

In which case, he is sure to be asked a fam iliar question, “ M r P o lan sk i, why did you choose to d e p a rt from your tra d itio n al im age . . . ? ”

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SYDNEY HARBOURS A WEREWOLF: Imogen Annesley and Philippe Mora

THE MARSUPIALS — THE HOWLING III The fly-leaf of the script for The Marsupials: Howling III has (appro­ priately) three quotations on it, which give a fair idea of the predilections of its writer/director/producer, Philippe Mora.

The first is from Salvador Dali: “ In truth,” it goes, “ the imagination of the Hollywood experts will be the only thing that will ever have sur­ passed me.” The second, rather

’d Dasha’BtehSa.anO heW tu is a werewolf

32 — January CINEMA PAPERS

shorter, is from George Lucas: “ Dare to be cute” . The third — a philo sop hical rum ination from Conrad’s Lord Jim — is a lot straighten “ How does one kill fear, I wonder? How do you shoot a spectre through the heart, slash off its spectral head, take it by its spectral throat?”

The Marsupials is a comedyhorror movie, a werewolf pic set in modern-day Sydney. But the cast is playing it straight. “ Absolutely not campy,” says Mora. Not that it started off as a werewolf pic: “ The werewolf part of it really came last,” he says. “ I wanted to do a film about marsupial people, because every mammal has a marsupial counter­ part: bears, dogs, cats . . . The nowextinct Tasmanian wolf (aka the Tas­ manian tiger and the Tasmanian hyena) was a marsupial. I’ve taken the whole thing one step further, and turned the Tasmanian wolves into werewolves. That means they’re marsupial werewolves.”

Jerboa, the film’s central charac­ ter, leaves her tribe of marsupial werewolves in the outback and comes, a feral innocent, to the city.

There, she is spotted by Donny

(Leigh Biolos), assistant director on a cheapo horror movie called The Shape Shifters. He pursues her, and they fall in love. And doesn’t he get a surprise — “ We’ve got some big frights in this,” says Mora, “ but no

FUR l o v e ALONE: Max Fairchild

splatter” — during their first love scene, when he discovers her pouch . . .

Jerboa is played by Imogen Annesley, the great discovery of Playing Beatie Bow (she played Abigail). Now seventeen, and with a year of commercials and modelling behind her (including the Max Headroom Coca-Cola commercial), this is her first adult role, and she is under­ standably miffed that, on set, Jerboa has become Bo-Bo. The night before, she’d done her. first transformation scene, super­ vised by Australia’s make-up wizard, Bob McCarron. She’d had to have green eyes — a lens placed across her entire eyeball — and she was philosophical about it. “ I couldn’t even feel it. I just knew it was there because I couldn’t see!”

The Marsupials, according to DOP Louis Irving, is fairly straightforward by comparison with his last film for Mora, Death of a Soldier, with its muted colour and film-noir feel. One thing he is particularly proud of, though, is the fake archival footage, supposedly shot in 1905. Kodak had told him there was a threemonth wait for 35mm black-andwhite stock. So he has ended up using a fine-grain print stock which was never intended for shooting, and has varied the frame-speed between 20 and 25 f.p.s. to get the pulse effect of a hand-cranked camera.

The middle of the shoot (Week Three, Day Two) is on location at Dawe’s Point, right under the Harbour Bridge (with a train every minute and a half), and is drawing some curiosity from the busloads of tourists who pass by almost as often as the trains. The coach firm run by Sid Fogg of Newcastle is getting some pretty neat publicity.

Over lunch (which ends with a lurid, fluorescent pudding of which McCarron would have been proud), the rest of the cast practise their snarls. Dasha Blahova (who got a Penguin the previous weekend for Displaced Persons) and Barry Otto are proficient (though Otto is not a werewolf). Max Fairchild is more concerned with the running of the Melbourne Cup. Ralph Cotterill, in Rayban sunglasses, is the best. A pity, because he plays a non­ marsupial detective.

and Imogen Annesley

CINEVEX PROUD TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH AUSTRALIA’S BEST. Congratulations to Malcolm, Dunera Boys and Kangaroo on scooping the pool at the AFI and Penquin Awards.

Everyone likes to be associated with a winner and at Cinevex we’ve been associated with some of the best.

MALCOLM:

Best Picture (AFI) Best Director (AFI) Best Actor (AFI) Best Supporting Actor (AFI) Best Supporting Actress (AFI) Best Original Script (AFI) Best Editing (AFI) Best Sound (AFI) DUNERA BOYS: Best Mini Series (AFI) Best Actor in a Mini Series (AFI) Best Script (AFI) Best Director (AFI) Best Mini Series (Penquin) Best Supporting Actor (Penquin) Best Supporting Actress (Penquin) Best Script (P enquin) Best Set Design (Penquin) KANGAROO: Best Actress (AFI)

CINEVEX FILM LABORATORIES PTY LTD 15-17 G o rd o n Street, Elstem w ick 3815, V icto ria. P h o n e (0 3 ) 5 2 8 6 1 8 8 TELEX A A 38366

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NAGRAS AT PRE-DEVALUATION PRICES

INCLUDING THE NEW A N D SENSATIONAL T-AUDIO STEREO MACHINE

MAGNATECH 7-9 G E O R G E P L A C E , A R T A R M O N , N S W 2064 PH: (02) 427 0666 FA X : 427 1961 23A K IN G W IL L IA M R O A D , U N L E Y , SA 5061 PH: (08) 373 1855 FAX: 373 1854 the UN 624

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THE MISSION The first thing likely to strike one about T h e M is s io n is how much of it works, given the odds. The difficul­ ties of the $38.5 million production are well-documented — four months on location in the wilds of Colombia and Argentina, the financial crisis facing Goldcrest at home, the hos­ pitalization of director Roland Joffe, the disapproval voiced by anthropol­ ogists about the production’s use of local Indians. But, even if one were unaware of all this, the thing that is immediately apparent from what has finished up on the screen is that human beings have been pitted against the elements, not only in the fiction but also in the way the film has been made. At least part of the epic feel that it achieves is due to the kind of effort that was needed to complete it in the first place.

However, this also produces diffi­ culties for the film in the way that, in appealing to our sense of wonder at how various dangers and logistical problems have been overcome, it turns our attention to the drama of the production process as well as to the drama of the fiction. It becomes a little like watching a special effects extravaganza, in which one is drawn as much by the technological wizardry on display as by the tale that contains it. However, when one recognizes that Spielberg is “ show­ ing off” again, the self-conscious­ ness that one sees becomes rather like a knowing wink at the audience, entirely appropriate to his brand of inconsequential cuteness. Here, the distancing is inadvertent, out of keeping with T h e M i s s io n 's dramatic design and pitch.

The design is no more and no less

E V than that of a parable about saints and sinners playing out their parts in the movement of history; and the pitch is that of a melodrama. The stage is South America in the 1750s as the Spanish and the Portuguese form an unholy alliance with the Catholic Church in order to expand their foreign territories, in the process desecrating the jungles that have been the home of the Guarani Indians. The drama pivots on a specific incident, the destruction of the San Carlos Mission at Iguazu, but its impulse is essentially mythic, its characters emblems of the forces of Good and Evil and variously inflected by idealism and pragmat­ ism.

Father Gabriel (Jeremy Irons), the Jesuit founder of the Mission, is a man of peace, bringing God and a socialist form of civilization to the Indians. Mendoza (Robert De Niro) is a reformed mercenary, a slave trader initiated to the cloth and to the ideals of the Mission by way of expiation for his sins, and formally linked to the Indians through the course of his conversion. The fate of the two priests and their flock is decided by a Papal emissary, Cardinal Altimirano (Ray McAnally), who is eventually revealed as the serpent in the place which he describes to its benevolent rulers as “ the Garden of Eden” . His corres­ pondence with the Pope provides a narration for the film and underlines his crisis of conscience. It reveals the realpolitik of his mission, but also allows that he is a reluctant messenger for the part the Church is to play in the ensuing course of events.

That part is a duplicitous one for, at the same time as it is demanding obedience from its disciples, it is

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be tra yin g them and its own missionary cause to the demands of the expediency and the power of the State. It has become clear that, if the Jesuits are to survive as an order in Portugal, they must surrender their proprietorship at Iguazu.

For Joffe, T h e M i s s io n 's concerns are contemporary ones, dealing not only with the failure of the Church to face the realities of South America, but also with the way in which global politics have ignored an important aspect of these realities: “ The film deals with present-day politics, but it does so by throwing them into a historical context . . . It provided a way of telling the story for that element of Latin America which is almost totally forgotten, namely the Indian population.” But, despite this worthy intention, his film seems less concerned with the plight of the Indians than with the drama that occupies the foreground: the struggle of the honourable priests against the forces of the wilderness and against those who would conspire to subvert their mission.

Nevertheless, a central motif in the film is the movement of alien forces into the territory of the Indians. The film begins with the Indian rejection of such an intrusion as a lone priest is bound to a cross and cast, an image of powerless humanity, to his death in the river. Gabriel, deeming himself responsible, undertakes the dangerous journey into the jungles, armed with only a flute, a peaceful intruder who bewitches the sus­ picious Indians with his musical con­ ciliation. Throughout the rest of the film, a range of outsiders make their way into the area, some openly hostile to the Indians (for the Spanish governor of the region, they are “ animals” ), others motivated by

forces that are less readily apparent (though the Indians recognize at once that the Cardinal “ doesn’t speak for God, but for the Portu­ guese” ).

Finally, however, the intrusions become a full-scale invasion as an army of Europeans arrives to lay siege to the Mission. This time, as Gabriel and his doomed congrega­ tion become a chorus of chanting voices, the music fails to ward off the danger.

Like much of writer Robert Bolt’s other work ( T h e B o u n t y provides a neat point of comparison), T h e M is s io n is also constructed around a series of oppositions (the civilized/the primitive; the missionary/the mercenary; the idealist/the prag­ matist) that are progressively broken down and transformed in a variety of ways. There is an abundance of examples, but a couple will serve our purpose here. Gabriel’s civilized man faces the imposing wilderness of the jungle and its hostile inhabi­ tants, comes to live in harmony with both, and then finds himself siding with those he has converted against the might of a corrupt civilization.

His humane concern for the Indians is initially contrasted with Mendoza’s exploitation of them, until Mendoza undergoes a change and joins forcés with Gabriel against his former employers. Yet tensions remain between the two men, pri­ marily centred on the form their con­ frontation with the encroaching enemy should take, Gabriel insisting on passive resistance, Mendoza returning to the role of the warrior.

Where T h e M is s io n works is in its re p re s e n ta tio n of in n o c e n c e betrayed, as Gabriel'and the Indians to whom he has given his life become helpless pawns in the hands of the treachery of Church and State. Where it is less successful is in its suggestion of a kind of trans­ cendental appeasement for those who have found themselves martyrs to the venomous union of these institutions. The film’s final line, closing the Cardinal’s letter to the Pope, sidesteps the issue of the Church’s complicity in the slaughter of the innocents by discovering a victory in defeat: “ As always, your Holiness, the spirit of the dead will survive in the memory of the living.”

With this attention to what Joffe describes as “ the beauty of sac­ rifice” , the film sustains its commit­ ment to its rebel priests, but, in so doing, surrenders its wider political project to the needs of its melo­ drama.

Tom Ryan

The^ Mission: D ir e c t e d b y R o la n d J o ffe . P r o d u c e r s : F e r n a n d o G h ia a n d D a v id P u ttn a m . A s s o c ia t e p r o d u c e r : la in S m ith . S c r e e n p la y : R o b e r t B o lt.

D ir e c t o r o f p h o to g ra p h y : C h r is M e n g e s . P r o d u c t io n d e s ig n e r : S tu a r t C ra ig . M u s ic : E n n io M o r r ic o n e . E d ito r: J im C la rk .

C a s t: R o b e r t d e N ir o ( M e n d o z a ), J e r e m y Ir o n s ( G a b rie l), R a y M c A n a lly

( A lta m ira n o ),

L ia m

N eeson

( F ie ld in g ) , A id a n Q u in n ( F e lip e ) , R o n a ld P ic k u p (H o n ta r). P r o d u c t io n c o m p a n y : E n ig m a in a s s o c ia tio n w ith F e r n a n d o G h ia f o r G o ld c r e s t F ilm a n d TV. D is t r ib u to r : V illa g e R oadshow .

HE’S ON A MISSION FROM GOD: Robert de Niro, jungle Jesuit, in The Mission

34 - January CINEMA PAPERS

35m m .

1986.

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m in u te s .

G re a t

B r ita in .

THE MOSQUITO COAST Peter Weir says that author Paul Theroux told him to take T h e M o s ­ q u i t o C o a s t away and make it all his own.

Given such freedom of action (an attitude that our leading auteur director usually adopts, anyway), Weir’s screen adaptation is remark­ ably faithful and self-effacing. Even more remarkable is the equally respectful screenplay by another self-confident, and often free-wheel­ ing, filmmaker in Paul Schrader (rem em ber what he did with M i s h im a : A L if e In F o u r C h a p t e r s ? ) .

But the two stay with Theroux’s com­ pelling narrative for most of its tragically-unfolding course, trimming and telescoping just a little and, merci­ fully, dropping the horrifying climax.

T h e M o s q u i t o C o a s t is about the Foxes, a modern American Swiss Family Robinson whose jungle idyll turns sourly tragic. Father Allie (Harrison Ford, in his second lead role for Peter Weir) is an errant genius, an inventor with quite soundly-based objections and reac­ tions to the consumer society and its pernicious values. His response to the junking of America is total rejec­ tion. An egocentric utterly convinced of the correctness of his own views and courses of action, Allie never seems to doubt the wisdom of taking his wife and four children to the wilds of central America, there to set up a little paradise on earth. (One is re­ minded of the 19th century Austra­ lian socialist colony in Paraguay.)

Theroux doesn’t mention — and, in their loyalty to his text, neither do Weir and Schrader — whether highly intelligent and by no means repressed Mother (played by Helen Mirren) regards this fling into the un­ known with anything less than com­ plete confidence and approval. The kids, 13-year-old Charlie (River Phoenix), younger Jerry (Jadrien Steele) and redheaded eight-yearold twins April and Clover (Hilary and Rebecca Gordon) don’t have much say in the matter, until the boys rebel at the end. But at first they’re a happy, trusting family, in­ spired by and responsive to their father’s bold, increasingly nutty vision. There comes a turning point, when — either to retain their co­ operation or console himself — he tells them that the US has been destroyed in a nuclear holocaust.

The boys don’t quite buy it, how­ ever, and when they learn the truth, Allie has lost them.

The film begins like the novel, as Allie, holding forth to Charlie about the awfulness of contemporary USA, which, to him, has become a sewer of drugs, crime, junk food and moral bankruptcy, drives into a small town in Massachusetts. There’s a civil war coming, Allie says, an apocalypse in which no side will be entirely inno­ cent. He berates shopkeepers for offering him inferior Japanese, instead of locally-made, goods, finds what he needs on a garbage dump, then talks about getting away to start afresh somewhere else. (“ Goodbye America, have a nice day!” )

Somewhere else turns out to be the Mosquito Coast, an area of savannah-edged jungle on the Caribbean. A former British protec­ torate, it now stretches across both Honduras and Nicaragua, but we never learn from the film which country the Fox family is in (the novel says Honduras). The story obviously predates the Sandinista victory in Nicaragua and the ongoing war against the Honduras-based, USfunded Contras.

In his marvellous travel book, T h e O ld P a t a g o n i a n E x p r e s s , Theroux says the Mosquito Coast looks “ the perfect setting for the story of casta­ ways” . And, in effect, that’s what the Foxes become. The messianic Allie casts them upon a wild shore that affords him virtually limitless scope to remake their little world in his own inventive image. For a time, he suc­ ceeds, building, sowing, reaping and making ice in a giant plant that stands out of the jungle like a latterday Tikal, or a king-size version of the 2 0 0 1 obelisk. Then nature, which Allie has tapped with endless resource, skill and energy, rebounds on them when armed interlopers, who may be mercenaries but are probably simply b a n d i d o s , force themselves upon the Foxes’ thriving settlement.

Things then go from bad to worse to disa ste r. T heir se ttle m e n t destroyed, the family settles on a Caribbean shore as self-supporting beachcombers (by this time, every­ one but Allie is disillusioned, and even he has retreated into a mental bunker that rejects virtually every­ thing but his own visions and delu­ sions). Storms again drive them up river and Allie meets his nemesis, the smugly prating missionary, Reverend Spellgood (played by

D ennis M iller-look-alike A ndre Gregory, the host diner of Louis Malle’s M y D in n e r W ith A n d r e ) .

One of the novel’s most insistent attitudes is Theroux’s condemnation of missionaries like Spellgood, and Weir underlines it, without embellish­ ment. Allie may be a sore-headed tyrant and ranting visionary who un­ wittingly, and perhaps uncaringly, inflicts terrible suffering upon his family, but he’s a sympathetic, if fre­ quently annoying, character. Apart from the bandit/mercenaries, the only person in the film who comes anywhere near to villainy is the unctuous Spellgood. He resents the Foxes’ presence in h is territory and causes most of the inhabitants of the tiny shanty town that Allie buys in the hinterland, to desert, scaring these English-speaking blacks, descen­ dants of former slaves, with dire stories of satanic forces in Allie’s ice works. One of them, incidentally, is played by Butterfly McOueen, she who also deserted Olivia de Havilland in her hour of need in G o n e W ith T h e W in d I It’s not hard to figure what appealed to Weir in this material. He is on familiar ground with a con­ frontation between new world materialism and the eternal, often malevolent, verities of the old, and the film observes Allie’s decline from hopeful certainty to cranky, and ulti­ mately insane, obsession, with gentle detachment. Weir obviously finds the character’s personality at least as interesting as his ideas and fuses both aspects in several brilliantly-executed sequences, most notably one in which the camera follows Allie, a non-stop talking, hectoring, lecturing, demonstrating, remonstrating blue streak of energy, as he darts back and forth super­

vising the building of the family's first settlement.

Harrison Ford, of course, is ulti­ mately responsible for bringing querulous, multi-faceted Allie to life.

His reputation as an actor of con­ siderable range and dimension already greatly enhanced by Weir’s W itn e s s , Ford here comes into his own. His portrayal of the obsessive, contradictory inventor achieves just the blend of subtle variation and stiff­ necked consistency required to make him both appealing and infuriating. Fifteen-year-old River Phoenix, in the next most important role as the older son, and the story’s narrator, is suitably enthused, adoring, awed and, finally, dis­ mayed. Helen Mirren doesn’t have a lot to do as the pliant wife and Andre Gregory is a nicely sanctimonious bible-bashing missionary.

As in W itn e s s , director of photo­ graphy John Seale shows he is at least as capable as Russell Boyd at capturing the imaginative elements in Weir’s vision. John Stoddart’s pro­ duction design, in jungle, beach, boat, hut and scrub, serves the director equally well. And Maurice Jarre spares us his more insistent themes in favor of an evocative, at times haunting, score that also underlines the film’s essentially nostalgic, regretful flavor.

One waits in vain for Weir to em­ bark upon a characteristic flight of fantasy. The fact is that the fantasy is in the material — what this family of modern, secular pilgrims achieves, experiences and endures is fantastic enough. The slightly fantastic tone is somehow enhanced by the unblink­ ing naturalism of Weir’s treatment.

Theroux implies in the dedication to the novel that the story is based on real life, but the details of the Fox family adventure seem, to say the least, far-fetched. (Their crops, for instance, are unaffected by pests and diseases that plague tropical agriculture, while Allie seems to have an unlimited supply of petrol and other supplies that would have been laboriously transported up river.)

T h e M o s q u i t o C o a s t isn’t a mess­ age film, but there are two discern­ ible, entwined thematic strands. The most obvious one is a quite strident rejection of the consumer society.

The other is that the American Dream’s most beloved adage — “ you can be anything you really want to be” — is true after a fashion . . . but life and its forces, historical and natural, bring us all to account in the end.

Keith Connolly

The Mosquito Coast:

D ir e c t e d b y P e te r W eir. P r o d u c e r : J e r o m e H e ilm a n .

E x e c u tiv e p ro d u c e r: S a u l Z a e n tz .

S c r e e n p la y : P a u l S c h r a d e r , b a s e d o n

th e n o v e l b y P a u l T h e ro u x . D ir e c t o r o f p h o t o g r a p h y : J o h n S e a le . P r o d u c t io n d e s ig n e r : John S to d d a rt.

M u s ic : M a u r ic e J a rre . E d ito r: T h o m N o b le .

C a s t: H a r r is o n F o r d (A llie F o x ), H e le n M ir r e n (M o th e r), R iv e r P h o e n ix (C h a rlie ), J a d r ie n S te e le (J e rry ), H ila r y G o rd o n (A p rilJ , R ebecca G o rd o n (C lo v e r), A n d r e G r e g o r y (R e v . S p e ll­ g o o d ) , C o n r a d R o b e r ts ( M r H a d d y ) , D ic k O ’N e ill ( M r P o ls k i). P r o d u c t io n com pany: S a u l Z a e n tz C om pany.

D is t r ib u to r : H o y ts . 3 5 m m . 1 1 7 m in u te s .

THE ICEMAN COMETH: Harrison Ford in The Mosquito Coast

USA. 1966.

CINEMA PAPERS January — 35

M ONA LISA Reviewing Neil Jordan’s first feature, in 1982, I wrote that it was "a film of surfaces and resonances, not connections'Looking at M o n a L is a four years later, I see no reason to arrive at any other conclusion, although M o n a L is a is a far better film than A n g e l, and an almost infinitely better one than the film Jordan made in between: that ludi­ crous farrago of a would-be fairytale,

A n g e l,

C o m p a n y o f W o lv e s .

At first (or even second) viewing, is a seductive film — 104 minutes of deftly interlocking sur­ faces, its tone adroitly balanced between sentimentality and despair, humour and horror. In a way per­ fectly in tune with the mid-eighties, it is a sweet, funny, sad film, with a trio of great performances and truly wonderful blend of production design (Jam ie Leonard) and cinematography (Roger Pratt) that turns contemporary London into a tuppence-coloured version of film noir’s America.

Its story has all the elements of an adult fable for the eighties (in a way that C o m p a n y o f W o lv e s , for all its self-conscious striving and equally outre art direction, never did).

George (Bob Hoskins), a petty crim, emerges after seven years in the slammer to find the world much changed. His ex-wife denies him so much as a word with his daughter.

Jeannie (Zoe Nathenson), and his former boss, Mortwell (Michael Caine), palms him off with a job as a driver, ferrying porno cassettes around Soho and acting as chauffeur to a “ tall skinny black tart’’ (George’s words) called Simone (Cathy Tyson).

The film’s main focus is on the relationship between George and Simone (who comes, the film implies, to stand in for his unreach­ able daughter) — on his initial gaucheness in the high-class hotels where she plies her trade; on the growing understanding between two outsiders from different genera­ tions; on the loneliness beneath both their streetwise exteriors; and, finally, on the way Simone uses George to trace her lover, Cathy (Kate Hardie), a prostitute with a heroin habit who is in the grip of a vicious black pimp called Anderson (Clarke Peters).

The last quest brings George full circle, into head-on conflict with Mortwell, and results in a final, violent confrontation in a Brighton hotel — a showdown splattered with blood and shattered aspirations, after which George finally accepts that the world has changed too much for him, and goes back to tinker with his vintage Jag and re­ establish his relationship with his real daughter.

In a neat — and very conscious — variation on the traditional formula, it is George, not Simone, who has the heart of gold. And the film’s founda­ tion is Bob Hoskins’s mesmerizing' performance, which blends tough­ ness and vulnerability, street-cred. and softness, like the role he played in the TV version of Dennis Potter’s P e n n ie s f r o m H e a v e n (later homo­ genized on the big screen by Steve Martin).

But the film as a whole, just like M o n a L is a

36 — January CINEMA PAPERS

A n g e l,

only touches on its issues — in that first film, the situation in Northern Ireland; here, racism, drug addiction and London’s prostitution rackets — using them as elements in a slick, metaphysical jigsaw puzzle, never as subjects for genuine exploration or concern. M o n a L is a 's sense of a complete, quirks-and-all world is created round its edges, not at its centre — through the engaging but irrelevant character of George’s mechanic friend, Thomas (Robbie Coltrane), with his love of crime fiction and his profitable sidelines in plastic ornamental spaghetti and luminous statues of Our Lady, who dispenses bulk and balm through­ out; and through deft little throw­ aways like the moment near the end, where the white percheron (horse) that features in one of Thomas's favourite books, turns up for real, tethered in a plastic playground beside a tacky fast-food joint on a desolate stretch of the A1.

The last detail provides a kind of key to Jordan’s method: the roman­ tic juxtaposed with the banal, in such a way as to imply a link that Isn't really established, and to con­ jure up a vague sense of magic. The real key to the film’s tone and approach, however, is the climactic one on Brighton Pier, down which George and Simone take a walk (with, presum ably, shades of Graham Greene’s B r ig h t o n R o c k hovering at the edge of the frame).

For the first time, George tries to express his feelings for Simone, dragging her half-angrily, half-affectlonately into an impromptu tango.

Then he buys them both a pair of seaside sunglasses, his shaped like stars, hers like hearts.

As the tone swings between sin­ cerity and self-parody, the couple spot Anderson and a pair of heavies in murderous pursuit, and a violent fight and chase ensues. George and Simone escape, and their fight Is immediately parodied by a pair of busking dwarfs (one of them Kenny Baker, star of T im e B a n d it s and operator of R2-D2). By the time we get to the film’s real climax, moments later in the hotel room, the slgnifiers have swung in so many directions that all one can do is marvel at the manipulation, respond to the up-front emotions, sit back and enjoy the surface.

But what a surface it is! M o n a L is a is, without a doubt, one of the year’s most enjoyable movies — a string of delights that makes me uneasy about carping. Some of the delight Mona Lisa:

D ir e c te d b y N e il J o r d a n .

P r o d u c e r s : S te p h e n W o o lle y a n d P a t­ r ic k C a s s a v e tti. C o - p r o d u c e r s : C h ris B ro w n , R a y C o o p e r a n d N ik P o w e ll.

E x e c u tiv e p r o d u c e r s : G e o r g e H a r r is o n a n d D e n is O ’B rie n . S c r e e n p la y : N e il J o r d a n a n d D a v id L e la n d . D ir e c to r o f p h o t o g r a p h y : R o g e r P ra tt. P r o d u c t io n d e s ig n : J a m ie L e o n a rd .

M u s ic : M ic h a e l K a m e n .

Sound r e c o r d is t: D a v id J o h n . E d ito r: L e s le y W a lk e r.

C a s t: B o b H o s k in s (G e o rg e ), C a th y T y s o n (S im o n e ), M ic h a e l C a in e ( M o r t­ w e ll), R o b b ie C o ltr a n e (T h o m a s ), C la rk e P e te rs (A n d e rs o n ), K a te H a r d ie (C a th y ), Z o e N a th e n s o n (J e a n n ie ).

P r o d u c t io n com pany: H andM ade F ilm s /P a la c e P ic tu re s . D is tr ib u to r : C E L. 3 5 m m . 1 0 4 m in u te s . B rita in . 1 9 8 6 .

comes from Jordan’s uncanny eye for settings. But mostly, it has to do with the performances of Hoskins, Caine and Coltrane, all three of whom have been given the space to do their thing.

Hoskins's performance has a complexity to it that his rather onenote hood in T h e L o n g G o o d F r id a y did not allow; Coltrane confirms his status as one of British cinema’s best supporting actors; and Caine is, as usual, superb — a sinister figure in a well-cut suit, brimming with re­ pressed violence. Only Cathy Tyson, as Simone, is rather left In the lurch

by Jordan’s inability (or unwilling­ ness) to handle actors in anything other than stylized settings, as were Stephen Rea In A n g e l and the unfor­ tunate Sarah Patterson in C o m p a n y o f W o lv e s .

An Intriguing footnote to the film is the co-scripting credit for David Leland, a TV dramatist with a track record of com m itted political realism. Jordan has stated that Leland and he collaborated on “ the first drafts” — an indication, per­ haps, that one of Jordan’s chief skills as a filmmaker lies in converting sub­ stance into form, not examining sub­ stance through form. Another of his skills, apparently, lies in persuading us that he is doing something more.

Nick Roddick

THE LAST FRONTIER “ The following programme,” said a voice at the beginning of T h e L a s t F r o n tie r , “ is brought to you by Derek Harrison and Trusty Dog Food.” It wasn’t much of a beginning for the most hyped of recent US-oriented miniseries. But it was a big night for Trusty Dog Foods, who were launching a new campaign — and for Derek Harrison, who turned out, In one of the evening’s only two surprises, to be a dog.

Once one had got used to the idea of Linda Evans as a waitress, the first half-hour of T h e L a s t F r o n t ie r was the evening’s other surprise. It moved along quite nicely, largely thanks to Brian May’s score. Kate Adamson (Evans), a divorced resident of Los Angeles with not much money, two jobs and two children (Meredith Salinger and Peter Billingsley), was wooed with improbable speed by a strong, silent

Aussie called Tom Hannon (Tony Bonner), the recently widowed owner of a cattle station somewhere in the Northern Territory.

Then they got married, and Tom took off for Oz to break the news to h is kids (Beth Buchanan and Asher Keddle). Kate packed up shop, loaded her whingeing pair onto the Flying Kangaroo and T h e L a s t F r o n t ie r started to go down the tube.

This really began when what TV packagers call “ the peril” inter­ vened: Tom is killed in a plane crash (so off-camera that, if this were a soapie, one would diagnose a con­ tract disagreement) and, when Kate finally disembarks, no one even knows she’s coming.

After 20 or so routine minutes of misunderstanding and hostility, Kate buckles down to what T h e L a s t F r o n t ie r is ostensibly about: giving it a go. The station, it transpires, is almost broke: the water is drying up, the cattle are dying off, and the whole spread is coveted by expan­ sionist neighbour Ed Stenning (Jason Robards) who, having com­ missioned a geological survey, knows what Kate doesn’t: that there is a huge lake under the property.

He wants it.

Kate doesn’t bother with geo­ logists. Since the basic premise of the miniseries is that she has left civil­ ization for a primitive planet, she hires an old Aboriginal water diviner who, long before the third hour is over, has found the lake. By this time, however, Kate and the miniseries have rather lost interest in mundane things like water and cattle, and are instead embroiled in an on-again, off-again affair between the heroine and Stenning’s larrikin son, Nick (Jack Thompson).

Things are complicated by Nick’s sister, Meg (Judy Morris), who is Insanely jealous of Kate and keeps trying to blow up her water wells.

There are also dust storms, snakes in the living room and a pair of murderous ockers at the door. But they are nothing by comparison with Meg, particularly given the crisply foul performance turned in by Morris.

All this could have provided a fair four hours of mainstream television, remarkably free from Lucky Country cliches. There are no koalas, not a single croc and not so much as a postcard of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. No one has corks on their hat, and the only kangaroo doesn’t appear until well into the third hour,

and then only as a minor traffic hazard.

But, if the cliches are missing, so is everything else: as far as national characteristics are concerned, Tom might as well have whisked Kate off to some early settlement on the moon. And, since the miniseries was seen by 80 million people in the US, there must now be nearly five times the population of Australia who believe the continent to be almost entirely empty.

The Australia concocted, for US consumption, in T h e L a s t F r o n t ie r is a sloppy scriptwriter's dreamland, in which normal motivation can be dis­ regarded, characters reduced to stock reactions to even stockier situations, and there is no crisis that cannot be resolved by driving long distances while staring intently at the windscreen. Indeed, the people in The L a s t F r o n t ie r drive and fly around so much it would have made more sense to drill for oil, not water, on the parched homestead.

T h e L a s t F r o n t ie r finally jettisons all credibility when Kate, offhandedly telling her old drover to do.what he thinks best with the cattle, simply takes off for a couple of days at the Alice Springs camel races with Nick, during which they engage in the much-anticipated romance, which turns out to be about as steamy as F le r e 's H u m p h r e y .

I have read enough theoretical works on narrative structure to know that romance Is the main (If not the only) resolution for a popular fiction, but I've rarely seen it so crudely demonstrated. In the final shot, the water problems are far from over, the house has burned down, the kids are god knows where and the cattle presumably as thirsty as ever.

But Nick and Kate are united on a hilltop — in an early draft, it was apparently Ayers Rock, but the ‘ n e w ’ ow ners (very sensibly) wouldn't agree — in an all-solving embrace.

The hell with the peril, in other words: go for the fade-out. Derek Harrison wasn’t the evening’s only dog: T h e L a s t F r o n t ie r is bad drama, bad television and a bad omen for the future. It is also a bloody insulting picture of Australia: if settling the continent were t h a t easy, the con­ victs’ sentence would have been to stay at home.

Nick Roddick

The Last Frontier: W m c e r.

D ir e c te d b y S im o n P ro d u c e r: T im S a n d e rs .

E x e c u tiv e p ro d u c e r: H a l M c E lro y .

A s s o c ia t e p r o d u c e r : B r id g e t H e d is o n , S c r ip tw r ite r : M ic h a e l L a u re n c e .

D ir e c to r o f p h o t o g r a p h y : Ia n B a k e r.

P r o d u c t io n d e s ig n e r : R oss M a jo r.

M u s ic : B r ia n M ay.

E d it o r : Tony P a te rs o n .

Sound r e c o r d is t: D on C o n n o lly . C a s t: L in d a E v a n s (K a te H a n n o n ) , J a c k T h o m p s o n ( N ic k S te n n in g ), J a s o n R o b a r d s (E d S te n n ln g ), Tony B o n n e r M o r r is (M e g

(T o m H a n n o n ) , J u d y S t e n n in g ) , M e r e d it h

S a li n g e r ( T in a A d a m s o n ), P e te r B illin g s le y ( M a r ty A d a m s o n ), B e th B uchanan (Z o e H a n n o n ), Asher K e d d ie (E m m a H a n n o n ) , T o m L a m o n d (A u n tie

D ie r).

P r o d u c t io n

com pany:

M c E lr o y & M c E lro y . F irs t b r o a d c a s t: N e t w o r k 10, 2 1 a n d 2 8 O c t o b e r 1 9 8 6 .

3 5 m m . 2 x 2 te le v is io n h o u rs . A u s tr a lia .

1986.

AZEDAND TW O NOUGHTS Four years ago. T h e D r a u g h t s m a n 's introduced Peter Green­ away to the general public. The ebullience of his considerable talent and intelligence indicated a promise of even better things to come: with his latest film. Greenaway largely confirms our expectations: A Z e d a n d T w o N o u g h t s is a work of pure genius and remarkable s a v o i r f a ir e which undeniably establishes its author as one of the most original and important contemporary film­ makers.

C o n tra c t

sufficient to assure the legitimacy of a picture? How is the realm of c in e m a to g ra p h ic o b s e rv a tio n established? What seems to fas­ cinate the director is manipulation and interaction between the theme (or substance) of his subject and that of his cinematographic language.

The film takes the form of a comic tragedy disguised as an anecdote.

The three letters of the title represent the three main characters: Z is a woman, the last of her kind, con­ fronted with two brothers, Oswald and Oliver (Brian and Eric Deacon).

At the beginning of the film, a swan crashes into a white car, killing two of its female occupants, but not the d river, A lb a B ew ick (A nd rea Ferreol). The accident, which takes

birth to twins.

In a style which is vaguely reminis­ cent of the Resnais of H ir o s h im a M o n A m o u r and the Buñuel of L ’A g e d ’O r. Greenaway plays with the con­ cepts of reality and illusion, docu­ mentary and fiction, to make the point that, essentially, there is little difference between them.

As any frame (or shot) depends on a particular point of view and is thus inherently artificial, the pursuit of truth, subjected to cinematographic conception, becomes a waste of time. In A Z e d a n d T w o N o u g h t s , Greenaway questions the legitimacy of representation, or more precisely, the legitimacy of the methods of re p re s e n ta tio n . Ju st as T h e D r a u g h t s m a n ’s C o n tra c t was a

teed, it is through the use of meta­ phors and mythological interpreta­ tion and association that the elements of the story will fit Into the image. Based on the figure two and the notion of the lateral line, obsessed with twinning and kinship, moving from the Christian world of Noah's Ark (the zoo) to the paradise of the classical world (the country­ side where Alba lives), all the characters in the film relate to the Roman pantheon. As Jupiter took the shape of a swan to seduce Leda, so the low-flying swan in the acci­ dent of the opening scene crashes into a white Ford Galaxie as though looking for a mate. The two brothers, victims of the coupling, are linked to the original twins Castor and Pollux.

There is also the character of Venus de Milo, the zoo’s resident whore, who specializes in erotic stories inspired by Anals Nin. The

D r a u g h t s m a n ’s

C o n tra c t

could be seen as a film structured around twelve drawings; A Z e d a n d T w o N o u g h t s can be described as a film about the eight steps of evolu­ tion according to Darwin — “ the three aspects of the story — repre­ sented by the freeing of the animals, the decay of the animals and the examination of the television natural history footage — divided into eight parts, with the three stories crosslink­ ing all the time.”

A Z e d a n d T w o N o u g h t s is also a discussion of the rapport between humankind and animal in the twen­ tieth century, developing the theme of the opposition between Genesis and Darwin. It is an opposition which can be characterized by one of the questions asked in the film: Is a zebra a white animal with black stripes or a black animal with white stripes? Framed in a series of con­ ceptual tableaux, A Z e d a n d T w o N o u g h t s opposes the symmetry of an ideal world to the chaos of a life populated by animals or their image.

TWINSET: Brian and Eric Deacon in A Zed and Two Noughts He pursues his passion for other creators whose influences were already felt in T h e D r a u g h t s m a n 's C o n t r a c t , notably Sade and Ver­ meer. demonstrating an even more pronounced stylization than before, and making use of lyrical and elegiac imagery to explore the world of philosophy, biology and necro­ logy. A Z e d a n d T w o N o u g h t s asks the supreme question — how does decay become life and life become decay once more after life? — and exposes the dichotomy between the reality of representation and the representation of reality.

In appearance, the film could be mistaken for a fantastic story with scientific pretensions, in the style of the Frankenstein movies, but Green­ away easily transcends the genre and chooses instead to explore the complicated allegorical language of cinema.

As in his previous films, substance is turned into subject. Is a contract

38 — January CINEMA PAPERS

place outside the Rotterdam Zoo, leaves the two zoologist brothers (and ex-Siamese twins) widowers.

They become Alba’s lovers. Grief and bereavement lead the two men into an imaginative investigation of life and decay, c o n s tru c tin g elaborate photographic experiments on the decomposition of dead animals and studying the evolution of the species through film records.

Meanwhile, Alba, who lost a leg in the car crash, agrees to have her other leg amputated (for the sake of symmetry) by a surgeon/forger (Gerard Thoolen) who calls himself van Meegeren (a reference to the famous Vermeer forger). He uses Alba’s operation to ‘restage’ one of the artist’s best-known paintings.

When Alba is free at last from Art and Medicine, the brothers rent a spacious apartment for her and the happiness of the menage-a-trois is at its height; Alba declares herself pregnant by both brothers and gives

direct reference to Georges de la Tour, A Z e d a n d T w o N o u g h t s is largely influenced by Vermeer, with its imagery constructed around 26 paintings of the artist's short life.

However, it is in the falsification of the stories surrounding Vermeer’s life and work that the director makes plain the difficulty of making “ what is real’ ’ fit into “ what is being repre­ sented” . For instance, under the mistaken impression that one never sees a woman’s feet in Vermeer’s work, van Meegeren amputates Alba’s legs (to fit the picture).

The cinema of Greenaway does not purport to create a ‘slice of life’, nor is it a revelation of reality. Totally artificial in their creation, his films acknowledge their artificiality. It is perhaps worth noting that in both T h e D r a u g h t s m a n ’s C o n t r a c t and A Z e d a n d T w o N o u g h t s the main pro­ tagonists die under the unexpected weight of realities.

Since reality cannot be guaran­

At a time when cinema seems to have surrendered to oversimplifica­ tion and standardization, rather than falling prey to the elitism of ‘intellectualism’, Greenaway aspires to place innate trust in the ‘intelligence’ of cinemagoers, creating a per­ versely insoluble film where preten­ sion and gravity are tempered by the blackest of humour. A cinema ask­ ing questions . . . nothing but ques­ tions.

Norbert Noyaux

A Zed and Two Noughts: P e te r

G re e n a w a y .

D ir e c t e d b y P r o d u c e r s : P e te r

S a m s b u ry and Kees K a s a n d e r.

S c r e e n p la y : P e te r G r e e n a w a y . D ir e c t o r o f p h o t o g r a p h y : S a c h a V ie rn y . P r o d u c ­ tio n d e s ig n e r : B e n V a n O s a n d J a n R o e lfs . M u s ic : M ic h a e l N y m a n . E d ito r: John W ils o n . C a s t: A n d r e a F e r r e o l ( A lb a B e w ic k ) , B r ia n D e a c o n ( O s w a ld D e u c e ) , E ric D e a c o n ( O liv e r D e u c e ) , F r a n c e s B a r b e r ( V e n u s D e M ilo ), J o s s A c k la n d (V a n H o y te n ) , J im D a v id s o n ( J o s h u a P la te ), A g n e s B r u le t ( B e ta B e w ic k ) , G u u s je V a n T ilb o r g h ( C a te r in a B o ln e s ), G e r a r d T h o o le n (V a n M e e ­ g e r e n ) . P r o d u c t io n c o m p a n y : B F I P ro d u c t io n s / A r t if ic ia l E y e P r o d u c t io n s /F ilm Four In te r n a tio n a l ( L o n d o n ) / A lla r t s E n te r p r is e s (T h e H a g u e ) . D is t r ib u to r s : R o n in . 3 5 m m . 1 1 5 m in u te s . G r e a t B rita in / N e t h e r la n d s . 1 9 8 5 .

wIêêêmSëêêêêêêêêêêê,

MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE Given that the English are thought to neglect the washing of their bodies, it’s hard to explain the importance of the laundrette in modern British society. But with space and sunlight rare enough to make our Hills Hoist way of life seem decadent, the la un drette, even in M argaret Thatcher’s free enterprise dream empire, is as much a fixture as it ever was, along with share phone in the unheated corridor and pennies to be saved for the gas meter.

This is the assumption in Hanif Kureishi's exciting screenplay for Stephen Frears’s film My Beautiful Laundrette — originally made on 16mm for Channel Four, and blown up to 35mm for cinema distribution following its success at last year’s Edinburgh Film Festival. The film uses the story of a young Pakistani boy Omar’s success with his first business, a laundrette, to explore many “ sites” in the new poor, multi­ cultural society of Britain today.

Omar (Gordon Warnecke) is a first generation Briton, sent by his father (Roshan Seth) to work for uncle Nasser (Saeed Jaffrey). Papa, a radical intellectual in his country of origin, has been shattered by the experience of migration, and hates Margaret Thatcher for evils he blames on her, and her kind.

Nasser, with a fleet of garages, laundrettes and slum dwellings, loves her. When Omar, now known as Omo, does up the rundown laundrette with money he scams from his drug-smuggling cousin Salim, Nasser toasts “ Thatcher and your beautiful laundrette” together.

It’s only the first example of numer­ ous diverse points of view that the young hero is challenged by.

Omar tries out one role, then another. He drags in an old white friend, Johnny (Daniel Day Lewis), stuck in the mud of unemployment and punkdom, to help him with the grand enterprise. Traditional roles are reversed as black employer treats his assistant as little better than white trash. It is not just understand­ ing and friendship which finally evolve; the two fall in love.

The key metaphor of cleansing remains intact throughout the film. It is not an equation of cleanliness with Whiteness, although that is touched on through Johnny’s earlier involve­ ment in National Front marches. And in the end, it’s water that the two boys splash over each other — a joking, but potent symbol of the message of tolerance, suggestive of the rich possibilities open to any multi-cultural society.

Stephen Frears has directed two features, Gumshoe (1971) and The Hit (1974), but is also well-known for his television work. He is one of a number of new British directors, backed by the provincial networks and in recent years by Channel Four, who are now forging a tele­ vision-led revival of the British film industry.

At the same time, many of the writers involved in this revival — for example David Hare, Harold Pinter, Kureishi himself — have come from writing stage plays. They learned,

TWIN TUBS: Daniel Day Lewis and Gordon Warnecke in My Beautiful Laundrette among other things, about what Brecht calls ’gestus’. Here an action means not only itself, but embodies some kind of social significance; all action, even silence or the eating of an apple, can be regarded as ulti­ mately political.

These writers have directors, mostly from the British television industry, who understand the height­ ened realism they are deploying as a style. It’s a language ideal for the low budget film. Raw, ‘real’ life is the subject, in whatever condition it might be found. But unlike many of Australia’s attempts in this field, a capturing of surface detail is not the ultimate aim.

This surface is used, as in the story of Omar and his laundrette, to tell another story, or more stories. Each image, each scene, leads the audi­ ence through feeling into thought.

For all this, too much of a burden should not be placed on My Beauti­

ful Laundrette — above all a charm­ ing, precious, modest miniature. It is one of those works which unexpect­ edly strikes a chord, or a raw nerve.

It certainly has in Britain: the latest Levi jeans advertisement for television is set in a laundrette, with star a hunky dark-skinned lad who strips off his 501s and relaxes into a chair In his jocks to enjoy the sight of his jeans slopping around in the glass-fronted washer.

Whether My Beautiful Laundrette makes sense in our land of clothes­ lines is a concern. One only hopes that word of mouth does not send in too many of the buffs with false or unnaturally high expectations.

There’s some fabulous directing, especially in the fight scenes among the young ones towards the end, shot from a distance and in silence, intercut with re-union of the two very different older brothers. There are notable performances, especially

from Daniel Day Lewis as rough dia­ mond Johnny, and Saeed Jaffrey, no cardboard cutout here. This and more; but, it must be remembered, in a film made in Britain for $900,000.

James Waites

My Beautiful Laundrette:

D ir e c te d b y

S te p h e n F re a rs .

P ro d u c e rs : S a ra h R a d c ly ffe a n d T im B e v a n . S c r e e n p la y : H a n if K u re is h i.

D ir e c t o r o f p h o t o ­ g r a p h y : O liv e r S ta p le to n . P r o d u c t io n d e s ig n e r :

H ugo

Luczyc

W h y h o w s k i.

M u s ic : L u d u s T o n a lis . E d ito r: M ic k A u d s le y .

C a s t: D a n ie l D a y L e w is (J o h n n y ), G o r d o n W a r n e c k e (O m a r), R oshan

S e th

(P a p a ),

Saeed

J a ffr e y

(N a s s e r), S h ir le y A n n e F ie ld (R a c h e l), D e r r ic k B r a n c h e (S a lim ). P r o d u c t io n c o m p a n y : W o r k in g T itle /S A F /F ilm F o u r I n t e r n a t i o n a l.

D is t r ib u to r : D endy.

35m m .

1985.

93

m in u te s .

G re a t

B rita in .

CINEMA PAPERS January — 39

HEY, MAN: Reflecting on those wild and crazy sixties; Tracy Mann in Sword of Honour.

SWORD OF H O NO UR Some months ago I was invited to a fine-cut screening of Platoon, a new feature film by Oliver Stone, whose credits as writer include 48 Hours.

Midnight Express, Year of the Dragon. Scarface, and who wrote and directed Salvador.

The audience for Platoon was small (around 25). but the film’s effect was devastating, and several people had to be physically assisted from the preview room. My two American friends — both anti-war activists in the sixties — cried con­ sistently throughout the final hour of th is la rg e ly a u to b io g ra p h ic a l account of Stone’s Vietnam experi­ ences. His platoon, divided by two

40 — January CINEMA PAPERS

powerful personalities, spent as much time killing one another as they did the North Vietnamese regulars.

American films about Vietnam have generally been tough, relent­ less, drug-crazed visions of the exis­ tential nightmare of this war. In many ways they seem designed as collec­ tive therapy — as if putting the whole neurotic mess onto the screen would help exorcise public guilt.

Like these films (particularly Apocalypse Now and The Deer Hunter), Oliver Stone’s film has con­ siderable emotional impact, and although not specifically designed for the purpose, does little to expunge the demons of Vietnam from the minds of this audience.

Francis Ford Coppola bravely, but unsuccessfully, undertook this task.

Platoon, however, aims lower and produces a more satisfying reson­ ance. Stone refires the old traumas and anxieties — but the issues remain unresolved.

Australia’s first major attempt to come to terms with our involvement in Vietnam is the television mini­ series Sword of Honour. The pro­ duction, however, only partially manages to address this nightmare aspect of the war. Regrettably, with eight hours to devote to the years 1966, 1967, 1968 and 1975, the Le Mesurier/Simpson team do their best to cover everything but ulti­ mately find themselves unable to break clear of their central love story.

Esse Rogers (Tracy Mann) leaves her rural community for Melbourne University and a career as an anti­ war protester. Tony Lawrence

(Andrew Clarke), her boyfriend and top Duntroon cadet, goes to Viet­ nam. Many subsidiary characters circle around them — their families, various Army personnel, university students, and acquaintances in both Vietnam and Thailand.

Given their respective positions on the Vietnam war, it is understand­ able that Esse and Tony’s relation­ ship should break up. Tony then breaks down with ‘post traumatic stress’ (battle fatigue) and begins a new life, with a family and a new job extorting money from Vietnamese boat refugees off the coast of Thai­ land. Esse finds him there and they return to their families and idyllic country life.

Although the acting is occasion­ ally stiff, the delivery poor, the direc­ tion conventional and restrained, Sword of Honour is strong on pro­ duction values and as professionally produced as many recent local and international miniseries.

The political research, where it occurs, seems exact and well inte­ grated into the plot. In striving, how­ ever, to present the ‘ordinary’ per­ son’s perspective, it neatly avoids any detailed political analysis — the issues are, after all, too large and complex for the ‘ordinary’ charac­ ters in the series to comprehend fully. C onsequently, Sword of Honour is forced to rely almost en­ tirely on the lives, and lifestyles, of its principal protagonists.

The authenticity and credibility of Sword of Honour is ultimately dependent on these two areas. Un­ fortunately, little rings true. In the eight hours devoted to the events of four crucial years in the history of the Vietnam conflict, there are many observations that would help illus­ trate the inability of this series to reproduce a believable resonance of the times.

Space permits only one example and while it may seem trivial in isola­ tion, it is representative of the absence of credibility and authen­ ticity in the entire series.

At university Esse meets Joe, an American draft resister who edits the student newspaper, Farrago. They form a folk act which is used throughout much of the middle four hours of the series. They play in the atmosphere and incongruous decor of a folk club reminiscent of the fifties ‘beat’ generation. The rock and roll energy that aided and abetted the cutting edge of the sixties is totally absent. Worse still, are the smug, warm and compassionate expres­ sions on Esse and Joe’s faces as they limp through ‘elevator-music’ arrangements of Dylan, Cohen and Simon and Garfunkel songs. Almost as silly, embarrassing and misrepresentative are the posters on the wall behind them which appear never to change with the years. Their ‘Peter, Paul and Mary’ act does eventually ‘go electric’, but not until 1968 — some four years after the rest of Mel­ bourne’s music scene.

The reality of the times is distorted.

Emotionally and thematically mis­ judged, the integrity of ‘the move­ ment' seems deliberately pasteur­ ized — history rewritten to make its unsavoury aspects romantic and palatable to the sensitivities of the middle-class audience. Sword of Honour fails totally to convey the

HE-MAN: Tom Burlinson in Windrider alienation of youth and the social rebellion of the sixties. It has reduced this cultural rebellion to the significance of a Big M commercial.

Likewise, the Vietnam debate is reduced to one dimension; the ‘patriots’ vs the ‘lunatic fringe’. What little attempt is made to raise the issues of those times is devoid of all fire, passion and paranoia.

S w o r d o f H o n o u r is not really about the sixties. Nor is it really about Vietnam. Its central concerns are the breakup of the family unit and the presentation of an elon­ gated and implausible love affair (constantly lapsing into Mills and Boon with setting suns and pas­ sionate embraces to ‘the love theme’). It ends with the reconstruc­ tion of the family circle and a hollow triumph of the human spirit.

Perhaps the concept was ‘un­ marketable’ without the love story.

Rod Bishop

Sword of Honour:

D ir e c t e d b y P in o A m e n t a a n d C a t h e r in e M illa r. P r o ­ d u c e r : R o g e r L e M e s u r ie r . E x e c u tiv e p r o d u c e r : R o g e r S im p s o n . S c r e e n p la y : R o g e r S im p s o n , T o m H e g a r ty , P e te r K in lo c h , K a th y M u e lle r . D ir e c t o r o f p h o t o g r a p h y : D a v id C o n n e ll. P r o d u c ­ tio n d e s ig n e r : B e r n a r d H id e s . E d ito r: P e te r B u r g e s s . M u s ic : G r e g S n e d d o n .

C a s t: T ra c y M a n n (E s s e R o g e rs ), A n d r e w C la r k e ( T o n y L a w r e n c e ) , A la n F le tc h e r ( F r a n k V itto rio ), N ik k i C o g h ill (V iv L a w r e n c e ) , A n d r e w S h a r p (J o e H a le ). P r o d u c t io n c o m p a n y : S im p s o n L e M e s u r ie r F ilm s . F irs t b r o a d c a s t: S e v e n N e tw o r k , 1 9 , 2 0 , 2 1 , 2 2 O c t o b e r 1 9 8 6 . 4 x 2 te le v is io n h o u r s . A u s tra lia .

1986.

WINDRIDER The world of W in d r id e r has a lot in common with the world of the Coke ad — surf, sun, boards, bodies, a boy, a girl, that kind of real thing — filled out by a bit of family conflict, a few moral lessons about humility, and a rousing competition finale to get the audience pulse racing at the end.

It is also a curiously old-fashioned world, where bouncers say things like ‘‘Can I help you, guv?” and bikini girls primp as awkwardly in the background as the surfer chicks from B e a c h B la n k e t B in g o . And it’s a post-Australia II world, where the elements can be mastered and the cheats defeated by a brash rich kid who knows what he wants and goes out and gets it. It is perfectly appro­

priate that the film was made in Western Australia, in winged keel territory.

Tom Burlinson plays P.C. Simp­ son, a windsurfing whizzkid who spends his days at daddy’s firm, and his spare time on the water. His job seems to involve being the centre of attention, getting the company’s crackpot inventor to modify his sail­ board, and having innumerable reports dumped on his desk with the injunction, “ Get this finished by tomorrow.”

Our first glimpse of P.C. is on his board, one heady morning when he has just achieved the perfect 360 degree som ersault. A ttractive, ambitious rock singer Jade (Nicole Kidman), who has just emerged from an all-night recording session, is the only one who sees him do it, and P.C. simply m u s t track down the woman who saw him in his finest hour. When he finds her, he does lovable madcap things like picking her up, throwing her over his shoulder and depositing her in the back of the company limo, or having her car hi-jacked (while she’s in it) by a towtruck and brought to the surf beach so that she can see him in action.

What girl could resist such blandishm ents? Not even in ­ dependent, motivated Jade, who suddenly becomes as malleable as overcooked spaghetti in the face of P.C.’s self-assured Sherman tank tactics.

But he still has a few lessons to learn about arrogance and self­ centredness and that ultimate deadly “ youth movie” sin, Not Talk­ ing To Your Father. (In this case the relentlessly amiable Charles Tingwell, hardly an ogre.) Fortunately communication is easily re-estab­ lished: all P.C. has to say is: “ So just how did you finally solve that prob­ lem with your supercharger?”

P.C. is presented as the kind of twerp who makes Tom Cruise’s character in T o p G u n look positively self-effacing, and apart from learn­ ing how to talk meaningfully about superchargers, he is allowed to stay that way. He is perfectly attuned to the hard, bright, overbearing nature of W in d r id e r : he sounds as if he is constantly on the verge of selling soap powder to any and every character he shares a scene with.

When things are going well for P.C., his instant coffee heats up in the microwave at the same moment as his toast pops out of the toaster; when life is on the slide, the machine malfunctions and the toast chars. A microwave is the ideal emotional index for this film.

Philippa Hawker

Windrider:

D ir e c t e d

by

V in c e n t

M o n to n .

P ro d u c e r: P a u l B a rro n .

A s s o c ia t e p r o d u c e r : B o n n ie H a rris .

S c r e e n p la y : E v e r e tt D e R o c h e , B o n n ie H a r r is .

D ir e c to r o f p h o to g ra p h y : J o s e p h P ic k e r in g . A r t d ir e c tio n : P h il P e te rs .

E d ito r: J o h n S c o tt.

M u s ic : K e v in P e e k . C a s t: T o m B u r lin s o n (P .C .

S im p s o n ) , N ic o le K id m a n (J a d e ) , C h a r le s T in g w e ll (S te w a r t S im p s o n S nr), J ill P e r r y m a n (M is s D o d g e ), S im o n C h ilv e r s (H o w a r d ) , K im B u lla r d (C o y o te ). P r o d u c t io n c o m p a n y : B a r r o n F ilm s . D is t r ib u to r : H o y ts . m in u te s . A u s tr a lia . 1 9 8 6 .

35m m .

98

CINEMA PAPERS January — 41

THE CHALLENGE T h e C h a lle n g e is the stuff that ratings are made of: against massive odds, a bunch of Aussie battlers triumph over the all-powerful Americans.

Only two other sporting legends have stirred national pride like the America’s Cup: Phar Lap and Les Darcy. All three have one element in common: the Yanks did the dirty on us. But only in the yacht race did we actually win.

The victory of ‘Australia II’ in 1983 has become one of those events which, it seems, we all remember.

After all, how could anyone forget Bob Hawke’s message to employ­ ers that night: sack anyone who takes a sickie the next day and you’re a bum? The national hang­ over became sanctified.

It wasn’t that the country had gone wild over twelve-metre yacht races (which are notoriously boring), but that we’d broken the 132-year run of American victories. If we could do that, we, the country, could do any­ thing. And it is this thème of national achievement that underpins T h e C h a lle n g e .

Produced by Greg Coote, Matt Carroll and Linda Agran (of M i n d e r and W id o w s fame), T h e C h a lle n g e

portrays the events leading up to the victory of 'Australia II’ over Dennis Conner’s boat, ‘Victory’. And, despite some weaknesses, it is a strong and entertaining show, well written (by David Phillips), well directed (by Chris Thomson) and with some notably good performances.

Unlike other multiple-night sagas, T h e C h a lle n g e is rarely boring or loaded with pa d d in g , m ainly because the decision seems to have been made to focus on the charac­ ters and the politics, not the yacht­ ing. The sports sequences are rela­ tively few, and are well placed between the battles on land.

The drama, of course, begins with failure: Newport, 1980, and Alan Bond’s syndicate has lost for the fourth time. Skipper John Bertrand (John Diedrich) and designer Ben Lexcen (John Clayton) both decide to call it quits. “ The best ten years of my life spent losing boat races,’’ says Lexcen. Bondy (John Wood), however, refuses to let them accept defeat and spends most of the first two hours pushing them to take up the challenge again. Very quickly, therefore, he becomes the drive for the story — an unlikely but attractive Aussie hero, who embodies the message that is currently being sung: in tough times, you’ve got to go for it, to fight for success. Bond’s vision inspires them all: Bob Hawke

and Paul Keating should be so lucky.

The early scenes between Bond, the reluctant Bertrand and the frus­ trated, sensitive Lexcen, are full of energy and humour. Obsessed with winning, John W ood’s Bond is shown to be loving, generous, devious, impulsive, a bit slow and at times insensitive. Bertrand is por­ trayed as a dedicated and brilliant skipper, who allows himself to wallow in self-pity when he makes a tactical error, and who blames him­ self totally whenever the boat Joses.

But it is John Clayton as Lexcen who all but steals the show, with his display of loveable craziness;: And, of course, it was Loxcon who de­ signed the winged keel — the ‘act of genius’ which leads to so much’ of the drama. Convinced that the boat is going to win and take the Cup. away from them, the New York Yacht Club, represented mainly by Ray Barrett and Gus Mercurio, set about trying to have the keel' dis­ qualified.

I he NYYC characters are not drawn as deeply as the Australians: they’re one-dimensional, ..constantly fe e n to be plotting behind devious smiles at cocktail parties, or planning strategies in their sombre boardroom. They are simply everything the Aussies are not: powerful through years of victory, aristocratic

SAIL OF THE CENTURY: Ray Barrett represents the dastardly New York Yacht Club in The Challenge

and bad sports when losing.

The other challengers get less of a lo ok:in. The soundtrack goes Mediterranean when the Italians run past, the French shout “ Bonjour, Aussie!” , and only the Englishman, Peter De Savary (Tim Pigott-Smith), who smokes huge cigars and drinks gallons of champagne, has much chance to register. De Savary also embodies British ‘fair play’: a good sport when he loses, he jumps into the water to celebrate with the vic­ torious Aussies — which, of course, makes T h e C h a lle n g e something of a rarity, since the Brits usually get a vicious serve in our miniseries.

Unlike the men from the New: York Y a ch t C lu b , D e nn is C o n n e r (Nicholas Hammond) is a wellrounded and interesting character Obsessed with the Australians', he is desperate to maintain his reputation as the best. Before the infamous 'keel express' incident (where Conner menacingly drives a forklift towards the Australian boat), there is a fascinating scene with Lexcen "Am I the best?” he asks. When I excen replies that h e . is not arguing, Conne.r/says: “ Well, s a y it.

Tell me I’m the best!”

There is also a subtle visual sug­ gestion that Conner is a drinker. In the scene with Lexcen, he is carry­ ing a dozen cans Of beer and, when he’s not on the water, he is usually guzzling a Budweiser. The Austra­ lians do a fair amount- of drinking, too. but the point is firmly made that, under team manager Warren Jones (a good performance by Richard Moir), victory can only be achieved through rigorous discipline: early to bed and up at dawn to exercise. The relationship of the team is based on the spirit of competition and a wry devotion to authority. Like the bottles of tomato sauce and the jars of Vegemite on the dining-room tables, these qualities are perceived to be uniquely Australian.

T h e C h a lle n g e is, in fact, a cele­ bration of all things Australian: to quote Paul Hogan, it’s a ‘feelgood’ show. Unlike Hogan’s film, however, there’s a discernible smugness about it, because we approach it from the position of knowing the out­ come: the more devious the Ameri­ cans, the more enjoyable — and the easier — it all is to watch.

Tony Cavanaugh

The Challenge:

D ir e c te d

by

C h ris

T h o m son . P ro d u c e rs : R o b e rt L o a d e r and T ris tra m M ia ll.

E x e c u tiv e p r o ­ d u c e r s : G r e g C o o te , M a tt C a r r o ll a n d L in d a A g r a n . E x e c u tiv e in c h a r g e o f p r o d u c t io n : H a r le y M a n n e r s . S c r e e n ­ p la y : D a v id P h illip s . D ir e c to r o f p h o t o ­ g ra p h y : R u s s e ll B o y d .

P r o d u c t io n d e s ig n e r : L a rry E a s tw o o d .

M u s ic : M a r tin A r m ig e r . S o u n d r e c o r d is t: M a r k L e w is . E d ito r: L in d s a y F ra z ie r. C a s t: J o h n W o o d (A la n B o n d ), J o h n D ie d r ic h ( J o h n B e rtra n d ), J o h n C la y to n (B e n L e x c e n ), B a r th o lo m e w J o h n (J o h n L o n g le y ) , R ic h a r d M o ir (W a rre n J o n e s ), L o r r a in e B a y ly (E ile e n B o n d ), J a c k i W e a v e r (R a s a B e r tr a n d ) , T im P ig o ttS m ith (P e te r D e S a v a ry ), N ic h o la s H am m ond ( D e n n is C o n n e r), B a rre tt (B o b M c C u llo u g h ) ,

R ay G us

M e r c u r io (V ic R o m a g n a ) . P r o d u c t io n c o m p a n y : G o ld e n D o lp h in , in a s s o c ia ­ tio n w ith R o a d s h o w , C o o te a n d C a rro ll.

F irs t b r o a d c a s t: S T W 9 , P e rth , 1 3 -1 5 O c to b e r 1986. 1 6m m . 3 x 2 h o u rs . A u s tr a lia . 1 9 8 6 .

te le v is io n

SHORT CHANGED There is a p e ace fu l cultu ral revolution going on in Australian cinema, one which is concerned with the position of Aboriginal people and attuned to the ways we interpret images. George Ogilvie’s feature Short Changed can be viewed in terms of this positive black film practice, a film sensitive to the sort of contemporary political issues that so rarely make it on to the com­ mercial screen. It is full of hope, passionate in its questioning of white man’s ways and the story it tells goes straight to the heart.

Tommy (Jamie Agius) is the ‘magpie’ son.of a young Aborigine, Stuart (David Kennedy), and a white middle class woman, Alison (Susan Leith). Tommy is only two when his parents begin to drift apart — a suggestion of the ultimate incom­ patibility of two worlds. Believing that Stuart is always going to play the role of the victim (like his father who died in jail), Alison leaves with her son after she sees Stuart being arrested at a land rights demon­ stration.

The narrative is then picked up seven years later. Alison is living with her father, a strict, domineering man who wants everyone (including his grandson whom he has sent to a Catholic school) to know that he’s worked for every dollar. “ You can’t dream all day," he tells Tommy, as he sends him off for another term of “ d iscip lin e ” . In two m atching scenes, we see the rebellious and disturbed child caught in a fight in the school yard and his father Stuart, who is living in the country, being picked up by the cops after a brawl.

Tommy knows nothing of his father until Stuart drunkenly arrives at the boarding school in the middle of the night and cries out for his son.

Short Changed is about Stuart’s attempt to win custody of his child, and, more importantly, the way in which he establishes their relation­ ship by teaching Tommy about his Aboriginal heritage — giving him the means to discover a part of his identity that has been repressed. As this journey progresses, misconcep­ tions and blindnesses are broken down. Tommy learns to see Stuart as his father, rather than Stuart’s mate Curly (brilliantly played by Mark Little) whom Tommy im­ mediately warms to. Curly is a tragi­ comic character, who brings to the film a welcome humour and a wry

Short Changed:

D ir e c t e d b y G e o r g e O g ilv ie .

P ro d u c e r: R oss M a tth e w s .

O r ig in a l s c r e e n p la y : R o b e r t J. M e rritt,

fr o m a s c r e e n p la y b y K e n Q u m n e ll a n d R o b e r t J. M e rritt. D ir e c to r o f p h o t o ­ g r a p h y : P e te r L e v y . P r o d u c t io n d e s ig n : K r is tia n F r e d r ik s o n . M u s ic : C h ris N e a l.

E d it in g : R ic h a r d F r a n c is - B r u c e . S o u n d r e c o r d is t: P e te r B a rk e r. C a s t: D a v id K e n n e d y (S tu a rt), S u s a n L e ith (A lis o n ), J a m ie A g iu s (T o m m y ), M a r k L ittle ( C u r ly ) , R ay M eagher ( M a r s h a ll) .

P r o d u c t io n c o m p a n y : M a g p ie F ilm s .

D is t r ib u to r : G r e a te r U n io n . 3 5 m m . 1 04 m in u te s . A u s tr a lia . 1 9 8 6 .

self-consciousness. In one beauti­ fully handled scene, he tells Tommy that he should be glad he has a father, for he never had one.

If a theme could be traced in this film, it would centre on the notion of belonging, whether it be to the land, to a cultural tradition, or perhaps to a family. “ We too have a right to belong,” says an Aboriginal man. before he is handcuffed and taken back to jail: his is a plea for recog­ nition. In another scene, two Aboriginal men sharing a jail cell realize they are step-brothers, that they belong to the same family. An inscription on the jail-wall reads: “ Born into madness,/ I have two souls;/ A dim light shines/ Yet neither one glows.” They could be the words of Tommy or Stuart, who. having known the black and the white worlds, are forced to come to terms with their own individual identity. This, in fact, is one of the strengths of the film; by not damning categorically the whites or the blacks, it is able to express the com­ plexities of race and heritage.

With Short Changed, scriptwriter Bob Merritt obviously knew exactly what he wanted to say: the argu­ ment comes across loud and clear.

The speech given by Stuart's lawyer in the Family Court is straight polemic and it is at this point that one feels that black, red and yellow flags should be flying. We are. in fact, left with little choice but to cheer from the sidelines, the consequence being, however, that the details of the story are occasionally lost to these larger issues.

For example, what are we to make of Alison’s character? FHer part lacks the soul of either Tommy or Stuart's and it often seems quite inconceiv­ able that she married an Aborigine in the first place. Her speech to the Christian Brother about the discrimi­ nation she faced in Redfern doesn’t really explain anything about her motivations for hiding the truth from her son. These kinds of dis­ connections are most evident in the first part of the film, where it wants to jump in and do too much, too quickly.

The heart of the story belongs to Tommy and Stuart, particularly when their sense of belonging — to each other — begins to consolidate.

Ogilvie has inspired a spirited performance from Jamie Agius. who makes an extraordinary acting debut. (Earlier this year, he received the Aboriginal Artist of the Year Award.) Through the character of Stuart, we develop an under­ standing of the position of the urban black and. on another level, the position of a man who finally trans­ forms rage and despair into positive action. David Kennedy gives a very forthright performance, rising to the demands of a carefully written, often contradictory, character.

Short Changed belongs to what might be regarded as a new wave in Australian film — and theatre. In a film like Bill Bennett’s Backlash, or Tony Strachan’s play, State of Shock, there is a willingness to expose the complexities of contem­ porary reality, and, most signifi­ cantly, an effort to take up a black perspective. With Short Changed successfully sneaking into the com­

SHORT CHAINS: David Kennedy as Stuart in Short Changed mercial circuit (it was nominated for five AFI Awards this year), there are signs that we are beginning to make up for lost ground: the film does reflect a small gain in conscious­ ness.

But, in the same way that we look back to the beginnings of the women’s movement and recognize

the naivety of some of the theories and strategies, so the hopes articu­ lated in Short Changed might, in retrospect, appear too facile. This, however, is an uncertainty that shouldn't preclude a generous viewing of the film — at least, for the present.

Kathy Bail

CINEMA PAPERS January — 43

THREE FOR THE ROADHOUSE: Gia Carides,

APERITIF TIMES THREE: Tracy Mann and kids in a dental moment from Cyclone Tracy

CYCLONE TRACY Despite the comments of Cyclone Tracy co-producer Timothy Read that “ It’s more important to see the effects on the characters than it is to see buildings blown over,” Channel Nine’s series manages to make more effective use of its recreation of the city than of its characters. A fundamental flaw of this three-part mini-series is its failure to rise above im poverished characterizations, cliche-ridden storylines and cheap sentimentality.

The makers of the series have two tasks; they need to portray authen­ tically the cyclone that devastated Darwin on Christmas Eve 1974, and they need to entertain their audi­ ence. In grappling with these demands, they have opted for a course that polarizes the two con­ siderations. Pious, documentarystyle voiceovers and newsreel foot­ age convey ‘authenticity’, while glib melodrama provides ‘entertain­ ment’; the production values (sets, models and special effects) are accomplished, while the script and direction are ill-conceived.

Connie’s Paradise Hotel in Darwin is the place where the motley group of characters converge. They in­ clude the suicidal, alcoholic, washed-up journalist, Steve (Chris Haywood), a sleazy, drug-dealing Yank named Harry (Nicholas Ham­ mond), his infatuated local girlfriend, Joycie (Linda Cropper), and a Greek truck driver, Theo (Nicholas Papademetriou), in Darwin to pick up his mother. Connie (Tracy Mann), an independent mother, has just made her final payment on the hotel.

44 — January CINEMA PAPERS

The script holds few surprises, the pot-pourri of storylines barely deviating from the most predictable of resolutions. The journos (Steve and his Aboriginal cinematographer, Hilton, played by Paul Pryor) get word to the outside world in the biggest scoop of their lives: “ People are dying everywhere and the world’s gotta know,” Hilton pro­ claims. Steve finds a new beginning with Connie, whose children go missing, but are later found, and they start rebuilding the pub. In one of the series’ more novel, if incred­ ible moments, Theo dresses as a woman so that he can join his injured mother as she is airlifted to safety.

Equally incredible, yet more in­ dicative of the depths to which the series will stoop in order to provide a ‘happy ending’, is the treatment of Harry; his concern with getting to his stash, and to hell with the cyclone, and his involvement with a man’s death are allowed to slip by ‘un­ noticed’, while at the end of the show, he declares his love for Joycie.

Tracy labours with repetitious and cliched notions of human suffering; its dramatic licence is put largely to the service of tales of lost and found children, new beginnings, shattered dreams and life rising from the rubble. (Admittedly there is one bravely told sequence where a child is found dead.)

Disaster movies, whether they concern a sinking ship, or molten lava chasing people down the side of a volcanic mountain, ought to revel in the fury of the situation, and here Tracy is no exception. Houses fall apart like crumbling dry biscuits, vision is blurred by flying debris and

the sounds of tin flapping, glass smashing, wind and rain, mount a barrage on the screen. There is a painstaking attention to detail that allows models to look thoroughly authentic, and the sets evoke the rubbish-strewn wasteland of the aftermath.

The series’ producers, PBL, have often succeeded in stirring public and critical comment. They have an uneven track record that one writer has already described as a case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. On the one hand there is the imaginative PBL of The Great Bookie Robbery and Double Sculls: on the other hand, there’s the PBL that gave us The Body Business and Glass Babies.

Tracy belongs in the latter category, and, for many, this represents a direction that holds little for the future of local TV production.

Paul Kalina

Cyclone Tracy: D ir e c te d b y D o n a ld C r o m b le a n d K a th y M u e lle r.

P ro ­ d u c e r s : J o h n ■E d w a r d s a n d T im o th y R e a d . S c r e e n p la y : M ic h a e l F is h e r, T e d R o b e rts , J o s e p h B. L o w e . D ir e c to r o f p h o t o g r a p h y : A n d r e w L e s n ie . S p e c ia l e ffe c ts : D a v id H a r d ie and C h r is M u rra y . P r o d u c tio n d e s ig n e r : S te w a rt B u rn s id e . E d ito rs : M a r tin P r o w s e a n d D e n is e H a s le m . M u s ic : M a r tin A r m ig e r .

C a s t: C h ris H a y w o o d (S te v e ), T ra c y M a n n (C o n n ie ), N ic h o la s H a m m o n d (H a rry ), L in d a C r o p p e r (J o y c ie ), T o n y B a rry ( M ic k B re n n a n ), A ile e n B r itto n (B ig C a ro lin e ), C a r o lin e G illm e r (L ittle C a ro lin e ), J a c k W e b s te r ( B o b b y F o n ­ ta in e ), N ic h o la s P a p a d e m e t r io u (T h e o ), P a u l P r y o r (H ilto n ). P r o d u c t io n c o m ­ p a n y : P B L P r o d u c tio n s . F irs t b r o a d ­ c a s t: C h a n n e l N in e , 5 -7 N o v e m b e r 1 9 8 6 . 3 x 2 te le v is io n h o u rs . A u s tra lia .

1986.

BACKLASH Maybe it’s not so surprising that Backlash missed out on most of the nominations at this year’s AFI Awards; after all, producers aren’t going to nominate a film made by a filmmaker so disdainful of the uses to which 10BA has been put; directors aren’t going to be impressed with such seemingly loose direction; writers will be less than enchanted with a film in which the writer’s role has been by-passed; and actors, most of whom are terrified at the very thought of improvization, won’t be won over either. So Backlash has received, like so many fine Austra­ lian films before it, far more attention overseas (including a prestigious slot in the ‘Un Certain Regard’ section of Cannes) than it has at home.

It’s certainly true that improviza­ tion is a very risky route to take. I remember once interviewing Robert Bolt, whose screenplays have in­ cluded adaptations of weighty novels (Doctor Zhivago), and daring to raise the question of improvization (I’d just seen Skolimowski’s Deep End). Bolt was almost apoplectic on the subject. "It just doesn't work,” he said firmly, if irrationally, because it can work, brilliantly. “ Even if you got hold of some doodles Picasso had scrawled while talking on the phone, they’d still be doodles: no artistry in them.”

Well, there’s plenty of artistry in Backlash. Bennett has taken a simple enough story as his basis, and scrawled some impressive doodles around it.

Two Sydney cops (David Argue, Gia Carides) are assigned to escort

ÄÄS11I

NEW BOOKS

FROM DENT

WOODY ALLEN his films and comer

M A R K

Lydia Miller and David Argue in Backlash an Aboriginal woman (Lydia Miller) back to the outback township where she’s been accused of murdering a publican who, as we saw in the opening sequence, raped her.

Darling, the male cop, is a foulmouthed bigot disgraced after being indirectly involved in the death of an Aborigine who was in police custody. He smokes dope because, he says, it was compulsory if you were on the drug squad. Iceton, the woman cop, is the daughter of a barrister and has been studying law.

At first there's a state of complete antipathy between the two cops; Iceton shrinks from Darling’s casual racism/sexism and the way he flouts the law he’s paid to uphold; he, in turn, finds her impossibly prim. As the film progresses, the tensions between the two ease, but the a n tic ip a te d ro m a n ce d o e s n ’t develop; indeed, Darling is drawn towards Kath, the prisoner, leaving Iceton rather out on a limb.

Most of the action takes place at an abandoned sheep station after a burst tyre has temporarily stranded the trio. In a series of beautifully handled, free-wheeling scenes, Bennett and his team (including his exemplary cinematographer, Tony Wilson), explore these relationships in a way not attempted before in an Australian film.

It doesn’t always work, but Bennett is willing to take such risks that when there’s an odd moment that looks awkward, we forgive him.

Most reviewers have commented on the crucial denouement scene in­ volving Anne Smith as the publi­ can's wife (her real-life husband, Don, played the publican). After I criticised this scene on The Movie: ¿how’ on SBS, a Melbourne viewer

called to say that, in his view, Ms Smith was quite perfect as a rather aw kward, troubled, frightened woman. That viewer may be right; maybe we’re just not attuned to the real thing when we see it.

The Robert Bolts of this world will probably loathe B a c k la s h and every­ thing it stands for. But the viewer who is more open-minded should appreciate a film that speaks volumes about the members of our police force and their attitudes towards racial minorities. They should respond to the freedom and sense of excitement that’s quite palpable in Bennett’s film, and marvel that such quality has been produced on such an obviously minuscule budget.

Best of all is the pervasive sense of menace that Bennett has brought, even to scenes set in the open in broad daylight. Few Australian films have generated such a continual feeling of tension and unease as this one. It’s a film to be encouraged and praised.

» E G O

THE BEST OF MODERN SCREEN Mark Bego Mark Bego, former editor-in-chief, has selected the best articles and photos from the thirties to the sixties from this perennially popular American fan magazine; the resulting time-capsule of exclusive news features and stories is an intriguing insight on a time of innocence when stars were duly worshipped, like gods and goddesses, by their adoring fans.

WOODY ALLEN: HIS FILMS AND CAREER Douglas Brode This survey of his work appraises all the movies, including the 1986; release "‘Hannah and Her Sisters’ and offers a new view of the man himself and the goals which he tries to achieve through his work.

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David Stratton

Backlash: W ritte n , p r o d u c e d a n d d ir e c t e d b y B ill B e n n e tt, w ith d ia lo g u e b y D a v id A r g u e , G ia C a rid e s , L y d ia M ille r, B ria n S y ro n . D ir e c to r o f p h o t o ­ g r a p h y : T o n y W ils o n . E d itin g : D e n is e H u n te r .

M u s ic : M ic h a e l A tk in s o n , M ic h a e l S p ic e r. S o u n d : L e o S u lliv a n .

C a s t: D a v id A r g u e ( T re v o r D a rlin g ), G ia C a r id e s ( N ik k i Ic e to n ), L y d ia M ille r (K a th ), B r ia n S y ro n (T h e E x e c u tio n e r), A n n e S m ith (M rs S m ith ), D o n S m ith ( M r S m ith ), J e n n ife r C lu ff (W a itre s s ). P r o ­ d u c t io n c o m p a n y : M e r m a id B e a c h M u lt if ilm s .

35m m .

A u s tra lia . 1 9 8 6 .

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m in u te s .

PEOPLE WILL TALK John Kobal These 41 interviews are like no others ever published. They are the work of a leading film ar&hivist whose many books on the subject have;received the highest praise from critics and film historians, and whose passion since childhood for thé movies has led him to the people who direct them, design them, edit them, arid — most of all — star in them.

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CINEMA PAPERS January — 45

WhySantaandPrince didn't n a recent issue of S ig h t & S ound, Jonathan Rosenbaum dished out some very perceptive rem arks about how our conception of the cinem a in the old sense is changing, or has changed, with the advent of new institutions and new technology, particularly with cable TV and video. Not the least perceptive rem ark concerns the way this new technology offers, or could offer, a healthy access to what Rosenbaum calls ‘d iffic u lt’ films, directly and w ithout interference, given the condition of private viewing. By interference, Rosenbaum means the power of cultural arbitration held by m ainstream press critics.

The signs are evident in this country as well. G odard’s C o n te m p t, Fassbinder’s Q ue re lle , Elaine M ay’s M ik e y a n d N icky, F uller’s D e a d P ig e o n on B e e th o ve n S treet, among others, have been available on video for some time, where their theatrical release has either been limited, or non-existent. SBS offers som ething of the same service and although it isn’t cable, it is still something. But where R osenbaum ’s remarks hold good for ‘d iffic u lt’ films, in this country his rem arks also apply to a good num ber of film s that we would not norm ally call ‘d iffic u lt’ , yet w hich suffer the same fate theatrically as those m entioned above. At your local video outlet, however, these same film s share equal space next to a R o c k y IV or a C ro co d ile D undee, and although they

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w o u ld n ’t be hired out as much as R o c k y or D undee, they are at least visible and available; videos can be repeated, and are becom ing increasingly easier and cheaper to buy.

This piece is about film s that are released directly — or alm ost directly — onto video. There are a num ber of reasons for this, and not all are to do with the status of m ainstream press critics in A ustralia. But they are a part of it, given that they perform som ething of a service to the general public, and especially since a tradition has form ed where a film is either given generous space when it is not “ necessary” , — i.e. there are film s that will find their audience with or w ithout the help of mainstream critics — or ‘panned’ outright. The latter response could pull the film out of theatrical release prem aturely.

But a more realistic determ inant would seem to be how well film s do theatrically overseas. If a film does not stir much enthusiasm at the box office, it’s more than likely that it will reach this country in cassette form. This is the case with P rince’s directing debut U n d e r The C h e rry M oon. Yet P ee W e e ’s B ig A d ve n tu re , a film which did rem arkably well in the US, went straight to video in Australia. Probably in anticipation that m ainstream critics would make a sham bles of it, and that Australian audiences probably w o u ld n ’t warm to the film ’s gim m icky, cartoonish

CAREFUL WITH THAT AXE, SANTA: A tender moment from Silent Night, Deadly Night

46 — January CINEMA PAPERS

humour. Ironically, P e e W e e ’s B ig A d v e n tu re on video has already gathered som ething of a cult follow ing by word of mouth.

A nother consideration w ould be the distrib u to rs’ tailored know ledge of what traditionally will or will not work theatrically in the Australian market.

With the exception of A W o m a n U n d e r The In flu e n c e , John C assavetes has consistently been box office poison in Australia, and despite his latest, B ig Trouble, restraining som ew hat from the idiosyncratic subjectivism th at has marked his previous film s, it too has gone directly to video.

Still another consideration is that of bad publicity. This has affected two recent film s in particular, G odard’s H a il M a ry and the C hristm as slasher, S ile n t N ig h t, D e a d ly N ig h t. H a il M a ry ’ s bad publicity, for instance, has led the A ustralian d istributor to leave it on the shelf. (Ironically, it is said that cinem a m anagem ent had a hand in organising protesters at the film ’s screenings at London’s Metro Theatre.) On video H a il M a ry is reaching a more general audience than it norm ally would, given that it is one of those ‘d iffic u lt’ film s.

Bad publicity has d efinitely helped the film along to get into video outlets and when the negative sting of bad publicity has been soothed away, then H a il M a ry breathes a lot easier on the shelf at the video outlet, untroubled by protesters.

But this is not always the case. It is not so for S ile n t N ig h t, D e a d ly N ig h t.

Bad publicity has follow ed it from film to video. The video has already been banned in Q ueensland, and OK, th a t’s Q ueensland, but when new spaper reviews run headlines like, “ Psycho Santa video could scar children for life ” , then things get scary. Nonetheless, the point is that on the whole, all of these film s have eventually found their way to video and here they will enjoy an unencum bered life-span.

This piece is also supposed to be talking at some length about two film s in particular, U n d e r the C h e rry M o o n (W arner) and S ile n t N ig h t, D e a d ly N ig h t (Palace), and in w riting a few lines about these film s one could say I am being R osenbaum ’s “ in te rfe re n ce” . But w riting for C in e m a P a p e rs, or F ilm n e w s, or even F ilm vie w s, given that they are either bi-m onthly or quarterly, m eans that o n e ’s position as a critic, I will argue, is not m ainstream but m arginal.

The activity of the m arginal critic is not a m atter of tagging one, two or three stars next to a film title , expressing a perfunctory relation of power over public taste, but it reflects a desire — to put it simply, although desire is not anything sim ple — to talk about film . T hat is to say, to talk about o n e ’s conception of film in a general sense, and w here this includes film s in particular.

Adrian M artin w rites in a m anner that I would call jo urnalistic, but still engages

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in what I call m arginal criticism rather than journalism ; here one is not tied to a stringent tim e, or space factor, not limited in o n e ’s choice of film s and w hat one can say about them , and not constrained by a highly coded way of writing. It was in th a t collective dream of marginal criticism w hich was 3RRRFM’s F ilm C ritic is m S how , that he delivered a passionate discussion of S e cre t A d m ire r, despite the fact that everyone present in the studio knew the film w o u ld n ’t last longer than two more days on the screen. If service to public taste is a question here, then it is as a consequence, not a condition.

I have to adm it that although I may deplore the status of m ainstream critics, the conditions of the A ustralian film market, and the stupid ity of bad publicity, I do not deplore the situation of film s to video. I, for one, prefer the larger screen to the sm aller screen; but video, and the changes it has brought, are with us and will stay for som e tim e.

Video is offering us som ething but not telling us, and this is being lost on those of us who w ant to talk about film s. If critics, in the m arginal sense that I have briefly described, do not take account of video, then this has consequences for talking about film s, and for our conception of the cinem a today. W ith video technology, indeed com m unications m edia in general, we do not live in a global village but, as Rosenbaum says, “ in a loose netw ork of estranged co m m u n itie s’ ’ , and private viewing results in a kind of closely guarded silent reflection.

As a m arginal critic, it is im portant to me and to others that our only access to C assavetes’ B ig T ro u b le is through video. But it is more im portant still, that it is through video that we could talk about B ig T ro u b le ’s airy, screw ball sophistication, and that upon reflection, how this puts in focus the w ay A W om an U n d e r The In flu e n c e and M in n ie a n d M o s k o w itz exude a screw ball sensibility akin to, but very much off centre from , thirties screw ball.

U n d e r The C h e rry M o o n sim ilarly takes thirties screw ball com edy, along the lines of L ubitsch’s B lu e b e a rd ’s E ig h th W ife or S tu rg e s’s The L a d y Eve, but at a low key, with Prince sig n ifica n tly taking the role of the fem ale gold digger.

The film also negotiates with thirties musicals, but w here the m usical and dance perform ances express the destiny of the couple tow ard co m p a tib ility — as in a way they do so in P u rp le R a in — their m inim al use in U n d e r T he C h e rry M oon tend to express an in com patibility of values and forces th a t will eventually separate the couple. (P rin ce ’s sensual dynam ism in perform ance is not a concern of this film , but a m ental ease with narcissism and hom oeroticism still is.) It is significant that U n d e r The C h e rry M o o n revises the th irtie s screw ­ ball and m usical figure as a tra g ic figure.

If in our small way we wish to engage in the debate over som ething like S ile n t N ig h t, D e a d ly N ig h t, video offers us that opportunity, but if video isn ’t accepted into critical undertakings, then that kind of engagem ent is short circuited. S ile n t N ig h t, D e a d ly N ig h t has been singled out for the possible harm ful effects of allow ing children to see Santa adding to the C hristm as carnage; I rem em ber as a kid being scared for my life at the image of Deadly Ernest on television, yet I do not believe I’ve grown up with any abnorm al traits. I must adm it, however, that S ile n t N ig h t, D e a d ly N ig h t is a bad film . Not a nasty bad, but a “ ch e a p ” bad, an “ a m ateur” bad, the kind of bad where psychosis is signified by a m onotonal drone of “ p u n ish ” , “ p u n ish ” each tim e Santa ho-ho-ho’s his axe into a victim . And this badness has consequences for how the film is perceived. But despite its badness, S ile n t N ig h t, D e a d ly N ig h t reveals some w isdom about how our culture may repress the way children could actually perceive Santa as som ething fearful.

The image of a m other dragging her sobbing child over to sit on S anta’s knee is som ething the film utilizes to give that double edge to the figure of Santa Claus.

This piece is also about a place. That such journals as the M o n th ly F ilm B u lle tin and A m e ric a n F ilm incorporate video is a good sign, but these are overseas publications, and although

they differ to degrees, both incorporate video as a form of guide som ew here at the back of the journal. It is in this that video can be seen to be taken as film ’s inferior offspring. That our own film journals do not incorporate video is indicative of this view as well, but in separating film and video, except in instances of ‘a rt’ or ‘m u sic’ video, th e re ’s an im poverishm ent of film criticism , and this is indicative of our journals treading a particular path, which it seems to me to be toward journalism .

We do not need some new video magazine, this would merely enhance the separatist stance that we already have. It’s a question of journals like C in e m a P apers, or F ilm n e w s, and even F ilm vie w s, journals that offer a com m itm ent in th e ir own way to film culture and to m arginal criticism , incorporating video. Otherwise, we are not really contem porary with w hat the cinem a is today, or could possibly be. It is a m atter of the publications we already have redressing their com m itm ent to what video technology is offering critically and culturally, the ‘d iffic u lt’ as well as the not so ‘d iffic u lt’ .

W hen Rosenbaum writes that som ething is in the process of ending, but by the same token som ething is in the process of beginning, I w ant to know what this beginning is, and video is one way toward it.

Raffaele Caputo

JUST A GIGOLO: Prince in Under the Cherry Moon

CINEMA PAPERS January — 47

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Surrounded by members of the Education Department at the pre­ view screening of this animation, I had one of those rare moments where a legitimate question comes to mind. Why am I here to review An American Tail (UIP) when I am cer­ tain that no self-respecting six to twelve-year-old kid, for whom the film is targeted, is going to read Cinema Papers?

The only conclusion I could reach was that my function, like that of all the others at the screening, was to be an arbiter of children's tastes.

That’s what the distributor was hopinglor. It is a function I refuse to perform, and for a very definite reason. These days, animation is un­ deniably linked to the attitude that dictates what kids supposedly want and like, and what is said to be good for them.

When I was a kid we probably couldn’t pronounce the word anima­ tion, so we called them cartoons; they were, and probably still are, a three-minute ballyhooed dash for the finish line, and the best thing of all was the wacky black duck who made his way through the picture with his assured “ ahoo, ahoo, ahoohoo-hoo” .

We knew what we wanted without the help of anyone else. No Wonder Worlds, or arty-craft shows, or sketch 'em in books to pass the time, but comix, camp TV, and yes, Warner Brothers Looney Tunes.

Why? Not because kids were a lot smarter back then; it’s that parents, teachers and whoever else, are a lot more stupid today.

Raffaele Caputo

Agnieszka Holland is probably one of Poland’s most outspoken and militant filmmakers. Her third feature Woman on Her Own (1981) has never been screened theatrically in that country and her fourth, Angry Harvest (Filmways), was made in West Germany. It could be argued that her condition of exile has contributed to the intensity of this latter, harrowing film, for she manages to make a new statement about one of the most shocking events of the twentieth century — the Holocaust.

The setting is occupied Poland and the main drama centres on the relationship between a farmer, Leon (Armin M ueller-Stahl), who is reaping the benefits of wartime scarcity, and a Jewish woman, Rosa (Elisabeth Trissenaar) whom Leon finds in the woods, after she has escaped an Auschwitz-bound train.

He harbours her in his cellar and brings her back to health.

The dynamic performances of these two characters are primary.

Rosa is frozen inside, without the strength to love or hate, while Leon, admitting his fear of women, both loves and torments her. Their relationship is symbolised in a scene where he kisses her as the killing of a Jewish neighbour is heard in the distance. The strength of the film is that both characters, as the episodic structure unfolds, are seen to be the dominator and the dominated.

But Holland is not prepared to give us clear-cut oppositions: man/ woman, Catholic/Jew, rich/poor;

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rather, she acutely highlights the contradictions. Leon appears to have a simplistic view of what’s happening in the ghettos, but as his relationship with Rosa develops, his twisted conscience engenders fur­ ther complications.

Angry Harvest is not a film of surfaces — it drags us in deeper and deeper. Don’t, however, be tempted to dismiss it as another ‘ideological history film’; through the smallest of details, it offers a powerful analysis of historical events, keen observa­ tions about politics and sexuality, and a direct statement (neither allegory nor allusion) about repres­ sion.

Kathy Bail

What do you get if you take some of the basic chic and cool ingredients that go into a one-hour episode of Miami Vice and expand them into a two-hour film? I think the answer has to be a two-hour film that would have worked better as a one-hour TV show; it must explain why Band of the Hand (Fox Columbia) felt so in­ credibly long.

P rod uce d by M ia m i V ice’ s Michael Mann and directed by Paul Michael Glaser (the Hutch of Starsky and Hutch fame, but recently a Miami Vice director), Band of the Hand has most of what I like about Miami Vice-, cocaine, Cubans, I didn’t catch the credit but the clothes have got to be Armani, some unusual camera work, and of course Mac-1 Os. Or were they Uzis? No matter, I like them both.

Add to the list of favourites the name of James Remar, and you would think Band of the Hand had it made. But Remar holds back as a cocaine kingpin who refrains from soiling his hands in the climactic action pieces. It’s a stark contrast to the kineticism of his Gance role in 48 Hours. Just give this guy a Mac-10 and see what he can do. It’s art.

The problem with Band of the Hand is that it has that inexplicable restrained quality. It could be that the television format cannot translate into feature film length. It’s too chic and cool for its own good, and not even the funky boosted-uo sound­ track can deliver the propeller effect that it has on the TV show.

Raffaele Caputo

Leaving behind the intergalactical world of his first feature film The Last Starfighter while still retaining its touches of magic and fantasy, director Nick Castle unfolds the enchanting tale of Eric, The Boy Who Could Fly (Roadshow).

Ensconced in the suburban ethos of a genre systematically cultivated

by Spielberg and his ilk (e.g. small town family crisis, struggling mother, the search for the father figure, fulfil­ ment in the extraordinary), The Boy Who Could Fly reprises the familiar theme of young people escaping from the pain and misery of every­ day life by firmly believing in their dreams and fantasies.

The story (also written by Castle) deals with Milly (Lucy Deakins) a mature young girl who has to face a lot of sorrow and responsibility when her father commits suicide. With the help of Eric (Jay Underwood), the

AN AMERICAN TAIL: The largest animated cat in captivity boy next door who is also deeply (but more seriously) affected by his parents’ death, she will believe in the joys and magic of life again.

It is therefore surprising, in a film which seems to have the best of intentions, to see such an irrespon­ sible glorification of the American army and war in general, in the portrayal of Louis (Fred Savage), Milly’s younger brother. The little boy is obsessed by the army, is. dressed as a soldier throughout, sports t-shorts with ‘Kill them all’ written on them, plays with tanks and guns, ‘nukes' the bad kids on the block (who have ‘anarchy’ printed on their t-shirts) after telling them to go ahead and make his day, and seemingly comes to terms with his own disturbed emotions through the rudimentary discipline of army life and philosophy.

However, • under Castle’s deft direction and with the help of a talented cast, the film rarely founders into the oversweetened schmaltz threatened by the storyline.

The Boy Who Could Fly is a charming, sometimes even poetic piece of entertainment, with its heart often in the right place.

THE BOY WHO COULD FLY: The uncle who could drink

Norbert Noyaux

Julie Waiters’ transformation in Educating Rita demonstrated some panache and breadth of talent; however in Car Trouble (CEL) the audience is treated to neither.

Attempting to fill the gap left vacant by the nefarious Carry On gang,..the screenplay regurgitates gags that are as old as the automotive ‘bom b’ (traded in for an E-type Jaguar) which accelerates the decay of Walters’ nine-year ‘‘perfect mar­ riage” .

As her abhorrent and egotistical spouse, Ian Charleson imitates the patriarchal indignation of an Alf Garnett/Tony ’ Hancock hybrid, who evolves into an axe-wielding arsonist after his wife’s embarrassing sexual exploits result in a multiple car accident that is „televised on the evening news. Had director, David Green been inspired to relocate the drama from puerile comedy; to anarchic satire in the closing fiery scenes of-domestic retribution, some' sense of style may have"-* beenTnjected into: the- film.

ANGRY HARVEST: Not a film of surfaces Car Trouble may well provide a wealth of cultural indicators for those who can be bothered with the ideo­ logical excavation, but superficially, it is an example of lowbrow British cinema at its worst, capable of pro­ v o k in g A n g lo p h o b ia in any audience.

Mick Broderick

The, transposition from ..stage to screeq, of Mark Medoff’s Children of a Lesser God (UIP) partly reveals the unjust and cruel fate that is' sometimes reserved for stage plays which, when removed from the con­ fined and concentrated space of a theatrjey seem,to lose much of their power and impact, dissipated within

new and wider horizons made poss­ ible by a cinematographic adapta­ tion.

However, in this filmed version, written by Hesper Anderson and Medoff, and directed by Randa Haines (whose previous work in­ cludes the telemovie Something About Amelia), all is not lost.

An intense study of the universal difficulties of communication, the story deals with James Leeds (William Hurt), an unconventional hearing teacher of the deaf who comes to face the most complex professional and personal relation­ ship of his life when he meets the compelling hearing-impaired Sarah Norman (Marlee Matlin). Formerly one of the school’s most gifted students, Sarah has now taken per­ manent isolated refuge in her silence and chooses to work at the institu­ tion as a cleaner.

The film suffers considerably from a series of unnecessary ‘exterior

shots’ and inept editing, which tends to break the claustrophobic atmo­ sphere and dramatic unity of the original work, but Haines succeeds nevertheless in recapturing the furious passion of the main charac­ ters. Chiefly because of the superb performances of Hurt and Matlin, the film manages to avoid some of the traps of trite melodrama and makes us almost forget the touch of con­ descension inevitably present in the filmmaker’s laborious efforts to appear ‘humane’.

Children of a Lesser God is neither a great success nor a failure. It is notthe powerful film it might have been, had the writers and director re­ strained themselves in their will to overdramatize the ideas at their dis­ posal; it is a melodrama which is sometimes touching and thoughtful but which also succumbs sadly to a lack of cinematic flair often found in an adaptation of a stage play.

Norbert Noyaux

Clockwise (Greater Union) is a film of echoes. The main one is the TV series Fawlty Towers, because both make skilful use of John Cleese’s screen persona: simultaneously arrogant, bumbling and ingratiating.

Cleese plays Stimpson, head­ master of a British comprehensive school, who has been accorded the rare privilege of chairing the notor­ iously snobbish Headmasters’ Con­ ference. En route, he gets on the wrong train, loses his speech and ends up on a disastrous cross­ country trip with one of his pupils (Sharon Maiden) in the purloined family saloon.

The echo which gradually comes to dominate, though, is of Gene­ vieve, the 1953 British comedy which was also about misfortune and motor cars. For Clockwise is an old-fashioned film, travelling through a British countryside populated by unctuous monks, wisecracking rustics and pratfalling policemen.

HALF MOON STREET: Cast iron characters, leaden plot

Cleese is excellent, as are new­ comer Maiden and Stephen Moore, as the vaguely alternative teacher who never finishes a sentence. But the best thing about the film (written

by Michael Frayn and directed by British TV’s Christopher Morahan) is the way it follows the mechanics of its farce right through to the surpris­ ingly bitter and painful denouement.

Not a great comedy, but at least one with some bite.

Nick Roddick

With Compromising Positions (UIP), director Frank Perry, whose career has recently gone from camp to camp (Mommie Dearest, Mon­ signor), attempts a modest comedy thriller set in Long Island, New York.

A promising opening sets a tone of erotic black comedy as a roguish dentist Dr Fleckstein (Joe Mantegna) flirts with his female patients. A Shampoo for peridontists — Mouth­ wash?

Fleckstein is murdered soon after he treats ex-journalist Judith (Susan Sarandon). She discovers her neigh­ bour Peg (Mary Beth Hurt) was Fleckstein’s last patient and, journal­ istic instincts aroused, begins some sleuthing of her own, to the annoy­ ance of her husband (Edward Herr­ mann) and police detective Suarez (Raul Julia). Her friend Nancy (Judith Ivey) provides salacious gossip about Fleckstein and a blackmail/porno plot is uncovered.

The best feature of Compromising Positions is its self-reflective use of Long Island locations, much as De Palma used Staten Island in Sisters — as part of New York, but a rather different location for murder from the mean streets of Manhattan. Other­ wise, there are uncertain changes in tone and loose ends in the charac­ ters' relationships, particularly the important ones between Judith, her husband and Suarez. Sexual banter among the women reminds us this is an up-to-date movie. A pleasant time-passer, but the dread epithet ‘TV movie’ is never far from voicing itself.

Mark Spratt

CLOCKWISE: Farce-paced road movie

Director Hal Ashby obviously decided on a radical narrative device for 8 Million Ways to Die (Fox Columbia); rather than infuse a fairly workable detective yarn with action, pace, suspense and intelli­ gent dialogue, he tries to generate interest mainly by using lashings of talk — and fails.

An a lc o h o lic e x -d e te c tiv e , Scudder (Jeff Bridges) sets himself on the path to redemption by bust­ ing a cocaine smuggling operation and avenging the murder of a call girl he took a fancy to one night. En route he recruits Sarah (Rosanna Arquette) and sets his sights on Sleazy G reaseball S tereotype cocaine pusher A ngel (Andy Garcia).

However promising the premise, there’s an overwhelming sense of inertia which stems from flat, styless direction and characters who do little more than talk about plot and other characters and relationships and even about talking, for Cliff’s sake.

The dull videotography doesn’t help.

There are a couple of bright spots, though these are probably due more to accident than design.

Garcia’s ‘spic’ caricature is so bad it’s funny, as are the many apparent attempts at improvisational dialogue which only goes to prove that people on cocaine get very in­ coherent. There’s also lots and lots and lots of lung straining swearing (particularly in the climactic ware­ house scene) which gets as intense and as hilarious as the deluge delivered in Raging Bull.

Bridges’ fine, naturalistic acting style grinds against the other forced p e r fo r m a n c e s , p a r t i c u l a r ly Arquette’s, who looks doped-up and uninterested in the whole affair.

Jim Schembri

George Stevens: A Filmmaker’s Journey (Roadshow) is a compel­ ling and affectionate study of a Holly­ wood director whose films were con­ sistently successful at the box office but who never qualified as a candi­ date for serious critical attention.

His son, George Stevens Jr, form­ erly head of the American Film Insti­ tute, has assembled a variety of clips and interviews which illustrate the various phases of his father’s career (24 features over 37 years). Stevens Sr had kept original copies of all his features and was a ‘home movie’ enthusiast, having originally trained as a stills photographer.

This material, recently redis­ covered in storage, was also found to include a personal diary of war coverage perfectly preserved in Kodachrome color. Stevens spent three years with the American Army in Northern Europe and Africa organising a special unit, at the in­ stigation of General Eisenhower, to maintain a filmed record of various campaigns, By his own-admission, the war marked a turning point in his profes­ sional career. Prior to the war his reputation had been established on a series of comedies, musicals and exotic adventures. His post-war films became more introspective and ‘realistic’ culminating in his Ameri­ can trilogy in the fifties, A Place in the Sun (1951), Shane (1953) and Giant (1956).

Stevens shows only a mild interest in his father’s early career prior to Alice Adams (1935). Sadly, there is no mention of his comedies for the Wheeler and Woolsey team. Further­ more, his several formative years as a gag writer-director for Laurel and Hardy are only briefly alluded to.

Two of his later flops, both interest­ ing experiments, are ignored: Some­ thing To Live For (1952), with Ray Milland as a post-Lost Weekend victim of alcoholism and his final feature, The Only Game in Town (1970), with Elizabeth Taylor and Warren Beatty, a romantic drama set in Las Vegas but filmed in French studios for tax reasons.

Paul Harris

The almost total failure of Half Moon Street (CEL) is made all the more depressing when one considers the combination of talent which con­ spired to produce it.

Written and directed by expatriate American Bob Swaim (La Balance),

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adapted from the Paul Theroux novel Dr Slaughter and produced by Geoffrey Reeve (The Shooting Party), Half Moon Street held the promise, if not of a great film, at least of an original and entertaining one.

Add to this the acting talents of Michael Caine and Sigourney Weaver and our expectations were high. But the hapless couple struggle to inject life into their castiron characters, while an equally leaden plot slides inexorably to its foregone conclusion.

Dr Slaughter (Weaver), fresh from three years in China and a doctoral thesis in post-Maoist economics, is working at the Anglo-Arab Institute in London. In need of extra cash, she signs up at Captain Twillies whorehouse, falls in love with her third client, Lord Bulbeck (Caine) and moves into a plush apartment in Half Moon Street. All this could have turned out well if Lord Bulbeck weren’t on the verge of concluding a Middle East peace treaty and her Palestinian landlord weren’t out to kill him. If you can’t guess the rest, don’t worry, neither could Dr Slaughter, despite a Ph.D, fluent Chinese (admittedly not much help with Arab terrorists) and an encyclo­ paedic knowledge of American films. She is saved only by her pro­ ficiency in kung fu.

How Dr Slaughter comes to terms with prostitution could have been an interesting aspect of the film, but Bob Swaim dismisses this with a thirty second montage and some elliptical dialogue. What saves the film from total failure is Michael Caine, at his cool and confident best.

Michael Freedman

Larry Abbot (Gene Wilder) is the star of radio's “ Manhattan Mystery Theatre’’, until, in the middle of a performance, he develops a stutter.

True to some forms of psychothera­ peutic thinking, it has its cause in re­ pressed trauma. As it becomes more obvious, Abbot undergoes self-analysis during one of his own performances, and begins, through the plot of the radio play, to conquer his repressive tendencies.

The process begins with a return to his ancestral home to celebrate his engagement to the domineering Pearl (Gilda Radner). Peeved at his success in Aunt Kate’s (Dorn Deluise) new will, a ghoulish collec­ tion of relatives begin the process of scaring the living daylights out of Larry. The majority of the plot is taken up with the ensuing farce of dead bodies and rubber masks, until Larry accidently hits upon the cause of his obsession with straightening his tie.

In a well-directed scene, Larry remembers, as a child, the day of his mother’s remarriage. Cast in marvel­ lous American Gothic, there is a genuine sense of horror when she is killed by a bolt of lightning through the alter window.

For all its psychological mumbojum bo, H a u n te d H o n e y m o o n (Roadshow) is a sedate vehicle for Wilder as writer, director and star.

Surprisingly, Dorn Deluise is never allowed to develop his camped-up role of Aunt Kate, which may have ;been Haunted Honeymoon’s only

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saving grace. In all, the humour is awfully low-key and the plot resolu­ tion hardly worth waiting for. Of horror-spoof films, Haunted Honey­ moon is the genuine maiden aunt.

Luke Nestorowicz

It is difficult to watch Howard — a New Breed of Hero (UIP) without remembering that, as Howard the Duck, it more or less sank Universal Pictures. Because, with less riding on it, the film had every chance of finding a small but affectionate audience for its tale of an extraterres­ trial duck thrust, all unsuspecting, into downtown Cleveland.

The opening scenes, in which a parallel planet is sketched in (Howard reads Rolling Egg, lives in Marshington, D.C.) are clever and amusing, and his struggles to under­ stand the race of hairless apes he encounters on earth provide some pointed satire and some good oneliners.

As a blockbuster, however, Howard is badly waterlogged; the duck costume looks like something worn by comedians opening super­ markets. and the determination not to be cute results in some jarring violence and some very risky business with the young rock singer who takes Howard under her wing.

A pity, really, because the film is an interesting blend of Swiftian satire (human foibles from an outer-space pe rsp e ctive ) o ff-th e -w a ll teen romance (the Jon Cryer character in Pretty In Pink was. after all, called Ducky), special effects (when a race of Dark Overlords try to muscle in) 'and a degree of remarkably uncloying sweetness.

Nick Roddick

L a byrinth (Fox-Columbia) has quite a lot going for it. starting with David Bowie at his most elfinly andro­ gynous since Aladdin Sane. Then there is the screenplay by the Pythons’ Terry Jones that steers a neatish course through the almostpubescent world of the fairytale; a huge, lovingly-executed set — the labyrinth itself — credited to Elliot Scott (production designer) and Brian Froud (conceptual designer); and a string of creatures from the febrile brain and workshop of Jim Henson.

But it all somehow fails to gel. The very real threat of the goblins abducting the baby brother of the heroine, Sarah (Jennifer. Connelly), goes for nothing, and the tortuous progress through the labyrinth to rescue him is robbed of all tension by our absolute certainty that Sarah will make it to the middle.

This leaves the consolations: a punkish worm which gives Sarah directions; a “ tunnel-cleaner’’ with huge knives, driven by two fiercely pedalling dwarfs; the bubbling, farting Bog of Eternal Stench; and the final Escher-like staircases over which Sarah tries to reach her baby brother.

It’s all admirable and clever, rather than compulsive watching. And it leaves one with the strong feeling that, after three major outings, Muppetry is not the stuff of adult fantasy, nor enough to sustain a two-hour narrative.

Nick Roddick

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Using a straggling and gangling story of friendship and love as back­ ground and pretext, Elie Chouraqui's Love Songs (Paroles et musique. Greater Union) is, for the most part, the naive manifestation of a director s childlike fascination with the ’cuteness' and 'mceness’ of an America that seems straight out of a fairy-tale.

Set in an idealised Parisian show­ biz scene (supposedly reminiscent of New York), the film deals with the tribulations of two mediocre French musicians. Jeremy (Christophe Lam­ bert) and Michel (Richard Anconma) whose main claim to fame consists of puerile French compositions sung in English. With the help of artistic director Margaux Marker (Catherine Deneuve), who, in between fights and reconciliations with her Ameri­ can husband, has an affair with Jeremy, the boys will become stars.

Written with the same shallowness and insincerity endemic to the insig­ nificant pop songs which inundate the film, Love Songs suffers from a chronic lack of harmony and seems to saunter aimlessly without ever reaching its destination. Clumsily mixing melodrama and musical comedy, Chouraqui fails to capture the passion and spirit of either genre, demonstrating instead an embarrassing inability to develop the confused narrative structure or even decide on the main subject of his film.

The cast (all things considered) acquits itself surprisingly well and LABYRINTH: Find your way out of two hours of Muppetry.

MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE: Go ahead, lawnmower, make my day (below)

just manages to save Love Songs from complete disaster — a special mention to the young Charlotte Gainsbourg and .Deneuve, who proves what a remarkable actress she can be, even with the burden of a fatuous script.

In Chouraqui’s music fantasyland, all’s well that ends well. The social and cultural differences between America and France (symbolised by the relationship between Margaux and her husband) will be ironed out, Paris becomes New York, and everybody lives like one big family and happily ever after. Why don’t we believe him?

Norbert Noyaux

Jan is ‘possessed’ by the spirit of a former occupant, Maxie Malone.

Maxie is a wild and seductive silent movie actress from the twenties, whose promising career is cut short by a ‘tragic’ car accident. Jan is the antithesis; a quiet reserved woman who is a loyal and indulgent wife and plays ’whipping-boy’ to her chau­ vinist boss, a self-interested Catholic bishop.

Maxie represents a typical male fantasy. In this case, Nick gets the best of both worlds. He is able to have an affair with Maxie (the for­ bidden woman) by literally incor­ porating her into the body of his own wife (the good woman). The idea of wifely duty and female subservience

HOWARD — A NEW BREED OF HERO: Ducks of Ohio State

affair with Maxie without moral qualms.

Close gives a competent perform­ ance as Jan/Maxie and there is a notable ap pe aran ce by Ruth Gordon as Maxie’s old vaudeville partner.

Fiona O’Grady

Maximum Overdrive (Hoyts) is Stephen King’s first attempt at direct­ ing one of his own stories. One hopes that he doesn’t get the chance again. It is a heavy-handed overstated horror/sci-fi piece, where modern technology turns against its creators when a seemingly harmless comet circles the earth.

The action takes place in a south­ ern outpost, the Dixie Boy truckstop, where the film falls into an all too pre­ dictable scenario. A small group is pitted against the ‘outside threat’, in this case a collection of vicious semi­ trailers led by the sinister Happy Toyz truck.

Maximum Overdrive attempts to set up a dialogue about the over­ throw of the old’ order, which has become corrupt. It has created this technology which, like its creators, is the enemy of mankind. Billy (Emilio Estevez), a parolee short order chef at the Dixie Boy, Brett (Laura Harrington), a wise-talking drifter with a past, and ten-year-old Deke, who manages to survive attacks by lethal vending machines and lawn mowers, unite with a honeymoon couple to create the new family, the new order.

The film pretends to be a classical moral tale in the tradition of films like 2001: A Space Odyssey and Colossus: The Forbin Project. But the audience is constantly assaulted by gratuitous violence, monosyllabic dialogue and neanderthal perform­ ances, especially from the saviour' Billy, who at one point challenges a semi to a slugging bout. Even young Deke is shown blowing up a hamburger vending machine to avenge the death of his father.

King’s treatment, along with a jar­ ring AC/DC soundtrack, manages to produce little more than a badly scripted, illogical, unexciting hotch­ potch of cliches.

Fiona O’Grady

MURPHY’S LAW: Graphic violence, lots of stunts and Charles Bronson Maxie (Roadshow), though at times offensive, is an unremarkable film that just manages to survive on its technical merits and a few reason­ able performances.

Nick and Jan Cheney (Mandy Patinkin and Glenn Close) move into the upstairs apartment of an old San Francisco Victorian house, where, after a series of supernatural events,

is taken to the extreme as Jan, after unannounced visitations by the bishop, is nonetheless convinced by Nick to allow Maxie to ‘borrow’ her body so that she can audition for a part in a film.

Ultimately, Maxie is able to realise her acting potential and Nick, having discouraged the advances of other females and established himself as a loyal husband, is able to bbntinue his

Essentially, Miracles (Roadshow) is about the resentment between newly-divorced couple Roger (Tom Conti) and Jean (Terri Garr), who are thrown together hours after their divorce proceedings. Having both been kidnapped by Juan (Paul Rod­ riguez), they enter a snakes and ladders-like world of abandonment and danger, re-exploring their rela­ tionship and their past love for each other.

The film opens with two key scenes: a witch doctor who is powerless to cure the chief’s daugh­ ter, and prays to his god for a way out, followed by the meeting between Roger, a surgeon, his wife and Juan. The film proceeds to unite these supposedly disparate sub­ plots in the most indelicate fashion.

Miracles attempts to utilise an absurdist narrative structure, the most elemental form of humour being derived from the seemingly random sequence of events and episodes that bring Roger to the

Indians. This pretence of absurdity is frustrated by the restriction imposed by the determination to restore Jean and Roger’s marriage. The energy which is usually generated by non­ conformity to narrative and dramatic convention is channelled into a trite notion of the ‘romantic’ being the e x p re s s io n of lo v e th ro u g h marriage. Miracles lacks the unifying motifs which offer films like this some sense of geometric balance and substance.

Luke Nestorowicz

While Cannon announces that films

by Polanski, Cavani and Godard, among others, are part of their 1986 p ro d u ctio n schedule, it ’s the exploitation films for which they are best known. Murphy’s Law (Hoyts), directed by J. Lee Thompson, is just such a film: graphic violence, lots of stunts and Charles Bronson.

He plays Murphy, the rugged, world-weary moralistic cop who drinks too much, broods about the wife who left him to become a strip­ per, and lives by the law of “Don’t fuck with Murphy” . But of course, someone does. Carrie Snodgress plays a psychotic who is out to get revenge on those who put her away.

First target is Murphy.

She sets him up so it looks as if he’s killed his ex-wife and her boy­ friend. His fellow-cops don’t believe him and he’s about to go to trial when he escapes. Attached to him by handcuffs is Arabella (Kathleen Wilhoite), a foul-mouthed street kid.

She hates cops, he hates foulmouthed street kids.

Hopes that the film might rip off The Defiant Ones and explore the relationship were soon dashed. The focus of Murphy’s Law is not char­ acter but action. Murphy and Ara­ bella set about trying to figure out w h o’s framed him, while the psychotic Carrie Snodgress con­ tinues with her task by shooting, strangling, electrocuting, wielding an axe and even using a bow and arrow. And yes, there are machine guns too.

Tony Cavanaugh

Weaving a modestly complex net­ work of plots and sub-plots involving a rc h a e o lo g y , fa sh io n , g re ed , deception, and a spot of kid­ napping, Une Femme Ou Deux (One Woman or Two. Roadshow) manages to generate the manic comic spirit so perfectly defined in Diva without the compulsion to move as quickly, or to get quite as tortuous.

The dazed premise has an a rc h a e o lo g is t J u lie n (G erard Depardieu) uncovering the remains of the first French woman, whom he lovingly christens ‘Laura’. While waiting at the airport for the director of an archaeological funding body, Mrs Heffner (Ruth Westheimer), he meets ad agency career woman Jessica (Sigourney Weaver) who, in avoiding a deliriously amorous admirer, Gino (Jean-Pierre Bisson), pretends she is Mrs Heffner.

The convolutions of the storyline are neatly compounded and worked through with escalating degrees of calculation, rather than spontaneity, although this is cleverly clouded by

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the film’s nice line in quirky, visual humour, as when Jessica and Mrs Heffner first meet ’Laura', and when Mrs Heffner is delighted to find that she and ’Laura’ are the same diminutive height.

There’s an agreeably pat subtext about the nature of obsessions dealing with Gino's love for Jessica’s photographic image and Julien’s obsession with Laura’s perfect form (the scenes of him moulding and caressing her clay figure are taste­ fully suggestive). This is clearly designed to satisfy those with a nominal hunger for something a little ‘deep’, but not so as to make any­ one feel like they’re missing out on anything.

Sigourney Weaver, in her first full comedy role, is a real eye opener, exuding a good humoured sexuality, a physicality that thankfully falls short of slapstick, and a daffiness that allows her to be manipulative without a hint of maliciousness. And she speaks French.

Jim Schembri

Even if Rob Lowe, the Brat Pack star of this film, knew how to act, Oxford Blues (Roadshow) would still have been a dreadful film. Not even the beautiful setting of Oxford University can gloss over the ineptitude of Lowe and the script.

He plays an obnoxious, selfish American teenager who happens to row well, seduces an older woman at Las Vegas and through her wins enough money to go to Oxford so he can meet his dream girl, an English princess. He gets his predictable come-uppance, but rows his way into their respect.

The fact that Oxford Blues was made in 1983 and not released until 1986 suggests even the distributors had doubts about this one, despite Lowe's reputation.

For someone with so many big film appearances behind him (The Outsiders, The Hotel New Hamp­ shire), he hasn’t learned much.

Lowe tries to live up to his Brat Pack image rather than play the role of an immature teenager who is learning about life.

Except for the engaging perfor­ mance of Ally Sheedy as the nice American girl with whom Lowe wants to be just friends, this film has little to recommend it. Robert Boris, in his first feature film as director, g e n e ra te s in te re s tin g ro w in g s e q u e n c e s but v e ry b o rin g characters.

Michael Visontay

It's particularly easy to spot today’s version of a B grade movie. Leaving their commercial opportunism aside, they’re usually the ones that make for some interesting mutations; they’re expert at grabbing and cannibalising the elements of movies that have impinged on the minds of today’s audiences.

Radioactive Dreams (Road­ show) is one such film. It begins, road warrior style, with post-nuclear mutants on bikes; it uses the voice­ over dexterity of Blade Runner, and it clinches the deal with the schlock appeal of Charles Band’s Future Cop. The story opens in the year 1996,

52 — January CINEMA PAPERS

but quickly crosses over to 2010, when the two lead characters finally break out of the nuclear shelter where they have survived on a steady diet of forties detective novels. Radioactive Dreams is filled with familiar names from the hardboiled school. The two leads are called Phil and Marlowe, their respective fathers are known as D a sh H a m m e r a n d S p a d e Chandler, and we’re also confronted with a Miles Archer and a Cairo, among others. Somehow the dying words of Phil’s father, “ Forget the past” , do not seem to carry much weight.

Phil and Marlowe, searching for their fathers, are embroiled in a gangland war over the quest for a set of keys which can activate the only remaining nuclear missile. The schlock keeps coming as Radio­ active Dreams rolls out its gangs: fifties greasers, sixties hippies, seventies disco boys and eighties punks.

The disco boys are the best: two ten-year-old versions of John Travolta, brandishing Magnums and spurting lines like, ’’Blow the fucking bitch away” . But take away their guns and they are reduced to snivel­ ling kids who have been denied their icy poles.

Add to these kinds of schlock ele­ ments a fantastic giant slimy doglike creature that bursts out of the city's sewer and gobbles up the two kids, and you begin to see what a charac­ ter in Radioactive Dreams means by saying “ nuclear war created some weird mutants” . I guess it can equally apply to some of today’s filmmaking.

Raffaele Caputo

At one point in Peter Hyams’ latest film, Running Scared (UIP), at the end of a chase sequence, there’s a cut, and the camera moves un­ expectedly to a sign on top of a building. It reads “ Jesus Saves” .

Now I know that sign, I know where it comes from, and it's definitely a quote. All you have to do is think back to 1971, which isn’t that long ago, because Channel 10 reruns 1971 all the time, in a modified version.

Hyams is quoting Dirty Harry.

Remember the scene on the rooftop with Harry and Chico looking at the church across from them, and the flashing “ Jesus Saves” sign twirling above their heads? It's not the same one, but it’s the same.

So what is it doing in Running Scared? The “ Jesus Saves” sign is not only unexpected, it’s not quite right. Running Scared is not a lone cop film, it’s in the dynamic duo tradition: Freebie and the Bean, Super Cops, Cotton Comes to Harlem, Busting.

The promo sheet has an image of the duo (Gregory Hines and Billy Crystal), guns drawn, hurdling a police car. They look as though they are genuflecting in mid-air. I remem­ ber this one too; it’s from Super Cops. We also have a black actor and a white actor taking us round the clock twice {48 Hours), sent on a premature vacation to Key West via Beverly Hills (Beverly Hills Cop).

The game doesn’t end there. Run­ ning Scared then gives us a word-

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for-word quote from last year’s Chuck Norris vehicle. Code of Silence: “ Ever heard of a Colombian necktie? It’s having your throat cut with your tongue pulled out through the slit.

I could say that Hyams is not merely making references for those in the know; that Running Scared is being introspective, that it’s talking about itself as a policier; if it were anyone other than Hyams, I would probably believe it.

But Hyams seems to work only by appropriation; Outland, for example, was an intergalactic High Noon.

There’s nothing wrong with appro­ priation as long as you can do some­ thing with it. The problem with Hyams is that he knows where he is coming from but never where he is going. The Star Chamber was his version of Magnum Force; judicial vigilantism, but to what purpose?

2010 wasn’t 2001, but it should have been, because it’s a sequel.

Instead, it was a discordant fifties paranoia message without the camp.

SEDUCTION; THE CRUEL WOMAN: No gain without pain

Raffaele Caputo

In Saving Grace (CEL). Tom Conti, displaying the mournful puzzlement which has become his cinematic stock-in-trade, plays the Pope.

We first meet him striding the corri­ dors of the Vatican with his advisers, discussing world peace, dogma, faith and finance. Then he meets the Italian soccer team. At this stage, one knows the film is in trouble, because they’re standing in a circle holding their ball.

Shortly afterwards, Conti tells his friend Cardinal Biondi (Fernando Rey), that he is losing touch with his flock, and soon slips away to a small mountain village, disguised in the Papal gardening gear.

There he routs the local Fagin (Edward James Olmos, who should have known better), has the women and children help him rebuild the village aqueduct (which, when com­ pleted, defies all the laws of hyd­ raulics), restores the faith of a lapsed-cleric-turned-goatherd (Giancarlo Giannini), and gets home in

RUNNING SCARED: OK, so you liked Chinatown

RADIOACTIVE DREAMS: Interesting mutations

SHANGHAI SURPRISE: Sean, Madonna and the ties that bind

time for the Easter blessing.

Saving Grace has a multi-national cast (Erland Josephson and Donald Hewlett, in addition to Rey, Conti, Olmos and Giannini), making the film easily dubbable into tongues.

But is it unduly cynical to wonder whether, without a Papal visit, CEL would have bothered to release this dated piece of meretricious tripe?

Nick Roddick

In Seduction: The Cruel Woman (M cLernon), experim ental film ­ maker Elfi Mlkesch and video artist/author Monika Treut draw in­ spiration from the works of de Sade, S a c h e r-M a s o c h an d G e rm a n Romanticism to portray sado­ masochism as performance art.

A gallery on the Hamburg water­ front is the venue where temptress/tyrant Wanda (Mechtild Grossman of the Pina Bausch dance com­ pany) arranges shows. Her willing slaves — male, female, transexual, even a journalist who had come to interview her and, captivated, stayed on — act out their fantasies and roles arranged for them, in a stylized ritual of bondage, torture and subjuga­ tion.

In a feminist riposte to films like Broken Mirrors, which show women as victims in images of oppression,

be let off so lightly. Respect for the consumer must be the first, if not the only, moral principle of cinematic exploitation, and children (since we assume this is the intended audi­ ence) should not be treated with such contempt.

Shanghai Surprise is a violent and irreverent romp through an Ameri­ can vision of Shanghai in the 1930s.

China is at war with Japan and three crates of opium have gone missing.

American missionary Gloria Tatlock (Madonna) and her reluctant accom­ plice Glendon Wasey (Sean Penn) are hell bent on finding it; but so are lots of others, and the convoluted plot achieves little more than filling the film’s tedious 96 minutes.

All the racial stereotypes are here: there’s the heinously cruel Chinese warlord, Mei Gan (Kay Tong Lim); the sexual temptress, China Doll (Somerai Lee); the overfed British journalist, William Tuttle (Richard Griffiths); the brash young American, Wasey; not to mention the teeming Chinese masses, the unluckiest of whom cart Madonna and Penn around in a rickshaw version of the worst of the Hollywood car chases.

Producer and ex-Beatle George Harrison, who also wrote the music, was refused permission to shoot in Shanghai, and so resorted to Hong Kong, where disguising the trap­

SAVING GRACE: Puzzled plainclothes Pope Mikesch and Treut focus on the woman as dominatrix, desiring power, yet dependent on her victims’ desire for its perpetuation.

Motifs from fantasies and fetishes recur — blood, whips, chains, furs, shoes, toilets — in dreamlike, episodic sequences, interwoven with a journey through gutters, sewers and cracked walls, through which new fantasies are revealed.

Mary Colbert

American critics have been surpris­ ingly unanimous in their condemna­ tion of Shanghai Surprise (CEL) since its release in A ug ust: "M adonna’s first flop,” they have said; “ a silly little trifle"; “ dull, hope­ lessly muddled mess” ; “ shattering in its stupidity” . Even Jim Goddard’s direction has been singled out as “ mundane and incredibly slow” .

Enough said. We can see no point in insisting further. Our argument is that so pernicious a film should not

pings of commercialism was an almost impossible task for the crew.

Michael Freedman

A group of young, would-be astro­ nauts assembles at the NASA Space Camp in Alabama; they spend their summer vacation being indoctrina­ ted and trained as the next US generation with the Right(ist) stuff to conquer the high frontier. (No mention of SDI, naturally.) The teen­ agers represent an acne-free and gung-ho microcosm of America’s spirited youth, or at least ABC Motion Pictures’ idea of it.

In many ways, Space Camp (Roadshow) resembles a juvenile version of Top Gun, employing the same ideological cliches, such as ex-lunar explorer Tom Skerritt’s emphasis that “ these kids aren’t just like any others. These are clean-cut, red-blooded American kids.”

Eventually the crew leaves the flight simulators and boards the

space shuttle Atlantis for a test firing of the engines. The computer mal­ functions, however, and sends the team into orbit with their surrogate den-mother, Kate Capshaw, who tries her best to rescue the film from its standard formulaic disaster movie narrative.

Unfortunately for Space Camp, any film released post-Challenger/Chernobyl which revels in selfcongratulatory homage to tech­ nology and “ the guys who put it there” seems incongruously in bad taste. Also, even the most sophisti­ cated viewer will scoff at the lud­ icrous and frequent discrepancies between the actuality footage (Cape Canaveral, lift-offs etc.) and the poor effects work (e.g. mattes in orbit).

Mick Broderick

Meet Valarie Wells (Denise Coward) in search of the two sleazeball ethnic stereotype scumbags who raped her. While a detective works on her case, she goes about cleaning the scum off the streets with a pistol, just like the one daddy gave her.

We’ve got Sigourney Weaver doing a female Rambo in Aliens so why not Denise Coward doing a female Charlie Bronson or Clint Eastwood in Sudden Death? (Hoyts).

No reason really; the idea of filmdom’s first woman vigilante (as the blurb boasts) is quite workable.

But like any gun-loving exploitation splatter pic, it’s only worth doing if it’s done exceptionally well. Sudden Death isn’t, and dismally fails to engage the emotions with taut direction or suspend critical faculties with slick production.

With flat lighting, deadeningly dull cinematography (er . . . make that videotography) and bad acting to rival the outtakes of ‘TV’s Censored Bloopers’, this film wouldn’t even hold up on video, the medium for which it was so obviously intended.

There are more ‘walk off' scenes (where there’s at least a half second of dead film once someone has exited the frame) than you can count. Even the killings are boring and badly done (those that you can see; many look as though they’ve been hastily edited out).

There is one interesting bit when Wells almost kills an innocent man.

But Sid Shore, who wrote and directed this microscopic turkey, probably just ran out of boring, bland ideas.

Jim Schembri

Albert Magnoli’s Take It Easy joins the interminable and breathless procession of American sports films where the young, good-looking hero, brought up on steroids and dumbbells, fights familial and exis­ tential angst in a hostile world where the competition is usually foreign and/or corrupt.

At the start of the tediously rehashed storyline, bright and talented Steve Tevere (played by Olympic gymnast Mitch Gaylord), is facing a crossroads in his life and smoking a lot of cigarettes. Through the love of equally bright and talented Julie (Janet Jones), the eventual understanding of his father (John Aprea), and particularly, the therapeutic effects of gymnastics,

Steve will find himself, win the com­ petition and give up smoking.

Constructed as an extended video clip, the triteness of the film’s screen­ play is only surpassed by that of the extremely stupid music selected to accompany the hero’s plight; irre­ levant pop songs, with the exception of religious hymns for the gym scenes.

As with Purple Rain, Magnoli’s first film, the best moments of Take It Easy occur when the non-profes­ sional leading actor shows what he does best. (In Rain it’s Prince playing his music on stage, in Take It Easy it’s Gaylord and his gymnas­ tics.) For a film which is heavily dependent on the au dience’s interest and Involvement in the sport practised by its hero, Magnoli succeeds in capturing the frustra­ tions and competitiveness of the athletes, the grace and awesome­ ness of the sport. In fact, the only saving grace of Take It Easy is the final competition sequence, which fortunately seems to take about half the film.

Norbert Noyaux

Touch and Go (Seven Keys) shows the relationship between a top pro­ fessional ice hockey player in Chicago, Bobby Barbato (Michael Keaton) and a young, mixed-race, would-be criminal, Lewis (Ajay Naidu).

Lewis fails in an attempt to mug the star player after a hockey game; after this ’meeting’ Lewis and Bobby become inseparable. Of course, the ‘love interest’ is provided by Lewis's mother Denise Canno (Maria Con­ chita Alonso), who is a casually em­ ployed personnel agent.

The personal entanglements lead Bobby to confront his preoccupation with his socially irrelevant activity, ice hockey. Denise raises questions about his ‘real’ or more important life. She also suggests that she would like a personnel agency of her own.

After she is viciously beaten up by one of Lewis’s former mates, Denise lays emotional claim to Bobby. He gives up his ice hockey career and surprises her with the gift of a per­ sonnel agency that they will share.

Director Robert Mandel did well to capture the affluence of the new rich sporting/entertainm ent class in America. He also used the Chicago skyline as a worthy visual metaphor for the success that can be so easily gained in all sorts of unlikely circum­ stances. Or so the story goes.

Touch and Go encapsulates the hopes of the American dream as in­ accurately as Paul New m an’s closing speech to the jury in The Ver­ dict. But like lottery players, these films just keep the mythology of suc­ cess rolling along, as the players wait for another lucky break.

The sort of liberalism paraded in Touch and Go is very successful because it so thoroughly maintains the mythology of the powerless in their role of dependency on the powerful. That the luck of a meeting then rescues the weak and projects them into the luxury of individual greatness, is the hope of America. It is also the lie of America.

Marcus Breen

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HOLLYWOOD FROM VIETNAM TO REAGAN b y R o b in W o o d ( C o lu m b ia U n iv e r s ity P re s s , 1 9 8 6 , IS B N 0 23 1 0 5 7 7 6 8, a p p r o x . $ 4 5 h b ).

A CERTAIN TENDENCY OF THE HOLLYWOOD CINEMA, 1930-1980 b y R o b e r t B . R a y ( P r in c e to n U n iv e r s ity P re s s , 1 9 8 5 , P r in c e to n , IS B N 0 69 1 0 4 7 2 7 8, $ 3 2 .5 0 p b ).

THE GODFATHER: Subverting myths I have become increasingly aware of the importance of seeing works in the context of their culture, as living ideological entities, rather than as sanctified exhibits floating in the void of an invisible museum.

Robin Wood One of the most productive develop­ ments in serious film criticism over recent years can be found in the way it has been diverted from its pre­ occupation with Art and Artists. A commitment to evaluation and to the pursuit of good taste remains, but it has been tempered by the recogni­ tion that films are also cultural arte­ facts and require a much more ‘open’ consideration. So, whilst a critic may continue to contemplate the aesthetic pleasures of individual works, (s)he is also confronted by the fact that none of them exist in ideological isolation, that they each occupy a particular social place. To ignore any film’s specific features would be folly, of course, but to assume that the job ends there is equally misguided.

One of the corollaries of this development, and a means of retain­ ing evaluation as a viable critical commodity, has been the search for films that subvert the norm, that, in some way, offer a challenge to pre­ vailing ways of representing the world. Curiously, however, there seems to be more interest in sifting through mainstream cinema in search of black sheep than in surveying the more readily apparent differences on show within the various strands of what has come to be known as ‘the alternative cinema’. The result is the fore­ grounding of works which outwardly adhere to the rules of classic film narrative, as defined in the early years of Hollywood, but which covertly propose challenges to it.

The two books under review here are lively illustrations of the possibili­ ties that this criticism has to offer. For Robin Wood in Hollywood from Viet­ nam to Reagan, a number of films of the seventies represent “ the crisis in ideological confidence . . . visible on all levels of American culture’’, whilst a shift in the late seventies and early eighties produces not only a film star turned president but “ a huge ideo­ logical sigh of relief’’ for which “ re­ assurance is the keynote’’. Wood insists that his commentary is not concerned to catalogue the films of the period but is rather, and more

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obliquely, “ (an) attempt to grasp, in all its com plexity, a decisive ‘moment’, an ideological shift, in Hollywood cinema” .

For him, criticism too often avoids its responsibilities in relation to this kind of attempt to contextualize an industry’s products. Questions of sexual politics and class politics are sidestepped in a refusal of serious­ ness: “ Most contemporary film criticism, and virtually all journalist criticism, seems trivia l. . . To be poli­ tical is today the only way to avoid the trivial."

Robert B. Ray’s approach in A Certain Tendency of the Hollywood C in e m a , 1 9 3 0 -1 9 8 0 is le ss polemical, less ambitious and more systematic than W ood’s. The title of his book refers (after Truffaut) to “ the formal and thematic paradigms that commercial films in this country have consistently used. Briefly, with Casa­ blanca as his ‘typical’ film, he argues that the formal paradigm is the invis­ ible style of the classic Hollywood cinema, a style embodied in the shot/reverse-shot figure, a formal mechanism wedded to specific narrative choices and attempting to efface the ideological traces of “ con­ tinual judgments about the import­ ance of persons, incidents or activities” .

The thematic paradigm emerges from the traditional opposition between individual and community in the Hollywood cinema (and beyond, as Leslie Fiedler has ably demonstrated in his Love and Death in the American Novel). Primarily

embodied in the confrontation be­ tween “ the outlaw hero” and “ the official hero” , this opposition dis­ appears as the films propose a mythology based on “ reconciliatory patterns” and thus avoid the need to face a choice between incompatible values.

For Wood, the key films are those which identify, inadvertently or by design, the nightmare at the heart of normality, or which pose specific challenges to the oppressive patriarchal order that rules Western civilization. In this context, his com­ mentaries on the films of some Holly­ wood mavericks (Scorsese, Cimino, DePalma) are especially of value — his analysis of Heaven’s Gate is, for me, the highlight of the book. And, while his splendid discussion of some “ incoherent texts” of the seventies is developed more fully in Ray’s commentary about those films in which formal or thematic “ disrup­ tions” confront “ a movie’s intended ideological effect” , his account of the ideas circulating in the American horror film is a seminal one. One may wish to quibble over his estima­ tions of particular films, but his approach provides a structural read­ ing that has already significantly in­ fluenced critical appreciations of the genre. In shrort, in 1986, you can’t hope to make sense of the possibili­ ties of the horror film until you’ve read Robin Wood on the subject.

For Ray, the significant works are those which, in one way or another, challenge the formal and thematic paradigms he has identified. Thus,

HEAVEN’S GATE: Wood’s analysis is the highlight of the book

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, in its eventual revelation of events that have occurred outside the shot/reverse-shot sequence in which Ransom Stoddard (James Stewart) appears to shoot Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin), “ discredit(s) the most basic figure in Classic Hollywood’s formal paradigm” . The film also refuses to reconcile its opposition between its outlaw hero and its official one, effectively writing an obituary for the mythology that had provided such a comfortable resolu­ tion to this central problem of Ameri­ can culture.

Here, It’s A Wonderful Life also becomes a crucial film, despite its overt optimism, and Ray goes on to take his thematic paradigm through to the films of the seventies with equal cogency, there identifying, in The Godfather and Taxi Driver, two attempts to subvert the American myths that had dominated the generic traditions from which they had emerged. As it happens, for Robin Wood Taxi Driver is also important because of its “ incoher­ ence” , but Ray engineers a most convincing case for it as “ a model for a ‘radical’ American movie” .

The strength of Ray’s thesis is not that it offers a new way of thinking about Hollywood cinema — it doesn’t. Rather, it is the way Ray chases his thesis across fifty years of popular American cinema, with re a d in g s th a t are a d m ira b ly thorough and discussions that are never less than insightful.

The strength of W ood’s book.is in the way in which it dances from idea to idea, urging the reader to rethink specific films in the light of the new contexts which he is able to offer for them. His ability to discover connec­ tions between hitherto unrelated films reveals the intellectual flexibility that has made him one of the, if not the, most exciting film critic in the English language. His reconsidera­ tion of The Chase, in relation to Young Mr. Lincoln, is film criticism in top gear, and his identification of the regressive Return of the Jedi as “ the Ordinary People of outer space” is great stuff.

Nevertheless, a central weakness in W ood’s more general proposals a b o u t “ how in d iv id u a l film s dramatize . . . the conflicts that characterize our culture” is his assertive claim that “ our civilization has constructed ‘masculinity’ upon the repression of constitutional bi­ sexuality” . As a working hypothesis, such a view deserves the serious consideration that Wood clearly gives it. But whilst it may be strategically provocative to present it as an incontestable position, the absence of any argument to support such a view is hardly likely to be con­ vincing. And it’s not.

This aside, H ollyw ood from Reagan to Vietnam is one of the most adventurous and valuable commentaries on American cinema to appear during the last decade.

Nevertheless, Robert B. Ray’s more modest work should not be over­ looked, and it makes a most useful companion piece to W ood’s for those in search or in need of en­ lightenm ent about the cultural identity of the Hollywood cinema, old and new.

Tom Ryan

ACTING FOR THE CAMERA by Tony Barr (Harper & Row, 1986, ISBN 060970343, $16.95).

The blurb on the front cover of Acting for the Camera includes the following: “ A book for all actors on how to adapt their craft to the needs of the camera, and how to make it in TV or film acting, with scores of insights, techniques, and practical advice from pros in the field.” There is a deal of hype here: no paperback is ever going to help an actor make it in TV or film and there isn’t much practical advice from ‘‘pros in the field” . Ed Asner provides a brief foreword in which he proclaims his perpetual excitement for acting, and his perpetual self-criticism: ‘‘How can I do it better? And sooner?” ; and he quotes John Gielgud having once declared that the most difficult thing in acting is ‘‘making it simple” .

And Edward G. Robinson, Karl Malden and Anthony Quinn are referred to once or twice: otherwise no pros are drawn upon at all.

The title, too, is misleading. At least half the book concerns acting for any medium: acting full stop.

There are chapters on ‘Listening and Sensing’, 'The Character’, 'F o c u s a n d C o n c e n t r a t io n ’ , ‘Preparation’, ‘Dynamics’, ‘Motiva­ tion’, and a good one entitled ‘Learn the Role — not the Lines’. This is all reasonable analysis, but it is not par­ ticularly related to the requirements of acting for the camera.

I have never been sure what those requirements are. As an occasional actor for the camera, I have veered between merrily or moodily acting away, presuming that the camera operator is capturing the brilliant perform ance the director has patiently allowed me to give, and asking inane questions of the focus puller or the sound recordist. So long as one is not wasting time (money) and energy, I suspect the best thing to do in front of a film or video camera is to get on with what one hopes is the required perform­ ance, and trust the relevant mem­ bers of the crew to tell you if there are problems. Other paranoias should be kept to oneself.

One could not expect Barr to put acting for cameras in quite those terms — he couldn’t stretch his book to 304 pages — but he does provide some useful insights, gained from his experience as an actor, director and producer on Broadway and in Hollywood, and, more recently, with students at his Film Acting Work­ shop in North Hollywood.

It is good to be reminded that actors should listen more to what the other actor might be saying: to avoid bringing preconceived notions of how a certain line or speech may be delivered. Not only will this allow for more immediacy and “ truthfulness” to emerge from the performance, but the author's intention will prob­ ably be better represented. It is good, too, to suggest that carefully studying the scene immediately pre­ ceding the one to be shot, as well as the scene immediately following — as often as possible — is a very use­ ful means for actors to remind them­ selves of the context in which their characters exist- — at least in terms

GEORGE HAMILTON IN DYNASTY: “ The actors who (do) take care of themselves . . . generally have a longer and more successful career” of the script, if not the finally edited product.

This may sound reasonable and obvious enough, but one still hears of production companies providing actors with pages of script rather than the whole. It is insulting to the actor, and a mighty error of judge­ ment by the production company concerned. Everybody involved, cast, crew and financiers alike, should read the whole script. How else can they all be usefully in­ volved? If the budget is small and multi-copies impossible to provide, share them around!

Certain Americanisms provide fine examples of not only how our language can be stretched, but what a curious beast this film business is.

For those of you who are perplexed by “ d a ilie s ” , “ c a b le m e n ” , "b ob ble” , “ dolly operator” and “ bilked” , definitions are provided.

(For those of you who will never sight the book, “ bobbling” one’s lines is “ fluffing” one’s lines.)

In a brief chapter on unions and other associations, it is boggling to learn that the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) “ will not accept personal cheques for membership. The

KIM STANLEY IN FRANCES: “ Learn how to free your tear ducts so that they are available to you when you need them”

money must be in cash, cashier’s cheque or money order” . Is this a pre- or post-Ronald Reagan ruling?

(Ronald Reagan was President of SAG in the fifties.)

Australian Actor’s Equity has no s u ch re q u ire m e n t: p e rs o n a l cheques are still welcome to the best of my knowledge. Affiliated guilds (to SAG) include the American Federa­ tion of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA). the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA), the Ameri­ can Guild of Variety Artists (AGVA), the Screen Extras Guild (SEG) and Actors Equity Association (AEA).

SAG offices have been established in 20 of the 50 United States, although mysteriously, the majority of them are in the southern states (and Missouri has two). Must have something-to do with the sun.

To return to acting for the camera.

Barr makes three assertions that deserve scrutiny. Firstly, “ . . . the actors who (do) take care of them­ selves look younger and more appealing and generally they have a longer and more successful career.”

Secondly, “ . . . learn how to free your tear ducts so that they are avail­ able to you when you need them as

SIX OF THE BEST FROM ANOTHER COUNTRY: “ It is almost inevitable that one day in your career you will have to hit someone . .

an actor. Maybe an acting teacher can do it for you; maybe it will take an analyst or a psychologist or someone else to give you a punch on the nose. But you had better do something about it so that the next time, the cameraman will look at something real happening.” And thirdly, “ . . . it is almost inevitable that one day in your career, you will have to hit someone or be hit by someone . . . You should learn how to fall, because you will undoubtedly be asked to do that at some time in your acting career, either because y o u ’re shot, or because you stumble, or because you’re hit on the head, or whatever.” These examples of Barr’s method either say something about Barr, the A m erican way, the A m erican Dream, or all of them, or none of these. They certainly make depress­ ing assumptions about acting, careers, psychologists, fiction, reality, scriptwriters and noses.

Still, it is a wide-ranging book.

Essentially for actors in North Am erica starting out on their careers, as a recent Los Angeles Times reviewer put it, it can also be “ . . . a refreshing review for any pro.” It could be useful comparative reading for students at the National Institute for Dramatic Art in Sydney, or the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne. It is probably not suit­ able for the reading lists provided by the drama departments at Flinders University in South Australia or the University of New South Wales. It would perhaps be more suitable in the waiting rooms of agents, unions, doctors, dentists, psychologists, advertising agencies and the pub­ lishers.

Barr can be concise. Half-way through the book he provides this excellent synopsis: “ When the director says, ‘Action’, don’t wait for inspiration, don’t worry about the techniques you’ve learned, and especially don’t worry about the semantics of your approach; just do it.” That is well put.

And those actors who complain about directors directing camera operators to roll film when the actors are unaware of it; or those of you whose best work always ends up on the cutting room floor, can go and write your own acting handbook.

There’s a growing market out there.

Tony Llewellyn-Jones

CINEMA PAPERS January — 55

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BY S A S K I A B A R O N HEROES AND FILL-INS: Superm an and Bond plus the production gap After a bad year for film production in Britain (ominously highlighted by the fact that Pinewood and Twicken­ ham Studios celebrated their anni­ versaries with empty stages), things are finally looking up on the filmmaking front. According to figures published in the trade paper, Screen International, the number of new films going before the cameras in the third quarter (ending 30 Septem­ ber) was greater than the total for the first and second quarters combined, while total investment has more than doubled.

Much of the big money comes from Cannon's Superman IV. which sees Christopher Reeve struggling to find a wallet big enough for his fee. Direction is by Sidney J. Furie which, if his last film. Iron Eagle, is anything to go by, isn't much to write down under about. The other big spender is the new, £22-million ($49 million) James Bond film. The Living Daylights, with Timothy Dalton climbing into the role left warm by Sean Connery's toupee and Roger Moore’s dentures. John Glenn as the director will doubtless provide the familiar bondage.

Production gets more interesting in the independent sector. Stanley Kubrick is editing his Vietnam movie, Full Metal Jacket, while John Boor­ man’s Hope and Glory has come to the end of its shooting schedule.

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And Zenith, the film production arm of Central Television, responsible for Sid and Nancy, is shooting Britain’s first AIDS drama. Intimate Contact. It stars Daniel Massey as a hetero­ sexual married businessman who has sex with a prostitute while in New York, and comes home to wife Claire Bloom with the killer disease.

Directed by Mamoun Hassan. more conspicuous in recent years for his work on funding bodies (he was head of the now-disbanded National Film Finance C o rporation), it promises to be tasteful.

Zenith is not behind the third movie from Sid and Nancy's direc­ tor, Alex Cox. Straight to Hell, a verylow-budget spaghetti western shot on Sergio Leone's old sets in Spain, stars just about everyone on the pop scene but Cliff Richard (see the Alex Cox interview on page 24). Written

by Dick Rude, co-scripter of Repo Man, it should be fun.

Another American adventurer in the screen trade, William Goldman, is also in the UK. writing The Prin­ cess Bride for Rob Reiner, of Spinal Tap fame. Meanwhile, weird tales of real-life rock legends filter through from the location of Hearts of Fire, the follow-up by British director Richard Marquand to the enormous success he had with Jagged Edge.

Bob Dylan is one corner of a love triangle which includes Rupert Everett and an actress called Fiona.

Mr Zimmerman gave a stupend­ ously uninformative press confer­ ence at the beginning of shooting, and since then has apparently been heard fretting about his health as he gets thrown in and out of icy pools.

He has also been spotted buying vast quantities of records from RockOn by staff who thought that Dylan

SUPERMAN: Truth, justice and the British film industry way

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impersonators had had their day.

Another interesting casting coup has been Don Boyd’s portmanteau opera production, A ria, which boasts the directorial services of Robert Altman. Bruce Beresford, Jean-Luc Godard, Derek Jarman, Nicolas Roeg and others. Believe it when you see it.

But British productions which can be seen rather sooner than was originally expected include Nic R oeg’s Seychelles two-hander, Castaway, which was hastily finished to open the London Film Festival on 11 November. One British film which sadly wasn't shown, however, was Personal Services, featured in Sheila Johnston’s July column (Cinema Papers 58). It was withdrawn at the last moment due to legal problems’ (Cynthia Payne, the madam on whom the film is based, has yet to appear in court). Despite the lost f i l ­ iation. the festival still included plenty of treats, including a good selection of new Australian films, among them Cactus. Kangaroo, 2 Friends, Back­ lash, The More Things Change and Malcolm.

What the Festival didn’t have was a single film produced by David Puttnam. His arrival at Columbia Studios has been watched in the UK with a mixture of envy and anxiety.

His rejection of the studio’s Rolls Royce was met with giggles, but there are worries about whether he’ll continue the backing originally promised by Columbia to the next Neil Jordan film.

Meanwhile, Puttnam’s Cannes prize-winner, The Mission, opened in London with much hype, but also a fair degree of backlash. The favourite critical metaphor was pro­ vided by the film’s waterfall, with the

movie being dismissed in some quarters as magnificent froth.

If the cinema scene in Britain has been fairly quiet of late, seemingly waiting to be wholly consumed by Cannon (which is currently amusing itself by renaming all its ABCs), the television world has been a little more lively. The BBC especially has been in the line of fire (again). An A la n B le a s d a le s e rie s , The Monocled Mutineer, which drama­ tizes a trenches revolt during WWI, came under vociferous attack for left-wing bias and falsifying history.

Once that had calmed down slightly, a new fuss broke out. A documentary made by the BBC Panorama team, which portrayed some of the more rabid right­ wingers in Mrs Thatcher’s govern­ ment in Hitleresque poses, was threatened with libel action. Before it could be taken to court and evidence heard, the BBC gave in and paid out £500,000 ($1.1 million) in damages.

The small screen is proving profit­ able in other quarters, too. The British Board of Film Classification (formerly known less euphemistically as the British Board of Film Censors) is pocketing some new-found wealth as a result of the Video Recordings Act, which makes it impossible simply to transfer a film’s theatrical certificate to its video release. Every­ thing now has to be resubmitted (on the grounds that children may see things at home they couldn't see in the cinema), and the cost is substan­ tial. Smaller video distributors are h a vin g p ro b le m s , as is the independent sector (even movies made by the C hild ren’s Film Foundation come under the ruling).

Bureaucracy is the lucrative name of the game.

IB M

PAT BR O ESKE THE GREAT EX-APE: King Kong returns, star­ less

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also involved in American Ninja 2: Re-Creation and Freedom Fighters.

The former has gone into production in Johannesburg and Capetown, directed by Sam Firstenberg, starring Michael Dudikoff and black actor Steve James. According to Golan, some of the production will also film on the African island nation of Mauritius.

Executive producer Avi Lerner (speaking from his Johannesburg office), claimed that Swaziland, which borders South Africa, will largely be the locale for Freedom Fighters, to star Peter Fonda. But, a Cannon inner-office memo lists South Africa as the site for that one, along with AH Baba (to film in late 1987 or early 1988).

Pressed about the matter, Golan said: "I understand your concerns, naturally. But, let me tell you, we have black American actors working alongside black African actors in our movies. Working together.

"Listen, when the United States issues restrictions against dealing with South Africa, I will comply. I will have to comply. But for now, we make our movies the way we want.”

As for why Cannon was, at first, “ shy” about its South African connection, Golan offered, “ We know the repercussions of this kind of publicity . . . ” Meanwhile, before the cameras stateside: Eric Roberts, Giancarlo Giannini and Dennis Hopper are among the players in Blood Red, a period piece now shooting in Northern California, near Santa Cruz. It’s about feuding railroad men and grape growers. It’s not tough to figure out what Penitentiary III, now shooting in and around L.A., is about. Still, the film definitely has a twist: former General Hospital heartthrob Tony Geary (with his hair dyed white, and cut spikey) is romantically teamed with “ illusionist” Jim Bailey.

B est k n o w n fo r his fe m a le impersonations, Bailey’s doing his entire role in drag. He plays "Cleo­ patra” , Geary’s cellmate and very close buddy. Bailey described the role (while laughing): "I play this guy who’s been imprisoned for murder and who’ll never get out. Tony’s this rotten Mafia kingpin who makes me over into what he wants — a woman.

He keeps me coked-up all the time . . . It’s so bizarre.” Joked Bailey: "This is one of those films where no one under 35 will be admitted into the theatre.”

At the cr.eaky age of 24, with eight movies (in five years) to his credit, Tom Cruise has been honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (which graces once-glorious Hollywood Boulevard). It happened, not so coincidentally, on the same day that The Color of Money opened. In case you don’t know how stars are granted (and in case you can’t figure why some of Holly­ w ood’s most enduring names don’t .have them), here are the rules: the actor or personality must be officially n o m in a te d to the H o lly w o o d Chamber of Commerce (in Cruise’s case, Touchstone Films did the nominating); someone must cough up $3,500 for the installation costs of the star’s star (in Cruise’s case, Touchstone came through); and the star must attend the ceremonies and participate in a little press for the occasion (once again, Touchstone was involved).

KING KO NG : An ape w ith o u t a star Not that Cruise doesn’t deserve to $8 million brought domestic theat­ (including Walker, Berlinger- and' have a star. Consider, said one rical distribution.

Dorn DeLuise) were staying at the Hollywood Chamber rep, Cruise's And then there’s the news (which hotel. "ascendance as a top box-office raised some eyebrows and stirred W ord of our long distance star, his all-American image and his some headlines in the L.A. press) sleuthing reached Cannon’s Holly­ emergence as an international star.” that Cannon is on location in the wood office (where a company As for Cruise’s Color of Money coland of apartheid. A Cannon publi­ memo had allegedly been issued, star, Paul Newman, well, his cist denied, at first, that they were commanding employees not to publicist says he’s never been shooting parts of My African Adven­ discuss the shoot). A Cannon approached about a star — despite ture (aka Ben, Bonzo and Big Bad publicist called us back to say she’d more than 45 films and what can Joe), with some black actors (in­ "just” learned her company was in only be deemed a pretty fair track cluding Jimmy Walker) in South South Africa. "Turns out we’re doing record.

Africa. Asked about the filming, a about 5% of the filming there. Mostly And then there’s that other star­ publicist said, "W hy would you even establishing shots. We needed a less legend, King Kong. The people think we’d film over there?” She port — so we shot in Durbin.” at De Laurentiis Entertainment insisted that it was Zimbabwe where But why film in South Africa in Group had hoped to snare the they were filming — "using the same these awkward times? Said Cannon simian a star as part of its promo sets we used for the two Allan co -ch a irm a n M enahem G olan for the Christmastime release, King Quartermain films.” (speaking by phone from New Kong Lives. But the Hollywood York): "I don’t look at making Then Army Archerd reported in Chamber shot the dream for the Big movies as politics. I look at making Guy down. his Daily Variety column that the wife movies as entertainment. I hate of actor Warren Berlinger — who’s “ It’s disgusting — an outrage,” apartheid. I hate apartheid. But I in My African Adventure — said her said a DEG representative, who have no political problems with husband had been mugged outside pointed out that the likes of Mickey South Africa myself, personally.” his hotel in Johannesburg. We Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Rin Tin Tin, Nor does Golan have problems contacted Berlinger’s wife Betty, Lassie and Strongheart all have with South Africa financially. That is, who declared, “ I ought to know stars. “ We think King Kong is as big he’s using South African investment where my husband is.” A call to a star as they are. Who remembers money. And not just on My African Johannesburg’s Santan Sun Hotel Strongheart, anyway?” With a nod Adventure. South African money is confirm ed that cast m embers to some L.A. disc jockeys who've got stars, the rep added, "Certainly, Kong is on a par with Rick Dees and Ken and Bob.” The big news at the box office: Crocodile Dundee is still snapping up the box office. In its seventh week, it’s already grossed more than $70 million. Which means that Paramount — the domestic dis­ tributor — is mighty happy. Who would have ever guessed that the Paul Hogan entry would be such a mega-hit? Certainly not United Artists, Colum bia or Twentieth Century-Fox (which did get inter­ national rights), all of whom rejected Crocodile in the US. Disney, Warner Bros, and Universal also reportedly passed on the product. One of the reasons, according to sources: Australian accents. Ironically the film didn’t' cost much domestically. One Paramount- exec said that “ about” PAUL N EW M A N : A sta r w ith o u t a star. TOM C R UISE: A pool sh a rk with a star

CINEMA PAPERS January — 57

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BY G EO R G IN A POPE AND N A O K O VEDA FESTIVE OCCASIONS: Tokyo g o e s fe s tiv a l crazy At long last it's official; the second Tokyo International Film Festival will be held from 25 September to 4 October next year. During the main competition fourteen features will compete for prizes and three major productions and one Japanese film will be Invited for presentation out of competition. Similar to the Young Cinema section of the first TIFF, the New Directors Prize will award gold and silver medals, along with a cash prize, to directors under the age of 35 selected from fifteen finalists.

Four or five of these pictures will be screened during the festival.

Several other non-competitive festivals within the festival will also screen around Tokyo. These include a selection of works by Japanese masters like Kurosawa, Ozu, Mizoguchi, Shinoda and Oshima, all to be selected by foreign critics. A selection of the works of young Japanese directors will also screen, along with an Asian-Pan-Pacific series, an International Fantastic Film Festival, a one-week Women’s Festival and 30 Best from Around the World.

Although a market as such is not planned, TIFF will provide a ‘Ren­ dezvous Point’ in a convenient loca­ tion equipped with multi-system video gear to serve as an informal market where buyers and sellers can meet.

Over two thousand Tokyoites turned out to see New Zealand pic­ tures during the recent five-day New Zealand Cinema Week; Utu, Con­ stance, Vigil, Dangerous Orphans, Quiet Earth and Leave All Fair were

GERMANY

BY DIETER OSSWALD ECO SOCKO: filmgoers pick up the medieval monastery habit

PARADIES: Bisecting a love triangle

58 — January CINEMA PAPERS

FESTIVAL SELECTIONS: Akira Kurosawa, Nagisa Oshima screened. As a result of the festival, four of the above titles are to be released commercially in Japan.

Winners In the first TIFF Young Cinema Section, which carried prize money totalling US$2.3 million for the winner’s next production, have at last received their money. The new projects include Shinji Soumai’s ’ Hikaru Onna (Shining Woman), Peter Gothar’s Pure America and Ali O zg e n tu rk’s The Plane Tree.

Soumal, who won first prize with Typhoon Club, says his current pro­ ject deals with the physical and mental attraction between an un­ stable but talented opera singer and a country boy who comes to the city from his remote mountainous home­

land in search of work.

Toho reported a 70 per cent in­ crease In monthly distribution bill­ ings for the month of August com­ pared with the same period the pre­ vious year. Chatran Monogatari (The Kitten Story), a Fuji Sankei Group presentation, accounts for this huge increase, as it screened in cinemas normally showing foreign pictures.

Two major directors have begun work this month on new projects.

Veteran Kon Ichikawa is making Eiga Joyu (Movie Actress), which stars Sayuri Yoshinaga and is based on the life of the late Kinuyo Tanaka, one of the first film actresses in Japan. The screenplay is based on the biography written by Kaneto

Shindo. For Toei, Hiedeo Gosha is preparing Gokudono Onnatachi (Yakuza’s Wives), with Rino Katase and Shima Iwashita in a story of Japan’s underworld.

Recent Japanese releases include Rikon Shinai Onna lite ra lly The Woman Who Won’t Divorce), the story of a man involved with two married women played by the real life sisters Mitsuko and Chieko Baisho. Director Tatsumi Kumashiro used classical music and lush Hok­ kaido scenery to tell this passionate tale, but the characters lack depth.

The talents of the Baisho sisters, arid Kenichl Hagiwara (who was excel­ lent In Kurosawa’s Kagemusha) seem to have gone to waste.

The success of The Name of the Rose was predictable enough. But no-one expected that it would be such a sensation. One million Germans saw the film in its first week, and the number of prints has been doubled to 200 to meet the enormous demand. Many theatres are showing nothing else for weeks on end, and other scheduled

premieres have been put back.

There had been a good deal of pre­ publicity in all the German media; newspapers, magazines, TV and radio all carried extensive reports on this film version of Umberto Eco’s bestselling novel.

As most people know by now, it is a medieval thriller set in an Italian m on astery, d e a lin g w ith u n ­ explained murders, the suppression of knowledge and literature, and the Inquisition. Jean-Jacques Annaud directs Sean Connery, F. Murray Abraham and Christian Slater. The producer of th is'$33 million film is Bernd Eichinger, producer of the highly successful Never Ending Story, which took $100 million world­ wide.

Another adaptation of a bestseller has suffered a very different fate.'

Bitte lasst die Blumen leben (Please Let the Flowers Live), an insipid love story by bestselling author Mario Simmel, with popular German TV star Klaus-Jürgen Wussow in the lead, ran only a few days. Doris Dome's new film, Paradies (Para­ dise) has been far less enthusiastic­ ally received than her previous work, Manner (Men), which has been put

up for an Oscar nomination. Manner is now showing in East Germany, as is Margarethe von Trotta’s Rosa Luxemburg-, East German critics have complained that the film puts too much emphasis on Luxem­ burg’s private life.

A prominent feature of Paradies and other new German films is the strong trend towards merchandizing consumer products with them.

Certain tradenames — cigarettes, drinks, cars, gym boots — are being pushed more blatantly on screen.

Some advertising agencies are now specializing in this field and are aiso enga ge d in in sertin g various products into conspicuous positions in TV shows.and series.

On the subject of TV, public broadcasting organizations and the g o v e rn m e n t’ s film p ro m o tio n agency (Filmforderungsanstalt) have completed their negotiations on the fourth film and television accord.

The joint project will operate for two years with a budget of $30.2 million.

In line with the agreement, TV will have a share in the production of cinema films w h ic h . will also be shown on the small screen two or three years after release in the

I TALY

BY LORENZO CODELLI ANNAUD DOMINATES: A rose is a rose is a blockbuster

K o k u s h im u s o (Im p o s te r), a remake of the 1932 original of the same name, is around town playing to huge houses. It stars Kiichi Nagai (seen recently in the Burmese Harp) as the central character, a mysterious man who has appeared from nowhere a la Brother From Another Planet. Two crooks take advantage of him and rename him Ise Isenokami, which happens to be the name of the Shogun’s kendo tutor. Everywhere he goes he is highly respected and treated to the best of local hospitality, until the real Isenokami gets wind of the imposter.

Unfortunately the satire and sophisti­ cation of the original is lost in the remake, leaving a tacky, almost

slapstick comedy which is neverthe­ less appealing to local audiences.

Foreign pictures playing around town include Karate Kid II, FIX, Highlander, Dreamchild, The Grey Fox and Letter To Brezhnev.

The busiest time of the year for' cinema-going is the New Year period and the majors have an­ nounced the following releases: Toho Towa will release Cannonball Run II .and The Flight of the Navi­ gator (substituting for Over the Top, delivery of which has been delayed), and UIP has Top Gun, ShockikuFuji King Kong Lives! and France Eigasha Down By Law, after the huge success of Ja rm u s c h ’s Stranger Than Paradise.

moviehouses. The Name of the Rose is an example of this kind of co-production. The film promotion agency will be financed by a tax on cinema tickets. In addition, video distributors and rental services will •contribute to this film tax from January 1987 onwards. The scheme will promote film production as well as treatments, screenplays, adver­ tising, distribution and theatre reno­ vations.

A ‘Golden Cinema’ scheme has been instituted by the Kino Verband (Association of Cinemas) to boost the appeal of going to the movies.

Theatres will be awarded a certain number „of stars, rather like a Michelin G uide. Standards of customer service, technical pro­ ficiency and programming will be assessed.

Of course the festivals also contribute to the promotion of film culture. Next to the traditional independent Hof Festival, the oldest West German festival takes place in Mannheim, the ‘Mannheimer Filmwoche’ now in its 35th year. "The Russian entry, Konstantin Lopuchansky’s Letters from a Corpse, a tale of nuclear catastrophe trig­ gered by computer failure, won the

Grand Prix. In a bizarre coincidence, it was shot in Chernobyl a year before the reactor accident. A special prize went to David Brad­ bury’s Chile Hasta Cuando? for its “ uncompromising presentation of a people’s continuing struggle against despotism and dictatorship” .

Currently in production here are Schimanki 2 and Otto 2. Klaus Maria Brandauer stars in a Cannon production of Das Spinnernest (The Spider's Web), based on Joseph Roth’s novel, and Gudrun Landgrebe is making Zwischenzeit (In­ terim), a film about Paul Celan.

The success of The Name of the Rose is the talk of the town, but other hits include Hannah and Her Sisters, Momo (by Johannes Schaaf 'from Michael Ende’s novel) and Karate Kid 2.

The British films Letter to Brez­ hnev and My Beautiful Laundrette were popular with critics and the public, but reaction to Betty Blue, Spies Like Us and Poltergeist 2 has been lukewarm. The big flops are Chabrol’s Inspector Lavardin and Polanski’s Pirates. After its disas­ trous opening, Polanski’s film is being shown in a shortened version, with his consent.

The Name of the Rose was con­ ceived as a “ European answer” to the invading American blockbusters, and it has certainly worked finan­ cially; here, as elsewhere in Europe, Jean-Jacques Annaud’s film is the hit of the season. It has proved palat­ able for every audience, unlike Giuseppe Ferrara’s / giorni dell'ira, which has been angrily received in some political quarters. Gian Maria Volonte plays the well-known Chris­ tian Democrat leader Aldo Moro, who was killed by Red Brigade terrorists. It does not disclose any evidence about the kidnapping, but tries to humanize the captive Moro in a rather lachrymose way.

During budget discussions in Parliament the m ajority voted against the government’s usual pro­ visions for the State film industry; this included Cinecittà, the distributor Instituto Luce and various activities.

So the future looks very dark for this vital public sector.

In his kingdom of Cinecittà Federico Fellini is finishing Block notes di un regista, produced by Ibrahim Moussa, a kind of recollec­ tion of past film experiences origin­ ally conceived just for television.

After a two-years-long illness, Ermanno Olmi is back at work on Lunga vita alla signora-, shot in a castle near Asiago, it tells of the first labors of a young restaurant waiter.

Olmi has also published as a short novel Ragazzo della Bovisa, a screenplay on his wartime youth that he could not produce. In Spain, Mario Monicelli starts / picari, a large scale historical comedy inspired by the picaresque literature of the 17th century.

In China, Fiction Film of Rome and Recorded Movies of London are producting the colossal L ’ultimo imperatore, directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. Two thousand extras will take part in five months of shooting

in Peking, Manchuria and Rome, a $20 million budget, John Lone (from Cimino’s Year of the Dragon) as Pu Yi, the last Chinese emperor, and Peter O ’Toole as his British instructor.

Marcello Mastroianni, Silvana Mangano and Isabella Rossellini play the leads in the Italo-Russian co-production Oci Ciornia (Black Eyes), an adaptation of some of Chekhov’s tales written and directed

by Nikita Mikhalkov. Another inter­ national co-venture by the American HBO, the French Les Films Ariane and Franco Cristaldi, titled II giorno prima, puts together an all-star cast: Burt Lancaster, Ben Gazzara, Erland Josephson, Kate Nelligan and Andrea Ferreol. Giuliano Montaldo directs this science fiction warning about a group of under­ ground survivors of an atomic catastrophe.

Ambitious filmmakers are com­ peting in the coming rush to Berlin and Cannes festivals: Ettore Scola with his much-awaited La famiglia, an Italian Buddenbrooks; Paolo and Vittorio Taviani with their Good Morning, Babylon, devoted to Griffith’s Hollywood; Francesco Rosi with his epic Cronaca di una mode annunciata, from Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel.

In the meantime the everyday average product is being churned out: Adriano Celentano’s Christmas farce II burbero, by the team of Castellano and Pipolo; the same guys who two months earlier con­ trived Grandi Magazzini, an unfunny gathering of many comic stars. Lina Wertmuller’s Notte d ’estate . . . is an unabashed remake of her hit Swept Away . . . again focused on a rich woman from Northern Italy and a savage proletarian from the South.

Dino Risi’s II commissario Lo Gatto exploits Lino Banfi’s limited comic appeal in a parodied thriller, while Gianfranco Mingozzi tries hard in L ’iniziazlone to upgrade the level of softcore queen Serena Grandi, and Francesco Nuti teams again with Ornella Muti to direct Stregati. But the most sensitive performance by an actress was given on TV by the wonderful, but rarely seen Lea Massari in Una donna a Venezia, an old-fashioned melodrama warmly staged by Sandro Bolchi.

THE NAME OF THE ROSE: Monks, murders, megabucks

CINEMA PAPERS January — 59

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NEW ZEALAND

BY M I K E NI C OL A 1 DI HOT TO FOOTROT: comic strip ready for the big screen The release of New Zealand’s first animated feature, based on the im­ mensely popular comic strip of Murray Ball, could flag the start to a second wave of major filmmaking here.

With production just emerging from lean times, a great deal is hang­ ing on domestic reaction to Footrot Flats — A Dog's Tale. A big-for-New Zealand, 20-print Christmas release begins in mid-December.

To date, it has been a dream pro­ ject for producers John Barnett and Pat Cox. In the particularly difficult investment climate this side of the Tasman, they raised the entire $NZ5 million budget from more than 600 investors in less than ten days. New Zealand’s largest newspaper group, INL, which owns both Wellington dailies and two of the country’s three Sundays, and runs the Ball strip in many of its outlets, has a 20% interest in the project.

Sydney-based animation facilities and staff have been used with Ball directing proceedings via facsimile machine from his rural retreat in Gis­ borne. Ball and satirist Tom Scott wrote the screenplay and one of New Zealand’s greatest exports to Australia, John Clarke, is a major voice.

Footrot Flats is expected to have a big print release through a major chain in Australia at Easter before its first international outing at Cannes.

Two other local features on smaller release — Richard Riddiford’s Arriving Tuesday and Ian Mune’s Bridge To Nowhere — are doing the rounds. Queen City Rocker, directed by Bruce Morrison, and John L a in g ’s Dangerous Orphans will be in cinemas here during January and February. This quartet is being released by the new distribution arm of Auckland pro­ ducer Larry Parr’s Mirage Films. All were shot in 1985.

A recent survey undertaken for the New Zealand Film Commission establishes that almost threequarters of the population believe it important for the country to have its

own film industry — an increase from 68% in February 1986. The survey shows that only 14% of New Zealanders had not seen at least one local feature in the past twelve months either in a cinema, on video or on television.

Commission Chairman David Gascoigne now expects at least three new features to roll early next year. These include two in which the commission has decided to "invest su b sta n tia lly” : S tarlight Hotel, directed by Sam Pillsbury and pro­ duced by Parr and Finola Dwyer, and Leon N a rbe y’s Illustrious Energy, produced by Don Reynolds’ Cinepro outfit.

Meanwhile, two intertwined prob­ lems have been brought into sharp focus: the industry's access to tele­ vision, and the Broadcasting Cor­ poration of New Zealand’s (BCNZ) dependence on government funds to run the two quasi-government television channels.

The lens is the 518-page report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry Into Broadcasting and Related Tele­ communications. The document took twenty months to produce.

Both the Film Commission and the Independent Producers and Direc­ tors Guild devoted time and money to their submissions because of the problems of filmmaking in a country with a small population. They have mixed feelings about what the com­ mission has produced.

On the positive side, the Royal Commission has recommended introduction of a points system for television which guarantees a mini­ mum New Zealand content on the channels. It says the system should aim for local content transmission of 37% for the BCNZ channels (run by Television New Zealand) and 33% for the prospective private channel by the end of 1993. This is five years

FOOTROT FLATS: Full-length Dog for Christmas release

60 — January CINEMA PAPERS

after the proposed third channel begins operations.

New Zealand content now consti­ tutes, at best, a highly debatable one-third of total broadcast time, with drama, documentaries and pro­ ductions by the independent sector taking up only a very small percent­ age of this.

The film industry is less happy about the Royal Commission’s views on the use of independent produc­ tion houses by the corporation.

In 1978 BCNZ established a s c h e m e fo r c o m m is s io n in g independent productions and by mid-1985 had supported 61 projects to a tune of $NZ2 million. In a more recent move, Television New Zealand appointed a commissioning editor, responsible to DirectorGeneral Julian Mounter, to identify and acquire programs out of house.

While the Royal Commission saw problems in a single position dealing with a range of programme areas, it did not support industry arguments for making public the acquisition budget from the independents.

Guild representatives requested the corporation to commit 5% of TVNZ’s net advertising revenue, which would have amounted to over $NZ7 million in the 1985-86 financial year.

Rather characteristically, the Royal Commission sounded a note of caution on the balancing of sources for programme material.

"We would be concerned if in­ creased use of the independent sector, especially for drama and documentary production, led to a contraction of the range of pro­ g ra m m e s p ro d u c e d in -h o u se whereby Television New Zealand production staff were concentrated in less ‘creative’ production fields.”

A major thrust of the Royal Com­ mission’s report, in fact, is what it terms "adequate funding of public

service broadcasting to ensure pro­ duction of a wide and varied range of program mes reflecting New Zealand culture and identity.” This brought an instant fight with the government over the level of the television licensing fee (recently re­ named "public broadcasting fee” ).

Just before the report was re­ leased the government increased this fee, which had remained static for eleven years, but by no means to the level expected by both the Royal Commission and the BCNZ. The commission believes the fee should be comparable to the average annual subscription price of main city newspapers, which would virtu­ ally double the new government impost.

BCNZ announced staff and pro­ gramme cuts, particularly in the tele­ vision area, to help bridge what it estimates now to be a SNZ20 million income shortfall.

The corporation is arguing before the Broadcasting Tribunal that a third television channel would be detrimental to the public interest, because BCNZ is not being sus­ tained adequately through the fee.

The battle between the government and its broadcasting quango looks set to continue for some time.

A bright note for young television viewers, largely unconcerned over the row, is the return of the country’s most popular music video shows Ready To Roll and Radio With Pic­ tures. Their reinstatement follows agreement over rights to show video clips, the subject of a five-month dispute between m a jo r. recording companies and TVNZ (first reported Cinema Papers 58, July 1986). A deathly hush surrounds the terms of the settlement. The considered view of industry sources is that both sides have compromised with TVNZ offer­ ing "minimal payment” for the clips.

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to rig h t) MUSING: Judy Davis ponders words of wisdom from Hugh Keays-Byrne in Kangaroo. CRUISING: Sandrine Bonnaire in a mother-daughter clinch from Sweet Dreams

FESTIVAL FAVOURITES (le ft

CORK S a in t a n d la m b p a c k in th e c ro w d s The thirty-first Cork Film Festival has to be counted a resounding suc­ cess: in all, 91 films were shown over a nine-day period beginning on 26 September, with average daily attendances in excess of 2,000 people at two separate venues: the Triskel Arts Centre and the Cork Opera House. “ This year, we have shown we can capture a local audience,” said festival co-director Theo Dorgan. “ The next move is to build it up as a major event which will attract people to the city. There is now an economic argument to be added to the cultural one: the festival will bring people and money to the city.”

There was a broad national and cultural diversity in this year’s films, with Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Eng­ land, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, Belgium, Greece, Poland, the USSR and China all represented: in that sense, at least, Cork was truly an ‘international’ festival. Australian films on show were Half Life, Kanga­ roo, G reg W o o d la n d ’s short, Sharky’s Party, and the ‘Jane Campion programme’: 2 Friends, Passionless Moments and A Girl's Own Story.

62 — January CINEMA PAPERS

Elsewhere, more by accident than design, films displaying a religious theme loomed large in the pro­ gramme, notably Therese (which shared the opening nicjht), and the Irish film, Lamb. Therese was ac­ claimed by the Cork audience, and described by one reviewer as “ giving a convincing portrayal of sim ple goodness, despite its sophisticated approach” . Catherine Mouchet, who plays the central role of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, was in attendance.

Portraying a more contemporary version of the ‘Catholic experience’, Lamb belongs in some respects to the same genre as The Devil’s Play­ ground, but displays a freshness and vitality in its approach which is lacking in many similar productions.

The film is scripted by the Northern Irish writer, Bernard MacLaverty, from his novel of the same name, published in 1980. Australian viewers may be familiar with MacLaverty’s work through Cal, taken from his previous novel. Hopefully, the new film (directed by Colin Gregg) will receive the same exposure.

Lamb is about love, faith and moral choice. In particular, it is about belief and disbelief — the loss of faith. The ‘lamb’, in his naive and vulnerable innocence as well as his name, is Michael Lamb, alias Brother Sebastian. A young Chris­ tian Brother, he takes flight from a re­ formatory in Northern Ireland along with a ten-year-old inmate, Owen Kane, who is not only subject to

epileptic fits, but has also been rather knocked about by life. From an initial relationship of tense and ambivalent mistrust, the story traces the pair’s flight from Ireland to the highlights (and lowiights) of London, and examines the growing trust and affection which develops between them. In a way, it is a love story.

When their money — a legacy left

by Michael's recently deceased father — runs out, Michael and Owen are forced to return to Ireland, where an isolated beach provides the setting for the film’s climax: Michael’s dramatic solution to the terrible dilemma in which they are placed, and which may not prove convincing to everyone.

The middle section of the film — the stay in England — rather lacks momentum, but Lamb is superbly played by Liam Neeson in the title role. Hugh O ’Connor, as the young Owen, doesn't quite live up to the acclaim heaped upon him by local reviewers, though, and the musical score (by Van Morrison) may form a perfect complement to the enchant­ ing Irish landscape, but is overly reminiscent of Mark Knopfler’s music for Local Hero.

Of the other keynote films at the festival, several have already been reviewed in Cinema Papers: Vagabonde in No 58 (July 1986), Stammheim and Fool for Love in 59 (September 1986). In terms of audi­ ence popularity and attendance, Vagaboncfe, along with Therese and Derek Jarman’s Caravaggio, was rated one of the highlights, while

Stammheim and Fool for Love were among the disappointments.

Box office receipts accounted for one third of the festival’s total cost, with the remainder being met by various sponsors. 1986 was the first in a three-year plan to get Cork back on an international footing, and the budget — £IR60,000 ($120,000) — was a shoestring one. The future therefore depends on the ability of Theo Dorgan and his fellow organ­ izer, Michael Hennigan, to broaden and consolidate the support from private sponsors, particularly local ones. This year’s selection shows they have already laid a solid foundation.

Danny Cusack

HOF C e le b ra tio n a n d c e re b ra tio n October 1986 was the twentieth anniversary of the Hof Film Days (Filmtage Hof), which film freak Heinz Badewitz and his team have been running in the small Bavarian town of Hof, near the East German border, since 1967.

Hof has always been the German cinema’s hope for the future: Her­ bert Achternbusch, Wim Wenders, Werner Herzog, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Volker Schlondorff, Werner Schroeter, Wolfgang Peter-

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Nor has Hof’s programming been restricted to German films: a whole generation of independents like John Waters, John Carpenter, Brian De Palma, George Romero, David Lynch and Jim Jarmusch have had their German premieres there. Aus­ tralia has been represented over the years by the likes of George Miller (Mad Max), Haydn Keenan (Going Down) and Philippe Mora (The Return of Captain Invincible).

Sadly, though, on this anniversary year, there was little to celebrate among the 50 films from nine countries. In particular, the German entries were notable for their boring contents and their lack of formal in­ ventiveness. The opening film, Josef Rodl’s Der wilde Clown, was especi­ ally disappointing, with its tiresome dramaturgy and wholly inadequate screenplay — 103 long, long minutes about one Jakob, who quits his job, shuns human society, and installs himself in a military training area.

With banal pseudo-anarchy and flat symbolism, Rodl sets out to be a new Achternbusch, but achieves none of the latter’s originality. And there were other examples of selfsatisfied, inward-looking cinema, too: in Gottfried Junker’s Versteckte Liebe, in which an intellectual with a writer’s block flees to Crete and falls in love with an eleven-year-old girl; and in F lorian F u rtw a n g le r’ s Tom asso B lu, w h ich c a rrie s

snobbery to extremes by being in Italian with German subtitles.

In this morass of inconsequential verbosity, Doris Dome’s new film, Paradies, lived up to its title. With sovereign charm and striking visuals, the director of Manner (Men) returns to the theme of the love tri­ angle, this time with a man in the middle. The result is no masterpiece, but at least it is entertaining cinema.

There were quite a few disappoint­ ments in the international selection, too. Sondra Locke’s directorial debut, Ratboy, played to an empty­ ing cinema; the Swiss film, Motten in Licht a Chandleresque tale about a stolen painting — proved abund­ antly boring; and the Irish Eat the Peach was no sensation, either.

There were a few good films at Hof, however, including Karel Reisz’s Sweet Dreams, which, along with Neil Jordan’s Mona Lisa (re­ viewed in this issue), was the festi­ val’s most beautiful film. The wittiest was Critters: and, for subtle grue­ someness, there was Blue Velvet, a return to form by David Lynch with a nightmare trip around a drug ring.

Jim Jarmusch’s Down By Law, Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It and Hugh Hudson’s Revolution all had their German premieres and Aus­ tralia was represented by Malcolm and Cactus.

If Hof 1986 was a disappointment, however, next year’s festival already has its high spot lined up: the premiere of Werner Herzog’s Cobra Verde, now being shot in the jungles of Brazil.

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CINEMA PAPERS January — 63

HARRY, MEET MAX

M IC R O C H IP - O

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The integration of film and video special effects is long overdue. It certainly seems an obvious move for a video design studio like The Video Paint Brush Company to share a building with film special effects company Mirage Effects, in the industrial estates of North Ryde. It has been brought about by the intro­ duction of some new hardware that is of great importance to people in film and video. In the final part of his series, Fred Harden explains why filmmakers are wild about a device called Harry.

HARRY AT WORK: temporary set-up showing the Quantei Harry and Paintbox combo in action

64 — January CINEMA PAPERS

Max Headroom, the first true talking head of television, needs no introduction to most industry people. He’s not only one of the highest rating cult figures on British and American music TV, he’s also the star of the latest Australian and US Coca-Cola commercials; Ridley Scott, director of Blade Runner and Alien, has directed two of the US Coke spots. “ Harry” is less well known, but he has developed a cult following of his own at The Video Paint Brush Company in Sydney. Harry is the name that the British company Quantei has given to its digital studio. The name promises to become better known among television production people than that of a wisecracking, video-processed actor, because Harry is the first taste of the way that digital video will change video production.

Digital television needs some explanation. It is not a new and incompatible system like high definition television which promises us widescreen film quality pictures. It promises conformity by adopting a standard method of signal processing agreed to by the CCIR (International Radio Consultative Committee). Digital video works like compact disk, which uses digital sampling techniques to convert the continuous analogue audio signal into a form that closer approaches the dynamic range of the original signal, and eliminates noise and interference. Because of the high cost, this technology is limited to broadcast production and it will be a few years before we see a fully digital home set.

If you have not seen a device like the Quantei Paintbox in the hands of a

skilled designer, then Harry will look magical. It is not just a small improvement in quality, but a giant leap in philosophy of design and ease of operation.

The Paintbox was first introduced as an electronic paint system for broadcast stations which would replace the production of flat artwork.

It was used mainly to grab frames of live video and convert them to digital images that could be reworked, painted over and edited back into the original tape.

Makers of TV commercials could carry out frame-byframe video retouching of products, add glows and highlight sparkles, or fix mistakes made in filming where the cost of a reshoot was prohibitive. The process was made easier by the development of true single­ frame editing one-inch VTRs (video tape recorders), but there was a limit to the number of frames which could be stored on the hard disk drives of the Paintbox. The disks could only record and replay one frame every 1V2 seconds, so that checking the result meant working on a number of frames individually and then recording them onto a VTR. This process was made easier by the new software update from Quantei (version PRO 4) which allowed the Paintbox to control the VTR, but there were still problems with pre-roll times and machine-to-machine signal loss. With the need for improved frame-by-frame handling, Quantei began to develop a real time recording system for TV, code-named Henry.

At the same time, they were preparing their digital effects system, Encore. This differed from existing digital effects machines like Ampex’s ADO because it could also accept the standard CCIR digital

The concept of S a m p lin g is the key to digital video (and audio). There has to be a way to break the continually varying analogue signal into discrete bits of information to which a digital value or number can be attached. If you don’t select the bits, or ‘sample’ the signal often enough, the effect is too coarse. Sampling it too often, however, takes time and requires larger bandwidths to broadcast or store.

To sample a video signal under the CCIR 601 standard the luminance (brightness) part of the signal is sampled at 13.5Mhz: that’s thirteen and a half million cycles a second.

The other two components that are subtracted to make up the three colours Red, Green and Blue are about half of that. In NTSC they are in the ratio of 4:2:2, so the new standard is referred to as Four Two Two.

the pen to the correct box and pressing the pen tip down lightly.

SPECIFICATIONS

TALKING HEADROOM: Max holds forth

input. This eliminates the losses and small distortions that occur when the analogue signals are decoded and encoded again, as is the standard procedure.

Henry was shown to interested users and their ideas were incorporated over an 18-month period; it now includes features like dissolves, luminance and chrominance keying, time code and GPI interfaces to allow it to be triggered from standard edit controllers.

What started life as a digital recorder ended up as a digital studio, and, along the way, Henry became known as Harry.

HARRY IN CLOSE-UP: the three reels and operating menu

USING HARRY I have watched Harry in use at Video Paint Brush and seen both the increasing complexity of the work done with it, and an increasing number of potential uses.

What you see looks like a conventional Paintbox graphics tablet, computer keyboard and high resolution monitor with the familiar ‘boxed’ on-screen menu occupying the bottom quarter of the screen. This state-ofthe-art system is controlled by the stylus pen that is also used to draw in the Paintbox mode. Switching from the Paintbox to Harry is done by moving the cursor that follows

DIRTY HARRY: Yes, it’s a female body, a vital component of the US Coke ad Harry helped produce

Harry has a totally random access store of 2000 frames, 80 secs of broadcast quality images. The material can come from a sequence of Paintbox images, or via the RGB decoder from a colour camera, or a videotape recorder. The images are stored as ‘clips’, and editing two clips together simply involves altering the replay sequence. There is no re­ recording or shuffling of material on the disks. It is only when making a dissolve that the actual dissolving frames are recorded separately. (Multiple dissolves are easy, and the process can be repeated until the desired results are achieved.)

The material is stored as three clips, the equivalent of three VTRs. In the edit mode, the screen displays three strips of images, and edit points are selected by touching the cursor on the selected frame. The images can be ‘slid’ up and down so that the beginning or the end of any clip can be found, and there is even a moviola-style flickering motion display. A freeze is simply one frame read continuously, and slow or backward motion has the refinements of dissolves between frames to smooth out stretched material so that up to 2:1 time ratios will give good results. Backwards motion actually replays the field sequence in reverse.

Both luminance and chrominance keying are provided and can be used separately or together. The key quality is better than any mixing desk I’ve seen. Digital linear keying, softening and precise adjustments are possible. If another level of key is required, then the process can be repeated without generation loss. The chromakeyer can use any key colour by touching the required colour area with the pen; from that point it can be finely adjusted using the up and down arrow keys on screen or the keyboard. The superior keying ability allows Harry to build up multiple layers of images from Encore, overlaying them with absolutely no generation loss.

Digital images don’t even ^ understand the concept. ^ CINEMA PAPERS January — 65

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66 — January CINEMA PAPERS

When Harry is integrated with the Paintbox and Encore, with all of them sharing images in digital format, the process is controlled by a cueing mechanism that presents the Harry clip’s images, frame by frame. The result is re-recorded back into Harry. It is only during this process that you are conscious of waiting for the system. Everything else differs so much from a conventional edit suite that it is hard to believe everything is happening so quickly.

Inserting frames into an existing sequence or deleting a single frame all takes place as fast as the selection can be made from the screen — and that’s fast.

TH E FUTURE It is already possible to take a digital output from a telecine chain, and modern digital mixers already allow for superior manipulation and wipe effects to be used. What we are waiting for is the digital videotape recorder, and as you will read from the accompanying item, Sony have set a delivery date of August 1987 for Australia.

When Harry is combined with a digital VTR many of the existing time constraints are removed. The limitation of 80 seconds of material effectively excludes the use of Harry for more than an average 30 second commercial compilation. It takes a long time to back up as many images as that onto digital storage tapes, and then reload. A digital VTR would allow material to be shuttled back and forth without any quality loss, and only returned to a conventional one-inch format for release.

Harry is a major step forward in the development of a system of digital editing of images. It may not be the design most suited to a standard edit suite, but for images that involve animation or motion graphics, and complex keys that require rotoscoped matte shapes or retouching, then the Paintbox/Harry combination is close to perfect. The potential for complex special effects work for television is unlimited, and I for one, Mr Headroom, f-f-f-find that exciting.

Fred Harden works at the Video Paint Brush Company

DVR-1000 Front Panel

sizes a re s tre tc h e d to a llo w up to a p ro po sed 9 0 m in u te s .

T he fro n t p a n e l of th e m a c h in e sh ow s th e 4 :2 :2 b ad g e, and th e g rey colour is a d e p a rtu re fo r th e Sony lin e. In s te a d of a green flu o re s c e n t d is p la y th e re is a la rg e fla t p an el e le c tro ­ lu m in e s c e n t display, w ith ch a n g in g m enus s e le c te d fro m tw e lv e b u tto n s b e s id e th e display, and a ro w of ch ang ing fu n c tio n key s b e lo w it. T h e re is e v e n a g ra p h ic re p re s e n ta ­ tion of th e c a s s e tte re e l spooling as it runs, so th a t you can te ll th e s ta tu s of th e ta p e re m a in in g .

T he m ain a d v a n ta g e of d ig ita lly re c o rd in g th e vid eo and audio sig n als is th e a b s o lu te re p la y of th e re c o rd e d sig n al.

T h e re a re fo u r d ig ita l audio c h a n n e ls w ith a sig n al resp o n se c o m p a ra b le to C o m p a c t D isks. W ith erro r c o rre c tio n te c h n iq u e s , a d ig ita l ta p e co py is e x a c tly lik e th e o rig inal and ev e n long d ro po u ts fro m c lo g g ed h ead s a re c o n c e a le d by s o p h is tic a te d m e a n s . T h e re is d ig ita l and an a lo g u e vid eo in p u t and th e a b ility to o u tp u t RGB and B e ta c a m c o m p o n e n t s ig n als.

SONY DIGITAL VTR S tar a ttra c tio n a t th e r e c e n t la u n c h of n e w b ro a d c a s t p ro du cts by S on y in S y d n e y la s t m o n th w a s th e firs t p ro du ctio n m o d el d ig ita l vid e o ta p e re c o rd e r th a t w e h ave seen in A u s tra lia . A v a ila b le n e x t y e a r fo r a m e re $ 2 7 0 ,0 0 0 , th e D V R -1 0 0 0 has b e e n so a ttr a c tiv e to th e in d u s try th a t th e re Is a ru m o u red b a c k lo g of m o re th a n th re e h undred orders, c a tc h in g Sony (p le a s a n tly ) by su rp rise.

T h e D V R -1 0 0 0 and th e D ig ita l S ig n al P ro c e s s o r th a t goes w ith it ta k e up a b o u t th e s p a c e of a s ta n d a rd 1" VTR , although it lo o ks m o re lik e a Sony U -m a tic . T h e c a s s e tte used is, in fa c t, th e s a m e w id th , a lth o u g h th e c a s s e tte

In o p e ra tio n th e p ic tu re q u a lity is e x c e lle n t; spooling a t up to 4 0 tim e s n o rm a l s p eed — fo rw a rd s and b a c k — s till holds co lo u r in th e p ic tu re alth o u g h it looks v ery d iffe re n t from th e s ta n d a rd b ro a d c a s t b re a k u p . A fre e z e fra m e and plus or m inu s 1/4 tim e s s p e e d is p o s s ib le b e fo re d e g ra d a tio n of th e p ic tu re is s e e n . S ta n d a rd C ue and T im e C ode tra c k s a re in clu d ed and th e D V R -1 0 0 0 w o u ld fit in to a n orm al e d it s u ite w ith o u t m o d ific a tio n .

Of in te re s t to p ro d u c e rs m a k in g p ro g ra m m es fo r th e US and NTSC m a rk e ts is th e a b ility to reco rd both PAL and N TSC p ic tu re s a t th e flic k of a s w itc h . M a kin g th e d ig ital v id e o ta p e re c o rd e r th e m a s te rin g m a c h in e fo r o v e rs e a s m a te ria l w o u ld e n s u re h ig h er q u a lity th a n th a t of th e u sual sta n d a rd s co n v e rs io n . F eed th e o u tp u t in to a high reso lu tio n film re c o rd e r and th e re s u lt should be fa r su perio r to any vid eo p ic tu re s o th e r th a n HDTV. Contact details: Sony Australia, Broadcast Division, Melbourne Ph: (03) 836 4011, Sydney Ph: (02) 887 6666.

CELCO Film Recorder

The Celco 8000A Film Recorder

TRON: the movie Celco helped to make

The use of videotape as a distribution medium for video and computer generated images is usually limited by the poor quality of video to film conversions. Computer images for audio visual use as slides are better catered for, but the devices depend on the image being made with one particular computer and software combination.

Reproduction quality for press is a similar story. There are a few machines in Australia that serve the purpose for an uncritical user, but we usually send the job overseas for the best results.

This is about to change with the announcement of the Australian dealership and local installation of one of the top range film recorders made by the US company Celco.

Computer graphics house Sonicvision in Melbourne have installed a CELCO 800A high speed, high resolution film recorder, providing a range of film formats from 16mm movie to 8 x 10 inch still. There are a number of software interfaces being written to allow the Celco to accept outside work from several different computer formats. One of the uses Sonicvision hope will provide regular work for the machine is to output images from the LANDSAT satellite, which produces ultra-high resolution images from space for geophysical analysis and oil and mineral exploration.

The Celco is highly regarded in the US. As an indication of the quality that can be obtained, MAGI Productions used a Celco to record most of the computer animation work they did on Walt Disney Productions’s T ro n .

Further inform ation can be obtained from Sonicvision Productions Pty Ltd, 10-12 Boundary Street, South M elbourne. Ph: (03) 6 9 0 4 8 2 2 .

CINEMA PAPERS January — 67

THE BIT PART (above): Chris Haywood with fearsome trio, Red Symons, Animal and Wilbur Wilde (left) and, would you believe, Chris Haywood (right). Photos by Tibor Hegedis. THE SHIRALEE: DOP Geoff Simpson shooting through with Bryan Brown and crew (left) and the actor’s director George Ogilvie (right). Photos by Greg Noakes.

Film production is slowing right down and though we might blame Australian summer malaise, it is more likely a general nervousness in the industry about the future of 10BA (following the AFC’s discussion paper). Few producers are committing themselves, preferring to hold on to their scripts and package their product carefully. Some, out of disillusionment, are packing their bags and seeking finance elsewhere. As William May of Skippy Industries said, “ it’s a matter of going to the States and sitting in hotel lobbies!” He is scriptwriter and executive producer of the $2.79 million feature Skippy a n d the C hallenger, which is scheduled to shoot in 1987.

The courageous ones are the makers of the low-budget feature The B it Part, which began shooting in locations around Melbourne on 17 November. Chris Haywood plays a professional who gives up his job to fulfil a life­ time acting ambition. He tries his luck as an extra, awaits discovery in commercials and falls into all the traps of the entertainment industry. Other ‘bit parts’ are taken by the Hey, Hey I t ’s Saturday team, Animal, Wilbur Wilde and Red Symons.

Other features in production are the two Yoram Gross animation films, D ot in G ood O ld H o llyw oo d and Terra Australis. With several animated telefeatures also in production at Burbank Films, activity is in children’s cartoons: the Burbank projects include B la ck Beauty, The L a st o f the M ohicans and Rob Roy.

Antony Ginnane’s production

68 — January CINEMA PAPERS

company, International Film Management, is still in gear, with the political thriller The Everlasting Secret Fam ily scheduled to shoot in the new year. Based on the short story by Frank Moorhouse, it is being directed and co-produced

by Michael Thornhill, and stars Arthur Dignam, John Meillon, Heather Mitchell, Mark Lee and Dennis Miller. Ginnane’s other feature, a $2.3 million musical, is in pre-production. Titled You Never Can Tell, John Edwards is signed as director and producer.

The Gillian Armstrong feature High Tide and the horror movie The M arsupials — H ow ling 3 (see the location report in this issue, p. 32) both wrapped on 22 November, and production was completed on Bob Ellis’s Warm N ights on a S low M oving Train on 6 December.

The Time Guardian, called by its producers “ Australia’s first science fiction film” is also in post-production after a shoot that has taken in the Flinders Ranges, two sound stages and a backlot at South Australia’s Hendon Studios, and a warehouse in Port Adelaide where five sets were built by production designer George Liddle. Co-producer Bob Lagettie describes The Time G uardian as “ an adventure action sci-film, a bang bang, shoot-’em-up story.

Seventy per cent of the picture has a fight or a matte or an optical or an animation or a pyrotechnic or some kind of effect. “ It doesn’t have the squeaky clean look of S tar W ars,” he emphasises, although it does have Carrie Fisher, here playing

not Princess Leia, but an expert from the future who specialises in the 20th century. Time G uardian's vision of the future is “ industrial, gritty, multicultural” , Lagettie promises, but he will give no details about the monsters that have been created for the film.

Their appearance is the subject of PR secrecy. Tom Burlinson’s appearance is not classified information; we will see Tom as we have never seen him, as a kind of Tom Cruise with scars, Bob Lagettie says. Dean Stockwell also appears in the film, playing the boss of a time­ travelling city.

More down to earth, the first six episodes of the documentary series A ustralia R evisited will be finished for Christmas. A sequel to the 1966 BBC programme Inside Australia (which profiled twelve Australians from different backgrounds), it updates interviews with the original subjects, including Charles Perkins, Lillian Frank and grazier Alan Ticehurst, to examine how the country has changed.

Members of the ‘Greenland Expedition’ are now home safely with film intact. Directed by Mike Boland, this documentary traces the journey of explorer Gino Watkins to the east coast of Greenland. Another adventurer, Michael Dillon, is in India documenting spectacular mountain climbs.

Closer to home, Rosa Colosimo’s docu-drama, Sons o f B itches, a history of prostitution in Australia, ended an eight-week shoot on 1 December.

On the TV horizon, there is the Roadshovy, Coote & Carroll/

Channel Four telemovie The F irst Kangaroos, the first Australian-UK production to go ahead under the AFC co-production agreement.

Directed by Frank Citanovic, it is scheduled to shoot in March 1987.

Crawford Productions have a second series of The F lying D octors going into production on 5 January, while The H enderson Kids is shooting until March.

At the ABC drama department, it seems that the summer break is yet to be announced, with at least six projects at various stages of production. The L iz a rd King, directed by Geoffrey Nottage and produced by Jan Chapman, got underway in November, and the eight-hour miniseries The W ind a n d the Stars, which is being produced with Revcom TV and Resolution Films, continues a long six-month shoot. The series Phoenix is in production and Julian Pringle’s telefeature Alterations, starring Richard Moir and Angela Punch McGregor, wrapped on 17 December. M an a n d Boy, directed by John Clarke, is in post-production.

In South Australia — where it all seems to be happening — The Shiralee goes into post-production in mid-December and should be ready for the Seven Network in May. And in Melbourne, the finishing date for James Clayden’s telefeature With Time to K ill is February: there’s lots of shooting and it’s for anyone into detective stories.

As a further guide to what’s coming up, the 1986 productions from Swinburne and the AFTRS are listed in the production survey — they cover just about every gerife imaginable.

P R O D

U C T

I O N

The Cinema Papers Production Survey A full listing of the features, telemovies, documentaries and shorts now in preproduction, production or post-production in Australia.

FEATURES PRE-PRODUCTION BLIND FAITH

Laboratory....................................................... Atlab Budget...............................................$2.75 million Length............................................... 120 minutes G auge............................................................35 mm Shooting stock.....................................9247, 5294 Synopsis: The film is based on the true story of the Pyjama Girl Murder. A girl’s body was found in Sydney in 1934 and kept in a formalin bath at Sydney University, on view to thousands of people, until the murder was solved in 1944.

Production Survey continued Photography................................Andrew Lesnie Sound recordist................................. Mark Lewis Editor............................................. Lindsay Frazer Prod, designer..............................Larry Eastwood Composer...................................................... Martin Armiger Exec, producer.......................Antony I. Ginnane Assoc, producer.......................... Adrienne Read 1st asst director......................Corrie Soeterbeck Casting................................................................. LizMullinar Costume designer......................................... HelenHooper Dialogue coach...........................Paul Thompson Laboratory...............................................Colorfilm Budget................................................. $2.3 million Length..................................................95 minutes RIKKI AND PETE Gauge............................................................. 35mm Prod, company........................................ Cascade FilmsSynopsis: A group of high school kids leave Producers............................................Nadia Tass, teachers and hassles behind for a summer of David Parker surf, sex and rock ’n roll. Six urban myths Director.................................................Nadia Tass retold with soundtrack of Australia's best rock Scriptwriter.....................................................DavidParker ’n roll.

Photography...................................................DavidParker Editor...................................................................KenSallows Exec, producer.............................Bryce Menzies Assoc, producer........................................ TimothyWhite Prod, supervisor............................................LyndaHouse 1st asst director............................ Tony Mahood Cast: Colin Friels (Pete).

Synopsis: Bored by their easy existence in Melbourne, Rikki and her brother Pete set off for Mt Isa and a questionable foray into the hardened world of mining.

LONG TAN

Prod, company..........Tesha Media Productions Producers.......................................Don C. Philps, Robert L. Allnutt Scriptwriter............................ David Anthony Hall Exec, producer......................... Robert MacLeod Length.................................................110 minutes Gauge.............................................................35mm Synopsis: The events before, during and immediately after the Battle of Long Tan in Vietnam.

FEATURES

PRODUCTION

Prod, com pany............................. Brian Douglas THE EVERLASTING SECRET FAMILY Film and Television ROADWARS Producer.........................................Brian Douglas Prod, company....................... Indian Pacific Film THE BIT PART Director........................................... Brian Douglas Pty Limited for Prod, company........................Roadwars Pty Ltd Prod, company..................Comedia Ltd Scriptwriter.................................... Robert Taylor International Film Management Limited Dist. company.................................Premiere Film Producers.............................John Gauci, Script editor.................................... Brian Douglas Dist. company..........Hemdale Film Corporation Marketing Ltd Peter Herbert Based on the original idea (excluding Australasia) Producer............................................................Tom Broadbridge Director.......................... Brendan Maher _ _ Producers................................ Michael Thornhill, by................................................................ RobertTaylor Director............................Brian Trenchard-Smith Scriptwriter....................Ian MacFayden MM Sue Carleton Editor................................................................... KenSallows Scriptwriter...................................................Patrick Edgeworth Photography..........................Ellery Ryan MM Director....................................Michael Thornhill Assoc, producer.............................. Phillip Collins Based on the original idea Sound recordist.................John Phillips Scriptwriter..............................Frank Moorhouse Length................................................................... 90 minutes by................................................................Patrick Edgeworth Editor............................. Scott McLennen OM Based on the short story Gauge............................................................35mm Composer......................................Frank Strangio Exec, producer...............Stephen Vizard MM by........................................... Frank Moorhouse Synopsis: Rivalry between two parish Exec, producers.............................. Peter Beilby, Assoc, producers...............Ian Rodgers, Photography......................................Paul Murphy churches escalates into a media event of Robert Le Tet Frank Brown m m Sound recordist......................John Schiefelbein astronomic proportion — leaving Father Length............................................... 98 minutes Prod, supervisor..................Frank Brown MM Editor............................................... Denise Hunter Brannigan attempting to undo what the miracle Gauge.............................................................35mm Prod, secretary........... Tracee McCabe Prod, designer...............................Herbert Pinter he needed has given him!

Synopsis: A story about modern gladiators set 1st asst director..................Kath Hayden Exec, producer.......................Antony I. Ginnane in the near future.

2nd asst director................... Sig Eimutis Prod, supervisor.............................................. LynnGailey BUSINESS AS USUAL 3rd asst director............... Jenny Jarman Prod, co-ordinator....................... Perry Stapleton Continuity............................... Julie Bates Prod, company....................Archer Films Pty Ltd Prod, manager................................ Colin Fletcher Focus puller........................Tracy Kubler THE ROBOT STORY Producer..........................................................HenriSafran Unit m anager........................................... RoxanneDelbarre Camera assistant...................Tina Bowel MW Director...................................... Anthony Bowman Prod, company.............................................

Yoram Gross Location m anager........................................ RobinClifton Scriptwriter............................... Anthony Bowman Film Studio Pty Ltd Prod, accountant...........Moneypenny Services, Asst grip......................Leigh Ammitzboll M Based on the original idea Producer.......................................................

Yoram Gross Gemma Rawsthorne Gaffer.................................Ted Nordsvan by............................................ Anthony Bowman Director......................................................... Yoram Gross Prod, assistant........................Juliette van Heyst 3rd electrics...............Haydan Brennan . / Length................................................................... 90 minutes Scriptwriter...................................................... GregFlynn 1 st asst director.............................................. KeithHeygate Art director.......................... Carol Harvey Gauge............................................................ 35mm Assoc, producer......................................... Sandra Gross 2nd asst director....................Murray Robertson Make-up/hairdresser..................Leeanne White Cast: Ray Barrett (Geoff), Rowena Wallace Length................................................... 75 minutes Continuity................................... Judy Whitehead W ardrobe....................................................ReubenThomas (Nancy), Norman Kaye (Edward), Carol Raye Gauge............................................................35 mm Casting.................. Hilary Linstead & Associates Wardrobe supply............................................ Rose Chong (Joan), Jeanie Drynan (Catherine), Brett Climo Camera operator..................... David Williamson Synopsis: A boy and his robot pal are Props buyer/dresser..........................Adele Flere (Ross), Robin Bowering (Alfred). launched into space.

Focus puller............................. Geoffrey Wharton Standby props...............................................Jenny Creen Synopsis: After the death of an elder in a Key grip................................................... Geoff Full Asst editor........................................................ Sean Lander family, a will reveals that all of the estate is tied G affer................................................. Mick Morris Sound asst......................................................... RayPhillips SKIPPY AND THE CHALLENGER up in the ownership of a Dariinghurst guest Art director........................................ Stewart Way Still photography............................................ TiborHegedis house. The family, outraged by the deceased Costume designer................................... Anthony JonesProd, com pany..........Skippy Industries Limited Best boy........................................................... JohnBrennan grandfather’s decision to leave them nothing, Wardrobe supervisor................ Shauna Flenady Scriptwriter....................................William H. May Catering...........................................................PeterBailey inspect the establishment, only to discover that Standby wardrobe...................................... DevinaMaxwell Based on the original idea Mixed at..................................................Soundfirm it is not an ordinary guest house! Perhaps Props b uyer.................................................. Simon Jones by.................................................William H. May Laboratory......................................................... VFL there's money to be made after all?

Art dept administrator.............. Louise Lanceley Exec, producers......................... William H. May, Budget................................................................$ 1 .1 million Art dept runner................... John McKenzie-Low Malcolm C. Cooke Length................................................................... 90 minutes THE CRICKETER Carpenters....................................................... Dale Wallace, Assoc, producer.............................................BarbiTaylor Gauge........................................................... 35mm Steven Warington (Working title) Script editor...............................................BarbaraBishop Synopsis: A comedy about a small-time actor.

Prod, company........................................... MonroeStahrSet construction........................ Peter Musgrave Casting consultants............. Lee Larner Casting Gauge.............................................................35mm Productions Ltd Publicity........................ Barbara James Publicity DOT IN GOOD OLD HOLLYWOOD Producer............................................. ChristopherKiely Cast: Arthur Dignam (The Senator), John Budget...............................................$2.79 million Meillon (The Judge), Heather Mitchell (The Length...................................................94 minutes Prod, company............................................. Yoram Gross Director.............................................................BarryPeak Wife), Mark Lee (The Youth), Dennis Miller Gauge............................................................

35mm Filmstudio Pty Ltd Scriptwriter................................. Michael Quinlan (Eric).

Producer.......................................................Yoram Gross Synopsis: The adult Sonny Hammond’s two Based on the original idea Synopsis: A political thriller.

Director......................................................... Yoram Gross by...................................................................BarryPeak sons, Tim, aged 16, Pete, 10, and their friends, Scriptwriter.......................................................JohnPalmer Skippy The Bush Kangaroo and her baby joey, Photography................................................... JohnOgden Based on the original idea get involved in an action-filled adventure with a Sound recordist...............................................JohnRowley b y ............................................................... Yoram Gross long-shot Australian entrant in the America’s Editor............................................ Ralph Strasser FEVER Assoc, producer..........................................Sandra Gross Cup trials, with exciting and hilarious results.

Exec, producer........................... Phillip J. Dwyer Prod, company.................Genesis Films Pty Ltd Length................................................................... 7 5 minutes Assoc, producer....................................Ray Pond Dist. company............................ J.C. Williamson G auge...........................................................35 mm Prod, secretary............................Janette Deason SOMETHING GREAT Film Distributors Pty Ltd Synopsis: Dot goes to Hollywood to raise Prod, accountant..........................................Maree Mayall Producer...................................... Terry Jennings Prod, company...........................Boulevard Films money for sick koalas.

Focus puller..................................................... RosyCass Director.................................................Craig Lahiff Producer........................................ Frank Howson Wardrobe...................................................... RachelNott Scriptwriters......................................John Emery, Scriptwriters................................. Frank Howson, Budget.................................................... $690,000 Craig Lahiff Jonathan Hardy TERRA AUSTRALIS G auge................................................ Super 16 mm Exec, producers..........................Ron Saunders, Exec, producer..................................Peter Boyle Prod, company............................................. Yoram Gross Synopsis: The High Plains cricketer comes to Craig Lahiff Prod, accountant..............................

Newell Lock town.

Film Studio Pty Ltd Synopsis: A contemporary suspense thriller.

Budget...............................................$5.98 million Producer....................................................... Yoram Gross Length...............................................120 minutes Director......................................................... Yoram Gross DOT AND THE TREE Synopsis: The true story of the trials and Scriptwriter...................................................... GregFlynn Prod, company............................................. Yoram Gross triumphs of Australia’s golden boy of boxing JILTED Based on the original idea b y ..........Greg Flynn, Film Studio Pty Ltd who fell from grace as a result of World W ar I ’s Yoram Gross Prod, company........................... Mermaid Beach Producer........................................................Yoram Gross conscription hysteria and was resurrected as a Animation director.....................Graham Sharpe Productions Pty Ltd Director..........................................................Yoram Gross hero, when he died in Memphis, lonely, Assoc, producer......................................... Sandra Gross Dist. company............................

J.C. Williamson Scriptwriter.......................................................GregFlynn bewildered and reviled at the age of 2 1 .

Length................................................... 7 5 minutes Film Distributors Pty Ltd Animation director.......................................... AtholHenry G auge............................................................35 mm Producer...............................................Bill Bennett Assoc, producer..........................................Sandra Gross Synopsis: An A u stralian B icen ten nial Director................................................. Bill Bennett SONS OF STEEL Length....................................................................75 minutes Authority endorsed animation feature set in Scriptwriter........................................... Bill Bennett G auge............................................................ 35 mm Prod, company......................Big Island Pictures Australia about 40,000 years ago.

Co-producer........................................ Jenny Day Synopsis: Dot and Old Tom, the violin-maker, Producer......................... James Michael Vernon Based on the original idea by...........Bill Bennett find the spread of a big city threatens their Director................................................

Gary Keady Photography................................................... TonyWilson lifestyles.

Scriptwriter.........................................Gary Keaay Sound recordist................................................RobStalder Photography................................... Joe Pickering Editor..............................................................Denise Hunter Synopsis: A futuristic adventure set to power­ Composers............................. Michael Atkinson, 8341: THE PYJAMA GIRL MURDER ful heavy metal rock ’n’ roll music. Fantasy and Michael Spicer Help us make this Production (Working title) science fiction are bound together by a band of 1st asst director....................................... Phil Rich Survey as complete as poss­ likeable, old fashioned heroes.

Prod, com pany....... Ulladulla Picture Company Sound editor..................................... Dany Cooper ible. If you have something in association with M ixer.............................................Brett Robinson which is about to go into preCasablanca Film Works YOU NEVER CAN TELL Tech, adviser.......................... Bruce Williamson production, let us know and we Producers.........................................John Rogers, Mixed at........................................... Sound on Film Prod, company........................ International Film John Wall Laboratory....................................................... Atlab will make sure it is included.

Management Ltd Director............................................. John Rogers Length...................................................93 minutes Call Kathy Bail on (03) Dist. company..........Hemdale Film Corporation Cast: Richard Moir (Fred), Jennifer Cluff Scriptwriters..................................... Dee Brierley, (excluding Australasia) 329 5983, or write to her at (Harry).

John Rogers Producer.........................................John Edwards Cinema Papers, 644 Victoria Synopsis: Jilted is a story of two people who Based on the novel by...............Robert Coleman Director........................................... John Edwards S tre e t, N orth M e lb o u rn e , meet on a tropical island resort. Both have had Prod, designer....................................Darrell Lass Scriptwriters...........................................Chris Lee, Victoria 3051. disastrous love affairs and are reluctant to get Exec, producer.............................Russell Keddie Billy Marshall-Stoneking, involved. Yet they do.

Post-production.............................. Winning Post Steve Wright

PRODUCERS

CINEMA PAPERS January — 69

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FEATURES

with Ian, the man she lives with. She meets Reg, a laconic, enigmatic man, who becomes the object of an obsession.

CASSANDRA

Animaton director..........................Ray Nowland Assoc, producer.............................Sandra Gross Prod, m anager.............................Narelle Hopley Length.................................................. 75 minutes Gauge...........................................................35 mm Cast: Keith Scott, Robyn Moore.

Synopsis: Dot and Neptune the dolphin battle to save the life of a beached whale.

cock), Natalie Bate (Pat), Simon Chilvers (President).

Synopsis: Ground Zero is a contemporary thriller about one man’s search for the truth. A film of mystery and intrigue, suspense and action, all of which begins with a seemingly un­ related series of events.

Prod, company............. Cassandra Productions Pty Ltd P O S T -P R O D U C T IO N Producer........................................... Trevor Lucas HIGH TIDE Director.......................................Colin Eggleston GROUND ZERO Prod, company...........................SJL Productions Scriptwriters................................................... ColinEggleston, (Working title) Pty Limited THE BIG LUNCH John Ruane, Dist. com pany......................... International Film Prod, company................... Ground Zero Pty Ltd Chris Fitchett Prod, com pany.................The Marine Biologists Management Limited and Producer.................................Michael Pattinson Producers................................................... Andrew Frost,Photography.................................Gary Wapshott Hemdale Film Corporation Directors................................. Michael Pattinson, Sound recordists............................................. BobClayton, Nick Meyers, Producer......................................................Sandra Levy Bruce Myles Tony Buettel Sean O ’ Brien Director................................... Gillian Armstrong Scriptwriters......................................... Jan Sardi, D ire cto rs.....................................................A ndrew Frost,Editor.................................................................... Jo Cooke Mac Gudgeon Scriptwriter.....................................................Laura Jones Prod, designer.........................Stewart Burnside Nick Meyers, Photography...............................................

RussellBoyd Based on the original idea by............

Jan Sardi, Composers...................................................TrevorLucas, Sean O ’ Brien Mac Gudgeon, Sound recordist...................................Ben Osmo Ian Mason S crip tw riters.............................................. Andrew Frost, Michael Pattinson Editor.................................................................

NickBeauman Exec, producer..................................................PhilGerlach Nick Meyers, Photography.................................. Steve Dobson Prod, designer................................................ SallyCampbell Assoc, producer........................Steve Amezdroz Sean O ’ Brien Sound recordist...............................Gary Wilkins Music consultants..........................................

Mark Moffiatt, Data processor.................................... Jenny Nell Based on the novel T h e B ig L u n c h Ricky Fataar Editor...............................................................DavidPulbrook b y ................................................................. Frank BirrellProd, co-ordinator.................Rosslyn Abernethy Prod, designer..............................Brian Thomson Exec, producers.................... Antony I. Ginnane, Prod, manager.......................... Steve Amezdroz Photography.....................The Marine Biologists Joseph Skrzynski Exec, producer................ Burrowes Film Group Unit manager.............................. Hugh Johnston Sound recordist................ The Marine Biologists Pty. Ltd. Assoc, producer.......................... Greg Ricketson Prod, secretary................................................DaleEvans Editor................................................................. Nick Meyers Line producer..............................Stuart Freeman Prod, co-ordinator.....................................

Annette Patterson Prod, accountant.............................................

Sam Roberts Prod, supervisor.................Catherine K. Lowing Prod, co-ordinator........................Christine Hart Prod, m anager.................................................Julie Forster 1st asst director......................................... MichaelFaranda Lighting Prod, m anager...........................................

Narelle Barsby Unit manager..................................................

HughJohnston 2nd asst director......................................NicholasReynolds cam eraperson.......... Simon Von W olkenstein Unit manager.......................... Michael Batchelor Location m anager.......................................... LeahCocks 3rd asst director............................................JustinOrana H airdressers.................................................Cathy, Location manager........................Stephen Saks Prod, accountants..............................

Catch 123, Continuity................................... Kristin Voumard Steven Peter Hewitt, Casting..........................................................TrevorLucasProd, secretary............................................Serena Gattuso Special effects....................................Meyerscope Prod, accountant..............................................

Jim Hajicosta Jenny Verdon Camera operator.......................................Andrew McLean N a rrator........................................ David Capewell Asst to accountant....................... Juanita Parker 1st asst director..............................Mark Turnbull Steadicam operator...................................... DavidWoodward Still photography........................................ Geoffry Boccalate Prod, assistant................................ Susan Benfer 2nd asst director............................. Peter Voeten Best boy.......................................................... Frank BirrellFocus puller...................................... Mark Sarfaty 1 st asst director............................................ StuartFreeman 3rd asst director.............................. Maria Phillips Clapper/loader...............................................PhilipMurphy B u dget.......................................................... $8,000 2nd asst director................................................ IanFreeman Continuity........................................ Daphne Paris Camera assistant..............................................KimJonsson L e n g th ...................................................................90 m inutes 3rd asst director........................... Michael Rumpf Director’s a s s t................................................... LynHenderson Key grip............................................................ BrettMcDowell G a u g e .........................................................Super 8 2nd unit director................................

David Eggby Casting................................................................. LizMullinar Asst grip...........................................................JohnTate Shooting s to c k ............................Kodachrome 40 Continuity.............................................................Liz Perry Camera operator............................ Russell Boyd G affer..........................................

Graham Mulder Cast: Andrew Frost (The Novelist), Nick Producer's assistant................ Gillian Campbell Focus puller................................................Andrew McLean Electricians................................. Borris Sujdovic, Meyers (The Salesman), Sean O ’ Brien (The Casting................................................Bruce Myles Clapper/loader................................................Mark Sarfaty Dean Bryan Sailor), Catherine K. Lowing (The Mysterious Camera operator....................................Ian Jones Key g rip ..............................................................RayBrown Boom operator............................................... GerryNucifora Being), Roberta Lowing (Rob), Col. Rowan Focus puller..................................

Rex Nicholson Asst grips...................................................Ian Bird, Art director........................................................ MaxManton Woods (ret.) (The Orderly), Catherine Houri2nd unit focus puller.......................................JohnPlatt Stuart Green Art dept co-ordinator......................................... LizHagan han (The Girlfriend), Alexandra Higson (The Costume designer................................... Anthony JonesClapper/loader...............................................RosieCassGaffer.........................................Brian Bansgrove Other Girlfriend), Simon Von W olkenstein (The Electrician........................................................ColinChase Make-up..........................................................SonjaSmuk2nd unit clapper/loader.............. David Lindsey Poet), The Todd Family (Themselves).

Key g rip ............................................ Ian Benallack Boom operator...............................................GeoffCricks Prosthetics m ake-up....................................... BobMcCarron Synopsis: Mystery! Intrigue! Sex! “ I was down Asst grips.............................. Arthur Manousakis, Art director.......................................................... IanAllen Hairdresser...................................... Paul Williams the bowling alley the day they pistol-whipped Mark Chambers Art dept administrator....................Diane Wright Wardrobe.................................................... Shauna Flenady my father!”

2nd unit photography..................... David Eggby Costume designer......................................... TerryRyan Props buyer................................................... JoyceMcFarlane M ake-up........................................................ LesleyVanderwa Standby props.................................................TonyHunt Gaffer................................................ Ian Dewhurst Boom operator................................................MarkWasiutak CANDY REGENTAG Hairdresser/make-up asst........ Francia Smeets Special effects........................... Steve Courtney Art director.........................................Robert Dein Wardrobe standby...................Louise Wakefield Set decorator................................................ Joyce McFarlane Prod, com pany........................ Rainy Day Pty Ltd Wardrobe asst............................. Gabrielle Healy Scenic artist......................................................AlanCraft Asst art directors..............................Philip Drake, P rodu cer........................................Graeme Isaac Graeme Duesbury Props buyer/designer...................................... Tim Ferrier Carpenters..........................................................IanDay, D ire cto r........................................................ James Ricketson Costume designer.....................Margot Lindsay Props buyer/dresser............................... BlossomFlint Jono Enemark (Sydney) S criptw riter........................................................ DonCatchlove Make-up supervisor...................Fiona Campbell Standby props.................................David Wilson Set construction........................ Denis Donnelly Based on the original idea Make-up artist................................

Angela Conte Set model m aker............................ Ross Wallas Asst editor..................................................Anthony Grey b y ................................................ Don Catchlove Standby wardrobe.......................................Jeanie Cameron Choreography................................. David Atkins Neg. matching............................................... Atlab Photography........................................Mike Edols Wardrobe asst...........................

Sandra Cichello Art dept runner/dresser................. Peter Forbes Editor............................................. Tony Stephens Musical director.......................................... TrevorLucas Production designer ass t................ Mark Wager Scenic artist.................................... Ned McCann Musical d ire cto r............................Graeme Isaac Music performed by.................. Bluey and Curly Art dept co-ordinator...............................

Rob Leo Brush hand.......................................................Blair Wark Exec, pro d u ce r.............................Don Catchlove Sound editor..........................................Soundfirm Props buyers/dressers............. Ro Bruen-Cook, Carpenter....................................................... Garth Croft Prod, co-ordinator...............................................Jo Rooney M ixer.............................................................. RogerSavage Murray Kelly Set construction............................................. JohnRann Prod, m anager........................................... Brenda Pam Stunts co-ordinator.......................................... MaxAspin Art dept asst................................................Andrea Johnston 1 st asst editor.............................................Andrew Barnes Prod, accountant...............................Remarkable Film Stunts............................................................ RobertSimper, Standby props................................... Harry Zettel 2nd asst editor.......................................... NicholasBreslin Computers Paul Lennan Asst standby props...................................MichaelMercurio Dialogue editor..............................................KarenWhittingto 1st asst d ire cto r.............................................. John Warran Safety adviser............................................. ClaudeLambert Special effects....................... Visual Effects and Tutorer.......................................... Sally Ainsworth 2nd asst d irector...........................Peter Kearney Still photography................................Vivian Zink Effects Engineering Effects editor/ C ontinuity...................................... Sian Fatouras Opticals............................................................. PaulWhitbread Foreman/carpenter......................................RobinHartleysound supervisor....................... Tim Geordan Casting co nsu ltants............................... Forecast Title designer.................................................XTO? Still photography........................... David Parker Focus p u lle r........................................Christopher Cain Mechanic........................................................Harry WardConstruction manager............. Keni Hazelwood Set finisher..................................... Colin Burchall Surf instructor..........................................Vic Ford C lapper/loader.............................................. Paula SouthBest b o y....................................................... PatrickO ’Farrel Asst editor.......................................David Clarke Best boy.......................................... Paul Gantner Key g r ip ................................. Grahame Litchfield Runners......................................................RichardBradshaw, Sound editors............................................EugeneWilson, Runner............................. Tom Churchill-Brown Art d ire c to r.................................... Rob Ricketson Peter Rive Roger Savage Unit publicist.................................. Shelley Neller, Costume designer..........................................Suzy Carter Catering............................................................Kaos Stunts co-ordinator........................Glen Boswell The Write-On Group M ake-up..................................... Annie Heathcote Mixed at..................................................Soundfirm Stunts.............................................. Glen Boswell, W ardrobe a s s t........................Winsome Bernard Catering...........................Kathy and Geoff Trout, Laboratory.......................................................Atlab Richard Boue, Props buyer...................................................Margo Lovich Kaos Catering Lab. liaison..............................................Gary Keir Zev Eleftheriou, Laboratory................................................Colorfilm Set deco ra to r................................Fran Holloway Length................................................................ 100minutes Michael Read, Lab. liaison........................... Richard Piorkowski Asst, editor..............................................Dominque FusyGauge.............................................................35mm Johnny Hallyday Budget.................................................. $3,750,000 Sound e d ito r..............................Ashley Grenville Shooting stock.................................................Agfa Armourer..........................................................BrianHolmes C a terin g.......................................... Kaos Katering Length................................................ 100 minutes Cast: Shane Briant, Briony Behets, Kit Taylor, Still photography...........................

Greg Noakes, B u d g e t.................................................... $748,000 Gauge............................................................. 35mm Lee James, Susan Barling, Tim Burns, Jeff Joe Vittorio Shooting stock..............................................Kodak L e n g th ................................................................ 100m inutes Truman, Tessa Humphries (Cassandra).

Storyboard artist.................................Alfred Borg Cast: Judy Davis (Lilli), Jan Adele (Bet), G a u g e ...................................................... Super 16 Synopsis: A young girl is haunted by horrifying Glass matte artist...........................................

Mitch Lovett Claudia Karavan (Ally), Colin Friels (Mick), Shooting s to c k ................................................. Fuji nightmares of suicide and murder . . . all are Best b o y............................................................. LexMartin John Clayton (Col), Monica Trapaga (Tracey), Cast: Patsy Stephen (Candy), Gary Cooke joined by one malevolent thread. Her dreams 3rd electrics...................................................... Nick Payne Frankie J. Holden (Lester).

(Ian), W arwick Ross (Reg), Rainee Skinner at first seem to be purely fantasy, and her 4th electrics.................................................... Chris James (Fleur), Maxine Klibingaitis (Bibi), Toni Scanlon Synopsis: The story of love lost and found in a ‘parents’ do their best to convince her of that.

Unit runner................................................. DouglasGreen remote Australian coastal town.

(Gail), Jacqui Phillips (Wendy), Beth Child But as the dreams reveal more of her family's Publicity.............................Suzie Howie Publicity (Lola), John Poison (Cyril), Francesca Raft tragic secrets, they begin to echo a bloody Mixed at.................................................. Soundfirm (Fiona), Imogen Annesley (Sacha). reality that is happening now.

INITIATION Laboratory.......................................................Atlab S yn opsis: Candy works as a prostitute in Lab. liaison........................................Peter Willard Management com pany.........International Film Bambi’s Massage Parlour and Health Studio in DOT AND THE WHALE Budget.................................................. $7,000,000 Sydney’s Kings Cross. She has been to art Management Ltd Length.................................................................105minutes Prod, company............................. Filmbar Pty Ltd school and she's acquired a veneer of Prod, company................................ Yoram Gross Gauge.....................................

35mm anamorphic Dist. company.......................................Worldwide Filmstudio Pty Ltd sophistication, but feels engulfed by the sheer Shooting stock............................................. Kodak (excluding Australasia) ordinariness of her own and others’ lives. As Producer..........................................Yoram Gross Cast: Colin Friels(Harvey Denton), Donald the story begins, Candy’s work in the parlour is Goldfarb Distributors Inc. Director............................................ Yoram Gross Pleasence (Prosper), JackThompson (TrebilProducer......................................Jane Ballantyne Scriptwriter...................................... John Palmer beginning to alter the tenor of her relationship

70 — January CINEMA PAPERS

EFFECTS ENGINEERING Bottles - S hèetglass Specials M ade T o O rder.

LO T 46 LA ITO K IR D , TERREY HILLS, NSW 2084.

TELEPHONE: (02) 4 5 0 1 6 4 8 450 2956 Director......................................... Michael Pearce Catering (Blue Mountains)......... Action Catering Sound recordist........... ..................Lloyd Carrick Laboratory....................................................... Atlab Scriptwriter...................................James Barton Studios.........................................................HendonStudios Editor............................. .....................Adrian Carr Lab. liaison.......................................Graham Keir, Based on the original idea Studio m anager..........................Michael Rowan Peter Willard Prod, designer............. ............... Bernard Hides by.............................................................. MichaelPearce Mixed a t ...................................... Hendon Studios Exec, producer............ .........Antony I. Ginnane Budget................................................ $10,500,000 Photography........................... Geoffrey Simpson Laboratory................................................ Colorfilm Assoc, producers........ ......................David Lee, Length.................................................120 minutes Sound recordist............................... Toivo Lember Lab. liaison............................ Richard Piorkowski Jan Bladier Gauge............................................................. 35mm Editor.............................................................Denise Haratzis Completion guarantor.....................................FilmFinances Prod, supervisor........... .....................Phillip Corr Shooting stock..............................................Kodak Prod, designer................................ Jon Dowding Budget......................................................$3 million Prod, co-ordinator....... .....................Dale Arthur Cast: Peter Phelps (Dave), Jon Blake (Scotty), Exec, producer...................... Antony I. Ginnane Length................................................... 97 minutes John Walton (Tas), Tim McKenzie (Chiller), Base office liaison....... ..................... Rita Wilson Prod, co-ordinator....................................... Jennie Crowley Gauge............................................................. 35mm S ig rid Thornton (Anne), Tony Bonner Unit manager................ ..................Donald Keyte Prod, manager...............................Robert Kewley Shooting stock..............................................Kodak (Bouchier), Bill Kerr (Chauvel), Ralph Cotteriil Asst unit manager........ .................. Tom Jannike Unit m anager.................................... Mason Curtis Cast: Bruno Lawrence (Nat), Rodney Harvey Prod, secretary............. ................Kerrle Barnhill (Von Kress), Gary Sweet (Frank), Anthony Asst unit m anager..............................John Colias (Billy), Arna-Maria Winchester (Sal), Miranda Prod, accountant......... Moneypenny Services, Andrews (Meinertzhagen).

Prod, accountant................................ ChristopherHunnOtto (Stevie), Bobby Smith (Kulu), Tony Barry Mandy Carter Synopsis: The story ot a group of young men Asst accountants......................................DanielleRobertson, (Pat), Luciano Catanaccl (Carlo), Mladen Asst accountant........... ..................Fran Lanigan In an Australian Light Horse regiment in the six Alex Walker Mladenov (Bruno).

1 st asst director........... ............. Bob Donaldson months leading up to the charge at Beersheba, 1st asst director...............................Euan Keddie Synopsis: A high adventure story of a boy's 2 nd asst director.......... ....................... Ian Kenny the world’s last great cavalry charge.

2nd asst director.............................Gus Howard initiation into manhood through trial and ordeal 3rd asst director........... ................. Scott Bradley 3rd asst director............................... Kevin Turner after a plane crash in the remote Australian 4th asst director........... .................... Ken Mahlab THE MARSUPIALS — Continuity.....................................................JoanneMcLennan rainforest. It is a life or death journey that 5th asst director........... ...............Steve Crockett THE HOWLING III Casting (United States).............. Leonard Finger involves magic and ritual.

Continuity...................... ....................... Linda Ray Casting (South Australia)................ Anne Peters Prod, company..................................... Bancannia Holdings Casting.......................... ........................ Jo Larner Location surveys............................................DavidLightfoot ................ Dean Semler, Pty Limited Camera operators.......

Lighting cam eram an...............................Geoffrey Simpson LES PATTERSON SAVES THE Producers..........................Charles Waterstreet, Richard Merriman WORLD Camera operator..................................... Geoffrey Simpson Philippe Mora Focus puller.................. ...........Roydan Johnson Focus puller..................................... Martin Turner Prod, company............ Humpstead Productions Director.......................................................PhilippeMora Clapper/loader............. ................James Boland Clapper/loader..................................................... JoMurphy Scriptwriter.................................................PhilippeMora Pty Ltd Key grip......................... ..........Marv McLaughlin Key grip............................................................RobinMorgan Producer..........................................Sue Milliken Photography...................................................LouisIrving G rip................................. .........................Pat Nash Asst g rips......................................... Jon Goldney, Sound recordist.................................Bob Clayton Director............................................George Miller Asst g rip ........................ ..................Ian McAlpine Rod Bolton Prod, designer.................................................RossMajor Scriptwriters................................Diane Millstead, 2 nd unit cameraman/ 2nd unit photoqraphy...................................RogerDowling, Co-producer....................................................Gilda Baracchi Barry Humphries .......................

Ian Jones Stedicam operator...

David Foreman Assoc, producer.............................Bob McCarron Based on the original idea 2 nd unit focus puller.... ....................... John Platt 2nd unit focus puller.......................... John Foster b y................................................................. DianeMillstead, Camera mechanic....... ............... David Dunkley Prod, co-ordinator......................................RosslynAbernethy Special effects................................................... VicWilson, Barry Humphries Gaffer............................. .................. John Morton Unit m anager....................Stephen Maccagnan Jon Armstrong Photography...................................................DavidConnell Electrician...................... ...............Adam Williams Prod, accountant........................................... TonyHulstrom Animation effects...................................... RichardChataway, Sound recordist................................................ SydButterworth Generator operator..... ....................... Tex Foote 1 st asst director.............................................Stuart Wood Michael Cusack Editor.............................................. Tim Wellburn Boom operator.............. ............Chris Goldsmith Continuity.......................................................... SianFatouros Gaffer................................................. Trevor Toune Prod, designer..............................Grace Walker Art director..................... ....... Virginia Bieneman Casting...................................................... ForecastCasting, 3rd electrician/ Exec, producer..............................................Diane Millstead Asst art director........... ................ Caroline Polin Michael Lynch, generator operator................................. Werner Gerlach Prod, m anager.................................Tony Winley Costume designer....... .................... David Rowe Rae Davidson Boom operator................................................ScottRawlings Prod, co-ordinator.........................................FionaMcConaghy M ake-up........................ ..........Felicity Schoeffel Extras casting................Extras Casting Agency, Art director.....................................................Paddy Reardon Unit m anager......................................................TicCarroll Hairdresser................... ..................Paul Pattison Lesley Burgess, Costume designer..................................Aphrodite Kondos Location m anager........................................ DavidMalacari Asst wardrobe............... .................... Lyn London Ken Shepherd Make-up/hairdresser..................................KirstenVeysey Prod, secretary................................ Lesley Parker Costumler/wardrobe.... ................ Phillipa Eyers Focus puller......................................... Derry Field Additional make-up/ Standby wardrobe....... ...................... John Shea Prod, accountant.............Moneypenny Services Clapper/loader................................................ PeterTerakes hairdresser...................................................SashLamey 1 st asst director.............................................. BrianGiddens 2 nd standby wardrobe .....................John Worth Key grip............................................................. PaulThompson Wardrobe buyer/standby....... Ruth de la Lande 2nd asst director..........Carolynne Cunningham Wardrobe co-ordinator ................ Jenny Manias Gaffer..................................................Reg Garside Props buyer........................ Christopher Webster Continuity............................................Jenni Tosi Props buyers................ ...........Harvey Mawson, Electrician................................................ Gary Hill Standby props................................................ PeterDavies Producer’s assistant......................... Fiona King Mark Dawson Boom operator................................................Gerry Nucifora Animation effects...................................... Richard Chataway, Extras casting...................................Kate Ingham Standby props.............. .................. John Daniels Costume designer............................ Ross Major Michael Cusack Casting consultants............Liz Mullinar Casting 2 nd standby props...... ..........Michael Mercurio SFX/prosthetic make-up................................. BobMcCarron Cave paintings.................................................... GilSaunders, Camera operator......................David Williamson Special effects............. ............... Steve Courtley Make-up artist....................................Sonia Smuk Troy Allan, Focus p uller....................................... Greg Ryan Special effects assts.... .........Conrad Rothman, Hairdresser.................................... Paul Williams Danny Allan Clapper/loader..............................Terry Howells Len Judd, Wardrobe buyer.............................................AnnieMcCarthy Aboriginal adviser................................Bob Maza Key g rip.................................................. Geoff Full Steve Volich, Special prosthetics........................ Nick Doring, Scenic artist..................................Guy Jean Allain G affer............................................. Robbie Young Marcus Gardiner, John Cox, Carpenter......................................... Paul Spencer Electrician...................................... Roy Pritchard Bob Wenger Calvin Lim, Construction......................................................LipsStudio Boom operator....................................... Sue Kerr Scenic artist.................. ...................... Ray Pedler Belinda Villani, Set construction.............................................. JohnMooreCostume designer...........................Anna Senior Set construction........... ................Danny Burnett Brian Bertram, Asst editor...................................................... Simon James M ake-up............................................Viv Mepham Art dept co-ordinator... .....................Debra Cole Vivienne Macgillacuddy, 2nd asst editor................................................Sarah Abbey Hairdresser..........................................Joan Petch Art dept runner............. .......................Ian Jobson Bill Perryman Music co-ordinator......................................Wayne Young W ardrobe................................................... HeatherWilliams Carpenter foreman...... ..................Hugh Bateup Standby wardrobe........................ Terrie Lamera Sound editors...................................................Glen Newnham, Wardrobe a s s t........................................... Romola Jeffrey 2 nd carpenter foreman ....................Walter Sperl Props buyer..................................................... BrianEdmonds Yvonne Van Gyen, Props buyer.................................................... HelenMacAskill Carpenters................... ................ Frank Phipps, Stunts co-ordinator.............................Max Aspin Glenn Martin Standby props............................................... KaranMonkhouse Brendan Mullen, Publicity............................................Lionel Mitford Sound editing assts........................................ LeahKennewell, Special effects/props maker.....Richard Weight Pat Carr, Catering.........................

Out To Lunch Catering, Sarah-Jane Van Gyen Peter Hern, Set decorator/props buyer..........Martin O ’Neill David Vaile M ixers............................................................ James Currie, Ian Turpie, Scenic artist................................... Billy Malcolm Laboratory....................................................

Atlab Peter Smith John Parker, Set construction........................... Dennis Smith Gauge............................................................ 35mm Stunts co-ordinators.................................Danny’sStunts, Andrew Gerber Asst editor................................................JeannineChialvo Shooting stock....................................

5294, 5247 Glen Boswell Stunts co-ordinator........................................ChrisAnderson Painters’ assts.................................David Duffin, Synopsis: A tribe of marsupial werewolves Safety officer........................................ Mike Read Animal trainer/wrangler.............. Evanne Brand David Lowry, lives secretly in the Outback.

One of the young, Stunt asst...................................... John Halleyday Best boy..........................................Wayne Young Graham Matthews Jerboa, defies her elders and goes to Sydney, Stunt performers........................ Liddy Van Gyen, Production runner....................... John Meredith Vehicle maker................Walter van Veenendahl unleashing an adventure of horror, comedy Richard Boue, Unit runner......................................Antony Adare Asst vehicle m aker..........................................AlbyHastings and wonder.

Tony Lynch, Catering......................................... Danny Popper Model maker........................................................BillDennis Dominico Spadavecchia Budget..................................................$7.3 million Asst model makers................ Susan Mayberry, Helicopter pilot....................................... Terry Lee SPIRITS OF THE AIR/GREMLINS OF Length.................................................. 95 minutes Wayne Truce Still photography................................Suzy Wood, THE CLOUDS Gauge........................................................... 35mm Armourer..........................................................BrianBurns Corrie Ancone Shooting stock............................................ Kodak Armourer asst................................Robert Fischer Prod, company............................Meaningful Eye Animals................................. Gorge Wildlife Park, Asst editor......................................Peter Burgess Cast: Barry Humphries (Sir Les Patterson, Contact Pty Ltd Ted and Colin McKenchnie 2nd asst editor............................. Melissah Clark Dame Edna), Pamela Stephenson, Andrew Producers..........................................................Alex Proyas, Reptiles...............................................................Ted Mertons Dubbing editors........................... Peter Burgess, Clarke, Thaao Penghalis, Betty Mclvor, Henry Andrew McPhail Horses............................................Bill Willoughby Craig Carter Szeps.

Director............................................... Alex Proyas Cockatoo............................................................ Guy Markey Dialogue editor............................................... PeterBurgess Scriptwriters.....................................................AlexProyas, Synopsis: Les Patterson saves the world from Titles.......................................... Optical & Graphic Stunts co-ordinator....................................... GrantPage Peter Smalley a shocking fate.

Aircraft liaison.................................................ChrisSperou Safety officer........................................................BillStacey Based on the original idea b y..........Alex Proyas Pilots............................................. John Crowther, Safety report w riters..........Kurt Von Schneider, Photography......................................

David Knaus Pat Crowther, Victorian Stunt Agency Sound recordist........ David White (attachment) THE LIGHTHORSEMEN Tony Schwerdt Still photography...............................................JimSheldon Editor............................................................... CraigWood Aircraft consultant......................Jimmy Jenkins Prod, company..........Picture Show Pty Limited Storyboard artist.................... Graeme Galloway Prod, designer................................................ Sean Callinan for International Film .

Special aircraft rigs.................................. KingsleyWhite Nurse............................................. Maggie McKay Composer....................................................... PeterMiller Management Limited Aircraft transport.................................................BillPopel Tech, adviser.................................. Harold Booth Exec, producers............................................. MMA Films, Dist. company...................... RKO Pictures Inc./ Flying rigs ................ Southern Steeplejacks W ranglers...................................Bill Willoughby, AFC Cinecom International Films/ Rig consultant..................................................John Poole Ray Winslade, Prod, m anager...........................................Andrew McPhail Hoyts Distribution Pty Ltd Best boy...................................... Graem e Shelton Gerald Egan Prod, accountants............................................LynJones, Runner........................................ David Sorenson Producers.......................................................IanJones, Wrangler administrator............. Jim Willoughby David Burns Nurse.......................................................... Jeanette Kelly Simon Wincer Best boy........................................... Alan Dunstan Prod, assistant..................................................... KitQuarry Director..................................................... SimonWincer Publicity...............................

Marian Page Publicity................Michael Edgley International 1 st asst director......................................... Andrew McPhail Post-production secretary..............Diane Stuart Scriptwriter......................................... Ian Jones C atering...........................................Alane Hunter 2nd asst director..................................................KitQuarry Catering (Adelaide)....................... Danny Popper Photography...............................................DeanSemler Mixed a t ...................................... Hendon Studios Casting consultants.................................. Forcast

CINEMA PAPERS January — 71

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Photography..........................................David Burr Special effects............................................Mirage, Scriptwriters/research.................. Mark Manion, Lighting cameram an......................David Knaus Sound recordist.....................................Phil Keros Andrew Mason, Marlene Abrams, Camera operator............................. David Knaus Editor..............................................Robert Gibson Tad Pride, Mai Read, Focus puller.....................................Lisa Sharkey Prod, designer....................................

Roger Ford Patrick Fitzgerald, Robert Kitts, Clapper/loader.....Alison Maxwell (attachment) Composer.......................................................... PhilScott Paul Farouly, Richard Guthrie, Key grip............................................ Steve Miller Assoc, producer........................................ Barbara Gibbs Chris Swinbanks, Louise Meek Special fx photography.................. Alex Proyas Prod, co-ordinator......................................EdwinaNicolls Dan Andrews, G affers............................................. Steve Miller, Based on the original idea b y ..........Robert Kitts Prod, manager.........Rosanne Andrews-Baxter David Knaus Adam Grace, Photography..................................Mike Atkinson, Peter Wyborn Boom operator...............................................CraigWoodUnit m anager............................................... RockyDelbarre Garry Rhodes, Art director......................................................PeterMillerLocation m anager...........................................PaulTolley Special effects (pyros).................. Chris Murray, Ian Marden, Prod, accountant..........................................Catch1-2-3, Costume designers......................Angela Tonks, Bob Hicks, John Hawley Paul Hopkins Mathu Anderson Alan Maxwell, Sound recordists......................... George Weiss, 1 st asst director............................................. Steve Andrews John Bray, M ake-up..................................... Mathu Anderson John Easter, 2nd asst director............................................... PhilPatterson Hairdresser................................ Mathu Anderson Bernie Smith, Tony Morath, Standby props................................................PeterMiller3rd asst director....................................Lisa Mann Tom Briemus Richard Hill, Continuity.............................................. Pam Willis Storyboard artist............................... Steve Lyons Special effects........... Meaningful Eye Contact, Laurie Robinson Producer’s assistant...............................Rebecca Marks Scenic artists.......................................................IanRichter, Lewis Morley Editors.............................................................. RussHerman, Producer’s secretary................................ ColleenWales Peter Collias, Scenic artist............................Nick Stathopoulos Douglas Howard Casting..................................Liz Mullinar Casting Christou Reid Carpenters.................................. Danny Herring, Composer..................... Andrew Thomas-Wilson Focus puller......................Ian ‘Thistle’ Thorburn David Thompson Draughtsperson............................................ Steve Whiting Exec, producer.......................................Mai Read Clapper/loader...............................................Frank Hruby Set construction....Derek Wyness (Broken Hill), Set construction............................................... LipsStudio, Assoc, producers......................................Marlene Abrams, Key grips.................................. Paul Thompson, Peter Watson (Studio) Wayne Allan, Mark Manion Lester Bishop John Whitfield-Moore Asst editors.........................................John Kubik, Prod, manager...................... Marian Macgowan Asst grips....................................................GeorgeTsoutas, Asst editors............................................ RosemaryLee, Prod, accountant...................Viera and Bennell Alicia Gauvin Gary Lincoln Lynne Williams, Musical director............................................. PeterMiller Continuity...................................................Marlene Abrams, Liz Irwin Sound editor.................................................. CraigWoodGaffers.............................................. Reg Garside, Mark Manion Miles Moulson Stunts co-ordinator......................................... GlenBoswell Editing assistant............................................ JohnKubik Still photography............................. Mark Manion Electrician.............................................. Garry Hill Nurse.............................................. Jeanette Kelly Still photography........................ Hugh Hamilton, Title designer......................................Robert Kitts Boom operators....................................David Lee, Wendy McDougall, Still photography........................................ Robbie Gobble Post-production.............................................. Icom Jack Friedman Mathu Anderson Best b oy.......................................................... CraigBryant Publicity......................................Marlene Abrams Asst art director............................................ Sarah ToothRunner................................................. David Field Runners..................Alision Pickup (Broken Hill), Budget..................................$40,000 per episode Costume designer...............................Roger Ford Catering............................................ Frank Manley Bryn Whittie (Studio) Length.......................................... 12 x 30 minutes Make-up....................................Robern Pickering Catering...........The Happy Carrot (Broken Hill), Studios........................................................ HendonStudios G auge.................................V2 " tape to 1 ” master Hairdresser.................................................Yvonne Savage Alision Pickup (Studio) Mixed a t ......................................................HendonStudios Shooting stock........................................ Betacam Wardrobe standby/buyers.............Fiona Nicolls, Laboratory................................................Colorfilm Studios.......................................Supreme Studios Cast: Charles Perkins, Colonel Joe Mann, Alan Lyn Askew Lab. liaison......................................

Jenkin Laboratory............................................... Colorfilm Ticehurst, Peno and Livia Bosi, Lillian Frank, Standby props................................................ ColinGibson Budget.................................................. $8,000,000 Lab. liaison.................................... Simon Wicks, Lang and Rose Hancock.

Special effects............................................... SteveCourtney Length................................................................ 100minutes Warren Keevers Synopsis: Australia Revisited is a sequel to an Choreography.............................................. RobynMoase Gauge.............................................................35mm Length...................................................8 6 minutes original twelve-part series made by the BBC Set decorator..................................................

Brian Edmonds Shooting stock............................................. Kodak Gauge...........................................................16 mm during 1966. The new programmes look at how Asst editor.....................................................LouiseinnesCast: Tom Burlinson (Ballard), Nikki Coghill Shooting stock............................................... 7291 the original subjects — and Australia — have 2nd asst editor................................................

Gary Jones Cast: Michael Lake (Felix), Melissa Davis (Annie), Carrie Fisher (Petra), Dean Stockwell changed over the last twenty years.

Music.......................................................Phil Scott (Boss), Henry Salter (Prenzler), Jo Flemming (Betty), The Norm (Smith).

Stunts co-ordinator......................................... GuyNorris (Tanel).

Synopsis: A crippled man and his fanatically Still photography......................................... VivianZinckSynopsis: A sci-fi action movie about a woman religious sister live in a shack in the middle of a AUSTRALIAN WILDERNESS SERIES Best boy.........................................Robbie Verkirk who encounters time travellers from the 24th vast desert. The man dreams of leaving in a Runner...........................................Naomi Enfield Prod, com pany................................. Kestrel Film Century in Central Australia. flying machine of his own invention. A comedy Publicity............................... Lyn Quayle Publicity Productions Pty Ltd of the ironic.

Catering...........................................Out To Lunch, Dist. company....................................Kestrel Film WARM NIGHTS ON A SLOW MOVING Janette's Kitchen Productions Pty Ltd Mixed at.................................................. Soundfirm THE TALE OF RUBY ROSE Directors.........................................................DavidMorgan, TRAIN Laboratory.......................................................Atlab David Greig Prod, company..................................... Seon Film Prod, company..........................................WesternPacific Lab. liaison.............................................Gary Keir Scriptwriters.................................................. DavidGreig, Productions Pty Ltd Films Limited Gauge................................................ Super 16mm David Morgan Dist. company.......................................Worldwide Producers........................................................RossDlmsey, Shooting stock............................................... 7291 Photography..............................Kevin Anderson, excluding Australasia Patric Juillet Cast: Garry M cDonald (M ax), Pam ela Alex McPhee Film and General Holdings, Director.....................................................Bob Ellis Stephenson (M arilyn), Su Cruickshank Editors............................................................. DavidGreig, Hemdale Scriptwriter...............................................Bob Ellis (Norda), Marian Dworakowski (Richard), John Rebecca Grubelich Producers......................................................BryceMenzies, Based on the original idea by...............Bob Ellis, Clarke (Jerry), Ignatius Jones (Phil), Graeme Exec, producer..........................John Richardson Andrew Wiseman Denny Lawrence Blundell (Dr Howie), Patrick Cook (Stage Director...........................................Roger Scholes Photography.................................................... YuriSokolProd, m anager......................... Karen Alexander Manager), Jonathon Biggins (Steve), Antonia Prod, secretary.......................................... Babette Angell Scriptwriter.....................................Roger Scholes Sound recordist.............................................. GaryWilkins Murphy (Phoebe).

Project development..............Katherine Scholes Editor..................................................................Tim LewisProd, accountant......................David Butterfield Synopsis: Max Falcon, superstar of stage and Based on the original idea Prod, designer............................................... Tracy Watt Camera assistants..................................... RomanBaska, screen, is murdered by his wife Marilyn. They Elvira Piantoni b y ................................................Roger Scholes Prod, co-ordinator....................................... Jennie Crowley find love again when he returns to haunt her.

Sound editor...............................................VirginiaMurray Photography..................................................Steve Mason Prod, manager.............................................. DarrylSheen Mixed a t....................................Film Sound Track Unit manager.......................

Maichael Batchelor Sound recordist................................Bob Cutcher Laboratory......................................................... VFL Composer......................................................... PaulSchutze Prod, secretary.............................................. SandiRevelins THE TIME GUARDIAN Budget......................................................$800,000 Prod, accountant.............................................. JimHajicosta Exec, producer..............................................BasiaPuszka Length.............................................3 x 50 minutes Accounts asst.............................................JuanitaParker Assoc, producer................................................ IanPringle Prod, company........Jen-Diki Film Productions Gauge............................................................. 16mm 1st asst director.......................................... RobertKewley Prod, m anager................... Christine Gallagher Pty Limited for International Shooting stock......................Eastmancolor Neg. 2nd asst director..................... Michael McIntyre Prod, base supervisor.....................................KenDawes Film Management Limited and Synopsis: Three programmes from a six-part 3rd asst director.............................................. TrishCarney Unit manager................................................ PhillipHealy Chateau Productions Continuity............................. Joanne McLennan series looking at the Kimberleys, the Simpson Helicopter supervisor....................................RussJackson Investments Limited Producer’s assistant........................ Kiki Dimsey Prod, secretary............................................... TerriGoldsmith Desert and Kosciusko. The concept of the pro­ Dist. company......... Hemdale Film Corporation Camera operator............................................ NinoMartinetti Prod, doctor.........................Jeannie Ledingham grammes is based on making the audience (excluding Australasia) Focus puller............................. Christopher Cain Prod, accountant.,.......................................JennyDavies aware of the relatively few remaining wilder­ 'Producers..............................Norman Wilkinson, Clapper/loader............................................ MartynFleming 1 st asst director............................................Jamie Legge ness areas in Australia.

Robert Lagettie Key grip........................................................... DavidCasser 2nd asst director.................................... KatherineScholes Co-producer...............................Harley Manners Grip...............................................Marcus McLeod Continuity..................................................... RobynCrawford Director.......................................Brian Hannant Electrics.......................................Paul Johnstone, Casting................................. Liz Mullinar Casting BALI TRIPTYCH Scriptwriters.................................Brian Hannant, Robert Park, Focus puller..................................................... JohnPlatt John Baxter Prod, company.............................Bozado Pty Ltd Rory Timoney Gaffers.........................................................WarrenMearns, Photography.................................. Geoff Burton Dist. company..............................ABC Marketing Boom operator............................................... MarkWasiutak Alleyn Mearns Sound recordist.............................. Toivo Lember Producer......................................... John McLean Costume designer................................AlexandraTynan Boom operator...............................................CraigBeggs Editor.............................................Andrew Prowse Director.................................... John A.C. Darling Make-up.......................................................... KarlaO ’Keefe Art directors...................................................BrycePerrin, Prod, designer...............................George Liddle Scriptwriter............................. John A.C. Darling W ardrobe.......................................................... GailMayes Harold Riley Exec, producer......................Antony I. Ginnane Photography.............................David Sanderson Standby wardrobe....................

Denise Braddon Make-up...........................................................Jane Byrne Prod, co-ordinator.......................... Barbara Ring Sound recordist............................. Max Hennser Art dept m anager................Keith Handscombe Wardrobe........................................................HelenPoynder Prod, manager............................. Stephen Jones Editor.........................................................Bill Aiers Props buyer/set dresser.....................Jill Eden Wardrobe assistant.................Maryanne Whyte Unit manager....................................Mason Curtis Camera asst................................Cameron Thaw Standby props...................................John Stabb Props buyer....................................................PeterWoofProd, secretary...............................Roslyn Smyth Mixed at............................................................Atlab Set construction................................ Hi-rise Flats Standby props...............................................AdeleFlereProd, accountants.............................. Catch 123, Laboratory.......................................................

Atlab Asst editor..................................................RonwenProust Set construction......................................... AshleyDuff, Elizabeth Anderson Budget......................................................$500,000 M ixer............................................................... PeterFenton Glen Marshall, 1st asst director.................... Philip Hearnshaw Length............................................3 x 50 minutes Dubbing editors......................... Glen Newnham, Geoff Fenton 2nd asst director..............................................PaulHealey Gauge...................................................

16mm Ross Porter Still photography........................................... PeterWhyte, 3rd asst director......................... Mark Chambers Still photography....................................... CarolynJohnsShooting stock..............................7291 and 7294 Jan Dallas 2nd unit director..........................Andrew Prowse Synopsis: A definitive view of Balinese life­ Unit nurse...................................................Victoria Sullivan Runner...................................................Julian Ball 2nd unit asst director...................................... Gus Howard Unit runner......................................................DougGreenstyle, history and culture.

Catering........................ Rod Thorpe — Raffertys Continuity............................................Ann Walton Catering................................................. Bande Aid Mixed a t.........................................................SoundFirm 2nd unit prod, co-ordinator.......... Paula Smith Studios.............................Melbourne Film Studio Laboratory................................................. Cinevex Casting.............................. Maizels & Associates, Mixed a t ......................................................HendonStudiosBETWEEN WORLDS — THE URBAN Lab. liaison.......................................Ian Anderson Suzie Maizels Laboratory..................................................Cinevex Budget................................................. $1,200,000 ABORIGINE Camera operator........................................... DavidForeman Lab. liaison..........................................................IanAnderson Length.................................................................. 95 minutes Focus puller.................................................. DarrinKeough Prod, com pany................................................ABC Length..................................................................

95 minutes G auge...........................................................35 mm Clapper/loader......................................Jo Murphy Dist. company..................................................

ABC Gauge.............................................................35mm Shooting stock.................Kodak 5247 and 5294 Key grip...........................................................BruceBarber Producer......................................................... RobinJames Shooting stock................................................. Fuji, Cast: Melita Jurisic (Ruby Rose), Chris Hay­ Asst grip...........................................................KerryJackson Director.....................................................

Robin James Kodak wood (Henry Rose), Rod Zuanic (Gem), Martyn 2nd unit grip....................................................... JonGoldney Photography...............................Peter Nearhos Cast: Wendy Hughes (The Girl).

Sanderson (B enn ett), S h eila Florance 2nd unit camera operator.............Julian Penney Sound recordist........................Warwick Finlay Synopsis: A romantic thriller.

(Grandma).

2nd unit camera asst..................................... JohnFoster Editor............................................................ KimCardow Synopsis: Located among the haunting peaks Gaffer....................................................................IanPlummer Producer’s assistant................. Ingrid Andersen and brooding mists of Tasmania’s Central 1 st electrician................................................ Grant Atkinson Camera assistant.................. Bradley McCrystai Highlands, The Tale of Ruby Rose is the story Electrics....... .................................. Reuben Milne Sound editor............................. Bruce Redman of a woman overcoming an intense fear of the Boom operator............................................... ScottRawlings Mixer......................................... Warwick Finlay dark.

Art directors......................Tony Raes (Adelaide), Length.............................................................30minutes Gauge............................................................. 1" Andrew Blaxland (Sydney) Art dept co-ordinator..................................Wendy Huxford Cast: Eileen Cummins, Edna Barolits, Jan AUSTRALIA REVISITED THOSE DEAR DEPARTED Cottle, Tracy Stokes.

Art dept runner..........................................Andrew Smith Prod, company..................... Triad Films Pty Ltd Synopsis: Urban aboriginal girls often face Make-up...........................................................Jane Surrich Prod, company..............................................PhillipEmanuel Dist. company........................ABC TV Australia, problems of low self-esteem and poor career SFX make-up........................................... BeverleyFreeman Productions Limited Central TV UK expectations due partly to' their particular Hairdresser......................................................Sash Lamey Dist. company...Village Roadshow Corporation Series producer................................Robert Kitts circumstances. This programme looks at abori­ Wardrobe supervisor..................................... Jean Turnbull Producer...................................... Phillip Emanuel ginal women who’ve been successful — Standby wardrobe..................................... Andrea BurnsDirectors.............................................Mai Read, Director........................................... Ted Robinson Robert Kitts, against the odds — and they, together with two Props buyer........................ Christopher Webster Scriptwriter.................................. Steve J. Spears aboriginal girls, talk of what it means to be an Props buyer/set dresser............................... VickiNiehus Based on the original idea Richard Guthrie, urban aboriginal in today's society.

Louise Meek by................................................Steve J. Spears Standby props................................................. LiamLiddle

DOCUMENTARIES

72 — January CINEMA PAPERS

WARDROBE •

MAKE-UP VANS •

CAMERA TRUCKS • CAST VANS •

PROPS VANS •

UNIT VEHICLES • TRACKING VEHICLES

FOR THE SUPPLY OF ALL FILM PRODUCTION TRANSPORT CONTACT DAVID SUTTOR ON (02) 439 4590

PROUD TO BE SUPPLYING:

• Nancy Wake • Willing and Abel • High Tide • The Howling III • Those Dear Departed • Fields of Fire

318 WILLOUGHBY ROAD, NAREMBURN, SYDNEY STATION WAGONS •

SEDANS • HI-ACE VANS * 4 X 4 TOYOTA LANDCRUISERS • ACTION VEHICLES

TRAY TOPS • BUSES

BLACK FUTURES 2: BUILDING DREAMS

Synopsis: A documentary about the people Producer........................................................... AlecMorgan HILLARY INDIA PROJECT and the processes appertaining to the manu­ Director..............................................................AlecMorgan (Working title) facture of aluminium products.

Scriptwriters.................................. Alec Morgan, Prod, com pany......................... Corroboree Films Prod, company...........................................Michael Dillon Mary Callaghan Producer...............................Michael Le Moignan Film Enterprises Based on the original idea by......... Alec Morgan MYSTERIES DOWN UNDER Directors............................. Michael Le Moignan, Producer..................................................... MichaelDillon Photography.................................. Martha Ansara Yuri Sokol Director........................................................MichaelDillonProd, com pany........ Channel Communications Composer..................................Ralph Schneider (Film Investments) Ltd Scriptwriters....................... Michael Le Moignan, Scriptwriter..................................................MichaelDillon Laboratory................................................ Colorfilm Bob Merritt Photography............................................... MichaelDillonDist. company................. EVP Television Pty Ltd Budget...................................................... $895,000 Script editor......................................... Larry Lucas Producer.......................................................

Wayne Groom Sound recordists........................................... PeterHillary, Photography..................................................... YuriSokolLength............................................. 6 x 30 minutes Scriptwriter...................................................... BarryGroom Shaju Joseph Sound recordist............................................... RuthBerryGauge..............................................................16mm Exec, producer..............................................

KevinMoore Editor..................................................Rod Hibberd Shooting stock.....................................7294, 7291 Length............................................. 6 x 60 minutes Editor.............................................Matthew T ucker Laboratory................................................. Cinefilm Synopsis: An entertaining and thoughtG a u g e .............................................................Video Asst editor...............................Annette McLennon Budget........................................................ $70,000 provoking television series about the history Synopsis: Australian ‘Ripley’s Believe It or Assoc, producer.................................Larry Lucas Length................................................................... 50 minutes and lives of travelling showpeople in Australia.

Not’ — little known facts about Australia.

Prod, supervisor............................ Bee Reynolds Gauge..............................................................16mm It will explore the development of the travelling Research........................................................ Casey Ryan Shooting stock...............................Eastman entertainments through to the ‘last’ travelling NATURE OF AUSTRALIA Unit manager.................................................. SusieAboud Synopsis: Sir Edmund Hillary and a group of Prod, secretary............................................. Casey Ryanshows today.

(Working title) friends set out to climb Indiaand come face to Prod, accountant.................................... MjanchenGlover Prod, company...........ABC Natural History Unit face with its sheer size and diversity.

1st asst director................Lesley Lamont-Fisher ECHO OF A DISTANT DRUM Producers.....................................Dione Gilmour, Focus puller.................................................... DavidDunkley David Parer Prod, company.....................Orana Films Pty Ltd HOPE STREET Prod, trainees.................................................AnnePratten, Directors....................................... Dione Gilmour, Producer.....................................Dick Dennison (Working title) Ray Eastwood David Parer Directors..................................... Michael Balson, Length................................................................... 56 minutes Scriptwriter...................................................... JohnVandenbeld Prod, company............. East West Films Pty Ltd Matthew Flanagan Gauge............................................................. 16mm Producer...............................................Ivan Hexter Exec, producer................................................ JohnVandenbeld Scriptwriter.................................Patrick O ’Farrell Cast: Bob Merritt (Presenter).

Director................................................. Ivan Hexter Length............................................. 6 x 55 minutes Photography................................. Michael Ewers Synopsis: A home is more than a house. This Prod, manager.....................................

Sue Hexter Gauge.............................................................16mm Sound recordist........................... Max Hennser film looks at how Aborigines are building their Laboratory..........................................................VFL Shooting stock................................Eastman neg.

Editor............................................ Michael Balson own houses and the effect that this is having Length...................................................50 minutes Synopsis: The evolution of the Australian Music.............................................RTE Orchestra upon their lives, their communities and their Gauge............................................................. 16mm continent — animals and plants.

Laboratory................................................ Cinefilm dreams.

Shooting stock..................................... 7291,7294 Length...........................................3 x 60 minutes Synopsis: Hope Street is the story of youth Gauge.............................................................16mm NEW SETTLERS homelessness. It is through a group of resi­ Synopsis: An alternative history of Australia.

Prod, company.....................Full Moon Films Ltd BLACK FUTURES 3: dents at a youth refuge that we come to under­ Producers................................. Hilton Sentinella, GETTING BETTER stand homelessness, the reasons for it, the Gary McFeat GILLIES stresses it creates and the consequences for Prod, com pany.........................Corroboree Films Director...............................................Gary McFeat our young characters.

Producer.............................. Michael Le Moignan Prod, com pany...................................Curtis Levy Scriptwriter........................................Gary McFeat Directors...........................................................LarryLucas, Productions Pty Ltd Photography................................... Gary McFeat, Yuri Sokol Dist. company..................................... Curtis Levy JACK PIZZEY IN AUSTRALIA Garry Phillips Scriptwriters......................................................BobMerritt, Productions Pty Ltd Sound recordists...................... Roderick Owen, Prod, company........................... Phillip Emanuel Casey Ryan, Producer...............................................Curtis Levy Kieran Knox Productions Ltd Michael Le Moignan Director................................................. Curtis Levy Editor.................................................. Gary McFeat Producer.................................... Peter Thompson Script editor......................................... Larry Lucas Scriptwriter........................................... Curtis Levy Composer.....................................................PictureMusic Exec, producer...........................

Phillip Emanuel Photography..................................................... YuriSokolBased on the original idea b y ........... Curtis Levy Exec, producer..............................................HiltonSentinella Length.............................................3 x 50 minutes Sound recordist............................................... RuthBerryPhotography...................................................Terry Carlyon Prod, m anager.................................... Tom Hoffie Gauge.............................................................16mm Editor.......................................................... Matthew Tucker Sound recordist.............................................. Sean Meltzer Prod, accountant.....................Noel Sommerfeld Cast: Jack Pizzey (Presenter).

Asst editor...............................Annette McLennon Editor........................................................... StewartYoung Prod, assistants......................... Megan Redfern, Synopsis: A look at the Australian way of life Prod, m anager........................................ ChristineOlsen Supervising editor............................David Stiven Anne O ’Hanlon, as seen by an 'outsider’.

Laboratory.................................................. Cinevex Assoc, producer............................... Larry Lucas Debra St John Budget...................................................... $206,500 Prod, supervisor............................ Bee Reynolds Transcriptions.................................................... JonAnderson Research........................................................ Casey Ryan Length...................................................50 minutes LLOYD REES — Investors' representative....................Paul Bone Gauge..............................................................16mm Unit manager.................................................. SusieAboud Music performed by....................................PictureMusic REFLECTIONS OF AUSTRALIA Prod, secretary............................................. Casey Ryan Shooting stock..................................... 7291,7292 Souna editor.....................................Gary McFeat Prod, company... ....Australian Art Film Synopsis: A film about Max Gillies and his Narrator..................................Hugh Keays-Byrne Prod, accountant....................................Mjanchen Glover Partnership Pty Ltd work as a comic actor.

1st asst director................ Lesley Lamont-Fisher Title designer...................................................W.G. McMurtry Producers........... ............Don Bennetts, Focus puller.................................................... DavidDunkley Tech, adviser..................................................DavidWalker Jeremy Hogarth GIVE US SPACE Prod, trainees................................................. AnnePratten, Length................................................................... 48 minutes Directors............. ....... Jeremy Hogarth, Ray Eastwood Gauge...................................16mm, 1 " videotape Prod, company................. Ministry of Education, Don Bennetts Shooting stock..................................Kodak, Sony Length................................................................... 56 minutes Victoria Scriptwriter.......... .Christopher Leonard Synopsis: A look at alternative communities Gauge............................................................. 16mm Dist. company..................... Curriculum Branch, Photography...... ............ Ray Henman, and lifestyles in eastern Australia, a decade Cast: Bob Merritt (Presenter).

Ministry of Education Terry Carlyon, after the boom years of the seventies. How Synopsis: More than one in 40 Aboriginal Producer............................................................ IvanGaal Tony Wilson, have these social structures changed to meet babies die within a year of birth. More than one Director.............................................................. IvanGaal Malcolm Ludgate the needs of the eighties — and beyond. What in two Aboriginal men over sixty suffer from the Scriptwriter......................................Sally Ingleton Sound recordists ............. John Franks, inroads are they making into conventional eye disease, trachoma. This film looks at a Photography............................... Valerie Campan George Weis, society? movement towards radical improvements in Sound recordist............................. David Hughes Ron Brown, Aboriginal health care. W e meet the Aboriginal Editor.................................................................. IvanGaal Rob Stalder A PALETTE FOR A SWORD health workers of the 21st century. The film Assoc, producer.............................. Helen Clarke Editor................ .................. Tim Lewis also provides an intriguing look into traditional Script assistant.......................... Samantha Pugh Prod, com pany................................. Yarra Bank Exec, producer. ............ Don Bennetts Aboriginal methods of healing.

Gaffers.........................................Rob McCubbin, Films Pty Ltd Prod, manager. .................. Jo Stewart Ian Toohill Dist. company....................................Ronin Films Neg. matching. ............... Meg Koenig Laboratory........................................................VTC Producer............................................. Ned Lander COURAGEOUS Opticals............ ...................... Cinevex Length................................................... 25 minutes Director........................................ Trevor Graham Laboratory........ ...................... Cinevex Prod, com pany....................... Garden City Films G a u g e .........................................................1" video Scriptwriter....................... Charles Mereweather Lab. liaison...... ............ Ian Anderson Producer........................................ Janet McLeod Shooting stock.................................................Fuji Photography.................................John Whitteron Length............... ................. 50 minutes Director........................................................Georgia Wallace-Crabbe Cast: Alex Anastasidis (Pina), Katie Aves Sound recordist..............................George Craig Gauge................ .......................... 16mm Scriptwriters...............Georgia Wallace-Crabbe, (Narelle), Regina McColl (Sharon), Jeff Phillips Editor................................................ Tony Stevens Shooting stock. ............................... Fuji Janet McLeod (Mark), Stella Pub (Lucy), Julia Gardiner (Mrs Prod, m anager............................... Daniel Scharf Photography................................. Graham Wood Arnold), George Viskich (Max Fitzgerald), Jeff Prod, accountants..................Natalie Rothman, Sound recordist.......... Georgia Wallace-Crabbe MAKE WAY FOR THE MACHINES Baird (Allan).

Helen Gailbraith Editor........................................................... Georgia Wallace-Crabbe Synopsis: A dramatized documentary about Prod, com pany.........Independent Productions Camera assistant..........................Mandy Walker Still photography......................... Janet McLeod problems girls can encounter in co-educational Dist. com pany...........Independent Distributors Runner............................................ Chris Hunter Laboratory.......................................................... VFL schools.

Producer................................................Peter Butt Laboratories............................................ Cinevex, I ah liaison........................................ Bruce Braun Director.................................................. Peter Butt Colorfilm Length................................................ 50 minutes Exec, producer................................Graham Ford THE GREENLAND EXPEDITION Length................................................... 60 minutes Gauge..............................................................16mm Length...................................................

50 minutes Gauge.............................................................16mm Prod, company...............Pickwood River Pty Ltd Shooting stock........................

Fuji Synopsis: Investigates the effect of new Shooting stock........................................ Fuji 8521 Synopsis: A documentary film set in the fish­ technology on work and leisure in capitalist Cast: Yosl Bergner, Jim Wigley, Ruth Bergner, Director............................................................ Mike Boland ing grounds of Northern Australia. The film society.

George Luke.

Photography.................................................... MikeBoland follows the crew of a prawn boat on a six-week Synopsis: A Palette for a S w ord is a documen­ Sound recordist..........................Greg Burgmann fishing trip. At sea, the personal drama of the METAL MEN tary about art and artists, ideals and commit­ Editor.............................................Tony Patterson young men’s lives evolves. Relations are ment, culture and politics. It is the story of Prod, company. .ABC/Comalco Prod, accountant................... Antony Shepherd stretched to the limit as they work around the painter Yosl Bergner and his sister, Ruth, a Dist. company... ............ABC TV Length................................................................... 60 minutes clock, a schedule dictated by the drive to catch dancer, who came to Australia to escape the Producer............ ...Robin James G auge............................................................16 mm prawns, to strike gold. growing dangers of anti-semitism and fascism Director............. ...Robin James Shooting stock........................................ Eastman in their Polish homeland. In Melbourne, they Scriptwriter....... ...Robin James Synopsis: A documentary about four kayakers DRIFTERS AND ANGELS become part of a vital artistic movement Sound recordist .Quentin Black led by Earle Bloomfield to the east coast of searching for an art to reflect the great social Editor..................

David Halliday Greenland retracing the 1200 km journey of Prod, com pany................Sixpence Productions upheavals of the thirties and forties.

Exec, producer.. ..Harvey Shore English explorer Gino Watkins.

Dist. company.....................................Ronin Films

CINEMA PAPERS January — 73

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Production Survey continued

Art director..................................................Andrew Short Photography..................................Jeffrey Bruer VICTORIA’S CHILDREN POINTS NORTH — THE QSO TOUR Sound editor.............................................. Stephen Best Sound recordist..................................Steve Best Prod, company......................................Mediacast Prod, com pany..............................................ABC Laboratory.................................................Cinefilm Editor................................................. Jeffrey Bruer Producer................................................... BethwynSerowProd, manager............. .................... Anna Grieve Dist. company................................................ ABC Length................................................................... 12minutes Producer..........................................................ChrisMuirDirector......................................................BethwynSerowProd, accountants............. Cathy Montgomery, Gauge............................................................. 16mm Director............................................................ ChrisMuirScriptwriter...................................................... JohnBaxter Shooting stock................................................7294 Mjanchen Glover Photography...................................Neville Edgar, Based on the original idea Cast: Tyler Coppin (Howard), Susie Dougherty Prod, assistant.............................Lesley Jenkins Michael Fanning, b y .................................................................. JohnBaxter (Girl).

1st asst director.................... Rodney Freedman Rod Jong Photography............................................. Graeme Ross 2nd asst director................................. Mark Ward Synopsis: Howard, newcomer to the city, is Sound recordist.............................Quentin Black Editor..........................................Peter Somerville shocked to find himself locked inside his Continuity.................................................. Melanie Brown Editor..........................................Martin Saunders Exec, producer..................................... Jim Dale bedsit.

Camera operator........................... Joel Peterson Exec, producer.............................................. PeterButler Prod, co-ordinator........................................ HazelJoyner Camera assistant.......................... Michael Kelly Prod, manager................................................JohnPineProd, accountant.................................. Riva Dale G affer.......................................................... GeorgeNicolau THE MAGIC PORTAL 1st asst director............................................. JanetLaneFacilities........................... Twenty Twenty Vision Boom operator................................................ PaulBolger Producer’s assistant....................................CarolJohnston Length.................................................................. 50 minutes Producer.................................................... LindsayFleay Art director.....................................................KerrieBrown Neg. matching................................................BarryMcKnight Gauge........................................................Betacam Director............. .............................. Lindsay Fleay Asst art director.............................................KathyMoyes Musical director............. Werner Andreas Albert Shooting stock............................................... Sony Based on the original idea Asst editor................................Jacqueline Munro (conductor QSO) Synopsis: Episode one of the documentary Still photography............................................ TiborHegedisb y ............................................................. LindsayFleay Music performed Production advice...........George Borzyskowski series, ‘Our Second Century', on the impact of Tech, adviser.......................Charles Waterstreet b y............. Queensland Symphony Orchestra Laboratory................................................. Cinevex various social and technological developments Runner........................................................ Andrew Isaacs Sound editor................................................. RogerCarter Budget.........................................$7,800 (approx.) during the last century. Victoria’s Children Catering........................ Shoot Through Caterers Mixer............................................................QuentinBlack Length...................................................................

11 minutes shows the effect on the social order of the Attachment........................................................KayPavlou Animation......................................................... RonPhilpot Gauge.........................................................16mm moral changes stimulated by the rise of the Laboratory............................................... Colorfilm Mixed a t ...........................................................ABC,Brisbane Synopsis: Three Lego characters in a Lego popular press, the mass media and the Lab. liaison.....................................................KerryJenkin Laboratory............................................... Colorfilm spaceship discover the Magic Portal, which development of sociology and psychiatry.

Length.................................................................. 90 minutes Budget....................................................... $25,000 can transport them to other animated realms.

Gauge.............................................................16mm Length.................................................................. 56 minutes However, as the film progresses, it also Shooting stock.................................................ECN Gauge.............................................................16mm transports them to reality and also Into the VINCENT, THE LIFE AND DEATH OF Cast: George Donikian.

Shooting stock....................................7291,7293 animation set they are being filmed in. Film and Synopsis: Witch Hunt is a story of trial and VINCENT VAN GOGH Synopsis: Each year the Queensland Sym­ real world collide with interesting results. error, innocence and guilt. It was an attempt to Prod, company................................... IlluminationFilms phony Orchestra presents twenty-one concerts find a crime — the so-called ‘Greek Con­ in seven provincial centres. This unique con­ Producers........................Tony Llewellyn-Jones, spiracy’ — but it turned into a massive error in cert tour is by specially chartered train. The Will Davies judgement that was revealed as a conspiracy MIDDRIFFINI documentary shows members of the orchestra Director..................................................... Paul Cox of a far larger order. Elements of this con­ on and off stage. A feature of the film is the per­ Based on the original Idea b y ............... Paul Cox Producer......................................Sabrina Schmid spiracy are still unfolding.

Director........................................ Sabrina Schmid formance of Peter Sculthorpe’s ‘Sun Music 3’.

Prod, designer.............................................. AsherBilu Scriptwriters.............................................. SabrinaSchmid, Prod, assistant............................... Fiona Eagger Gregory Pryor Prod, accountant.......................Santhana Naidu A WORLD OF FESTIVALS Based on the original idea PUSHKAR FAIR Camera operator.................................... Paul Cox Prod, company.................Barinder Productions b y .............................................Sabrina Schmid Camera assistant......................Brendan Lavelle Prod, com pany...................... Mediacast Pty Ltd Pty Ltd SFX, atmos................................ Jon McCormack Key grip ......................................Paul Ammitzboll Dist. com pany....... Pahlaj Bajaj &Co., Bombay Producer............................................. Joy Barrow Editor.......................................... Sabrina Schmid Costume designer...................................... Jennie Tate Directors........................................ David Barrow, Producer.................................................Jim Dale Composer.................................................. Ian Cox Director....................................................... MichaelDillonCostume construction........................... BeverleyBoyd Barry Sloane Animation/rostrum Scriptwriter....................... Professor W. Geddes Scriptwriters...................................David Barrow, Carpenters.................................Kosta Kostoski, camera operator....................................Sabrina Schmid Editor..........................................Peter Somerville Barry Sloane Walter Sperl Neg. matching........................... Warwick Driscoll Exec, producer............................... Kevin Moore, Editor.................................................. Colin Greive Mixed a t ..................................... Hendon Studios Music performed by..................................Ian Cox Channel Communications Exec, producer................................. Bob Plasto Laboratory................................................. Cinevex Sound editors............................................SabrinaSchmid, Prod, manager.............................................. HazelJoyner Gauge...................................................................35 mm Length..........................................12 x 30 minutes David Atkinson Prod, accountant...................................Riva Dale Synopsis: A documentary series featuring Shooting stock................................................. Fuji Character voices...........................Gregory Pryor, Laboratory............................................. Colorfilm twelve European festivals. Each episode uses Synopsis: A film about the life and work of Merryn Gates Lab. liaison........................................Kerry Jenkin the present-day people engaged in celebration Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890).

Animation................................................... Sabrina Schmid Length................................................50 minutes to reflect the saga of events and changes that Title designer............................................. Sabrina Schmid Gauge............................................................16mm have modified and shaped their society Sound recording Shooting stock.........................................Eastman Kodak through time.

WHERE SHE DARES studios................... Film Soundtrack Australia Synopsis: Shot entirely on location in India, Prod, company...........................Gittoes & Dalton Mixed at..................................................Soundfirm this documentary features the colourful, Productions Limited Laboratory..................................................Cinevex Pushkar Fair, in the district of Rajasthan.

Dist. company................................................ABC, Budget........................................................$30,965 Devillier & Donegan Enterprises, USA Length...................................................................16minutes SHO RTS Producers................................................GabrielleDalton, Gauge.............................................................16mm THE ROAD George Gittoes Shooting stock...................................... 7291 ECN Prod, company............................Concrete Films Director........................................ George Gittoes Synopsis: “ Hmmm . . . when you close your Producer......................................................... KerryO ’Rourke Scriptwriters.............................................. GeorgeGittoes, eyes . . ,” speculates Nobody-Else, thus GOOD CLEAN FUN Director............................................................KerryO ’Rourke Gabrielle Dalton evoking a dream in Rebecca’s mind, where Producer..................................................... MerileeBennett Scriptwriter.................................................... KerryO ’Rourke Based on the original idea unfolds" the story of Grosmond, supposedly a Director.......................................................

Merilee Bennett Photography................................................ MarianRedmond b y .............................................................GeorgeGittoes bunyip, and his whacking tail and many teeth.

Scriptwriter................................................. MerileeBennett Sound recordist................................ Kieran Knox Photography................................George Gittoes, Grosmond laments the loss of Middriffini, the Based on the original idea Editor...................................................................PatLaughren David Perry cause of his greatest toothache. Middriffini’s b y ............................................................. MerileeBennett Prod, assistant........................... Jenny Mortimer Sound recordist........................Chris Thompson mysterious identity is eventually revealed, and Photography...........................Maria Barbagallo, Laboratories............................................Cinefilm, Editor...................................... Dereck Wenderski her spectacular return delights Grosmond. An Merilee Bennett Atlab animated tragicomedy.

Prod, secretary....................................Lynn Teda Sound recordist............................................. VinceAgostino Length.................................................. 50 minutes Prod, accountant..........................................DavidBarnes, Editor........................................................... MerileeBennett Gauge............................................................ 16mm Remarkable Film Computers Composer.................................................. DouglasKnehans THE SPELL MISSPELT Synopsis: A documentary on prisons as an Prod, assistant.............................Patricia Waites Prod, m anager............................................... JaneKarslake institution and social idea, with particular focus Producer..... ...............................Robin Gold Laboratory............................................... Colorfilm Camera operator......................Maria Barbagallo on the Queensland prison system.

Director.......

Budget..................................................... $217,000 ...............................Robin Gold Neg. matching.................................. Ursula Jung Scriptwriters Length.................................................................. 58 minutes ...........................Simon Daley, Music performed by................................. DouglasKnehans Peter Morgan, Gauge.............................................................16mm Sound editor............................................... MerileeBennett Robin Gold Shooting stock............................................... 7291 SONS OF BITCHES Editing assts........................... Maria Barbagallo, Photography........ .......................... Kriv Stenders Synopsis: A three-part series about women Prod, com pany.............. Rosa Colosimo Pty Ltd Vince Agostino Sound recordist.... .........................

Nick Housego writers on the frontline. Part 1 features five Producer.......................................................... Rosa Colosimo Narrator....................................................... MerileeBennett Editor...................... ............................Ross Wilson Nicaraguan women; Part 2 follows five women Director........................................................... RosaColosimo Still photography....................................... MerileeBennett, Composers........... ........................

Peter Morgan, in Africa; and Part 3 looks at five women in the Scriptwriters..................................... Josie Arnold, Maria Barbagallo Simon Daley Middle East frontlines, including Australian Peter McIntosh, Puppeteer................................ Michelle Spooner Exec, producer..... .Australian Film Commission journalist, Dianne Willman.

Rosa Colosimo Opticals...................................................... Cinevex Prod, m anager................................ Kimbel Hann D ram a........................................................ Melanie Guiney, Title designer..............................................MerileeBennett Continuity............. ...........................Kimbel Hann Alexandra Holt Mixed a t..............................................Sound Firm Lighting.................. ........................ Philip Sticklen THE WHITE MONKEY Photography.................................................. ChrisReed Laboratory..................................................Cinevex Camera assistant. ...........................Antony Clare Sound recordist..................................................PatSlatter Prod, com pany...................................Curtis Levy Lab. liaison...................................................... Jane Karslake Art director........................................Simon Daley Editor................................................................MarcGracie Productions Pty Ltd Budget........................................................$23,300 Costume designer ...........................Judy Morgan Composer...........................................................DalBabare Dist. company..................................... Curtis Levy Length.................................................. 30 minutes Make-up................. ................Anne Louise Rowe, Assoc, producer............................Rino Simonelli Productions Pty Ltd Gauge.............................................................16mm Annette McKenzie Unit manager................................ Rino Simonelli Producer.............................................. Curtis Levy Shooting stock.................................................ECN Hairdresser........................................................ Eric Prod, secretary............................ Carmel Coscia Director................................................ Curtis Levy Cast: The Bennett family (as themselves).

Props.............................................. Noel McKenna Prod, accountant.............................Reg McLean Scriptwriter.......................................... Curtis Levy Synopsis: An autobiographical portrait of a Neg. matching...... .................................. Colorfilm Prod, assistants........................................... VivianSimonelli, Based on the original idea b y........... Curtis Levy father/daughter relationship, using home Runner................... ................................. Liz Cotter Melanie Guiney Photography.................................... David Knaus movie footage dating from 1956. A portrayal of Publicity.................................. Pantelis Roussakis 1st asst director.......................... Melanie Guiney Sound recordist............................... Leo Sullivan the emotional complexity between the Catering................. ......................Jane Carpenter Gaffer...............................................................JohnIrvingEditor........................................... Stewart Young patriarch and the young woman. A daughter’s Studios.................. ................. Cell Block Studios Electrician......................................John Brennan Prod, m anager...........................Christine Olsen story.

(Wooloomooloo) Boom operator.............................. Simon Wilmot Laboratory............................................... Colorfilm Laboratory............ .................................. Colorfilm Costume designer......................................... RoseChong Lab. liaison....................................... Kerry Jenkin Lab. liaison........... ......................... Kerry Jenkins Make-up............................... Jorgia Vanden Berg HOWARD Budget..................................................... $216,600 Budget................... .................................... $15,000 Wardrobe................................... Anita Fierovanti Length............................................... 50 minutes Producer........................ ........ Roger Monk Length................... .............................. 15 minutes Props........................................................Creations Gauge.............................................................16mm Director.......................... ........ Roger Monk Gauge.................... ....................................... 16mm Still photography..........................Steven Gower Shooting stock.................................... 7291,7292 Scriptwriter................... ........ Roger Monk Shooting stock...... ........ Eastman Monochrome Title designer............................ Gillian Hunnibell Synopsis: This is a film about the Third World Photography................. .........Rey Carlson Cast: Peter Morgan (Georgie), George “ King” Runner............................................Dorn Ceravolo and one man’s fight against oppression. Father Sound recordist............. ...Brendon Young Solomon (Master of Ceremonies), Caroline LarCatering........................... Fabulous Food House Editor..............................

Brian Gore, the Australian priest charged with ...... Pamela Page combe (The Girl).

Equipment h ire..................... Mediaworld Pty Ltd Composer..................... multiple murder and imprisoned by the Marcos .Johnny Bachelor Synopsis: The Archangel of Death sends a Post-production............................ The Edit Shop, regime, returns to Negros. Through his eyes, Prod, co-ordinator........ ...Deborah Hoare messenger to Earth to beg a favour from a Mediaworld Pty Ltd we see how people robbed of their self-respect Prod, assistant............. ....... Maggie Lake mortal. A ‘G ’-rated musical comedy, featuring Length.................................................................. 90 minutes 1 st asst director............ are able to rescue their dignity and their rights. ...Deborah Hoare The Fabulous George.

G auge........................................Betacam, 16mm Lighting cameraperson ........ Rey Carlson Shooting stock............................................. Kodak Camera operator.......... ........ Rey Carlson Cast: Rowena Mohr (Anne and Linda), Focus puller................... .....Philip Learoyd WITCH HUNT TO LET Alexandra Holt (tlizabeth, Mrs Johnston, Tilly Gaffer.............................. ....Stephen Monk Devine), Cindy Lee (Phoebe), Kimberley Prod, company......Documentary Films Limited Producer............. ............ James Bogle Davenport (Kate and Emily), Tarquin Pinquin Pre-sale.........................................SBS Television Director................ ............ James Bogle (Jane, Miss Torr), Kerry Murphy (Charlotte).

Producers........................ Barbara A. Chobocky, Photography....... ...Peter Rasmussen Synopsis: The history of prostitution in Aus­ Please help us keep this survey Exec, producer...

Chris Oliver ...............Joseph Lee tralia from the arrival of the first fleet to the Director..............................Barbara A. Chobocky (Flamingo Records) accurate.

Phone Kathy Bail on present day — incorporating dramatic re­ Scriptwriters.....................Barbara A. Chobocky, operator. ....... Steven Windon (03) 329 5983 with any errors or Camera enactments, pictorial material, archival film Length.................

Sue Castrique, ................45 minutes footage, ballads and interviews. omissions.

G auge.................

Jeffrey Bruer ...... 16mm, Betacam

74 — January CINEMA PAPERS

Cast: John Poison (Duncan), Miles Buchanan (Chester), Zoe Carides (Laura), Geoff Morrell (Gary), Melissa Davis (Topsy), Mark Gould (Marcus).

Synopsis: Four people in a small flat. What could be worse! Five people? This film will be shot in a documentary-type style over a period of 49 hours, around the clock. Although the film has a definite plot, the dialogue will be entirely Improvlzed by the actors.

soften up the Australian public for the antici­ pated occupation of their country by Japanese forces. For 40 years, the making of this film remained a mystery. This documentary tells why the film was made, and how it has come to be forgotten.

RICHARD CARROLL NEG-CUTTING

CLOSE UP — ANIMALS OF AUSTRALIA

Prod, company................................Film Australia Dist. company.................................Film Australia Producer...............................................John Shaw Director................................................. John Shaw Prod, company..............Snow Gum Productions Editor...........................................Jamie Robertson Producers...................................... Michael Bates, Exec, producer................................Tristram Miall Graham Binding Prod, manager.......................................Ian Adkins Director............................................ Michael Bates Prod, secretary............................ Desiree Pfeiffer Based on the story by....................Michael Bates Prod, Photography.............................................. Graham Binding accountant............................. John Russell Studios............................................. Film Australia Sound recordist............................. Jennifer Scott Mixed a t............................................Film Australia Editor................................................Michael Bates Budget........................................................ $44,170 Composer........................................Philip Powers Length................................100 minutes (approx.)

Visual effects.............................................Graham Binding Synopsis: Designed for the home video Music performed by................ The ABC Slnfonia market, Close-Up is a re-issue of a number of Laboratory................................................ Colorfllm wildlife films made by Film Australia over the Lab. liaison................................................Glen Ely last fifteen years. Each film has been updated Length....................................................................17 minutes in information, has an on-camera presenter Gauge.............................................................. 16mm and originally composed music has been Shooting sto ck................................................ 7291 added.

Cast: Barrington Davis (Traveller), Franc Saule (Stranger).

Synopsis: A traveller In the Snowy Mountains COMMUNITY SERVICES FOR THE has an encounter with the supernatural.

GOVERNMENT FILM PRODUCTION FILM AUSTRALIA AUSTRALIAN INNOVATION Prod, company.................................Film Australia Dist. company..................................Film Australia Producer...............................................John Shaw Director................................................... Ian Munro Scriptwriters..........................................Ian Munro, Con Anemogiannis Based on the original idea b y .................................................Harry Bardwell Photography.................................. Andrew Fraser Sound recordist.................. ....Rodney Simmons Editor................................................. Robin Archer Exec, producer................................ Geoff Barnes Prod, manager..................................Ron Hannam Unit manager.........................Con Anemogiannis Prod, secretary........................ Margaret Crewes Prod, accountant............................ Stephen Kain Asst editor............ Mary Jane St. Vincent Welsh Studios..............................................Film Australia Laboratory........................................................Atlab Lab. liaison...............................................Bill Inglis Length.............................................5 x 29 minutes Gauge..............................................................16mm Shooting stock.................................Eastmancolor Synopsis: A u s tra lia n In n o v a tio n is an incisive and informative look at innovation in Australia. It examines past and present achievements and the importance that innova­ tion has in shaping Australia’s future.

AUSTRALIAN TRAINEESHIP SYSTEM Prod, company.............................Film Australia Producer...................................... Rob McAuley Director-..................................................Ian Host Scriptwriter................................ Andrew Denton Photography............................... Andrew Fraser Sound recordist............................Howard Spry Editor................................................Anna White Prod, designer...........................Larry Eastwood Exec, producer..........................Ron Saunders Prod, supervisor...........................Gerald Letts Prod, manager.............................Gerald Letts Prod, secretary.............................Maggie Lake Prod, accountant........................Geoff Appleby Casting.............................................. Joe Scully Gaffers............................. Guy Bessell-Browne, John Briden-Brown, Ian Bosman Make-up........................................ Sally Gordon Sound editor................................. Kathy Fenton Mixer.................................................. Geoff Stitt Length...............................................12 minutes Cast: Tina Bursill, Phillip Ross, Andrew Inglis.

Synopsis: A promotional video to tell employ­ ers involved in training staff about the Depart­ ment of Employment and Industrial Relations government funded trainee system.

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Prod, company..................................................FilmAustralia Producer........................................ Ron Saunders Director..........................................................SusanCornwell Scriptwriter....................................................SusanCornwell Photography....................................................JohnHosking Sound recordist.............................................. Mark Lewis Editor.............................................. Lindsey Fraser Exec, producer............................. Ron Saunders Prod, m anager.............................................Gerald Letts Prod, secretary........................................... Maggie Lake Prod, accountant........................................... GeoffAppleby Camera assistant............................................JohnScott Asst editor...........................................Katie James Mixer........................................................Geoff Stitt Length................................................................... 20 minutes Synopsis: A documentary for the Department of Community Services on the range of care, community services and accommodation avail­ able for the very elderly. It looks at the assess­ ment of work done by a geriatric unit at Hornsby District Hospital.

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DJUNGGUWAN AT GURKA’WUY (PART I & PART II)

02 4381979

Prod, company............................... Film Australia Dist. company................................ Film Australia Producer.............................................................. IanDunlop Director.................................................................IanDunlop Photography....................................................Dean Semler Sound recordist.......................................... RodneySimmons Editors..................................................................IanDunlop, Sharon Bell Exec, producer............................... Tristram Miall Prod, manager......................................Ian Adkins Prod, secretary........................................... Desiree Pfeiffer Prod, accountant............................................ JohnRussell Editor/director.....................................Sharon Bell 4ST** Budget..................................... $180,000 (approx.)

Length..............................................2 x 50 minutes v \ /- , Synopsis: A clan leader invites Film Australia to record the first ceremony to be held at his ' v P / v 1' Large selection of '50s Clothing and Bric-a-Brac. new clan homeland settlement in northeast Arnhem Land. The films show the organisation and performance of a ceremony in a contem­ Mixed Era Furniture. porary setting and explore the significance of the clan homeland movement.

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Prod, company............................................. FilmAustralia Dist. company.............................................. FilmAustralia Producer.......................................Alistair Innés Director....................................................... GregReading Scriptwriter..................................................GregReading \' ' Photography.......................... Peter Viskovich, Bruce Hogan v '- L Sound recordist...................... Bronwyn Murphy - 11 Editors.......................................... Anna Whyte, Nancy Allen Exec, producer.................................. Janet Bell Prod, manager........................................VirginiaPridham Unit manager..........................Marguerite Grey Prod, accountant..........................................NeilCousins Prod, assistant..........................................SusanDietrich Camera assistant................................Jim Ward Electrician......................................................IanBosman Boom operator................................ Kate Gunn Art director......................................Jane Norris Wardrobe.................................... Angela Knight Mixed at.......................................Film Australia Length......................................... 6 x 10 minutes Gauge..................................................Betacam Synopsis: Programmes for school children on government and the people.

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Prod, company..................................................FilmAustralia Dist. company................................................... FilmAustralia Director........................................................ Graham Shirley Scriptwriter.................................................Graham Shirley Photography........................................... Ross King Sound recordist....................... Rodney Simmons FILM AUSTRALIA’S AUSTRALIA Exec, producer.............................. Geoff Barnes Film Australia's Australia is a series of twelve Prod, m anager...................................................RonHannam video programmes with supporting discussion Prod, secretary........................Margaret Crewes notes.

Prod, accountant........................... Stephen Kain

Synopsis: In 1943, the Imperial Japanese Army Secret Service and a group of Australian servicemen collaborated on a film, to show the ‘exemplary conditions’ under which prisoners of war were treated by Nippon, and also to

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16mm & 35mm NEGATIVE CUTTING

THE TRAVELLER’S TALE

ELDERLY

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WORK Prod, company...............................Film Australia/ Australian Bicentennial Authority Dist. company................................. Film Australia

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Production Survey continued Composers.........................................Kevin Peek, Australia. Apart from considerations of world Length...................................................................75 minutes Producer............................................................ JanPunch Mars Lasar Gauge............................................................ 16mm Director..............................................................Stan Dalbyhealth, it involves our standing as a nation in Exec, producer............................................... AvivaZiegler this region, and it should be the genesis of an Synopsis: The film follows a group of patients Educational consultant....................................TedMyers Assoc, producer................................................. IanAdkins expanding biotechnology industry, with poten­ from a drug and alcohol treatment clinic during Research...................................... Judy Adamson Unit m anager.............................................. DebbieSidore tial for Australia and its exports. their last days in the clinic and the first few Based on the original idea Prod, secretary............................Desiree Pfeiffer weeks of their return to the community. by.......................................... Sunnar Isaacson, Prod, accountant............................. John Russell Norman Baker THE MOVERS Camera assistant........................... Lisa Sharkey Photography......................Mick von Bornemann KIDS IN TROUBLE Asst editor......................................... Cary Hamlyn Sound recordist......................................... HowardSpryProd, company............................... Film Australia Prod, company.................................Film Australia Neg. m atching.............................. Film Australia Dist. company................................

Film Australia Dubbing editor.................................................. RonTaylor Dist. company..................................Film Australia Music performed b y ......................... Kevin Peek, Producer.........................................Ron Saunders Exec, producer.............................. Geoff Barnes Producer.......................................Macek Rubetzki Mars Lasar Director................................................ Gil Brealey Prod, manager............................... Ron Hannam Director..............................................Sue Cornwell Mixed at...........................................Film Australia Scriptwriter......................................... Bruce Petty Prod, secretary....................................... MargaretCrewes Photography.................................... T ony Wilson Laboratory...................................................... Atlab Based on the original idea Prod, accountant...........................Stephen,Kain Budget..................................................... $250,000 by................................................................. BrucePetty Sound recordist................................Leo Sullivan Narrator..................................Annette Shun Wah Editor...................................................Les McLaren Length.................................................. 50 minutes Photography................................. Bruce Hillyard Film archivist................................................... JudyAdamson Exec, producer................................................ TomHaydon Gauge............................................................ 16mm Sound recordist............................Ken Hammond Research asst........................................GeraldineCrown Assoc, producer...................................Ian Adkins Synopsis: Sounds Like Australia is a music Editor...............................................David Huggett Synopsis: A programme showing how dif­ Asst director..................................................... LisaNoonan film/video featuring Australian musicians Mars Prod, designer............................ Larry Eastwood ferent types of work have evolved in Australia.

Length...................................................................65 minutes Lasar and Kevin Peek, who create music by Exec, producer........................... Ron Saunders Attitudes to work are examined, as well as the G au g e....................................................... 1 " video recording natural sounds and then 'sampling' Post-prod, supervisor.......................................

Bill Inglis issues of unionism, industrial disease, job Synopsis: The film is about the criminal justice them into an Australian designed computer­ Prod, m anager.............................................. Gerry Letts retraining and unemployment. system and its treatment of juvenile offenders. ised musical instrument — the Fairlight. Using Unit manager....................................Vicki Sugars The film includes, for the first time, footage the Fairlight, they bend them tonally and Prod, secretary....................................Liz Wright shot in the Australian court while cases are LAND rhythmically into musical compositions.

Prod, accountant.......................... Geoff Appleby 1st asst director............................................. GerryLetts being heard.

Prod, company................................................. FilmAustralia/ STORYMAKERS 2nd asst director.............................. Vicki Sugars Australian Bicentennial Authority SINGLES Continuity...................................Danuta Morrisey Dist. company................................ Film Australia Prod, company................................Film Australia Researcher (film library)................. Tricia Farren Producer............................................................ JanPunch Prod, company................................................. FilmAustralia Dist. company.................................Film Australia Researcher (stills/books).......... Sonia Rothbury Director.............................. Paul Woolston-Smith Dist. company...................................................FilmAustralia Producer............................................... Janet Bell Casting...................................................... Forcast, Educational consultant....................................TedMyers Producers.................................................... MacekRubetzki, Director........................... David Haythornthwaite Rae Davidson Photography.....................Mick von Bornemann Ian Adkins Scriptwriter..................... David Haythornthwaite Sound recordist......................................... HowardSpryCamera assistant................................ Ivan Kacer Director.............................................. Karl McPhee Photography..................................... Kerry Brown Key grip.................................................Peter Doig Video editor...................................................... PaulHumfress Photography.....................................Tony Wilson Sound recordist........................................ BronwynMurphy Gaffer................................................................... IanBosman Dubbing editor.................................................. RonTaylor Sound recordist................................Leo Sullivan Editor.................................................. Ruth Cullen Boom operator................................................ MarkKeating Exec, producer..............................Geoff Barnes Editor..............................................Lindsay Fraser Exec, producer.................................... Janet Bell Asst art director.............................Rob Robinson Prod, manager...............................Ron Hannam Exec, producer................................................ TomHaydon Prod, m anager............................................... NigelSaunders Costume designer................. Tony Jones-Love Prod, secretary....................................... MargaretCrewes Length...................................................................75 minutes Unit m anager......................... Corrie Soeterboek Make-up......................................

Brita Kingsbury Prod, accountant............................Stephen Kain Gauge........................................................... 16mm Prod, secretary..................Amanda Etherington Hairdresser................................ Brita Kingsbury Make-up............................................................BritaKingsbury Synopsis: A foray into the world of the un­ Prod, accountant..............................Neil Cousins Wardrobe.................................... Cheyne Phillips Sound m ixer.......................................... Geoff Stitt attached.

Length...................................................

30 minutes Property master................................................IgorLazareff Narrator.................................Annette Shun Wah Gauge.............................................................

16mm Props buyer......................................................Peta Lawson Research asst........................... Geraldine Crown THE VISIT Cast: Emily Cannon, Patricia Kennedy.

Choreography............... Donald Spencer-Harris Film archivist...................................................JudyAdamson Synopsis: The first of a series of documen­ Prod, company.................................................

Film Australia Carpenters.........................................Geoff Howe, Synopsis: A look at Australia's physical land­ taries on well-known Australian children’s Frank Phipps Dist. company...................................................FilmAustralia scape. The programme examines flora and writers.

Set construction manager............Brian Hocking Producer......................................Macek Rubetzki fauna and uses some excellent early footage.

Props maker........................... hrrol Glassenbury Director............................................................TonyWheeler SUBMARINE Asst editor...................................................... ChrisMcGrath Photography..................................... Tony Wilson POLITICS Safety officer................................................ BernieLedger Sound recordist.................................................LeoSullivan Prod, company................................................. FilmAustralia Prod, company................................................. FilmAustralia/ Still photography...................Robert McFarlane Editor.................................................................. SueHorsley Dist. company...................................................FilmAustralia Australian Bicentennial Authority Tech, director.............................................. DannyDiklich, Exec, producer................................................ TomHaydon Researcher/scriptwriter.................................JuneHenman Omnicom Video Pty Limited Dist. company................................Film Australia Assoc, producer............................................Clare Edwards Exec, producer............................... Geoff Barnes Producer............................................................JanPunch Best b o y..................................Jonathan Hughes Gauge........................................................... 16mm Prod, manager................................ Ron Hannam Runner....................................Andrew Dalbosco Director................................................................ IanWalker Synopsis: A moving film about a Vietnamese Prod, secretary........................................MargaretCrewes Publicity......................................................... LionelMidford Educational consultant................................... Ted Myers refugee family and the visit to Australia of a son Prod, accountant...........................Stephen Kain Unit publicist................................................. LionelMidford Research.........................................................JudyAdamson they haven't seen for four years.

Synopsis: A film about the multiple attacks, by Studios.............................................................. FilmAustralia Based on the original idea air and sea, on Australia by the Japanese Mixed a t.............................................................FilmAustralia by..............................................................SunnarIsaacson armed forces during World War II, culminating Budget..................................................... $400,000 Exec, producer..............................Geoff Barnes in the midget submarine raid on Sydney Length.................................................. 58 minutes Prod, manager...............................Ron Hannam Harbour. It uses archival footage (much pre­ ROADS TO XANADU Cast: Drew Forsythe (John), Lorna Lesley Prod, secretary....................................... MargaretCrewes viously unseen by the public) and reminis­ (Tara), Candy Raymond (Sacha), Bob Baines Prod, accountant...........................Stephen Kain Prod, company............................... Film Australia cences of Australian and Japanese partici­ (Marcus), Geoff Kelso (Walter), Donald Narrator.................................Annette Shun Wah Dist. company.................................Film Australia pants.

Spencer-Harris (Bart), Aussie Merciadez Synopsis: An examination of Australian poli­ Producer.......................................... John Merson (Helen). tical history beginning with Federation. The Director............................................ David Roberts TECHNOLOGY AND BUSINESS Synopsis: The Movers is a comic documentary programme looks at forms of government, the Scriptwriters.................................... John Merson, EFFICIENCY about technology and the search for the good electoral system, democracy at work, govern­ David Roberts time. A man and a woman push a lounge chair Prod, company................................................. FilmAustralia ment services, and how public attitudes to Based on the original idea through five different periods of history, Dist. company...................................................FilmAustralia government have changed. by.................................................. John Merson mechanising it and adding domestic appli­ Producer.......................................... Alistair Innes Exec, producer.............................. Geoff Barnes ances to it until, at the end of the film, they Director..............................................................PaulHumfress Prod, manager............................... Ron Hannam have the chair piled with devices on a ramp Scriptwriter........................................................PaulHumfress Prod, secretary........................ Margaret Crewes ready for blast off. During the countdown they Photography.......................................... Ross King Prod, accountant........................... Stephen Kain are trying to work out whether they have had Prod, manager........................................... VirginiaPridham Synopsis: A four-part series for television that FITNESS — MAKE IT YOUR the good time or whether it is still to come.

Prod, secretary........................................MargaretCrewes takes a new look at the dynamic interchange BUSINESS 2 Prod, accountant............................Stephen Kain between Asia and Europe in the modern world.

Prod, company............................... Film Australia NAVY’S 75TH Synopsis: Two packages of quality multiThe conventional views about the relationship Dist. company.................................Film Australia media training materials for small business between science, technology and society, Prod, company...............................Film Australia Director...................................................... Ian Host management education and training pro­ which continue to shape our perceptions of Dist. company................................ Film Australia Exec, producer...............................Geoff Barnes grammes. progress, are scrutinized and re-evaluated.

Producer.......................................... Aviva Ziegler Prod, manager................................Ron Hannam Director.............................................N ick T orrens Prod, secretary........................ Margaret Crewes Photography...................................Steve Mason, THE WAVES THAT SHAPED Prod, accountant............................Stephen Kain ROCK ART Mike Edols AUSTRALIA Synopsis: A follow-up to the successful Fitness Sound recordists............................ Leo Sullivan, Prod, company.............................. Film Australia Prod, company..................................................FilmAustralia — Make It Your Business video produced for Howard Spry Dist. company............................... Film Australia Dist. company...................................................Film Australia the Department of Health, Recreation and Editor.................................................................NickTorrens Producer................................................Janet Bell Tourism.

Director............................... Paul Woolston-Smith Exec, producer...............................Tristram Miall Director........................................... David Roberts Scriptwriter........................

Paul Woolston-Smith Prod, manager..................................... Ian Adkins Scriptwriter....................................David Roberts Photography................................................... JohnHosking, HOMELESS Unit m anager................................. Pauline Chan Photography................................... Andy Fraser Mick von Bornemann Prod, secretary.......................................... DesireePfeiffer Prod, company............................... Film Australia Sound recordist............................... Howard Spry Sound recordist...............................Howard Spry Prod, accountant............................................JohnRussell Dist. company................................ Film Australia Editor................................................. Ray Thomas Editors...............................................................PaulHumfress, Producer........................................................ JanetBell Asst editor........................................ Linda Kruger Composer.................................... Gondwanaland Ron Taylor Neg. m atching...............................Film Australia Director...................................... Philip Robertson Exec, producer..................................... Janet Bell Exec, producer.............................................. GeoffBarnes Mixed at........................................... Film Australia Scriptwriter................................ Philip Robertson Prod, m anager............................Nigel Saunders Prod, manager............................................Virginia Pridham Laboratory.................................................Cinefilm Photography..................................... Andy Fraser Prod, secretary.................. Amanda Etherington Prod, secretary........................................MargaretCrewes Budget..................................................... $135,197 Sound recordist...................... Rodney Simmons Prod, accountant..............................Neil Cousins Prod, accountant...........................

Stephen Kain Exec, producer............................................. JanetBell Length.................................................. 50 minutes Camera assistant.......................................Rodney HindsSound mixer....................................George Hart Gauge.............................................................16mm Prod, m anager............................Nigel Saunders Asst editor...................................... Gary O ’Grady Synopsis: The story of the waves of immi­ Shooting stock.................................... 7291,7292 Unit manager........................................................ DiHenry Length.................................................................. 30 minutes grants who have come to Australia over the Synopsis: An observational style documentary Prod, secretary.................. Amanda Etherington Gauge............................................................ 35mm past two hundred years. which will follow a number of sailors from ships Prod, accountant............................ Neil Cousins Synopsis: Billy Harney, son of famous taking part in the Australian Navy’s 75th Anni­ Length...................................................25 minutes author/raconteur Bill Harney, takes us 200km versary, and some of the Australian girls out for Gauge............................................................ 16mm WORLD OF WORK west of Katherine in the Northern Territory a good time. They will interweave the stories of Synopsis: Documentary programme made for through Wardaman country, to visit the Prod, company..................................................FilmAustralia a number of the selected participants from the International Year of Shelter for the Home­ magnificent rock painting sites associated with Dist. company...................................................FilmAustralia their arrival: living with them for nine days of less. the mythology of the Lightning Brothers. Cere­ Producer.................................................... TristramMiall the visit, sharing their fun and observing their monies related to these paintings, which have Director.............................................................Daryl Dellora experiences and final farewells. not been performed for 40 years, have been A LONG NIGHT WITH LETHAL Sound recordists.............................................Dale Sadler, recorded in this film which underlines the GUESTS (MALARIA) _ RayCarlson importance of the preservation of these paint­ Editor................................................................ DarylDellora (Working title) ings, as part of both Australian and world Exec, producer......................................... Tristram Miall Prod, company.............................. Film Australia heritage.

Prod, manager......................................|an Adkins REAL LIFE SERIES 1 Dist. company................................Film Australia Prod, secretary...........................................Desiree Pfeiffer Director.......................................................... Oliver Howes Prod, accountant............................................JohnRussell GETTING STRAIGHT SOUNDS LIKE AUSTRALIA Scriptwriter.................................................... Oliver Howes Reporter.......................................................... PeterMcEvoy Editor..................................................................RayThomas Prod, company................................................. FilmAustralia Prod, company...............................Film Australia Camera operator............................................ JohnHosking Exec, producer..............................................GeoffBarnes Dist. company.................................................. FilmAustralia Dist. company................................ Film Australia Budget........................................................$22,029 Prod, manager...............................Ron Hannam Producer.......................................................Macek Rubetzki Producer..........................................Tristram Miall Length....................................................20 minutes Prod, secretary....................... Margaret Crewes Director..................................... Phillip Robertson Director.......................................Jamie Robertson Synopsis: A video programme aimed at Year Prod, accountant........................... Stephen Kain Photography.................................... Tony Wilson Scriptwriter............................... Jamie Robertson 10 students. Micros Rule OK is the pilot Length...................................................48 minutes Sound recordist........................................BronwynMurphy Photography..................................Steve Windon, episode of a proposed series which deals with G auge.............................................16mm to video Editor..................................................................RayThomas Jim Frazier new technologies being introduced and how Synopsis: Research into malaria, especially Exec, producer................................................ Tom Haydon Sound recordist............................. Max Hennser they will affect young people In and out of work finding a vaccine, is of great importance to Assoc, producer................................... Ian Adkins Editor.......................................... Jamie Robertson and school.

76 — January CINEMA PAPERS

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Production Survey continued TAPESTRIES FOR NEW PARLIAMENT HOUSE

HAND MADE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

Prod, company.....................Promotion Australia Prod, company....................Promotion Australia Producer........................................... Sandi Logan Producer........................................... Sandi Logan Director...................................Robert Hargreaves Directors..............................................E. Kenning, C. Hindes G au g e............................................................ Video AIDS G auge............................................................ Video Synopsis: Tapestry makers around Australia Producer...................................... Sally Semmens Synopsis: A look at the fine craftsmanship that are contributing towards the artistic beauty of DARLING HARBOUR AUTHORITY Scriptwriter..................................... Sally ingleton goes into the making of Australian harps, the interiors of the new Parliament House.

Prod, company............Zap Productions Pty Ltd Exec, producer...................... Vincent O ’Donnell violins, pianos and guitars.

Producer.......................................................... RussMaehel Length...................................................15 minutes Director...........................................................Zoran Janjic Gauge................................ ........................... 16mm Artwork..........................................John Richards Synopsis: A film explaining to 14-16 year olds KELPIE EXPORTS Animator/software writer................... Paul Ryder why AIDS is an important issue, how it is trans­ Computer graphics.................... Lauren Anthon Prod, company....................Promotion Australia mitted, and where they can get proper informa­ Synopsis: A three-minute computer graphic in­ Producer........................................... Sandi Logan tion. formation video which illustrates the layout and Director...................................................C. Hindes functions of the Darling Harbour project.

G auge........................................................... Video BICYCLE SAFETY Synopsis: One of Australia's unique exports is chasing herds world-wide.

GOINGS ON AT GARDENER’S PARK Producer..................................................... VincentO ’Donnell S W IN B U R N E Scriptwriter........................................................ JonStephens Prod, company.......................Television Makers Exec, producer.......................................... VincentO ’Donnell Producer.........................................Carolyn Masel MURRAY PRINCESS Director............................................................TonyCulliton Budget........................................................$40,000 Prod, company....................Promotion Australia Length.................................................. 20 minutes Scriptwriter..................................................... LibbyHathorn REVELATIONS Producer........................................................ SandiLogan Photography.................................................. ColinPurnell Gauge.............................................................16mm Director..................................... Stephen Boscutti Director...................................Robert Hargreaves Editor............................................Paul McDonald Synopsis: A bicycle safety film for late primary Photography.................................... David Verrall Photography................................................... JohnEllson Length.................................................................. 25 minutes and junior secondary children.

Sound........................................Peter Watson Jnr G au g e........................................................... Video Gauge................................. Betacam, 1" Master Form at......................................... 16mm. 22mins.

Synopsis: A new riverboat now works the Synopsis: A series of eight short trigger video Synopsis: What happened was that Rosemary Murray River, in a similar style to Deep South units which dramatize the issues and problems A GAME TO PLAY Adams shot herself in the head with Joe’s .357 riverboats of the United States. associated with the characteristics of an 'effec­ Prod, company.........................................OOP Ltd Magnum — simple enough at the start. tive' school. The video provides the centre­ Producer.......................................................... Sally Semmens Adapted from a Stephen King short story.

NATIONAL PARKS Director............................................................JohnNicoll piece of an in-service course conducted by the Scriptwriters........................................................ JillMorris,Department of Education.

Prod, company................... Promotion Australia CAMPANILE Mary Lancaster Producer........................................................SandiLogan Director...........................................Antonia Bruns INTEGRATION OF DISABLED Photography............................... Kevin Anderson Director..........................................R. Hargreaves Photography..............................Valerie Campan Editor................................................................ JohnNicoll STUDENTS G auge...........................................................Video Sound...........................................Jim Dunwoodie Exec, producer.......................................... VincentO ’Donnell Synopsis: A video about the flora and wildlife Prod, company..................AVES Group Pty Ltd Form at......................................... 16mm. 16mins.

Budget.......................................................$27,000 that are protected in Australia’s unique Producer..................................................GeorginaReynolds Synopsis: The Ministry for Tourism devises a G auge............................................................... BVU national parks.

Director...............................................Peter Smith scheme to develop a mythology for Melbourne.

Synopsis: A Game to Play aims to show child­ Scriptwriter..............................Denese Fingleton The film explores the relationships of text and ren that sport has rewards other than just play­ Photography........................................... Len Zech image.

OPSITE HAND APPLICATOR ing to win. It presents the case for modifying Sound recordists....................... Dennis Murphy, rules in sport to better suit the physical and Prod, company.....................Promotion Australia Richard Hill LETTING GO Producer.......................................... Sandi Logan emotional needs of children.

Editor..............................................John Cameron Director................................ Robin de Crespigny Director........ ..........................Robert Hargreaves Prod, manager..........................Sharon Ghossein Photography........................................Ellery Ryan Photography....................................John Ellson GIRLS IN CONTROL Length.................................................. 23 minutes Sound............................................................. DavidGoldfayl, G auge..........................................................Video Gauge................................... Betacam, 1" Master Prod, company......................Seven Dimensions Chris Gordon Synopsis: A new treatment for burns and Synopsis: This programme demonstrates the Producer.......................................................... SallySemmens Format..........................................16mm. 30mins. tissue wounds pioneered in Adelaide. concept of the integration of disabled students Director......................................................Eve Ash Synopsis: The husband of a dancer rendered Scriptwriter.....................................................KirstyGrant into regular schools. The positive view of the quadraplegic goes through the traumatic Department of Education toward the integra­ Photography...............................Kathy Chambers stages of acceptance, attempting in his own tion of students with disabilities is shown in the SCALZO CVS ENGINE Exec, producer.......................................... VincentO ’Donnell eccentric way to reconcile her desire to die with key role of the school principal, accurate Still photography........................ Ponch Hawkes Prod, company.................... Promotion Australia his fear of being alone. information and good communication.

Budget........................................................$35,000 Producer........................................... Sandi Logan Length.................................................. 25 minutes Director...................................Robert Hargreaves MADDO HARLEY DIED LAST NIGHT MAKING SENSE OF THE LAW G auge............................................................... BVU G auge............................................................ Video Synopsis: A film demonstrating women work­ Director................................................ Wain Fimo Prod, company................................. Griffin Films Synopsis: A new continuously variable stroke Photography..............................................Vladimir Osherov ing in the technical areas of the media.

Director..........................................Denise Hunter engine could put the Melbourne invention in Sound............................................................StevenBoscutti, Scriptwriter...................................John Patterson motor cars worldwide.

Stephen Houston Photography...................................Craig Watkins MARINE ARCHEOLOGY Form at..........................................16mm. 24mins.

Editor.......................................... Michael Church Synopsis: The lover of a mass murderer Exec, producer...............................................PeterDimond Prod, company................................Media World exacts retribution. A dark and poetical state­ SHELTERED WOOL WORKSHOP Prod, co-ordinator........................................

Karen Watson Producer..................................................... VincentO'Donnell ment adapted from the short story of the same Length.................................................................. 16minutes Prod, company.................... Promotion Australia Director............................................. Robert Grant name by Jenny Boult.

Gauge....................................................... Betacam Producer......................................... Sandi Logan Scriptwriter......................................Robert Grant Cast: Terry Serio (Giorgio), Katie Brinson Director.................................................. C. Hindes Photography............................................... StevenFlounders THE AARDVARK SONG (Julie), Valentino Brico (Giorgio’s Friend), G auge............................................................ Video Sound recordist.............................. Patrick Slate Marion Sandburg (Lawyer).

Synopsis: Ultra-fine fleece developed within a Director......................................... Claire Bamford Editor.................................................Marc Gracie Synopsis: A dramatized version of some of the sheltered workshop proves a success.

Animator........................................ Claire Bamford Exec, producer.......................................... VincentO'Donnell many aspects of the law which are encoun­ Backgrounds............................ Gwenda Bamford Budget........................................................$20,000 tered by a young couple during the course of a Format............................................ 16mm. 3mins.

Length.................................................. 25 minutes day. The programme is being produced for the STRATOS ULTRALIGHT Synopsis: The Aardvark Song is an animal Gauge........................................................Betacam Legal Services Commission of NSW. The comedy set in the zoo and surrounding areas.

Prod, company..................... Promotion Australia Synopsis: Maritime wrecks are both a scien­ narration will be translated into Arabic, Greek, It depicts the antics of an aardvark in mating Producer..........................................

Sandi Logan tific and recreational resource. The film Turkish, Serbian, Macedonian, Italian, Spanish season.

Director.................................. Robert Hargreaves presents the case for preserving those wrecks and Vietnamese.

Photography....................................

Peter Warren around the Victorian coast.

SPAVENTAPASSERI G auge.............................................................Video PEOPLE IN MEETINGS Synopsis: A new ultralight design is taking Director........................................... Luigi Acquisto ORDINARY STREETS Prod, company..................................... Television Makers amateur and professional flyers by storm.

Photography...................................Jaems Grant Director........................................................... TonyCulliton Prod, company................................Kestrel Films Sound.......................................................... MarcusBennett Scriptwriters.................................Libby Hathorn, Dist. company.............. Focal Communications, Form at.......................................................... 16mm.32mins.

Jim Hawes SUPERANIMALS Film Victoria Synopsis: In the late 1960s Marta, Antonio and Photography........................................... Don Clay Producer..................................................... VincentO ’Donnell Nicolino, having recently arrived from Italy, Prod, company.................... Promotion Australia Prod, co-ordinator.......................Shirley Stokes Director.............................................Eddie Moses share a house with an established Italian family Producer.......................................... Sandi Logan Length..................................................................40 minutes Scriptwriter......................................... David Tiley in Melbourne.

Director.................................. Robert Hargreaves Gauge...................................Betacam, 1" Master Photography.................................. Terry Carlyon G auge.............................................................Video Synopsis: A series of six short video pro­ Sound recordist.............................. Geoff Wilson Synopsis: Australian scientists are using BEDTIME STORY grammes for the Department of Education.

Editor...............................................Tom Palankay genetic engineering and hormone treatment to Director............................................Sherrin Ayre They are designed for use as triggers for dis­ Exec, producer.......................................... VincentO'Donnell breed a new super animal.

Photography...................................................

JohnKenyon cussion in meetings on interpersonal response 2nd unit photography........................ Tim Smart, Martin McGrath skills.

Budget...................................................... $68,500 Length................................................. 25 minutes Gauge............................................................ 16mm Synopsis: Made for the Ministry of Housing, this is the second part of a trilogy addressing P R O M O T IO N A U S T R A L IA questions about public housing. Specifically, it is about the planning processes of the William Angliss site in Footscray and examines the range of conflicting opinions as to what should Promotion Australia is part of the Depart­ ment of Sport, Recreation and Tourism. happen and why.

1986 STUDENT PRODUCTIONS

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ASIAN CUISINE

Producer...................................... Sally Semmens Scriptwriter.......................................... Mark Little Exec, producer...................... Vincent O ’Donnell Budget...................................................... $20,000 Length...................................................10 minutes Gauge............................................................ 16mm Synopsis: A humourous video which illustrates the benefits of the long service leave scheme to construction workers, and explains why it is compulsory.

Prod, company.................... Promotion Australia Producer........................................... Sandi Logan Director...................................Robert Hargreaves Photography....................................Peter Warren G auge............................................................ Video Synopsis: Australians are now not only dining out, with Asian restaurants their favourite, but are also cooking many different types of Asian dishes at home.

FLU VACCINE Please help us keep this survey accurate. Phone Kathy Bail on (03) 329 5983 with any errors or omissions.

78 — January CINEMA PAPERS

Prod, company.....................Promotion Australia Producer........................................... Sandi Logan Director...................................Robert Hargreaves G au g e............................................................Video Synopsis: Researchers continue to work on a vaccine to overcome the common flu.

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W ind Machines — Designed for studio and outdoors.

Feature tilt, ‘swivel, built-in rain and fog. (10 machines).

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Rain Towers - Studio models and outdoor models. Throw a precise pattern — tanker pressure pumps.

Fog Machines — Designed for film use — reliable and quiet. "M inifog" "Portafog" "Gasfog" . . "M egafog" for large output.

Air Cannons — Pyro devices — Fire extinguishers — Release devices — Capsule guns — Steering control for vehicles.

Breakaway Glass — Sheets —Simulated Reinforced — bottles, glasses, plates, specials made to order.

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Hydraulic and Pneumatic rigs - Breakaway rigs. Falling rigs. Structural design and engineering.

Flying Rigs - 3 dimensional movement for models or people to simulate weightlessness.

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Model Making —vacuum forming — camera protection — mechanical devices — engineering workshop.

Sound...............................................Antonia Bruns Form at........................................... 16mm. 20mins.

Synopsis: A marriage disintegrates and a child becomes embroiled in the struggle; finally the conflict becomes overwhelming.

FUTURE OF DEATH Director.........................................Marcus Bennett Photography...........................................Geoff Hall Sound............................................Luigi Acquisto, Andrew Sharp Form at.......................................... 16mm. 15mins.

Synopsis: In the eternal niqht of a nuclear no­ man’s land, a man seeks life, but is only tormented by the spirits of the dead.

JINGLE BELLS Director........................................ Rodford Belcher Coloured inks................................. Stephen Ford Sound............................................Claire Bamford Form at............................................. 16mm. 5mins.

Synopsis: An animated film in which a prisoner counts the days to Christmas. Un­ expectedly, he is given a present — a face, and with eyes, the means of escape.

FIZZ, BUBBLE POP! Director.........................................Joshua Dodson Animator...................................... Joshua Dodson Computer animation..................David Atkinson, John Atkinson Form at............................................. 16mm. 6 mins.

Synopsis: Poses the question, ‘What is the meaning oflife?’ to God, amongst other beings. Even God’s creator, the animator, is drawn into this 'creation cabaret’.

IN SEARCH OF THREE EGYPTIAN PRINCESSES Director................................................ Allan Booth Animator.............................................. Allan Booth Form at............................................. 1 6 mm. 7mins.

Synopsis: Set in ancient Egypt, this parable deals with the dastardly effects of possessive­ ness. In addition, ubiquitous American tourists get Into the action.

IN LOVE CANCER Director...................................... Jenny Robertson Animation.................................Jenny Robertson Form at............................................. 16mm. 8 mins.

Synopsis: An experiment in which traditional narrative Is displayed by visions of medication, dismemberment, desire, procreation, trans­ figuration and fatality.

WHERE’S ERNEST Director........................................... Andrew Sharp Photography..........................................Phil Cross Sound............................................ Jim Dunwoodie Form at...........................................16mm. 20mins.

Synopsis: A man fears that a homosexual lodger is threatening the stability of his marriage. His worst suspicions are surpassed when he tries to give his wife breakfast in bed.

TRUNCATED ON WANG Director................................................Giles Bozec Photography......................................Tony Gailey, Mandy King Sound..............................................Michael Butler Format......................................%" video. 28mlns.

Synopsis: A young rock and roll musician's lifestyle falls apart when his file is accidentally deleted from the Social Security computer system.

WHILE POOR MEN WORK Director.............................................Peter Browne Photography............................ Jerry Bogdanski Cam eram an............................. Stephen Johnson Sound.................................................. Bob Phelps, Brendan Luno Format......................................% " video. 22mins.

Synopsis: A hit man is brought out of retire­ ment for one last assignment.

I DON’T KNOW YOU ANY MORE Director...................................... Barbara Dowling Photography...................................... Isao Kimura, Steve Westh Sound............................................ Nick Markovski Format......................................% " video. 20mins.

Synopsis: Is she a sick woman, or is she normal but driven to an edge? Glimpses of per­ sonal growth and the crisis it brings to a long term relationship.

Synopsis: A young man's subjective reality in­ REAL DREAMERS cludes an interminable encounter with an un­ sympathetic father offering money and a cold Director.......................................................Stephen Johnson addict girlfriend.

Photography.................................................Valerie Campan Sound..................................................................... N.Harford, M. Power, FISH M. Butler Director.................................. Darren Reynoldson Format......................................% " video. 32mins.

Photography................................Mark Hopkins Synopsis: Real Dreamers deals with the diffi­ Sound.......................................................Mark Ellis culties a young man faces in a country domin­ Form at..........................................16mm. 23mins. ated by the mass media and government ad Synopsis: Dookie Dick, ambivalence, adoles­ campaigns. cence and life in a small country town.

SCOOP

SHARK STORY

Director...........................................Brendan Luno Photography......................................... Peter Falk Sound............................................. Brendan Luno, Andrew Fraser Format......................................3A " video. 20mins.

Synopsis: Has Tracy Wright, award winning journalist lost her ability for breathing, sleeping and eating news, or does she need just one more scoop?

Director..................................................Julian Rex Photography................................... Justin Brickie Sound................................................... Julie Harris Format............................................. 16mm. 15min.

Synopsis: Raoul the Cat tells a story of long cars and mesmerisation, but the story folds in on itself, and the story teller begins to sink.

THE SHADOW FALLS

Director......................................Charles Sandford Photography.............................. Vladimir Kromas Sound.............................................George Viscas Form at........................................ 16mm. 30mins.

Synopsis: A vigorous comedy in which small time crooks, punters, bikies and opportunists scramble for a windfall.

Director.................................................Bob Phelps Photography.................................Peter Zakharov Sound......................................... Valerie Fisicaaro Format......................................3A " video. 19mins.

Synopsis: Past and present events heighten Marcia’s apprehension when her lover per­ suades her to go off the pill and marry him.

QUARRY Director...........................................Alvan Shotade Photography.............................. Vladimir Kromas Sound..................................................Giles Bozec Format......................................%" video. 25mins.

Synopsis: A Nigerian student falls in love with an Australian woman despite a commitment to marry back home. This dilemma leads to an attempted murder by witchcraft.

NOT QUITE NIRVANA Director......................................... Stephen Westh Photography....................................Andrew Scott Sound................................................... John Moore Format................................16mm/video. 22mins.

Synopsis: An old man, of an independent temperament, suffers the indignities of old age and committal to a nursing home.

LOOKING FOR SPACETHINGS

KICK START

CARAVAN PARK Director...........................................Kathryn Milliss Photography................................John Armstrong Sound.......................................Charles Sandford Form at.......................................... 16mm. 21 mins.

Synopsis: Caravan Park deals with housing problems and the role of the home in providing an emotional focus for the family.

DEBUTANTES Director/photographer...................... Jane Castle Sound.................................................... Liam Egan Form at.......................................... 16mm. 20mins.

Synopsis: A documentary about ‘coming out’ in society.

DRINKING THE WATER FROM THE RADIATOR Director................................................Kieran Weir Photography...................................... John Maruff Sound..............................................Lindsey Cobb Format............................................ 16mm. 4mins.

Synopsis: A pop clip by Temper Temper.

ERMINIA’S OPENING NIGHT AND OTHER STORIES Director........................................ Duncan Sinclair Photography.......................................Jane Castle Sound................................... Spiros Mavrangelos Form at..........................................16mm. I9mins.

Synopsis: A double bill about dreamers and things.

GHOSTS Director.................................... Tammy Burnstock Photography..................................... Rey Carlson Sound..................................................Pam Dunne Form at.......................................... 16mm. 20mins.

Synopsis: A child’s view of death.

THE GOOD WEEKEND Director..................................................Kate Stone Photography............................... Brendan Young Sound................................... Spiros Mavrangelos Form at......................................... 16mm. 25mins.

Synopsis: A young couple on the rocky road of upward mobility have a flat tyre.

JOURNEY TO PARADISE

1986 STUDENT PRODUCTIONS

Director............................................... David White Photography............................... Brendan Young Sound............................................... Victor Gentile Form at.......................................... 16mm. 22mlns.

Synopsis: A musical about a lost soul looking for the secrets of happiness.

AFTRS

LEIGH CREEK

FLYING

Director................................................. Liam Egan Photography................................... David Caesar Sound....................................................Liam Egan Form at...........................................16mm. 30mins.

Synopsis: A documentary about life in the out­ back.

Director........................................ John Armstrong Director.................................... Tammy Burnstock Photography...............................................KathrynMilliss, Photography......................................Rey Carlson Mark Hopkins Sound........................................... Robert Sullivan Sound........................................................Cameron Mellor Form at.............................................35mm. 8 mins.

Form at...........................................................16mm.15mins.

Synopsis: A film about the power of the Synopsis: Jason and his dopey companion go imagination. looking for a thing from outer space.

NANNY DOT

Director..................................................Mark Perry Photography..................................... Rey Carlson Sound..................................................Peter Leovic ALL IN A ROW Form at...........................................16mm. 15mins.

LAST DAYS OF ARTHUR BRINKMAN Director......................................................... RobertSullivan Synopsis: A documentary about the film­ Director...................................................Mark Ellis Photography............................Peter Rasmussen maker’s grandmother, a painter.

Photography....................................................MarkHopkins, Sound............................................................... JikouSugano Cameron Barnet Form at...........................................................16mm.15mins.

THE PLAGUE NEXT DOOR Sound.......................................................Mark Ellis Synopsis: A partly animated children’s film Form at...........................................................16mm.20mins.

Director..................................................Mark Ward about the different Influences exerted on a Synopsis: Arthur loves life, but the sentiments Photography................................Alison Maxwell young boy’s imagination when he goes to a are not reciprocated, and even he could not Sound........................................... Nerida Cooper new school. anticipate the solution to his problem.

Form at.......................................... 16mm. 30mins.

Synopsis: A film about coping with neigh­ AN AUSTRALIAN SUMMER bours, paranoia, metamorphosis and salami SHOOTING THROUGH Director........................................ Megan Simpson rolls.

Director.............................................................MarkHopkins Photography.......................................Jane Castle Photography................................John Armstrong Sound............................................... Victor Gentile POETRY FOR AN ENGLISHMAN Sound........................................................Cameron Mellor Form at.......................................... 16mm. 42mins.

Form at...........................................................16mm.26mlns.

Director............................................Martin Daley Synopsis: This story of an Australian family in Synopsis: Gary and Nicko land in Melbourne.

Photography.................................Joanne Parker the 1960s to the 1980s follows changes in Sound...............................................Lindsey Cobb Australia and the unchanging nature of love.

Gary gets a job and Michelle. Nicko gets Form at...........................................16mm. 27mins. cheesed off.

Synopsis: An adaptation of the Marris Murray THE CYCLISTS short story about a relationship viewed through KILLER ZOMBIES Director............................................. Victor Gentile the eyes of a girl who lives in a remote light­ Director.................................... Zlatko Kasumovic Photography............................... Alison Maxwell house.

Photography..................................Graeme Wood Sound................................... Spiros Mavrangelos Sound..................................................Cam Eason, ROADSIDE CAFE Form at.......................................... 16mm. 30mins.

Julian Rex, Synopsis: Four young men from a sleepy Director................................................Jane Castle George Viscas country town set off to ride to the city in 1968 as Photography............................................Paul Cox Form at...........................................16mm. 22mins. their fathers did 25 years earlier.

Sound.................................................... Kate Gunn Synopsis: The dead are being re-animated by Form at...........................................16mm. 15mins.

Russian chocolate bars and their first victims DEAD PEOPLE Synopsls: A young girl working in a petrol are a group of necrophiliacs raging at the city station-cum-diner decides to leave.

Director.............................................. Peter Leovic morgue.

Photography..................................................... ReyCarlson SAY A LITTLE PRAYER Sound........................................................... Varcha Sidwell, THE WORRIER Steve Best, Director.......................................Tricia Rothkrans Director............................ Catherine Birmingham Robert Sullivan, Photography................................... Edmund Milts Photography............................... Valerie Campan Kate Gunn Sound.................................................... Liam Egan Sound.............................................. Alan Shotade, Form at...........................................................16mm.20mins.

Form at............ .............................. 1 6 mm. 19mins.

Duncan Wade Synopsis: An absurd, sometimes humorous Synopsis: Two young girls test their faith in a Form at...........................................16mm. 12mins. story, about loss and isolation. home for unmarried mothers in 1971.

CINEMA PAPERS January — 79

r e m a r k a b le Christmas and New Year offer FMS Film budgeting and accounting software package reduced to $5995 (Includes weekly cost reports, creditors, payroll etc.)

FILMTRACK Script breakdown and scheduling system reduced to $5495 (Includes coloured stripboards, call sheet facility etc.)

Offer Ends 31 January 1987 Also available: POWERSCRIPT Word processor SOFT SOUND Sound dubbing chart programme and many more software packages

THE CHOICE OF PROFESSIONALS, THE WORLD OVER M IL U E R F L U ID H E A D S j 3 0 iH O T H A M iP D E ^ ^ ^ R M O N 12 0 e 4 ij O 2 ) 4 3 9 6 3 ^

Ring us for details: Remarkable Film Computers (Aust.) Pty. Ltd. Sydney (02) 4392499 Melbourne (03) 6993800

AUSTRALIAN FILM COMMISSION CLOSING DATE FOR PRODUCTION FUNDING APPLICATIONS JANUARY 1987 CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT FUND The aim of the CDF is to encourage development and experimentation in film and video by supporting the production of highly creative works and the development of talented film and video makers.

Funds are now available for outstanding projects, including documentary, drama, animation and experimental work, in any gauge or medium.

ELIGIBILITY Candidates need to be Australian citizens or permanent residents in Australia.

Equality of opportunity is Australian Film Commission policy, and applications are invited from persons regardless of sex, race, ethnic background or physical impairment.

GUIDELINES To obtain copies contact a Project Officer of the Creative Development Fund — in Sydney on (02) 925 7333 or toll free (008) 226615 or write to GPO Box 3984, Sydney, NSW 2001 — and in Melbourne call (03) 690 5144 or write to 185 Bank Street, South Melbourne, Vic. 3205.

TO APPLY Forward the following to the Creative Development Fund, AFC by 5pm on Friday January 16, 1987: 1) Final draft dialogue script (not shooting script)', OR 2) Fully developed treatment for documentaries and other projects where a script is inappropritate; AND/OR 3) Segment of storyboard for animation or where applicable; AND 4) Curriculum vitae of applicant or in the case of an applicant who is not the director, the curriculum vitae of the director.

Applicants whose projects fit the guidelines and are considered ready for production will be invited to complete application and budget forms.

CLOSING DATE — FRIDAY 16 JANUARY 1987

P R O

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SCUFF THE SOCK

HERE AND NOW

Producer............................. Australian Children’s Television Foundation Director.........................................Cathy Campbell Photography......................................Steve Prime Form at........................................... 16mm. 10mins.

Synopsis: Seven-year-old Alister is admitted to hospital with a broken leg. There he befriends his sock called Scuff.

Director....................................... Tricia Rothkrans Photography................................ Alison Maxwell Sound............................................Robert Sullivan Form at........................................... Video. 25mins.

Synopsis: A situation comedy revolving around a husband, who is an actor, and his wife, a television producer.

SHOPPING TOWN Director............................................. David Caesar Photography............................ Peter Rasmussen Sound..................................................David White Form at...........................................................I 6 mm.

Synopsis: A documentary shot in a shopping centre and featuring the thoughts of 17-23-year-olds.

SMACKS AND KICKS

TELEVISION P R E -P R O D U C T IO N

Production Survey continued Scriptwriter........................................ Louis Nowra Synopsis: A woman comes from France to Australia in search of her son, who is missing in the desert. A telemovie conceived as part of nine films to be made in France, Italy and Aus­ tralia on the subject of romance.

MECCA OF AUSTRALIA Prod, com pany............................. Neptune Films Producer..................................... Michael Radiant Director................................................... Basil Felix Scriptwriter................................ Michael Radiant Photography........................................Basil Felix, Michael Radiant Editor...................................................Andrew Vial Studios............................Wombat Cine Services Length...................................................60 minutes Synopsis: Abdul and Ali arrive in Sydney from the bush to pray for wives at the Lakembla mosque.

Director......................................................... George Whaley Scriptwriter..................................................George Whaley Based on the novel b y ........................ Ruth Park Photography......................................................PaulMurphy Sound recordist.................................................. SidButterworth Editor............................................. Wayne Le Clos Prod, designer.............................Bernard Hides Composer..............................................Peter Best Exec, producer.............................................RobertMercieca Prod, manager............................. Carol Hughes Casting........................................... Susie Maizels, Maizels & Associates Camera operator............................................DavidWilliamson Costume designer............................. David Rowe Budget.................................................$3.8 million Length..............................................4 x 60 minutes Gauge............................................................. 16mm Shooting stock................................................. Agfa Cast: Anne Phelan, Martin Sanderson, Kaaren Fairfax, Anna Hruby, Shane Connor.

Synopsis: Based on the best-selling novel Poor M a n ’s Orange by Ruth Park and the sequel to The Harp in the South.

Director.......................................... James Manche THE COLOURIST Photography...................................................... ReyCarlson Prod, company........................... Gittoes & Dalton MESMERIZED Sound................................................................LiamEgan Productions Limited Form at........................................... 16mm. 17mins.

Prod, com pany...................Mesmerized Pty Ltd Dist. com pany.............................Gittoes & Dalton PRINCE AT THE COURT OF Synopsis: A black comedy about a family who Producer.............................. Daniel A. McGowan Productions Limited YARRALUMLA discuss their problems over dinner.

Director............................... Daniel A. McGowan Producers.................................................Gabrielle Dalton, Editor................................................ Bob Bladsdall Prod, company.......Somerset Film Productions George Gittoes Exec, producer..................

Howard M. Gardener Pty Limited SPEED GRAPHIC Directors.......................................................George Gittoes, Assoc, producer...............Rodi Wells-McGowan Dist. company...................Tambarle AB Limited Andrew Steuart Director................................................................ReyCarlson Prod, manager.................................... Penny Wall Producers......................James Michael Vernon, Scriptwriters................................................GeorgeGittoes, Photography.................................................... Jane Castle Prod, secretary................................................. SoiliSihvola Jan Tyrrell Justin Fleming Sound............................................................GordonTaylor Prod, accountant......................... David L. Cherry Director............................................................ ColinEggleston Form at...........................................16mm. 24mins.

Script editor............................................. Ron Blair Script assistant.............................. Malcolm Cork Scriptwriter......................................................

ColinEggleston Synopsis: A keen young journalist teams up Based on the original idea Casting................................Daniel A. McGowan, Sound recordist......................................Tim Lloyd with an old jaded photographer. b y ............................................... George Gittoes Howard Gardener Prod, supervisor.................................Penny Wall Photography.....................................Russell Boyd Clapper/loader.............................................. Paula South Prod, co-ordinator/ Prod, accountant........................ David Barnes, STANDING ON THE EDGE Electrician......................................................... PaulGardener m anager............................................. RosemaryProbyn Remarkable Film Computers Costume designer......................................... KristyGardener Director...........................................................Martin Daley Unit manager.....................Richard Montgomery Special fx photography..............

George Gittoes Hairdresser...................................Paul Patterson Photography...................................................DavidCaesar Prod, secretary......................Sandra Thompson Cast: Doc Neeson, Bill Kerr.

W ardrobe...................................... Kristy Gardner Sound............................................................ RobertSullivan Prod, accountant...............................................Lea Collins Synopsis: An eccentric old artist is pestered Wardrobe a ss t...................................................SariSihvola Form at........................................................... 16mm.20mins.

Accounts assistant......................................Tracey Hyde by an alien anthropologist from another uni­ Carpenter........................................................... RoyEvans Synopsis: Craig meets a few monsters when Continuity....................................................... KristinVoumard verse about the meaning of art. In the world of Set construction.............................................OwenEvans he lies about learning to swim — a children’s Casting............................................................ Suzie Maizels the alien there are plenty of ancient master­ Asst editor...................................Matthew Crocker drama.

Casting consultants.....Maizels and Associates pieces, but no living artists.

Length................................................................... 90 minutes Key grip.............................................................BrettMcDowell Gauge.............................................................16mm Gaffer.............................................................. Derek Jones TRICKLE OF SANITY FIRST KANGAROOS Cast: Malcolm Cork, Shannan Long.

Art director........................................................... IanG rade Director.......................................Michael Richards Synopsis: A raunchy but tasteful comedy Costume designer......................................... Helen Hooper Prod, company....... Roadshow, Coote & Carroll Sound............................................................ RobertSullivan, about a barrister who,after his divorce, Make-up.............................................................BritaKingsbury Dist. company................. Film Four International Zsolt Kollanyi becomes mesmerized by certain beautiful Hairdresser...................................................... BritaKingsbury Producer............................................ Moya Iceton Form at...........................................16mm. 20mins. women. What unfolds is a domino effect of Wardrobe supervisor............................... RosaleaHood Director....................................

Frank Cvitanovich Synopsis: A middle aged woman is controlled hilarious sight gags.

Standby wardrobe....................................... Barbra Zussino Scriptwriter.................................. Nigel Williams by her television.

Props master..................................Richard Hobbs Based on the original idea Best boy............................................................. PaulBooth b y.......................................... Frank Cvitanovich VITRIOL MIKE WILLESEE’S AUSTRALIANS Runner........................................................ MichaelLavigne Prod, accountant..............................Catch 1-2-3 Director................................................Kieran Weir Catering............................................................ JohnFaithfull Prod, company.........Roadshow Coote & Carroll Synopsis: The First K angaroos is a story of the Photography................................. Joanne Parker, Gauge.............................................................

16mm Pty Ltd (Transmedia Pty Ltd), first Rugby League tour of Great Britain in 1908 Edmund Milts Synopsis: ThePrince of Darkness has Film Australia by the Australian rugby team. A comedy, it Sound..................................................Kate Gunn become schizophrenic and paranoid about the Dist. company........ Roadshow Coote & Carroll/ deals particularly with the relationships and Form at............................................................16mm.12mins. uncontrolled spreading of vampirism through­ Film Australia comic adventures of the team and their British Synopsis: An intense, stylized, revenge thriller out his homeland of Transylvania.

In an adversaries.

Series producer............................. Ron Saunders aoout a child murderer. attempt to escape the scourge, he moves him­ Executive producers........................Greg Coote, self and his family to sunny Yarralumla, Matt Carroll, Outback Australia.

THE FLYING DOCTORS II THE WILD WILD PLANET Robyn Hughes, Mike Willesee Prod, company................. Crawford Productions (Series) Pty Ltd Prod, supervisor....................... Pamela Vanneck Producer.........................................................OscarWhitbread Budget............................................... $9.75 million Exec, producers...........................................HectorCrawford, Length.......................................... 13 x 48 minutes P R O D U C T IO N Ian Crawford, Gauge.............................................................16mm Terry Stapleton Synopsis: Mike Willesee's Australians is a Assoc, producer................................Howard Neil drama series of momentous events, unsung Prod, supervisor................................ Vince Smits heroes and buried surprises of history from ALMOST WINNING AUSTRALIA . . . TAKE A BOW Prod, m anager.................................. Chris Page Australia’s penal beginnings to the present Director.................................. Tammy Burnstock Prod, secretary............................ Carol Matthews Prod, company.......................Soundsense Film day.

Photography........................................Jane Castle Productions Pty Ltd Prod, accountant.............................................. JeffShenker Sound................................................................ LiamEganCasting................................................................ JanPontifex Producer.............................................Brian Morris Form at............................................................ Video.30mins.

PIGS WILL FLY Art director..................................................Georgie Greenhill Director............................................... Brian Morris Synopsis: A documentary about many forms Asst art director..............................................ElenaPerrotta Based on the original idea Prod, company.............................. Somerset Film of gambling.

Costume designer............................ Clare Griffin by..................................................... Brian Morris Productions Pty Limited Set construction............................. Gordon White Photography...................................... Paul Warren Dist. company....................Tambarle AB Limited THE BENEFIT Studios....................... Channel Nine, Melbourne Sound recordist......................................... MichaelGissing Producers......................James Michael Vernon, Mixed at.............................Crawford Productions Editor...................................................... Tim Street Director..........................................Brendan Young Jan Tyrrell Length...........................................24 x 60 minutes Prod, m anager..................................Fiona Aaron Photography...................................................... ReyCarlson Director..........................................................SophiaTurkiewicz Gauge..............................................................16mm Prod, secretary..............................Linda Hopkins Editor..................................................................MarkPerry Scriptwriter......................................................CraigCronin Shooting stock.....................................7291,7292 Asst editor....................................................... LindaGoddard Form at............................................................ Video.3.5mins.

Sound recordist...................................Tim Lloyd Cast: Robert Grubb (Dr Geoffrey Standish), Liz Synopsis: A rock clip featuring the band, The Sound editor............................................... MichaelGissing Prod, supervisor.................................Penny Wall Burch (Dr Chris Randall), Lenore Smith (Kate Crystal Set. Mixer.............................................................MichaelGissing Prod, co-ordinator/manager....... Paula Bennett Wellings), Bruce Barry (George Baxter), Still photography...........Wildlight Photo Agency Location manager......................... Craig Sinclair Rebecca Gibney (Emma Plimpton), Maurie COMBUSTION Publicity............................... The Write On Group Unit m anager.................... Richard Montgomery Fields (Vic Buckley), Val Jellay (Nancy BuckUnit publicist..................................Sherry Stumm Prod, secretary........................................... Sandra Thompson Directors.........................................................KeiranWeir,ley), Max Cullen (Hurtle), Pat Evison (Violet Laboratory....................................................... Atlab Prod, accountant............................................... LeaCollins Tammy Burnstock Carnegie), Terry Gil (Sgt Jack Carruthers).

Lab. liaison...............................Bruce Williamson Accounts asst....................................Tracey Hyde Sound.................................... Johannes Ambrose Synopsis: A Floyal Flying Doctor Service is Budget...................................................... $922,500 Continuity.................................... Kristin Voumard Form at............................................................ Video.15mins. located in the outback town of Coopers Cross­ Length.............................................7 x 28 minutes Casting............................................

Suzie Maizels Synopsis: An investigation into the spon­ ing. The two doctors, Geoff Standish and Chris Gauge..............................................................16mm Casting consultants.....Maizels and Associates taneous combustion of Cindy Crisp.

Randall, not only contend with the medical Shooting stock.................... Agfa XT125, XT320 Key grip........................................Brett McDowell challenges, but also with the small community Gaffer.............................................................. Derek JonesSynopsis: A contemporary look at life in each in which they live.

Australian state and territory. Pictures, music Art director........................................................... IanG rade and sound effects will tell the story — there will Costume designer......................... Helen Hooper be no dialogue or narration. The series is Make-up....................................... Brita Kingsbury endorsed as a Bicentennial project and is FUTURETROUPERS Hairdresser................................. Brita Kingsbury Wardrobe supervisor...............................Rosalea Hoodsponsored by IBM Australia.

Prod, company.............................. Brian Douglas Standby wardrobe......................Barbra Zussino Film and Television Props master............................... Richard Hobbs BLACK BEAUTY Producer......................................... Brian Douglas Props buyer............................Lisa Boyd-Graham Scriptwriter..................................... Brian Douglas Prod, company..............................Burbank Films Asst props buyer.........................Murray Gosson Based on the original idea Producer..............................................

Roz Phillips Standby props................................John Osmond Help us make this Production b y ................................................. Brian Douglas Scriptwriter.............................................. J.L. Kane Art dept runner.............................................. Adam Hammond Assoc, producer............................ Phillip Collins Survey as com plete as poss­ Based on the novel b y ...................

Anna Sewell Best boy............................................................. PaulBooth Script e ditor............................ Patrick Edgeworth Editors...........................................Peter Jennings, ible. If you have som ething Runner.........................................................MichaelLavigne Length......................................................

6 x 1 hour Caroline Neave which is about to go into preCatering............................................................JohnFaithfull G a u g e ........................................................ 1" video Exec, producer................................................ Tom Stacey Gauge.............................................................16mm production, let us know and we Synopsis: In the near future, an out-of-work Prod, co-ordinator...............................

Joy Craste Synopsis: Lawson, an eccentric adventurer will make sure it is included. theatre troupe inadvertently prevent the piracy Prod, manager......................................Roddy Lee and famous writer, with the help of Man, his off­ C all Kathy ' Bail on (03) of Australia’s underground power source by a Prod, accountant....................................... Andrew Young beat manservant, create a fiasco of comedy most devious and deadly organization.

329 5983, or write to her at Casting.................................................................Joy Craste and duplicity as they set about convincing the Camera operators.............................. Gary Page, Cinem a Papers, 644 Victoria world that Lawson has “gone off the deep Tanya Viskich end” .

S tre e t, N o rth M e lb o u rn e , Storyboard....................................... Bob Fosbery Victoria 3051.

THE LIZARD KING Tim ing ................................................... Jean Tycn POOR MAN’S ORANGE Prod, com pany............................................... ABC Synopsis: The autobiography of a horse, fol­ Dist. company..................................................ABC lowing the life of Black Beauty through a series Prod, company..........................................Anthony Buckley Producer..........................................Jan Chapman of different owners, grooms and companions, Productions Pty Ltd Director..................................... Geoffrey Nottage and the changing circumstances of his life.

Producer.....................................................Anthony Buckley Director..........................................Brendan Young Photography...............

Rey Carlson Form at........................ :.................16mm. 25mins.

Synopsis: A modern romance about an every­ day insurance accountant and a female extra­ terrestrial.

PRODUCERS

CINEMA PAPERS January — 81

P R O D

U C T I O N

THE HENDERSON KIDS II Prod, company.

Producer...........

Directors..........

Scriptwriters.....

Photography.....

Sound recordist.

Editor...................

Composers.......

Exec, producers Assoc producer.........

Production executive Prod, co-ordinator......

Prod, manager...........

Location m anager....

Prod, accountant.......

1 st asst director..........

2 nd asst director.......

3rd asst director........

Continuity...................

Script editor................

Casting........................

Focus puller.................

Clapper/loader...........

Key grip........................

Asst grip.......................

Gaffer..........................

Boom operator............

Art director..................

Asst art director.........

Costume designer.....

M ake-up......................

Hairdresser.................

Wardrobe....................

Standby wardrobe.....

Wardrobe as s t............

Props buyer.................

Standby props............

Set decorators............

Scenic artist...............

Carpenters..................

Set construction.........

Asst editor...................

Construction foreman Still photography........

Dialogue coach...........

Best boy.......................

Runner.........................

.Crawford Productions Video Pty Ltd ................... Alan Hardy ..........Chris Langman, Paul Moloney ..........Peter Hepworth, Roger Moulton, Galia Hardy, John Reeves, David Phillips, Andrew Kennedy ............ Brett Anderson ...........John McKerrow ............Lindsay Parker .........Garry McDonald, Laurie Stone ........ Hector Crawford, Ian Crawford, Terry Stapleton ..........C. Ewan Burnett ............... Michael Lake ....................Gina Black ...............Ray Hennesy ...................Ralph Price ...................... Ron Sinni ....................Phil Jones ............. Michael White ............ Maurice Burns ............ Lesley Forsyth ...................Jutta Goetz ..........Kimlarn Frecker ...............Craig Barden .........Garry Bottomley ............. Rob Hansford ...................Ian Phillips .........David Parkinson ................ Greg Nelson ............Andrew Reese .....................Greg Ellis .................Clare Griffin .................. Brad Smith ....... Elizabeth Harper ................... Keely Ellis ............. Marion Boyce .....................Ann Went ...................Len Barratt ................ Rolland Pike ............Souli Livaditis, Leigh Eichler ...................Ian Richter ......Michael Shadbolt, Janis Ermanis ..............Gordon White ................. Avril Nicholl .............. Peter McNee .............. Bill Bachman .............. Peter Tulloch ............Daryl Pearson ................... Rod Short

Production Survey continued

Unit publicist.................................... Susan Wood Catering...............................................Bande-Aide, Richard Rogues Studios..........................................................HSV 7 Mixed at.............................Crawford Productions Laboratory......................................................... VFL Length.......................................... 12 x 60 minutes Gauge............................................................. 16mm Shooting stock.................................... 7291,7292 Cast: Nadine Garner, Paul Smith, Michael Aitkens, Bradley Kilpatrick, Alex Papps, Anita Cerdic, Marieke Hardy, Nathan Croft, Paul Hall, Elizabeth Rule, Louise Howitt.

Synopsis: The further adventures of Steve and Tamara Henderson and their friends coming to grips with life in a tough suburban environ­ ment.

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS Prod, company.............................. Burbank Films Dist. company..........Consolidated Productions/ Vistar International Productions Producers......................................... Roz Phillips, Tim Brooke-Hunt Exec, producer................................ Tom Stacey Scriptwriter........................Leonard Lee Based on the novel b y ..............................James Fenimore Cooper Storyboard........................................Bob Fosbery Tim ing........................................... Gairden Cooke Budget.....................................................$730,000 Voices: John Waters, Andrew Clarke, Bill Conn, Judy Morris, Juliete Jordan, Scott Higgins, Wallas Eaton, Ross Higgins, Phillip Hinton.

Synopsis: The American adventure story of conflict among the British, French and Indians.

MELBA Prod, company.....

Producers..............

Director.................

Scriptwriter...........

Photography........

Sound recordist....

Supervising editor Editor.....................

Prod, designer......

Prod, co-ordinator Prod, m anager.....

Unit manager.......

Location manager.

Prod, secretary.....

Prod, accountant..

1 st asst director....

2 nd asst director...

3rd asst director...

,CB Seven Pty Ltd ...... Errol Sullivan, Pom Oliver .....Rodney Fisher ..Roger McDonald .......Dean Semler, Andrew Lesnie ..........Paul Brincat .Marc van Buuren ......Vicki Ambrose ............ Roger Kirk ......Jenny Tosolini ..........Helen Watts ..........Chris Jones ..Elizabeth Symes ..........Susie Jarvis ...........Catch 1-2-3 ....... Mark Egerton ...... Phil Patterson .....Linda Pavilack

Based on the novel b y .............. Russell Braddon Continuity.............................................. Jo Weeks Photography....................................................DaveConnell Producer’s asst..................................... Sue Hunt Sound recordist......................................... Andrew Ramage Director’s assts............................................... TonyKnight, Editor...................................................... Phil Reid Di Misirdjieff Prod, designer.................................................... TelStolfo Casting............................... Ann Churchill-Brown Exec, producers..............................................AlanBateman, Focus puller......................................... Colin Dean John Sturzaker Clapper/loader.............................................. Tracy Griffith Assoc, producer.......................................... MargotMcDonald Key grip....................................... George Tsoutas Prod, supervisor..........................................MargotMcDonald Asst grip ......................................Will Soeterboek Prod, manager (France)..........Dominic Antoine Gaffer............................................... Peter O ’Brien Prod, secretary............................................. JennyGray Electrician.............................Darren McLaughlin Prod, accountant........................................ MargotBrock Boom operator................................................. PaulGleeson Continuity.............................................. Jenni Tosi Set designer.............................................Igor May Script editor.................................Barbara Bishop Asst art director..................................... Kim Darby Casting................................................................. LizMullinar Costume designer............................................JanHurley M ake-up...................................Wendy Sainsbury Focus p uller.................................................... GregRyan Costume designer.......................................... Jane Hyland Hairdresser...................................................Cheryl Williams Post-prod, supervisor......................................PhilReid Wardrobe supervisor...............................HeatherMcLaren Props buyers.......................................................BillBooth,Unit publicist................................................MarianPage Sandy Wingrove Length............................................. 4 x 60 minutes Standby props................................................ HarryZettelGauge.............................................................16mm Scenic artist............................... Michael O ’Kane Cast: Noni Hazlehurst, John Waters.

Carpenters..................................................... DavidScott, Synopsis: The story of Nancy Wake, Austra­ lian heroine of the French Resistance in World Bronwyn Parry Set construction.............................................. AlanFleming War 2.

Asst editor......................................................JennyHicks Musical director..................................................BillMotzing NEIGHBOURS Music performed .Grundy Television Prod, company b y ................... Elizabethan Sydney Orchestra Pty Ltd Sound engineer..............................................MikeStavrou ............. Philip East Producer..........

Sound editor................................................. StuartCopley ....Richard Sarrell, Directors...........

Editing asst......................................... Nigel Trail Mark Callan, W rangler.................................................... Graham Ware Peter Andrikidls, Best boy..........................................................Steve Carter Andrew Friedman Runners......................................... John Meredith, Scriptwriters....... .................. Various Justin Fitzpatrick Script supervisor ................Ray Kolle Catering......................................... Kaos Catering Script editors...... .....Ysabelle Dean, Laboratory.......................................................Atlab Wayne Doyle Lab. liaison.......................................... David Cole Based on the original idea Budget......................................... $6,050,000 by.................................................... Reg Watson Length............................................4 x 96 minutes Sound recordists..........................Dave Shellard, Gauge............................................................. 16mm Grant Vogler, Shooting stock................................................. ECN David Muir, Cast: Linda Cropper (Melba), Hugo Weaving Keith Harper, (Charles Armstrong), Peter Carrol (David Rob Saunders Mitchell), Julie Haseler (Annie Mitchell), Nell Prod, designer............................................... Steve Keller Schofield (Belle Mitchell), Daphne Grey Composer............................. Tony Hatch (theme) (Isabella Mitchell), Joan Greenwood (Madame Exec, producer.................................Reg Watson Marchesi), Michael Lerner (Oscar HammerAssoc, producer............................... Peter Askew stein), Tom Burlinson (Syd Meredith).

Prod, co-ordinator........................................ Jayne Russell Synopsis: A miniseries on the life of Dame Prod, m anager.............................................RoslynTatarka Nellie Melba.

Floor managers......................... Peter O ’Connor, Alan Williamson, NANCY WAKE Peter Hinde Prod, company....... Simpson LeMesurier Films Directors’ assts...................................... Marianne Gray, Dist. com pany............. Pre-sale Seven Network Linda Wilson, Producers.................................. Roger Simpson, Rhonda Bark-Shannon Roger LeMesurier Casting..................................................... Jan Russ Director..............................................Pino Amenta Casting asst.................................................... Jane Daniels Scriptwriter................................. Roger Simpson Art director..................................................... Steve Keller

E very tw o m on th s, w e send out around a h u n d red P rod u ction S u rv e y form s.

A bout h a lf of th ese are retu rn ed to u s b y th e dead lin e. We u n d ersta n d th a t f illin g out form s m ay not be top p r io r ity in y o u r p rodu ction o ffice, b u t i f we h a v e to ta k e d e ta ils dow n over th e phone, th e chances of our m ak in g m ista k e s — le a v in g out k e y crew m em bers, or sp e llin g th e ir nam es w rong — in crea se d ra m a tica lly . We don’t lik e g ettin g nam es w rong, and crew m em bers a r en ’t w ild about it eith er. So, please help u s m ake t h is P rod u ction S u rv e y accurate and com plete. I t ’s an im p ortan t se rv ic e to th e film and te le v is io n in d u s tr y , b u t w e need y o u r h elp to m ake it better.

82 — January CINEMA PAPERS

Make-up.......................................Lois Jorgensen, Prod, manager....................... Stephen O ’Rourke David Henderson, Unit m anagers.................. Scott Hartford-Davis, Bill Mclldandy Bev Powers Hairdressers....................................Julie Corbet, Prod, secretary................................Susan Wells Sue Warhurst Prod, accountant..................................... StephenO ’Rourke Wardrobe........................................ Isobel Carter, Prod, assistants.............................. Janet Argali, Jessie Fountain, Rhonda McAvoy, Korrina Glen Anthea Dean, Props buyer........................................Mark Grivas Liz Steptoe, Standby props.....................Richard Williamson, Vicki Bridgland Rosemary Gearon 1 st asst directors............................................ Gary Stephens, Lighting supervisor.....................Keith Ferguson Scott Feeney, Scott Hartford-Davis, Off-line editing................... The Editing Machine Vid McClelland, Music editor................................................ Warren Pearson Graham Millar Vision switcher..............................................Jenny Williams 2 nd asst directors.........................................Steve Stannard, Tech, directors..................................Barry Shaw, Deborah Klika, Peter Merino, Karin Kreicers, Howard Simons Lance Mellor Catering.............................................................. TrioCatering Casting.............................................Jennifer Allen Post-production................... ATV-10, Melbourne Casting assistant............................Irene Gaskell Cast: Gary Files (Tom Ramsay), Geoff Paine Lighting cam eram en.......................Barry Quick, (Clive Gibbons), Peter O ’Brien (Shane Jeff Brown, Ramsay), Alan Dale (Jim Robinson), Anne Roy Jeffrey Haddy (Helen Daniels), Stefan Dennis (Paul Camera operators........................... Dick Bond, Robinson), Kylie Flinker (Lucy Robinson), Peter Robson, Elaine Smith (Daphne Clarke), Paul Keane Mick Walter, (Des Clarke), Myra De Groot (Eileen Clarke).

Jeff Clegg, Synopsis: Love ’em or hate 'em, but every­ Gregg Hilton, one’s got ’em: neighbours. Ramsay S tre e t. . .

Neil Maude, the stage for an exciting drama serial. . . draw­ Denis Ghatt, ing back the curtain to reveal the intrigue and Mike Osborne, passions of Australian families . . . and their Glen Traynor, neighbours.

Geoff McGarvey, Murray Tonkin Costume designer.....................Jolanta Nejman PHOENIX M ake-up......................................Michelle Myers, (Working title) Hannah Fiserova W ardrobe.................................................... Wendy Chuck, Prod, company............... ............ ABC TV Drama Wendy Falconer Producer......................... ............ Martin Williams Props................................................................PeterBranch Directors.......................... ............... Colin Englert, Props buyer..................................................... TonyCronin Kate Woods, Neg. matching........................ Alfred E. Newman Peter Fisk, Karl Zwicky, Still photography.............................. Toni Watson Ron Elliott Unit publicist.............................. Geòrgie Brown Catering.......................K-K-K Katering Company Scriptwriters................... ...............Lissa Benyon, Studios..................Studio 22, ABC TV, Gore Hill Terry Larsen, Mixed a t .......................... Necam Suite, Gore Hill Sara Dowse, CASTING. Length.........................................10 x 50 minutes Jane Oehr, Michael Cove, Cast: Odile Le Clezio (Sarah), Madeleine Sound recordists........... .................Ray Mitchell, Blackwell (Kath), Brendan Higgins (Paul), Noel Cantrill, Robert Fraser (Joe).

Dave Dundas Synopsis: A ten-part series which follows a Editors............................. ............. Nola O ’Malley, sequence of events during approximately three Graham Tickle months in the life of 25-year-old Sarah Russell, Prod, designer................ ............. Geoff Wedlock an arts journalist who, when we meet her is Composer....................... ............. Martin Armiger living with Paul Urbacek, a junior private secre­ Tech, producers............. ................... Jeff Brown, tary to the Immigration Minister in Canberra.

Tony Verhey, John Nixon, Peter Knevitt ROB ROY

There is a n e w m a n a g e m e n t on the b lo c k

ASHTON-WOOD MANAGEMENT__________________ Director: TERENCE ASHTON-WOOD Cornelius Court, 512/147a King Street, SYDNEY, N.S.W. 2000 Telephone: (02) 233,2113 ,

Prod, company............................. Burbank Films Producer..............................................Roz Phillips Scriptwriter..................................... Rob Mowbray Based on the novel by...............Sir Walter Scott Editors......................................... Peter Jennings, Caroline Neave Exec, producer.................................. Tom Stacey Prod, co-ordinator............................... Joy Craste Prod, manager..................................... Roddy Lee Prod, accountant...................................... Andrew Young Casting................................................................JoyCraste Camera operators.............................. Gary Page, Tanya Viskich Storyboard.......................................Bob Fosbery Tim ing.............................................. Geoff Collins Voices: Phillip Hinton (MacDonald, King George), Simon Hinton (Young Colin), Jane Harders (Oina, Mrs Stewart), Bruce Spence (Duncan), Nick Tate (Rob Roy), Andrew Lewis (Hamish), Ron Haddock (Killearn), Andrew Inglis (James Stewart), Bill Kerr (Duke of Montrose), Tim Elliott (Duke of Argyle).

Synopsis: Rob Roy MacGregor is the Scottish version of Robin Hood, who cleverly tricks the evil Duke of Montrose out of the taxes collected from the villagers. He is declared an outlaw and has many exciting escapades before he can clear his name.

TO ADVERTISE IN

C IN E M A R ing Patricia Amad: M elbourne 329 5983 or 328 4761

SONS AND DAUGHTERS

T hanks K athy B a il C in e m a P a p e r s

Prod, company....................... Grundy Television Pty Ltd Producer...........................................Posie Jacobs Directors...................................................... RussellWebb, Alister Smart, Chris Shiel, Clive Fleury Scriptwriters............................................... Various Script editor.....................................Greg Stevens Story editor.....................................Alison Nisselle Based on the original idea by.................................................................... RegWatson Sound recordists..........Zbyszek Krzuszkowiak, Noel Cunnington, Nick Buchner Editor........................................................... MichaelHagen Prod, designer............................Ken Goodman Composers....................................................... DonBattye, Peter Pinne (theme) Exec, producer..................................................DonBattye Assoc, producer........................................Graham Murray Prod, manager.........................................MargaretSlarke Unit manager.....................................................RayWalsh Prod, secretary...........................Lisa Fitzpatrick Floor managers........................... Soren Jensen, David Watts, Jamie Crooks Directors’ assts................................Jeffrey Gale, Sally Flynn, Lesia Hruby Staging supervisor.................. Gunther Neszpor Casting............................................. Sue Manger Casting ass t............................. Jenny O ’Donnell

B UTTJjJ D 35mm & 16mm Negative Cutting

%§

\ C H R IS ROWELL PRODUCTIONS a i / CINEMA PAPERS January — 83

(MTV Publishing Limited)

wishes to thank the

Australian Film Commission and

Film Victoria for their continuing encouragem ent and support.

C m

Film Victoria

tm

s s io ro

M ake-up...................................... Joanne Stevens, Catherine Malik Hairdresser...........................Warren Hanneman, Gail Edmonds Wardrobe supervisor.................. Robey Buckley Wardrobe a ssts................... Margarita Tassone, Norma Tunbridge, Madelaine Cullen Props........................................ Andrew Barrance, Russell O ’Brien, Richard McGrath Set dresser..........................................Peter Morris Lighting directors......................... Peter Russell, Mitch Lane, David Morgan Set designer.........................................Leore Rose Music editor................................... Gary Hardman Vision sw itcher............................... Sarah Wilson Technical directors............................. Pat Barter, Keith Cartwright, Graham Manion, Paul Rematy Catering.......................................... Taste Buddies Post-production............................ Custom Video Cast: Leila Hayes (Beryl Palmer), Pat Mc­ Donald (Fiona Thompson), Ian Rawlings (Wayne Hamilton), Abigail (Caroline Morrell), Belinda Giblin (Alison Carr), Oriana Panozzo (Susan Hamilton), Brian Blain (Gordon Hamil­ ton), Sarah Kemp (Charlie), Danny Roberts (Andy Green), Jared Robinson (Craig Maxwell).

Synopsis: They were born twins, separated at birth, and reunited 2 0 years later without know­ ing their relationship, and that was just the beginning of the intrigue and drama! One of Australia’ s most popular and successful drama serials.

Photography......................................................JeffMalouf Stunts co-ordinator...................................... BernieLedger CODA Sound recordist.............................................. Chris Alderton Runner..............................................................Andy Howard Prod, company.............................. Genesis Films Editor.................................................................MikeHoney Catering...........................................MMK Catering Dist. company.................................Premiere Film Prod, designer............................................... LeighTierney Studios......................................... The Film Centre Marketing Ltd Original music composed b y ..........Andrew Bell Mixed a t .................................................. Audio Loc Producers........................................................CraigLahiff, Exec, producer.............................................. JulianPringle Laboratory..........................................................CFL Terry Jennings Prod, m anager................................................CarolChirlian Lab. liaison.................................... Kevin Ackroyd Director.............................................................Craig Lahiff Unit m anager................................. Sally Gjedsted Length..........................................26 x 46 minutes Scriptwriters.................................................... Terry Jennings, Prod, secretary.......................................... AnnabelJeffery Gauge................................................ 16mm to tape Craig Laniff 1st asst director..............................Graham Millar Shooting stock.....................................7291,7292 Based on the original idea 2nd asst director............................................Lance Mellor Cast: Grant Dodwell (Willing), Shane Withingby..................................................................

Terry Jennings, Continuity................................ Rhonda McAvoy ton (Abel), Rebecca Rlgg (Angela), Lucius Craig Lahiff Casting.............................................Jennifer Allen Borich (Parramatta), Martin Vaughan (Just Photography...................................................

David Foreman Casting asst.....................................................IreneGaskell One), Tina Bursill (Maggie), Mark Mitchell Sound recordist................................................ RobCutcher Lighting cameraperson...................... Jeff Malouf (Dobson), Simon Chilvers (Pisani), Dane Editor........................................................Catherine Murphy Carson (Swann).

Camera operator........................... Russell Bacon Prod, designer..................................................AnniBrowning Focus p uller..........................................Ged Quinn Synopsis: ‘Willing and Abel’ is a small copany Exec, producer........................

Tom Broadbridge Clapper/loader.....................Andrew McClymont established by our two central characters, who Prod, co-ordinator...................................... Angela Heesom Key grip............................................. Alan Trevena offer their services in any capacity, to anyone, Prod, m anager........................................... ElspethBaird Asst grip......................................... Paul Lawrence at any time . . . on offer which can place them Prod, accountant..................... Christopher Hunn Electricians................................... Martin Perrott, in situations that can be dramatic, humourous Accounting ass t...................Danielle Robertson or dangerous.

Pierre Drion 1st asst director.................................Gus Howard Boom operator................................................ ScottTaylor Synopsis: 'Willing and Abel’ is a small company 2nd asst directors........................ Lindsay Smith, Make-up....................................Christine Balfour, David Wolfe-Barry Sylvana Veneri THE WIND AND THE STARS Continuity..............................Heather Oxenham W ardrobe...........................................................RonDutton Prod, companies............................................ ABC, Casting...................................................

Jan Killen, Top p ro p ...........................................Clinton White Revcom Television, SA Casting Props........................................................Glen Daly Resolution Films Focus puller..........................................................Jo Murphy Props buyer..................................... Mervyn Asher Producer............................................... Ray Alehin Key grip.............................................................. RodBolton Standby props.............................. Peter Moroney Director......................... Lawrence Gordon-Clark G affer..........................................................

Graeme Shelton Special effects................... Pauline Grebert Scriptwriter...................................Peter Yeldham Boom operator................................................ ScottHeysen Asst editor......................... Margaret Benson Photography................................................... PeterHendry M ake-up.......................................................... Helen Evans Publicity..........................................Georgie Brown Sound recordist..............................................PeterBarber W ardrobe........................................................Helen Evans Mixed a t ..............................................ABC Studios Sup. editor....................................Tony Kavanagh Wardrobe asst...............................................RobynBunting Length................................................... 90 minutes Prod, designer.............................................. LaurieJohnson Props buyer.................................................KristineKozlovic Gauge.............................................................16mm Exec, producer.........................................GeoffreyDaniels Standby props................................................ PeterDavies Cast: Richard Moir (Richard), Angela Punch Assoc, producer.............................................PeterYeldham Construction m anag er............Peter Templeton McGregor (Ann), Linden Wilkinson (Martha), Asst producer....................................... Ray Brown Edge num berer.............................................. AnitaSeiler Steven Jacobs (Michael).

TREASURE ISLAND Prod, m anager................................................ JudyMurphy Asst editor.........................................Tania Nehme Synopsis: An original play for television.

1 st asst director............................... Wayne Barry Stunts co-ordinator.......................... Glen Boswell Prod, company..............................Burbank Films 2nd asst director..........................

Steve Stannard Safety officer............................................

Micheale Read Producer...............................................Roz Phillips THE AUSTRALIAN CAMELEERS Continuity..........................................Emma Peach Best boy..................................... Werner Gerlach Scriptwriter............................ Stephen MacLean Prod, company...................

Media World Pty Ltd Camera operator..........................................

Roger Lanser Runners.................................Kristin Sanderson, Based on the novel Producers........................................................JohnTatoulls, Clapper/loader.............................................RobertFoster b y ................................Robert Louis Stevenson Michael Bambacus Colin South Camera assistant........................Paul Pandoulis Catering...........................................................FrankManly Editors...........................................Peter Jennings, Director.............................................................JohnTatoulis 2nd camera operator..................................... JohnWinbolt Laboratory............................................... Colorfilm Caroline Neave Scriptwriter.......................................................JohnTatoulis Key grip......................................John Huntingford Lab. liaison......................................................KerryJenkin Exec, producer................................................ Tom Stacey Research........................................................ KarenBonczyk Asst grip............................................................Gary Burdett Prod, co-ordinator...............................Joy Craste Length................................................................... 90 minutes Photography............... Gaetano (Nino) Martinetti 2nd camera asst........................................LorraineStacey Prod, manager..................................... Roddy Lee Cast: Penny Cook, Arna-Maria Winchester, Sound recordist..............................................Sean Meltzer Armourer..........................................................PeterLeggett Prod, accountant....................................... Andrew Young Liddy Clark, Olivia Hamnett, Patrick Frost.

Editor.................................................................MarcGracie G a ffe r.......................................Tim Murray-Jones Casting.................................................................JoyCraste Synopsis: When a music student is flung out Assoc, producer...........................................DanielChambon Electricians.................................. Ken Pettigrew, Camera operators...............................Gary Page, of her residential college window, her neigh­ Prod, co-ordinator..................................... YvonneCollins Robert Wickham bour and fellow student is plunged into a series Tanya Viskich Prod, secretary.......................Tania Paternostro Boom operator.............................

David Pearson Storyboard......................................................Steve Lyons, of mysterious and threatening events.

Prod, accountant........................................... Chris Spathis Generator operator.......................................... BobWoods Alex Nicholas Production accounts................................ Georgia Hewson Senior prod, designer.................................Laurie Johnson Tim ing................................................... Jean Tych Lighting Wardrobe designer.......................................... JimMurray Synopsis: The classic adventure story of DON QUIXOTE cameraperson........Gaetano (Nino) Martinetti Designers...............................

John Pryce-Jones, pirates and buried treasure.

Camera operator............................................ PeterZakharov Prod, company..............................Burbank Films Col Rudder, Camera assistant............................................PaulHellard Dist. company..........Consolidated Productions/ Gregor McLean Key grip...............................................Ken Connor Vistar International Productions M ake-up........................................Susie Stewart, WILLING AND ABEL Asst grip.............................................. Fred Dierck Producers..........................................Roz Phillips, Sandi Bushell Prod, com pany.................. The Willing and Abel G affer.............................................................. Steve Flounders Tim Brooke-Hunt Asst designer..................................... Cathie Silm Boom operator............................................... Chris Roland Co. Pty Ltd Exec, producer................................. Tom Stacey Design assts.....................................................PaulHinderer, Art director........................................................ StanAntoinades Producer..........................................Lynn Bayonas Scriptwriter............................................Joel Kane Kerry Reay, Asst art director................................ Simon Carter Directors............................................John Power, Based on the novel b y ...... Miguel de Cervantes Michelle Frost Make-up............................................. Keryn Carter Gary Conway, Music...................................................Mark Isaacs Wardrobe Wardrobe.................................

Elena Demetriou, Ric Pellizzeri, Stoiyboard........................................

Bob Fosbery co-ordinators............... Rolando Cano-Flores, Kevin Dobson Louise Fanning Tim ing...................................................Jean Tych, Elsie Rushton Scriptwriters..................................... Ted Roberts, Still photography............................................... lain Henderson Geoff Collins Construction manager................................ LaurieDorn Wranglers.............................................. Jim Webb, Peter Schreck, Budget................................................... $730,000 Props buyers................................ Adrian Cannon, David Boutland, Kath Ellis, Voices: Sir Robert Helpmann, Chris Haywood, Colin Bailey Bob Kovac Sheila Sibley, Jill McKay, Keith Robinson, Phillip Hinton, Standby props................................... Don Page, Catering.......................................................Michael Mandalis Peter Klnlock, Peter Kaye.

Roy Eagleton, Length...................................................60 minutes Michael Aikens, Synopsis: The celebrated Spanish epic of the John Downie Gauge..............................................Betacam, 1"C Leon Saunders, chivalrous Don Quixote and his attempts to Special effects............................Brian McClure Shooting stock..............................................Kodak Luis Bayonas become a heroic knight-errant.

Set m akers.................................. Michael Carroll, Cast: Richard Aspel (Gosse), Stephen Photography.................................................Danny Batterham John McDiarmid Hutchison (Knowles), Wilkie Collins (Mer­ Sound recordist................................................. KenHammond Set finisher..................................................GeorgeStanton chant), Charles Collins and Alan Levy (Horse Editor.............................................................. StuartArmstrong DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE Scenic artist............................. Paul Brocklebank T e a m s te rs ), M ic h a e l W ln te rto n (Jack Prod, designer........................................... MichaelRalphSet dressers......................... Sandra Carrington, Prod, company.............................. Burbank Films Simpson), Sivamoorthy Lingam (Abdul Wadi), Composer.....................................................AshleyIrwin Robert Hutchinson Dist. company..........Consolidated Productions/ Michael Mandalis (Kamran), Rameesh Ayyar Exec, producers...........................Lynn Bayonas, Standby set m aker..................... Gerry Seymour Vistar International Productions (Afghan Noore), Shakher Kamat (Mullah Assim Ted Roberts Standby set finisher.............. Stewart McCauley Producers........................................Roz Phillips, Assoc, producer................................................RodAllanAsst editor...................................................... SandiEylesKhan), Quintin Rosario (Bejah Dervish).

Tim Brooke-Hunt Synopsis: Documentary-drama telling the Prod, co-ordinators......................... Julia Ritchie, Editor....................................................................LynSolly Exec, producer.................................Tom Stacey story of the Afghan cameleers, who were Sharon Miller Assistant....................................................... Wayne Pashley Scriptwriter...................................Marcia Hatfield brought to Australia in the mid 1800s to lead Location manager...................... Lisa Hennessey Neg. cutter....................................................... Pam Toose Based on the novel the camel teams in the exploration and Prod, accountant.......................................... Catch 1-2-3,Assistant.................................Nicole LaMacchia b y ............................... Robert Louis Stevenson development of the outback.

Therese Tran Sound transfer/rushes................... Mark Walker, Music.................................................... John Stuart Prod, assistant....................... Alison McClymont John Miller Stoiyboard......................................... Chris Hague 1st asst directors............................. Craig Bolles, S F O ....................................................................AlexCullen THE AUSTRALIAN IMAGE Tim ing.................................................... Jean Tych Peter Fitzgerald Sound editors..............................Peter Townend, Budget..................................................... $710,000 Prod, company.......................................AustralianCapital 2nd asst director............................................. NickiLong Lawrle Silvestrin Voices: John Ewart, David Nettheim, Max Television Pty Ltd 3rd asst director.....................Andrew Merrifield Editing assistants......................Fabian Sanjurjo, Meldrum, Phillip Hinton, Carol Adams, Andrew Dist. company........................................ Australian Capital 4th asst director............................................. Sarah Lewis Elizabeth Villa Inglis, Jill McKay, David Roache-Turner, Television Pty Ltd Continuity....................................................... Tracy Padula, Still photography............................................. Gary Johnson Simeon Hawkins.

Producers.......................................Nick Hildyard, Nicola Moors M echanic..............................................John Clark Synopsis: The classic 19th century story of the Ray Edmondson Casting......................Natalie Wentworth Shields Publicity........................................ Georgie Brown double life of a respectable London doctor.

Director..................................................... ChristinaHunniford Lighting cameraperson.......... Danny Batterham Catering........................................A & B Catering, Scriptwriter................................................

Graham Shirley Focus pullers.................................................. Chris Cole, Arthur & Barbara Bottcher Sound recordist......................................... BradleyHeadland James Rickard Budget...................................................................$ 8 million THE FAST LANE Editors..............................................Steven Billett, Clapper/loader...............................Sean McClory Length.......................................................... 8 hours Mark Kelly, Prod, com pany...............................................ABC Key grip..................................... Brendan Shanley Gauge.............................................................35mm Greg Evans Dist. company................................................. ABC G affer............................................................... Chris Fleet Cast: Keith Michell (Cook), John Gregg Exec, producer.................... Christina Hunniford Best b o y ....................................... David Scandol Producer................................................ Noel Price (Banks), Erich Hallhuber (Lt Gore), Jacques Prod, co-ordinator.................................. Vicki Pini Directors.......................................... Mandy Smith, 3rd electrics............................................. John Lee Penot (Clerke), Stephen Grives (Gibson), Peter Prod, secretary.............................................

Susan Minchin Boom operator........................................... Graham McKinney Mark Joffe, Carroll (Solander), Fernando Rey (Hawke), Producer’s assistant...................................RachelMasters Art director........................................ Andrew Paul Colin Budds Carol Drinkwater (Elizabeth), Barry Quin (Lt Lighting cameraperson.....................Steve Isaac Art dept co-ordinator..............Alanah O ’Sullivan Scriptwriters................................

Andrew Knight, Hicks), Emil Minty (Young Nick).

Camera operator......................................... RobertWalker Costume designer..........................................KerryThompson John Clarke, Synopsis: The life of James Cook.

Camera assistant............................................Alan Gilvear M ake-up....................................... Michelle Barber Max Dann, Narrator................................................................ BillHunter Hairdresser.......................................................Trish Newton John Alsop, Studios................................. Capital 7, Canberra Standby w ardrobe.................................... HeatherLaurie Deborah Parsons, Mixed a t ................................ Capital 7, Canberra Wardrobe asst.............................................. Shona Flett Robyn Watton Laboratory.............................................Colorfilm Based on the original idea Props buyer...................................................RowanMcKenzie Lab. liaison..................................................... Kerry Jenkinsb y .................................................... John Clarke, Asst props buyer.............................................. Sam Rickard Length........................................... 13 x 30 minutes Standby props........................ Shane Rushbrook Andrew Knight Shooting stock.......................................Videotape Art dept runner................................................ Judy Kelly Sound recordists.................................Peter Mills, ALTERATIONS Cast: Bill Hunter (Presenter).

Scenic artist.....................................................Chris Reid Tim Wilton Synopsis: The series highlights the work of the Prod, com pany............................................... ABC Set construction........................Graeme Gilligan Editors.................................................. Ken Tyler, National Film and Sound Archive and stresses Dist. company.......................................• ........ABC Asst editor..................................Melissa Blanche Frank Zimmerman the importance of the preservation of our film Producer..........................................Julian Pringle Musical director................................ Ashley Irwin Prod, designers...........................Alwyn Harbott, and sound recording heritage. It explores our Director............................................ Julian Pringle Sound director...................................Steve Smith Carole Harvey national character as expressed through our Scriptwriter.......................................... Cory T aylor M ixers...............................................................JohnDennison, Composers................................... Greg Sneddon, films and sound recordings.

Tony Vaccher Based on the original idea by...........Cory Taylor Andrew Baylor

POST-PRODUCTION

CINEMA PAPERS January — 85

Production Survey continued Exec, producer................................................ NoelPrice hood in the brutal and intensely physical world of sugar-cane cutting in north Australia.

Prod, manager........................................ MargaretGreenwell Prod, secretary......................................... Frances Fitzgerald HEY DAD 1st asst director.............................Peter Baroutis 2nd asst director.............................................. DonRyanProd, company............Jacaranda Productions Continuity..........................................Lee Fleming Dist. company........... Pre-sale Seven Network Casting................................................ Dina Mann Producer.......................................... Gary Reilly Lighting directors............................... Ron Comb, Director....................................... Kevin Burston Noel Quirk Scriptwriters.................................... Gary Reilly, Camera operators........................................... DickWilloughby, John Flanagan Roger McAlpine Based on the original idea b y ......... Gary Reilly Key grip.............................................Max Gaffney Executive-in-charge of Boom operator................................................GaryLund production.............................. Alan Bateman Make-up.............................................................. IanLoughnan Studios.......................ATN-7 Studios, Sydney Wardrobe.................................... Beverley Jasper Length...................................... 12 x 30 minutes Set construction.............................................. ABC Workshop Gauge................................................Videotape Title designer................................. Phil Cordingly Cast: Robert Hughes (Martin Kelly), Julie Mc­ Publicity..........................................Georgie Howe Gregor (Betty Wilson), Paul Smith (Simon Studios............................................................ ABC,Melbourne Kelly), Simone Buchanan (Debbie Kelly), Sarah Length...........................................10 x 50 minutes Monahan (Jenny Kelly), Christopher Truswell Gauge....................................................................1"videotape (Nudge).

Cast: Debra Lawrence, Richard Healy, Terry Bader, Peter Hosking.

Synopsis: The events surrounding a pair of HOUND OF MUSIC down-at-heel private eyes.

Prod, company.................. Full Moon Films Ltd

Photography......................................... Jan Kenny PALS Sound recordist..................... Christopher Lynch Prod, company................................Pals Pty Ltd Editor.............................................. Tang Thien Tai Dist. company........................ J.C. Williamsons Exec, producer......................................... HeatherWilliams Producers..................................................... JimGeorge, Prod, m anager................Penelope Radunovich Wayne Groom Prod, assistant...............-.............. Colleen Cruise Director............................... Mario Andreacchio 1st asst director.......................... Cheryl Johnson Scriptwriters.................................................Rob George, Script editor.................................... Alex Glasgow John Patterson Camera operator................................ Jan Kenny Based on the original idea Focus p uller..........................Emily Anne Benzie by.............................................................. RobGeorge, Camera assistant................. Emily Anne Benzie Ron Saunders, Neg. matching.............................. Tang Thien Tai John Patterson Editing assistant........................... Claire Calzoni Photography.............................................

RogerDowling Still photography...........................Nan Richards Sound recordist.............................Rob Cutcher Runners............................................... Pat Evans, Editor..............................................Andrew Ellis Paul Payne Prod, co-ordinator........................Michael Davis Publicity.........................................................CherylJohnson Prod, manager.............................................Gay Dennis Catering................................. Marie Radunovich Location manager......................Ron Stigwood Studios.................................................................FTI Financial supervisor...................David Barnes, Mixed at.............................................................ABC Remarkable Films Laboratory.............................................Movie Lab Prod, accountant....................................... ChrisRobson Budget....................................................... $91,510 1st asst director....................

David Wolfe-Barry Length.................................................. 50 minutes 2nd asst director........................Linda Cernigoi Gauge.............................................................16mm Continuity.................................................

KristinWitcombe Shooting stock................................................7291 Clapper/loader.......................................MichaelBambacos Cast: Craig Groves (Ricci Vicenti), Leslie Camera assistant.......................................

MarkEvans Wright (Warder), John Hyde (Policeman), Key grip.................................................... DevonAmber Maurie Venables (Taxi driver), Heather Vicenti Gaffer.....................................................

Richard Parkhill (As herself in dramatized sections).

Electrician.... ......................Robert Van Amstell Synopsis: A Little Life is a partially dramatized Boom operator............................................Scott Heysen documentary about the life of Heather Vicenti Art director................................................. ChrisKennedy and her son, Ricci Vicenti, who was fatally shot Art dept co-ordinator...................................LucyMacLaren while trying to escape from Vale Remand Costume designer.................................... JennyMiles Centre.

Producer....................................... Gary McFeat Director..........................................Gary McFeat Scriptwriters.................................Anne Jones, Damien Ledwich, Prod, company............................................... PalmBeach Gary McFeat, Entertainment 2 Pty Ltd Sean Mee, Dist. company.................Zenith Productions Ltd David Monaghan, Producers.......................................... David Elfick, David Pyle Steve Knapman Photography..............................Stephen Frost, Director..............................................................RobMarchand Make-up..................................................... EgonDahm Peter Nearhos Scriptwriters.............................Miranda Downes, Standby wardrobe.................................... CathyHereem Sound recordists........................... Tim Gruchy, Rob Marchand Standby props............................................ MarkAbbott Mark Lauttit Photography....................................................RossBerryman MAN AND BOY Stunts co-ordinator........................................VicWilson Editor.............................................Gary McFeat Sound recordist................................Noel Quinn Prod, company..........................................ABC Mechanic.............................. Truck Humphries Prod, designer.............................. Maria Cleary Editor................................................Sara Bennett Dist. company............................................

ABC Runner..................................................StephenBurns Exec, producer.................................Toadshow Prod, designer.............................. David Copping Producer..................................... Julian Pringle Catering............................. Cheese Plus Cellars Assoc, producer.......Royal Bardon Community Composer.........................................Mark Moffatt Director.......................................................John Clarke Post-prod, facilities..................................... EVP,Adelaide Theatre for Youth Exec, producer..................... Margaret Matheson Scriptwriter................................................. JohnClarke Post-prod, liaison........................................RossWurst Prod, supervisor............................. Buffy Lavery Prod, supervisor............................... Irene Korol Based on an original idea by..........

John Clarke Budget.......................................................$1.25 million Prod, co-ordinator.................................PhilippaCleary Prod, co-ordinator.................. Susan Pemberton Photography.................................... Chris Davis Length................................... 10 x 30 minutes Prod, secretary..........................................AnneJones Location manager......................................... DavidClarke Sound recordist.........................................

Tony Dickinson Gauge..................................................

Betacam Theatrical directors..........................Sean Mee, Unit manager..................................................... PhilUrquart Editor.........................................................BarrieMunro Cast: Ned Manning (Oscar), Lachlan Haig David Pyle Prod, accountant............................ Val Williams, Prod, designer............................................ PaulCleveland (Sammy), Celine Griffin (Francoise), Daphne Asst directors................................ Anne Jones, Moneypenny Services Exec, producer...........................Julian Pringle Grey (Anna), Moshe Kedem (Zeno), Dave Lil Kelman Accounts asst....................................Michele Day Prod, manager...........................

Marion Pearce Flanagan (Jacko).

Casting..........................................Anne Jones, Prod, assistant.............................. Sharon Cleary Prod, secretary.......................... Jacquie Lamb Synopsis: Sammy Is thirteen. He runs away David Pyle 1st asst director................................................ BobHoward 1st asst director...........Christopher Weymouth Lighting.........................................Ian MacColl, and joins his father, a stuntman. Oscar does 2nd asst director................................................ IanKenny 2nd asst directors............... Richard Van't Riet, David Arch, not have the heart to take the boy back even 3rd asst director............................................RobinNewell Libby Lavan Fiona Maloney though he realizes trouble is brewing. The two Continuity.................................... Jackie Sullivan Continuity..................................................KerryBevan Camera operators....................

Stephen Frost, pals end up on the run together.

Producer’s secretary.................................... BasiaPlachecki Producer’s assistant................................. KerryBevan Peter Nearhos, Casting co-ordinator.............................. ChristineKing Casting....................................................... DinaMann, Adam Boyd Camera operator........................Ross Berryman Caroline Elliott Videotape operator.......................Rainier Guth PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS Focus puller................................... Anna Howard Camera operator....................... Ian Warburton Gaffer..................................... Stephen O'Keefe Clapper/loader...................................Phil Murphy Prod, company....................... Jequerity Pty Ltd Focus puller................................................Greg Parish Boom operators...................... Roderick Owen, Camera assistant............................................GlenCogan Electricians............................................ AndrewHolmes, Producer................................................. MarthaAnsara Ian Wells, Key g rip ............................................Pip Shapiera Peter Rossborough Director................................................... MarthaAnsara Jon Anderson Asst grip............................................ Jason Harris Boom operator.............................................. IanCregan Scriptwriters............................................ MarthaAnsara, Art director....................................Maria Cleary Gaffer.............................................. Lindsay Foote Make-up....................................................

David Jennings Alex Glasgow, Costume designer........................ Maria Cleary Generator operator......................Tom Robinson Wardrobe................................... Joyce Imlach Laura Black Wardrobe..............................................TheresePhillips, Boom operators............................................. JohnDodds, Props.....................................

Peter Henderson and cast Lindy Stokes Gary Carr Sound editor......................... Steven Robinson Photography................................Michael Edols Props.......................................Jodie HitchcockArt directors...................................................... KenJames, Mixer...........................................Paul Freeman Sound recordist..................................

Pat Fiske Special effects......................... W.G. McMurtry Ron Highfieid Cast: Terry Gill (Peter), Frank Magree (Boy).

Editor..............................................................KitGuyatt Choreography..........................Sally Patience, Art directors' assts..................... Toby Copping, Synopsis: Drama about a sensitive relation­ Exec, producer......................................Richard Mason Mark Ross, Jennifer Kernke ship between the proprietor of a service station Assoc, producer....................................MadelonWilkens Anthony Shearsmith, Assts to art dep t............................ Ffion Murphy, and his young employee.

Prod, supervisor................................... MadelonWilkens Robert Osmotherly Glen Flecknoe Prod, manager............................................. GailMacKinnon Scenic artists.........................................MichaelPhillips, Costume designer....................... Ann Benjamin Asst prod, manager.....................Wendy Moore Jamie McKee MARIE ARTHARS Make-up/hair supervisor............................... JosePerez Prod, assistants........................................ .....BillHodge, Carpenters...................................................

Rolf Loveday, Standby make-up.......................................... AnnaKarpinksi (Working title) Glenys Lawrence, Tim Gruchy Hairdresser........................................Diane Biggs Barbara Jolley Prod, company........................................... ABC Set construction...................................... JamieMcKee, Wardrobe supervisor...........Lucinda McGuigan 1st asst director................................... MadelonWilkens Dist. company............................................. ABC Michael Phillips Standby wardrobe........................................... RitaCrouch Additional assistance................................

SteveJodrell Producer...........................................Janet Lane Musical directors.........................................RickCaskey, Wardrobe construction....... Annemaree Dalziel Producer’s assistant......................................KitGuyatt Photography...............................Peter Nearhos David Pyle Props buyer................................................ Derrick Chetwyn Casting..................................................Madelon Wilkens Sound recordist..........................Quentin Black Music performed by................... The Wild Nuns Standby props............................................ GeorgeZamm'rt Casting consultant.....................................JohnRapsey Editor.......................................... Steve Rhodes Sound editors.................................. David Pyle, Special effects.......................................Brian Cox Focus puller................................................

Anne Benzie Exec, producer...........................................Rory Sutton Gary McFeat Scenic artist..................................................GillianNicholas Clapper/loader............................................AnneBenzie 2nd unit photography..............................NevilleEdgar, Mixer......................................................... DavidGurney Carpenters................................................... AustinNolan, Key grip..................................................... PhilipGolombick Rod Jong Asst mixer................................................. JodieHitchcock David Stenning, Neg. matching.......................... Barry McKnight 2nd unit photography Stunts co-ordinator...........................Sean Mee Gary McLaughlin, (film)...................................................... SimonAkkerman, Music performed by..................

Students of the Stunts....................................................StephenO’Keefe Geoffrey Retch, Queensland Conservatorium David Noakes, Narrator............................................. Sean Mee Nicholas King, Sound editor............................................

Roger Carter Martha Ansara Still photography............................... Rob Wilkie Torry Saunderson Mixer........................................... Quentin Black 2nd unit photography Animation...............................................DamienLedwich Construction manager.................................... PhilWorth Mixed a t.................................... ABC, Brisbane (video)...................................David Butorac, Tech, advisors......................................StephenO’Keefe, Stage hand.................................................... StuartSimpson Laboratory........................................... Colorfilm Peter Kordyl, David Walker, Editing assistant..........................................Emma May Budget.....................................................$4,500 Peter Baker Ian Stevenson Dubbing editor................................................AnneBreslin Length..............................................30 minutes Gaffer..................................... Philip Golombick Best boy...................................................SimonStocks Dubbing editor’s ass t...................................LauraZusters Gauge....................................................... 16mm Boom operator............................Garry Grbavac Publicity........................................................BevParrish Stunts co-ordinator.......................................... MaxAspin Shooting stock.................................7291,7294 Costume designer.........................Tlsh Phillips Catering...................................................AllisonDavies Safety officer...............................................ClaudeLambert Synopsis: Marie Arthars is nearing the end of Asst editor (film)........................ Claire Calzoni Studios....................................................Avalon Storyboard consultant................................RobertAlcock a diploma course at the Queensland Conserva­ Asst editor (video)..................... Colleen Cruise Mixed at............................................ Trackdown Still photography............................................BrianMcKenzie torium of Music. She is studying to be an 2nd unit sound..........................Garry Grbavac, Laboratory........................................Cinecolour W rangler.......................................................... JohnHitchcock operatic soprano. The film demystifies the Length......................................... 100 minutes David Noakes, Horse master................................................. Frank McNamara general view that opera is totally grand and un­ Gauge..........................................Video, 16mm Kit Guyatt Transport/armourer....................................RobertParson approachable, by showing this young, lively Shooting stock.................................. Sony, Fuji Still photography....................John Buchanan, Asst transport................................................ BarryCockinos student making her grades.

Cast: Justine Anderson (Maria), Pat Leo (Dr Nan Richards Best boy..................................................Jim Hunt von Frankentrapp), Toni Mott (Baroness Didi), Catering....................................................AlisonFarnsworth Runner............................................................... GuyCampbell Danielle Greenwood (Weasel), Julian St John Childcare..................................................AlisonFarnsworth MUSICAL MARINER Nurse.................................................................. LeaShapiera (Rolf), Brian Cavanagh (Reverend Mother), Laboratory........................................... Colorfilm Publicity........................................ Write On Group Prod, company...........................Lucky Country Lab. liaison.............................................RichardPiorkowski Stephen Clark (Kurt Shurrt), Adam Couper Catering.......................... David and Cassie Vale Productions Pty Ltd (Fritz Weiner), Paul Sugars (Karl Lipp), Tracey Denise Wolfson Catering asst....................... Juliana Zimmerman Dist. company.........Lucky Country Distribution Tainsch (Stephen Piece).

Length.............................................. 75 minutes Sound post-production........................Soundfirm Producers......................................................BillLeimbach, Synopsis: H o u n d o f M u s ic takes the stories of Gauge....................................................... 16mm Laboratory............................................... Colorfilm Michael Dillon, Frankenstein and The S o u n d o f M u s ic andShooting stock......................................... Kodak i ah liaison................................................. RichardPiorkowski Claire Leimbach mixes them with contemporary social and poli­ Cast: Laura Black (Anna), Peter Hardy (John), Budget............................................................$3.75 million Director.......................................................... BillLeimbach tical comment, zany humour, sizzling music, Anna Gare (Mandy), Jack Coleman (Stan).

Length...........................................2 x 120 minutes Photography............................... Michael Dillon dazzling effects and a cast of thousands.

Synopsis: It is 1986 and things are changing in Gauge.............................................................16mm Composer................................................. DavidFanshawe the port city of Fremantle, home of the Shooting stock............................................. Kodak Budget................................................ $160,000 America’s Cup and host to the American Navy.

A LITTLE LIFE Cast: Todd Boyce (Bluey), Kris McQuade Length..............................................60 minutes As Anna tries to find out what’s r e a lly going on, (Mum), Melissa Docker (Dusty), Anna Hruby Prod, company........Vicious Circle Productions Gauge..................................................... 16 mm her family is drawn into conflict. Their dilemma (Kate), Ollie Hall (Tiny), Bill Young (Lofty), Ken Producers............................................ DeborahHowlett, Cast: David Fanshawe (Presenter). is mirrored in the film by a documenRadley (Dave), Phil Quast (Albie), John Jarratt Cheryl Johnson Synopsis: After five years collecting over tary/archival exploration of the contradictions (Jacko), Jack Mayers (Red), Harold Hopkins Director................................... Deborah Howlett 1,500 hours of music and effects from Micro­ of the US-Australian alliance.

(Whacker), Peter Albert Sardi (Agostini), Terrie nesia, Melanesia and Polynesia, world Scriptwriters......................................... DeborahHowlett, Serio (Franco), Joss McWilliam (Bill), Patrick Cheryl Johnson renowned music composer David Fanshawe is Ward (Chook).

THE RED CRESCENT Based on the original idea ready to prepare his next major piece ‘Pacific by...................................................... DeborahHowlett, Synopsis: Fields of Fire is a stormy saga of a Odyssey', which will premiere for the 1988 Prod, company.......Somerset Film Productions Cheryl Johnson sensuous young Englishman’s journey to man­ Bicentennial.

Pty Limited

FIELDS OF FIRE

86 — January CINEMA PAPERS

Dist. com pany...................Tambarle AB Limited Lesley (Marge), Reg Evans (Luke Sweeney), Producers...................... James Michael Vernon, Julie Hamilton (Bella Sweeney), William Zappa Jan Tyrrell (Donna Carroll), Frank Gallacher (Beauty), Director.............................................................HenriSafran Simon Chilvers (Thaddeus), Lewis Fitzgerald Scriptwriter................................. Richard Cassidy (Tony).

Photography.................................................... PeterLevySynopsis: To Macauley, the child was his Sound recordist..................................................Tim Lloyd‘shiralee’, a burden and a handicap, and also a Editor............................................................ Richard Hindley constant reminder of bitterness and failure. It Prod, designer........................................... MichaelRalph was his nature to do things the hard way: the Prod, supervisor........................................... Penny Wall way he saw it, there was no other choice. What Prod, m anager....................................... Rosemary Probyn he hadn’t taken into account was the child’s Unit m anager.................... Richard Montgomery overwhelming need for love.

Location manager..........................Craig Sinclair Proa, secretary........................................... Sandra Thompson Prod. Sccountant................................. Lea Collins WITH TIME TO KILL Accounts assistant.......................... Tracey Hyde Prod, com pany................... .........Chair Films 1st asst director............................................... Jake Atkinson Dist. company..................... .................. Ronln 2nd asst director............................................. TobyPease Producer............................... ..James Clayden Continuity.................................... Kristin Voumard Director................................. ..James Clayden Casting consultants..... Maizels and Associates ..James Clayden Scriptwriter...........................

Focus p uller.................................................Conrad Slack Based on an original idea Clapper/loader.............................................KatrinaCrook ..James Clayden b y .......................................

Key grip ......................................... Brett McDowell ..Laurie Mclnnes Photography........................

Asst grip................................................. John Tate ..Chris Knowles, Sound recordists................

G affer............................................................... Derek Jones Brett Romati Boom operator............................Mark Van Kool Editor.................................... .....Gary Hillberg Art director.............................................Ian Gracie Prod, designer..................... ..James Clayden Costume designer..........................Helen Hooper ...Chris Knowles Composer............................

Make-up............................................................. Brita Kingsbury ...... Fred Harden Assoc, producer..................

Hairdresser....................................................... Brita Kingsbury Prod, co-ordinator.............. ..James Clayden Wardrobe supervisor....................Rosalea Hood Prod, assistant............... ....Meredith King Standby wardrobe........................................Barbra Zussino 1 st asst director............ ..Laurie Mclnnes Props master..................................Richard Hobbs ....Meredith King Continuity.......................

Props buyer................................................... Donna Brown Script assistants............ ..................Actors Asst props buyer............................................Diane Henry Casting........................... ..James Clayden Standby props................................................. JohnOsmond Clapper/loader............... ...... Brett Romati Asst editor....................................... Stella Savvas Camera assistant.......... ...... Brett Romati Fight co-ordinator......................................... RockyMcDonald 2 nd unit photography... ..James Clayden Best boy..............................................................PaulBooth Special fx photography ..James Clayden R unner.........................................................MichaelLavigne Boom operators............ .....Brett Romati, Art dept runner..............................................James McTeigue Chris Knowles Catering............................................................ John Faithful! .James Clayden, Art directors....................

Gauge.............................................................. 16mm Laurie Mclnnes Shooting stock.....................................729 1,72 92 ...Chris Knowles Music performed by.....

Cast: Henri Szeps (Traynor), Ivar Kants Sound editor.................. ..........Steve Best (Mueller), Sheree Da Costa (Cassandra), John Title designer................ ..James Clayden Orcsik (Cahill), Peter Corbett (Mortimer), John ....Meredith King Publicity.........................

Stone (Ivar), Vic Rooney (Ludke), Katherine Studios........................................................ AFTRS Thomson (Judy), Ric Hutton (Vendt), Warwick Mixed a t ......................................................AFTRS Moss (Lane).

Laboratory.........Kodak and Video Lab (Sydney) Synopsis: A journalist involved in setting in Budget........................................................$71,000 motion a political dirty trick against a small time Length...................................................

80 minutes politician witnesses events which career out of G a u g e ........................................................1" video control. His amateur sleuthing uncovers Shooting stock..........................Kodachrome 40, devious networks of alliances and a complex of Ektachrome 160 Super 8 mm intrigue and deception that touches his life on Cast: Ian Scott, Barry Dlckins, John Howard, the most personal and intimate level.

Peter Green, Lyn Van Hecke, Elizabeth Huntley, Val Kirwan, Neil Gladwin, Tim Robert­ son, James Clayden.

THE SHIRALEE Synopsis: A film of the street and the city, of Prod, company................SAFC Productions Ltd two cops and their pray. Into the nights of Dist. company............................ South Australian animals with human faces. The hunters Film Corporation become the hunted in deadly, urban land­ Producer..........................................................BruceMoir scapes that seem to have no end.

Director.......................................... George Ogilvie Scriptwriter................................... Tony Morphett Story editor......................................Peter Gawler WATCH THE SHADOWS DANCE Based on the novel b y ................................D ’ArcyNiland (Working title) Photography................................Geoff Simpson Sound team ........................................................ PhilKeros,Prod, company........................................SomersetFilm Productions Pty Limited David Lee Dist. company................... Tambarle AB Limited Editor............................................................. Denise Haratzis Producers.....................

James Michael Vernon, Prod, designer....................... Kristian Fredrikson Jan Tyrrell Composer.........................................................ChrisNeal Exec, producer................................................ JockBlair Director................................................Mark Joffe Scriptwriter.......................... Michael McGennan Prod, m anager........................................... Antonia Barnard Photography....... ........................ Martin McGrath Production secretary............................. Catherine Bishop Unit manager.................................................. Steve MoranSound recordist...................................... Tim Lloyd Editor............................................................ LindseyFraser Prod, accountant.........................................RobinaOsborne Prod, designer........................................... MichaelRalph 1st asst director.................................. Chris Webb Prod, supervisor.................................Penny Wall 2nd asst director..........................Henry Osborne 3rd asst director..........................................LindsaySmithProd, co-ordlnator/manager.......Paula Bennett Location manager......................... Craig Sinclair Continuity.................................... Elizabeth Barton Unit manager.....................Richard Montgomery Casting.................. Hilary Linstead & Associates Prod, secretary........................................... Sandra Thompson South Australian casting...............................Anne Peters Prod, accountant............................................... Lea Collins Camera operator.........................Geoff Simpson Accounts asst.............................................. Tracey Hyde Focus puller................................................... Martin Turner 1 st asst director................... Corrie Soeterboek Clapper/loader.................................................. RodBolton 2nd asst director................................Toby Pease Key grip.......................................... Robin Morgan Gaffer..................................................T revor Toune 3rd asst director.................................Martin Jeffs Art director...................................................... Derek Mills Continuity.................................... Kristin Voumard Casting.......................... Maizels and Associates Art dept administrator..................................... ToniForsyth Costume designer......................................... Anna French Focus puller...................................................Calum McFarlane M ake-up.......................................................... Helen EvansClapper/loader............................ Miriana Marusic Hairdresser......................................... Fiona Smith Key grip........................................Brett McDowell Gaffer...............................................................Derek Jones Asst costume designer.................................FionaReilley Art director........................................................... IanGracie Wardrobe standby......................................... Peter Bevan Costume designer......................... Helen Hooper Machinist/cutter............................................... Julie Frankham Art dept runner.............................John Santucci Make-up....................................... Brita Kingsbury Hairdresser................................. Brita Kingsbury Props buyers...................................................BarryKennedy, Kris Koslovic Wardrobe supervisor................... Rosalea Hood Standby props................................................ PeterDavies Standby wardrobe...................... Barbra Zussino Draftsm an........................................................ JohnAxe Props master............................... Richard Hobbs Generator operator....................................W erner Gerlach Props buyer...........................Lisa Boyd-Graham Construction......................................................LipsStudios Asst props buyer.........................Murray Gosson Asst editor......................................Simon James Standby props................................................. JohnOsmond Stunts co-ordinators....................Glen Boswell, Stunts co-ordinator............................. Guy Norris Zev Eleftheriou Best boy.................................................Paul Booth Still photography.............................................Greg Noakes Art dept runner.............................................. Adam Hammond Dubbing editor......................... Yvonne Van Gyen Runner.........................................................MichaelLavigne Asst dubbing editor......... Sarah-Jane Van Gyen Catering............................................................ JohnFaithful!

Edge num berer.................Bernadette Van Gyen Gauge.............................................................. 16mm Best boy....................................................... Graeme Shelton Shooting stock.....................................729 1,7292 Runner............................................................. DavidSorensen Cast: Tom Jennings (Robby Mason), Vince C atering.........................................Food for Film, Martin (Steve Beck), Nicole Kidman (Amy Keith Fish Gabriel), Joanne Samuel (Sonia Spane), Craig Studios......................................................... Hendon Studios Pearce (Guy Duncan), Alex Broun (Henry), Mixed a t ....................................................... Hendon Studios Jeremy Shadlow (Simon).

Laboratory........................................................Atlab Synopsis: Set fifteen years in the future, a Lab. liaison........................................................Gary Keir group of kids have invented ‘The G am e’. The Budget...............................................$2.75 million champion is Robby Mason. Robby accidentally Length............................................... 195 minutes sees something he would have given his life Gauge.............................................................. 16mm not to. What follows is the most deadly-serious Shooting stock.............................................. Kodak playing out of T h e G am e’ Robby has ever Cast: Bryan Brown (Macauley), Rebecca known, for now someone is breaking all the Smart (Buster), Noni Hazlehurst (Lily), Lorna rules in an effort to silence him.

C a ll L u k e fo r y o u r s u b s c r ip t io n to

C in e m a P a p e r s (03) 329 5983

Y O T JR T I C K E T TO H A P P IN E SS CINEMA PAPERS January — 87

CINEMA

Number 40 (October 1982): Henri Safran, Michael Ritchie, Pauline Kael, Wendy Hughes, Ray Barrett, M y D in n e r

Number 51 (May 1985): Lino Brocka,

w ith A n d re , In v in c ib le .

C a p ta in

N a k e d C o u n try , M a d M a x : B e y o n d T h u n d e rd o m e , R o b b e ry U n d e r A rm s .

Number 41 (December 1982): Igor Auzins, Paul Schrader, Peter Tammer, Liliana Cavani, Colin Higgins, The Y ear o f

Number 52 (July 1985): John Schlesinger, Gillian Armstrong, Alan Parker, soap operas, TV news, film advertising,

Number 19 (January-February 1979): Antony Ginnane, Stanley Hawes, Jeremy Thomas, Andrew Sarris, sponsored documentaries, B lu e Fin.

L iv in g D a n g e ro u s ly .

D o n ’t C a ll M e D o u b le S culls.

Number 20 (March-April 1979): Ken

S n o w y R iver.

Cameron, Claude Lelouch, Jim Sharman, French cinema, M y B rillia n t C areer.

Number 22 (July-August 1979): Bruce Petty, Luciana Arrighi, Albie Thoms, S tax,

Clifford, The D is m is s a l, C a re fu l H e M ig h t H e a r You.

Number 17 (August-September 1978): Bill Bain, IsabeUe Huppert, Brian May, Polish cinema, N e w s fro n t, The N ig h t the P row ler.

Number 18 (October-November 1978): John Lamond, Sonia Borg, Alain Tanner, Indian cinema, D im b o o la , C a th y 's C hild.

BAGK~ ISSUES

A lis o n 's B irth d a y .

Number 24 (December 1979-January 1980): Brian Trenchard-Sm ith, Ian Holmes, Arthur Hiller, Jerzy Toeplitz, Brazilian cinema, H a rle q u in .

Number 1 (January 1974): David William­ son, Ray Harryhausen, Peter Weir, Antony Ginnane, Gillian Armstrong, Ken G. Hall, The C ars T hat A te Paris.

Number 2 (April 1974): Censorship, Frank Moorhouse, Nicolas Roeg, Sandy Harbutt, Film under Allende, B e tw e e n th e Wars, A lv in P urple.

Number 3 (July 1974): Richard Brennan, John Papadopolous, Willis O ’Brien, William Friedkin, The True S to ry o f E s k im o N ell.

Number 10 (September-October 1976): Nagisa Oshima, Philippe Mora, Krzysztof Zanussi, Marco Ferreri, Marco Bellochio, gay cinema.

Number 11 (January 1977): Emile de Antonio, Jill Robb, Samuel Z. Arkoff, Roman Polanski, Saul Bass, The P ic tu re S how M an.

Number 12 (April 1977): Ken Loach, Tom Haydon, Donald Sutherland, Bert Deling, Piero Tosi, John Dankworth, John Scott, D a ys o f H o p e , The G e ttin g o f

Number 25 (February-March

1980): David Puttnam, Janet Strickland, Everett de Roche, Peter Faiman, C h a in R e a c tio n , Stir.

Number 26 (April-May 1980): Charles H.

Number 42 (March 1983): Mel Gibson, John Waters, Ian Pringle, Agnès Varda, copyright, S trik e b o u n d , The M a n fro m

Number 43 (May-June 1983): Sydney Pollack,

Denny

Lawrence,

Graeme

Number 44-45 (April 1984): David Stevens, Simon Wincer, Susan Lambert, S tre e t K id s , a personal history of C in e m a P apers.

Number 46 (July 1984): Paul Cox, Russell Mulcahy, Alan J. Pakula, Robert Duvall, Jeremy Irons, E u re k a S to c k a d e , W aterfront, The B o y in th e B u sh , W om an S uffers, S tre e t H ero .

The

Number 47 (August 1984): Richard Lowenstein, Wim Wenders, David Brad­ bury, Sophia Turkiewicz, Hugh Hudson,

Number 27 (June-July 1980): Randal

Ken Cameron, Michael Pattinson, Jan Sardi, Yoram Gross, B o d y lin e , The Slim

Kleiser, Peter Yeldham, Donald Richie, Richard Franklin’s obituary of Alfred Hitchcock, the New Zealand film industry, G re n d e l G re n d e l G re n d e l.

Number 28 (August-September 1980): Bob Godfrey, Diane Kurys, Tim Burns, John O'Shea, Bruce Beresford, B a d Tim ing, R o a d g a m e s .

Number 29 (October-November 1980): Bob Ellis, Uri Windt, Edward Woodward, Lino Brocka, Stephen Wallace, Philippine cinema, C ru is in g , The L a s t O u tla w .

Number 36 (February 1982): Kevin Dobson, Brian Kearney, Sonia Hofmann, Michael Rubbo, B lo w O u t, B re a k e r

Number 14 (October 1977): Phil Noyce,

of

Number 48 (October-November 1984):

W isdom .

Cox, John Power, Jeannine Seawell, Peter Sykes, Bernardo Bertolucci, In

R e tu rn

Joffe, Jerome Heilman, Malcolm Smith, Australian nationalism, Japanese cinema, Peter Weir, W ater U n d e r th e B rid g e .

Number 13 (July 1977): Louis Malle, Paul S e a rch o f A n n a .

The

M o ra n t, B o d y H e a t, The M a n fro m S n o w y R iver.

Number 37 (April 1982): Stephen Mac-

R o b b e ry U n d e r A rm s .

D u s ty M o v ie .

Number 49 (December 1984): Alain Resnais, Brian McKenzie, Angela Punch McGregor, Ennio M orricone, Jane Campion, horror films, N ie l L y n n e .

Number 50 (February-March 1985): Stephen Wallace, Ian Pringle, Walerian Borowczyk, Peter Schreck, Bill Conti, Brian May, The L a s t B a s tio n , Bliss.

Harrison Ford, Noni Hazlehurst, Dusan Makavejev, E m o h R uo , W inners, The

G irlie,

F o r L o v e A lo n e ,

Number 53 (September 1985): Bryan Brown, Nicolas Roeg, Vincent Ward, Hector Crawford, Emir Kusturica, New Zealand film and television, R e tu rn to E den.

Number 54 (November 1985): Graeme Clifford, Bob Weis, John Boorman, Menahem Golan, W ills a n d B u rk e , The G re a t B o o k ie R o b b e ry , M ille r A ffair, rock videos.

The

L a n c a s te r

Number 55 (January 1986): James Stewart, Debbie Byrne, Brian Thompson, Paul Verhoeven, Derek Meddings, The R ig h t-H a n d M a n , B ird sville , tie-in market­ ing.

Number 56 (March 1986): Fred Schepisi, Dennis O’Rourke, Brian Trenchard-Smith, Jo h n H a rg re a ve s, stun ts, sm oke machines, D e a d -E n d D rive -In , The M o re T hings C h a n g e , K a n g a ro o , Tracy.

Number 58 (July 1986): Woody Allen, Reinhard Hauff, Orson Welles, the Cinémathèque Française, The F rin g e D w e lle rs, G re a t E x p e c ta tio n s : The U n to ld S to ry and The L a s t F ro n tier.

Number 59 (September 1986): Robert Altman, Paul Cox, Lino Brocka, Agnès Varda, the AFI Awards, The M o v e rs .

Number 60 (November 1986): Australian Television, Franco Zeffirelli, O tello, Nadia Tass, Bill Bennett, Dutch Cinema, Movies

By Microchip.

Other Publications □ The Australian Motion Picture Yearbook 1980. $15 (Overseas: $30 surface, $40 air mail).

Lean, Jacki Weaver, Carlos Saura, Peter Ustinov, women in drama, M o n k e y G rip.

□ The Australian Motion Picture Yearbook 1981/82. $15 (Overseas: $30 surface, $40 air mail).

Francois Truffaut, John Faulkner, Stephen Wallace, the Taviani brothers, Sri Lankan cinema, The Iris h m a n , The

Number 38 (June 1982): Geoff Burrowes, George Miller, James Ivory, Phil Noyce, Joan Fontaine, Tony Williams, law and insurance, F a r East.

□ The Australian Motion Picture Yearbook 1983. $25 (Overseas: $35 surface, $45 air mail).

C h a n t o f J im m ie B la c k s m ith .

Number 39 (August 1982): Helen Morse,

□ The New Australian Cinema edited (Overseas: $20 surface, $26 air mail).

Number 16 (April-June 1978): Gunnel Lindblom, John Duigan, Steven Spiel­ berg, Tom Jeffrey, The A fric a P ro je c t, Swedish Cinema, D a w n !, P a tric k .

Richard Mason, Anja Breien, David Millikan, Derek Granger, Norwegian cinema, National Film Archive, We o f th e

□ The Documentary Film in Australia edited by Ross Lansell and Peter Beilby. $12.95 (Overseas: $18 surface, $24 air mail).

Matt Carroll, Eric Rohmer, Terry Jackman, John Huston, L u k e ’s K in g d o m , The L a s t W ave, B lu e F ire L a d y .

Number 15 (January 1978): Tom Cowan,

N e v e r N eve r.

by Scott Murray.

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Adapted from

th e W orld-fam ous Verses of C. J. D ennis for THE SOUTHERN CROSS FEATURE FILM CO. Ltd. Producer: Raymond Longford Cinematographer: Arthur Higgins

Motion Picture History

found inspiration in literature when Raymond Longford directed ‘The Sentimental Bloke in 1918. Shot on the streets of Woolloomooloo for around £2,000, it is one of the four surviving Longford silent films. On its release in 1919, ‘The Bloke was widely praised in both Australia and England, and it is now regarded as Australia’s finest screen classic. Today the tradition continues with Eastmans technological leadership and full service support structure making it the first choice in professional film and tape stock.

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bastm an Classic 1919

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