Cinema Papers No.80 August 1990 by UOW Library

R E G I S T E R E D B Y A U S T R A L I A P O S T P U B L I C A T I O N NO. V P B 2121

A U G U S T 1 9 9 0 No. 80

SEAN CONNERY AND MICHELLE PFEIFFER IN FRED SCHEPISI'S THE RUSSIA HOUSE

THE RUSSIA HOUSE FRED SCHEDISI CAREER I N T E R V I E W

CANNES 1 9 9 Â© PETER W EIR : 'G R E E N C A R D /

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INCORPORATING AUGUST

1990

FILMVIEWS

NUMBER

cion t e n t s 3

BRIEFLY

PETER WEIR Interview by Katherine Tulich

CANNES 1990 A report by Scott Murray

PAULINE CHAN Profile by Pat Gillespie

24 COVER: SEAN CONNERY AND MICHELLE PFEIFFER IN

GERMAN STORIES Margaret Attwood: The Handmaid's Tale Jonathon Taplin: Till the End of the World Margarethe von Trotta: The Return

FRED SCHEPISI'S THE RUSSIA HOUSE.

Mike Downey e d it o r

Scott Murray

ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER

Debra Sharp

t e c h n ic a l e d it o r

Fred Harden

MTV BOARD OF DIRECTORS

John Jost

[CHAIRM AN],

l e g a l a d v is e r d e s ig n

Imax: Barrie Pattison Tape Tension: Fred Harden

DIRTY DOZEN

Ian Robertson

FILM REVIEWS Jesus of Montréal Peter Malone Revenge Peter Hitchings Let's Get Lost Adrian Jackson Roger & Me Marcus Breen The Prisoner of St. Petersberg Hunter Cordaiy

Debra Sharp Paula Amad

s u b s c r ip t io n s

FOUNDING PUBLISHERS

Peter Beilby,

Scott Murray, Philippe Mora d is k p r o c e s s in g

DISTRIBUTION p r in t in g

TECHNICALITIES

Nicholas Pullen

/ t y p e s e t t in g

ADVERTISING

DRUGSTORE COWBOY: DIRECTOR GUS VAN SANT Interview by Paul Harris

Patricia Amad, Gil Appleton, Ross Dinrisey, Natalie Miller, Chris Stewart

FRED SCHEPISI: CAREER INTERVIEW Scott Murray

On The Ball

Photo Offset Productions

VIDEO Paul Kalina

Network Distribution

BOOK REVIEW Scorsese on Scorsese John Conomos Books Received

PRODUCTION SURVEY

FILM CENSORSHIP LISTINGS

Signed articles represent the views of the authors and not necessarily that of the editor and publisher. W hile every care is taken with manuscripts and materials supplied to the magazine, neither the editor nor the publisher can accept liability for any loss or damage which may arise. This magazine may not be reproduced in whole or part without the express permission of the copyright owners. Cinema Papers is published every two months by MTV Publishing Limited, 43 Charles Street, Abbotsford, Victoria, Australia 3 0 6 7 . Telephone (03) 4 2 9 5 5 1 1 . Fax (03) 4 2 7 9 2 5 5 . Telex AA 3 0 6 2 5 . Reference ME ME 2 3 0 .

c o n t r i b u t o r s MARCUS BREEN is a freelance writer on film; JOHN CONOMOS is a Sydney-based freelance writer on film; HUNTER CORDAIY is a writer, and a lecturer in Mass M edia at N S W University; MIKE DOWNEY is an international film correspondent; PAT GILLESPIE is a freelance writer; FRED HARDEN is a Melbourne film and television producer specializing in special effects; PAUL HARRIS is a freelance writer on film and contributor to The A g e; PETER HUTCHINGS is a freelance critic who also teaches English at the University of Sydney; ADRIAN JACKSON is a ja zz lover and a music writer for

The A g e; PAUL KALINA is the video critic for The Sunday Herald , Melbourne; PETER MALONE is editor of Compass Theology Review; BARRIE PATTISON is a writer and film producer; MARGARET SMITH is a freelance writer; KATHERINE TULICH is a Sydney journalist and writer.

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European Notes

DADIC

After visiting the Festival at Can" ^ nes, was 0ff to cinema para dise of Paris where 313 feature films were showing in the city area. There is no place on earth that touches Paris as a place to see so wide a variety of films, to catch up on so many classics being prop erly shown in proper conditions (on 35 mm, not 16 mm). Robert Bresson’s Pickpocket was one, showing to near-packed audiences on the Left Bank after years on the shelf for legal reasons. ( Une Femme Douce was also in reprise.) It is extraordinary to finally see a decent print of this masterpiece, where the images are crisp and the black and white finely detailed, not a murky grey. One hopes someone can see their way to bringing it to Australia. Also on hew was Georges-Henri Clouzot’s La Venté, shown near the Luxembourg Gardens in a

S COT T

MURRAY

sparkling new 35 mm print. Though perhaps a little attenuated in the increasingly grim second half, this is an extremely fine film and one of the better French films to attack ruthlessly its judicial system. It also showcases Brigitte Bardot at her finest, with an overdy dramatic performance to match in quality her intensely soulful one in JeanLuc Godard’s Le Mépris. No one who has seen La Véritécould any longer doubt her right to be taken as an important, serious actress. Of the new films in release, the ones causing the biggest stir were Luc Besson’s Nikita and the reconstructed Le Grand Bleu and Jean-Paul Rappeneau’s Cyrano de Bergerac (see Cannes re port). In its full version (advertised at three hours but running at 167 mins), The Big Blue is many things the disgracefully butchered version shown in Australia is not. For one, it is coherent, and the

REPORTS

relationship between Johanna (Rosanna Ar quette) and Jacques Mayoll (Jean-Marc Barr) is powerfully felt as he struggles to form a human relationship on land, but fails, preferring the impossible: a life under the sea. Most of this relationship was not seen in Australia and it is litde wonder many found the plot confusing or facile. In the full version it is neither, though its pleasures are mostly visual and stylistic. Two key deletions were the love scenes. In Australia, the first was cut by Hoyts in an attempt to gain a lower censorship rating (interestingly, the critics were shown the unsnipped print). The second was never included in the Australian ver sion, yet it is crucial to any understanding of Jacques’ inability to respond tactilely to earthbound objects and people; it is only the sea and the life forms within it that he feels comfortable touching. In the first love scene, Johanna is in the dominant position and Jacques lies beneath her, unsure about how to respond. In the second scene, their relationship having developed to a point where Jacques is for the first time at the point of becoming more than a mere reactor, has Jacques on top (Besson is a Latin, after all). One senses both the struggle and his sense of release. This in turn helps explain the nightmare of the sea’s closing in on him from above his bed: has he betrayed through this physical contact some bond with the sea? More important still, this second love scene is what gives Johanna the confidence to assume she and Jacques can live ‘normally’ together on land and share a child. But Jacques has not reached that point and news of her pregnancy sets him on the inevitable path of withdrawal, ending with his forsaking all life on land. Surprisingly, some people in France (includ ing one expatriate writer I spoke with) have criti cized Besson for releasing the long version, saying it is so sloppily put together that there are two World Diving Championships for the same year! Such criticism is misguided, the seeming repeti tion coming because Besson has a long flashback near the end which covers previous territory from a different angle. Specifically, in the film one first reachesjacques’ decision to leave Johanna rather

TWENTY PLATES FOR FRED When Fred Schepisi brought The Russia House back to Australia for Post Production he expected the same equipment standards he’d been using at Pinewood, or better. The Joinery supplied 6 and 8 plate Steenbecks, Moviolas and ancillary gear to Entertainment Media for picture and sound editing . . . And Fred was happy. THE JOINERY PTY LTD, 137 VICTORIA AVENUE, ALBERT PARK, VICTORIA 3206 TEL: (03) 699 6666 FAX: (03) 690 6526 2 • CINEM A

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F A C IN G P A G E : LUC B E S S O N 'S LE G R A N D B LE U . B E LO W LEFT: A C T O R T C H E K Y K A R O A N D D IR EC TO R LUC B E S S O N D U R IN G TH E F IL M IN G O F N IK IT A . B E L O W R IG H T : A C T R ES S A N N E P A R ILLA U D IN A P R O D U C TIO N S T ILL FR O M LUC B E S S O N 'S N IK IT A .

abruptly, just as the conclusion to the Diving Championship comes rather matter-of-factly. Besson then goes back in time to re-examine this same period for the perspective of the emodonal undercurrents: facts first, explanations second. It is a marvellous narrative structure and works bril liantly. That it is misunderstood by some only indicates how the insidious simplemindedness of most American cinema has softened the cine matic capabilities of cinemagoers to the point where anything unusual or challenging is simply too confusing. How would today’s filmgoers cope with the complexities of much 1960s cinema, where seemingly every second film was built around flashbacks and altering perspectives? No wonder the millions who loved Ferris Bueller’s Day Off seem not to have questioned why the sausage king of Chicago never made it to lunch, and thus missed out on savouring the intricacies and meanings ofjohn Hughes’ brilliantly constructed conceit. Besson’s other film on show is his follow up, Nikita, a high-tech look at how the State uses killers for its own ends. Here a punked-outjunkie (Anne Parillaud) emotionlessly kills a policeman and is sent by the court to a psychiatric institution for rehabilitation. Here that means being turned into a killer for the State. The remainder of the film is her struggle between fulfilling her pro grammed role and adapting to a humanism that seems to be welling to the surface in defiance of the brainwashing. The beginning is a dazzling display of tech nique as Besson stages an explosive shoot-out in a pharmacy. Nikita’s re-progamming is also effec tive, the audience wanting the psychiatrists to be on her side but realizing uneasily that the ways of State terror care not for individuals. From then on, though, the film descends into the silliness

that plagues all Besson’s work (particularly Sub

way.)

Noted French critic Michel Ciment suggested over lunch that Besson has the same problem as Leos Carax and Jean-Jacques Beneix: they are avid disciples of Stanley Kubrick, copying his visceral style of filmmaking, but, unlike the mas ter, they are unable to come up with anything sub stantial to say. They believe instinct is enough and deliberately sidestep, if not despise, an intellec tual approach to cinema. As a result, what they do tends to look flashy and, while momentarily ar resting, it is ultimately hollow. This is most evi dent in Nikita, which descends to a level of facileness rarely seen outside Mission: Impossible. It also panders in a rather childish way to those with indulgent paranoid fantasies about State control. That said, the film is never'uninteresting to look at (though Bes son, like Alan Parker, is too uncritically fond of the visual clichés of television advertising), and the performance of Parillaud is a, revela tion. It is a pity her character is so side lined in the last third as the boys run around putting on face masks and pretending to be foreign ambassadors. The new Claude Lelouch, IIy a desjours ...el des lunes, was also in release, which may not be inspiring news to many Australian cineastes, but within

France it was being acclaimed as his best film in many years. It may well be, but how can one judge when only a handful of his thirty-one features have made it to Australia. It is a fine if over extended film and recalls the best films of his middle period, such as Toute Une Vie. Interest ingly, he uses a similar structure. In Toute Une Vie, Lelouch chronicles what happens in the time leading up to two soon-to-be lovers meeting for the first time. On the girl’s side, Lelouch recounts the histories of several preceding generations, while on the boy’s he is only concerned with the period from his release from prison. (Most directors would have done the inevitable and kept both chronologies in step, but Lelouch is too much an individtialist to settle for the obvious.) The structure works superbly and the final meeting between the lovers (off screen with a dialogue voice-over) is extremely moving after a three-hour build-up (yes, this film was pruned down for.Australia as well). The new film, II y a des jours ... et des lunes, follows a disparate group of people over roughly twenty-four hours in Normandie. They appear to have nothing in common, except that each is battling on bravely against life’s many problems. Lelouch holds back for even hinting at what may connect these people, thereby providing this seemingly divergent film with an uneasy tension. All is revealed with only minutes to go: all the characters are either involved in, or participants of, a minor car accident that leads to violence and death. It is an extraodinarily brave thing to attempt —an examination of how violence can spontane ously and tragically erupt - and Lelouch pretty well pulls it off. Violence is often the culmination of simmering tensions set off by a purely arbitrary and accidental occurrence. Those tensions, as the film shows, may be the result of societal pressures (overwork, poor pay) or personal dra mas (a marriage that fails on the wedding night). What is so uniquely Lelouch is that his vision hinges on individuals. Never for a second are they reduced, as political philosophers tend to do, to merely being a statistical part of a group. Quite clearly, Lelouch is in love with people (just as he

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YOUNG AUSTRALIANS' FESTIVAL

European Notes continued so obviously adores actors). His films have an invigorating warmth that, while sometimes a little whimsical, is never sentimental in the American sense. Most important, his viewpoint is never superior: he full well knows that he is one of the struggling individuals he films, and, if his camera sometimes sits aperched a tall crane, it is because the joyous magic of the cinema allows him to triumphantly record these individual dramas, the victories and failures, from on high. In complete contrast is Quiet Days in Clichy, the latest in an all too-long line of disasters from

Dear [Editor],

I’m a great admirer of Cinema Papers and read it avidly as soon as it appears in my letter box. Regarding your Australian Film Produc tion 1980-89 survey on page 34 of issue 79,1 take up your invitation to make a comment. In the survey you claim: ‘This is the first known attempt at listing all the Australian theatrical features made during the 1980s.” The Encore Directory, currently in its fifth edition, has provided since its inception in 1986 a comprehensive listing of all features, mini-series and telemovies made in Australia since 1970 and including producer, director and writer credits. The first few listings were compiled by Val and John Daniell and last year the Encore Directory staff took over this task themselves. Also, I believe that the Australian Film Commission’s annual reports for most of the past 10 years have carried comprehensive listings of not only features made in that particular year but also updated lists going back to 1975. By the way, Bo Robertson, the editor of the Encore Directory, is compiling the 1991 issue and your readers who work in film or television might like to update their listing by contacting her at PO Box 1377, Darlinghurst, NSW 2010 Yours sincerely,

Sandy George

EDITOR, ENCORE

The Editor replies:

Ms George’s kind letter is based on not having read the quoted sentence as literally as was intended. While The Encore Directory gives annual listings of features, tele-features and mini-series, it makes no attempt (nor should it) to differentiate between features that received a theatrical release and those that didn’t (ditto the AFC annual reports). As well, the TheEncore Directorydates features (as does the AFC listings) according to the financial year that production started, not the year of completion or first screening. Thus, it is not a question of an absence of interest or research by others, but of differ ent approaches. One book which does attempt a similar coverage to Cinema Papers is the recent Get The Picture (Peta Spear [ed.], AFC, Sydney, 1989). It provides a theatrical listing, but un fortunately stops in 1987. 4 • CINEM A

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Claude Chabrol. This is his most dispiriting film yet, a cynically disinterested remake of Henry Miller’s paean to sexual love. Made in Germany in English, it is a textbook case on all the possible horrors and misjudgements of international co productions. Andrew McCarthy and Nigel Havers look nothing if not embarrassed by the whole enterprise, the sets of the Paris streets are simply ludicrous, the photography from the once great Jean Rabier is appalling and Chabrol’s direction indicates an interest only in the pay cheque. It will be interesting to see how the British critics, who have singlehandedly attempted to keep afloat his devastated critical standing (especially in France), will cope with a film as self-evidently bad as this. In post-production in Paris was Ian Pringle’s Isabelle Eberhardt, a major Australian-French co production about the pioneer explorer. The film has been shot in Tunisia and France, and stars Matilda May and Tcheky Karyo (from Nikita and The Bear). Pringle is presently working with editor Ken Sallows at Aramis Films in the heart of Paris. The sound editing and mixing will be done in Australia later this year. Another Australian co-production to recently complete filming in Paris is Dingo. It is directed by Rolf de Heer and stars Miles Davis. A M i t A M In England, the film indus™ try was in a state of turmoil. Apart from the many relatively low-budget Film Four (co-) productions, there is little indigenous production. There were signs of interest, how ever, from the Government and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was due to appear at a sympo sium on how to save the industry. Tax benefits were being discussed. The one British film to be released the week of visiting London was Nick Broomfield’s Dia mond Skulls. This is the sort of film that led local critics to muse on whether England deserved to have an industry. Starring the totally inanimate Gabriel Byrne and the usually excellent Amanda Donohoe, this is a silly film about class privilege (surprise!) and how the upper class will even resort to murder to prevent the plebs from know ing what’s going on. In many ways an unnecessary reversion to the British cinema of the 1960s, but with none of Losey’s skill or grace, this film seems designed for those whose hatred of privilege is so great as to blind all critical facilities. The rest of the world will sit in disbelief at this phonily scripted farce. That Channel Four should have funded it sug gests a serious lapse in judgem ent Also on show, but from across the Channel, was Patrice Leconte’s Monsieur Hire. No two films could be more opposite, could more effectively epitomize the fundamental differences between British and French cinema today. Monsieur Hire is an adaptation of Georges Simenon’s LesFiançailles deM. Hire. It is a brilliant examination of the interchangeability of voyeur and observed, and of the dangerous games that can be played when the outward performance of a relationship changes. So accurately and pre cisely does it explore its subject that it renders the many articles written about voyeurism in the cinema quite superfluous: show the film instead. Fortunately, this will be released in Australia, an optimistic note to end on. ■ I

The 9th International Film Festival for Young Australians will be held in Adelaide from 4 - 1 8 August. Recognized by the Centre International du Film pour l’Enfance et la Jeunesse, it screens feature and short films selected according to three age categories: 3-7, 8-12 and 13—16. An international jury will adjudge prizes for films in the competition section. For further information, contact the Festival director, Eileen Sharman, at 59 South Terrace, Adelaide 5000. Telephone: (08) 231 3989. AUSTRALIA-UK TREATY

A film co-production treaty between Australia and the United Kingdom was signed on 12 June. It recognizes the “creative and commercial ad vantages which may be derived from ‘official’ co production arrangements”. While gaining from a pooling-of resources, co-producers will remain eligible to receive the local benefits available to their national cinemas. Application of the terms of the treaty will be ad ministered by the Australian Film Commission, with advice from an industry advisory panel. For further information, contact Peter Sainsbury at the AFC. A F C NEWS

Sue Murray, the Director, Marketing, at the Aus tralian Film Commission is to be re-located from Sydney to London. Cathy Robinson, Chief Execu tive of the AFC, said: “Sue Murray’s extensive knowledge of film and her policy experience make her admirably suited to the position, and her appointm ent to London underscores the future importance of Europe for Australian film ... Our Marketing Branch will con tinue to give the same services to the film comm unity and will be managed for the present by the Acting Director, Marketing, Victoria Treole.” AWARDS

AND

PRIZES

DENDY AWARDS FOR AUSTRALIAN SHORT FILMS

(PRESENTED AT THE 1990 SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL) • GENERAL CATEGORY TeenageBabylon (Graeme Wood) • FICTION CATEGORY Outside Looking In (B rendan Duhigg) • DOCUMENTARY CATEGORY No Problems (Jackie McKimmie) •

Feral Tele vision (Damien Ledwich) • STA TRAVEL AWARD Swimming (Belinda Chayko)

YORAM GROSS ANIMATION AWARD

1990 MELBOURNE FILM FESTIVAL SHORT FILM PRIZES • GRAND PRIX Swimming (Belinda Chayko, Australia) • BEST FICTION FILM He Was Once (Mary Hestand, U.S.) • BEST DOCUMENTARY (Noriko Sekiguchi, Australia) and Elefanti (Jeremiah Hayes, Canada) • BEST ANIMA TION FILM Deadsy (Mark Anderson, UK) • BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM Jolicoeur Touriste (Louise Bourque, Canada) • BEST AUSTRALIAN FILM Night Cries: A Rural Tragedy (Tracey Moffatt, Australia) • BEST STUDENT FILM A Rat in the Building (Andrew Home, Australia).

BANFF AWARD

Don Featherstone’s Difficult Pleasure, a film about artist Brett Whitely, has won the ARTS DOCUMENTARY category at the Banff Televi sion Festival. The film is part of the “Creative Spirits” series shown on the ABC last year.

AUSTRALIAN FILM FINANCE CORPORATION FUNDING DECISIONS APRIL - JUNE • A P R I L . FEATURES

(100 mins) Executive producer: Edward Feldman. Co-produc ers: Peter Weir, Duncan Henderson, Jean Gontier. Director: Peter Weir. Cast: Gérard Depardieu, Andie MacDowell. Australian-French co-produc tion. A French national enters into a “marriage of convenience” with an American woman to obtain a green card, but they must live together for 48 hours when immigration officials decide to investígate. RESISTANCE (91 mins) Macau Light Film Production. Producers: Pauline Rosenberg, Christina Ferguson. In a futuristic country town, anarchy is brewing among the workers while the nation is on the brink of martial law. THE SPARROW (105 mins) Rosen Harper Mortlock Entertainment. Pro ducers: Brian Rosen, Gower Frost. Australian-U.K. co-production. Drama of a young couple struggling to help their mentally-ill son. GREENCARD

A P R I L • DOCUMENTARIES

(80 mins) Lighthouse Films. Producer: Mark Davis. Gough Whitlam’s vision wrought indelible changes in Australians’ attitude to politics and culture, and their relationship to the rest of the world. OUT OF MIND (1 hr) Anne Deveson Productions. Producer: Anne Deveson. 1 in 100 people world-wide will have schizophrenia at some time in their life. WHITLAM

A P R I L . TELEVISION

LUCKY (13 x 30 mins) Producer: Jonathan Shiff. Lucky, a smarter than average police dog, is retired into the care of two children. GOLDEN FIDDLES (2x2 hr) South Australian Film Corporation. Executive producer: Jock Blair. Producers: Gus Howard (Australia), Wendy Wacko (Canada). Australian-Canadian co-production. Struggling farming family in the Depression inherits great wealth. They set out to fulfil their dreams.

MAY . FEATURES

SWEET TALKER (90 mins) Confidence Productions. Executive producers: Taylor Hackford, Stuart Benjamin. Producer: Ben Gannon. Director: Michael Jenkins. Cast: Bryan Brown, Karen Allen. Conman Harry Reynolds leaves prison and sets up a scam in a sleepy fishing village. [The FFC has agreed to provide a loan to cover print and advertising costs arising from a cinema release of this feature in the U.S.] BLINKY BILL (80 mins) Yoram Gross Film Studios. Producer: Sandra Gross. Director: Yoram Gross. Animated feature based on Dorothy Hall’s book. A young koala is separated from his mother when loggers destroy their forest.

A G E N D A AND C O R R I G E N D A

Given the usual mad rush of preparing a special Cannes issue, several regrettable errors crept into the last issue. Cinema Papers extends its apolo gies to those affected by them. • The photograph on p. 6 of Jim and Hal McElroy was taken byJim Townley, not by Lorrie Graham as credited. • In “Australian Film Production 198089”, pp. 34 - 35, Jane Campion’s Sweetie is missing from the list of 1989 theatrical releases. • American director Sydney Pollack has sadly been the victim of two recent mis-spellings, including an “i” for a “y” and an “o” for an “a”. The above spelling is correct. • The list published as “The Australian Record at Cannes” (p. 47) was incomplete. One should add to the Directors’Fortnight listing; 1970 David Perry (Albie Thoms); 1971 Please Don’t Stand on My Sunshine (Sonia Hoffman). And to Un Certain Regard: 1988 Pleasure Domes (Maggie Fookes). There is also Mapantsula, which was shown in Un Certain Regard in 1988. It is a UK-South Africa-Australia production and is not generally included in Australian listings. Taking into account the four Australian films shown officially at Cannes in 1990, the full list, which is printed here for the record, is: AUSTRALIAN

JUNE .

1978 1979 1980 1983 1985

1986 1988 1989 1982 1984 1986

1988 1989 1990

THE RIVER KINGS

J U N E . DOCUMENTARIES

(1 hr) Chris Hilton. Producer: Chris Hilton. Director: Chris Hilton. Looks at the evolution of Aboriginal art and presents a dialogue between Western theology and Aboriginal tradition. SACRED SEX (4 x 30 mins) Golday. Producer: Cynthia Connop. An interna tional cross-cultural documentary on love and sex. GLOBAL GARDENER (4 x 30 mins) 220 Productions. Producers: Julian Russell, Tony Gailey. Directors: Julian Russell, Tony Gailey. Examination of Permaculture: Bill Mollison’s self-regulating agricultural ecosystem. POET IN A BUBBLE (1 hr) Titus Films. Producers: Nicholas Adler, Caroline Sherwood. Story of a nine-year-old boy who suffers from total allergy syndrome, and whose first book of poems is about to be published. DIAMOND EMPIRE (3x1 hr) Impact Media Productions. Executive produc ers: David Flanning, William Cran. Producer: Jan Roberts. Investigation of the intrigue and geo-politics of the international diamond world. The FFC also approved a print and advertising loan to FATHER, the feature produced by Damian Parer for Barron Films and directed by John Power. In the financial year 1989-90, the FFC committed itself to support 66 projects with total budgets of approximately $213 million. THE SERPENT AND THE CROSS

CANNES

The Chant ofJimmie Blacksmith (Fred Schepisi) My Brilliant Career (Gillian Armstrong) Breaker Morant (Bruce Beresford) The Year of Living Dangerously (Peter Weir) classified as an Australia-U.S. co-production Bliss (Ray Lawrence) The Coca-Cola Kid (Dusan Makavejev) The Fringe Dwellers (Bruce Beresford) The Navigator (Vincent Ward) an Australia-New Zealand co-production A Cry in the Dark (aka Evil Angels, Fred Schepisi) Sweetie (Jane Campion)

UN CERTAIN REGARD

TELEVISION

(4 xl hr) Prospect Productions. Producer: Rob George. Director: Donald Crombie. In 1922 a young man leaves his impoverished family and heads for the River Murray. Based on Max Fatchen’s novel. BRIDES OF CHRIST (6x1 hr) Roadshow Coote & Caroll. Executive produc ers: Penny Chapman, John Kelleher. Producer: Sue Masters. Director: Ken Cameron. Nuns and their students, protected from the world by convent walls, live by the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.

COMPETITION

J U N E . FEATURE

BLACK ROBE (100 mins) Canadian-Australian co-production between Alli ance Entertainment Corporation and Samson Productions. Executive pro ducer: Robert Lantos. Co-producers: Robert Laníos, Sue Milliken. Direc tor: Bruce Beresford. In the 17th century a young Jesuit is sent to a remote Quebec mission where his faith is put to a violent test. (FFC investment is limited to funding the Australian elements taking part in the production.)

FILMS

Monkey Grip (Ken Cameron) Man of Flowers (Paul Cox) Backlash (Bill Bennett) Burke and Wills (Graeme Clifford) A Girl’s Own Story (Jane Campion) Passionless Moments (Jane Campion) Two Friends (Jane Campion) A Song of Air (Merilee Bennett) Pleasure Domes (Maggie Fookes) Malpractice (Bill Bennett) The Prisoner of St Petersburg (Ian Pringle) Hangup (P a u lin e Chan) Night Out (Lawrence Johnston) The Space Between die Floor & the Door (Pauline Chan)

LA SEMAINE DE LA CRITIQUE

1986

( CRI T I C' S WEEK)

Devil in die Flesh (Scott Murray)

LA QUINZAINE DES RÉALISATEURS

( DI RE CTORS' FORTNI GHT)

1970 David Perry (Albie Thoms) 1971 Please Don’t Stand on My Sunshine (Sonia Hoffman) 1975 Sunday too far Away (Ken Hannam) 1976 The Devil’s Playground (Fred Schepisi) 1978 The Getting of Wisdom (Bruce Beresford) 1982 Heatwave (Phil Noyce) 1986 Cactus (Paul Cox) 1987 The Surfer (Frank Shields)

SHORTS COMPETITION

1986 1987 1990

Peel (Jane Campion) Palisade (Laurie Mclnnes) Night Cries: A Rural Tragedy (Tracey Moffatt)

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

1987

Feathers (John Ruane) The Sentimental Bloke (Raymond Longford)

JUNIOR CANNES

1986

Fast Talking (Ken Cameron)

AWARDS

1980 Jack Thompson, for Best Supporting Actor (in Breaker Morant) 1986 Peel, P a lm e d’Or for Best Short Film 1987 Palisade, Palme d’Or for Best Short Film CINEM A

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■ PETER W EIR DU R I N G THE F I L M IN G O F D ÉÁD POETS SO CIET Y PH O TO G R A PH BY F R A N C O IS DUHAMEL

Peter Weir is following his enormously successful D ead P oets S ociety with G reen card, an independently financed film being made in New York. It is a comedy about a French composer, played by GĂŠrard Depardieu, who comes to New York to start a new life. He desperately wants a union green card and enters a marriage of convenience with an American woman (Andie MacDowell). When immigration officials decide to investigate their marriage, they must unexpectedly and reluctantly live togetherfor 48 hours. At the time ofthis phone interview, Weir was deeply enmeshed in pre-production. He was also awaiting approval of thefilm as an official Australian-French co-production. This has since been achieved and G reencard is among the most recent group offilms to be part financed by the Australian Film Finance Corporation.

I N T E R V I E W BY K A T H E R I NE TU LI C H

In what way will Greencard qualify as a co-production? •

The two things that aren’t Australian are the subject matter and the fact there are no Australian actors. But I’m the director-writerproducer; my wife, Wendy, is the production designer; and the cameraman [Geoff Simpson] and the editor are Australian. So we gain on the points system there. Greencardis a test case, actually. It’s an auteurfilm, made overseas by an Australian director, with the involvement of French compo nents. Why have you chosen to do this film without the involvement of a major studio?

It seemed more logical this time, given it’s my own screenplay and a very low-budget film. I have more control working outside the studio system. It is the same way I used to work in the early days. I don’t always want to be Hollywood based. In fact, I’ve been wanting to do this film for a long time before Dead Poets. It just got delayed. What was the inspiration for the script?

It’s an original screenplay written by me for Gérard Depardieu. A number of the character details are actually taken from his life. I BELOW: ON LOCATION FOR THE M O SQ UITO COAST: PETER WEIR, SECOND FROM LEFT, WITH HARRISON FORD, PRODUCER JEROME HELLMAN AND HELEN MIRREN. AND, ALLIE FOX (HARRISON FORD) IN THE M O SQ UITO COAST. WEIR: "I LOVED MAKING IT. IT WAS SIMPLY A STORY PEOPLE DIDN'T WANT TO SEE ... THEY DID NOT LIKE THE VERY THING THAT HAD MOVED ME TO MAKE IT."

admire him, and it seems an awful loss that he is largely unknown to English-speaking audiences, apart from real filmgoers. Most people just don’t go to foreign movies. Gérard is approaching 40 and I wanted to bring him something he could do in English. So, I tailored it. I knew he spoke English, though not fluently, and I tried to combine those elements of his talents that I’d seen on screen in various French movies - from his comedic sense to his edge of mystery, his romantic side. Hasn’t Depardieu attempted an English-language film before?

The right situation hadn’t come along. He likes to work with auteurs, with writer-directors, and be part of the process of developing the screenplay. He doesn’t just take a job; he likes to have a complete involvement. He’s not interested in just turning up and being paid. He would never go to Hollywood and make a James Bond film. Gérard came to Sydney for a couple of weeks last November so that we could work together. We have been building up this collabo ration since before Dead Poets. Have you always wanted to make Hollywood films?

Like most people, I grew up going to commercial cinema, and Hollywood was its primary source. I always thought it would be great to make movies in Hollywood, but under my terms. They have to come from me, even if I haven’t written them. I have to feel passionate about them, or feel they are part of me in someway. I have never wanted to go over there as a hired gun and say, “Get me a job.” Did you grow up with an ambition for directing?

When I started in film I tried everything - a bit of acting, writing, directing. But after a while I felt I had more talent beside the camera than in front of it. It was an evolution; I had no grand plan, no feeling of certainty. There wasn’t even an industry when I started in the late 1960s. Do you have a favourite film?

The films are like children in my family: there are things you like and dislike about each of them. They all have their own personalities. But Gallipoli and Dead Poets I’m very fond of. Were you disappointed by the reception to The Mosquito Coast ? 8 * CINEMA

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LEFT: FOREVER CHANGED BY WAR: ARCHY (MARK LEE) AND FRANK DUNNE (MEL GIBSON). WEIR: "YOU KNEW THAT THE FRANK DUNNE WHO COMES BACK TO AUSTRALIA IS VERY DIFFERENT TO THE ONE WHO WENT." GALLIPOLI. BELOW: PETER WEIR IN-THE TRENCHES DURING THE FILMING OF G ALLIPOLI.

concept that winning is everything, so I couldn’t understand it. I didn’t realize then that Australians, through that action, were iden tified as a nation for the first time. I only understood that much later, and going to Gallipoli brought it home to me very sharply. Gallipoli was the first Australian film to be distributed by a major American studio. It must have signalled for you an acceptance by the international film community.

At the time, it was a milestone, but subsequently I came to think we would have done better with a smaller distributor. It had a very modest success in America. We were with Paramount, which at the time also had Reds coming out. That’s where their interests were; they had so much money invested in it. Paramount lost interest in us after a couple of weeks, just when we should have been nurtured like Chariots ofFirehad been. But it did do well on television and rental. Of course, we should have changed the name: they could hardly pronounce it. It was very disappointing for all involved. It was not a success anywhere, and it had vicious reviews in New York. But I have no re grets: I loved making it. It was simply a story people didn’t want to see. From early market tests we realized that they didn’t like the concept. They did not like the very thing that had moved me to make it. How do you feel about Picnic at Hanging Rock and Gallipoli being rereleased in Australia? Is it premature to have a retrospective?

They are trying to make them work again commercially, and it’s wonderful if the films do have another life. It remains to be seen, though, with the public. With the 75th anniversary of Gallipoli, they are hoping that a generation which hadn’t seen the film before will come. Compared to films like Bom on the Fourth ofJuly, Gallipoli is much subtler in its anti-war approach.

I think that all people who make a war film are really anti-war. That goes without saying. We’ve all come to realize there are no victors or defeats in a war; there’s only de struction. 'FINANCIAL UNDERWRITING With Gallipoli I wan ted to make a film about life and about death, OF FILMMAKING CAN BE VERY a tragedy which just happened to be set in a war. I wanted you to get to know a generation of Austra FOCUS ON GETTING THEIR APPLIClians who gave their lives in that war. ATIONS THROUGH THE SYSTEM, FrankDunne [MelGibson] was a new European man, shaped by RATHER THAN ON W ORKING the outback and the hard and dif IN A TOUGHER FREE MARKET ... ficult experiences that living in Aus tralia meant in those times. Austra I ALWAYS FEEL THAT THE MONEY lians like him were all of the things we probably turn into caricature WILL COME IF THE IDEA IS DEEP now, but they were very real then. d a n g er o u s b eca u se peo ple

INSIDE YOU AND CAN'T BE STOPPED ... THAT'S WHAT IS IMPORTANT, NOT GOVERNMENT BODIES, MEETINGS AND LAWYERS.'

It has always seemed strange that Australians applaud a battle that was essentially a failure.

I had the same reaction growing up as a kid. We are raised with the

Elsewhere you have compared Dead Poets Soci ety with Gallipoli. What did you mean by that?

In the sense of youth and spirit, and the fragility of physical and moral dan ger - moral in the sense that you knew that the Frank Dunne who comes back to Australia is very different to the one who went. A new type of cyni cism had entered society. The kids in Dead Poets are the same age as Frank, at that critical point where their lives can open up or be closed down by the education process. It can narrow their outlook and potential. Apart from having that in common, there is an incredible energy that comes offkids at that age: the potential isjust fantastic. You wonder where it all goes, as Mr Keating [Robin Williams] does in Dead Poets. The officer in the trench in Gallipoli knows it’s about to be extinguished - all for nothing. I was in that kind of school, in that kind of classroom, in that year, 1959, at that age. But I didn’t have any caves or poetry. And I didn’t exactly have a Mr Keating, though everyone has somebody they re member as having given them something. Why do you think Dead Poets was so embraced by Americans when it seems more European in its intent?

People are hungry. Dead Poets and films like My Left Foot and Henry V are showing that people want more rich and thoughtful movies. It’s that famous dilemma: Are the people getting what they want, or are they just accepting what they’re given? When we conducted marketing tests on Dead Poets, we kept going into tougher and tougher territories. We started in the cities, then moved to the blue-collar areas. After that we went to the deep south and the ghettos. And every time we tested minorities, we had a very

LEFT: MR KEATING (ROBIN WILLIAMS) INSPIRES HIS CLASS IN DEAD POSTS SO CIETY. WEIR: "I DIDN'T EXACTLY HAVE A MR KEATING, THOUGH EVERYONE HAS SOMEBODY THEY REMEMBER AS HAVING GIVEN THEM SOMETHING."

tralians - actors, technicians and directors have been embarrassed by the lack of generos ity shown by our counterparts back home. Are Australians too egalitarian?

It’s a cultural difference; each has its pros and eons. The good side of the tall-poppy syndrome is that we have a healthy attitude to pomposity, and a good, hard eye on the reality of situations. That’s the positive side. But it can lean over to suspecting anyone who ’sheen successful. Ameri cans, on the other hand, can be excessive in idolizing minor successes or people who have simply made money. There seems to be a lot of sour grapes in the Australian film industry at the moment.

strong response. Given my kind of filmmaking, that was very exciting. How would you explain that reaction to the film?

I don’t know, really. People rarely tell me if they don’t like a film. They only say something if they like it, and you can get a very false picture. You tend to think everyone who goes will like it, that they will be champions of the film. Were you pleased with the Academy-Award nominations?

We didn’t count on them. Most films which are thought to have a chance are held back and released just before Christmas. But we went out much earlier and finished our run early in the year. That we were remembered was quite terrific. But I’m not a big one for prize nights. I think any creative person would say the same thing. It’s uncomfortable for artistic people to be competing against each other. I attended the Directors Guild Award, for which I had been nomi nated. It was won by Oliver Stone. I satin the audience feeling strange and awkward. It’s just not part of what we do. It’s a lottery and has nothing to do with the film I made. Were you as surprised at Bruce Beresford’s omission?

It was pretty hard to understand; absurd. He hired all those [Award winning] people, and was involved in everything they did. That’s what a director does. Australians seem able to portray American life extremely well. Is that because we are so imbued with American culture?

All people in Western society have been touched by American culture. The less discussed side is the shared colonial experience. Our forebears started far away in another country. The other key is that we speak the same language as the Ameri cans. If they had been settled by Sweden, no one would wonder why an Ingmar Bergman was doing well there. Americans have always been willing to open their doors to foreign ers. Are Australians yet another example?

Hollywood will take and pay anyone who can dó the job. Talent is something they don’t have any reserve in acknowledging, in the best and the worst ways. That is something you come to appreciate when you come over here and work. You also feel embarrassed when our own unions in the entertain ment field get hypersensitive about some situations. In the past few years there have been occasions where we [overseas-working] Aus10 • C I N E M A

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I think “industry” is a bad word. Artists aren’t part of an industry. Industries give you the impression of highly designed systems that produce product. And the only place in the world like that is Holly wood, and there will never be another one. There is only room for one Hollywood. As for the situation in Australia, I’m not that much in touch. All I do is look for the movies. Maybe there are fewer than before, but justrecentlyjane Campion ’s Sweetiehad enormous success on the arthouse circuit in New York. I guess it’s a case of keeping fingers crossed that there is a generation of Australians out there who will cut through the bu reaucracy and find their own voice. Money is a part of it, but not the cause of new people coming through. Artists will be there regardless of the times. There’s no question that it’s hard to get started in Australia now. It was easier when I was there in the late 1960s and early ’70s. There was no generation before us, unless you looked back to the time of Ken Hall and Chauvel, and they seemed so remote. We were writing the rule book, looking at films from other countries and then going out and shooting stuff ourselves, with no one to compare us to. It’s harder now, with younger filmmakers being pressured by producers to make films based on past hits. Financial underwriting of filmmaking can be very dangerous be cause people focus on getting their applications through the system, rather than on working in a tougher free market. Steven Soderbergh somehow got the money for Sex, Lies, and Videotape. Nothing could stop his talent and the story he wanted to tell. Nothing stopped Kenneth Branagh doing a new version of Henry V, which must have caused a few blank stares when he first said he wanted to do it. I always feel that the money will come if the idea is deep inside you and can’t be stopped. When you’re on fire, you somehow make it happen. That’s what is important, not government bodies, meetings and lawyers. Do you spend much time in Australia, or are you always overseas?

People always think that. No, I live in Sydney and during any twelve months I spend about half my time in Australia. I cut my films there. Do you ever feel that you lead the life of a gypsy?

Anyone who makes a living out of the arts has a gypsy spirit: you’re at home with your own kind wherever they are. There’s nothing better than talking with a bunch of film people in England or Australia or the U.S.: you immediately have so much in common.

Australian

Film Commission . . . fifteen years commitment to script development, production

investment, cultural policy and international m arketing.. .

From Fred Schepisi's EVIL AN G ELS to Tracey Moffatt's NIGHT CRIES, from Jane Campion's SW EETIE to Pauline Chan's HANG UP, from Paul Cox's GOLDEN BRAID to Lawrence Johnston's NIGHT OUT, the Australian Film Commission remains the principal film and television development agency in Australia.

If you want to know about • promising new Australian directors • new low-budget features in development & production • sales contacts & festivals • co-productions & financing mechanisms

. . . come and see the AFC.

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C A N N E S 1 9 9 0 W A S N O T A V IN T A G E Y E A R F O R A U S T R A L IA N C IN E M A , B U T , F O R T H E R E S T O F T H E W O RLD , T H IN G S L O O K E D F A I R L Y B R IG H T . A L M O S T A L L T H E F IL M S W E R E S O L lt) A N D W ELL C R A FT ED , AN D FRO M E A S T E R N EU R O P E AND TH E U S S R C A M E S IG N S O F A N IN V IG O R A T IN G C IN E M A T IC R E B IR T H .

FTER THIRTY-TWO HOURS en route, All the Australians at Cannes in 1990 were there to it is a wondrous relief to finally catch do business, either lookingfor films to distribute or an airborne glimpse of the sharply sellingfilms and ideas. Some cope extremely well with the hilled Cote d ’Azur. And in the hazy mad hustle and boozy business deals, grabbing whatever distance is the white-faced toum of opportunities they can get to comer importantfinanciers Nice, and France’s second busiest airport. Quicklyand ‘s ell’ their latest concept. Others seems a little over through customs (this is not Australia), and one faces awedaand rely extensively on the back-up provided by the difficult choice: queue for the extended bus trip to Australian Film Commission. This year, the AFC had its Cannes or take the nightmare taxi ride along the usual offices atop a modem block of flats, next to where autoroute. Tiredness necessitated the latter, and soon a the grand old Palais once stood (actually it was a rather sparkling new Mercedes was sitting contentedly on 180 ugly building, but one is nostalgic for it now). The AFC kph. Fifteen minutes later, and 400FF (AUS $100) the also had a stand in the lobby of the Carlton Hotel, with poorer, one was in Cannes, location of the world’s most staff to answer queries. important film festival. As there was no Australian feature selected for any of the events, it was hard to generate excitement about the One is always excited to be back, and it isn’t just for the seaside locale, which increasingly looks like a state of the industry. The mere fact that Australia is construction site and less like a Mediterranean resort. expected to have at least one feature selected, but didn’t, Almost every building of architectural or historic worth is caused many to think we were going through dire times going or gone, replaced by soulless towers of flats that down under. This hardly helped the sellers trying to pitch new projects. However, the hardworking and resilient scar the toum and cast Surfers Paradise-like shadows over everything except the manicured sand. seemed by Festival’s end to have overcome any initial negativity and achieved results. One relatively new architectural conglomeration is The absence of a selected feature challenges the very the Palais de Festival, a warren of screening rooms and labyrinthine passages. But apartfrom a lack of open basis by which money is poured into filmmaking by the Film Finance Corporation, the AFC and the state bodies. doors when one really needs them, the Palais works with Of course, the FFC deliberately does not take ¿esthetic admirable efficiency. Attendees have everything they considerations into account, but the others do. A recent could desire: a schedule that runs to the minute, up-toexample is Paul Cox’s new film, G olden B raid , which date press information and even voice-over translations (through headphones) for films not sub-titled in English. was totally funded by the AFC and Film Victoria. It was not selected by any of the events at Cannes. This does not All this is just as well, as forty thousand descend on mean per se that it is not a good film, but the Cannes Cannes, all making different and often difficult demands. Apart from the international critics, there to scan the rejection does indicate that either it is a disappointing film from an admired director (a commonly held view of Festival for the new film that convinces people that those who have seen it) or that it is not a film of festival cinema isn’t yet dead, there are the film producers and interest (the Cannes Festival’s view of Nadia Toss’ work, buyers. Theirs is a totally separate existence of business for example). by day and gala premieres at night in black tie (a rule from which even anarchist directors are not exempt). Now, some Australians consider the importance given to Cannes quite misguided, arguing it is an ego wank for Together with the stars, it is the powerful who provide uncommercialfilmmakers. This is obviously untrue given the ‘glamour’ of Cannes and who help reinforce the even a cursory glance of the variety and quality of the uniquely French class system, where everyone is graded films shown. from superstar down to scruffy critic.

LEFT: ELLE (DOMIZIANA GIORDANO) AND LUI (ALAIN DELON) IN CANNES' MOST EAGERLY AWAITED FILM, JEAN-LUC GODARD'S N O UVELLE V A G U E. CIN EM A

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cannes 1990 More important, selection at Cannes is often essential in generating adecentworldsale (cf Sweetie). No otherfestival combines the critical and commercial aspects the way Cannes does; merely having a film in an event can help the funding of the next because the financiers are doing business within that festival environment. As for whether the selection of films is taken too seriously, the fact remains that very few non-American films surface at the other festi vals, or in general release, which critically match those shown at Cannes. Some might cite Hou Hsiao-hsien’s A City of Sadness as an exception (it premiered in Venezia), but Cannes had already discov ered his work and the new film is arguably not as fine as some of his preceding ones. The reason all this is mentioned here is that three filmmakers had short films selected at Cannes: Tracey Moffatt with Night Cries: A Rural Tragedy in the shorts Competition; Pauline Chan with Hangup and The Space between the Door & the Floor, and Lawrence Johnston’s Night Out in Un Certain Regard. All films were very well received, which hardly any of the Australians at Cannes would have noticed be cause, apart from AFC staff, almost no Australians went. This lack of support is extraordinary: if a Danish film is screening, for example, you can bet every Dane in Cannes will go along for moral support; not so with Australians. All three filmmakers showed beyond doubt that they are capable of making interesting and possibly important films. But once back in Oz, will support and recognition be forthcoming or will they be sent to the end of the queue? Is there anyone back home who will care? THE

FILMS

THE BEST FILM at Cannes 1990 was Shi no

Toge ( The Sting ofDeath),from Kohei Oguri, director of the much acclaimed Muddy River. The Sting ofDeath may well be the bestjapanese film since Yoshige Yoshida’s Coupd’E tatand is affirmation of Oguri’s position as the greatest working Japanese director. The Sting ofDeath is a film on many levels. Ostensibly it is the story of a marriage in crisis, but it is also a study of post-war Japan and of male-female roles within all societies. Toshio (Ittoku Kishibe) was a member of an élite suicide squad during World War II, but was saved (ironically) from a ‘glorious’ death by the bombing of Hiroshima. That very salvation left him with

a sense of life temporar ily suspended and, in that state, he married an island girl, Miho (Keiko Matsuzaka). They then moved to Tokyo, where they brought up two children and he at tempted to make a liv ing as a writer. By the 1950s, how ever, the marriage is in ruins, Miho suffering a mental breakdown as a result of Toshio’s having an extra-marital affair. It is at this point the film begins. Insanely jealous, Miho threatens suicide (thereby mirroring, in a perverse way, Toshio’s mission during the war). Unable to face responsibility for her death, Toshio promises to do whatever she asks. In effect, he becomes her slave, reversing apsects of traditional, Japanese male-female roles. Soon they descend into a nightmare of emotional sado-masochism, resulting in a fumbled attempt at double suicide. Up to here, the film is hypnotic, an extraordinarily precise and subtle piece of filmmaking. But not it seems for all, and the Cannes audience responded with whistles, laughter and booing. Despite this disruptive rudeness (why don ’t people just leave?), the film managed to hold its own. Moving at the traditionallyjapanese pace of a slowmoving brook, the film agonizingly details a further descent in breakdown and incarceration. But at the very nadir, with the parents separated from their children and dead within, a rebirth finally becomes possible. However, the path back to stability will be a difficult and tortuous one. On an important level, Oguri charts how the post-war industrial boom in Japan gave a Western sheen to a lifestyle that was still ruled, often subconsciously, by traditions and values centuries old. A painful period of re-adjustment was ahead, one that would test not only the contradictions of sex roles but of materialism and its clash with the spiritual culture. But for Westerners, it is perhaps the story of a marriage racked by jealousy that is most telling. It is frightening companion piece to The War of the Roses, where a death of desire, of respect, can lead to the most awful cruelty and destruction. The only film to compare in cinematic rigour was Raymond Depardon’s La Captive du Désert, a ‘recreation’ of a famous case where a French woman was captured by African freedom fighters and held captive in the desert. By eschewing traditional narrative and going for near static moments which approximate the sense and essence of being in the desert, sur rounded by endless sand and stillness, in a place where boundaries cannot be defined, Depardon has made a surprisingly hypnotic film. Like JeanLouis Bertucelli’s Ramparts of Clay in its sparseness and restraint, La Captive du Désert will infuriate many. But in many ways it is the film from Cannes which lingers most in the memory. Brilliantly shot ABOVE: THE MARRIED MIHO (KEIKO MATSUZAKA) AND TOSHIO (ITTOKU KISHIBE) IN KOHEI OGURI'S BRILLIANT THE STIN G O F DEATH. LEFT: RAYMOND DEPARDON'S LA CAPTIVE DU DESERT, WITH SANDRINE BONNAIRE.

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" ... THE B IG G E S T REVELATIO N A T CA N N ES W AS PA V EL LON GUIN E'S

TA X I B L U E S . A DAZZLING EVO CA TIO N O F THE D A R K U N D ERSID E O F M ODERN MOSCOW , W HERE A B L A C K M A R K E T M EN TA LITY H A S INSTITUTIONALIZED G REED AND H ELPED D E S T R O Y P O SSIB ILIT IES IT CANNOT U N D ERSTA N D ."

by a crew of only five, with a strong performance by Sandrine Bonnaire, who has little more than ten lines yet is in almost every shot, it deserves a wider release and regard than it will no doubt get. The French have made many poetic, almost ethnographic, films; this is one of the most interesting. These films aside, the biggest revelation at Cannes was Pavel Lounguine’s Taxi Blues, a dazzling evocation of the dark underside of modem Moscow, where a black market mentality has institution alized greed and helped destroy possibilities it cannot understand. But, being Russia, nothing is black and white, and the forces that corrupt can also bind with a kind of love. Schlikov (Piotr Zaitchenko) is a taxi driver who knows and plays the black market: he is the one to go to if you want under-the-counter meat or a botde of vodka after hours. But one night a drunken group of passengers disappear before paying the 600 rouble fare. Obsessed with its recovery, Schlikov tracks down one of the passengers, Liocha (Piotr Mamonov), and forces him into menial tasks to repay the debt. Stripped of most of his clothes and dignity, Liocha becomes Sch likov’s slave, a return to the master-servant exploitations of Czarist Russia. What Schlikov cannot appreciate is that Liocha’s rare skills as a saxophonist could bring far better and more fulfilling rewards. But because Schlikov is so limited by his own blinkered vision, he becomes a greatly tragic figure, symbolic of changes within Russia which put materialistic imperatives ahead of humanist. And unless it can see itself able to countenance both, Russia seems set on a doomed course. The exploitation of one individual by another reminds one of the intense and destructive bonds in Dostoevsky’s work. But whereas Dostoevsky so often introduces goodness only to cmsh it, Loun guine’s optimism allows for a reversal of roles. Liocha is discovered by a visiting jazz musician, Hal Singer, and is whizzed off to the U.S. to return a Soviet star. Schlikov is forced to watch from the sidelines and his attempts to re-establish their old relationship fail. The image of Schlikov’s standing by his taxi in the middle of a Moscow thor oughfare, watching a giant video-screen image of Liocha playing his sax, is easily the Festival’s most haunting, and a tragically sad com ment on potentials lost through narrowmindedness. More important, Lounguine has allowed an otherwise dark char acter his moment of sympathy. Like his great Russian predecessors, Lounguine realizes that evil is nowhere near as far from goodness as the Manichean system suggests, that relationships can never be entirely pure but are a shifting, uneasy tension between the various forces that mould individuals and nations. Taxi Blues is a wonderfully rich film of perostroika. One can hardly wait for the second instalment in this fascinating chronicle of a lovehate relationship with a soulful motherland. Also at Cannes were two previously suppressed films from the once Communist block. Karel Kachyna’s biting parable of Stalinist times in Czechoslovakia, Ucho (TheEar), was shot in 1969 but sup pressed on completion the next year. Twenty years later, it pre miered in Cannes. Ludvik (Radoslav Brzobohaty), a high government official, and his wife, Anna (Jirina Bohdalova), are at a coldly-formal presidential function in Prague when Ludvik begins noticing that several of his colleagues and superiors are missing. A few guests even make oblique remarks of surprise at seeing Ludvik there. The couple then return to their up-market house to find it dark and the power cut off. Clearly a purge is in progress: will Ludvik be next? As the night unfolds, Ludvik and Anna re-examine every word and gesture overheard or glimpsed at the function, hoping for some clue, some hidden signal of their fate. Ludvik then frantically bums

ABOVE: THE POSTER FOR PAVEL LOUNGUINE'S TA X I BLUBS SHOWING THE MOST HAUNTING IMAGE FROM CANNES.

incriminating papers in a toilet bowl, but gives up the fight on discov ering the phone lines tapped and electronic bugs placed in every room. Safe from no one, least of all themselves and their half-truths, Anna and Ludvik then wait it out to the expected arrest before dawn. But morning brings its own surprise with a call from the president and news of a promotion. In Stalinist Prague, the easiest way to keep tabs on the suspected is to put them in a position where they can be easily watched and can afford to do nothing but follow the official line. During that increasingly tense and stressful night, Ludvik and Anna also re-examine the state of their marriage. Anna resents her husband’s subjugation of personal honour for political survival. In some ways, then, her very refusal to conform for expediency’s sake is admirable, but oddly Kachyña makes her such an unbearable shrew that it is hard to imagine anyone not wishing the secret police would quietly take her away. As an irritating character, she is proba bly unequalled in cinema history. Worse, Kachyña makes her unbelievably naive. Whereas the audience takes only minutes to comprehend what’s going on, Anna takes half the night. For a wife of a politician in Czechoslovakia at that time, this is simply unbelievable and works against Kachyña’s notion of an all-terrifying State. That said, The Ear is a crisply made film and gloriously shot in black and white. At its best, it reminds one of the marvellous, but sadly long gone, halcyon days of the Czech cinema. It is also so boldly critical that one wonders how a man could put his life’s work at such CINEM A

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cannes 1990 risk by going so far out on a limb. Butin these post-Communist times it is easy to lose perspective and imagine that life in all the Eastern block countries was nothing less than a nightmare. In Kachyna’s case, his anti-State stand seems to not have affected him at all. Far from being banned from filmmaking, he made the same year Uz Zase Skacu Pres Kaluze (I CanJump Puddles Again), a film in 1971, another in 1972, two in 1973, and in 1974, etc. In all, 22 films in less than two decades. So much for the repressive State closing off this artist’s career! It is quite possible, though, that Kachyhafelt his career was on the line and nothing should be taken away from the obvious bravery of the man. Oh that Australian films were so boldly and precisely confrontational. Far less satisfying was Ryszard Bugajski’s Przesluchanie (The Inter rogation) , an example of the Polish cinema at its most hysterical. This ludicrously over-directed and -acted film of Stalinist terror is memo rable largely for the scene where the heroine, Tonia (Krystyna Janda), tries to commit suicide by biting through her wrists. In the great Cannes tradition of bizarre prize giving, Janda won the award for Best Actress. While responsibility for the risibly misjudged exercise must lie with the director, Bugajski’s style is really just another example of a Polish director pushing the boundaries of the official film school approach to directing: wobbly camera, murky lighting, exaggerated performances, lightning-fast editing, et al. It highlights the very dangers, observable already in Australia, of training directors en masse according to a given, and necessarily narrow, view of the cin ema. Equally disappointing, especially as it is the director’s last film before a career in politics, was Andrzej Wajda’s Korczak. It is the story of a Polish doctor who cared for, and then voluntarily died with, two hundredjewish children from the Warsaw ghetto. A paean to the beauty and innocence of youth, it had the potential to be a power fully wrought work. But Wajda’s stolid direction and the perversely skeletal script result in a film that is unconvincing and dull. Wajda’s nostalgic view of child hood innocence also reeks of an old man’s uncritical looking back. The children are absurdly pure, as stereotyped in their different way as the brutal German officers. One scene even has a halo appear on a child’s pillow. And, at film’s end, instead of showing the children die in the gas chambers, Wajda has then run off in slow motion into a misty forest. Not even Disney at its most saccharin would attempt an ending as twee as this. Korczakis a. tragically long way from the intellectual toughness of Wajda’s earlier work and yet another example of his misjudged collaboration with scriptwriter Agnieszka Holland. His decline as a filmmaker is traceable directly from their first film together, Bez Zioieczulenia (Rough Treatment), written before Gzlolvick z Marmur (Man of Marble). The lifeless Dyrygent (The Conductor) is another telling example. What little in terest Wajda’s film did create was over its portrayal of a Pole sympathetic to the Jews. On the whole, the Polish treatment of its Jewish people during the war rivalled the efforts of the Germans. After a career which includes many films felt to be anti16 • C I N E M A

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semitic, Wajda’s decision to make this story now, forty-five years after the armistice, was subjected to less than positive criticism. And Wajda does seem a little disingenuous when he says, ‘Jewish themes had been banned from art by Polish censorship for twenty years.” One would of thought that he, of all the great Polish directors, could have raised his voice long before this. The Festival’s most eagerly awaited films were Jean-Luc Godard’s Nouvelle Vague and David Lynch’s TOMat Heart. No two films could be more different. The Godard is very much in the tradition of his recent work, particularly from Hail Mary through Detective and King Lear. It is a very hard film to review after one un-subtitled screening, the voice-overs and dialogue continuing his intensely non-narrative interest in philosophical and poetic summations. What can be said is that the film is as visually hypnotic as Passion, though far more muted in tone, and the conceit of Alain Delon playing two brothers with the same mistress, to show two sides of love (which are in fact the same), works very well. It felt like one of the best films at Cannes, but a viewing under better circumstances would help. (The lack of sub-titles was not the Festival’s fault but because Godard finished the film so close to deadline. In fact, he carried the print to Cannes with him - ever the cinematic showman.) Another reason for wanting a second viewing is to try and settle the most discussed issue at Cannes: was, in fact, Delon playing two roles, as Godard’s press information had it? Many French speakers felt there was only one character, who dies but is reborn in a different guise. Others argued that the scene where he ‘drowns’ does not imply he actually died. Still others said that Delon did play two different people, but that there was nothing in the film to confirm if they were brothers. And so it goes ... It is even harder to write about Wild at Heart because sitting through more than 50 minutes of it was more than this reviewer could bear. It is clumsy in a way that defies description. Take for example the plethora of flashbacks near the start. Some are clearly in their scripted position, given the visual or verbal lead-ins. But many more are not and seem slotted into inappropriate positions in a desperate attempt to put an end to an obviously troubled posriproduction (Lynch even tries to blur the inevitable jerkiness with some singularly inappropriate dissolves). As for the forced dialogue, it is painful to one’s ears, especially as spoken by the extraordinarily erratic Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern (her accent changes with every shot). Willem Dafoe makes an okay

F A C IN G P A G E : D IR EC TO R A N D R Z E J W A J D A A N D O N E O F H IS Y O U N G A C T O R S D U R IN G THE F IL M IN G O F K O R C Z A K . LEFT: S A IL O R (N IC O LA S C A G E ), IN H IS B E LO V E D S N A K E S K IN J A C K E T , A N D LU LA (L A U R A D ER N ) IN D A V ID L Y N C H 'S PA LM E D 'O R -W IN N IN G W ILD A T H E A R T . B E LO W L E F T :.K E R R IG A N (B R IA N C O X ) A N D IN G R ID (F R A N C E S M cD O R M A N D ) IN K E N L O A C H 'S H ID D EN A G E N D A . B E LO W C E N T R E: C R IS T IN A (N A T A S S JA K IN S K I) A N D S E R G IO (JU L IA N S A N D S ): LO V ER S S E P A R A TE D B Y PR ID E A N D P A ST SEC RETS IN P A O LO A N D V IT T O R IO T A V IA N I'S N IG H T S U N . B E LO W R IG H T : D A D D Y (D IR K B O G A R D E ) A N D D A U G H TE R C A R O LIN E (JA N E B IR K IN ) R EM IN ISC E O N THE C A R LT O N TER R A C E A T C A N N E S IN B E R TR A N D T A V E R N IE R 'S D A D D Y N O S T A L G IE .

villain, but poor Harry Dean Stanton must rue the day he ever walked into Paris, Texas and started a run of soul-destroying walk-ons. Lynch’s obsession with a post-modernist revival of trash pre sumes that he can achieve something with the regurgitation, that he will shape the material in some innovative, meaningful way. But not here: Wild at Heart is a self-indulgent wallowing in cliché and evidences an increasingly perverse addiction to, and exploitation of, gore. Dune may have seemed Lynch’s low point, but Wild at Heart surpasses it. Booed by many, in the grand Cannes tradition it won the Palme d’Or and the director a loving embrace from Jury chairman Bernardo Bertolucci. (The rest ofjury, exhausted it seems from the battle to separate Taxi Blues, The Sting ofDeath, Daddy Nostalgieand the Lynch, looked far less convinced.) Equally disappointing was Ken Loach’s Hidden Agenda, a fictional tale of “shoot-to-kill” set in Northern Ireland, based largely on the Stalker case. While Loach must be applauded for being one of the few prepared to tackle that Irish question on film (and he is presently fighting politicians and even film critics back home who want it banned), it is one of his weakest films. Loach has never been a stylist (with the possible exception of Res), but here he is plain crude. The acting, with the notable exception ofjim Norton as the Ulster police chief, is rarely adequate (Mai Zetterling is particularly ill at ease), the photography makes 16 mm look good and the badgering tone is unlikely to convince anyone. But most surprising, given the plethora of available informa tion, the film is so superficially plotted. Paolo and Vittorio Taviani’s II Sole Anche di Notte (Night Sun) suffers from similar faults. Adapted from Leo Tolstoy’s short story,

“Father Sergei”, it tells of a proud man’s searching for inner peace. (The title comes from an Italian folk blessing: “May the sun fill your days and nights.”) Sergio (Julian Sands) is an aide-de-camp to King Charles II (Rudiger Vogler), but leaves when his arranged fiancée, Cristina (Natassja Kinski), admits to having had an affair with the monarch. Sergio reacts angrily and retreats to his native home, before taking on the life of a priest. But annoyed by how a Bishop makes his con version a public event, Sergio opts for the life of a hermit in the mountains. There, as if by accident, he creates miracles, while strug gling to overcome physical desire. The film is ravishing at the start, both Usually and emotionally, but falters badly when the religious aspects take precedence. Unlike Robert Bresson with his purist Diary of a Country Priest, or even Maurice Pialatwith the erratic Under the Sun ofSatan, the Tavianisfail totally to evoke a sense of emerging spiritual grace. As for the miracles, they are almost comically tossed aside and carry none of the resonance of the priest’s momentarily bringing the child back to life in Under the Sun of Satan, or, more powerfully, of the girl’s revival at the end of Dreyer’s Ordet. Spiritually, Night Sun is flat and that is largely the fault of a crudely schematic script, Julian Sands’ inability here to indicate anything internal (he is all stubble and stagger) and rather matter-of-fact direction from the Tavianis. There is a growing feeling among some critics that the Tavianis are not the filmmakers they were once heralded to be. Night Sundoes nothing to quash this view. In contrast, Bertrand Tavernier’s Daddy Nostalgie is a tender, gentle film about those fleeting, wonderful moments that “make us fond of life”. It is a film of quiet reconciliation set against the pains of living in an increasingly hard, directionless world. In many ways, it is a welcome continuation of themes in Tavernier’s best work, most particularly Une Semaine de Vacances. Daddy (Dirk Bogarde) is recovering from a heart operation at the South-of-France home of his wife, Miche (Odette Laure). They live, at the distant end of a marriage, in separate worlds, signified by Daddy’s speaking in his native tongue and Miche in hers. As Bogarde observed at his Cannes press conference, the saddest line in the film is Daddy’s ‘"You don’t speak to me in English any more.” Daddy is visited by their Paris-based daughter, Caroline (Jane Birkin). She is of a different time and world (brought up by a nanny and never having felt close to her socially active parents). This a much-loved theme of Tavernier’s: the difficulties of making it through life and how today’s young adults both dream of and resent the seemingly easier life of their parents. This is exquisitely captured in the film’s best scene, a conversa tion between Daddy and Caroline at a portside café. Reflecting on the wonderful, glittering life he has led, Daddy unconsciously pro-

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LEFT: JACK McGURN (DENNIS QUAID), DAUGHTER MINI (CAROLINE JON KO KING) AND LILY (TAMLYN TOMITA) IN ALAN PARKER'S COM E SEE THE PA RAD ISE. BELOW: JOHN WILSON (CLINT EASTWOOD), IN AFRICA TO SHOOT A MOVIE BUT MORE INTERESTED IN THE 'BIG KILL'. CLINT EASTWOOD'S W HITE HUNTER BLAC K HEART. FACING PAGE: THE SISTERS IN BERTRAND VAN EFFENTERRE'S TUMULTES.

vokes an outburst from his daughter. Caroline then tearfully ex plains how her life is such a struggle compared to his, to which Daddy gently suggests that she not pull back from life but take it head on: life is made sweeter by taking risks (as Bobby Deerfield words it), a common sentiment at Cannes in 1990. Caroline brightens at his advice and the warm tone between them resumes. But in the last few frames of the scene one sees pass across Daddy’s face a tender, concerned look of parent for child. So subtly does Bogarde etch this moment that it may well remain the finest of his career. Though occasionally flat in tone, and a little too simply plotted, Daddy Nostalgic is a beautifully nuanced film about attempted break throughs and those brief, sweet moments of success. Another fine film from France wasJean-PaulRappeneau’s Cyrano de Bergerac, already a big hit with French audiences. This is a spirited period rendition of Rostand’s famous play, as adapted by Rappeneau and Jean-Claude Carriere and brilliantly enacted by Gérard De pardieu. Fred Schepisi did a recent modernization with Steve Martin, Roxanne, but this is an altogether different film, at times swashbuck ling, humorous, lavish and, near the end, touchingly poignant. The last half-hour, in fact, is near masterpiece, as Cyrano suffers deeply from having promoted another into the arms of his beloved. As death approaches, he nobly holds back from revealing all, .but the moment finally comes when Roxane (Anne Brochet) guesses: it is inexpressibly moving. (Only in Hollywood could they conceive or inflict the impossibly ‘happy’ ending of Roxanne.) If only Rappeneau had cared less for his lavish sets and epic setpieces, and concentrated more on Cyrano, he might well have had a great film on his hands. Still, it is hard to imagine a better largecanvas film coming along for many years, nor one blessed with a great actor in such poetic flight. Forget the sub-titles, just listen to the beauty of his voice. Also on a large canvas was Alan Parker’s Come See the Paradise, which shows new strengths and an ability to evoke emotion without his usual recourse to the superficially Gothic. Come See the Paradise is a very old-fashioned film, the kind that could and should have been made in the 1940s, but wasn’t. It concerns the imprisonment ofjapanese Americans in camps during

World War II (thus mirroring closely an Australian situation). This forced detention contravened the Constitution and led to repara tions being paid a year or so ago. What binds Parker’s recounting of this historical story is the love affair between the American-born Lily (Tamlyn Tomita) and Jack McGurn (Dennis Quaid). It is on this level that the film succeeds best: unlike most love films made today, Tomita and Quaid actually convince you that their characters are in love. Their reunions, after long separations, are powerfully felt and a measure of a sensitivity in Parker rarely glimpsed outside Shoot the Moon. Where Parker occasionally falters is with the too-explicit and didactic rendition of the historical events. Characters deliver speeches where naturalistic dialogue would be better and the whole narrative is too neat by half. For example, of Lily’s two brothers, one is loyal to America, joins the army and is killed fighting thejapanese, while the other is willingly sent to Japan, a country he has never visited and whose language he cannot speak, in exchange for American prison ers of war. Yes, they do represent two contrary tensions within the Japanese-American community, but why make them brothers? And why so simplistically drawn? Too long and often monotonal, Come See the Paradise is neverthe less an intermittently powerful film about a worthy and unrecorded subject. On occasions, it is also a great love story. The other big American film was Clint Eastwood’s White Hunter Black Heart, a fictionalized account of the pre-production on John Huston’s The African Queen. Though an enjoyable, amiable film, it is unbalanced by Eastwood’s casting as movie director John Wilson (i.e., John Huston). He gets the accent very well, but he always looks like Eastwood trying to be Huston. A lesser-known actor could have been more convincing and distracted less from what is an amusing tale. Eastwood directs in a European manner and even tosses aside the two sequences that most American directors would have made showstoppers: testing the boat on the rapids and taking a plane ride with an incompetent’ pilot. While the low-key approach works, particu larly in the scenes where Huston’s fiery character dominates (as when putting down a racist society lady), it does give the film a rather monotonal quality. Set in the relentlessly soul-destroying slums of Medellin, Rodrigo Z) is a Los Olvidados of modern Colombia. A well-made if unexcep tional first film, it tells a depressing story of listless youth drifting into casual violence and inevitable death. Rodrigo D is the sort of film that is probably more important as a force in social change than as a piece of art. To Western ers who have seen many similar films from the many third world coun tries with similar problems, this one reeks of déjà vu and was, as such, largely dismissed. But its craft level is unusually strong, the mood well maintained and the tone always unsettling. But one does wish for a

cannes 1990 little variation in its doggedly socialrealist approach to melodrama. Sure, Pixote edged too far toward the indul gently macabre, and Salaam Bombay to the Hollywood slick, but Rodrigo D is just a little too predictable. Also from a country with a develop ing cinema is Idrissa Ouedraogo’s Tilaï. This is the third feature from the Burkina Faso director and is a charm ing and simple tale of false pride at odds with true love. Saga (Rasmane Ouedraogo) had left his village for an extended time and his fiancée, Nogma (Ina Cisse), tiring of his absence, has married his father, Kuilga (Roukietou Barry). On Saga’s return, the lovers re unite, which is tantamount to incest. They flee after Saga’s brother, Kougri (Assane Ouedraogo), is sent to execute him but balks at familial murder. So begins a series of events that lead in their quietly inevitable way to death. The filmmaking is as slick as any mainstream film, relying on the wry tone and understated humour to set it apart. Though ultimately a little insubstantial, Tilaimakes one look forward to the next film from the Ouedraogos. Non ou a va Gloria de Mandar (Non, or the Vain Glory of Command), by Portuguese director Manoel de Oliveira, is a stylized account of Portuguese failures at war. If Australia likes to believe it forged a nation out of the military setback of Gallipoli, Portugal, according to Oliveira, was born out of a series of crushing defeats. Set during the last Portuguese colonial war (Africa, 1974), and using lavish historical recreations as flashbacks, the film is a relatively convincing portrait of false military pride and the stupidity of the non-defensive wars. While interesting as history lesson, the film has the usual Oliveira hallmarks of listlessness (he sets up epic shots with thousands of extras and then has nothing happen) and a meandering pace. He has the obstinacy of a Bresson, but none of the montage skills. Shots linger and the editing is basic. Sometimes his images arrest with their sharpness, but otherwise his penchant is to shoot costumed people endlessly talking. His international standing is pretty well the result of the untiring efforts of a single British critic. While Non is less dull that much of his work, it is hard to see it convincing the many uncon verted. Outside the Competition was Bertrand Van Effenterre’s Tumul tes, an Interiors-\ike drama of a family re-uniting after the suicide of the son. The mother is on the verge of madness, the father increasingly withdrawn, the three daughters involved in long-standing rivalries and jealousies. The twin girls, in particular, seem contrary and complementary parts of an unformed whole. Set in a near-wintry Brittany, the film is a restrained work of mood, as Van Effenterre charts the shifting emotional tides within the family. Like many similar (Hollywood) films, there is a move ment towards growth and rebirth, characters breaking out of shells and free of neurosis to approach the new day with confidence and a renewed strength. It is all a little neat and linear, the narrative never surprising, just calmly taking its muted path toward resolution. The film in fact opens with a shot from a boat as it nears the Brittany town ofPaimpol. The shot has an inexorable sense of journey forward and Van Effenterre cuts back to it later. If he had pushed the concept further,

with more and different shots to match the dirge-like music, thus taking the structure away from the obvious and unchallenged into stylization, then he may have given the film a much needed edge. Still, it is a good film, with suffi cient moments of precisely-defined emotion to be worth seeking out. In Perspectives de la Cinéma Française was Philippe Fauçon’s L ’Amour, a good if unexceptional example of the French’s much-loved ‘young relationships’ genre. L ’Amour looks at the various and varying relationships between a group of youths during the last days of the summer. The patterns (as in Rohmer) are always changing, but here more by accident than directorial design. Fauçon gets marvellously naturalistic perform ances from a largely unknown cast and shows himself adept at keeping a light but never frivolous tone. Moments of dialogue are caustically funny and the clichés of genre are largely kept at bay. While short in originality compared to the best work of the masters, it is a much more interesting and cinematic film than, say, a 36Fillette. Finally, there were the Australian shorts. Moffatt’s film was described at length in the previous issue, and Chan’s two films are discussed elsewhere in this issue. All three films show great original ity, though in startlingly diverse ways. Night Criescomes very much out of a personal history of being black in an increasingly white Australia; Chan’s two films seemingly don’t reflect a Vietnamese upbringing but are bold excursions into the area of sexuality in an adopted country that usually punishes those brave enough to venture there. Lawrence Johnston’s Night Out is a tough look at ‘poofter’ bashing, a glimpse at the dark underside of Australian mateship. Visually inspired by various gay imagery, particularly the photo graphs of Robert Mapplethorpe, this black-and-white film has a striking look and is precisely acted. Some have felt that the second halfbacks away from the more confronting issues of the start, but the later concentration on the relationship between the disillusioned lovers seems to this viewer quite appropriate. Just because the men are gay, why should there be an expectation that issues be treated in preference to their individual problems within a domestic situation? By increasingly narrowing his field of interest, Johnston has pro duced a sensitive, personal drama that builds in tension and interest. Like Chan and Moffatt, he is a filmmaker to watch. It is to Cannes’ credit that it chose to highlight their films. PRIZES

PALME D’OR Wild at Heart (David Lynch) ; PREMIER PRIX DU JURY Hidden Agenda (Ken Loach) ; PRIX DE LA MEILLEURE CONTRIBUTION ARTISTIQUE The Mother (Gleb Panfilov) ; GRAND PRIX CANNES 90 ex oequo The Sting of Death (Kohei Oguri) and Tilaï (Idrissa Ouedraogo); PRIX D’INTERPRETA TION FEMININE Krystyna Janda ( The Interrogation)] PRIX D’INTERPRETA TION MASCULINE Gérard Depardieu ( Cyrano de Bergerac) ; PRIX DE LA MISEEN-SCENE Pavel Lounguine ( Taxi Blues) ; PALME D’OR DU COURT METRAGE The Lunch Dale (Adam Davidson); PRIX SPECIAL DU COURT METRAGE La Chambre à Coucher (Maerten Koopman) and Revestriction (Barthélemy Bompard) ; CAMERA D’OR Vitali Kanevski ( Bouge Pas, Meurs et Ressuscite) ; PRIX DE LA COMMISSION TECHNIQUE SUPERIEURE Pierre Lhomme ( Cyr ano de Bergerac) ; CINEM A

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Following the lead ofJane Campion and Tracey Mojfatt, who caused a stir with their quirky, surreal and strident I imagery, is Pauline Chan, a third-year student at the Australian Film Television àf Radio School. Her second-yearfilm , The Space B etween the D oor &

the

Floor, surpassed film school expect

ations was selectedfor the Shorts Competition at Cannes this year. Also selected was H angup, Chan’s second-year project, cofunded by the Australian Film Commission and shot on Super 8. r * * .\ ' H „ '? H H H | Both films signature Chan’s interest in stylization and drama, and draw on themesfamiliar to most people in this techno-ridden age: alienation, loneliness, communication breakdown and fetish.

The Space Between the Door & the Floor borrows from film noir, with exaggerated characterization, contrasty lighting and stylized compo sition. Chan: The script has a lot of hum our in it and sends up cliched situations and characters. You think you’re seeing a detective movie by its opening, but it’s not. I tried to push the naturalist look just one more notch so that it has an edge.

Reminiscent in look and tone of Samuel Fuller’s The Naked Kiss, the film’s slightly bizarre overtones and black humour goes beyond designer ‘nirvana’. Confronting and challenging, Chan’s films twist traditional sensibilities. In The Space Between the Door & the Floor, a telephonist is harassed by an obscene caller. Instead of freezing with horror, Lilly (Judith Stratford) is sexually aroused. The caller, Monroe (John Allen), sits in his darkened office, revelling in the anonymity. Meanwhile, his wife, Ethel (Maree D’Arcy), sits by the telephone waiting to get through to Danny (Phil Charley), the radio jock whom she loves. Wife and mistress at first appear passive, but as the black tale develops, the balance of power shifts, leaving the caller impotent. Danny and Lilly, the lust icons, are accessible only via telephone. For Ethel and Monroe, phone sex is the solution to their flagging rela tionship. The telephone, the communication symbol of the twenti eth century, allows them to explore new opportunities and fetish, withoutfear of discovery. Chan:

The title is representative of how Monroe sees the world. He sees itfrom that little gap and he feels safe behind the door. In the end of the film he chooses to see the world from the little gap instead of moving out into the light, because behind that slit of light he can fantasize as much as he likes. He is observing the world from the backroom: fear of contact, fear of communication. The irony is that the technology of communication is breaking down communication.

The Space Between the Door & the Floor opens on an office block exterior that looks disarmingly hyper-real. The distorted camera angle and ethereal lighting lend the shot a static feel. The film then cuts to the interior, shafts of light carving shadows into the walls and floor. A figure approaches and enters. The closing of the door is punctuated by a sharp clunk. Following is a series of close-ups: of a corridor; a fan, eerily shot as a tangle of wires and blades slowly revolving; a hand tapping a desk; high heels tottering up the staircase. Dramatic music and static sounds fuse the mise-en-scene. So although the film faithfully borrows from traditional film noir struc tures, a time warp is created. Intonation and behaviour are malad justed, and seamy pleasures lie beneath the tranquil setting. Born and raised in Vietnam, Pauline Chan studied drama before migrating to Australia in 1982. Apart from working as an actor in various Australian and overseas productions, Chan also worked as a production assistant, runner and children’s television film researcher with Film Australia. In 1984, Chan worked for two years as a casting consultant for Multi Cultural Artists’ Agency, a subsidized agency that helps ethnic actors find work in Australia. After working as an assistant director on a project for Film Australia, which led to her co-directing a 75-minute documen tary, Chan was accepted by the Australian Film Television & Radio School, majoring in direc tion and editing. Direction is Chan’s first love, although writ ing follows closely behind. She spent several months writing plays for SBS radio and working part-time as a titles translator. Drifting, her first radio play, is the story of a refugee family in Australia. Under the Skin, another of her works, is a half-hour drama for a SBS series, but was re cently rejected due to SBS cutbacks. Chan also co-scripted Hangup and 'the Space Between the Door the Floor, and is currently collaborating with writer Alec Morgan on her third-year film. Many of the themes Chan explores come from her community interest and her work as a commissioner for the Ethnic Affairs Commis sion in Sydney, where she counsels part-time. Chan: Maybe my films appear a bit dark, but I deal with a lot of people’s problems. I like to express the problems in my community. There is a Chinese saying about people being ‘swallowed by the waves’. T here’s a challenge in exploring those themes. What I find interesting is the lack of relationships between people, their isolation and loneliness. The more advanced our technologies are, the more alien ated we are from real contact.

When Chan approached the AFTRS with the idea for The Space Between the Door & the Floor, she was initially pressured to postpone the project till her third year. Chan:

Most second-year films run 5-10 minutes. Space runs, 25 minutes, the equivalent duration of a third-year film. 22

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It was difficult convincing the school that we could handle the project. I was under a lot of pressure and it was negotiation all the way through.

The film cost $9000 to make, with most of the funding coming from other film students and Chan. Most organizations waived fees and the production team spent many months surveying locations and scrounging period props and memorabilia. Chan even deferred her third year for six months in order to complete post-production. It was during deferment that Chan was involved with the writing, designing and producing of her second film, Hangup. After receiving a small grant from the AFC (No Frills Experimental Project Fund ing), Chan shot the Super 8 film in two days and completed editing (on video) in three. The total cost was $2000. Chan: It is an experimental piece and I had a lot more input and control in the visualizing. The Space Between the Door & the Floor was more collaborative. With Hangup, I was taking a risk. It was short - seven minutes. I was trying to explore the area of sexuality, also making a statement about pornography, which is merely the disembodying of a human body. I thought it would be challenging to look at the theme and do it in a dif ferent way. In both films I wanted to create an element of danger, even though you never see any danger. I thought it would add tension to the . pieces.

Taudy scripted and edited, Hangupoperts with a black screen and supered credits, and voices setting up the scenario: he’s picked her up in a bar and invited her back to his place. The names aren’t im portant. There are no faces to be seen, just parts of bodies. In 7 he Space Between the Door & the Floor, Chan painstakingly authenticated ^ a 1940s-’50s soundtrack. In Hangup, she uses crystal-clear sounds and voices as narrative. Heavily edited, the film is slick, with fleeting, teasing, glimpses of flesh and form. The visual icon is the chessboard, representing the game and players. He enters the flat. She follows behind. A computerized chess set is in the foreground. He goes off to open a ‘special bottle of chardonnay. She switches on the chessboard. He thinks he s in for a good time, but is surprised when she, too, has her own game. In Hangup, like The Space Between IheDoor & thehloor, people mask their identities and create new personas. Fear of contact is protected by distance: voyeurism through a camera lens. The telephone aug ments depersonalization. Intimacy is mediated. Communication is severed, exposing at the same time her “hangup” and his dejection at being “hungup”, Chan:

A B O V E : M O N R O E (JO H N A LLEN ) IN THE S PA C E BETW EEN THE D O O R & THE FLO O R: "H E CH O O SES TO SEE THE W O RLD FROM THE LITTLE G A P [BETW EEN THE D O O R A N D THE FLOO R] INSTEAD OF M O V IN G O U T INTO THE LIG H T, BECAU SE BEHIND THAT SLIT OF LIGHT HE CAN FAN TA SIZE A S MUCH A S HE L IK E S ." FA C IN G P A G E : M O N RO E TRIES TO R EA D , W H ILE H IS W IF E, ETHEL (M AREE D 'A R C Y ), ATTEM PTS TO CON TACT D A N N Y 'S PH O N E-IN RAD IO S H O W . A N D , LILLY LISTENS TO M O N R O E'S H E A V Y BR EATH IN G PH O N E CALL. THE S PA C E BETW EEN THE D O O R & THE FLO O R.

The challenge with this piece was whether I would get away with the drama without relying on expressions. Technology allows them to be someone they are not. In Hangup, the woman is afraid of committing herself to anything, but once she’s on the telephone she becomes a different person. She’s more assertive. He cannot touch her on the telephone. She doesn’t have to commit herself to anything. Same in The Space Between IheDoor of the Floor. What I’m trying to do is break down the stereotypes. Quite often in films you’ll see the woman being the ‘passive’ one: the man undresses her, takes her, uses her. In Hangup, you expect her to be taken advantage of by the man. But the game is reversed. In The Space Between the Door & the Floor, the woman is put in a vulnerable position. She’s the victim of an obscene phone call. In reality, she enjoys it and has an affair on the phone.

Meticulously visualized, Chan usually storyboards her films and discusses details with the director of photography before a shoot. Images are kept slick and sharp, sound and image minimalist and controlled. I like to see clean, strong images, almost like graphics. If you have strong graphic images and styling then the message comes across clearer. The drama doesn’t get muddled up in the vision. In the advertising world, if you have something that is simple and neat you can sell the product more effectively. In my way I’m selling a piece of drama.

Chan’s future projects include completing her final-year film and project, plus completing her first film script, which hopefully will be realized next year. I’m working with writer Alec Morgan on a documentary set in outback Australia. It is visually different from The Space and Hangup, but deals with themes of isolation and alienation again. My third-year video project, which I’m writing at the moment, is also about loneliness. It’s about an old man, a Vietnamese refugee, who lives in Australia but seems isolated. It’s about his coming to terms with his life. I have some feature ideas for next year, about isolation and alienation again, which I’ve written to first draft. [Laughs.] Don’t ask me why I do these themes all the time! ... I find them interesting. ■ CIN EM A

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M I K E

D O W N E Y

M ike Downey reports on three recent and forthcom ing film s from German directors Volker Schlondorf, Wim Wenders and M argarethe Von Trotta. In their varying approaches to financing and collaboration, they represent divergent strains of a re-emerging German cinema.

M A R G A R ET A TT W O O D :

Margaret attwood attended the

1990 Berlin International Film Festival to accompany the world premiere of Volker SchlondorfP s adaptation of her 1984 novel, The Handmaid’s Tale. Sitting in the lounge of the plush Kempinski Hotel, sipping tea and wearing (unintentionally) the purple and black favourite colours of Henry Miller’s June, she looked out of place. Attwood is the sort of woman one expects to emerge from a pile of freshman composition papers, in the dark leaf)' shades of a neo gothic New England college campus, or from the corner of a madly overgrown garden in a beekeeper’s outfit - certainly not here in newly-liberated, anything-goes Berlin. Attwood: THE H A N D M A ID 'S TALE

I actually began this book in Berlin six years ago, when Berlin was a very different place. It is very odd being here at this time and revisiting the wall. And to be in East Germany for the opening night was just amazing. The film was so perfectly understood by the Germans as the portrait of a certain kind of totalitarian society with which the}’ are very familiar. The atmosphere, particularly that of people not being able to express their thoughts to one another, and always being suspicious and fearful, struck a chord over there. Of course, when I wrote the book I had no idea the wall would come tumbling down so quickly.

Attwood’s story takes place in a mythical, strife-torn nation of the future, Gilead, situated where the U.S. is now. Ruled by the archaic laws of the old testament, young girls are turned into child-bearing machines by a society which, through sterility of the higher castes, can no longer reproduce itself properly. Robert Duvall plays Fred, a leading figure in Gilead’s govern ment and the one responsible for security. He is married to the bar ren Serena Joy (Faye Dunaway). When Kate (a feisty Natasha Richardson) fails in her attempt to cross the snowy borders, her husband is killed and her little daughter taken away. Meanwhile, as a fertile woman of appropriate age and health, she is induced into the honourable duties of handmaid by the fanatical Aunt Lydia (Victoria Tennent). Attwood: I think most of my books start with images. Some of the images from this book, and from the film, come from the only book of social history' I’ve written. It is about the revolution in Canada during the 1830s, when they used to hang people with white bags over their heads. Everything in the 24

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F A C IN G P A G E , LEFT: N O V E L IS T M A R G A R E T A T T W O O D , IN B E R LIN F O R TH E P R EM IER E O F THE H A N D M A ID 'S TALE. A N D , D IR EC TO R O F THE H AN D M A ID 'S TALE, V O L K E R S C H LO N D O R F F . B E L O W : M O IR A (E L IS A B E T H M c G O V E R N ) A N D K A TE (N A T A S H A R IC H A R D S O N ) IN THE H AN D M A ID 'S TALE. A N D , K A T E A N D A R Z T (D A V ID L U K E ).

THE H AN D M A ID 'S TALE.

novel comes from history, and that has been translated in the film. Like the English language itself, I stole bits from everywhere; even the participatory hanging came from sev enteenth-century England. And part of the idea came from what I knew of Rumania, especially the treatment of women and the forced childbearing that the Ceaucescu regime was prac tising.

As for the general shape of society that emerges in Schlondorff s film, Attwood has also called on a histori cal precedent, that of Puritan seven teenth-century New England, claiming that when society does go totalitarian it always takes a form that is familiar to the masses: e.g., Stalinist Russia took on the structures established by the Czars and, similarly, the East German regime stepped into the shoes of the Nazis. But what about America? The film is set in the U.S..of the future. What hope then?

If the U.S. were to go in this direction, and it seems to be doing so, it would be in the direction of a theocracy. It would advance its cause under a banner of secular humanism, not some kind of historical theory such as Marxism. No one would support such a thing. But Americans,

Anything which is prohibited becomes very important and takes on a mystique.

Scriptwriter Harold Pinter, in working on the book, sees one of the central images in his adaptation as being that of hygiene: It doesn’t need a sub-text. The emphasis on cleanliness in any society is a strong indication of how far into totalitarianism it has sunk.

Attwood then adds: We always use the phrase ‘clean-up’ in terms of politics. In human terms, this brings us back to the ritual purification in society, and this is something that Volker Schlondorff has brought out to great effect in the film: the placing of the sins of a whole society on to the heads of a few scapegoats, and then eliminating them.

According to Attwood, when the novel came out first responses were varied: in Canada people said, “It could never happen here”; in England, “What a good story”; and in the U.S., “How long have we got?” One wonders what will be said of the film in Australia. art-house crowd, Cannes favourite Wim Wenders may UNTIL THE END O F not have had a movie in Competition at the Festival this year, but the odds THE W O RLD are that his latest feature, Until the End of the World, already dubbed “the ultimate road movie” and currently shooting across the globe, will be somewhere in the running next year. The film is being produced byjonathan Taplin, one-time man ager for Bob Dylan and The Band, and now head of the Trans-Pacific Group. Taplin: JO N A T H A N T A P LIN :

even today, are very susceptible to appeals of a religious nature and to religious absolutism. Another reason that I have chosen this type of religious totalitarian ism as the potential American society for the future is that they prohibit language to women. This is a step back into history', for when you prohibit written language to women you make it an important issue.

darling of the

This is hot an art-house movie. It’s going to be Wenders’ most commer cial movie to date and we all feel that it is a major leap forward for him. He is making a truly international love story, with a star cast, that is not CIN EM A

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G erman S tories only accessible to a wider public, but won’t be any the less ‘intellectually stimulat ing’ for his long-standing fans.

It has been a long time since an essentially Ger man director could com mand a cast as bright as William Hurt, Sam Neill, Max von Sydow and Jeanne Moreau - and indeed a musical line-up that encompasses Peter Gabriel, David Byrne, Ray Davies and Van Morrison. To this list one must add the usual Wenders direc tor of photography Robby Muller and editor Peter Pryzygodda. The recipe seems right for success, but it’s still to early to tell. There so rnany experimen tal things about the film, indeed almost everything from the financing right down to the story, the visual look and the film stock. Taplin:

u n t il t h e e n d o f t h e w o r l d d ir e c t o r

w im w e n d e r s

a re

The kind of financing that we have is a state-of-the-art co-production between France [Argos], Germany [Road Movies] and Australia [Vil lage Roadshow]. From my point of view, it has allowed a big-budget, $20 million film to be made which still allows the director as artist to remain a visionary and take a lot of chances. You can’t do that kind of thing in the United States. The mixture of subsidies - pre-sales via Majestic, my involvement through Trans-Pacific, a Japanese-American equity7 part nership - make this a unique co-production activity7.

The storyline is equally unique. An unhappily married French woman (Solveig Dommartin) runs into a mysterious traveller in a shopping mall. The year is 1999. The traveller (William Hurt) is an American who is running around the world filming past journeys taken by his parents. He intends providing a vital clue that will bring success to an important discovery made by his father (Max von Sydow). It’s basically two stories running parallel. There’s the love interest with Solveig, and then there’s the photographic element. The camera that William H urt’s father has invented allows images to be placed direcdy inside the brain. He has invented this for a special purpose: his wife [Jeanne Moreau] is blind and doesn’t have long to live. The invendon will allow her to see.

The invention is, however, coveted for sinister reasons by various government agencies and defence contractors: a weapon that can plant images in the brain is a useful one if you have bellicose ambitions. Thus the Hurt and Dommartin characters go on the run, and, after an initial period of mistrust, they start an affair which takes them all over the globe. They end finally in the Australian outback as the threat from mankind continues with a nuclear-powered satellite rapidly approaching the earth. Taplin: Eventually the invendon is put to good use and that is the opposite one: images can be direcdy transmitted from the brain onto a screen - thus people are able to see their own dreams. Wenders is using the latest in high technology and, for the first time, HDTV is being given a genuine use in feature filmmaking; as opposed to beingjust a demonstration, it plays an integral partin the shape of the film. Until the End ofthe World is also the firstfeature shot in 65mm since David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia. 26

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We began shoodng in Menton [France] with some helicopter shots for the tide sequences, then moved to San Remo and Venice. The crew is a lean, lithe and multi-national one, and the atmosphere on the set is like the Tower of Babel, save that everyone seems to understand each other. So far it is looking very big and very rich. Next we move on to Rodez for a big action sequence before Bill Hurt and Ernie Dingo join us in Paris.

Other locations include Paris, Lisbon and Berlin. The whole team is then shipped out to San Francisco for a week’s shoot before descending on Tokyo for two weeks. It is then on to Australia to wrap at the Village Roadshow studios. Until theEnd ofthe Worldis still in some ways quite a “German”film. Berlin plays such a big part in Wenders’ whole aesthetic that it has to be. The original script has scenes of the Berlin wall coming down in 1999. But it’s not the first time history has had a chance to re-write a script. margarethe von trotta has scored twice in Cannes with her last two films, Rosa V O N TRO TTA: Luxemburgand Love andFear. She is currently in production on her latest, DieRuckkher (The THE RETU RN Return), on location in Paris and Brittany, and in Italian studios. Barbara Sukowa’s working relationship with Margarethe Von Trotta goes back to 1981 with TheLeaden Years, and continued in 1985 with Rosa Luxemburg, for which she picked up the Best Actress award at the 1986 Cannes Film Festival. She now finds herself not only playing the lead for Von Trotta again but in between times is preparing for her role in Homo Faber (Last Call for Passenger Faber), the new film of Von Trotta’s husband, Volker Schlondorff. In The Return, Sukowa plays Martha, a doctor who comes back to her Paris home from Africa with the roots of her personal crisis still very much intact. Her failed relationship with a journalist, Victor (Sarny Frey), and her lost friendship with her former friend Anna (Stefania Sandrelli), cause her to reassess her life with the aim of finding some kind of reconciliation with herself and with the world. Von Trotta: M A R G A R ET H E

TheRetumis a film about love and about friendship. The man in the story is torn between the two women in his life: Martha, who is intellectually much more critical, and Anna, who is very sweet and uncomplicated. What I want to show is that he has two women he must have: he needs some things from one and others from the other.

Von Trotta has lived in Italy for two years and this is her second film with the Italian production company, Scena (co-producer with Munich’s Bioskop Film). The list of credits on The Return proves that Von Trotta can now command the best in Italian technicians. Behind the camera she has Tonino Della Colli, the maestro of Italian cinematography, who with The Return is working on his 167th film, in a list that includes such legendary titles as Once Upon a Time' in the West, The Name of the Rose, Ginger and Fred, Intervista and La Voce della Luna. Taking care of the art direction is Antonello Geleng, who in his rich and varied career has worked on most of Fellini’s films, including Roma, Amarcordand Casanova, as well as on Dino de Laurentiis’ King Kong and, more recently, La Maschiera and La Chiesa. Though Love and Fear was a step a little further away from her more overtly political modes like The Leaden Years and The Second Awakening of Christa Klages, The Return marks an even greater step towards films which are much more personal and intimate, a new phase in the directing career of Von Trotta. Barbara Sukowa: I prefer to be in political movies. But on this one I trusted Margarethe, who has changed. When we did The Uaden Years together, she was much more rigid, and here she is very gentle and much more mature. ■

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In the 1970s, Fred Schepisi made two of A ustralia’s finest film s, T he D evil ’s J immie B lacksmith (1978). Then, to the surprise and disappointment of many, he n period of aborted projects, he made the critically-acclaimed Western B arbarosa (1982). Today, Schepisi is one of an elite group of ‘A ’ directors. The commercial success of his 1987 American R oxanne has given him the freedom to make film s of his eclectic ch soon-to-be-released T he R ussia H ouse, adapted by Tom Stoppard fn 11 »

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Schepisi’s work varies from astringent social criticism to refreshingly warm comedy, from a keen understanding of genre to a delight in the nuances of English mannerist drama. As such , his film s are less easy to critically ^pigeonhole than those of mostAustralian directors. Each Schepisifilm is an entity unto itself seeking and adopting |pif directorial style peculiar to die materials ||..v fit was ju st before flyin g overseas to do the actors’ post-syncing on T he R ussia H ouse th at Schepisi spoke to S cott ■

H,.j V I ¿¡MurrayIHj :pThe result is an extensiveI career interview that begins with his early Australian f eatures.

A B O V E LE FT : THE R IV E R B A N K P IC N IC IN TH E D E V IL 'S P L A Y G R O U N D : "T H A T IS O N E O F M Y M O ST F A V O U R IT E S C E N E S IN L IG H T IN G T E R M S . TH ER E IS S O M E T H IN G B E A U T IF U L A B O U T THE LIG H T N E S S O F TH E G R A S S , A B O U T TH E W A Y TH E TR E ES A R E S P A C E D , A N D H O W TH E R IV E R G L IS T E N S ." A B O V E R IG H T : A SE N S E O F C O M M U N IT Y IN TH E D E V IL 'S P L A Y G R O U N D . B R O TH E R S S E B A S T IA N (C H A R LE S M C C U LLU M ), LE FT , JA M E S (P E TE R C O X ), F R A N C IN E (A R T H U R D IG N A M ), C E LIA N (JO H N F R A W L E Y ) A N D V IC T O R (N IC K T A T E ). LEFT : A C O N T E M P L A T IV E FR ED S C H E P IS I, R IG H T , O N TH E SET O F TH E D E V IL 'S P L A Y G R O U N D , W IT H A C T O R S IM O N B U R K E .

THE THE

D E V I L ' S PLAYGROUND and C H A N T OF J I M M I E B L A C K S M I T H

How do you look back today on your first filmmaking experiences?

They are good films, obviously. I wrote the first as an original and adapted the other, so I was right inside both of them. That was a good way to start working. Financially, there was not a lot of room. Paying everyone, The Devil’s Playground cost S300,000, and we shot it in six-and-a-half weeks. The Chant ofJimmie Blacksmith cost Si.2 million, the most expensive Australian film at the time. That took 14 weeks to shoot as it involved a lot of travelling - 10,000 kms, if I recall. I remember people angrily raving on about the indecency of spending SI.2 million on an Australian film. It was as if we were throwing money away in the Hollywood manner. That was absolute nonsense: in fact, we had to keep cutting corners all the way through the production. It kind of made me laugh ... bitterly. SÚW,Jimmie Blacksmith was a great learning experience and, while we thought we knew a lot of things, we hadn’t really appreciated the scale of what we were attempting. One thing that still wrankles me about those early days was the problems I had with some of the crew on The Devil’s Playground. It was all to do with an attitude common at that time. A lot of the crew had started in the business at The Film House, and then gone on to 30

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CrawTords and the other television production houses. They saw everything in an “8 minutes a day” mode; assistant directors would insist on settingup the shots; and so on. They were ‘industry’ people, as opposed to people concerned with the art and craft of filmmaking. They thought they’d had a lot of experience, but really hadn’t. They made us feel unprofessional and quite shabby. In fact, it was the support of [DOP] Ian Baker that helped get me through it. He told me, “Don’t let them upset you. They don’t know what they’re talking about. But, as they go through this experience, they will learn. Just care about the work and go on the way you’re going, because you do know what you’re doing.” Considering they also were getting up Ian’s nose, I thought that was pretty good. . I guess the lesson that came out of that was not to listen to those kind of criticisms. You should concentrate on what you are doing and organize all of the mechanics, like the scheduling, to give yourself the best chance of achieving things creatively. The one good thing was that the crew worked in a free sort of way. Because of that, and because we were essentially on one location, we were able to adjust our schedule for the appalling weather. I remem ber there was one scene that I had scripted for early morning sunshine. But we never could get it; I think we tried four times. Finally, I realized I had to sit down and work out how I could make the scene work in the rain. I then came up with what is one of the best moments in the film, in terms of atmospherics and effectiveness. It is the scene where Tom Allen [Simon Burke] is leaning over the balcony, looking very sadly into the distance, and Brother Sebastian [Charles McCullum] comes along and has a talk. It is a far better scene than the one I had planned. So exigencies and budgets can force you into what can be great creative decisions. There is also the scene by the riverbank, which was obviously shot in inclement weather. It has a particularly intense and resonant atmos phere.

Absolutely. That is one of my most favourite scenes in lighting terms. There is something beautiful about the lightness of the grass, about the way the trees are spaced, and how the river glistens. They are in

“ It w a s on

Jimmie Blacksmith

th a t I

f ir s t c a m e a c ro s s b u rg e o n in g u n io n is m in th e A u s tra lia n film in d u s try . I c o u ld n ’t a lw a y s a ffo rd to d e a l w ith it, and had to k e e p c o m in g up w ith d e a ls . It d id n ’t a ffe c t th e film , b u t I le t it b o th e r m e p e rs o n a lly ” .

this little light spot, which goes off into darker areas. And, you’re right, it was only because of that weather ... and also Ian’s way of exposing, the choice of lens - that sort of stuff. We knew a lot of the technique from commercials and documen taries, but applying it in emotional terms to the drama content of the picture is what you have to learn. All in all, doing The Devil’s Playgroundwas an incredibly rewarding experience. We had the advantage of all living on the location [Werribee Park]. And, because we had no dough, all the interstate cast used to live at our house on weekends. Rhonda [Schepisi], who did all the scheduling with me, and the casting, and had helped get the thing rolling, was also the second assistant director. But of course she was then my wife and when everyone used to come back she would cook meals. It wasn’t exactly her day off! I think our tempers were a little frayed. [Laughs] But because all the crew and cast stayed on location, we were like a big family. We’d all have dinner together, and I could do a lot of my directing at night, when people were relaxed. They would ask me questions that didn’t seem to be about what they had to do tomor row, and I could reply in a more acceptable framework. I think that really helped us to establish the camaraderie that you can see in the film. I remember we got that location after having toured all of N.S.W. and Victoria. Rhonda and [art director] Trevor Ling actually talked me into that place. I thought it was too big for the film I had in mind,

but they kept saying to me, “You must make it smaller. Just imagine half the room is missing and you will work more comfortably. ” It took them a while to sell me the concept! [Laughs] But they did, and I am really glad. Then I went to the Victorian government - this was before Film Victoria had started - and saw one of the ministers. He rose to the bait, thought the film was a fantastic idea, and allowed us to use Werribee Park for $3,000, which he then invested in the film. As this happened only a week before we had to start shooting, I left that place walking three feet off the ground ... and in tears. There are two final things I’d like to say about working in Australia. On Jimmie Blacksmith, all the problems we’d found on Devil’s Play ground had been sorted out and things were far more professional. But it was a far, far bigger film than anyone had any idea of, particularly me. [Associate producer] Roy Stevens was really some thing in the way he helped me through that. And it was on Jimmie Blacksmith that I first came across burgeoning unionism in the Australian film industry. I couldn’t always afford to deal with it, and had to keep coming up with deals. It didn’t affect the film, but I let it bother me personally. I was also angry at the rumours that were spread about the film. Everybody seemed to want it to fail. That is a disturbing trait in the Australian character: preferring people to fail rather than succeed. The only reason I mention this is because the otherwise good experience was tinged a little with bitterness. When I came back ten years later to do Evil Angels, I thought I knew the industry and people in it. But I realized very quickly that in those years everything had changed radically, and that I should treat coming back the same as if I were going to Canada or England or France. I had to select a crew here the same way I would in any of those places. There is a system for doing that, and I used it here. To my surprise, I ended up with many of the people I had worked with on Jimmie Blacksmith. (The fact they had been with me before had not worked for them at all.) I got great pleasure out of that, because it meant they had gone on and improved themselves; they had built on a good foundation and not taken bad sidetracks or got LEFT: TH E W O R LD O F W H IT E A U S T R A L IA P A S S E S JIM M IE (T O M M Y LE W IS ) B Y IN THE C H A N T O F J IM M IE B L A C K S M IT H . B E L O W LEFT: C H IEF C O N S T A B L E F A R R E LL (R A Y BA R R E TT ) M A K E S A S E X U A L G ES T U R E T O W A R D S JIM M IE IN THE C H A N T O F J IM M IE B L A C K S M IT H . B E L O W R IG H T : V IO L E N C E SEEN A S A S O L U T IO N : JIM M IE A N D H IS H A L F-B R O T H E R M O R T (F R E D D Y R E Y N O L D S ). THE C H A N T O F J IM M IE B L A C K S M IT H .

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LEFT: S C H E P IS I, W IT H A C T O R S G A R Y B U S E Y A N D W ILLIE N ELS O N D U R IN G TH E F IL M IN G O F B A R B A R O S A . F A C IN G P A G E : S C H E P IS I D IR EC TS B U S E Y : " G A R Y . . . IS A G R E A T A C T O R , G R E A T A C T O R , BU T A N A B S O LU T E N IG H T M A R E TO D EA L W IT H . THE A R T FO R M IN T H A T PIC TU RE W A S G E T T IN G G A R Y O U T O F H IS M O T O R H O M E A N D O N T O LO C A T IO N S O TH A T HE C O U LD A C T ."

sloppy. There was a genuine desire to achieve good work, a real adaptability. That was very thrilling for me. The Evil Angels crew was better than any crew I have ever worked with. I did not expect that, at all. In ten-hour days, we did exactly the same number of slates as we’d done in twelve-hour days on Roxanne. And we worked pretty swiftly on Roxanne. MOVING

OVERSEAS

After having made two of the finest Australian films of the 1970s, you moved overseas. Why the change?

Both those films cost me a lot of money. About $300,000 of The Chant ofJimmie Blacksmith was Film House money, and half the budget on The Devil’s Playground came from me. We also distributed that ourselves, which cost as much money again. That is a lot of dough and I had to work two shifts of commercials just to keep the money coming in. After Jimmie Blacksmith, I had to again go back to directing com mercials, just to keep Film House on its feet. I found that a very difficult process and I wanted to make sure I didn’t get lost making them again. So, the first reason for going overseas was to get properly paid. The second was that I wanted to test myself in the international marketplace, to challenge what I had learnt. I also had this funny idea that if I managed to do a couple of successful films in America, and. could build up a marketable name, that would make it easier for me to market any films I made back here. The first thing I did over there was get one of the top agents, Sam Cohn. He got me a job writing, producing and directing a comedy for Fox. Fox had been partly involved through Hoyts in releasing The Chant ofJimmie Blacksmith. They had a litde less money in it than I did, but a hell of a lot more rights. I came back to Australia to write the script and I wasjust about to head back to the States with the finished draft when I heard the president of Fox had been marched off the lot. As I had sold everything up, I didn’t know what to do. That’s how naive you can be. Then Sandy Lieberson, who had helped at Fox with distributing Jimmie Blacksmith, got the job as president. I rang him up and he said, “Give me a couple of months to settle in, then come on over and we will get on with it.” Fantastic! So, two months later, I dutifully got on a plane, script in hand, only to arrive the day that Sandy got fired! [Laughs] I was in terrible shape. I didn’t understand any of this sort of stuff; now I know it happens on a very regular basis. And it really is very dangerous, because the new guy never wants the old guy’s stuff. Not knowing what to do, I went to the now third president of Fox 32

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and said, ‘You guys have a contract with me, and that’s why I’m here. You probably don’t want this project, but why don’t you let me setup an office, as I’m supposed to, and I’ll give you a rewrite. I can then collect my crummy $50,000, and you can throw it out. We’ll all walk away clean. And if you happen to like it, well fine.”And that is what happened. I was given Bette Midler’s old office and I asked for the oldest secretary on the lot, who got me the car parking space and all the privileges. It is like the Public Service: the secre taries run the joint. She knew who to ring and what to do. I didn’t have to bother management for anything. I then spent probably the loneliest two months of my life, speak ing to nobody day after day. It was not a particularly good time. Meanwhile, I was being touted for a couple of projects. One was a tap dancing film that was going to be done in Chicago, called Partners, which I really liked. Another was Raggedy Man. Iwenttowork on both of them. The musical was still being written, for which I was getting some money, but I was only on a promise with Raggedy Man. I did a lot of writing and research with its writer, Bill Whittliff. He also had another project going, which he told me about, and, to cut a long story short, that’s the one I ended up doing. I liked it, it was a definite project and it was called Barbarosa. Then they pulled a swifty on me over Raggedy Man and Ijumped. It wasjust as well as the script went all the way back to where it was and the film that got made stinks. It was sad, actually, because it really could have been a good film. But Bill Whittliff is like that. He has an original vision with certain limitations. You then take him out of it to a place which he appreciates at the time. But if you let go of the leash, he goes Peow!, straight back to where he was. Everything that I felt was wrong with the script is in the final film. That is why it didn’t work - at all. On Barbarosa, I had a maniac of an actor called Gary Busey. He is a great actor, great actor, but an absolute nightmare to deal with. The art form in that picture was getting Gary out of his motor home and onto location so that he could act. I also had four producers! One was this guy who had been the head of Marble Arch, which was ITC in America, and then been bumped sideways. As well, there was Willie Nelson, Gary Busey and Bill Whittliff. What this really meant was that I ended up doing the work. Certainly when there was any trouble I did the work. How I knew there was trouble was when I saw my producers driving away from the set, heading for Los Angeles on urgent business! [Laughs] Ian [Baker] wasjust fantastic. We changed the way we worked three times within the first twoweeksjustto cope with the scheduling problems, Gary Busey, Willie Nelson’s availability - all that sort of stuff. The biggest shock for anybody going to America is the size of everything and the adjustment that takes. For example, an enormous amount of time is demanded of you by the actors, who resent your even looking through the camera. We also found ourselves with this huge circus of cars and machin ery' and drivers. We soon worked out that there is no way you can get this huge circus moving swiftly. So we set up these little runner units and, while all the big stuffwas back at base, we sent out the small units. That way we managed to get back to working the way we wanted. You

“ T h e f irs t re a s o n fo r g o in g o v e rs e a s w a s to g e t p ro p e rly p a id . Th e s e c o n d w a s th a t I w a n te d to t e s t m y s e lf in th e in te rn a tio n a l m a rk e tp la c e , to c h a lle n g e w h a t I had le a rn t. I a ls o had th is fu n n y id e a th a t if I m a n a g e d to do a c o u p le o f s u c c e s s fu l film s in A m e ric a , and c o u ld b u ild up a m a rk e ta b le n a m e , th a t w o u ld m ake it e a s ie r fo r m e to m a rk e t a n y film s I m ade b a ck h e re .”

can’t defeat the machinery, but you must not let it defeat you. Another problem was the production manager, who was a bully and a “tree is a tree”-type person. On our first survey, I knew it wasn’t going to work. So I went back to L.A. and said, ‘This man has to go.” There was a furore. But then I learnt how to deal with it. In Aanerica you can say, “Our personalities don’t mesh. There is nothing wrong with the man - in fact, he is an extremely wonderful production supervisor - but our personalities don’t mesh.” I mean, that’s bullshit, but they did get me someone else, who was wonderful. That was my first Hollywood lesson. Bytheway, I mustn’t forget [composer] Bruce Smeaton who has been involved with me all the way through. I talk about Ian Baker because I work with him every day on the set, but Bruce’s contribu tion to the films has been just fantastic. I hate ordinary press interviews because it all comes down to what I have been doing. I keep saying, “Look, I am this group of people who have all contributed.” But they never write about that, which I find very annoying and very unfair to the people involved. Where was Barbarosa shot? The locations are most striking.

I had Preston Aimes, a great, old-time production designer, come in at one stage. He told me to go to Big Ben National Park, but the pro ducer said, “Over my dead body. It’s too remote.” Then I got Leon Erickson in, who had done McCabe and Mrs Miller. Leon is very eccen tric and unusual, and I had ajob convincing the producer he was the right person. Leon and I then went down to Big Ben National Park and Del Rio, and found what we wanted. Itwas completely wilderness, but because it was a tourist spot there were tarred roads all through it. You could drive your trucks right to where you wanted, step off the road and shoot. Everywhere else the producer had wanted, which were really ugly, you felt you’d seen a hundred times before. They were also hard to get to, whereas this was so accessible. The other great thing was you could do wide shots at both ends of the day, because of the way that the mountains were structured. And as you moved in to do closer work, there was always a direction you could point where you would get great light and good texture on the backgrounds. But these were things American producers don t understand. Whereas we love to talk about light, over there there s absolutely no point talking to anybody about it. They don t under stand light; they just want you to “shoot the story”! [Laughs]

Anyway, to convince the producer of the sensibleness of this location, we all jumped in ajet and flew down. When we landed, he got out and he fell to his knees. I thought, “Oh, great, he loves it! ” Then I heard, “How can you do this to me V [Laughs] But we did end up shooting there, in a very remote town with no television. I have to tell you, the impact of no television on a group of people raised on 26 channels is really something to see. They are not like Australian crews who will make their own fun at night. These Americans had to make quite some adjustments. It was fun. In many ways, doing a Western as your first American film was a risky undertaking. Westerns haven’t done well at the box office in years and there is the difficulty of bringing freshness to a genre that many feel is played out.

I agree. But the reason they chose me, which always makes me laugh, is that they thought Jimmie Blacksmith was a great Western. In fact, they even teach that in some of their fjlm schools! A child of some of my friends was going to film school there, and her major thesis was on Jimmie Blacksmith. It was her teacher’s specialty. So she asked me whether she could talk to me about it. I said, “Sure”, and she brought over all her questions, I think I made her fail because I said, ‘Well, that’s not right, and this is absolute rub bish.” It was all to do with Westerns - very silly stuff. Anyway, that is why I was chosen. In general, Americans wantyour originality, but not for original films. They want it applied to their kind of films. Many have commented%n how badly Barbarosa was handled on its U.S. release.

The company I was making it for went broke and Universal took over the distribution, along with a number of other films. One was The Legend oj the Lone Ranger, which they thought was going to be sensational. But any fool looking at it could have told them, This is a total disaster.” And it was. By the time Universal got round to releasing Barbarosa, they weren’t interested. In fact, Bob Raimey, who is now with New World, said to me, T his picture isn’t going to work and we’re not going to spend any money on it.” His reasons were that it had Willie Nelson, who hadjust failed in Honeysuckle Rose, that ittoas a Western; and that it had Mexicans in it. Great, huh? I said, “Look, Westerns aren’t working, so you have to treat it as an ordinary movie. You should release it in New York and try and build up a reputation over a two-month period. Let people discover it as a film, then release it everywhere else. What you’re planning to do will cost $1.5 million and the film willjust disappear. Instead, why don’t you spend $200,000 and find out if you can make it cross-over.” But he said, “No, you won’t get the New York critics.” So I countered, “If I get the New York critics, will you reconsider?” Bob said he might and might not. “Furthermore”, he added, “if you don’t get the New York critics, I won’t release the film at all!” Finally, I convinced them to have a screening in New York, meaning Manhattan. So where did they screen it? In Yonkers. The film then broke in the projector and all sorts of other things went wrong. But I did get the critics, and great quotes from Pauline Kael and David Denby. I even had one critic who hated it go back and see it again; I managed to convince him he liked it. Despite this, Bob Raimey still ignored me and released it the same way they had released Honeysuckle Rose. Work that one out. So, in answer to your question, not only was it dumb to make a Western, itwas dumb to make itwith those people. ButI like the film; I like it a lot. CIN EM A

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LEFT: DR S T A N L E Y S H E P H A R D (T IM O T H Y H U T T O N ), W IT H B A R ED H E A D , E X A M IN E S TH E B O D Y O F TH E N E A N D E R T H A L M A N D IS C O V E R E D IN A N ICE F L O E . A B O V E : S H E P H A R D R E A C T S IN A M A Z E M E N T A S THE B O D Y C O M E S B A C K TO LIF E . IC E M A N . B E L O W : N IC K N A M E D C H A R L IE , THE IC EM A N (JO H N LO N E ) S T A L K S TH E B A V A R IU M W H E R E HE IS K E P T FO R S C IE N T IF IC O B S E R V A T IO N . IC E M A N .

and begged Norman Jewison to let me do it. I didn’t think it was the best script in the world, and I had to do a lot of research work on it, but it is a very authentic film. It is literally on the “what if’ basis, and if you take just one leap of faith it all works. Iceman isn’t the world’s most intellectual picture, but it has real heart about what it’s examining. The film has the feeling of being made by people who applied more care and intelligence than the script deserved.

I CEMAN

After Barbarosa, which gained you a considerable critical reputation, you went off to do a film that struck many people as an odd choice.

I was supposed to do Partners after Barbarosa, but there was a change of management at Lorrimar, where I was doing it. Half way through shooting Barbarosa, they rang me up and said, “We want to make this film for $8 million, instead of SI 5 million.” “How do you think you are going to do that?”, I asked. “Oh,” they said, “we want to fly down to talk to you about it.” I told them I couldn’t do that in the middle of production. So they said, “Well, we want to do without this num ber and that number” and so on. I replied, “That’s good, you can do without the director as well. I’ll see you later.” [Laughs] And they did take out of the film everything that was of value. I then tried to get up a number of other projects. One was set in Taiwan and written by James Goldman. I felt it was as good as The Manchurian Candidate, but we couldn’t get it made. Another great project was The Consultant, about a guy who manipulates political images for the media. It had Roy Scheider, and Jaqueline Bisset as a documentary reporter who gets mixed up in some killings. Just as all systems were go, we found out they weren’t. As it turned out, Jacky Bisset and I didn’t get on too well, anyway. While I was in the middle of all this disappointment and non sense, my editor from Barbarosa [Don Zimmerman] called me and said he was working with [producer] Norman Jewison on a project called Iceman. He shot the script over to me, I read it and then went 34

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That is probably right. I think the original writer, [John] Drimmer, had some good ideas, but he wasn’t capable of carrying them through. Then Universal hired a guy who had written a great script for something or other, but he was neither very' intelligent nor hardworking. So we were always behind the eight ball. Norman Jewison, whom I like, also insisted during the audience testing period that certain things be removed. I think those cuts took away a bit of the edge and some of the explanation. I wouldn’t allow that to happen any more, but I had no choice at the time. I am not having a shot at Norman. He did what he feltwas right, and I think he was in one respect: some bits were a bit boring. But sometimes you have to have those boring bits because they are the rock on which every thing else is built. You often find this in a good play. During the first act, you often wonder, “What the hell am I sitting here for?”, but it all pays off at the end. The problem with Iceman was that it was always perceived as el cheapo science fiction by the public, who stayed away in droves. We should have been wiser to that possibility, but we weren’t. Still, it has had an extraordinary life on video. I get cheques from video - how’s that for a real surprise? And if I am getting cheques from video, somebody got rich!

“ In g e n e ra l, A m e ric a n s w a n t y o u r o rig in a lity , b u t n o t fo r o rig in a l film s . T h e y w a n t it a p p lie d to t h e ir k in d o f film s ... I lo v e

Plenty.

I f e lt I w a s a b le to a p p ly

all th e t h in g s I had le a rn t b e fo re h a n d on m y o th e r film s . W h e re th in g s a re sa id b e c o m e s a s im p o rta n t as w h a t is b e in g s a id . Th e lo c a tio n s a re a g e n u in e c h a ra c te r in th e f i lm .”

PLENTY

Your next film, Plenty, is a leap forward in assurance and control.

I love Plenty. I felt I was able to apply all the things I had learnt beforehand on my other films. Where things are said becomes as im portant as what is being said. The locations are a genuine character in.the film. Plenty was London based. Was it English or American financed?

The financing was very complicated. That’s Ed Pressman [pro ducer] ! We ended up being financed by R.K.O., which had just been rekindled in America, and then opened up in London as well. So it was American money, but an all-English production. Unfortunately, the revitalization only lasted a couple of years. Both Sam Cohn, my agent, and Steven Tesich, a very good screenwriter in New York, had talked me into doing Plenty. I had enjoyed the play but had a couple of problems with some of it. I agreed to meet with David Hare, the writer, at the Sherry Nether lands in New York. As soon as we sat down, I said, “I want to be honest with you. I have some problems with the play and I’d like to articulate them to you. That way you’ll know exactly how I feel. If it is hurtful or rude, I can’t help that. I have to tell you, because you may not want to go on with this meeting, and it would be silly of us to do it the other way round.” So I told him what I felt, and he agreed that there were problems he had never been able to solve. In a couple of cases, he also made me see things another way, which was very helpful. We then realized we were heading in the same direction, and from then on we got on very well. I knew it was a hell of an enterprise, but it was a really intelligent, worthy thing to do. I felt it could be a bloody good film. The first step was to decide if we should cast Meryl Streep or Kate Nelligan, who had done the play on Broadway. Personally I wanted Meryl, for the reasons of getting more inroads into the character. She was also important in terms of getting the amount of money I believed was necessary to do the film. Kate had the reputation on stage at that time, but Meryl had it on film. Ed Pressman then started running round trying to get the money. As soon as I smelt he had some of it, he found me on a plane to England, spending. I had him about $400,000 in the hole before he had a chance to blink. He had to make it work! [Laughs] How was it working with David Hare? He has a reputation for being very precious about his screenplays and not allowing a word or an em phasis to be changed.

Such stories would have come from the film done in Vietnam [Saigon: Year of the Cat] and from people like Frederick Forrest, who wanted to ad lib his dialogue. You don’t ad lib a playwright’s dialogue. Of course, David wanted his words said in a certain way, as does any great writer. There are rhythms, and motors, and emotional undercurrents in those words. David and I actually spent a lot of time taking Plenty from a stage play and making it a film. There were eight or ten drafts done on that screenplay. I would savage David, he would savage me, then he would go away and make it his own again. I would then savage him again and he would show me what I’d no t seen. I ’d suggest another way of doing it and we would work something out. Then he’d go away and make it his own again. It was a real process. I believe we succeeded in fixing some of the flaws of the play. In fact, David and I laughed a lot when one critic said, “It’sjust like the stage play. They haven’t changed anything at all. ”The critic thought

A B O V E (T O P ): S C H E P IS I D IR EC TS T R A C E Y U L L M A N , C E N T R E, A N D M E R Y L ST R EEP O N THE SET O F P L E N T Y . A N D , JU S T A FT E R THE W A R , S U S A N TR E H ER N E (M E R Y L ST R E E P ) M EETS A N D H A S A N A F F A IR W IT H THE Y O U N G D IP LO M A T , R A Y M O N D B R O C K (C H A R LE S D A N C E ). P LE N T Y .

that was a slight, but we felt that was a fantastic compliment because more than a third of the script is new material. Even though the script differed significantly from the original play, I always felt I was interpreting David Hare’s work. It is great work and I wasn’t about to go off and make some otherfilm. In fact, during the filming, if there were moments we felt were still not working, we kept talking about them while I shot other stuff. That way we could hopefully fix things before it came time to shoot. And by David’s having that involvement in that process, the film stayed in his language and was pretty much as he wanted it. CIN EM A

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think he is a bit what I’ll call “self conscious”, though I don’t mean it as strongly as that. He will do something from a literary or theatrical consideration, but it will come off as a self conscious camera move ment. But he has a completely original approach, and is really exciting. I also like Paris by Night, but I think I would have done a better job of it. I loved the script and really wanted to do it. I would have done a real film noirwith a lot more bravura in the visuals. It would not have been David’s film: it would have been David and Fred’s film, and quite different. Would you have portrayed the heroine so darkly?

No, not in David’s way. He likes that. He is examining the cold bleakness of people. His thing is this English exterior which he wants to penetrate and bust. I would have examined that in another way. A great example is The Gin Game, which is about a man and a woman in an old people’s home. There are only two people on stage and it is about boredom and tedium, about life passing by. Many people would direct that in aboooorrrringway, letting you have that same experience. In the production I saw, [director] Mike Nichols made everything compelling and funny and fast. You knew all about the boredom and the agony, but you didn’t have to actually sit there and experience it in real time. In a way, there is a little of that in David’s approach. Having said that, I still like Paris by Night. It is a challenging and different experience. Have you seen Strapless?

Yes. I like it a lot. It has a wonderful mood about it and a lot of energy. I love Blair Brown, though I think David could have made her look a bit prettier! [Laughs] ROXANNE

After the success of Plenty, you moved to comedy with Roxanne. A B O V E (T O P ): U P P E R -C LA S S S U S A N A N D W O R K IN G -C L A S S M IC K (S T IN G ), LO V ER S O F A K IN D A N D TIM E. P L E N T Y . A N D : S U S A N , R IG H T , F IN D S TH E S T U L T IF Y IN G A T M O S P H E R E O F F O R E IG N D IP L O M A C Y N O M A TC H F O R THE E X C IT E M EN T O F H ER W A R Y E A R S . W ITH H ER N O W H U S B A N D R A Y M O N D A N D S IR L E O N A R D D A R W IN (JO H N G IE L G U D ). P L E N T Y .

Plenty was a great experience for me, on an intellectual and craft level, as well as a personal one. David and I got on very well. As with all really good people, we found frank exchanges the best way. If you can put aside ego and be frank, you are able to see how your own limitations may have prevented you from seeing something earlier. In my case, even if itwasn’t my limited ability, there are psychological things going on in a play or script that can’t readily be perceived because they are in the mind of the writer. David wouldn’t necessarily think of saying to you, “That’s why I have done it”, but when you cut and thrust and challenge he will come out with it. You will then see things in a completely different way. What have you thought of David Hare’s work as a director?

I know he is quite controversial, but I really like Wetherby] I think it’s great. I also love his early television work, like Dreams of the Leaving. Fabulous! When he directs, David is a bit like David Mamet: he lights so that you concentrate on faces: the words become all important. But I don’t think like some that they’re only illuminated stage plays, because he really stages them as film. He tries to be original in his cinematic language, and he is learning all the time. Sometimes I 36

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I had actually been trying to do comedy for quite a while. Before Iceman, I had been involved with a physical comedy based on Robin Hood, which I was going to do in the style of The Three Musketeers, but hopefully even better. I was really looking forward to that, but it never came to be. I also had ajudith Ross script called The Other Man, which I thought was very funny. In the meantime, I took two writing jobs. I did an adaptation of the book, Meet Me at the Melba. Interestingly, it is a lot of actresses’

“Roxanne

w a s a v e ry fre e in g e x p e rie n c e fo r m e, and I h a ve had

a re n e w e d a ttitu d e e v e r s in c e , if s o m e th in g w o rk s , it w o rk s . D o n ’t g e t to o in te llig e n t and o v e r-im p o s e in fo rm a tio n in th e p h o to g ra p h y and th e m u s ic and s o u n d . D o n ’t g e t s tu ltifie d . Do a ll th e w o rk b e fo re h a n d , th e n le t go and be fre e and e m o tio n a l. D o n ’t cru s h th in g s to d e a th in te lle c tu a lly .”

favourite script, but I couldn’t get it made for love or money. Then I wrote an original comedy called Misconceptions, which I believe is very funny, but again couldn’t get it made. As well as these, there were two Steve Tesich screenplays, both comedies of tone and character. They are very funny, but I couldn’t get anywhere with them. I got so depressed by this that I actually shot 20 minutes of one of them on videotape. The company which had put the project into turn around thought I had created a miracle and changed their minds completely. Then two weeks later, when we went in for the final meeting, they changed their minds again. I think that had to do with Kirk Kerkorian playing round with money, and not the script. So, it seemed as if no one would let me do a comedy. Then a friend of mine, Martha Lattrall, had her agency bought out by I.C.M., where Sam Cohn is. Suddenly she went from a friend who gave me advice to one of my agents. And it was she who sent me Roxanne, and who convinced [pro ducer] Dan Melnick that he should meet me. When I met with Dan, I rather arrogantly gave him my theories on comedy and life and acting. But he seemed to like all that, and my work. Steve Martin also turned out to be a great fan of Plenty, and was looking to take an acting step. So we had dinner with Steve and I took the bull by the horns and said, “Steve, your script doesn’t start until page 61. What are we going to do about it?” [Laughs] Fortunately, Steve agreed, and we got stuck into it. Then the guy who had been resisting me at Columbia left for another job and I was in. Roxannewas a great experience for me and a breakthrough. You see, something happens when you start refining your aesthetics: you begin to censor yourself without knowing it. I saw a good line the other day: “You become good taste, looking over its shoulder.” You start to over-intellectualize and you eliminate all sorts of possibilities from your work. I hadn’t fully realized that until Roxanne, where there is a lot of wonderfully silly things happening. For example, I had the idea of B ELO W LEFT: C . D . B A LES (S T EV E M A R T IN ) FEN C ES A LITTLE W ITH H IS R A C K E T A N D D ISP O SE S O F A N A B U S IV E D R U N K (K E V IN N E A L O N ). R O X A N N E . B E LO W R IG H T : C . D. H ELPS C H R IS (R IC K R O S S O V IC H ) W R IT E A LETTER TO TH E (JO IN T L Y ) B E LO V E D R O X A N N E . R O X A N N E . A B O V E : R O X A N N E (D A R Y L H A N N A H ) A N D D IX IE (S H E LLE Y D U V A L ) W O R R Y W H A T TH E LO V E IN TER ESTS A R E U P TO IN R O X A N N E .

putting ‘The Blue Danube” at the start of the scene where the firemen practise with the hose. Then I thought, “Heh, I could do this whole sequence to ‘The Blue Danube’. I can shoot it with that in mind, just knowing I might do it.” But then I started to have doubts and decided it was corny. But hold on: Why is it corny? Who says it’s corny? And even if it is corny, what’s necessarily wrong with that? Shouldn’t I just be free and mad? Then I remembered all the things I used to do at Bruce Clarke’s Jingle Workshop, back when I was doing documentaries. I’d invent musique concrete things. I even did a whole film with just five voices. I orchestrated all these sounds and words and supermarket conversa tions, then electronically treated them so that they became like metal-pressing machines. I used to be very free and experimental, going out and pushing the borders. But as you get into features, there are certain things you get rid of, because everything has to be in the service of the story and the characters. Then one day you realize you have locked away some thing you’d forgotten you had. Roxanne opened all those doors for me. It was very strange, because here I was doing a comedy which was forcing me to be far more conventional than I would have liked. There is always only one place to put the camera, and the minute you plan to have an alternative joke, or you want to drop a line, you are forced into coverage. You can’t afford to do it in one shot. Against that need to be conservative, I had to fight to adopt a style and keep it in the film. Suddenly I was required to bring out a whole armoury of stuff I’d forgotten I had. So Roxanne was a very freeing experience for me, and I have had a renewed attitude ever since. If something works, it works. Don’t get too intelligent and over-impose information in the photography and the music and sound. Don’t get stultified. Do all the work before hand, then let go and be free and emotional. Don’t crush things to death intellectually. At the same time, there are areas of yourself you can’t put into what are essentially conventional stories. Did that sense of freedom gained from Roxanne contribute to the ‘home movie’ style of Evil Angels? CIN EM A

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Absolutely. Wobbly-cam! “What is this guy doing with wobbly-cam?” I used to be so perfect with all my camera moves and make the audience quite unconscious of what I was doing. If I moved, I crept. But now I ask myself: Why? Who says? You must find what the picture needs, then do it. And, yes, the ‘home movie’ style is definitely there in Evil Angels. It governs the whole structure of it, crossing as it does to people over the country for comments. I have taken that style even further in The Russia House. One stylistic element common to all your films is the abrupt changing of perspective on people in the landscape. You cut from very wide to very close and even through 90 degrees, which almost no other director does. The opening of Icemanis quite extraordinary in its use of 90 degree cuts.

For me, every character who appears in a film, from the very bit part right up, has to have an inner life. Many times they play things that are not immediately perceivable. And I give them as much information about who they are as I do the main actors. That is part of what gives that sense of community: they are all fully realized people, interacting in a very real way. The perception of you in America must have changed greatly after the success of Roxanne. Did you feel that?

Absolutely. Up till then I was just an interesting filmmaker, strad dling the majors and the independents. There was a lot of pressure from the good independents, and particularly writers, to do their work, and I still had the possibility of working for the majors. But then Roxanne made money. More than that, it was funny and warm. It could have been just a conventional comedy, but it became more than that. Roxanne made the studios appreciate my skills more, and it also made money. I am not sure in which order that goes, but I have an idea. [Laughs]

That is my grammar. Each film is different, as we agree, but there is a basic grammar about cutting on line and shocking scale changes. These are stimulus things: I hate those miserable little 30 degree changes and boring over-the-shoulder stuff. Cut round strongly; go 90 degrees if you want. I like to work with modular-pattern filmmaking. If you find you have a flaw in the development or something, it is actually easier to unplug and shift things around when working this way than if you are using a more conventional system. That is something I learnt many, many years ago and is partly why I do some of what you mentioned. But it is also more than that. If you go in on line, you are concen trating on one thing and not introducing extraneous information in the background; you are not distracting the audience.

Steve Martin had been tried in other films and not really succeeded, so the fact that he worked so well in Roxanne must have been seen as proof of your abilities as a director.

The scene at the beginning of Roxanne, where C. D. Bales [Steve Martin] comes down the steps with his racket and walks along the path before meeting the two hooris, is almost the classic sequence of Schepisi patterning.

Presumably Steve Martin wrote it that way, to give him what he felt he hadn’t been offered before.

Yes it is. Absolutely. Another stylistic element is the sense of community detailed in each picture. In Roxanne, for example, there is the strong feeling for the town and of the relationships between people.

I think that’s true. But there is a certain irony in that, because what people haven’t picked up on is that Steve actually had something to act. This wasn’t just a series of vignettes or one-liners. There was a story, a character and a depth beyond the simply comedic approach, and a romance had an emotional storyline. I don’t think he did that consciously, it was just the story he picked [ Cyrano de Bergerac]. But he might have. I can’t properly answer that, though I’m sure he was looking for a good vehicle, yes. EVIL

ANGELS

Yes. Bill Hurt actually expressed it a little differently and I think more accurately. He said, “You fill in the corners.” Most people don’t. They concentrate on main characters and everyone else is peripheral.

After Roxanne, your reputation was at a high with the major studios. But instead of trying to consolidate yourself in America, you came to Australia to make a film for Cannon. [Schepisi chuckles.] Once again you went off in a surprising direction.

M IC H A EL (S A M N EILL) A N D LIN D Y C H A M B E R L A IN (M E R Y L S T R E E P ), V IC T IM S O F A H A S T IL Y

Well, I don’t want to repeat myself. I want each film to be a challenge and a new experience. I don’twant to go back over where I have been unless I can find a different avenue of approach. I’ll certainly do more comedy, but there is a hell of a lot of other things I want to do as well. Quite frankly, I didn’t want to do Evil Angels. I thought it was going to be too hard, and I was right. But [producer] Verity Lambert just drove me mad about it. Fortunately, I was able to do it - and this will sound wrong - on Hollywood terms. I don’t think I could have done it without Meryl. With her name, I was able to get the money to do it properly. Meryl was an enormously helpful collaborator on every level. She gave me the confidence to believe I could do it. I couldn’t, wouldn’t, have done it without her.

JU D G E M E N T A L P U B LIC A N D A C A R N IV O R O U S P R E S S . E V IL A N G E L S .

What did you think was too hard about it?

Outside of the controversy, and the amount and importance of the information, was the fact I couldn’t take any licence. I understand now why people 20 years after an event combine characters and cheat on a few things. What they present dramatically can be closer to the truth in an emotional way than if they were strictly hidebound 38

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e v il a n g e l s

“ M y fa v o u rite line from A u s tra lia n s is: T d re a lly like to see

th e o th e r s id e o f th e s t o r y .’ W h y c a n ’t th e y a c c e p t th e re is no o th e r s id e ? I p re s e n t all s id e s o f th e s to ry in th e b e s t p o s s ib le w a y , non ju d g e m e n ta lly . Ju s t b e ca u s e th e film co m e s d o w n on th e s id e o f th e C h a m b e rla in s ’ in n o c e n c e , w h y d o e s th a t m ean th e re has to be a n o th e r s id e to th e s to r y ? ”

hand, people won’t accede to government attempts to conform them, such as when they vetoed the banning of the Communist Party in the 1950s. At the same time, there is a strong desire on a personal level to make people conform to an accepted norm. And the Cham berlains were perceived by most Australians to be outside that accepted norm. People didn’t understand their religion and in vented all sorts of crazinesses about it. They also resented the supposed lack of emotion. The Chamberlains were easily and hastily branded as guilty because of their ‘differentness’.

U N D Y A N D A Z A R IA : "A L L C O M M U N IT IE S . . . N EED S C A P E G O A T S . TH E Y N EED SO M E E V IL TH A T TH E Y C A N E X P E R IE N C E A N D R EV EL IN W IT H O U T G ET T IN G B U R N T ." E V IL A N G E L S .

by the facts. I don’t think we ended up being hidebound, but that’s what I was frightened of. As it was an on-going case, there was also the danger the film could negatively affect the lives of people involved. I didn’t want to take it on if there was any danger of my doing that. Verity felt my hesitation was because I didn’t know how to make the film, and that was true ... at first. Then I did find out a way of doing it. But I had to tell Verity I couldn’t guarantee the film’s commerciality if I went in that direction. I’m glad Verity talked me into it, because I think it is a bloody good film. It has been successful in many places, and in the oddest places it hasn’t. In America it wasn’t, but that is a whole other story. When directors go to a foreign country, they often bring a fresh perspective to issues that local directors have missed. That is cer tainly the case with Walkabout and Wake in Fright, which could not have been made by Australian directors. It seems to me that in Evil Angels there is a freshness and objectivity in looking at Australia in fluenced by your time working overseas. Would you agree?

Yes, I do. The one thing I didn’t say when you asked why I went overseas was: to gain a better perspective and balance on my own country and culture. I wanted to see things in world terms and experience other similar situations. You definitely get a better appreciation of your own country if you can get away for a while and experience thingson an international level. Of course, things can get distorted as well, if you are stupid. Evil Angels is quite tough on Australians in several ways. You are very critical of the ‘rush to judgement’.

Yes ... Explain that. Well, within Australia there is a contradictory impulse. On the one

Absolutely. Their differentness is definitely what fired up the public in general. There were the unknown aspects of their religion, the unknown aspects of the case, the unknown spirituality of where it happened. The whole thing is not as bizarre as it seems, itjust became that way. I also think that all communities, and I realized this from being overseas, need scapegoats. They need some evil that they can expe rience and revel in without getting burnt. That way it can end up as a cautionary tale. At the same time, one wonders why this country is so obsessed with the Chamberlains when at the same time a woman killed three of her children and only went to jail for two months. No one ever talked about that except on the first day. Why? Yet, with Lindy Chamberlain, here was someone who had lost her child through perfectly explicable circumstances and was treated like a witch. My favourite line from Australians is: “I’d really like to see the other side of the story.” Why can’t they accept there is no other side? I present all sides of the story in the best possible way, nonjudgementally. Just because the film comes down on the side of the Chamber lains’ innocence, why does that mean there has to be another side to the story? Well one crucial difference from the book, for example, is that it doesn’t establish at the start the strong probability of her innocence the way the film does.

That is correct. [Pause] Well, we don’t really in the film either. We reallyjust show it as everyone saw it and acted. You don’t exactly see what happens, but you do. We could have done it by completely fudging the middle section and making the audience guess all the way. But it was our belief that would make the whole thing exploitative and a bit like a thriller. We wouldn’t have been able to examine the how and why to the extent that we do. We also felt itwas important that people understand how little they had actually known when making theirjudgements. There was no evil villain, it was only the cumulative effect of everybody’s actions that became the villain. It was important that audiences actually experienced that, rather than just go on a thriller journey. Although I don’t think you can compare the films, there is a way in which The Accused does it the other way around. I felt they sensationalized their story and revelled in the very thing they were supposedly criticizing. Of course, my approach on Evil Angels cost us a lot of money. It didn’t do that well in America. But amongst actors and studio people it had an extraordinary' impression. I am sure that is partly to do with Sam Neill’s and Meryl’s work, but the film also touched a nerve. Steven Spielberg was running around touting it as the best picture of that year. And John Landis, who had been through that publicity after the [helicopter] accident, wrote to say how much the film had affected him personally. Evil Angels is a picture that spoke to people touched by bad or excessive publicity. That has lifted it, and me with it, into a whole other area. As much as Roxanne, it has helped put me in the position I have reached at this point. CIN EM A

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A B O V E : M IC H ELLE P F EIF F ER A N D SE A N C O N N E R Y P O S E FO R A TH E R U S S IA H O U S E

THE

RUSSIA

HOUSE

p r o d u c t io n s t il l in

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belo w

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SC IEN TIST D A N TE IN THE R U S S IA H O U S E .

Sam Cohn sent me a manuscript of the book just after Christmas [88/89], asking me to read it quickly. There were other people up for it at the time and Sam, who was also representing David Cornwall [John Le Carré], wanted to know if I would be interested in case it didn’twork out with these others. I read it, responded well to it and said I’d be interested. I was on my way to L.A. when he rang and said to go to London. So I went there and met David Cornwall, telling him how I felt about his book and what I thought I could do with it. I knew that he hadn’t been happy with any of the previous films. We talked for a while and then he suggested I meet with Tom Stoppard. Tom had been put forward by Mike Nichols when he was being considered for the project. So, I met with Tom and discovered that we got on very well. We then both met with David to see whether we all three of us wanted to make the same film. We did and came to an agreement, forming a little pact amongst ourselves. Then I flew to New York and rang the guy who had distributed The Devil’s Playground there, Jerry Rappaport. He is the biggest distribu tor for the Eastern block in films and food. He told me that Elem Klimov, head of the Filmmakers Union in Russia, was coming the next day and set up a meeting for me. Elem and I hit it off and we opened up the lines for the arrangement that we eventually adopted. This was on February 28. Then I went round with Sam and tried to sell the project. Sam thought it would sell a bit more easily than I did; I knew it was a bit intelligent. Then Tom joined me in Los Angeles and we went and did a “dog and pony” show at a few studios. Eventually, we talked Alan Ladd Jr at Pathe into it and he gave us the money to write the first draft. (Incidentally, Laddy was president at Fox when I had first started there.) One of my conditions was that I also be given enough money to take the production designer, the DOP arid myself on a location survey. Unfortunately, Ian couldn’t come in the end be cause he was working on another film.

I became the producer, but I asked for someone who had worked in Russia before. Paul Maslansky is an American who had worked a lotwith the'Ladd Company, and who’d made two films in Russia. He became my co-producer. Well, we got the first draft in Cannes, when we were there for [the Competition screening of] Evil Angels. I went straight off after that to England for discussions with Tom on the second draft. While he worked on that, I shot off to Russia and did an eight-day survey in and around Moscow and Leningrad. I then sent the designer on to Lisbon and Maine and a couple of other places. The second draft came in June, but Pathe wouldn ’t make the film unless I got Sean Connery. This was after long discussions about who, how and why. So I flew from London to New York, and then on to L.A. airport. I met Jay Canter, who is Alan Ladd’s right-hand man, before he got on a plane to Malaysia. I gave him the script, had a chat and a couple of drinks, and off he went. I then walked to an other section of the main terminal and met with Sean Connery for an hour in the lounge of some airline or other. I gave him the script, talked like hell and tried to convince him to do it. I laid down my terms, he laid down his. Then he went off and I headed to yet another ter minal to pick up [daughter] Ashley, who was coming in to spend some time with me. We then drove imo town and delivered a script to Laddy.

How did you become involved with The Russia House?

• CIN EM A

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“The Russia House

is an a n ti-s p y film . It is a b o u t h o w

th e v e ry p e o p le w h o s h o u ld h a ve k n o w n th in g s w e re c h a n g in g d id n ’t k n o w . T h e y d o n ’t w a n t th in g s to c h a n g e . T h e re a re e c o n o m ie s and w a y s o f life b a s e d on th e A rm s R a c e . T h a t is w h a t w e a re re a lly e x a m in in g ; th a t is th e u n d e r-b e lly o f th e f ilm .”

That was on a Saturday and on Monday Sean rang me and said he wanted to do it. Boom, we were up and running! Everyone had kept thinking there was no way we could do it. Even my own agent still can’t work out how we did. From a book to a film takes a long time. But Moscow, Leningrad, London, Lisbon and Vancouver all in that time: pretty good! Did this speed have anything to do with the changes looming in Russia and Eastern Europe?

No. I wanted to go in September before the weather conditions in Russia became too difficult. But the bloody lawyers took a bit long negotiating Tom’s contract and we lost a few weeks. I knew that October was the latest we could start and, if I missed that, I’d have to wait six months. So we went like stink to do it in time. That was the main driving force. At that time, nobody knew what was going to happen in Europe. Regardless of what might happen to Gorbachev or the system, there was no guarantee that the benevolent moment of free enterprise would continue. During the making of the film, was anything changed to take account of altering circumstances?

No, the book is a moment in time. I felt it would always be relevant, and that there was no point trying to chase current circumstances. In fact, the film has stayed pretty well where the script was originally, even maybe back-pedalled a little. The Russia House is an anti-spy film. It is about how the very people who should have known things were changing didn’t know. They don’t want things to change. There are economies and ways of life based on the Arms Race. That is what we are really examining; that is the under-belly of the film. Then, during production, the Berlin Wall came down, and Hungary and Poland came out. Tiananmen Square happened the day before we went to Russia on our second survey. We met some American tourists at Leningrad airport and they were starved for news. It became very clear that nowhere in Russia had there been any reporting whatsoever on any of the events in China. I found that quite shocking.

Le Carré’s book is based on very long and precise conversations. From a Hollywood point of view, there isn’t much action in it. Was that ever a studio concern?

Alan Ladd’s original fear was that it would be a talking heads picture.

A B O V E : SEA N C O N N E R Y A S B A R LEY IN THE R U S S IA H O U S E : "P A T H E W O U LD N 'T M A KE THE FILM U N LESS I G O T SEA N C O N N E R Y . TH IS W A S A FTER LO N G D ISC U S SIO N S A B O U T W H O , H O W A N D W H Y ." B E LO W : M ICHELLE PFEIFFER A S K A T Y A IN THE R U S S IA H O U SE: " Y O U 'U BELIEVE SHE IS R U S S IA N ."

I kept saying it wouldn’t be, but rather something thatwould take you inside Russia and let you really experience it. Nobody thinks of it as a dialogue picture now. They think of it as an extremely involving story with an incredible sense of scale. It is a dramatic story that sucks you in and keeps you there. The love story is very strong and you don ’t need the other stimuli of car chases and shooting round comers. How have you dealt with the Russian characters? In The Huntfor Red October, for example, they are all so English that the inter-nation tension never ignites.

Basically, all the Russians are Russian, except for Michelle Pfeiffer. But you’ll believe she is Russian. Where Russians should speak Russian, they do so. There are only one or two places were a translation is needed and how that is done becomes part of the story. It wasn’t a real problem. In terms of technique, The Russia Houseis a furtherance, in a way, of what I did in Evil Angels, but it is also something quite different. You will see some of my basic grammar, but that is only the rock, the foundation. I want to keep pushing the barriers. I mean, you don’t take an extremely complexjohn Le Carré novel, after promising the guy you’ll put it on screen with all of its complexity and nuances, and do it in a straightforward, linear way. You have to come up with something which is honest to the original work. And that is what Tom did. He came up with a wonderful structure; it’s very exciting. If you get a chance to do something really different, you really should. After all, people don’t want to keep coming back to the same experiences. I can understand that there are cinematic traditions, CIN EM A

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• 41

it. I had to triple the time before I cut so that the people could get that experience. Those cuts are all much longer than I had ever wanted them, but probably they should be even longer still. You can sense that when you watch it with an audience. So, there are times when I must learn to work against my own nature, to give people more. I have to learn to do that more during the shooting as well. I ought to drop a little bit of my grammar and technique to better milk the emotional moments between people. Why do you think there have been several very successful Australian directors in America? Are there particular qualities they bring to filmmaking?

and there is a certain comfort and pleasure in playing on variation's, but we also want to be stimulated by new things. I would prefer to be on the stimulating front as often as I can. FINAL

THOUGHTS

At the time of Jimmie Blacksmith, you said, “In the end you can only make a film for yourself. You have to make it to your integrity and to the way you truly fe e l... Obviously it is no good making a film with out signposts in it - you need some consideration for the audience - but since there is no way of really knowing, you just do what you feel is going to create a real experience.”

Yes, I feel exactly the same. Maybe I have cocked my ear a little more to the audience, but essentially it still has to delight yourself. David Hare said to me during Plenty, and I don’t want this to be taken the wrong way, “I am a clever bugger, and you’re a clever bugger. And together we could compound this by getting overclever.” So we made a pact to spend the whole time keeping each other simple. Tom and I did the same on The Russia House. And we also had David Cornwall in the mix to keep a check on both of us. One difference now in the way I try to work, and you’re not going to believe this when you see the film, is the desire not be too clever. I try to be as clear and as accessible as possible on the top level. I then put all of the other stuff in layers underneath, to be discovered by people who want to go on that exploration. In Jimmie Blacksmith, for example, I put almost everything on the surface. You also said in that early Cinema Papers interview, “A lot of Australian films tend to avoid .. things on an intellectual level. They think the audience knows what is going to happen, so they don’t tell them. What they should do is tell them on a physical level.”

Yes, that is true. And I am still educating myself into doing that. On Evil Angels, where I was trying to keep the pace up all the time, I had Martha Luttrall tell me to double the emotional climaxes. Take for instance the scene where Michael [Sam Neill] brings Lindy [Meryl Streep] the flowers on the anniversary of their child’s death. As soon as they hugged, I gave it “One, two and I’m out of there.” I gave audiences the conclusion and, I thought, the emotion. But I was disturbing them by not giving them enough time to fully experience42

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Yes. Because of our experiences here, originally with very little money and very few resources and everybody learn ing together, we became free and inventive. We learnt more about the various facets of filmmaking than most international directors do, and also how to get the money onto the screen. We are also good, some of us. I always laugh when the overseas people think of us as a breed, which we are definitely not, as Australians know.. But there is probably something in our upbringing that singles us out. In Australia, we are brought up as Australians and all that that means culturally. But there are also many English and American in fluences. There is an international “us”, as well as an Australian side. When we go overseas, we find we know more about things than we’d imagined, while at the same time seeing things with our own peculiar irreverence and focus. So even though we Australian directors are very different, there probably is some common factor creeping into those films. One thing that rarely creeps in is a revision to the cliched patterns of much American filmmaking.

Well, Bruce [Beresford], Peter [Weir], Gillian [Armstrong] and George [Miller] and I were brought up on a diet of good English and European cinema, as well as American commercialism. Our stand off, observed, atmospheric style of filmmaking is influenced by European and Japanese films. We are a mixture of everything: warmer, say, than the Europeans, but not as warm or as exploitative as the Americans. Australians go for emotional truth, whereas Americans seem to prefer manufactured, commercialized emotion. That is what makes us different. It isn’t necessarily what makes our films sell more, because they don’t. If anything, we have to put more emotionalism and warmth into our films for the American taste - and probably for the world’s taste, too. ■ FI LMOGRAPHY

DI RECTOR

(series of shorts); (short); (documentary); (documentary); (documental')) - also writer; (documentary); (documentan) - also producer; (documentar)) - also writer FEATURES 1973Libido (“The Priest ’ episode); 1976 The Devil’s Playground - also writer and producer; 1978 The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith - also writer and producer; 1982 Barbarosa; 1984 Iceman; 1985 Plenty

SHORTS AND DOCUMENTARIES 1 9 6 4 -6 6 Camera C om er 1965 Breaking the Language Barrier 1965 The Shape of Quality 1965 People Make Papers 1966 And One Was Gold 1967 Switch On 1970 The Plus Factor 1972 Tomorrow’s Canberra

1987 Roxanne; 1988 Evil Angels; 1990 The Russia House. A B O V E : S C H E P IS I W IT H M IC H ELLE P F E IF F E R D U R IN G TH E P R O D U C T IO N O F TH E R U S S IA H O U S E .

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John Lamond, Sonia Borg, Alain Tanner, Indian cinema, Dimboola, Cathy’s Child. NUMBER 19 (JAN/FEB 1979)

Antony Ginnane, Stanley Hawes, Jeremy Thomas, Andrew Sarris, sponsored documentaries, Blue Fin. NUMBER 20 (MARCH-APRIL 1979)

Ken Cameron, Claude Lelouch, Jim Sharman, French cinema, My Brilliant Career. NUMBER 22 (JULY/AUG 1979)

Bruce Petty, Luciana Arrighi, Albie Thoms, Stax, Alison’s Birthday NUMBER 24 (DEC/JAN 1980)

Brian Trenchard-Smith, Ian Holmes, Arthur Hiller, Jerzy Toeplitz, Brazilian cinema. NUMBER 25 (FEB/MARCH 1980)

David Puttnam, Janet Strickland, Everett de Roche, Peter Faiman, Chain Reaction, Stir. NUMBER 26 (APRIL/MAY 1980)

Charles H. Joffe, Jerome Heilman, Malcolm Smith, Japanese cinema, Peter Weir.

Helen Morse, Richard Mason, Anja Breien, David Millikan, Derek Granger, Norwegian cinema, National Film Archive.

NUMBER 60 (NOVEMBER 1986)

Australian Television, Franco Zeffirelli, Nadia Tass, Bill Bennett, Dutch Cinema, Movies By Microchip, (Hello.

NUMBER 40 (OCTOBER 1982)

NUMBER 61 (JANUARY 1987)

Alex Cox, Roman Polanski, Philippe Mora, Martin Armiger, Dogs In Space, Howling 777. Screen Violence, David Lynch, Cary Grant, ASSA conference, production barometer, film finance, The Story Of The Kelly Gang.

NUMBER 41 (DECEMBER 1982)

NUMBER 63 (MAY 1987)

Igor Auzins, Paul Schrader, Peter Tammer, Liliana Cavani, Colin Higgins, The Year Of Living Dangerously.

Gillian Armstrong, Antony Ginnane, Chris Haywood, Elmore Leonard, Troy Kennedy Martin, The Sacrifice, Landslides, Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, Jilted.

NUMBER 42 (MARCH 1983)

Mel Gibson, John Waters, Ian Pringle, Agnes Varda, Strikebound, The Man From Snowy River. NUMBER 43 (MAY/JUNE 1983)

Sydney Pollack, Denny Lawrence, Graeme Clifford, The Dismissal, Careful He Might Hear You. NUMBER 44-45 (APRIL 1984)

David Stevens, Simon Wincer, Susan Lambert, a personal history of Cinema Papers, Street Kids. Paul Cox, Russell Mulcahy, Alan J. Pakula, Robert Duvall, Jeremy Irons, Eureka Stockade, Waterfront, The Boy In The Bushel Woman Suffers. NUMBER 47 (AUGUST 1984)

Richard Lowenstein, Wim Wenders, David Bradbury, Sophia Turkiewicz, Hugh Hudson, Robbery Under Arms. NUMBER 48 (OCT/NOV 1984)

Ken Cameron, Michael Pattinson, Jan Sardi, Yoram Gross, Bodyline, The Slim Dusty Movie. NUMBER 49 (DECEMBER 1984)

Alain Resnais, Brian McKenzie, Angela Punch McGregor, Ennio Morricone, Jane Campion, horror films, Niel Lynne. NUMBER 50 (FEB/MARCH 1985)

Stephen Wallace, Ian Pringle, Walerian Borowczyk, Peter Schreck, Bill Conti, Brian May, The Last Bastion, Bliss.

NUMBER 64 (JULY 1987)

Nostalgia, Dennis Hopper, Mel Gibson, Vladimir Osherov, Brian Trenchard-Smith, Chartbusters, Insatiable. NUMBER 65 (SEPTEMBER 1987)

Angela Carter, Wim Wenders, Jean-Pierre Gorin, Derek Jarman, Gerald L’Ecuyer, Gustav Hasford, Poor Man’s Orange. NUMBER 66 (NOVEMBER 1987)

Australian Screenwriters, Cinema and China, James Bond, James Clayden, De Laurentiis, New World, The Navigator, Who’s That Girl.

NUMBER 52 (JULY 1985)

John Schlesinger, Gillian Armstrong, Alan Parker, soap operas, TV News, film advertising, Don’t Call Me Girlie, For Love Alone, Double Sculls.

NUMBER 68 (MARCH 1988)

Martha Ansara, Channel 4, Soviet Cinema Part n , Jim McBride, Glamour, Nature Cinematography, Ghosts Of The Civil Dead. NUMBER 69 (MAY 1988)

Special Cannes issue, film composers, sex, death and family films, Vincent Ward, Luigi Acquisto, David Parker, Ian Bradley.

Bryan Brown, Nicolas Roeg, Vincent Ward, Hector Crawford, Emir Kusturica, New Zealand film and television, Return To Eden. NUMBER 54 (NOVEMBER 1985)

Randal Kleiser, Peter Yeldham, Donald Richie, Hitchcock, NZ film. NUMBER 28 (AUG/SEPT 1980)

NUMBER 55 (JANUARY 1986)

Charles Dickens’ Little Dorrit, Australian Sci-Fi movies, Survey: 1988 Mini-Series, Aromarama, Ann Turner’s Celia, Fellini’s La dolce vita, Women and Westerns Cannes Issue, Phil Noyce’s Dead Calm, Franco Nero, Jane Campion, Ian Pringle’s The Prisoner of St. Petersburg, Frank Pierson Scriptwriter, Australian films at Cannes, NUMBER 74 (JULY 1989)

The Delinquents, Australians in Hollywood, Chinese Cinema, Philippe Mora, Yuri Sokol, Twins, True Believers, Ghosts... of die Civil Dead, Shame screenplay. NUMBER 75 (SEPTEMBER 1989)

Sally Bongers, The Teen Movie, Animated, Edens Lost, Mary Lambert and Pet Sematary, Martin Scorsese and Paul Schrader, Ed Pressman, Sweetie, Batman, Lover Boy, Dead Poets Society, New York Stories, Georgia NUMBER 76 (NOVEMBER 1989)

Simon Wincer and Quigley Down Under, Kennedy Miller, Terry Hayes, Bangkok Hilton, John Duigan, Flirting, Romero, Dennis Hopper and Kiefer Sutherland, Boulevard Films, Ron Cobb, Island, Sex Lies and Videotape, Buried Alive, Blind Fury, Paris By Night. NUMBER 77 (JANUARY 1990)

Special John Farrow profile, Blood Oath, Dennis Whitburn and Brian Williams, Don McLennan and Breakaway,, “Crocodile” Dundee overseas. NUMBER 78 (MARCH 1990)

George Ogilvie’s The Crossing, Ray Argall’s Return Home, Peter Greenaway and The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, Michel Ciment, Jack Clayton, Bangkok Hilton and Barlow and Chambers NUMBER 79 (MAY 1990)

NUMBER 70 (NOVEMBER 1988)

Film Australia, Gillian Armstrong, Fred Schepisi, Wes Craven, John Waters, A1 Clark, Shame Screenplay Part I.

Australia at C a n n e ^ ^ ^ ^ fv ^ ^ ^ ^ There Was Y o u ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ f^ ^ ^ S tr u c k By McElroy, Pierre Ri^^^Tiiracey Moffat.

FILMVIEWS NUMBER 123 AUTUMN 1985

NUMBER 131 AUTUMN 1987

1984 Women’s Rim Unit, Solrun Hoaas, Louise Webb, Scott Hicks, Jan Roberts

Richard Lowenstein, New Japanese Cinema, Ken Russell, Taking a production overseas.

NUMBER 124 WINTER 1985

NUMBER 132 WINTER 1987

Merata Mita, Len Lye, Marleen Gorris, Daniel Petrie, Larry Meltzer NUMBER 125 SPRING 1985

NUMBER 53 (SEPTEMBER 1985)

NUMBER 72 (MARCH 1989)

NUMBER 67 (JANUARY 1988)

John Duigan, George Miller, Jim Jarmusch, Soviet Cinema, women in film, shooting in 70mm, The Year My Voice Broke, Send A Gorilla.

NUMBER 51 (MAY 1985)

Lino Brocka, Harrison Ford, Noni Hazlehurst, Dusan Makavejev, Ernoh Ruo, Winners, The Naked Country, Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, Robbery Under Arms.

NUMBER 71 (JANUARY 1989)

Yahoo Serious, FFC, David Cronenberg, The Year in Retrospect, Film Sound - the sound track, Young Einstein, Shout, The Last Tempta tion of Christ, Salt Saliva Sperm and Sweat

NUMBER 73 (MAY 1989)

NUMBER 62 (MARCH 1987)

Henri Safran, Michael Ritchie, Pauline Kael, Wendy Hughes, Ray Barrett, My Dinner With Andre, The Return Of Captain Invincible.

Graeme Clifford, Bob Weis, John Boorman, Menahem Golan, rock videos, Wills And Burke, Great Bookie Robbery, Lancaster Miller Affair.

NUMBER 27 (JUNE-JULY 1980)

NUMBER 59 (SEPTEMBER 1986)

Robert Altman, Paul Cox, Lino Brocka, Agnes Varda, The AFT Awards, The Movers.

NUMBER 39 (AUGUST 1982)

NUMBER 46 (JULY 1984)

NUMBER 15 (JANUARY 1978)

Tom Cowan, Francois Truffaut, John Faulkner, Stephen Wallace, the Taviani brothers, Sri Lankan cinema,77ie Chant Of Jimmie Blacksmith.

CINEMA PAPERS

Rod Webb, Marleen Gorris, Ivan Gaal, Red Matildas, Sydney Rim Festival NUMBER 126 SUMMER 1985/86

Victorian Women’s Film Unit, Randelli’s, Laleen Jayamanne, Lounge Room Rock.

Censorship, Rosalind Krauss, Troy Kennedy Martin, NZ Cinema, David Chesworth, Philip Brophy. NUMBER 133 SPRING 1987

Wim Wenders, Solveig Dommartin, JeanPierre Gorin, Michelangelo Antonioni, Wendy Thompson, Michael Lee, Jonathan Dennis. NUMBER 134 SUMMER 1987/88

NUMBER 127 AUTUMN 1986

Pasolini, Jerzy Domaradzki, Hong Kong Cinema, Chris Marker, David Noakes.

NUMBER 128 WINTER 1986

Hitchcock, Martha Ansara, Chinese Cinema, Lindsay Anderson, Sequence Magazine, Cinema Italia, New Japanese Cinema.

Jane Oehr, John Hughes, Melanie Read, Philip Brophy, Gyula Gazdag, David Bradbury

Bob Godfrey, Diane Kurys, Tim Bums, John O’Shea, Brace Beresford, Bad Timing, Roadgames.

James Stewart, Debbie Byrne, Brian Thompson, Paul Verhoeven, Derek Meddings, tie-in marketing, The Right-Hand Man, Birdsviüe.

NUMBER 29 (OCT/NOV 1980)

Bob Ellis, Uri Windt, Edward Woodward, Lino Brocka, Stephen Wallace, Philippine cinema, Cruising, The Last Outlaw.

NUMBER 56 (MARCH 1986)

Fred Schepisi, Dennis O’Rourke, Brian Trenchard-Smith, John Hargreaves, Dead-End Drive-In, The More Things Change, Kangaroo

Reinhard Hauff, Nick Zedd, Tony Rayns on Oriental Cinema, Australian Independent Film, Public Television.

NUMBER 36 (FEBRUARY 1982)

NUMBER 58 (JULY 1986)

Sogo Ishii, Documentary statements, John Hanhardt on American Video, Erika Addis, Ross Gibson.

Karin Altmann, Tom Cowan, Gillian Coote, David Bradbury, Margaret Haselgrove.

NUMBER 135 AUTUMN 1988

NUMBER 136 WINTER 1988

NUMBER 129 SPRING 1986

Film Theory and Architecture, Victor Burgin, Horace Ove, Style Form and History in Mini Series, Blue Velvet, South of the Bonder.

NUMBER 130 SUMMER 1986/87

Hanif Kureishi, Fascist Italy and American Cinema, Gillian Armstrong, Atom Egoyan, Film Theory and Architecture, Shame, Korean Cinema, Sammy and Rosie Get Laid.

NUMBER 137 SPRING 1988

Kevin Dobson, Brian Kearney, Sonia Hofmann, Michael Rubbo, Blow Out, Breaker Morant, Body Heat, The Man From Snowy River.

Woody. Allen, Reinhard Hauff, Orson Welles, Cinémathèque Française, The Fringe Dwellers, Great Expectations:, Last Frontier.

At Qantas,we don’t ju st applaud A ustralian talent,we help keep the show on the road

It’s always been a long way to the top for aspiring artists. But at Qantas we’re making sure they get there quicker by providing travel and promotion for actors, writers, even circus performers. So when they return to Australia they’ll have a world of experience from which to draw. And we’re sure Australia will rise to its feet and call for more. ^ k Q / l l i m S The spirit of Australia. QPR5349

INTERVIEW

WITH

B E L O W : D R U G S T O R E C O W B O Y D IR EC T O R G U S V A N S A N T . A N D , P R O M O T IO N A L S T ILL O F A C T O R S M A T T D ILLO N A N D K E L L Y L Y N C H . R IG H T : B O B H U G H E S (M A T T D IL L O N ) T R IE S T O R E C O V E R FR O M D R U G S A N D A

DIRECTOR

GUS

VAN

SANT

LIFE O F P E T T Y C R IM E . B E L O W : B O B A N D TO M (W IL L IA M S . B U R R O U G H S ), TH E D E F R O C K ED P R IE S T W H O A C T S A S A F A T H E R F IG U R E TO B O B , IN

PAUL

D RU G STO RE C O W BO Y.

HARRIS

maintains, “It is necessary to be optimistic when your characters are having such a hard time. I try to maintain a balancing act between opti^ | mism and pessimism, between slapstick and realism.” Matt Dillon, breaking a recent run pf box-office failures, convincingly plays Bob Hughes, a junkie who robs pharmacies to support his habit. He leads a motley team comprising his girlfriend (Kelly Lynch) and another young couple (Heather Graham and Wayne leGros) on numerous chemist busts through the Pacific Northwest in search of drugs, “for home use only”. In a triumphant screen ‘comeback’, Dillon has shaken off the self-conscious mannerisms that have marred his recent work and graduated from the teen league and its attendant typecasting. Says Van Sant: “I met Matt when we discussed an earlier project that didn’t eventuate, but we decided to work together at some point in the future.” To research the film’s milieu, Dillon and Van Sant spoke with the book’s author, James Fogle, imprisoned at the Walla Walla State Penitentiary. Fogle wrote the book while serving time in San Quentin and Soledad for committing a series of pharmaceutical robberies in the ’70s. Oregon writer Dan Yost, a longtime champion of Fogle’s book, collaborated with Van Sant on the screenplay. Van Sant: Dan had corresponded with Fogle over time and was impressed by his storytelling abilities. But the manu script was rejected by 30 publishers and, when James got out of prison, he embarked on more drugstore thefts. When I was contemplating my second feature, Dan lent me a copy of the novel and I was immediately hooked. We used John Huston’s Fat City as an example of how we wanted the film to look, with its down-and-out IRECTOR GUS VAN SANT

For a film that observes the seamier aspects of the then emerging drug culture in American society, D rugstore C owboy , set in the early 1970s, is almost optimistic. It also bypasses the standard clichés besetting most screen depictions of the drug scene, which moralize, romanticize and/or proselytize.

46 • C I N E M A

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neighbourhoods. That movie happens to be a personal favourite of my (§t cinematographer, Robert Yeoman. We were striving for a monotonal black-and-white visual style and studied magazine photos that had been shot using available light. Bruce Weber gave us invaluable help in finding some photo albums by a photographer named Larry' Clarke, who specialized in portrait studies of junkies.

Unusually for a project of this nature, the screenplay had been written on spec and was before the cameras within a few months of completion. Says Van Sant, “I had originally assumed that we would be making the film on a low budget, namely about half a million. I Was hoping for a million, but when Avenure Pictures became in volved they gave me $2,500,000!” Van Sant’s only other feature is Mala Noche, a low-budget, blackand-white drama about a liquor store clerk and his unreciprocated love for a young Latino. Made for a paltry $20,000, with a mix of pro fessionals and untrained actors, the film became a minor hit on the festival-arthouse circuit and his calling card. Van Sant: I enjoy writing because that seems to be the stage where you exert maximum control. Everything is hopefully perfect as you write and you can certainly make alterations. The hard part is communicating this off the page into actors’ mindsets. The actual shoot is a freefall, fast-flying process where you can exer cise the correctjudgement to omit the parts that don’t work and retain the elements which are effective.

One of those effective elements is the casting ofWilliam S. Burroughs in a memorable cameo as Tom, the elderly defrocked priest who, several years prior, had turned Bob onto drugs. Van Sant: I thought that he would be the perfect person, mentally and physically, to play the character that basically acts as a father figure to Bob. I first worked with William in 1975 when I adapted one of his:.short sto-

ries, ‘The Discipline of D.E.’, for the screen. He readily gave me permission on both occasions for his services.

Although Van Sant is identified with the independent school of filmmaking, he has also experienced the machinations of the Holly wood system firsthand: When I got out of college, I worked for Ken Shapiro as an assistant at Paramount. Ken, formerly an actor, was regarded as a hot property in the mid-1970s after directing the comedy, The Groove Tube, which was really an off-Broadway play full of sketches featuring his friend, Chevy Chase. Most of our time was spent developing script ideas which never came to fruition. This was dispiriting for both of us. His next directing job didn’t come about until 1981 (Modem Problems), a film that was so badly received that he quit the business shortly after its release.

During this time Van Sant also made Alice In Hollywood, a 45-minute film which has never been released: It’s about a young girl who travels the long, circuitous route to Holly wood in search of fame and stardom. All up, I spent six fruidess years working in Hollywood from ’75 to ’81.

Van Sant’s ongoing autobiographical film diary is an opportunity to “recharge the batteries” in between feature assignments: “I am making one 30-minute episode each year. It’s a lifelong project which ends when I die.” Since the release of Drugstore Coivboy, Van Sant’s agent has been busy fielding numerous work offers. As Van Sant says, “There is no problem in finding work. The problem is in having control over the work that you do, particularly in areas like final cut and advertising approval.” In September, Van Sant hopes to commence shooting My Own Private Idaho, which he describes as being about “an older street hood who teaches and influences a young hustler who stands to gain a large inheritance”. He is also working on a screenplay about Andy Warhol. His home base of Portland, Oregon, is notable for its huge timber reserves which, he says, are being severely depleted: “I want to become involved in helping to prevent the cutting down of the oldest parts of the forests. The government sees the forests as merely so much wood to be harvested.” ■

AFTRS

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

NEW SOUTH WALES

■ The Pre-production Meeting: Unit 6 ■ Shooting a TVC: Unit 7 ■ Rushes Screening Seminar: Unit 8 ■ Editing Workshop: Unit 9 ■ Music Writing and Engineering Workshop: Unit 10 ■ Audio Post Production: Unit 11

■ Script Editing ■ Production Management

TASMANIA

VICTORIA

■ ■ ■ ■

Continuity for Film/TV Drama Best Boy - Lighting Assistant TV Society Seminars Advertising Module 5 'The TV Commercial" Making a Commercial

SEPTEMBER

NEW SOUTH WALES JULY

QUEENSLAND

■ Production Budgeting and Accounting - Brisbane ■ Camera Assistant Workshop Brisbane

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

■ ENG Camera Coverange ■ Co-productions

VICTORIA

■ Sound Recording for Film and TV Stage II

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

■ Actor/Director Workshop

DECEMBER

NEW SOUTH WALES

■ Computer Animation and Graphics (Advanced) ■ Multicamera Direction

■ Television and Radio Commercial Production

■ Floor Manager's Course

■ Women's Directing Workshop ■ South Australia ■ Director's Workshop

■ Production Budgeting and Accounting - Brisbane ■ Camera Assistant Workshop Townsville

■ Commercial Radio Copywriting Course

■ The Final Cut Screening Seminar: Unit 12

Forthcoming Attractions

■ Production Design Workshop: Unit 2 ■ Set Construction Workshop: Unit 3 ■ Production Planning and Rehearsal Workshop: Unit 4 ■ Art Department Workshop: Unit 5

■ Digital Location Recording ■ Sound Editing ■ Gaffer and Lighting Director

ALL STATES

NEW SOUTH WALES ■ Professional Single Camera Production

QUEENSLAND

SOUTH AUSTRALIA TASMANIA

VICTORIA

■ Advertising Module 4 'The TV Commercial" The Production House

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

■ Documentary Production for Public Radio

AUGUST

NEW SOUTH WALES ■ Film and Video Production Course ■ Computer Animation and Graphics (Basic)

NOVEMBER

■ 1st Assistant Director Workshop

QUEENSLAND

TASMANIA VICTORIA

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

■ Copywriting for Radio

OCTOBER

NEW SOUTH WALES ■ Film Marketing ■ Radio Drama/Comedy Writing and Production

QUEENSLAND

■ Directing a Documentary

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

■ Writing Children's TV The Writer Producer

VICTORIA

QUEENSLAND

■ Location Scout ■ Public Radio Workshops

■ Public Radio Station Management ■ AFTRS/RMB Station Copywriter's Workshop

■ Script Editing Workshop ■ Scriptwriting for Drama

• CINEM A

PAPERS

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

QUEENSLAND

■ Year of the Director Series

NEW SOUTH WALES and VICTORIA

■ Safety Report Writing

For further information regarding courses in New South Wales and Queensland please contact AFTRS Industry Program, Sydney Base on (02) 805 6600 For further information regarding courses in Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia please contact AFTRS Industry Program, Melbourne Base on (03) 690 7111 A

AUSTRALIAN FILM TELEVISION & RADIO SCH O O L

Big Picture Just when high-definition television looked a threat to familiar 19th Century film technology, film, as it has always done, is fighting back with new processes. BARRIE PATTISON reports...

giantfilm Imax system might be seen as one example, but it has in fact a twenty-year history. Curiously, it came into being at the point when the experi mental forms of film presentation seen in the 1950s and ’60s were at an end. The “Wide Screen” era had climaxed with the divided-image, mainstream films such as Grand Prix, The Thomas Crown Affair and Run Angel Run, as well as the multi-screen events of the 1967 Montreal Expo. Among the producers who had battled the mechanical failures and bad colour matching on adjacent prints of these systems were Canadians Graeme Ferguson and Robert Kern (Labyrinth) and Roman Kroiter (Polar Life). Banding together, they decided the answer was one big image coming out of a single, large film projector. A commission from the Fuji Cor poration, and a deadline with the March 1970 Osaka Expo, gave the scheme reality. Their solu tion was to use 65 mm film, which had been produced for Hollywood super spectacles, on its edge. The idea recalled Otto Heller explaining VistaVision to Alexander Korda: “Alex, the big difference is that the scratches run sidewise!” Choosing an image fifteen perforations across gave a picture intriguingly close to the 1:1.33 shape of the pre-wide screen film, but ten times its size. This was all very good, except that the trial mechanism ripped the film, the sprocket trans Diego planetarium asked for a dome-screen the atre which became the first Omnimax house, ports unable to deal with the weight. However, in using a wrap-around version of Imax. Both the Brisbane no less, where the prototype can still be flat Imax screen and the Omnimax domes prolif seen in the Science Museum, an Australian named Ron Jones had created a device called The Roll erated. Together, they now number 65 round the globe, with eight temporary' installations. The ing Loop, which sucked the film through the expectation is of a hundred in use by 1992. gate, caterpillar fashion. Australia now has three: Imax at Dream World Back in Canada, engineer Bill Shaw, who had outside Brisbane, Omnimax Great Barrier Reef never built a projector, incorporated this in a machine which had little connection with exist W onderland and Parry' City' Perth. One planned for the Power House in Sydney fell victim to the ing models. After much trial and error, and a loan bureaucrats, and the machines for an installation from Fuji with only the hypothetical end product in Geelong are waiting for the building. The as security, Shaw managed to conduct a sponsor demonstration on a bed sheet stretched across a Australian office didn’t miss the fact that there were none at the Brisbane Expo while this year’s wall. Both the noise and the picture quality were Osaka event has four. startling; twenty years later that machine is still in The buildings that house these systems can use. be as different as the Teater Imax Keong Emas in By-passing Hollywood, which had shown no interest, Norwegian Jan Jacobsen constructed a Jakarta, in the form of a golden snail, to the starkly functional Los Angeles Mitsubishi Imax. Their camera and the first Imax film, Tiger Child, arrived in time for applause at Osaka. This left the com capacities can range from less than a hundred people to more than eight hundred. pany with a product but no market, until a San

h e g ia n t -s c r e e n ,

THE IM A X IM A G E : N O R TH P O R T A G E 'S H E A R T LA N D (1 9 8 7 ) .

For Imax, the medium is the message. The process is as much of a draw as the individual films themselves. Programmes often include not only movies but a curtain raiser, which may be no more than a couple of slides with a voice-over, on up to the level of elaboration found in the presentation at Paris’ La Géode, a Buckminster Fuller-style dome in the La Villette City of Science and Indus try'. The show there opens with a mix of slides, laser and film from a machine on a motorized mount, which enables the projected narrator to move round the screen, identifying points of interest. At a key moment, lights behind the screen are switched on to reveal the inside walls of the dome, visible through the fabric. That’s al ready a hard act to follow. A library' of shots to be used for such presen tations already exists. A space theme production was used in the Perth dome, while the Mugar Omni Theatre in Boston has a two-minute sysCINEM A

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• 49

A B O V E LEFT: M O D EL C R O S S -S E C T IO N O F THE S A N W A M ID O R I K A I P A V IL IO N A T O S A K A 'S E X P O '9 0 , S H O W IN G M IC H A EL S C O T T 'S F L O W E R S IN TH E S K Y . A B O V E R IG H T : THE IM A X P R O JE C T O R , TH E M O ST A D V A N C E D E V E R B U ILT . LEFT: A C O M P A R IS O N O F IM A X , O M N IM A X A N D T R A D IT IO N A L FILM S Y S T E M S . B E L O W : S K E T C H E S O F THE T Y P IC A L IM A X (LEFT) A N D O M N IM A X TH E A T R E S .

terns check narrated by Leonard Nimoy. However, these novelty-emphasizing features could not have sustained the enterprise through twenty years. Its major competitor, Showscan, a 70 mm thirty-frames-a-second process involving Douglas Trumbull, has not managed to secure as conspicuous a place in the market, despite plans such as coupling theatres and pizza parlours. The Disney Organisation is also still testing the water. Its Circle Vision, with projectors inside a dome surrounding a standing audience, has been little heard of lately. The touring version was mainly notable for an inflatable building. Disney’s theme parks do house the ambitious Captain Eo, a George Lucas-Francis CoppolaMichael Jackson space musical in two-projector 3D, but, even with stereo and laser effects, this has no more impact than the Natural Vision features of the 1950s. Lucas has expressed interest in doing an Imax feature and a theatre has been set up in the Epcot Centre. One possible explanation for the success of Imax is that it stands aside from the mainstream, which tends to engulf and devour independents, either rejecting them or placing them in more conventional activities. The Imax people’s roots are in the documentary tradition. Kroiter came from the Canadian National Film Board, which the Japanese sponsors seemed to have confused with the fledgling corporation. The NFB has since made several Imax films and Tiger Child was directed by the redoubtable Donald Brittain of

5 OMNIMAX®

Typical IMAX® Theatre

• CINEMA

Typical OMNIMAX® Theatre

PAPERS

Volcano and The Dione Quintuplets, the first of the celebrity non-fiction filmmakers to work in the process. Francis Thom pson (A/YATjand Ben Shedd, who carried off the Oscar with Flight of the Gossamer- Condor, have also made films for them and Ron Fricke, who did the time lapse photogra phy on Koyaanasqatsi, followed his 1985 Chronos, accelerating images as different as rush-hour traffic and the seven ancient wonders, with a trip to Ayers Rock and to Halley’s comet for Sacred Site. Narrative film personnel are not excluded. Bill Conti scored Grand Canyon - the Hidden Secrets (1984), Chief Dan George fronts Ferguson’s 1974 Man Belongs to the Earth and George Englund had Cloris Leachman face Gayne Rescher’s camera for 1981’s My Strange Uncle. A few historical spec taculars have also been mounted: Keith Merrill’s Alamo - the Price of Freedom and, intriguingly, Tony Ianzelo’s The First Emperor of China, made on location, in collaboration with the Xian Film Studio. Pierre Etaix’s J ’écris dans l’espace (/ Write in Space), about communications pioneer Claude Chappe, has just had a six-theatre premiere, a jokier item than the normally rather monumen tal tone of the big image productions. Dramatiza tion does creep into even straight-forward pro ductions like Greg MacGillivray’s 1983 Behold Haiuaii. However, the thrust is elsewhere. The technology for traditional production exists: blimped cameras and sync-sound record ing, and printers which will create the range of special optical effects and transitions. These appear to have been seldom used in the produc tions so far viewed, however. Also it must be remembered that on the Imax circuit a feature is a half-hour film, a copy of which will cost Si 5,000, Four-minute trailers are even made for these. Imax’s star turn is The Dream Is Alive, Fen

guson’s account of the three 1984 Space Shuttle flights. This was filmed by the astrpnauts, who had been rehearsed in the shots required in outer space, which required bouncing the forty-pound Imax camera in zero gravity. The system clarity is emphasized by working in a no-atmosphere envi ronment and the images are extraordinary. Imax claims twenty-three million people have seen this film. I was able to catch it in screenings on four continents, making it a good test of the standard of the installadons. Imax tends to emphasize material with a science museum aspect - and why not? An Imax theatre increased attendances at a Chicago mu seum by half a million a year. Other films of interest include Eddie Garrick’s Magic Egg, which was state-of-the-art computer animation in 1984, with segments including a flight through a wire frame city and a trip through a coral garden with aquatics indistinguishable from live action. Distortion for dome screens was calculated in the computation. All this required fifteen hundred magnetic tapes which took fifty 24-hour days on the film recorder. We Are Bom of the Stars added to the complica tions of computer generation, those of anaglyph (red/green) 3D, to produce a monochrome movie that had crowds waiting four hours to see at the Tskuba Expo 85. Transitions added full colour with polarised images from two cam eras and projectors. This meant that the separation also had to be added into calculations and five picture frames were all that a 2,400-foot m agnetic tape could hold, tak ing 25 minutes a frame to transfer to film. The two minutes of ani m ation took fo u r-hund redand-fifty tapes. Ben Shedd’s Sea sons uses the process for most of its half hour, contrasting the Ptolemaic and Copernican universes. Not all productions are as ambitious, with a growing library of films for individual events or locations. George Casey’s The Eruption of Ml. St. Helens of 1980 continues to run in neighbouring Seattle. It is one of the few productions to use footage enlarged from a smaller gauge and the quality drop in the earlier actuality is clear. The library does include Les Norvos’ Cosmos, a blow up from 35mm, however. The future has already arrived, with run-up screenings for the Osaka Expo where they are premiering their Imax Solido process, a wrap around 3D system with a production called Echoes of the Sun. Even more startling is the Imax Magic Carpet, used on Mowers in the Sky. Here one Imax projector shows the image in front of the audi ence while another shows one under their feet, tiewed through the transparent floor. Running-in problems are being dealt with: the state-of-the-art 3D glasses deteriorate with tra ditional ultra-sonic cleaning and have to be done by hand; and audiences are reluctant to venture on to the see-through floor until encouraged by staff, but that is already happening. ' One could argue that it is the effectivertess;ctf its corporate structure that keeps the imabhprbe?

ess going, as much as the product itself. Imax has grown to a 300person organization with offices in Japan and Europe, as well as the Canadian base. Imax publishes an elaborate colour magazine, The Big Erame, and has started running its own Imax film festivals, most re cently offering 15 new productions at La Géode. Imax’s quality control is of a standard conventional film chains might study. It claims a 99.8% up time on the plant with help jetting in from the nearest office should problems occur. I have yet to see projected a damaged copy of a film. The controlled environment of the projection boxes (air conditioning, no smoking, no food) means that the specs of dirt that adhere to the rear element of the rolling loop, instead of flashing past as they do in standard projection, are rare. So how good is Imax? Is it just alert m anagem ent and science showmanship? I am always struck by the impression of size and sharp ness, and the full stereo sound. The idea of a screen seating configura tion which fills the whole field of view is always intriguing, and par ticularly important in removing the “decapitated edges” of 3D presen tations. One can watch people lean ing in the opposite direction to compensate for those sharp turns Imax delights in giving us. While I have yet to see an Imax film that struck me as showing the qualities one looks for in conven tional entertainment, I am always impressed by the places they take those 40-pound cameras: rafting in the Grand Canyon, attached to anything that will fly, under water and into outer space. Moments like the training drop into the net, in 'The Dream Alive, are quite gut wrenching. It is possible to have reserva tions about Omnimax. By its na ture, the reduced image blacks out much of the large frame, eliminat ing the corners which would over fill the domed screen. The fish-eye lens further reduces sharpness and the domes that I have seen had distractingly visible seams. The distortion in the upper half means that even compatible Imax films must confine significant information to the lower portion. One can argue that the secret of Imax’s suc cess, and the buzz that audiences get out of these screenings, is that they have re-connected with the sense of wonder which was the movies’ point of departure. From the fun-fair origins of Train Entering a Station and the early Phantom Rides, with the cameras strapped on the front of moving vehicles, through the roller coaster rides of 1950s Cinerama and 3D films, this is an element that resurfaces whenever the form is challenged. It is a notion that lives, endures, outside the theatres showing fiction features. Well into the 1970s, turn-the-handle Mutascopes, with their original pre-World War I cards, could be found in European fun fairs and a conventional 70 mm projeqto'r fCvith another roller coaster movie) sh'ojv4ifg>b’n':'a;dome screen to a standing audience

A B O V E (T O P ): D A V ID D O U G LA S FILM S THE F IR S T SP A C E SH U TTLE LA U N C H FO R G R A E M E F E R G U S O N 'S 1 9 8 2 H A IL C O L U M B IA !. A N D , S H O O T IN G O FF THE C O A S T O F H A W A II W IT H THE P L A S T IC -W R A P P E D C A M E R A (N O T E H O R IZ O N T A L M A G A Z IN E S ) FO R G R E G M A C G IL L IV R A Y 'S R A C E TH E W IN D . LEFT: THE IM A X C A M E R A .

in Australian Agricultural shows and Luna Parks under the name of Cinema 2000. Disneyland has these pre-cinema and state-of-the-art mechanisms within walking distance of one another. What Imax has done is identify a strain ne glected by the mainstream and exploit it with great skill. Its existence challenges a lot of what one had always taken for granted about film, and that is no small part of the enjoyment of seeing its presentations. I wish Imax would uncrate a few more here so we could all do it on a regular basis. EDITOR’S NOTE: Cinema Papers will publish in a future issue a story on Australia’s first Imax film, Antarctica: The Last Place on Earth, now in production. CINEM A

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H I S T I C A L I X I E S P A R T

T W O

Tape Tension David Connell at the Australian Film Television and Radio School, on shootingfiIm for television. F r e d H a r d e n reports...

The reason led to what was to become a matography Workshop Semi theme running through the conversation over nars organized by the Austral the two nights: the process of transferring nega ian Film Television 8c Radio School tive in Melbourne to tape and Connell’s main reservations with have been with Peter Nevitt and Yuri Sokol. On in getting the opportunity' to it, the difficulty the 2nd and 3rd of May. it was David Connell’s grade it. This is not a problem that would arise turn to face a group of camerapersons and talk with a film-finished production, where it is part of about the basics of his craft. Going back to basics the director of photography’s role to sit with the was an initiative of the Australian Cinematogra colour grader and balance the answer print. phers Society', along with Victorian Film Labora The group then moved downstairs to the tories and assisted by Kodak and Lemac Hire. studio area at the AFTRS and I watched Connell’s These industry groups have all been concerned at face drop when he saw the three unpainted flats the lack of fundamental knowledge about obtain that made up the set. It became ajoke as the night ing the best results from shooting on film, and went on and Connell began by' explaining, “Usually have looked to the AFTRS workshops as the best from the script you have decided what time of day neutral ground to rectify' what is often just reluc it is and vou have talked with the art department. tance on the cinematographers’ part to admit If it is night, they can giv e you things like practical lights or, in daytime, windows can give you source that they don’t know. From attending similar courses, I believed lights.” Here there was nothing, so he set up two 5ks, to give the key light from one window and a the most valuable information gained was the rim backlight from the other. There was a small jargon, procedures and industry stories that gave me the confidence to approach and talk to the amount of soft fill high on the set, with everyone cramped between the cvc and the wall. people who were actually doing what I wanted to. With an ARRI SR supplied by Lemac, using There is no way to teach someone how to be a creative cinematographer over just two nights, prime lenses, Connell shot a wide-shot and closeand when David Connell says, “It’s all a matter of up of a couple sitting at a table. He repeated this over a range of exposures and on two different common sense really”, it only confounds the issue. Why does the work of one cinematographer Eastman stocks. The first was the relatively new look better than another, and is 7248, rated at 100 ASA tung sten, and the second was the it in some magic way related to the choice of filmstock? Fortu high-speed negative 7292, rated nately it is nothing so trivial, yet at 320 ASA. The fill light was also varied and various bits of for confirmed film cameramen such as Connell there is tension paper attached to the set ex in the mixing of film and video plained how the spot meter read the difference from the main post production and the new filmexposure setting. stocks have their part in it. REVIOUS SESSIONS in the Cine

FIRST NIGHT

A NIGHT AT THE LAB

Connell opened the well-at DAVID tended session by showing from U-matic a short promo tape of his most recent work on Rose Against the Odds. The tape, he explained, was made for promoting the sale of the series to ajapanese network (itworked). From the opening image of the actor playing Lionel Rose back-lit, at a punching bag, water spraying off with each jarring punch, the promo consisted of strong close-ups, with high-contrast lighting, side-lit faces falling to shadow, big stadi ums with smoke and lots of overhead light obscur ing all but the immediate foreground rows of fans. The pictures looked good so it was with some surprise when Connell began by saying that he wasn't happy with a lot of them. 52

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The following night we were CONNELL again pushed into corners in the maze that is Victorian Film Laboratories in Hawthorn. .After a tour of the buildings, we watched in the screening room the one-light workprint from the previous night. In typical fashion, the first scene (shot at the recom mended rating) was graded perfectly, but then nothing seemed to match it. By this time we were on Connell’s side. It was our footage, too, and we knew what he wanted. His contention from the night before was that the best results are achieved from slightly overexposing the negative based on the recommended rating, then printing down at the lab on the print. The exposure for the 7248 stock he felt was best at half its rating, at 50 ASA.

On the one-light workprint, this looked hot on the key light side of the faces and he urged us to wait to see the graded print. Before this was shown, the process of ‘timing’ the print was demonstrated on VFL’s Colourmaster 2000 ana lyzer. Screening the lab’s graded print, with Con nell’s comments, showed that overexposure and printing down did seem to reduce the grain, a process that called up questions of what the true exposure index should be. Maybe it was the ab sence of the Kodak representative on the previ ous night, but the conversation turned to the difficulty of accepting the manufacturer’s view of new stocks without knowing the testing proce dure. Comments about the wide latitude do depend on where the optimum norm is to start with. As Connell concluded, “the results are undeniable when you see them on the screen, and that’s how you learn what a stock will do - by shooting it under the conditions yrou will be us ing.” The demonstration footage wide-shots and close-ups were intercut for showing at Lemac some weeks later and a discussion follow'ed the screening. Connell also projected a test 35mm blow-up print from some 16mm footage for Rose Against the Odds that showed the fine-grain capa bility of the Kodak stock. .After the M L screening, I asked him if he would talk briefly about the process of shooting Rose and to elaborate on his feelings about the success of the negative-to-tape transfer on it. BUDGETING FOR THE MYSTIQUE OF FILM

I began by asking his assessment of the success of the workshop evenings and if he saw any signifi cance in the fact that over half of the group attending were Betacam video cam eram en. Connell: Obviously, doing something practical is better than having someone just talk for hours. That everyone was starting from a common ground, actually shoot ing some film and then talking about the results, seemed to work well. V hen the television stations and documentary production houses changed over to Betacam, I think the camera operators missed out on a lot by not experiencing the shooting of film. Bv using film, 1believ e you are being more creative. There is more to do in exposing it than just setting the exposure on the Betacam.

Connell agreed that there is more mystique in film, and it is a self-perpetuating thing. Because the production values are higher on feature

productions than in shoodng video on a corpo rate production, the video camera work offers little challenge or satisfaction. Somehow the at tention to creating significant images has become transferred to the medium used: Film. But could video ever replace film if the same care was taken? Connell believes that television videotape pro duction in Australia needn’t look as bad as it does. One problem is having people who have worked for years in lighting for television not realizing that times and styles have changed; they perpetu ate the old processes when training new crew. He thinks, It may need a radical change, new blood to come in and say I can make that look better. It is possible to get better results. All you have to do is look at some of the British work to see that it doesn’t have to look as ugly as we shoot here. I suggest bringing in film camera and lighting people even if it is only at the start of the production to set a style. I believe we were getting better results in shows like The S u lliva n s years ago than shows today like Skirts, where the lighting is atrocious. The producers have to be prepared to commit a little more time and extra care. It can’t all be blamed on low budgets and the need to shoot multi-camera to get the scene finished in time. R O SE AGAINST THE ODDS

David Connell has just finished shooting a mini series where the 16mm negative was transferred directly to tape, a cost-saving measure that has be come significant in post-production. Much of the saving is due to the elimination of workprint caused by an industry-wide swing-away from cut ting film to low-band offline video edit systems. Although there are still editors who dispute that the video editing process saves money, the advan tage of viewing the result as it progresses on the television screen that will be its final release for mat, and the development of EDL (Edit Decision List) devices such as Shotlister, have sped up the final on-line assembly considerably. The immedi acy of having that final result is undeniable. The major problem with neg-to-tape is not being there to grade it. Because the telecine session usually happens .early in the morning when the neg arrives, you are either travelling to location or already started. Even if they wanted to start at 5 am, it would be better. That way, the DOP could attend, though it makes it a very long and tiring day. On Rose, the producers said that I would have the option at the end of going back and grading any thing in the final assembly I didn’t like. But that in itself causes problems when you have no control over when the session will be. You will probably be miles away, hopefully working on your nextjob, and it is a fact of life that ai the end of the picture, when the money starts running out, they'll compromise. So you miss out on the final grading.

This situation has happened enough times for Connell to be wary of missing the opportunity to work with the telecine grader, until he can be confident that the style he is trying for comes through in the rushes. If you have somebody like Arthur Cambridge [at Colorfilm] doing the grading, then you can pretty well leave him to do the show. But there doesn’t seem to be the same depth of experience in stations or in tape houses. Rosew as transferred at Iloura and most of their work is commercials and print trans fers. I can’t recall another neg-to-tape programme that would have been through there. While I was getting rushes that I was mostly happy with, with about 50 per cent I felt I was getting shots graded for a commercial, which was not what I was after.

While Connell believes that the quality of neg-totape is very good, he points to the practice of com mercials where a print, often a low-con print, is

usually available to compare with it, and some shots look better from the print. It is certainly an easier process to grade when everyone has seen a print projected. As a cameraman, I prefer that way of working. A stan dard one-light workprint at least lets you know where you are. You can be a mile out on a tape transfer before you know about it. As everyone saw from the stock we shot at the workshop, underexpo sure can be graded to look acceptable, but the grain becomes very noticeable. I have yet to see the final result of Rose so I’ll let you know then! TAKING STOCK

Connell continues:

When you read a script, it becomes fairly obvious what stock you will use and Kodak stock is very hard to knock on the head, especially the Eastman 7245. Being a 16mm production, I used a lot of 7245 and 7248 and stayed clear of the high-speed neg except for one or two shots. The choice is up to the camera man. If he is used to shooting Fuji or Agfa, then it would be silly to make him change, although I know that on a job I did for Disney the contract insisted that Kodak stock be used. There are situations when I'd choose a different stock, but it’s usually what you feel comfort able with. I wish we’d had the time at the work shop to have tested the daylight negatives, but we would have been there all night. That would have shown a big difference from what we saw projected. If you have enough light, the 50 ASA 7245 is a very nice stock. I used it on all the day light situations on Rose, even the interiors. Sometimes the pro ducer will complain about the lighting costs, which can skyrocket, but they didn’t deny on Rose that the result was there. They let me get more lights in. My gaffer was Richard Tummel and he is very good. I like to operate, and the focus puller and gaffer are your right hand. It was different on Never E n d in g Sloi^ II [George Miller], where I only oper ated the Canadian part. I had some top British op erators and there was just so much stuff going on that I was happy just to sometimes run the third camera. Because the crew was mostly German, I had my work cut out communicating what I wanted and there were a couple of times where there were gels on shots that I didn’t notice until we had done a few takes. 1 would set the shot up with the director and after that roam around, since I wasn’t operating.

into new positions in the stands and then mirror imaging them to fill the frame. With a few people walking around it worked well.

Videotape post-production offers an easier and cheaper path to effects sequences than film opticals, and Connell used another video effect in Rose, a sequence at the airport where a 707 with the airline markings was not available. It was decided to do the shot against a chromakey blue background, and insert the plane later. While he would have liked to have had the background plate available to ensure lighting continuity, Connell was enthusiastic about the ease of effects offered by neg-to-tape. For the bluescreen se quence, he called for a video camera to parallel the film camera so that the key could be pre viewed and spill light from the blue background eliminated. Connell also had to face the prospect of a blow-up to 35mm for a Japanese theatrical re lease, before their television one.

ATTENDEES AT THE AFTRS CINEMATOGRAPHY WORKSHOP.

I didn’t know that this was a possibility until about a quarter of the way into the shoot, and it immediately put me off using any high-speed negative. But I was very impressed by the blow-up test they did.

Framing for the blow-up was not considered as the television market was the prime release. THE BOTTOM LINE

On the first evening of the workshop, David Connell mentioned how he felt when he was in troduced to the crew on Never Ending Story II.

For Rose there were fewer luxuries. The shoot period was nine weeks for main unit, with a week’s second unit and a week in Tokyo. It was a tight schedule considering there were about eighty lo cations. Yet they were averaging five to six min utes a day. As Connell says “We had to go for it.”

The film that the operators had just come off was Spielberg’s latest Raiders picture, the model unit’s last film was B atm an, but they regard that as no different to any television show. To them it was no big deal. They had a huge amount of experience but they never looked down on me. The only difference was that I didn't run around saying that I had done this or done that.

I wanted Rose A gainst the Odds to look gritty, not grainy, and certainly not beautiful. I kept the needs of television in mind, but I left a lot of dark areas, where things fell into black. In a lot of instances we had to, because we didn’t have the people to fill the areas. We used cardboard cut-outs with dim light on them to create a large crowd, but creating crowd scenes with seven ty extras over a set that covers more than an acre is difficult. We did an effects shot designed for Paintbox that looks terrific on the test, making up an audi ence ofloriv to lilts thousand. We shot the extras in different positions around the set. moving them

With a laugh, Connell adds, “You just hope that they think you are okay when they see the rushes!” To the people attending the session, the glamour that is involved in film must have been only intensified by Connell’s remarks. He might insist that it is all just a matter of common sense, but the results in the rushes are still what you are judged on as a cameraman, even with negative-totape. The process may be a concession to the economic realities of Australian production, but the craft of cinematography remains. ■ CINEM A

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C R I T I C S ' AND

B E S T

W O R S T

DIRTY DOZEN A PANEL OF REVIEWERS HAS RATED TWELVE OF THE LATEST RELEASES ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 10, THE LATTER BEING THE OPTIM UM RATING (A DASH MEANS NOT SEEN). THE CRITICS ARE: BILL COLLINS (CHANNEL 10;

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HERALD); AND EVAN WILLIAMS (THE AUSTRALIAN, SYDNEY).

ALW AYS

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Bill Collins John Flaus Sandra Hall Paul Harris Ivan Hutchinson Stan James Neil Jillett Duncan McNab Adrian Martin Tom Ryan David Stratton Peter Thompson Evan Williams PAPERS

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S e r g e i P a r a d ja n o v

Gus V a n

54 • C I N E M A

L ehm an

ASHIK KARIB

DRUGSTORE COW BOY

MICHEL [JEAN-PAUL BELMONDO] AND PATRICIA [JEAN SEBERG) IN JEAN-LUC GODARD'S FIRST FEATURE A BOUT DE SOUFFLE [BREATHLESS): RATES HIGH AMONG THE CRITICS WITH AN AVERAGE OF 8.5.

ic h a e l

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JESUS OF M ONTREAL

PRETTY W O M A N

D enys A r c a n d

G arry M a r sh a ll

SOUNDTRACKS N E W & U N U S U A L S O U N D T R A C K R E C O R D I N G S F R O M UUR L A RGE RA NGE

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MUSIC BOX

ROGER & ME

C o sta -G avras

Bill Collins John Flaus Sandra Hall Paul Harris Ivan Hutchinson Stan James Neil Jillett Duncan McNab Adrian Martin Tom Ryan David Stratton Peter Thompson Evan Williams

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ic h a e l

Bill Collins John Flaus Sandra Hall Paul Harris Ivan Hutchinson Stan James Neil Jillett Duncan McNab Adrian Martin Tom Ryan David Stratton Peter Thompson Evan Williams A BOUT DE SOUFFLE

C l a u d e M il l e r

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incorporating THREE ARTS MAKE-UP CENTRE PTY LTD FILM TELEVISION THEATRE ESTABLISHED 1966 We are registered with the Department of Employment, Education and Training, to offer full fee educational services to overseas students in the following course: Two Year Theatrical Arts Certificate (Stages I and II, 12 months each) Congratulations to all our past and present students who are continuing with excellence the high standard in Make-up and Special Effects for our Film, Television, Theatre, High Fashion and Arts / Sculpture, plus other related areas of employment for make-up artists.

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JVL E

THIS ISSU E: J E S U S O F M O N TR EA L; R EV EN G E; LET'S GET LOST; R O G E R & M E ; A N D , THE P RISO N ER O F ST PETERSBU RG

JE S U S OF M O N TR ÉA L

A B O V E : D A N IE L C O U LO M B E (LO T H A IR E B LU T E A U ) P L A Y S J E S U S C H R IS T IN THE S T A G IN G O F TH E P A S S IO N P L A Y W IT H IN D E N Y S A R C A N D 'S JE S U S O F M O N TRÉA L.

With Jesus of Montréal, Arcand continues his ethical dialogué but expands his horizons. It is used in comments on the late 1980s, but references range from the Big Jesus ofMontréalis “audacious”. In its imagi Bang theory to the end of the Cosmos. And he nation, the staging of a Passion Play where introduces the religious dimension of the dia the actor portraying Jesus Christ resembles him logue, the moral traditions and the pieties of the through contemporary parallels, and in its execu French-Canadian Catholic ethos in which he grew tion, stylishly cinematic art, the film is audacious. up. No longer a practising Catholic, he is still This was acknowledged in its many Canadian influenced by memories, by education and the awards, the Jury Prize at Cannes, 1989, and an broad Catholic culture. It won’t let him go. He Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film, 1989. still grasps at it. In fact, it permeates his conscious Writer-director Denys Arcand came to wider ness and at some depth. than Canadian attention with his ethical dialogue, Jesus of Montréal is a stimulating film. It is The Decline of the American Empire (1985). His so anchored in the life of the city of Montréal: churches, shrines, soup-kitchens, hospitals, sub phisticated men and women enabled him to analyze the confused mores of our times, the be way, theatres, restaurants, the vitality and the ex wildering intra-personal as well as interpersonal ploitation of cinema, television, advertising, public relations and, especially, theatre. But it is also a conflicts of insight and passionate wilfulness, and the human capacity for hope and for collapse. movie life of Jesus Christ, a Passion Play, an Talkative, witty, comic, melodramatic, it was a allegory of an ideal Everyman and a moralizing fable with a Christ-figure. morality fable of and for the ’80s. PETER

MA L O N E

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The Film’s variety and successful versatility are reflected in an interview with Arcand: 1wanted to make a mode of ripping contrasts, from madcap comedy to absurd drama, reflecting life around us - shattering, trivial, contradictory'. Some what like thirty-foot supermarket displays present ing the most unlikely collection: novels by Dos toevsky competing for space with eau de toilette , bibles, pornographic videos, the collected works of Shakespeare, photographs of the earth while taken from the moon, astrological forecasts and posters of actors andjesus, while loudspeakers and electronic boards pulsate endlessly against a backdrop of Pergolesi, rock ’n" roll or raucous voices.

Because of this versatility, audiences will re spond in a variety of ways. The film needs more than one viewing. Unsympathetic audiences may react to the heavy Jesus focus and the staging of the Stations of the Cross as yet another Biblical would-be-epic. Fundamentalist Christians might be offended by the am ount of explanation and interpretation offered about the Gospels and the events in Jesus’ life. The devout might be dis tracted by the sub-plot of the unfaithful priest. Biblical scholars might be irritated by the specu lations on archeological information and com parisons with Roman Empire magic and mytholo gies. As well, Arcand’s satire is aimed at the adver tising exploiters who lack respect, fawning media personalities and Satanic yuppy legal advisers. Something for everyone; something against eve ryone. But Jesus of Montréal is striking and stimulat ing, and a way into appreciating what Arcand has done is the use of the categories, Jesus-figure’ and ‘Christ-figure’ (see Movie Christs and Anti christs, Sydney, 1988). Simply put, the Jesus-figure is any representation of Christ himself. The Christfigure, on the other hand, is any character who is made to resemble Jesus Christ significantly and substantially. (Western culture, whether believ ing or not, has always used the Gospel story and its language as a readily-appreciated store of meta phors: passion, miracle, resurrection, lepers, Lazarus, Magdalene.) Thejesus-figure of Arcand’s film is no nambypamby, holy-card image. Actor Lothaire Bluteau is easily identifiable with an expected Jesus-look, but the Passion-play setting, with the audience following the action (even participating as they take the broken bread from Jesus’ hand), high lights the familiar stories but gives them a dignity and, even, credibility they sometimes lack. The performances of the Passion play cast, intently responding to Jesus (walking on water, healing the blind), enhance Bluteau’s interpretation. The actor, Daniel Coulombe, is an introverted character obviously drawing great energy from his inner self. He has his hesitations and is a questor, but is not plagued by self-doubt. He is a highly sensitive man, drawing on the potential, the better selves, in his fellow-workers. He is quietly but intensely passionate, especially in at tacking those who treat others with contempt. The media exploiters are his main target. As Arcand has Lothaire Bluteau move from Daniel to Jesus and back, he enhances thejesus-figure with Daniel’s humanity and illuminates Daniel’s Christ-figure with Gospel insights. The Catholic devotion of The Stations of the Cross (key points in the stages of the Passion) is used as the framework. The filming of the scourg ing of Jesus, the crucifixion and piercing ofjesus’ side receive vivid cinematic treatment that is far beyond piety. Many of these sequences are as striking as those of Pasolini’s Gospel According to Matthew and as intelligently and respectfully writ 58

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ten and played as those in Zeffirelli’s Jesus of Nazareth. Daniel is made to resemble Jesus sometimes subtly, sometimes obviously. Though a top drama student, he has disappeared on a spiritual quest (to India - echoes of apocryphal stories ofjesus’ pilgrimages). He has lived a ‘hidden life’ until he emerges for his mission, the play. John’s Gospel has a section where ordinary' people and the religious authorities argue about Jesus’ origins and bicker about whether these origins should be dear or not if he is the expected Messiah. Arcand playfully and mischievously parallels this with intercutting media commen taries on Daniel’s background, flagrantly contra dictory. Criucs familiar with the life ofjesus, but not with its Gospel detail or references, are alert to what Arcand is doing. Arcand selects key passages from each of the Gospels: the discussion with Pondus Pilate is an elaboration of passages from John, the denunciation of the religious leaders is straight out of Matthew, the moment where a devout black woman is so moved by the play that she prays out loud and clings to the actor as if he is Jesus is a playful variation on the Canaanite woman who ‘nags’ Jesus to heal her daughter while the disciples agitate to get rid of her. On the level of Gospel parallels and variauons, Arcand is skilful and audacious. It is there from the beginning of Daniel’s task. He chooses a disciple-cast: a Maiy Magdalene type (exploited by priest and by media producer), a warm actress who is a Mary' reminder as a single mother, an actor who has had to sell out to dub (hilariously) pornographic movies, and a would-be Shakespear ean actor. His fulfilling his dream of reciting Hamlet’s soliloquy, “To be or not to be”, during the passion, actually endowing it with fresh in sight, is cleverly persuasive. As the performances of the play continue, it is no surprise that Daniel, the Christ-figure, iden tifies with Jesus. On paper, his ‘cleansing’ of the modern temple of prurient, disrespectful adver tising, might seem contrived, but is filmed with intense conviction. Many will identify with him as he overturns the expensive equipment, slaps the brutal agent, and whip-chases the leering execu tives and fearful director out of the studio. Audiences also get a little smug satisfaction as they recognize the parallel to the temptations of Jesus in plush office corridors and a top-of-thetown restaurant. There is even a surprise con demnation of the Satan-smooth lawyer from the shrug of despising him by the presumed ‘bimbo’ accompanying Daniel and the lawyer during the temptations. The lawyer is, of course, an antichrist figure. But what of the priest who has produced the play for 35 years, only to be revealed as too cowardly to leave the priesthood he had used to find security and an outlet for his love of theatre, and as a cover for sexual liaisons? He has a conscience but has rationalized his behaviour. However, he has ab sorbed the institution of the Church and its ethos, ultimately siding with authority when it comes to a dispute about theological orthodoxy and the criticisms of Daniel’s version of the play. Arcand dramatizes a valid critique of double standards of ecclesiastical behaviour through the centuries. It dignifies several of the characters, whose lives are shallow but whose up-front manner is pretentious, to call them antichrist-figures. Thev are too trivial as human beings: the fawning so cialites, the melodramatic media hostess and her tears, the auditioning agent, the brutal producer. And what of the Judas, the talented actor of the opening who sells himself as Thom m e sauvage"

of the m en’s toiletries campaign? He ultimately cannot face Daniel - except that his hillboard sauvage face looks down at the dying Daniel in the subway. Symbolically he has hanged himself at the climax of the play which opens the film. Jesus of Montréal is studded with references to Catholic traditions and piety, from the women singing the lenten lament of Mary' ‘Stabat Mater’ to echoes of religious paintings and statuary, explanations of early Christian art and the details of crucifixions and the initial loathing in repre senting Jesus’ humiliating death. The staging of the Magdalene’sjoyful running with the resurrec tion news is one of light and exhilaration. While Jesus of Montréal is a deeply serious film, it is also very funny, at times hilarious. (Arcand could make a comedy that would be uproarious.) On the serious side, one can note the open ing with Dostoevsky-like dialogue about the exis tence of God, faith and the human need for something or someone transcendent. There is the speculation about Gospel details and contem porary academic investigations into history and archaeology as well as mythologies of the Roman Empire. The implications of the Church authori ties’ treatment of play and actors questions the humanity, faith and hypocrisy inherent in the institution. And the ending is grim with Mireille mourning Daniel alone in the rain, the hymn of lament in the background and the glimpse of the crosses standing on the hill above the city. But audiences are carried along by the hu mour: the commercials, for the perfume, but especially the sexy routine and lyrics for Appalache beer; the pornography movie dubbing; the security guard urging visitors on to the next sta tion of the cross and pleading with them to leave, that they know the ending; the routine of the police arresting Daniel on the cross while con gratulating him on an interesting show; the con versation with the psychiatrist about the sanity of acting the Jesus role. The mocking of the theatre camp-followers; the renditions of the passion according to Method, Street Theatre, Comedie Française, Japanese styles; and even the fight around the cross with the wrestler bashing into the cross to keep the play going but ultimately killing Daniel. Arcand has written his screenplay shrewdly incorporating en tertainm ent and food for thought. The screenplay speculates on resurrec tion stories making the dead Jesus-Daniel lifegiving through organ transplants and his being hallowed by disciples who will act in memory of him. His spirit lives. (Though there is the ironic touch that St Mark’s hospital is too hectic and impersonal to help the wounded Daniel, while the Jewish hospital is one of peace and care.) Jesus of Montréal is particularly Catholic. Al though it can be and has been appreciated by critics and audiences for whom much of the symbolism and gospel reference is not known, Jesus of Montréal is a creative attempt to explore the faith, scepticism and disbelief of the contem porary world in a contemporary' updating of the 2000-year Christian tradition. Directed by Denys Arcand. Producers: Roger Frappier, Pierre Gendron. Screenplay: Denys Arcand. Director of photogra phy: Guy Dufaux. F.ditor: Isabelle Dedieu. Art director: Francois Seguin. Sound design: Patrick Rousseau, Mar cel Pothier. Music: Yves Lalerriere. (last: Lothaire Bluteau (Daniel),Catherine Wilkening (Mireille), Johanne-Marie Tremblay (C’a instance), Remy Girard (Martin), Robert Lepage (Rene). Gilles Pelletier (Father Leclerc), Yves Jacques (Richard Cardinal). Denys Arcand (Judge). A Max Films production. Distributor: Newvision Films. Timm. I 20 mins. Canada. 1988. JESUS OF MONTRÉAL (JÉSUS DE MONTRÉAL)

LEFT: C O C H R A N (K E V IN C O S T N ER ) IN T O N Y S C O T T'S R E V E N G E : THE F O R M S O F V IO LE N C E W H IC H U N D ER LIE M ALE B O N D IN G , A N D THE B E T R A Y A L A N D E X C ITE M EN T O F A D U LT ER Y M A K E R E V EN G E "M O R E P O W ER F U L THAN L O V E ".

As one of the pro ducers, Hunt Lowry', has noted, Mexico is totally integral to the story. It’s like another character. Even though Mexico is our neighbour to the south, the ideologies and sociology' are different. The different rules and the players make up a strong part of the picture.

REVENGE PETER

HU TCHINGS

opens with a stunt-flying sequence over the desert of the U.S.-Mexican bor der. Navy pilot Cochran (Kevin Costner) rockets across the desert for the last time display of virtuoso skill, balls and American tech nological prowess. Obviously, the scene reprises director Tony Scott’s earlier Top Gun, but it also establishes some of the dynamics of this film, cinematic and thematic. Cochran’s virtuoso virility is not simply his own, it is an instance of America at its techno military best, just as the sheer thrill of the camera work combined with the pulsing force of the sound production is an instance of American cinema at its best. The scene juxtaposes these qualities with those of the landscape, such that the violation of Mexican airspace subsequently prefigures future American incursions upon that culture, while the impervious harshness of the desert suggests the severity of a Mexican response to outsiders. After this last flight, Cochran returns to a farewell party' paid for by his friend Tiburon (Anthony Quinn), a wealthy Mexican power broker, at which he receives a pair of shotguns from Tiburon and an invitation to Mexico. He accepts, and thus meets Tibey’s young, new and appar ently haughty wife Miryea (Madeleine Stowe). After a period of mutual indifference, tinged with hostility on Miryea’s part, the two become illicit lovers, eventually sneaking off to Cochran’s hunting lodge in the Mexican hills, the locale for the revenge tragedy that ensues upon Tibey’s discovery of their affair.

evenge

While Lowry seems almost surprised that a “neighbour to the sou th” might be different to the U.S., the film more knowingly exp loits these differences. Indeed, the whole moral force of the film, its suspense and tension, is predicated upon these differences which enable Revenge to invest its sexuality with a ta boo-breaking eroticism, and its violence with an implacable gravity'. As opposed to A drian Lyne’s ‘designer’ eroti cism and hysterical, • Hitchcockian violence in Fatal Attraction, where eroticism comes from doing it in a lift, or with the dishes, and where violence comes from the spurned and is received as unexpected because of some idea of the ‘rules’ of casual infidelity, Re venge establishes violence as the starting point of eroticism. in a It can do so because of the Mexican setting, and because this film is centred on the oedipal buddy relationship of Cochran and Tiburon. The setting immediately makes credible the taboo and threat of the impending adultery with out the necessity' of establishing a moral frame work that would be, in the current western moral climate, somewhat unusual. Usually, the risk of adulterous discovery' is moral rather than mortal. But while the setting is a familiar device for investing the scenario with suspense, the ver)' familiarity of the device recalls the genre of Jacobean and Caroline revenge tragedy so clearly signalled by its title, a genre where the scenes of erotic and violent passions are invariably Italian or Spanish, and which featured sex, violence and intrigue in a spectacular manner as either enter tainment or morality', if not as both. And this genre is recalled also in the emblematic names of its main characters - Cochran and Tiburon (Spanish for shark, as one is told in the film) emphasizing the morality' play aspect of this story' (if its title doesn’t already do so), albeit that this runs counter to the film’s overt style of high-tech realism. Despite Stowe’s claim that “there is no abso lute right or wrong”, that “things happen, and characters make their choices”, Revenge is peculiarly moralistic. In contrast to the exuberant Jacobean violence in Peter Greenaway’s The Cook,

the Thief, his Wife & her Lover, Tony Scott’s Revenge features the restrictive, puritanic violence of the Caroline period of English drama. In that later period, violence served the moral purpose of demonstrating the forms of iniquity and the price to be paid for these, whereas the more courdy dramas of thejacobean period displayed a greater delight in the physical excesses of theatrical vio lence as a vital spectacle. Where one kind of violence draws lines around human behaviour, the other flows from an excessive, corporeal humanity. A crucial point in this distinction is the position and treatment offemale characters, which returns one to the oedipal buddy element of this film. Revenge combines male bonding, the betray als and excitements of adultery, and the forms of violence underlying these to argue that revenge is “more powerful than love”. Here, revenge is not as concerned with the loss of the Wife as it is with the loss of the Friend. Again, comparison with The Cook, the Thief, his Wife & her Lover makes this clear. Tiburon’s revenge is cold and codified: he knows what is happening, but waits to catch them in the hunting lodge, where he has his minions beat Cochran while he administers the “punish ment for whores” to Miryea. Her punishment — having her cheek slit open from her mouth be fore being confined to a brothel —is of precisely the kind found in Jacobean drama.1 Greenaway’s Thief and Husband, Albert Spica (Michael Gambon), rants around the restaurant, demolishing the kitchen in search of the Wife and her Lover at the first hint of suspicion, yelling that he will kill the Lover then eat him. Of the Wife, he says nothing: Spica’s uncontrollably bloody re venge is directed towards the Lover. While both films offer a rationale for the Wife’s adultery', Revenge’s scenario requires that she pay the price for her motivated immorality, dying after a hideous course of humiliations. It is Miryea who has most seriously transgressed a male code, by usurping her position as passive object of sexual exchange - the position from which she marries Tiburon - and by interfering in the dynamics of male friendship. It is this dynamic that is explored through the film’s revenge tragedy, and it is this male bonding that, eventually, is more powerful than heterosex ual love, insofar as neither Cochran nor Tiburon end up dead, only Miryea and some of Tibey’s minions. Their deaths are presented as a separate issue, the despatch of the tools of Miryea’s fate in an acceptably sublimated violence towards Tibu ron, as well as being the only form of violence permitted in the Cochran-Tiburon relationship: violence directed towards third parties. “In hon our” (as Tiburon says), Only they are permitted to kill each other. However, the development of this scenario is much more than a matter of scripting: even the balance of the casting contributes to the film’s power. For instance, Costner’s cinematically clas sic American, Cooperesque features and build work against Quinn’s age and physical history of ethnic difference. As for Stowe, I am a little con cerned by her acting reprise of the role of Latino sex-object from her début appearance in Stakeout, and hope that her upcoming role in The TwoJakes will be more substantial. The casting also includes a few of the film’s homages to earlier ‘westerns’, especially in the appearance of sometime John Wayne impersonator, James Gammon, as the Texan. In making Mexico the tangible, credible moral ground of the film, Kimball’s photography and the production design of Seymour and Fernan dez play a large part. Just as the landscape is CINEM A

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another character, characters like Tiburon are shot as if they are features of that landscape. After the discovery of the betrayals of his Friend and his Wife, Quinn’s brooding profile is shot like an Aztec statue, or one of the harsh rock formadons of his desert. NOTES

1. Promised by a jealous husband in Jonson’s Volpone. “Corvino, Heart, I will drag thee hence, home, by the hair; Cry thee a strumpet, through the streets; rip up Thy mouth, unto thine ears;...” (Benjonson, Volpone , 1605, III.7.96-98.)

REVENGE Directed by Tony Scott. Producers; Hunt ■ Lowry', Stanley Rubin. Executive producer: Kevin Cost ner. Screenplay: Jim Harrison, Jeffrey Fiskin, from the novella by Jim Harrison. Director of photography: Jef frey Kimball. Editor: Chris Lebenzon. Production de signers: Michael Seymour, Benjamin Fernandez. Com poser:Jack Nitzsche. Cast: Kevin Costner (Cochran). An thony Quinn (Tiburon), Madeleine Stowe (Miryea), Sally Kirkland (Starr). Miguel Ferrer (Amador), Tomas Milian (Cesar),James Gammon (Texan). A Rastar Pro duction. Distributor: Hoyts Fox Columbia Tri-Star. 124 mins. 35mm. U.S. 1989. 60 • C I N E M A

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LET S GET LOST

Europe, constantly touring, recording whenever asked to, before he finally died in Amsterdam in 1988, at the age of 58, in a fall that could be inter h e su b je c t o f Let’s Get Lost is Chet Baker, preted as suicide or accident. one of the most charismatic - and for a Let's Get Lost examines the stardom and de while successful - musicians of his day. Chet cline of Chet Baker. But is also can be seen as a Baker shot to stardom early, pardy because he wasstudy of drug addiction: Is this what drug addic the trumpeter chosen to partner Charlie Parker tion does to a person, or is this the sort of person when the legendary ‘Bird’ played in Los Angeles ality that becomes a junkie? It can also be taken as in 1952, more because of his contribution to a document of the jazz life: the pressures that can Gerry Mulligan’s celebrated Quartet of the fol be applied to an artist by fans who adore without lowing year. understanding, by audiences that chatter above Baker soon came to epitomize all that was the music, and by an entertainm ent industry ‘cool’ aboutjazz in those days, what with hisjames eager to exploit the artist’s appeal. Dean-like good looks, his vulnerable vocal style Much of the film’s impact comes from its and the understated lyricism of his trumpet style. before-and-after approach. Footage of the hand The stardom turned sour when Baker be some young star provides a chilling contrast with came a heroin addict, like so many jazzmen of his the same man three decades later, a portrait of generation (who tragically thought that this would Dorian Gray who walks and talks as if in his sleep. help them to emulate Parker’s genius). Unlike Footage of Baker performing, onstage or in the most of the others, Baker neither died young nor studio (recording the music for the haunting kicked the habit. He hung on, despite all the soundtrack album “Chet Baker Sings and Plays adverse publicity', the recurring run-ins with the from the Film Lei's Get Lost"), reveals the decay in law, and the sometimes startling deterioration of the tone of his voice and trumpet, although the his talents. He spent the latter part of his life in kernel of his talent is still there —perhaps lent ADRIAN

JACKSON

late twentieth century: community identity and local action. While environmentalists have claimed A T A N L .A . R EC O R D IN G S E SSIO N IN 1 9 5 4 : the spotlight with their call to “Think globally, act BRU CE W E B E R 'S LE T 'S G E T LO ST. locally”, Michael Moore takes his spotlight into the local veins, and thereby the conceits, of enhanced poignancy by his obvious fragility and America. He traverses the dreamscapes of the world-we ariness. American common people, as one of those people. In addition to filming Baker at work, and He appears on camera as a none-too-attractive eventually interviewing him direct, director Bruce documentary filmmaker trying to get a story. This Weber spends some time filming him at play. He is his story too. is seen dining with his girlfriend at Cannes, or Flint, Michigan, the home of General Mo cruising in the California sun, with some of the tors, is his home town. He has made a film about director’s friends, in a big convertible. Such scenes his own sense of loss and then turned the camera appear intended to show that the trumpeter was on to the town and seen the anguished cry of as photogenic in decline as in his prime, even that wounded humanity, evicted on to the streets, he retained his sex appeal, as younger women blinded by the illogicality of corporate careless flock around to share a laugh or a caress. But they ness. seem pointless and contrived, as if Weber thought Moore cruises Flint like a blinded buffalo, he was still shooting ads for Calvin Klein. Else trying to make sense of its tragedy, as the car and where, however, W eber’s use of inky black-andtruck assembly lines close down, throwing 30,000 white is quite effective, suggesting Baker as the out of work. Like the journalist that he is, Moore inhabitant of an after-hours nether-world. knows he is on to a good story and the material for More fruitfully, Weber interviews some of a great film is falling into place. Unfortunately, Baker’s former colleagues (like trumpeter-actor like most Americans, he is reluctant to propose a Jack Sheldon, who laughs about the time ‘Chetty’ solution to the problem, stole his girlfriend), some of his many wives and preferring instead to let the girlfriends, and members of his family. system speak about its own The Baker that emerges is not an admirable ugliness. (American aca man. He used and manipulated people without a demic and social theoreti second thought, discarding them when they were cian Lawrence Grossberg of no further use. It becomes difficult to believe recently expressed frustra that he loved any of the women in his life (they tion at the patent inability seem to have expected every disappointment, but of his fellow Americans to blamed it on another woman rather than on cast a wide net over the ills Baker). He neglected his children as they grew that are shaking the foun up. Even his mother tearfully admits that he was dations of their country. “In a disappointment as a son (“Yes, but don’t let’s go these times, AIDS has be into that”). come the privileged sign of Scenes like this one raise questions about a suffering which negates Weber’s own ethics. Several of the interviewees intellectual work. What I are clearly distressed; one wife describes a girl don’t understand is why friend as a bitch, and adds, “Don’t put that in!” Is AIDS has become the sign the director going too far here, in a Hinch-like of suffering - there are crusade to uncover the real Chet Baker? many others dying from Maybe so; but maybe you have to accept that starvation, homelessness, if you want to know what sort of a man Chet Baker etc.”1) really was. It is hard to believe that a musician A ppearances by capable of creating such romantic beauty could Moore’s boyhood heroes, be so callously selfish. But nobody has stepped Pat B oone and Anita forward to claim that Weber has it all wrong. Bryant, together with Miss Let’s Get Lost is an absorbing film, with more Michigan (who went on to than a few indelible images, but also a very de become Miss America of pressing one. As they say, the truth can hurt. 1988) and Robert ‘Eat shit, suckers’ Schiller, and their LET’S GET LOST Directed by Bruce Weber. Producer: pathetic efforts to encour Bruce Weber. Executive producer: Nan Bush. Associate age former assembly line producers: Steven Cohen, Itaka Schlubach-Hicks. Direc workers to be confident and tor of photography: Jeff Preiss. Editor: Angelo Corrao. Sound editor: Maurice Schell. Music editor: Joseph S. happy and believe in the Debeasi. Music performed by Chet Baker. Musicians: Am erican way, serve to Frank Strazzeri (Piano), John Leftwich (Bass), Ralph indicate how vacuous the Penland (Drums), NicolaStilo (Guitar). Cast: Chet Baker, American mind has be Carol Baker, Vera Baker, Paul, Dean & Missy Baker, Dick come. Conversely, it indi Bock, William Claxton, Flea, Hersh Hamel, Chris Isaak, cates how well developed Lisa Marie, Andy Minsker, Jack Sheldon, Lawrence the process of using America’s rich and glamor Trimble, Joyce Night Tucker, Cherry Vanilla, Diane ous showbiz personalities to recreate the myth of Vavra, Ruth Young. A Little Bear Films production. Dis the American dream polemic, even when around tributor: Dendy Films. 120 mins. 35 mm. U.S. 1989. their very heads the machinery of industry lies idle. ROGER & M E While Allan Bloom, in his very popular book MARCUS BREEN of 1988, The Closing of the American Mind, con demned American educationists for failing to ic h a e l m o o r e is the “Me” o f the title and he is a great chronicler of the decline of stop the slide of values and culture into medioc American civilization and its lie of prog rity, he failed to realize that the battle was lost long ago in the workshops and assembly areas of ress. At a time when capitalist media are trumpet ing their conceits about the “death of commu the country. Blind faith in America was a problem long before liberal curricula allowed questions to nism”, it is refreshing to see a film that trumpets be raised about that America. the filth of capitalism. For its part, industry has cynically exploited It is even better to see a good film that uses as the material and idealized aspirations of Ameri its modus operandi the new political reality of the LEFT: V IN T A G E P H O T O O F A N E N O R M O U S LY

PH O T O G EN IC CHET B A K E R , TA K EN B Y W ILLIA M C LA X T O N

cans, and the destruction of the welfare ‘net’ since 1980 has meant that the loss of faith in America is seeping up from those whose dreams of the country are most intense. This film shows that and comes as a rude shock to Australians who have such a relatively humane and generous sys tem of welfare in place. If these comments appear polemical and perhaps distorted by some conceits of their own, I offer no apology. Roger and Me makes it patently clear that capitalism is undoing itself by the bru tality of its own inhuman logic. But as Marx said, capitalists always find ways of changing the sys tem, of improving it. This seems less and less likely as the advanced world draws towards the end of capital accumulation based on conventional economic and productive models. We are mov ing to nowhere and Flint and its residents are at the forefront. It is they who are the new genera tion of holocaust victims, cooked alive by the ovens of corporate capital. Indeed, if this film were to end with Moore’s pursuit of Roger Smith and the portrayal of GM as a corporate criminal, it would have no great

A B O V E : W R IT E R -P R O D U C E R -D IR E C T O R M IC H A EL M O O R E , C E N T R E , W IT H R H O N D A B R ITT O N (H O L D IN G H ER PET R A B B IT ) A N D D E P U T Y S H E R IF F FRED R O S S IN R O G E R & M E: "T H E LO SS O F FA ITH IN A M E R IC A IS S E E P IN G U P FR O M T H O S E W H O S E D R E A M S O F TH E C O U N T R Y A R E M O S T IN T E N S E ."

merits. Its success - or, should I say, its uppercut and knock-out punch - comes from the longevity of the film project, in that we see how highminded attempts to provide jobs and new life for Flint fail. A new Hyatt hotel, built because tourism is to save the city, fails and is sold. The Water Street Pavilion, incorporating recreations of Flint in its grand old days as a major car assembly town, fails and Auto World, with models of the great GM products, closes after six months. The tourists just CINEM A

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never arrive. I had a nagging feeling that I had heard this propaganda about tourism saving an economy before. The monetarist rationale of the 1980s sold the same idea to Australia and in the process admitted that the national salvation was never again to be realized through labour-intensive industry. Tony Buba’s Lightning Over Braddock: A Rustbowl Fantasy, which chronicles the demise of (his own) Pennsylvania steel mill town, made the same point, but with considerable idiosyncratic inflections, thereby robbing the subject matter of its human tragedy. This is no time for post-modernist tricks, theories and technicalities, just as it is no time for the band-aid solutions of equally middle-class petty-capitalists trying to develop tourism from the refuse of a civilization. It is a time to point the camera and shoot. Michael Moore has done just that and proved yet again that cinema direct has sensate nerve endings that come to life even still. One final and contradictory' point needs to be made about Warner Bros’ distribution of Roger & Me. The company’s involvement with the proj ect serves to reinforce the comments made in this review and in the film itself: namely, that the terrible demise of America’s working class into destitution, through the closure of labour inten sive factories, is a major concern for humane Americans, even “caring” corporations. Put another way, liberal Americans who be lieve in treating people with dignity do not like to see GM or other large corporations create an underclass of Americans. The homeless in Amer ica are everywhere and crime is burgeoning. Industry closures and corporate junking of its workers is a crime. Warners, for whatever reasons, is prepared to allow the message to percolate to an audience through the film (and later televi sion). It is an important and relevant point. Decades after the advent of cinema direct, the genre, as seen in Roger and Me, has a lot to contribute to current debate in a post-industrial world. Michael Moore has done a lot to resurrect the genre and direct the attention of a generation at the failing heart of advanced capitalism. NOTE

1. Private correspondence, 1990. ROGER & ME Directed by Michael Moore. Producer: Michael Moore. Associate producer: Wendy Stanzler. Screenplay: Michael Moore. Editors: Wendy Stanzler, Jennifer Beman. Sound editor-: Jennifer Beman. Cam era: Christopher Beaver, John Prusak, Kevin Rafferty, Bruce Schermer. Sound:Judy Irving. Production coordi nators: Rod Birleson, Anne Bohlen, Robert Wilhelm. Funding provided by thej. Roderick Macarthur Founda tion, Michigan Council for the Arts, Edelman Family Fund, Essential Information, Ruth Edgerton, Center for New Television, and Greater Flint Arts Council. A Warner Bros, production. Distributor: Roadshow. 87 mins. 35 mm. U.S. 1989. TH E P R IS O N ER O F S T P E TER SB U R G HUNTER

CORDAIY

The Prisoner of St Petersburg, which won first prize at last year’s Rotterdam Interna tional Film Festival, has quickly become a prob lem for film critics because once again Pringle has defied convention and dared to chart his own directorial course. The film has been described as everything from “a brave sort of eccentricity” (Adrian Martin’s review in Business Review Weekly, April 1990) to a naive and embarrassing flop. Pringle’s films are never ineffectual, and he has the (certainly unwanted) reputation of hav ing directed one of the great ‘lost’ films of recent

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Australian cinema - Wrong World - which, like his latest release, also won an overseas award (the 1985 Silver Bear in Berlin for Jo Kennedy as Best Actress) but which was barely seen in Australia. Wrong World and The Prisoner of St Petersburg exemplify Pringle’s cinematic concern for physi cal and psychological journeys undertaken by alienated characters who are lost in the maze of post-modern life. In terms of the dominant con cerns of Australian cinema, this makes him a director whose work is perceived as ‘difficult’ and only relevant for minority audiences. It is an undeserved reputation because his films explore the same essential imbalance in the psyche of his characters that is the basis of storytelling regard less of the context being ‘minority7’ or ‘main stream’. Pringle’s attraction to these characters was explained in an interview (Cinema Papers, May 1988) when he said, “I find I have more to say about the bent, the unwanted, the slightly crazed characters of this world than normal people. I understand them.” In this sense, to borrow a film title, Pringle’s characters, and the films they in habit, are not reconciled. The Prisoner of St Petersburg begins with this overt sense of dislocation. A young man, Jack (Noah Taylor), travels by train to Berlin, arriving to find a suitably deserted ‘old city’; this Berlin could belong to almost any year this century, a feeling enhanced by the striking black-and-white photography of Ray Argali. Such timelessness allowsjack to be established as a character trapped in an era when literature dominated the imagina tion - in his case by the great Russian novelists such as Gogol and Dostoevsky. These writers, or more accurately their books, possess Jack to such a degree that his mind is tormented by their visions of the lower depths of a decaying Euro pean culture. The “Natasha” or “Sonja” he imag ines walking past him is really Elena (played with tantalizing abandon by Solveig Dommartin), who along with her friend Johanna (KatjaTeichmann in her first screen role) is cruising the Berlin bars, also trying to be free from the past, though their torment is a more contemporary angst than Jack’s batde with the giants of literature. Having established this premise, the film then follows the trio on a circular journey through the Berlin night. Their adventures are by turns.poignant and humorous, dominated by the spirited performances of Dommartin and Teichmann as the two drugged and drunk women. They have a sure sense of the necessary balance between the comic and ironic as they stumble through the streets, Johanna flirting with Jack who remains

A B O V E : J A C K (N O A H T A Y L O R ) A N D E LE N A (S O L V E IG D O M M A R T IN ) IN TH E P R IS O N E R O F S T P E T E R S B U R G : A FILM W H IC H E X E M P L IF IE S IA N P R IN G L E 'S "C IN E M A T IC C O N C E R N F O R P H Y S IC A L A N D P S Y C H O L O G IC A L J O U R N E Y S U N D E R T A K E N B Y A LIE N A T E D C H A R A C T E R S W H O A R E LO S T IN THE M A Z E O F P O S T -M O D E R N L IF E " .

obsessed with Elena, convinced he’s met her before, perhaps in 1866. If Elena is alluring, then Johanna is a tragic-comic figure who is enthralled with their wandering: “I’ve never been so lost before”, she remarks, and when coming upon some trucks parked near an all-night diner ex claims, “Oh - trucks!”, with a tone of voice which suggests a perverse delight with large machinery. Unfortunately, Noah Taylor is not able to carry the role of the demen tedjack with anything like the dramatic timing of Dommartin or Teich mann, or display the sophistication needed for such a complex personality, and too often he resorts to caricature which is best exemplified by an annoying, exaggerated rolling of his eyes to represent his disturbed mind. Because of this the film becomes, perhaps unwittingly, more enjoy able as a story of the two women and their be mused efforts to ‘release’ the prisonerjack, rather than his struggle to free himself. The Prisoner of St Petersburg is an AustralianGerman co-production and was made with a combination of funding from the Australian Film Commission’s Special Production Fund and the Senate of Berlin. As a result of his dissatisfaction with the previous funding arrangements under 10BA, Pringle is almost alone amongst Australian filmmakers in pursuing a European connection in both finance and location for his films. This has set the pattern for his future productions and if The Prisoner of St Petersburg is not the best film he has made (that honour is still reserved for Wrong World) then it points the way forward for a style of filmmaking which is uniquely independent in spirit. Directed by Ian Pringle. Producers: Daniel Scharf, Klaus Sungen. Screen play: Michael Wren. Director of photography: Ray Ar gali. Editor: Ursala West. Production designer: Peta Lawson. Sound recordist: Eckhard Kuchenbecker. Composer: Paul Schutze. Cast: Noah Taylor (Jack), Solveig Dommartin (Elena), KatjaTeichmann (Johanna), Rene Schonenberger (Businessman), Dennis Staunton (Irish man), Johanna Karl-Lory (Old woman), Olivier Picot (Stefan), Christian Zertz (Lorenzo), Hans-Martin Stier (Truckdriver), Efrem Accurso (Italian truckdriver). Seon Films (Melbourne)-Panarama Film (West Berlin). Dis tributor: Urban Eye Film Releasing. 82 mins. 35 mm. Australia-Germany.1989. ■

THE PRISONER OF ST PETERSBURG

IWhich Films Will Win?

The 1990 AFI Awards

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PUBLIC BODIES REVIEW COMMITTEE INQUIRY INTO FILM VICTORIA CHAIRMAN: JOHN HARROWFIELD M.P. Pursuant to Section 23 of the Film Victoria A c t 1981, Film Victoria has been referred to the Public Bodies Review Committee of the Parliament of Victoria for review. Consequently, the Committee has now commenced its review into the efficiency, effectiveness and economic performance of Film Victoria. The Committee invites written submissions from interested individuals and organisations in relation to the review. All evidence provided to the Committee must be related to the Committee’s Terms of Reference, available from the Secretary at the address below, or by telephoning (03) 655 6851. Written submissions should be sent no later than Friday 31 August 1990, to: Mr. David I. Ali Secretary Public Bodies Review Committee 19th Level Nauru House 80 Collins Street Melbourne Victoria 3000 All submissions will be treated as public documents unless confi dentiality is requested.

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iqutpinl and Servici tu Australia I SouthEast Asti The Great Air Race Stan & George Till There Was You Death In Brunswick Mark Clark VanArk The Golden Braid Mission Impossible Dolphin Cove Breakaway Sweethearts Trouble In Paradise In To Deep Island Punishers Naked Under Capricorn Mullaway Celia Ricki And Pete Boulevard Of Broken Dreams Bushfire Moon Nancy Wake As Time Goes By The Tale Of Ruby Rose Initiation Malcolm A U ST R A LIA :

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CLASSIC MOVIES, BOOKS and MEMORABILIA from "THE GOLDEN YEARS'" MAIL ORDERS WELCOME Shop 2, 199 Toorak Road, South Yarra, Vic.

Tel. (03) 826 3008

N A TIO N A L F E A TU R E

FILM & VIDEO CATALOGUE

The only catalogue which lists every feature length film available on 16mm or video as at December 1989.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SIXTH EDITION • over 15,000 title s available on 16mm or video w ith 19,000 sources • many title s th o u g h t to be lost are in fact available • how to set about obtaining your ow n copy, on video, of your favourite title s • new libraries of recent Chinese and Japanese features • the FORMAT is the same as fo r previous editions • ALL INFORMATION is contained on ONE LINE fo r easy REFERENCE • all feature length documentaries, film study extracts, film s on film , shorter fiction film s and videos are included as w ell as features A fter sixteen years and six editions, th e National Feature Film & Video Catalogue has proved itself indispensable to all users of film , and w ill now be likewise fo r video viewers. Obtainable from : Sales & Subscriptions National Library of Australia Canberra ACT 2600 Price: $50.00 including postage.

V R

PAUL

KOKODA CR ESCEN T

Director: Ted Robinson. Producer: Phillip Emanuel. Scriptwriter: Patrick Cook. D irector of photography: Dan Burstall. Editor: Robert Gibson. Distributor: Road show. Cast: W arren Mitchell (Stan), Ruth Cracknell (Alice), Bill Kerr (Ross).

A group of World War II army buddies find them selves united against a new enemy after one of their members’ grandsons dies of a drug over dose. The youthfully-minded veterans set out to expose the corrupt policeman whom they suspect is behind the drug racketeering. Patrick Cook’s satiric script is let down here by slipshod execution, which uncomfortably wavers between schmaltzy depictions of ageing people embarking on youthful adventures and realistic social commentary. The themes of mateship, the fraying of the social fabric and retire m ent are riddled with clichés and stereotypes.

K AL I NA

CAPPUCCINO

HARP IN THE SOUTH

Director: Anthony Bowman. Producers: Anthony Bow man, Sue Wild. Scriptwriter: Anthony Bowman. Director of photography: Danny Batterham . Editor: Richard Hindley. Distributor: Hom e Cinema Group. Cast: John Clayton (Max), Rowena Wallace (A nna),Jeanie Drynan (Maggie).

Director: George Whaley. Producer: Anthony Buckley. Scriptwriter: Eleanor Witcombe, based on the novel by Ruth Park. Director of photography: Paul Murphy. Edi tor: Wayne le Clos. Distributor: RCA-Columbia PicturesHoyts Video. Cast: Anne Phelan, Martin Sanderson, Kaarin Fairfax.

Comedy based around the trials and tribulations of a group of aspiring actors. Reviewed in Cinema Papers, January, 1990.

Television mini-series based on Ruth Park’s popular novel, released to video along with its sequel, Poor M an’s Orange.

COMEDY COMPANY VOLS 1 AND 2

LONESOME DOVE

According to the press release, these collections include previously unreleased material from the popular television comedy series. DEAD POETS SO CIETY

Director: Peter Weir. Producers: Steven Haft, P auljunger Witt, Tony Thomas. Scriptwriter: Tom Schulman. Direc tor of photography: Jo h n Seale. Editor: William Ander son. Distributor: Touchstone (Roadshow). Cast: Robin Williams (John Keating), Robert Sean Leonard (Neil Perry), Norm an Lloyd (Mr Nolan).

American melodrama directed by Peter Weir and starring Robin Williams. Reviewed in Cinema Pa pers, September, 1989. DUNERA BOYS

Director: Ben Lewin. Producer: Bob Weis. Scriptwriter: Ben Lewin. Distributor: Home Cinema Group. Cast: Bob Hoskins (Morrie M endellsohn), Warren Mitchell (Mr Baum), Maurie Fields (Corporal Carter).

PHIL NOYCE'S AMERICAN FILM, BUND FURY.

BUND FURY

Director: Phillip Noyce. Producers: Daniel Grodnik, Tim M atheson. Scriptwriter: Charles Robert Carner, based on a screenplay by Ryozo Kasahura. Director of photography: Don Burgess. Editor: David Simmons. Distributor: First Release. Cast: Rutger H auer (Nick P ark er), B randon Call (Billy D everaux), T errance O ’Quinn (Frank Deveraux).

Phillip Noyce-directed action film, reviewed in Cinema Papers, November 1989. BODYWORK

Director: David Caesar. Producer: Glenys Rowe. Re search and original concept: Chris Pip. Director of photography: Rev Carlson. Editor: Greg Bell. Distribu tor: Hom e Cinem a Group.

Sub-titled “Confessions From The Funeral Trade”, David Caesar’s droll documentary comprises in terviews with people involved in various facets of the funeral industry. BONZA

Director: David Swann. Producer: Deborah Hoare. Script writer: David Swann. Director o f photography: Leigh Parker. Editor: Ken Sallows. Distributor: Hom e Cinema G roup. Cast: Peter Green (Ted), M aureen Edwards (Bev), Susie Dee (K atherine).

Wacky view of middle-class domestic life seen through the eyes of a family’s most beloved member, the pampered dog. Reviewed in Cinema Papers, September, 1989.

Director: Simon Wincer. Executive producers: Suzanne de Passe, Bill Wittliff. Scriptwriter: Bill Wittliff, based on the novel by Larry McMurtry. Distributor: CIC-Taft Video. Cast: Robert Duvall (Gus McCrae), Tommy Lee Jones (Woodrow Call), Angelica Huston (Clara Alen).

Successful, award-winning Western mini-series. LOVER BOY

Director: Geoffrey Wright. Producer: Daniel Scharf. Scriptwriter: Geoffrey Wright. Director o f photography: Michael Williams. Editor: Grant Fenn. Distributor: Hom e Cinema Group. Cast: Noah Taylor (Mick), Gillian Jones (Sally), Ben M endelsohn (Gaz).

Reviewed in Cinema Papers, September, 1989, Lover Boy (not to be confused with Joan Micklin Silver’s Loverboy) recounts the ill-fated relationship be tween a 43-year-old woman and a 17-year-old boy. Available on the same tape as Bonza. OUTBACK VAM PIRES

Television mini-series based on the true story of a group of German Jews who were sent to London in 1939. Mistaken to be Nazi sympathizers, they were dispatched to Australia on the ship “Dunera”.

Director: Colin Eggleston. Producers: Jam es Michael Vernon, Jan Tvrell. Scriptwriter: Colin Eggleston. Direc tor of photography: Gary' Wapshott. Editor: Jo Cook. Distributor: Home Cinema Group. Cast: Brett Climo (Bronco), Richard Morgan (Nick), Angela Kennedy (Lucy)

GHOSTS ... OF THE CIVIL DEAD

Originally known as “Prince at the Court of Yarralumla” and “Prince of Yarralumla”, this inane vampire comedy spoof is strictly for students of Australian film during the heyday of 10BA.

Director: John Hillcoat. Producer: Evan English. Script writers: Nick Cave, Gene Conkie. Evan English. John Hillcoat. Director of phoLography: Paul Goldman. Edi tor: Stewart Young. Distributor: Hom e Cinema Group. Cast: Dave Field (Wenzil), Mike Bishop (Hale), Nick Cave (Maynard)

Uncompromisingly savage view of the brutality and violence of the prison system. Reviewed in Cinema Papers, July, 1989. DAVID SW AN N 'S SHORT FILM, BO N ZA: NOW ON VIDEO WITH LOVER BO Y.

POOR MAN’S ORANGE

Director: George Whaley. Producer: George Whaley. Scriptwriter: George Whaley, based on the novel by Ruth Park. Director of photography: Paul Murphy. Editor: Wayne Le Clos. Distributor: RCA-Columbia PicturesHoyts Video. Cast: Anne Phelan, Martin Sanderson, Kaarin Fairfax.

Four-part television mini-series, released simulta neously with its precursor, Harp in the South. TAKEOVER

Director: Robert M archand. Producer: Phillip Emanuel. Scriptwriter: Peter Moon. Director o f photography: Robert Kohler. Editor: Murray Ferguson. Distributor: Roadshow. Cast: Barry' O tto (George O ppenheim er), Anne Tenney (Hilda O ppenheim er), Alexander Kemp (Harvey).

Lame and predictable comedy made for televi sion, with the assistance of Film Victoria. It con cerns a hard-working company executive who has neglected his family and is taken over by a com puter. While his wife dabbles with a hokey psychic healer, he resuscitates his human powers to bring about a happy reconciliation with his distraught wife and their emotionally unbalanced son. ■ CINEMA

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B E

O 1

kW Tfc

S C O R S ES E ON SC O R S ESE

David Thompson and Ian Christie (eds), Faber and Faber, London, 1989, hb, illustrated, 178 pp. JOHN

C O N O M O S

He has this great, generous gift of creating a situation for an audience, and sharing it with them. He is the ventriloquist and his doll, the singer and the song. - M TCH A FI.PO W F.i l

Marty is a sort of a film buff! - ROBERT DE NERO

c o r se se o n sc o r se se is a perceptive and useful interview-history on the turbulent life and work of Martin Scorsese, the Am erican cinema’s night poet of the streets. A good part of the book is based on the three Guardian lectures Scorsese delivered in England during January 1987. The editors, David Thompson and Ian Christie, have managed to connect all the key episodes and films of Scorsese’s life, and provide helpful commentaries throughout of the book’s six chapters. It clearly demonstrates how much he is enmeshed in seeing movies as spiritual redemp tion. As an artist, Scorsese makes and lives cinema like someone possessed: this is something which is abundandy clear throughout even' page of the book, just as it is in his hyper-kinetic, visually and sonically innovative movies about ambition, guilt, human frailty, masculine violence and redemp tion. Above all, Scorsese’s movies speak of an au thentic personal vision and the imperative to try out his radical aesthetic ambitions against the creative discipline of generic conventions and audience reaction. His unmistakable, richly expressive mise-en-scene reveals a bold and intui tive understanding of human emotions, colour, gesture and rhythm. What comes through time and again is Scors ese’s overwhelming hunger for watching movies. His cinephilia began when he was three years old:

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his father, being a film buff, would take his asth matic son to see all kinds of movies. He would then go home and draw the seductive images he’d seen dancing on the screen. Scorsese loved biblical epics and, under the influence of books and newspaper comic strips as well, he would make up his own little stories. In this book, as well as in the earlier one by Mars' Pat Kelly, Marlin Scorsese: The First Decade (1980), some of Scorsese’s storyboard images (and annotated comments) for Taxi Driver and Raging Bull are re produced. They echo his childhood days in bed creating visual narratives for movies he would dream of making. By the time he was six, Scorsese saw The Thief of Bagdad (1940), Duel in the Sun (1947) and Italian neorealist classics such as Bicycle Thieves (1948), Rome Open City (1945) and Paisa (1946). His family was one of the first in the neighbour hood to purchase a television set in 1946. In the 1950s, there was a television programme called Million Dollar Movie, which showed the same film twice on weekday evenings and three times on Saturday and Sunday. Scorsese would watch, much to his m other’s chagrin, the one movie over and over again. He would later claim that these multiple viewings made him aware of the dynamic rela tion of camera to music. It was during this period that Scorsese encountered his first Michael Powell and Enteric Pressburger film, The Tales of Hoffman (1951). He was struck by its music, the theatricality of the performers’gestures and the fluid camera movements. Would it be too fanciful to suggest that what André Bazin symbolized for François Truffaut, Powell symbolized for Scorsese? After

all, both Scorsese on Scorsese and The First Decade have, appropriately enough, prefaces by Powell. From his early days as a child in New York’s Litde Italy to his most recent films (“Life Lessons” in New York Stories, and GoodF'ellas), Scorsese’s love for movies, music and the vibrantly textured mosaic of American life, especially as epitomized by street life, have been responsible for one of the most uncompromisingly original voices in cin ema today. Scorsese’s Italian-American identity and the emotional and cultural topography of Little Italy figure in significant measure in his work. This is particularly the case with early, self-confessedly personal works such as Who’s that Knocking at my Door? (1969) and the dark, hallucinatory Mean Streets (1973), not to mention that other master piece of post-war American cinema, Raging Bull (1980). Based on the life of former boxing cham pion Jake La Motta, Raging Bull became, accord ing to Scorsese (in the light of his then poor health, broken marriage and a creative impasse brought about pardy by a severe state of depres sion), a means of personal redemption. It needs to be remembered that Scorsese is representative of the so-called “Movie Brat” gen eration of American directors, which includes such figures as Brian De Palma, Francis Ford Coppola, John Milius, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. Scorsese’s vast-ranging cinephilia (something that can be observed in his 1978 “Guilty Pleasures” article for Film Comment) was not only shaped by his childhood and teenage years, but also by studying filmmaking at New York University in the 1960s under Professor Haig Manoogian. (Raging Bull was dedicated to him.) Scorsese’s cinephilia e'ncompasses all kinds of cinema: film noir, the musical, the biblical epic, gangster movies, the Western, melodrama, fan tasy movies, the horror film, comedy and the war movie. He is extremely familiar with the French New Wave as w'ell as Italian Neorealism, Euro pean art cinema and, most important, the Holly A B O V E , LEFT TO R IG H T : P A U L S C H R A D E R , M A R T IN SC O R S E S E A N D R O B ER T DE N IR O A T TH E TIM E O F T A X I D R IV E R . B E L O W : R O B ER T DE N IR O IN S C O R S E S E 'S T A X I D R IV E R .

wood studio system. To an obsessive cineaste like Scorsese, there is hardly any difference between cinema and life: movies are “really a kind of dream-state, or like taking dope”. Scorsese’s films are like Nicholas Ray’s in that they manifest a poetic understanding of barely articulated hurt and rage in obsessive characters driven by their environment. Human relation ships for the “Goya of Tenth Street” (Powell - who else?) not only pivot on aggression, instinct and obsession, but they dramatize the underlying cultural and ideological tensions of our epoch. Redemption is one of Scorsese’s biggest themes and it accordingly reflects the fact that as a teen ager he once studied to be a priest. The four points of the filmmaker’s emotional and cultural compass back in the 1950s consisted of the cin ema, the church, music and the Mob. Scorsese’s restlessness as a film artist colours every look, gesture and utterance in his unpre dictable films. Equally im portant in this sense is how his existential edginess is not only reflected in his indispensable collaborations with Robert De Niro (one of the great fertile collaborations between a director and a performer in American cinema), Harvey Keitel and Paul Schrader, but also in the way he envelops himself with movies and popular music. Perhaps the most apt descrip tion of Scorsese’s work environment has been provided by Powell in his preface to the Kelly text: H e breakfasts off images, eats tapes for lunch, comes surfing over the sound-waves to dinner. His house, or hut, caravan or autom obile, purrs with electron ics. Banks of video-tapes, screens, recorders and projects, grey and im personal like Bertie W ooster’s Jeeves, await the bidding of their young master. His bathroom is a cutting room, his bedroom a projec tion-room , time-clocks activate video-tapes over twenty-four hours, music plays unceasingly, day turns into night, night into day.

Scorsese’s close relationship with De Niro is an integral part of this challenge to create an im provisatory, expressionistic cinema. Scorsese and De Niro generate a unique chemistry of quicksil ver visual and verbal connections seldom observed'in contemporary film. Their collaboration is based on mutual trust and there are several occasions in the book where Scorsese testifies as to how De Niro (dubbed once by the director as “Mr Perfection”) not only improvised new dia logue but also restructured problematic scenes. De Niro has an unm atched capacity to live his roles, often to the extent of changing his physiog nomy. He excels as the instinctual anti-hero about to come apart or explode as he is propelled by repressive feelings and environmental circum stances to an unpredictable ending. His impro visatory ability is arguably his greatest asset and the main contribution to his collaboration with Scorsese. Another actor with the capacity to create intense and obsessive characters is Harvey Keitel. He is a brilliant performer who, like De Niro, does his ‘homework’ by analyzing his characters to the smallest detail. But again like De Niro, Keitel always leaves a little room for spontaneity and im provisation once the camera is rolling. His vis ceral dynamism is not only evident in Mean Streets but also in his electrifying performance as the jungle-cat pimp in Taxi Driver. Paul Schrader’s collaboration with Scorsese is adequately documented in the book, showing how the Calvinist-reared filmmaker-screenwriter is not only sympathetic to Scorsese’s cinema of redemption, but is also a cinephile of the same generation. Unlike Scorsese, Schrader was not al lowed to see movies until the age of seventeen. Schrader has contributed scripts to three wa tershed works in Scorsese’s oeuvre: Taxi Driver,

Raging Bull and The Last Temptation of Christ. Of Schrader’s screenplay for Taxi Driver, Scorsese has said: Paul Schrader wrote that and the structure was ter rific. It’s the closest thing I could get to a script written by myself, let’s say, that I wanted to do written by somebody else. (quoted in Kelly, p. 201).

Finally, a few words about Scorsese’s use of music in his films: one would be hard pressed to think of another contemporary American direc tor who utilizes music to such a fluid, expressive degree. Often Scorsese reminds his readers how, as a child living in Little Italy, music was always playing in the background. It was and is a constant source of joy and it formed an inherent element of the way Scorsese and his parents lived in the busy, congested buildings and streets of Lower Manhattan. Speaking of his childhood in Little Italy Scorsese states: BOOKS

ACADEMY AWARD-WINNING FILMS OF THE THIRTIES

John Howard Reid, Rastar Press, Sydney, 1990, 224 pp., hb, rrp $40. This third volume in Rastar’s Film Index series details all but three of the 131 films honored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science between 1929 and 1940. The three films excluded were already fea tured in the companion volumes Memorable Films of the Forties and Popular Films of the Forties. Information in this volume includes complete cast and credits for each film, American and Australian release dates, notes on competing nominees, production ex cerpts and reviews - some written specifi cally for this volume. Other sundry and rele vant information is made available and where deemed appropriate, ranging from such items as stage credits (if based on stage play) to verifiable facts concerning key personali ties. This is an informed movie reference book for those with a passion for compre hensive listings. THE MGM STORY:

the co m p lete h isto ry of

SIXTY-FIVE ROARING YEARS

John Douglas Eames, Pyramid Books, 1990, 416 pp., hb, rrp $45. A revised and updated edition, with addi tional text for the years 1982 to 1989 written by Ronald Bergen. Includes special section on the celebrated M.G.M musicals. A good reference guide, though the most valuable feature is the book’s collection of colour and black-and-white reproductions. THE SCREEN TEST HANDBOOK

Shauna Crowley, Currency Press, Sydney, 1990, 282 pp., pb, rrp $17.95. A ‘how to’ book offering practical advice in dealing with the screen tests, and designed specifically in relation to the Australian film and television industry. The book is divided into two parts: the first covers everything from explaining the roles of key industry personnel to suggested ways of dealing with nerves when auditioning. Also included is advice from noted industry professionals.

In many ways the main thing was the experience of music. I was living in a very crowded area where music would be playing constandy from various apartm ents across the street, from bars and candy stores. T he radio was always on; ajuke box would be playing out over the street; and Benny Goodm an from another, and rock ’n ’ roll from downstairs.

For the filmmaker of Mean Streets, “the whole movie was JumpingJack Flash and Be My Baby ”. For many people, the celebrated opening scene where Charlie enters the garish, red-hued bar greeting his friends is one of the sublime moments of American cinéma. What emerges in Scorsese on Scorsese is how the filmmaker’s original cinema emanates from his autobiographical background in the 1940s and ’50s when it seemed to the young cinephile and aspiring Hollywood director the world would stand still for rock ’n ’ roll and a John Wayne picture.

RECEIVED

Part two provides a variety of film and televi sion audition pieces for practice, or for in clusion on a personal showreel. They cover a broad range of age groups for men, women and children, and are all Australian in con tent and style. A BRITISH PICTURE:

an auto bio graphy

Ken RusseU, Heinemarm, London, 1989, 294 pp., hb, rrp $39.95. This is one of the most amusing recent auto biographies from a prominent film director. Like his films, Russell’s book is based on seemingly erratic associations of ideas and feelings, the narrative jum ping here and there because of perceived connections between visual images, emotion and music, landscape and memories. Russell can be very funny, as at David Putnam’s expense, or most acidly at the late Paddy Chayevsky’s. This is an anecdote about the pre-production on Altered States: With only three weeks to go we com m enced re hearsals in an empty storeroom on the Burbank lot. The dialogue was loaded with scientific mumbo-jumbo which the actors spat at each other across a long table watched over by Paddy and myself at either end. Paddy wanted every one word-perfect and we sat there day sifter day until they were, and then he asked them to overlap their dialogue so that what had been barely com prehensible before degenerated into incom prehensible babble rem iniscent of the Bronx Zoo, rendered all the m ore comic by the utmost seriousness of all concerned. ‘Perfect for m e,’ said Paddy, kissing his script the way Bernstein kisses the score o f Beethoven’s Ninth, ‘Over to you, Kenny.’ All eyes stared expectandy at me, waiting for some revelatory output. ‘You can’t improve on perfection, Paddy,’ I said. ‘Why d o n ’t we rehearse the scene where Jessup fucks Emily on the kitchen floor? I’d ap preciate your input on the grunts.’

Russell is also very good on music and opera (he scores a telling point against those who attacked his Madame Butterfly’s taking cocaine: Puccini included it in his stage directions!). The book also contains one of the best accounts of the problems that can beset a film before it gets made. A must.

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NOTE: Production Survey forms follow a revised format. Cinema Papers regrets it cannot accept information received in a different format, ;as it does not have the staff to re-process the information. 1-----------------I 1

FEATURES PRE-PRODUCTION

Prod, accountant Legal services

Camera Crew

Camera assist Mariana Marusic Key grip G raham e Young G affer Peter O ’Brien

On-set Crew

1st asst director Make-up asst Special fx super. Stunts coord. Still photography

BLINKY BELL Pre-production 1 /2 /9 0 -3 0 /6 /9 0 Production 1 /7 /9 0 -3 0 /6 /9 1 Post-production 1 /7 /9 1 -1 /1 1 /9 1 Prod. co. Yoram Gross Film Studios Dist. co. Beyond International Group Director Yoram Gross Producer Yoram Gross Exec, producer Sandra Gross Based on The Adventures of Blinky Bill by Dorothy Wall Scriptwriters Yoram Gross Jo h n Palmer Leonard Lee Com poser Guy Gross Synopsis: The film tells the story of Blinky Bill’s childhood with his friends in the bush. The peace and charm of their exis tence is shattered by the destruction and clearing o f their hom e by loggers. But Blinky Bill rallies his friends and, in a series o f exciting adventures, the bush animals win the struggle to preserve their existence.

Construction Dept

Keith Holloway

Post-prod, super. Musical director Music perform ed by Laboratory Art director A rm ourer Action vehicle coord. Film gauge

Ted Otten Art Phillips various artists Colorfilm Keith Holloway Barry Cockings Rick Bonnick 35 mm

Marketing

M arketing consultant Denis Davidson and Assoc. Cast (suggested): Mark H em bro (Joe T. Martinez), Joe Bugner (Claw Miller). Synopsis: Based on fact, Fatal Bond traces a series of events that follows an everyday God-fearing accountant on the trail of one of the country’s worst “serial killers”.

CRIMES OF PATRIOTS

FRIDAY ON MY MIND Prod, company D irector Producer Exec. prod. Scriptwriter

Boulevard Films Frank Howson Frank Howson Peter Boyle Frank Howson Synopsis: Friday on my Mind is the story of Chris, a handsom e, unem ployed 18 year old who is plucked from obscurity to front a new advertising campaign. Things turn sour when Chris realizes h e ’s being taken advantage of and his old friends are no longer around to fall back on.

THE FATAL BOND Budget

Principal Credits Director Producer Assoc, producer Scriptwriter D.O.P. Sound recordist Editor Prod, designer Com poser

Production Crew

Intertropic Films and Avalon Films S3 million Phil Avalon Vince Martin Peter Taylor Phil Avalon Ray H enm an Bob Clayton Ted Often Keith Holloway Art Phillips Peter Taylor

U nit m anager

Robin Newell Hilary Pearce Neville Maxwell Rangi Nikcora Bob King Keith Byron

Const’n super.

Post-production

Director Richard Lowenstein Producer Ed Pressman Scriptwriter Ed Pressman [No details supplied]

Prod, company

Michael Boon Martin Cooper

Director Producer Line producer Scriptwriter D.O.P. Sound recordist Editor Prod, designer Costume designer

FEATURES PRODUCTION

DEADLY Prod. co. MoirStorm Prods Disi. co. Beyond International Group Production 2 /7 /9 0 ... Budget $4 million

Esben Storm Richard Moir Antonia Barnard Esben Storm Geoff Simpson David Lee Ralph Strasser Peta Lawson Terry Ryan

Planning and Development Casting Extras casting

Forcast Christina Norm an

Prod, m anager Prod, coordinator Prod, secretary Location m anager Unit m anager D irector’s asst P rod’n ru n n er Prod, acc’t.

Catherine Bishop Caroline Bonham Melanie Groves Peter Lawless William Matthews Darrin Ballangarry Liam Branagan Liane Lee (Moneypenny) Liane Colwell

Production Crew

Accounts asst

Camera Crew

Camera operator Focus puller Clapper-loader Key grip Grip Gaffer Best boy Electrician

On-set Crew

Nick Mayo Laurie Kirkwood Adrian Seffrin Brendan Shanly Neville Cameron Trevor Toune W erner Gurlack Andrew Smith

1st asst director Chris Webb 2nd asst director Maria Phillips 3rd asst director Karan Monkhouse Continuity Jo Weeks Boom operator Mark Keating Make-up Viv Mepham H airdresser Eyvonne Savage Special fx supervisor Peter Stubbs Stunt coord New G eneration Stunts Unit publicity Fiona Searson Dennis Davidson Associates Catering Kollage

Art Department Art director

■

Construction Department

Principal Credits

■ ■ Art dept coord Art dept runner Props buyer Standby props

Wardrobe

W ardrobe super. Standby wardrobe

Kim Darby (Ihnatko) Sue Jarvis Simon Cox Jock McLachlan Harry Zettel Lisa Meagher Suzie Carter

Scenic artist Construct m anager Forem an C arpenter

Gi Allian Phil W orth G eoff Howe Derek Wyness

Other Credits

FFC Trust Fund Finance Length 100 mins Gauge 35 mm Cast: Jerom e Ehlers, Frank Gallacher, Caz Lederm an, Alan David Lee, Bill H unter, Julie Nihill, Lydia Miller, Jo h n Moore, Bruce Venables, Lillian Crombie. Synopsis: A rom antic thriller set against a background of sim m ering racial tension, Deadly is the explosive story of the suppression o f justice in the h eart of the Aboriginal hom eland.

THE MAGIC RIDDLE Prod. co. Dist. co.

Yoram Gross Film Studio Beyond International G roup

Principal Credits Director Producer Assoc, producer Scriptwriters

Music

Yoram Gross Yoram Gross Sandra Gross Yoram Gross L eonard Lee Jo h n Palm er Guy Gross

Storyboard

Ray Nowland

Planning and Development Production Crew Prod, supervisor Prod, m anager Length Gauge

Jean n ette Toms Rod Lee 80 m inutes 35 mm

Government Agency Investment

P roduction FFC Cast: Robyn Moore, Keith Scott Synopsis: An en ch an tin g story which borrows characters and events from popu lar fairy tales and weaves them into one charm ing and suspenseful tale o f love, mystery and mirth.

TURTLE BEACH Prod. co.

Roadshow, Coote & Carroll

Principal Credits Director Producer Line producer Exec, producer Scriptwriter

Stephen Wallace Matt Carroll Irene Dobson Graham Burke Greg Coote Ann T urner

SELL US

YOUR UNEXPOSED FILM STOCK SHORT ENDS-RECANS-UNOPENED STOCK Ring Nichola Wharton STEADI SYSTEMS PTY LTD 405 Sussex St., Haymarket NSW 2000 Tel. (02) 281 6033 or (02) 438 1541 Fax (02) 211 5252 68

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CHRISROWELLPRODUCTIONSII

Based on novel by DOP Sound recordist Editor Prod, designer Costume designer

Blanche D’Alpuget Russell Boyd Ben Osmo Jo h n Scott Brian Thomson Roger Kirk

Planning and Development Script editor Casting

Sue Smith Alison Barrett

Production Crew

Location m anager Prod, assistant Production ru n n er Prod, accountant Accounts asst Base-office liaison

Camera Crew

Camera operator Focus puller Clapper-loader Special fx sup.

Fiona McConaghy Sharon Miller Rowena Talacko Phillip Roope Rebecca Coote Sydney: Melissa W arburton Jill Steele Kerri n Begaud Christine G ordon David Williamson Jo h n Platt Richard Bradshaw Brian Cox David Hardie Ray Brown W arren Greiff Ian Bird Aaron Walker Brian Bansgrove Paul G antner Colin Chase

Key grip Asst grips

Gaffer Best boy Electrician

On-set Crew

1st asst director Colin Fletcher 2nd asst director Nicola Long 3rd asst director Guy Campbell Continuity Linda Ray Boom operator Gerry Nucifora Make-up Lesley Rouvray Hair stylist Cheryl Williams Fight coordinator Glen Boswell Still photography Jim Sheldon Unit publicist Fiona Searson Denis Davidson and Assoc.

Art Department

Art director Asst art director Art dept coord Set dressers

Robert Dein Michael Phillips Tracey Hyde Kerrie Brown Glen Johnson David McKay Ken Wilby Jo h n Osmond

Draftsman Standby props

Wardrobe

Construction Dept

Scenic artist Construct, m an ’r Workshop m an ’r

Post-production

An ambitious Australian jo u r nalist returns to Malaysia to report on an international refugee crisis. T hrough her encounters with the people there she is thrown into personal and professional conflicts that reach a thrilling climax on the East Coast of Malaysia.

UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD Prod. co.

Prod, m anager Prod, coordinator

W ardrobe super. Standby wardrobe W ardrobe asst

Synopsis:

Road MoviesArgos FilmsVillage Roadshow Pictures (Aust) Dist. company Trans Pacific Production 1 5 /6 /9 0 ...

Principal Credits Director Producers Co-producers Line producer Asoc. producer Screenplay D.O.P. P rod’n designer

Production Crew

Prod, coordinator Prod, secretary Locations m an’r Unit m anager Production runner Prod, accountant Accounts asst Base-office liaison

Camera Crew

Maggie Lake Melissa Wiltshire Robin Clifton Richard Carroll Scott Gray Jim Hajicosta Jenny Reid Sam T hom pson

Camera attach’t Joel Peterson Camera m aintenance Mike Kelly Key Grip Graham Litchfield Asst grips Mark Ramsey David Hanson Gaffer (Ausi) Mike Morris Electrician Paul Moyes Jo h n Lee

On-set Crew

1st asst director 2nd asst director 3rd asst director Boom operator Make-up Hairdresser Stunt coordinator Stunt pilots Safety officer Unit nurse Caterer

Kerry T hom pson Julie Middleton Julie Frankham

Art Department

Eric Todd Alan Fleming Alan Fleming

Art director Asst designer Art dept, admin. Dressers

Laboratory Colorfilm Pty Ltd Lab liaison Simon Wicks Cast: Greta Scacchi (Judith), Joan Chen (M inou), Art Malik (Kanan).

Wim W enders Jonathan Taplin Anatole Dauman Village Roadshow Pictures (Aust) Su Armstrong Julia Overton Peter Carey Robby Muller Sally Campbell

Draftsmen Props buyer

Tony Mahood Emma Schofield John Martin Jack Friedman Nikki Gooley Paul Williams Mike Read Chris Sperou Tony Shwert Johnny Halliday Susan Andrews John Faithful Ian Gracie Mike Worrall Amanda Selling Tim Ferrier Blossom Flint Diaan Wajon Michelle McGahey Tim Ferrier Blossom Flint

Your complete Negative Matching Service including • Time Coding onto 8" Floppy Disc • Super 16mm • Syncing Neg or Pos Rushes • 16mm & 35mm Edge-Coding Service (“ Rubber Numbering” ) • Tight deadlines our speciality • 24 hours a day, 7 days a week if required. Contact Greg Chapman

Tel (02) 439 3988 Fax (02) 437 5074 105/6-8 CLARKE ST.,

Props m aker Standby props Asst standby props Model m aker Model asst

Kim H ilder Colin Gibson Dougal Thom pson Tim Ferrier llonka Craig

W ardrobe super. Standby wardrobe Cutler-machinist

Kerri Barnett Devina Maxwell Sandra Cichello

Wardrobe

Construction Dept

Construct, m an’r Construct, m anager

Dennis Smith Jo h n Rann (Location) Scenic artist Peter Collias (Studio) Scenic artist Gus Lobb Leading hand Mark Oliver Forem an Larry Sandy C arpenters Cameron Craig Ronald Martin Errol Glassenbury Jam es Kibble Jon Stiles Gordon McIntyre Gordon Finney Carpenter-welder Marcus Smith W elder Mark Gatt Set painter Adam Bromhead (Location & Studio) Mark Connors (Studio) Set painter Alan Brown Greensm an Greg Thomas Construct, ru n n er Peter Scott L abourer-runner Kieran Weir

Post-production Asst editor Edge num berer Editing rooms Laboratory

Phillippa Harvey Paul Healy Spectrum Films Atlab Australia

Marketing Publicity

Fiona Searson Dennis Davidson Associates Cast: Solveig Dom m artin, William Hurt, Sam Neill, Rudiger Volger, Chick Ortega, Ernie Dingo, Max Von Sydow, Jean n e M oreau, David Gulpillil, Charlie McMa hon, Jimmy Little, Justine Saunders, Kylie Belling, Jo h n Lurie, Noah Taylor. Synopsis: Set in the year 2000, Until the End of the World is a love triangle set across four continents involving Sam (W'illiam H urt), on the run from the authorities, Claire (Solveig D om m artin), who acts out of her love for Sam, and Eugene (Sam Neill), obsessed by his love for Claire. Sam ’sjourney takes him from Europe, via America and Japan, and climaxes in the mythological and majestic landscape of central Australia.

FEATURES POST-PRODUCTION

■ ■

AYA Prod, company Disi, company Budget

Principal Credits

Goshu Films Ronin Films $1,800,000

Director Producers Assoc, producer Scriptwriter D.O.P. Sound recordist Editor Prod, designer

Solrun Hoaas Denise Patience Solrun Hoaas Katsuhiro Maeda Solrun Hoaas Geoff Burton Ben Osmo Stewart Young Jen n ie Tate

Planning and Development Script editor Casting co n ’ts

A nnette Blonski Katsuhiro Maeda (Aya) P rue’s Zoo (Aust. supports) Dialogue coach Julie Forsythe

Production Crew

Prod, coordinator Jo-anne Carmichael Prod, m anager Robert Kewley Prod, secretary Ros Jewell Location scout H ugh MacLaren Unit m anager Leigh Ammitzbol P rod’n runner Tony Gilbert Prod, acc’t Simone Higginboltom Insurer Sleeves Lumley Complet, guarantor Motion Picture G uarantors Legal Roth, W arren & Menzies

Camera Crew

Focus puller Clapper-loader Cam era type Key grip Asst grip Gaffer Best boy G enerator op.

On-set Crew

1st asst director 2nd asst director 3rd asst director Continuity Boom operator Make-up Stunts asst Unit publicist Still photography • Catering Unit publicist

Art Department Art director Asst art director Art dept, runners Props buyer Standby props

Wardrobe

Costum ier W ardrobe sup. Standby wardrobe

Construction

Darrin Keough Kathryn Milliss Arri BL IV Ian Benallack A rthur Manoussakis Colin Williams Greg Wilson Roby H echenberger Euan Keddie Sonya Pem berton Tony Gilbert Victoria Sullivan Gerry Nucifora Kirsten Veysey Glen Rueland Jerem y Thom pson (Ronin Films) Jennifer Mitchell Rudi Renz Keith Fish Richard Payton Kris Kozlovic Merryn K. Trim Paul Macak Matthew Wilson Danae G unn Chris Jam es Lynne Heal Margot Lindsay Bronwyn Doughty

Construction

High Rise Flats

Asst editor Sound editor Laboratory

Jo h n Penders Peter Clancy VFL

Post-production

Australia's newest independent film maker keeps an eye out forexciting new projects. Phone Vee Sea Films

( 06) 2516 807

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Lab liaison Film gauge Shooting stock Length

Bruce Braun 35mm Fuji 96 mins

Government Agency Investment Developm ent Production

Film Victoria Film Victoria FFC Cast: Eri Ishida (Aya), Nicholas Eadie (Frank), Chris Haywood (Mac), Miki Oikawa (Junko), Jo h n O ’Brien (Kato), Mayumi Hoskin (Nancy), Marion Heathfield (Lorna), Julie Forsythe (Mandy), Tim R obertson (Willy), Tava Straton (Tina), D J. Foster (Barry). Synopsis: A post-war story o f love, mar riage and friendship, begun during the occupation ofjap an , and set in 1950s and ’60s Victoria. H ere the cultural shift and new pressures force three people through inevitable change.

DEAD SLEEP Prod, company

Village Roadshow Pictures (Aust.)

Principal Credits

Director Alec Mills Producer Stanley O ’Toole Vill-Road. exec. prod. Vincent O ’Toole Exec, producers Graham Burke Greg Coote Scriptwriter Michael Rymer D.O.P. Jo h n Stokes Sound recordist Ian Grant Editor David Halliday Art director Phil W arner Com poser Brian May

Planning and Development Casting

H u n t Downs

Wardrobe

Jonathon Leahy Nikki Cavanagh Nick B runner Kristin Reuter Peter Boundy Rodney Surawski

W ardrobe super. W ardrobe asst

H elen Mains Jill Loof

Construct, m an’r Leading hand C arpenter Studios

Terry Mashford Pat Hogan Barry Breed W arner Roadshow

Construction Department

Post-production

Post-prod, super. Asst editor Editing assts

Judy Ham ilton Patrick Stewart Andreya O ’Reilly Trish Graham Foley Jo h n Simpson Mixers Jam es Currie Peter Smith Mixed at H endon Studios Laboratory Colorfilm Lab liaison Simon Wicks Shooting stocks Eastmancolor 5296. 5247 Cast Linda Blair (Maggie), Tony Bonner (Dr H ackett), Christine Am or (Sister Kereby), Craige Cronin (Dr L ark), Sueyan Cox (Kaye R ichards), Andrew Booth (Hugh Clayton), Ian Cope (Flats m an ager) , Brian Moll (Dr Sham berg), Slim de Grey (Mr McCarthy), Suzie MacKenzie (Nurse W endy). Synopsis: none supplied.

DEAD TO THE WORLD

Prod, m anager Prod, coordinator P roducer’s asst Prod, secretary U nit m anager P rod’n ru nn er Financial control. Prod, accountant Paymaster

Rose Spokes Toni Wing A nnette Bass Rebecca Coate Steve Brett Amanda Walton Vincent O ’Toole Lyn Paetz Angela Kenny

Camera operator Focus puller Clapper-loader Camera asst Key grip Asst grip Gaffer Asst gaffer Electrician

Gene Moller Bob Foster Paula South Damien Wyvill Kurt Olsen Bob Eden Jo h n Bryden-Brown Murray Head Darrin Ballengarry

1st asst director 2nd asst director 3rd asst director Continuity Boom operator Make-up Safety officer U nit nurse Still photography

Bruce Redman Wade Savage Elizabeth Williams Carolina Haggstrom Basil Krivoroutchko April Ilarvic Ken McLeod \in Mei Chee Karl Fehr

On-set Crew

Asst art director Art dept coord. Set dresser Props buyer Standby props

Judy Ham ilton

Production Crew

Camera Crew

U nit publicist

Art Department

Prod, company Pre-production Production Post-production

Principal Credits Director Producer Co-producer Scriptwriter D.O.P. Sound recordist Editor Prod, designer Costume designer

Huzzah Prods 1 5 /1 /9 0 - 2 3 /2 /9 0 2 6 /2 /9 0 - 6 /4 /9 0 9 /4 /9 0 - 1 0 /8 /9 0 Ross Gibson Jo h n Cruthers Adrienne Parr Ross Gibson Jane Castle Bronwyn Murphy Andrew Plain Edie Kurzer Amanda Lovejoy

Planning and Development Casting

Production Crew

Alison Barrett

Prod, m anager A drienne Parr Prod, coordinator Christine Johnson Location m anager Pip Brown Prod, accountant Liane Colwell (Moneypenny Services) R unner Nikki Marshall Insurer FIVA (Neil McEwin) Com plet’n guarant. Film Finances (Helen Watts) Legal Roth W arren & Menzies

Camera Crew Camera operator Focus puller Clapper-loader Key grip Asst grip Gaffer Best boy 3rd electrics G enerator operator

On-set Crew

1st asst director 2nd asst director 3rd asst director Continuity Boom operator Make-up Asst make-up H airdresser Stunts coord. Boxing coach Still photography

U nit publicist Catering

Art Department

David Williamson Mike Kelly Julie Wurm Greg Molineaux Dallas Kilponen Phil Golombick Steve Gordon Peter Pecotic Ian Bosman Corrie Soeterboek Elizabeth Lovell Angus Clunies-Ross H eather O xenham Kate Gunn Angela Bodini Rebecca Simon Angela Bodini Bernie Ledger Jim Brown Anne Zahalka Ju d e Morrell Dallas Kilponen Gayle Lake The Shooting Party

Art director Standby props

Will Soeterboek Ruth Bracegirdle

W ardrobe asst

Kate Green

Wardrobe

Post-production

Post-production Asst editor Editing assistants

AO Productions SARL D edra SARL Cine Cinq Georgio Draskovic Executive p ro d ’s Marie Pascale O sterrieth Marc Rosenberg Scriptwriter Denis Lenoir D.O.P. H enri Morelle Sound recordist Suresh Ayyar Editor Judi Russell Production design er Miles Davis Composers Michel LeGrand

Production Crew (Australia)

Dixie Betts Prod, m anager Deb Copland Prod, co-ord. Sally Browning Prod, secretary Richard Blackadder U nit ru n n er Elizabeth Anderson Prod, accountant David Lightfoot Location m anager Location co-ordinator Liz Kirkham U nit m anager Charlie Kiroff FIUA Insurer Com pletion guarantor Motion Picture Guarantors Legal 1Michael Frankel & Co

Camera crew (Australia)

Focus Puller Francois H ernandez 2nd cam era o p ’r Carlo Buralli Peter Baker Camera assist Clapper-loader Steve Peddie Steadicam operator Ian Jones Brian Bosisto Key grip Asst, grip Giorgio Liveri Asst, grip Marcus Bosisto Gaffer Craig Bryant Best boy Gary Hill 3rd electrics Steve Johnson 4th electrics Jo M ercurio

Spectrum Films Tania Nehm e Shaun Seet Bronwyn Murphy Angus Robertson Andrew Plain Adrienne Parr Gary W arner Johnny Willsteed Jo h n Howie Peter Walsh Andrew Frost Atlab Ian. Russell 90 mins 35mm Fujicolor

1st asst, director Christian Faure 2nd asst, director Michael M ercurio 3rd asst, director Connie M ercurio Continuity Barbara Constantine Boom operator Frank Strays Make-up Egon Dahm Make-up (Miles Davis) Jam es Finney Still photography Skip Watkins Animal wrangler Luke H ura Catering Big Belly Bus

Production AFC Cast Richard Roxburgh (Johnny), Agnieszka Perepeczko (Alexandra), Tibor Gyapjas (M anny), Lynette Curran (Pearl), Jo h n Doyle (Mr Keats), Gandhi MacIn tyre (Lester), Noah Taylor (Skip), Kris Greaves (Kogarah), Paul Chubb (Sgtjack G rant), Paul Goddard (Bobby). Synopsis: A tale of real estate and revenge set in the om inous inner-city of the imagination.

Art director David McKay Costume designer Clarissa Patterson Art dept, co-ordin. Jo Malcolm W ardrobe co-ord. Jan e Johnston Standby wardrobe Anita Seiler W ardrobe buyer Denise N apier Prop buyers Lawrence W ardm an Sue Vivian Vehicle dresser Kim Sexton Standby props Kelvin Sexton Dresser Denise Goudy

ADR Sound editors Musical director Music perf. by

Laboratory Laboratory liaison Length Gauge Shooting stock

Government Agency Investment

DINGO Prod, company

Gevest Prods

Principal Credits Director Producers Co-producers

Rolf de H eer Rolf de H eer Marc Rosenberg Gevest Australia

On-set Crew (Australia)

Art Department (Australia)

Post-production

1st asst editor 2nd asst editor Sound supervisor Dubbing assts. Foley editor Laboratory

Danielle Weissner Shawn Seet Ashley Grenville Scott M itchenson Simon W hittington Penn Robinson Colorfilm

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The agency has grown from the unique Metropolitan School of Theatre Arts, established in 1984 to ensure the highest standard of training for future makeup artists. Enquiries for Agency and School:

Shirley Reynolds on (03) 2662087 or AH (03) 687 3435

Lab. liaison Cutting room s Film gauge Shooting stock Length

Simon Wicks H enson Studios Super 35 mm Kodak 100 mins

Government Agency Investment D evelopm ent

WAFC AFC Investm ent FFC Cast: Colin Friels (John D ingo), Miles Davis (Billy Cross), H elen Buday (Jane), Joe Petruzzi (Peter), B ernadette Lafont (Angie) Synopsis: A chance en co u n ter with a legend o f jazz begins a life-long dream for a young boy in the outback. Years later, he journeys to Paris to revive the dream.

HOLIDAYS ON THE RIVER YARRA Prod, company

Principal Credits Director P roducer Scriptwriter D.O.P. Art directors Editor Com poser

Other Credits Prod, m anager Script editor Budget Dist. guarantee

Jungle Pictures Leo Berkeley Fiona Cochrane Leo Berkeley B rendan Lavelle M argaret Eastgate Adele Flere Leo Berkeley Sam Mellet Peter Jordan Doug Ling $425,000 Film Finance Corp.

Government Agency Investment

AFC Film Victoria 95 mins Length 16 mm Gauge Cast: Craig Adams, Luke Elliot, T ahir Cambis, Alex Menglet. Synopsis: Eddie and Mick are out-of-work teenagers. They becom e involved with a gang o f would-be m ercenaries who are heading for Africa. W hat they hope will be a great adventure starts to go horribly wrong.

Production

HURRICANE SMITH Prod. co. Dist. co. Budget Production

Village Roadshow Pictures G reater Union Distributors $5 million 5 /5 /9 0 ...

Principal Credits D irector P roducer Co-producers Line producer Exec, producers

Scriptwriter D.O.P. Sound recordist Prod, designer Art director

Colin Budds Stanley O ’Toole Sara Altshul Kevin Dobson Vincent O ’Toole Graham Burke Greg Coote Jo h n Tarnofi P. A. Kinloch Jo h n Stokes Ian G rant M artin H itchcock E ugene Intas

Planning and Development Casting

Production Crew

Judy Ham ilton

Rose Spokes Prod, m anager Nikki Cavenagh Prod, coordinator Vehicles coordinator Nie B runner Location u n it m anager Steve Brett A m anda Walton P ro d ’n ru n n er Angela Kenny A ccountant

Camera crew

Cam era operator Clapper-loader Gaffer Best boy Camera trainee

On-set Crew

Bradley Shields Paula South Tony Holtham Steve Bruce Damian Wyvill

Charles Rotherham 1st asst director W ade Savage 2nd asst director Carolina Haggstrom Continuity Basil Krivoroutchko Boom operator Make-up to C. W eathers Peggy Teague April Marvie H air and make-up Guy Norris Stunts coordinator Danny Baldwin Stunts asst Dwyane McGee Stunts

(Double to Carl W eathers) Karl Fehr Still photography H u n t Downs U nit publicist

Art Department Art director Art dept coord Set dresser Props buyers

Wardrobe

Phillip W arner Nicole Keddie Rebecca Hitchock Derek Chetwyn Kristin Reuter

W ardrobe super.

Construction Department Construct, super Construct, m anager Construction

Marketing

H elen Mains

Tony Read Tony Read Zlatko Mill Dave Watson Robert Podmas

H unt Downs Publicity Cast: Carl W eathers (Billy Sm ith), Cassandra Delaney (Julie) , Jurgen Prochnow (Dono), Tony B onner (Fenton), David Argue (Shanks), Jo h n Ewart (Griffo). Synopsis: A black m an comes to the Gold Coast to find his sister and becomes in volved in a web of corruption and organized crime.

ISABELLE EBERHARDT Prod, company Production Post-production

Principal Credits

Les Film AramisSeon Films Ind 1 2 /2 /9 0 ... May - Nov 1990

Ian Pringle Daniel Scharf Jean Petit Jacques L edere Youssef Lakhoua (Tunisia) Stephen Sewell Scriptwriter Manuel Teran D.O.P Bernard Aubouy Sound recordist Ken Sallows Editor Bryce Perrin Prod, designers Geoffrey Larcher Mic Cheminai -Costume designer Paul Schutze Com poser Director Producers

Planning and Development Casting

Production Crew

Gerard Moulevrier

Farid Chaouche Hassine Soufi M artine Noujaim Maherzia Khelifa Amel Becharnia Elisa Argenzio Sylvestre Guarino U nit managers Aberrazak Jazi Sam Amar Asst unit managers David Mitnik Khaled Ben Aziza Xavier Simonet U nit assts Patrice Vouaux Cecilia Bouteloup Prod, accountants Salem Joulak Marion Nadal Accounts asst Com pletion guarantor Com pletion Bond Company

Prod, Prod, Prod, Prod,

supervisor m anager coordinator secretaries

Camera Crew

Pascal Lagriffoul Thierry Pouget Gilbert Lucido Pascal Delaunay Pierre Louis De Stefano M ahm oub Ben Brahim Serge Cry Gaffer Philippe Peyraud Electricians L aurent Robert Lofti Sarhli Michel Boissy G enerator o p ’r

Focus puller Clapper-loader Key grip Asst grips

On-set Crew

1st asst directors

2nd asst directors Asst to director Continuity Boom operator Make-up

Phil Jones Jean-Luc Olivier M ounir Baaziz Anne Soisson Moez Kamoun Lars Michalak Benedict Kermadec L aurent Poirer Jackie Reynal H ager Bouhaoula

Make-up asst H airdresser Special fx Asst special fx Still photography

M arianne Colette Janick Roda Jean Marc Mouligne Emm anuelle Vayva Peter Leiss

Art director Art dept coord. Set dressers

Gustav Alsina Marisol Derode Jean Pascal Chalard Jo h n Wrigglesworth Jo h n Wrigglesworth Claude Bennys Pascal Graffin Styczen Piotr Mokhtar Joulak

Art Department

Calligrapher Property m aster Propsperson Props buyer

Wardrobe

W ardrobe supervisor W ardrobe asst Dressers Seamstress

Animals

Anna Kot Lilia Lakhoua Radija Zeggai Germ aine Ribel Faouzia el Ghalli

Horse master

Francois Nadal

Asst editor Laboratory Screen Ratio Gauge

Monica Coleman GTC Paris 1:1:85 35 mm

Post-production

Government Agency Investment Developm ent Production

Marketing

AFC Film Victoria FFC

International Sales Agent: August E ntertainm ent/F lach Film Cast: Matilda May (Isabelle E berhardt), Tcheky Karyo (Slimen), Peter O ’Toole (Lyautey), Richard Moir (C om te), Arthur Dignam (Cauvet). Synopsis: The story of Isabelle Eberhardt, a rom antic adventurer in North Africa at the turn of the century.

NOTHING TO LOSE in Brunswick)

(formerly Death Prod, company Pre-production Production Post-production

Principal Credits Director Producer Exec, producer Assoc, producer Scriptwriters

Based on novel by D.O.P. Sound recordist Editor Prod, designer

Meridian Films 30 O ctober 1989 15January 1990 5 March 1990 Jo h n Ruane Timothy White Bryce Menzies Lynda House Jo h n Ruane Boyd Oxlade Boyd Oxlade Ellery Ryan Lloyd Carrick Neil Thum pston Chris Kennedy

Planning and Development Casting Casting consultantsi

Production Crew

Greg Apps Liz Mullinar Casting

Prod, m anager Prod, coordinator P roducer’s asst Location m anager Unit m anager Asst unit m anager Prod, runner Prod, accountant Accounts asst Insurer Com pletion guar.

Lynda House Christine Hart Judith Hughes Chris Odgers Leigh Ammitzbol Tony Yegles Joanne Aarons Mandy Carter Janine Martorejo Steeves Lumley Perform ance Guarantees Legal Roth W arren & Menzies Showtravel Travel coordinator

Camera Crew

Camera operator Focus puller Clapper-loader Key grip Asst grip Gaffer Best boy G enerator o p ’r

Ellery Ryan Katina Bowell Gayle H unt Barry Hansen Darren Hansen Ted Nordsvan Jo h n B rennan Adam Williams

1st asst director 2nd asst director

Jo h n Wild Andrew Merrifield

On-set Crew

3rd asst director Continuity Boom operator Make-up Make-up asst Special fx Unit publicists Catering

Art Department

Jo h n Martin A nne Beresford Chris Goldsmith Noriko Neill Nicky Gooley Peter Stubbs Maria Farm er M eredith King Sweet Seduction

Art dept coord Set dresser-buyer Standby props

Victoria Hobday G eorgina Campbell Dean Sullivan

W ardrobe super. W ardrobe asst

Vicki Friedman Cheyne Phillips

Sound transfers Sound editor Mixer Mixed at Laboratory Shooting stock

Eugene Wilson Dean Gawen Roger Savage Soundfirm Cinevex Kodak

Wardrobe

Post-production

Government Agency Development

Developm ent Production

Marketing

Film Victoria FFC Film Victoria

Int. sales agent

Overseas Film Group Flat O ut Ent. Farm er & King Pubi. Cast: Sam Neill (Carl Fitzgerald), Zoe Carides (Sophie Papafagos),John Clarke (Dave). Synopsis: Carl Fitzgerald, the chef in a seedy rock ’n ’ roll club, struggles to m ain tain his dignity am idst b ru tality an d squalor. He sees a chance of escape when he meets the voluptuous Sophie, b ut a nasty accident at the club involving his kitchen-hand Mustafa leaves Carl feeling m ore threatened than ever.

THE RETURNING Matte Box Prod, company David Hannay Prods for Echo 2 /1 /9 0 -2 9 /1 /9 0 Pre-production 5 /2 /9 0 - 2 6 /3 /9 0 Production Post-production 2 /4 /9 0 - 3 0 /7 /9 0

Principal Credits D irector Producer Exec, producer Scriptwriters

Based on orig. idea D.O.P. Sound recordist Editor Prod, designer Com poser

Other Credits

Jo h n Day Trishia Downie David Hannay A rthur Baysting Jo h n Day Simon Willisson Jo h n Day Kevin Haywood Mike Westgate Simon Clothier Mike Beacroft Clive Cockburn

Prod, m anager Kate Curtis Prod, secretary Jackie Clark Keith McKenzie Prod, accountant Prod, assistant Jackie Clark 1st asst director Stewart Main Sue Wylie Continuity Nevin Rowe Casting consultants Peter McCaffrey Focus puller Simon Roelants Clapper-loader Key grip Barry McGinn Spotty Asst grip Matt Slattery Gaffer Boom operator Steve Buckland Art director Rodger Guys Christine West Costume designer Make-up M aijorie Hamlin Christine West W ardrobe Christine Illingworth W ardrobe asst Ken Drury Special effects Pierre Still photography Tech, adviser Alec Gow Eddie Simms Best boy Laboratory NFU Lab Length 90 mins Gauge 35 mm Shooting stock Eastman Kodak Colour C ast Phillip G ordon (Allan Steadm an), Alison Routledge (Jessica), Max Cullen CIN EM A

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(D onahue), Jim Moriarty (George), T er ran ce C ooper (A llan’s fath er), Ju d ie Douglas (Miriam), Grant Tilly (Dr Pitts). Synopsis: Som eone keeps making love to Allan. H e ’s trying to find out whom.

TILL THERE WAS YOU Prod, company Dist. company Budget Production

Ayer Prods Sovereign Pictures S I3 million 6 /1 1 /8 9 - 1 9 /1 /9 0

Principal Credits Director Producer Line producer Scriptwriter D.O.P. Sound recordist Editor Prod, designer Costume designer Composer

Jo hn Seale Jim McElroy Tim Sanders Michael Thomas Geoffrey Simpson Gary' Wilkins Jill Bilcock George Liddle David Rowe Tony Meillandt

Planning and Development

Casung Mike Fenton Casting consultants Faith Martin Extras casung Siobhan H annan Dialogue coach Sandra Lee Paterson

U nit runners

Sara Probyn Brooke Smith

Second Unit 1st asst director 2nd asst director C oordinator Key grip Sound recordist Continuity'

Underwater Unit Cameram an Assistant

Wolfgang Knöchel 1 Jerem y Rayner

Aerial Unit

1st asst director Helicopter pilot

Art Department Art directors

Asst art director Art dept coord. Art dept ru n n er Set dressers Draftsman Props m aker Standby props A rm ourer

Production Crew

Wardrobe

Prod, supervisor Prod, coordinator P roducer’s asst Prod secretary Location m anager U nit m anager

W'ardrobe super. Standby wardrobe W ardrobe assts

Grant Hill Jen n ie Crowley Lorelle Adamson Am anda Selling Robin Clifton Tic Carroll (Vanuatu) H ugh Johnston (Syd.) U nit assts Alison Robb (Vanuatu) Ken Rule (Syd.) Prod, asst Jo Gibson (Vanuatu) Prod, runners David Holmes Jo h n McDonald Financial control. Kevin Wright Prod, accountant Christine Robson Accounts asst Annette Piggott Paymaster Gavan Davidson Insurer Ham m ond Jewell Completion guar. Film Finances Travel coord. Helen Francis Freight coord. Michael McLean Base office liaison Fiona King

Camera Crew

Camera operators Focus pullers Clapper-loaders 2nd unit D.O.P. 2nd u nit focus Camera types Key grip Asst grips Gaffer Best boy 2nd gaffer Asst electrics G enerator op

On-set Crew

Danny Batterham Martin T urner Neil Cervin Laurie Kirkwood Mark Zagar Kate Dennis David Burr Barry Idoine Arri BL IV, BL III Paul Thom pson George Tsoutas Jo Jo h an so n Trevor Toune W erner Gerlach Simon Lee Darren Bellangarry Jo h n Lee Ron Ware

Steve Andrews Toby Pease Emma Schofield Pam Willis Mark Wasiutak Violette Fontaine Pascal Satet Brian Cox David H ardie David Young Brian Pearce Peter Armstrong Stunts coordinator Grant Page Jan ene Reade Stunts asst Safety officers Archie Roberts Chris Hession Jacqui Ramsay U nit nurse Gary Johnston Still photography Victoria Buchan Publ. Catering Kathy T ro u t (Vanuatu) Marike Janavicius (Syd.)

1st asst director 2nd asst director 3rd asst director Continuity Boom operator Make-up Hairdresser Special fit super Special fx

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Phil Patterson Karan M onkhouse Vicki Popplewell W arren Grieef George Craig Jenny Quigley

Construction Dept

Michael McIntyre Mark Robertson Ian Allen Brian Edmonds Michelle McGahey Wendy Huxford Liam Liddle Michael Tollerton Marta Statescu Fiona Scott Jo h n Murch Jam es Cox Brian Burns Kerry T hom pson Jo h n Shea H eather Laurie Susanne H ead

Const, m anager Scenic artist Construct, forem an Leading hand Carpenters

Bill Howe Peter Collias Larry' Sandy Jo h n Stiles Steve Snowden Andy Tickner Ross Caims Labourer Claudia Goodman-Davies Set finisher Matt Connors Greensm an Peter H ordern Plane construction Walter Van Veem endaal Studios W aterloo Studios

Post-production 1st asst editor 2nd asst editor Assembly editor Sound transfers Laboratory Lab liaison Gauge Shooting stocks

Jane Moran Jane Maguire Julia Gelhard Atlab Atlab Peter Willard 35mm Kodak 5296, 5247; AGFA XT320

Government Agency Investment -

Production FFC M arketing FFC Cast: Mark Harm on (Frank Flynn),Jeroen Krabbe (Viv), Deborah Unger (Anna), Shane Briant (Rex), Lech Mackiewicz (M uzza), Ivan Kesa (Snowy), Ritchie Singer (Robbo), Jeff Trum an (Nobby). Synopsis: Frank Flynin, an American jazz musician, comes to Vanuatu in search of his brother and finds m urder, intrigue and rom ance - it’s a jungle out there.

WAITING Prod. co. Pre-production Production Post-production

Filmside Prods-ABC 2 9 / 1 / 9 0 - 1 /4 /9 0 2 /4 /9 0 - 2 5 /5 /9 0 2 6 / 5 / 9 0 - 1 /1 1 /9 0

Director Producer Exec, producer Assoc, producer Orig. screenplay W ritten by D.O.P. Sound recordist Editor Prod, designer Art director

Jackie McKimmie Ross Matthews Penny Chapman Wayne Barry Jackie McKimmie Jackie McKimmie Steve Mason Nick Wood Mike Honey Murray Picknett Michelle Milgate

Principal Credits

Planning and Development Casting Extras casting

Production Crew Prod, manager

Liz Mullinar Irene Gaskell Lucy Monge Carol Chirlian

Prod, coordinator Prod, secretary Location m anager U nit m anager Prod, accountant

Roberta O ’Leary Lisa Hawkes Paul G. Viney Jo h n Downie Jill Coverdale

Camera Crew

Jo h n Duigan Director [See issue 76 for details]

QUIGLEY DOWN UNDER [See issue 79 for details]

DOCUMENTARIES I Steve Mason ■ Jo h n Platt BUTOH AND THE JAPANESE Sean McClory Film Projects Prod, company Andrew McClymont Gregory Miller Directors George Tsoutas Georgia Wallace-Crabbe Mick Vivian Gregory Miller Producers Toby Churchill-Brown Georgia Wallace-Crabbe Gaffer T im Jones Co-producer Richard Ham on Best boy Pierre Drion Gregory Miller Scriptwriters Electrician Robbie Burr Gerogia Wallace-Crabbe Mitch Patterson G enerator o p ’r Christophe Bidot On-set Crew Gregory Miller Researchers 1st asst director Tony Tilse Georgia Wallace-Crabbe 2nd asst director Karen Kreicers Julie Drysdale Asst researcher 3rd asst director W arren Kreicers Camera operator Christophe Bidot R honda McAvoy Continuity Synopsis: Butoh, originating in post-war Boom operator Chris Nilsen Jenni Boehm Japan, has been hailed internationally as Make-up a major developm ent in contem porary Karen Johnson perform ance. This docum entary looks at Eve Koszta Special fx super. Steve Courtly the history of Butoh and also at four o f the Special fx Jo h n Neal major perform ers ;in d their companies. Ray Fowler As Butoh is radical and non-conformist, one sees a very different side to m odern Glen Johnson Gary Johnson Japan. Still photography Catering The Happy Cooker R unner Polly Job NEW NORCIA Art Department Progress Awaiting release Art director Karen Land Principal Credits Asst art director Jackie McGreachan Director Bruce H odsdon Set dresser Sandra Carrington Producer Bruce H odsdon Jo h n Clabburn Photography Peter Kordyl Senior props Roy Eagleton Editor Bruce H odsdon Props Tal Oswin N arrator Ian Taylor Props buyer Susan Glavich Still photography Optical & Graphic Standby props Jo h n King Mixed at Film Australia Wardrobe Laboratory Colorfilm W ardrobe super. Colleen Woufle Budget $25,000 W ardrobe asst Francesca Bath Length 24 mins Animals Gauge 16 mm Animal trainer Sharon Rigby Synopsis: The film looks at the represenAnimal handler R honda Hall tation of a history: namely, the contact Construction Dept between European and Aboriginal culScenic artist Paul Brocklebank tures at the Benedictine Mission, New Construct m anager Laurie Dorn Norcia, Western Australia, cl860-1900. C arpenter David Hawke Set finisher Gary Hansch PERCEPTION OF PAIN Studios A BC/Gore Hill Prod, company Flinders Media Post-production Dist. company Flinders Media Asst editors Liz Walshe Pre-productiom May 1990 Rick Liste Production Late 1990 Sound editor Dorothy Welch Post-production Late 1990 Asst sound editor Peter Hall Principal Credits Music director Martin Armiger Director Mike Davies Mixer Steve Hope Producer Mike Davies Mixed at ABC/Gore Hill Exec, producer Alan Bentley Laboratory Atlab Assoc, producer Rod Larcom be Lab. liaison Bruce Williamson Scriptwriters Mike Davies Denise Wolfsen Patricia Price Neg. matching Barry McKnight Based on idea by Harry Owen Brian Jam ieson Sound recordist Andrew Ganczarczyk Budget S3.5 m Editor Mike Davies Length 100 min Composers Jo h n Feam side Gauge 35mm David Kotdowy Screen ratio 1:1.85 Other Credits Shooting stock Eastm ancolor Casting Spotlight Artists Marketing Casting consultant Lyn Pyke Publicity Ksana Natalenko (ABC) Camera operator Mike Davies Unit Publicist Jerem y Thomson Sound editor Andrew Ganczarczyk (Ronin) N arrator T.B.A. Cast: Noni H azlehurst (Clare)., Frank Music perform ed by Jo h n Feam side W hitten (Michael), Deborah-Lee Furness David Kotdowy (Diane), Frank W hitten (Michael), HeSynopsis: The film is informative about len Jones (Sandy), Denis Moore (Bill), the types of pain relief, encourages paF iona Press (T h e re s e ), Ray B a rre tt dents to request pain relief and offers (Frank), Peter T ran (Tan),Noga Bernsome role models, stein (Rosie), Brian Simpson (Booroomil). Synopsis: An assortm ent of old friends For details of the following converge at an isolated farm house to see previous issue: await the birth of a baby. An irreverent COVER TO COVER: PAUL JENNINGS comedy o f errors. MANAGEMENT OF VIOLENCE Camera operator Focus puller Clapper-loader 2nd unit focus Key grip Asst grips

RECENTLY COMPLETED

FLIRTING Prod, company

Kennedy Miller

IN A HOSPITAL

SOOTHING THE PAIN OF CHILDBIRTH

MOMENTS OF CRUELTY Prod, com pany Budget

Film Noir Prods $104,000

D irector P roducer O riginal screenplay D.O.P. Sound recordist Editor P roduction designer Com poser

Guy M organ Colin Oddy Guy Morgan Mark W areham Greg Burgrhann Peta Burns Bruce Auld Barry Ferrier

Principal Credits

Planning and Development

Jackie McKimmie Script editor Casting Guy Morgan Casting cons’t Elaine H olland Andrew T rim m er Storyboard artist Guy Morgan Shooting Schedule by Mark W areham Budgeted by Colin Oddy

Production Crew

around him his story is being paralleled and acted out. These are events of cuck olded husbands, of deranged war veter ans, of religious m isunderstandings, all interacting with one. another and m ani festing themselves to the writer as moim ents o f cruelty. But is it the writer who is writing the story or is it the story writing him?

AUSTRALIAN FILM, TELEVISION AND RADIO SCHOOL

For details of the following see previous issue: THE LAST NEWSREEL ONCE IN TIME A PARTING RETREAT 1

FILM AUSTRALIA

GIRL FROM TOMORROW

Colin Oddy P roduction m anager Production sec. Jen n ifer Cornwell Location m anager Colin Oddy Production ass’t Jen n ifer Cornwell Wayne Deakin P ro d ’n ru n n er Peta Burns Assembly editor Colin Oddy Financial controller F.I.U.A Sydney Insurer

Prod, company Dist. company Budget

Camera operator Focus puller Cam era assistant Cam era type Key Grip Asst grips Gaffer Best boy

D.O.P. Sound recordist Editor

Camera Crew

On-set Crew

Script assistant Continuity Boom operators Make-up Special fx make-up Special fx super. Still photography Catering R unners

Art Department Art director Set dressers Props

Wardrobe

Mark W areham Simon Russell Simon Russell Arriflex SR II ‘Tiny’ Evans Jo h n W areham Jack Meyerink Jo h n W areham Peta Burns Peta Burns Annie M eredith Richard Kay Lynne O ’Brien Lynne O ’Brien Bradley Campbell Rob Wilkie Bronwyn Feachnie Vera Biffone

Bradley Campbell Bradley Campbell Geoffrey van den Brande Geoffrey van den Brande

W ardrobe supervisor Bruce Auld W ardrobe buyers Lynne O ’Brien Geoffrey van d en Brande

Construction Dept

Construction sup.

Post-production

Post-prod supervisor Edge num berer Sound transfers by Sound editor Music perf. by Recording studio Mixer Asst m ixer Mixed at Titles Laboratory Lab liaison Neg m atching Gauge Shooting stock P rint stock

Bradley Campbell Colin Oddy Negthink Film Sound Transfers Peta Burns Barry Ferrier Giant Steps Studios Bruce Jacobson Greg Bergm ann Grevillea Brisbane Acme Photo Effects Atlab Australia Gary Keir Greg Chapman, N egthink 16 mm Eastman 7248 Eastman 7248

Government Agency Investment

Devel’t P ro d ’n

Qld Film Developm ent Office Australian Film Commission Qld Film Developm ent Office Cast: Errol O ’Neill (W riter), Mark Albiston (P ad re), Russell Kiefel (Soldier), Jen n ifer Flowers (Barmaid), Anna Pike (W om an), David Brown (M an), Anthony Phelan (Belly-crawler). Synopsis: In a city stripped o f culture and time, a writer searches for a story. Yet all

FA FA $2.45 million■

Principal Credits Director Producer Exec, producer Scriptwriters

Prod, designer Com poser

Kathy Mueller Noel Price: Ron Saunders Mark Shirrefs John Thom pson Jan Kenny Tim Lloyd Kerry Regan, The Editing M achine Nicholas McCallum Ian Davidson

Planning and Development Casting Storyboard artist

Production Crew

Liz Mullinar Casting Steve Lyons

Prod, m anager Prod, coordinator Prod, secretary U nit m anager Prod, runner Prod, accountant Com pl’n guarantor

Camera Crew Key Grip Gaffer

On-set Crew

Kim Anning Lynda Wilkinson Sandie Morris Phil U rquhart Angela Marchese Megan Gilmour Film Finances Ltd Brett McDowell Derek Jones

Art Department

Wardrobe

Standby wardrobe

Construction Dept

Construct m ananger Leading hand Carpenters Set finisher Studios

Post-production Mixer Gauge

Marketing

JOHNSON & FRIENDS (formerly Toytime)

On-set Crew

Prod, company Dist. company Budget

FA FA $600,000

Production Director Producer Scriptwriter D.O.P. Editor Prod, designer P uppet design Com poser

2 4 /1 /9 0 -2 /3 /9 0 Ian Munro Ron Saunders Jo h n Patterson Kim Batterham ' Robin Archer Robert Dein Caroline Jones Chris Neal

Principal Credits

Production Crew

Prod, Prod, Prod, Prod,

m anager secretary assistant accountant

Camera Crew

Key grip Gaffer

Art Department Puppet maker Props m aker Standby props

Wardrobe

Kim Anning Sandie Morris Bronwyn T hom pson Megan Gilmour

Ross Hill Richard Weight Marcus Erasmos Kim Royle

Construction Dept

Post-production

1st asst director 2nd asst director 3rd asst director Continuity Boom operator Make-up Make-up asst Special fx super. Stunts coord. Safety officer Still photography Catering

Art Department

Art dept ru n n er Props buyers

Standby props

Tony Bosch Ian Anderson

Seamstress

Construct, m an’r Leading hand Set finisher Studios

Simon Quaife Mark Ramsey Ian Plum m er G rant Atkinson Matt Buchan

Key grip Asst grip Gaffer Best boy G enerator op ’r

Rob Ricketson G ordon McIntyre Eric Todd AFTRS

Wardrobe

Standby wardrobe

Post-production Asst editors Sound editor Dialogue editor

Marketing

Toby Pease Ju d i McGrossin Greg Howell Alison Goodwin Mark Keating Ann Forday Jan e Stewart Steve Courtley (Cineffects) Claude Lam bert Claude Lam bert Jim Townley Jo h n Faithfull Simon Cox Tony Cronin Lisa M eagher David Trethewey Murray Gosson Kerry T hom pson H eath er Laune Derry O ’Rourke Jam es Sleeman Anthony Grey Penn Robinson

Michelle Weiss M arketing cons’t Lesna Thomas Publicity Cast Kerry Walker, Noah Taylor, Sarah H ooper. Synopsis: [No details supplied]

1” tape

Gauge

Marketing

FILM VICTORIA

Kim H enderson Jo h n Swindells H elen Thwaites Inter, sales agent FA, M arketing & Inter, distributor Distribution Lesna Thomas Publicity FA, Marketing 8c Poster design Distribution Cast: Gary Scales (Johnson the E lephant), Katrina Sedgwick (McDuff the Concertina), Bruce W edderburn (Diesel the Truck), Peter Browne (Alfred the H ot W ater Bottle), Kristen Lyons (Squeaky the Robot). Synopsis: The adventures of a group of toys that come to life in a child’s bedroom when their owner is asleep. The film is aimed at 2 - 6 year olds.

M arketing cons’t

Dennis Kiely 1st asst, director Jennifer Couston 2nd asst, director Nikki Moors Continuity Mark van Kool Boom operator Trish Glover Make-up The Katering Company Catering

Art director Draftsman Props buyer Props m aker Standby props

rary Sydney and has to find a way to get hom e with the help of Jenny, a local girl, and Petey, her young brother.

David Joyce Dale Ferguson Melinda McMahon Angus Tattle L eanne Cornish Lynn London Geoff Howe Mike Carroll Walter Bron Jody Williams David Tuckwell FA Michael Thomas 16 mm

Helen Thwaites Inter, sales agent FA, M arketing & Dist’n Inter, dist. Lesna Thomas Publicity FA, Marketing & Poster design Distribution Cast: K atherine Cullen (Alana), Jo h n Howard (Silverthorn), Melissa Marshall (Jenny), Jam es Findlay (Petey), Miles B u c h a n a n (E d d ie ), A ndrew C larke (James), G rant Dodwell (Mark), Helen O ’C onnor (Iren e), H elenJones (Tulisia), M onroe Reimers (Bruno). Synopsis: Alana, a 13 year old girl from the year 3,000, is stranded in contem po-

THE LAST CROP Prod. comp. Dist. company Post-production

Zenith-FA FA May - August 1990

D irector Producer Exec, producer Scriptwriters

Sue Clayton Billy MacKinnon Chris Oliver Richard Burridge Michael O ’H anlon Geoff Burton David Lee Nick Beauman Peta Lawson Kerri Barnett

Principal Credits

D.O.P. Sound recordist Editor Prod, designer Costume designer

Planning and Development Researchers Casting

Production Crew

Jenny Middlemiss Liz Mullinar Casting

Perry Stapleton Prod, m anager D eborah Samuels Prod, coordinator Peter Lawless Location m anager Richard Montgomery U nit m anager Geoff Cleminson U nit assist Simon Rogers Prod, runner Rose Keeping Prod, accountant (Moneypenny Services) Marsh and McLennan Insurer Jenny Middlemiss Base-office liaison

Camera Crew

Focus puller Clapper-loader

Kathryn Milliss Leilani H annah

PRE-PRODUCTION

SHOWING A LITTLE RESTRAINT Exec, producer Lucy MacLaren Scriptwriter Dennis K. Smith Length 10 mins Synopsis: An entertaining look at how a family copes with the different restraints needed by different-aged children, and suggests how to keep them am used on long, boring car trips.

POST-PRODUCTION

GET REAL Pre-production Production Post-production

2 /4 /9 0 -1 3 /4 /9 0 1 6 /4 / 9 0 - 2 7 / 4 / 9 0 3 0 / 4 / 9 0 - 1 /6 /9 0

Director Producer Orig. screenplay W ritten by D.O.P. Sound recordist Art director Com poser

Nicola W oolmington Elisa Argenzio Nicola W oolm ington Nicola W oolmington Jaem s Grant Philip Healey Wain Fimeri Andrew McCue

Principal Credits

Planning and Development Script editor

Production Crew Prod, m anager Production ru n n er Insurer

Camera Crew

H anni Rayson Roslyn Walker Irene Feuz Steeves Lumley

Camera operator Camera asst Gaffer

Jaem s Grant Peter Falk Steve Price

1st asst, director Continuity Boom operator Make-up Still photography

Steve Westhe Victoria Sullivan Steven Vaughn Vicki Freidman Jacqueline Riva

On-set Crew

Art Department Art director

Wardrobe

W ardrobe super.

Post-production Lab liaison Screen ratio

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Wain Fimeri Vicki Freidman Louis Keramedes Kodak PAPERS

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Government Agency Investment P roduction

Film Victoria AFC Cast: Damien O ’Briert (George), Adele Danielle (Tracey), Bernard Curry (Tim), Myles Collins (Bully), Sally Upton (Miss E adt), Melita Jurisic (Ms Perkins), Ross T hom pson (Mr. Snell), Mary' Sitarenos (George’s Mum). Synopsis: George, a slothful teenager, is lost for words undl the day he accidentally drops a shotput on the school bully’s foot. When Bully seeks revenge, George, water melons, compost, classmates and skate boards fly into action.

Post-production

Asst editor Sound transfers Laboratory' Lab liaison Neg matching G rader Film gauge Screen ratio Shooting stock Print stock

RIVER MANAGEMENT Producer Janina Craig Exec, producer Rachel Dixon Scriptwriter Bridget Goodwin Length 30 mins. Synopsis: A video to educate people in strategies to halt degradation of river managements.

S114,760 Peter Luby Jane Karslake Peter Luby Kathryn Milliss Mark Tarpey Alan W oodruff Peter Long Sally Engelander

THEIR LIVES IN OUR HANDS Director Mark Atkin Producer Kathie Armstrong Exec, producer Lucy MacLaren Scriptwriter Dennis Tupicoff D.O.P. Graeme Wood Phillip Healy Sound Length 10 mins 1” master Gauge Synopsis: A video that explains the prob lems that pre-school children have in coping with traffic, and suggests strategies for parents and teachers to help children.

Planning and Development

Melissa Gabb Jo Bell Ros Walker Stewart Carter Babets

Prod, m anagers P roducer’s asst Insurer

Camera Crew

Camera assist Key grip Gaffer

On-set Crew

1st asst director 2nd asst director Continuity Boom operator

Stuart McDonald Eugene Wilson Cinevex Louie Keramidas Ursula Jung Ian Letcher 16 mm 1.85:1 Fuji 125 Fuji 125

Production Film Victoria C ast Jeffrey Walker (Colin), Chris McLean (Dad), Fiona Corke (Mum), Tim Varney (Graham ), Katrina Lam bert (Jane), Cliff Ellen (Mr Swain), Lois Collinder (Sister B enignus), Don Bridges (N ightm are m an), Jo h n Brum pton (Uncle Nipper), Andrew Larkins (Bodgie m an). Synopsis: Following the disappearance of the Beaum ont children, Colin’s Primary School is w arned about a m alevolent stranger in a blue and white H olden. Colin’s fear of separation from his family is heightened. Real and imaginary charac ters and events begin to merge. Colin sees a blue and white H olden shadowing him and his family.

THE MAN IN THE BLUE AND WHITE HOLDEN

Casting cons’t

Lisa Collins

Government Agency Investment

THE LAW DECIDES

Production Crew

Sam antha Tuckfield Jen Brown

W ardrobe supervisor

Producer Bronwyn Evans Exec, producer Lucy MacLaren Scriptwriter Jo h n McKay Length 8 mins Synopsis: A video that alleviates any con cerns that people may have about the operations of the S heriff s office, and encourages m en and women to consider a career as a Field or Special Officer.

Director Producer Screenplay D.O.P. Sound recordist Editor Art director Costume designer

Asst art director Set dresser

Wardrobe

GRASS FED BEEF

Budget

Vivien Mcgillicuddy Laura Morris Eddie McShortall Jude Lovett Carmen Stebnyckj

Art Department

Prod, company The Film House Director Robert Marden Phillip Pappas Producer Rachel Dixon Exec, producer Glen Blackmore Scriptwriter Robert M arden D.O.P. Laurie Robinson Sound 8 mins Length 16mm, 1” video Gauges Synopsis: An outline of the Victorian grassfed beef industry, covering all aspects from farm production, processing and packag ing to local and export distribution.

Principal Credits

Make-up H airdresser Safety officer Still photography Catering

Peter Falk Michael Maddigan Peter Ryan

NSW FILM AND TELEVISION OFFICE

Sonya Pem berton Maria Falcone Victoria Sullivan Cathy South

Sponsor Business and Consum er Affairs Prod. co. M andrake Film and Video Director Robert Kitts

BIOTECHNOLOGY NOW

Producer Scriptwriters

Robert Kitts Robert Kitts Mariene Abrams Ron Lowe Douglas Howard Graham Quigley David Ellyard Image East 15 mins Betacam SP 1"

D.O.P. Editor Prod, m anager N arrator Post-production Length Form at Cast: David Ellyard. Synopsis: To prom ote and show to both local and foreign biotechnology organi zations the benefits of the establishment ofbiotechnology businesses in Sydney and New South Wales. This video introduces some of the companies working in NSW, and shows the diversity of research and knowledge currently being successfully applied here in agriculture, ecology, medicine and food processing.

DRIVING FOR KEEPS SAFE SENIORS Sponsor Road and Traffic Authority Prod, company Steamer Pictures Paul Bugden Director Producer Peter Campbell Scriptwriter Peter Campbell David Perry D.O.P. Rob Stalder Sound Denise Haslam Editor Alison McSkimming Music Mandy Chang Prod, m anager VTS Post-production 11 mins Length Betacam 1" Format Cast: Queenie Ashton, Ron Shand, Hec McMillan, Geòrgie Sterling, Kate Edwards, Johnny Lockwood, Franca Rubiu, Danny Adcock, Lorna Lesley, Michael Spiteri, Gian Clancy. Synopsis: A film for elderly citizens which raises awareness and dem onstrates tech niques on road-safety issues, especially on how to be a safer driver.

PHOTO LICENCES AN INTRODUCTION Sponsor Road and Traffic Authority Prod, company Josephine Phillips Productions Director Josephine Phillips Producer Josephine Phillips Josephine Phillips Scriptwriter Craig Watkins D.O.P. Maurie Akerson Richard Hill Sound Mark T anner Madge Szoeke Editor Elizabeth Lovell Prod, m anager Lisa Peers N arrator ESP Post-production 15 mins Length Betacam 1" Format Cast: Adam Hatzimanolis, Chin Yu, Dick Moss, Vicky de Lacy, Janine Penfold. Synopsis: In this introduction to the new photo-licence system, RTA staff are shown how to operate the technology as well as the main procedures for dealing with the public.

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(03 ) 429

SHARP 5 5 1 1

Sponsor Dept of Industrial Relations Prod, company Shot Productions Director Shaun Farrington Producer Scott Bradley Scriptwriter Stephen Measday Mai Hamilton D.O.P. Emanuel Rujiero Sound Editor Shaun Farrington Mandy Chang Prod, m anager N arrator Jo h n Sheerin Graphics-animation Peter Will, VTS Post-production VTX Length 15 mins Form at Betacam SP 1" Cast: Russell Newman, Hugh Wade, Olga T a n a ra , C h ris te n e J e s to n . B a rb ara Stephens, Tony Ingersent, Odile 1,e( le/io.

Synopsis:

Illustrates for staff o f the De partm ent the process involved from ini tial injury, through rehabilitation to a full return to work. It shows the roles played by the D epartm ent and that of the injured worker in this process.

SALT OF THE EARTH Sponsor Prod, company Director Producer Scriptwriter D.O.P. Sound Editor Music

Powerhouse Museum Sixpence Prods Alec Morgan Alec Morgan Alec Morgan Jo h n Hoskings Jo h n Dodds Tony Stevens Sirroco Sum m er Haze Palm Court Orchestra Alec Morgan Prod, m anager Brian Harrison N arrator Jill Scott Graphics-animation Filmworks Post-production Visualeyes 18 mins Length 16mm, 1" Gauges C ast [No details supplied] Synopsis: Desalination of an old family property highlights this serious environ m ental issue.

STEP BY STEP Dept o f Administrative Services Oliver Howes Prod, company D irector Oliver Howes Oliver Howes Producer Oliver Howes Scriptwriter Vladimir Osust D.O.P. Nigel Brooks Sound Oliver Howes Editor Felicity Venning Prod, m anager VTS Editpoint Post-production 18 mins 30 secs Length Betacam SP 1" Form at Cast: Nancy Caruna, Katina Crem ona, Jo h n Sheerin, Lundon Harris, Kathren Michelak, Jill McKay, Jason Economidis, Stavros Economidis, Lee-Ann T owler, Pam Western, Mark McCann, Richard Rowe. Synopsis: A cleaner, Helen, has an acci dent at work and the film follows her subsequent rehabilitation and return to work. It illustrates the roles played by the D epartm entand that o f the injured worker in this process. Sponsor

VITAL POINTS AN INTRODUCTION TO SELF DEFENCE FOR WOMEN Sponsor Family and Community Affairs Prod. co. Digby (Janice) Duncan Director Digby (Janice) Duncan Prod. Digby (Janice) Duncan Script. Digby (Janice) Duncan D.O.P. Catherine Marciniak Sound Bronwyn Murphy Editor Diane Priest Music Felicity Foxx Prod, m anager Julie Wiggins Post-production VTX Length 19 mins Form at Betacam SP Cast: (No details supplied) Synopsis: A group o f women of all ages discover that learning basic self defence can give them a sense o f power and confi dence as well as being an enjoyable expe rience.

WALKING TO LIVE - SAFE SENIORS Sponsor Road and Traffic Authority Prod, company Steam er Pictures Director Paul Bugden Producer Peter Campbell Scriptwriter Peter Campbell D.O.P. David Perry Sound Rob Stalder Editor Denise Haslam Music Alison McSkimming Prod, m anager Mandy Chang Post-production VTS

Length 11 mins Form at Betacam 1" Cast: Q ueenie Ashton, Ron Shand, Hec McMillan, Georgie Sterling, Kate Edwards, Johnn y Lockwood, Franca Rubiu, Charles Moody. Synopsis: For elderly citizens. To raise awareness and to dem onstrate some tips and techniques on being a safe pedes trian.

THE WHAT AND WHY OF FOI Prod, com pany Vivid Pictures Sponsoring body RTA D irector H elen Bowden P roducer Susan Mackinnon Scriptwriter Dick Jarvis D.O.P. Phillip Bull Sound Paul Finlay Editor M argaret Sixel Music Julian Morgan Prod, m anager Susan Mackinnon Graphics-am inadon Peter Will Post-production Visualeyes Length 14 mins Form at Betacam SP 1" Cast: Wendy Strehlow, Anne Fay, John Grant, Michelle Marzo, C athren Michelak, Jay Pillay, Martín Reefman, John Sheerin. , Synopsis: An introduction to FOI (Free dom of Inform ation) policy and objec tives to the staff o f the RTA, as well as some procedures to help guide the public into the best m ethods o f seeking inform ation u n d er the new legislation.

AUSTRALIAN CHILDREN’S TELEVISION FOUNDATION

Prod, company Budget Pre-production Production Post-production

Principal Credits D irector P roducer Exec, producer Assoc, producer Sciptwriter Based on idea by D.O.P. Sound recordist Editor Prod, designer Art director Costume designer Com poser

ACTF $1.8 million 5 /2 /9 0 - 2 2 /4 /9 0 2 3 /4 /9 0 - 2 7 /5 /9 0 2 8 /5 /9 0 - 3 0 /9 /9 0 Jo h n Power Anthony Buckley Patricia Edgar Ewan B urnett Tony M orphett Je ff Peck Dan Burstall Syd Butterworth Wayne le Clos Bernard Hines Virginia Bleneman Graham Purcell Peter Best

Planning and Development Casting

Production Crew Prod, m anager Prod, coordinator Prod, secretary Location m anager U nit m anager Prod, ru n n er Prod, accountant Insurer Travel coord.

Camera Crew

Focus puller Clapper-loader Key grip Asst grips Gaffer Best boy G enerator operator

On-set Crew

1st asst director 2nd asst director 3rd asst director Continuituy Boom operator Make-up H airdresser Stunts coord. Safety officer U nit nurse

Liz Mullinar Elizabeth Symes M.J. Yates Evelyn Saunders Henry Osborne Justin Plum m er Liam Brenegan Liane Lee Steeves Lumley (Tony Leonard) Set in Motion Harry Glynatsis Adrian Seffrin Pat Nash Ian McAlpine Matt Slattery Greg Allan Phil Backler Chris Webb Maria Phillips Jo h n Martin Jo Weeks Sue Kerr Jill Porter Cheryl Williams Glen Boswell George Mannix Annie O ’Halloran

Vivian Zink Howie'and Taylor Publicity Camera Cooks

Still photography U nit publicist C atering

Art Department

Virginia Bleneman Phil Macpherson Sue Maybury Sue Maybury Walter Veenendaal Harry Zettal

Art director Set dresser Props Props buyer Props m aker Standby props

Wardrobe

W ardrobe super. Standby wardrobe

Louise Wakefield Devine Maxwell

Scenic artist Construct, m anager C arpenters

Ray Pedler Phil W orth Tony Bardolph Yvonne Gudgeon W aterloo Studios

Construction Dept

Studios

Post-production

Cinem a Verity BBC Enterprises Verity Lam bert Jane Scott Exec, producers Peter Beilby Robert le Tet Fred Schepisi Scriptwriter Douglas Livingstone Prod, m anager Tony Leach Synopsis: [No details supplied] Cast: [No details supplied].

T yler), Mary Regan (Ann B ren n an ), Sophie H eathcote (Stephanie “Steve” B rennan), Matt Day (Luke Ross), Joyce Jacobs (Esme Watson), Syd Heylen (Ver non “Cookie” Locke), Gordon Piper (Bob H a tfie ld ), G eo rg in a F ish e r (Jessica Kouros). Synopsis: Set in the rural town o f W andin Valley, this medical dram a follows the lives of its inhabitants, and features Aus tralian countryside and wildlife.

A COUNTRY PRACTICE (series)

THE FLYING DOCTORS (series)

Dist. company Producers

Prod, company Dist. company

Principal Credits Directors

Producers

Asst editor Wayne Hayes Laboratory Colorfilm Gauge 16mm Production AFFC International distrib. ACTF Cast: Pam ela Sue Martin (Dr Spencer B arnes), Maia Brewton (Ali B ernes), Courtney Kieler (Fiona Barnes), Justin Rosniak (Mike Masters), Paul Williams (Dr Tony Masters), Leigh Russell (Carlo), Max Phipps (Giles), Todd Rippon (Kellar). Synopsis: Twelve-year-old Ali is a com p uter buff and, while hacking into the m ainfram e com puter at the satellite track ing station where her m other, Spencer, works, she becomes aware of a falling satellite. Unaware of the danger involved, she decides to be the first person to locate

Exec, producer Orig. screenplay Based on pilot W ritten by Scriptwriters

Editor Art director Com poser

Script editors

Casting

P or details on the MORE WINNERS series see previous issue.

Production Crew

TELEVISION PRE-PRODUCTION

Prod, m anager Prod, coordinator P roducer’s assts

GOLDEN FIDDLES Prod, company Pre-production Production Post-production

Principal Credits

SAFCWacko Entertainm ent 2 8 /5 /9 0 - 2 2 /7 /9 0 i 2 3 /7 /9 0 - 1 6/9/90 i 1 7 /9 /9 0 ...

Director Producer Exec, producers Supervising prod. Scriptwriter Based on novel by Prod, designer

Other Credits

Story editor Casting consultants Prod, m anager Art director

(series)

Claude Fournier Stanley Walsh Jock Blair Wendy Wacko Gus Howard Sheila Sibley Mary G rant Bruce George Liddle

Government Agency Investment

AFFC and Telefilm Canada Cast: [No details su pplied] Synopsis: It is the height of the Depres sion and a dirt-poor family is fighting a losing battle of scratching a living from an arid, m arginal farm. Just when things are blackest, they inherit a massive fortune and their lives are transform ed. But with wealth and privilege comes a cruel lesson of the transience o f love.

BEYOND TOM ORROW (series) [See issue 77 for details] BEYOND 2000 (series) [See issue 77 for details] BOYS FROM TH E BUSH (series) Prod, com panies E ntertainm ent Media

Jam es Davern Judith C olquhoun David Boutland David Phillips Graeme Koetsfeld Sally Webb Graeme Andrews Steve Muir Mike Perjanik Linda McGrail Jenni Wilks Lindy Bartter Robyn Sinclair Sue Ellis Francine Finnane Shauna Crowely

GP (series) Prod, co’s

Roadshow Coote & Carroll ABC

Principal Credits D irector Super, producer Series producer Exec, producers Assoc, producers Scriptwriters D.O.P. Prod, designer Prod, designers

Costume designer Com poser

Camera assistant

On-set Crew

1st asst directors

2nd asst directors

Boom operators

Make-up

Still photography U nit publicist Catering

Art Department Set dresser Propspersons

Props buyer

Wardrobe

W ardrobe super. W ardrobe assts .

Construction Dept

Glen Steer Jo h n de Ruvo Andrew Short Peter Westley Dietrich Bock Mark Moroney Andrew T urner Ian Simmons Jo h n Hartley Mark Arm strong Karen Willing Karen Mansfield Elizabeth Russell Dave Masala Colleen McNamara Sean B urnett Rachel Del Santo Joanne Stevens Kit Moore ATN 7 stills dept Georgie Brown Taste Buddies Doug Kelly Malcolm Gregory Dirk van den Dreisen Julie Puglisi Jane Parker Therese Rendle Alan Bum s Am anda Bloomfield

Studios ATN 7, Sydney Cast: Lorrae Desmond (Shirley Gilroy), Shane Porteous (Dr T erence Elliott), Brian Wenzel (Sgt Frank Gilroy), Michael Muntz (Dr Cris Kouros), Georgie Parker (Lucy G ardener), Jo h n T arran t (Matt

Various Greg Shears Sue Masters Matt Carroll Penny Chapman Kim Vecera Judy Murphy Various Various Julie Belle Stephen Gow Ken Muggleston Jam es Murray Simon Walker

Planning and Development Story dept.

Casting coord. Casting consult. Extras casting Script coordinator Nurse consult.

Michael Miller Kristen Dunphy Tim Pye Charlie Strachan Hatice Kanli Maura Fay Prods Irem ne Gaskell Kris Wyld Carol Long

Prod, m anager Prod, secretary Location m anager

Wayne Henry Glenda Gevert Suzy Parker

1st asst directors

Gary Stephens Scott Feeney Steve Stannard Alan Parsons

Script editors

Production Crew On-set Crew

Camera Crew

Camera operators

Production

PRODUCTION

In General Practice

David Watts Barbara Lucas Justine Slatter Pip Nacard Toni Higginbotham Prod, secretary Peter Warman Location m anager Margie Muir Unit m anager

D irectors’ assts Peter Gawler M aura Fay and Assoc. T errie Vincent Vicki Niehus

Robert Meillon Peter Maxwell Julian McSwiney Mark Piper Denny Lawrence Bill Searle Jam es Davern Jam es Davern

Planning and Development Researchers

(Series VI) [See issue 77 for details]

JN P Films Seven Network

Construction Dept Studios

ABC

Post-production Mixed at Gauge Length

ABC 1 ” videotape 1 h o u r per week

Marketing

Int. dist. Tham es Television Int. Cast: M ichael C raig (W illiam ), Jo h n M cTernan (R obert), Sarah Chadwick (Cathy), Michael O ’Neill (Steve), Denise Roberts (Julie), Brian Rooney (Michael). Synopsis: D ram a series d etailin g the com ings and goings o f an inner-city medical practice.

THE GREAT AIR RACE (mini-series) Prod, company Dist. company Production

Principal Credits

Dimsey Grigsby Consolidated 3 0 / 4 / 9 0 - 1 /8 /9 0

Director Marcus Cole P roducer RossDimsey Co-producer Howard Grigsby Exec, producer Penny Chapman Exec. prod, (tv dram a) Jill Robb Scriptwriters Shane Brennan Michael Brindley D.O.P. Chris Davis Sound recordist Ian Cregan Prod, designer Colin Gersch P la n n in g

and Development

Script editor Casting Casting asst Extras casting

Production Crew

Bill G arner Dina Mann ja n e Ham ilton Cam eron Harris

Prod, m anager P roducer’s asst CIN EM A

Marion Pearce KikiDimsev PAPERS

• 75

Prod, co-ordinator Prod, secretary Location m anager U nit m anager Aircraft co-ord Prod, accountant Prod, ru n n er

Camera Crew

Camera operator Focus puller Clapper loader 2nd u nit D.O.P. Key grip Grip Gaffer Electrician Colour grade op

On-set Crew

1st asst, director 2nd asst, director 3rd asst, director Continuity Boom operator M ake-up/hair Special fx design Asst special fx Still photography Catering

Art Department Art director Asst designers Design asst Art dep t co-ord. Set dressers Graphics designer Props buyers

Props m aker Standby props

Wardrobe

Costume designer W ardrobe Co-ord

Costume m aker

Construction Dept

Jenny Barty Lyndel Osborne H arriet Westmore Neil McCart Neil P roud Bill W aterton Debra Cole H elen Francis Russell Bacon Campbell Miller Trevor Moore David Eggby Max Faffney Tony Woolveridge Andrew Holmes Darryn Fox Graham Crawford Peter Henshaw Peter Murphy Paul Brooke Martin Green Emma Peach Tony Dickenson Ian Loughnan Jacquie Bhavnani Terry Barrow Jo h n McCulloch Lindsay Hogan T ibor Gonczol Backdoor Catering Dale Mark Penny Southgate Nick Hilligoss Mem Alexander Paddy Reardon Mark Reynolds David Norm an Judy Leech Jo h n Cuskelly Sue Vaughan Marita Mussett Peter Turley Rod Beaum ont Alexandra Tynan Anne PenningtonBrown Joyce Imlach Julie Kruger Jam es Watson

Construct, m an ’r Construct, costing Standby carpenter Scenic artist Staging assts.

Geoff Brodie Jack Moran Ned Visic Jo h n Trebilco Peter Andrews Errol Bazely Bill Whiteside Paul Stevens

Post-pro duction Post prod super. VT editor

Tony Stanyer Ken Tyler

Inter, distributor Publicity

Consolidated Marian Page, ABC F ront Page

Marketing

Government Agency Investment

Developm ent Film Victoria Production FFC Cast Tim Hughes (Charles Scott), Robert Reynolds (Tom C am pbell-Black), J o sephine Byrnes (Florence D esm ond), Jo nathan Hyde (James Mollison), Gary Day (Ray P a re r), A n th o n y H aw kins (Thom as P errin ), Gosia Dobrowolska (T h ea T asch e), J e ff T ru m an (G eoff Hemsworth), Jim H olt (Harold Brook), H enk Johannes (Keone Parm entier). . Synopsis: M ini-series ab o u t the 1934 MacRobertson L ondon to M elbourne air race.

HOME AND AWAY (serial) Prod, company

ATN 7

Principal Credits Director Producer Exec, producer Assoc, producer 76

• CIN EM A

Various Andrew Howie Des Monaghan Marcel Zammit PAPERS

Scriptwriter Com poser

Various Mike Perjanik

Planning and Development Script editor Casting consult.

Production Crew Prod, Prod, Prod, Prod,

m anager coord. secretary ru n n er

On-set Crew

Sharyn Rosenberg Liz Mullinar Casting

Script asst

Fiona Hile

Asst art director

Glenn T urner

Wardrobe

W ardrobe super Lucinda White Cast: Roger Oakley (Tom Fletcher) Va nessa Downing (Pippa Fletcher), Nicolle D ickson (B obby S im p so n ), S haryn Hodgson (Carly M orris), Craig McLachlan (GrantM itchell), DanniiM inogue (Emma Jackson), Adam Willits (Steven Matheson), Judy N unn (Ailsa H ogan), Ray M eagher (Alf Stewart), N orm an Coburn (Donald Fisher). Synopsis: A warm family-drama series featuring the lives, loves and relationships of the residents of Sum m er Bay.

RATBAG HERO

Principal Credits Director Producer Co-producer Exec, producer Based on W ritten by Scriptwriter D.O.P. Sound recordist Editor Prod, designer Costume designer

(mini-series) Ratbag H ero Prods $3.8 million 9 /4 /9 0 - 3 /6 /9 0 4 /6 /9 0 - 1 0 /8 /9 0 1 1 /8 /9 0 -7 /9 /9 0 Oscar W hitbread Oscar W hitbread Geoffrey Pollock Zelda Rosenbaum

A Riverman’s Story Mick Kelsall Sonia Borg Dan Burstall Jo h n Wilkinson Scott McLennan Robert Perkins Rose Chong

Planning and Development Dialogue Coach

Kate W hitbread

Prod, m anager Prod, coord. P roducer’s asst. Location m anager Unit m anager Asst, coordinator P rod’n runner Prod, accountant

Geoff Pollock Stottie Carol Matthews Jam es Legge Daryl Sheen Sandi Revelins Nicole Urm ston Amanda Kelly (Moneypenny) Film Finances

Production Crew

Complet, guarantor

Camera Crew

Focus puller Clapper-loader Key Grip Gaffer Best boy G enerator op.

On-set Crew

1st asst director 2nd asst director 3rd asst director Continuity Boom operator Make-up-hair Asst make-up-hair Special fx Stunts coord. U nit publicist Catering

Art Department

Construct, m anager Leading hand

Post-production Laboratory

Graham e Murray Lynda Burke Bronwyn Cooksley Daniel H eather

Art Department

Prod, company Budget Pre-production Production Post-production

Roy Edm unds

Construction Dept

Harry Glynatsis Walter Repich Ken C onnor Rob Young Peter Maloney Richard Pritchett Brian Giddens Brendan Campbell Karen M ahood Jo McLennan Greg Nelson Sue Kelly-Tail Sarah W hitbread Peter Stubbs Chris Anderson Kerrie Theobald Sweet Seduction

Art director Art dept Set dresser

Victorian Film Laboratory 16 mm

Gauge

Government Agency Investment Developm ent P roduction

Film Victoria FFC Film Victoria Cast: Cam eron N ugent (Mick), Elaine Smith (Mum), Peter Fisher (Pop),M arcus Graham (Unc), Marion Edward (Gran), Matthew Ketteringham (Frizzy), Simon Chilvers (Baldy), Reg Evans (Cocky Brown), R obert M organ (M cIntosh), George Mallaby (Benson), Darius Perk ins (Dave) Synopsis: The story of Mick’s adventures with his family in rural Australia in the 1930’s and his growing resentm ent of his father and the expectations placed on him. It reaches a climax when his m other dies after a long illness.

Prod. co. Dist. co.

Catering R unners

Art Department

Peter Leggett Greg Bush G rant Page GaryJohn Victoria Buch (Xanadu) Jo h n W oodward (ABC) Joh n n y Faithful David Marshall Adam W oodhams Jo h n Vitalotis

Art dept, adm in Set dressers

(series) Southern Star Xanadu Southern Star International

Props buyers Standby props

Wardrobe W ardrobe coord.

Construction Dept

Various: Michael Pattinson (ep. 1) Michael Carson (2) Karl Zwicky (3) Michael Jenkins (4) Ric Pellizeri (5) G raham T horburn (6) Ann T urn er (7) Mike Smith (8) Geoffrey Nottage (11) Peter Fisk (13) Producers Jo h n Edwards Sandra Levy Line producer Stephen O ’Rourke Exec, producers Penny Chapman Kim Williams D.O.P. Steve W indon Sound recordist Peter Grace Editors Mike H oney(ep. 1) Chris Spur (2,4,6,9) Lindsay Fraser (3) Bill Russo (5,7) Tony Kavanagh (11,13) Prod, designers Leigh Tierney (eps 1, 4,7,10) Col Rudder (2,5,8,11) Robyn Williams (3,6,9,12)

Planning and Development Script researchers Casting Extras casting

Gary Maddox Liz Mullinar Irene Gaskell

Prod, m anager Prod, coordinator Prod, secretary Location m anager U nit m anager Prod, accountant

Sally Ayre-Smith A nnette Gover Kerri Mainwaring Bevan Childs Fiona Maloney Marianne Flynn

Camera operator Focus puller Clapper-loader Key grip Grip Gaffer Electrician G enerator operator

Marc Spicer B rendan Shaw Matthew Tem ple Gary Burdett Benn Hyde Ken Pettigrew Bruce Young Bob Woods

On-set Crew

1st assist directors

Continuity

W ardrobe buyer

Animals

Rachel Nott

Boom operators

Horse m aster Horse wranglers

Jo h n Baird Ben Halls

Make-up

2nd asst directors

Scott Hartford-Davis Michael Faranda Peter Fitzgerald Clinton White Russell Burton David Young Rod Oliver Suzanne Brown Louise Johnson Dave. Pearson Fiona McBain Christine Ehlert Penny Clemen is

Laurie D orn

Post-production Asst editors

Director

Camera Crew

Michelle Letters M iranda Brock Nina Parsons L orraine Verheyen

W ardrobe assts

Principal Credits

Production Crew

M arion Wins Richard K ennett L eanne Bushby Ian Andrewartha Colin Bailey Tim West Russell Long Peter Fitzgerald snr.

Construct, m anager

RESCUE

Steven Jones-Evans B runetta Stocco Hamish Anders'on-Hicks Colin Robertson Props buyer Martin Perkins Standby props Graham Blackmore

Wardrobe

Jim G annon Andrew Walpole

Special fx Sp fx asst Stunts coordinator Still photography U nit publicists

Sound editors

Asst sound editors

Musical director Laboratory Lab Liaison

Marketing

Liz Walsh M argaret Goodwin Jenny Scott L inda G ahan Martin C onnor Ann Maclnolty Phillipa Cristaudo Jackie Betlam Nicholas Cole M argaret Goodwin Kathy Chase Mike N etdeship M artin Armiger Colorfilm Simon Wicks Martin Hoyle

Publicity

Victoria Buchan (Xanadu) Jo h n Woodward (ABC) Cast: Gary Sweet (Steve “Mickey” McLintock), Marshall Napier (Sergeant Fred “Frog” Catteau), Tim McKenzie (Peter “Ridgy” Ridgeway), Steve Bastoni (Yiannis “Angel” A ngelopoulos), Sonia Todd (Georgina Rattray), Peter Browne (Sen ior Constable Trevor “Sootie” Coledale), Doug Scrooge (Senior Constable Percy “P tom aine” W arren), Jo h n Clayton (In spector Bill “Adams” Adam s). Synopsis: Rats, roaches, a dead drunk, a busted m arriage and a kid lost u n d er the city streets: th at’s ju st an o th er day at the office for Sergeant Steve McLintock.

RING OF SCORPIO Prod. comp. Dist. com p’s

(mini-series) Southern Star Sullivan Param ount (N. America) BBC (Europe) Southern Star (all other except Australasia)

Principal Credits

D irector P roducer Assoc, producer Based on novel W ritten by Scriptwriter D.O.P. Sound recordist Editor Prod, designer Art director Costume designer Com poser

Ian Barry Errol Sulliva Rod Allan

Ring of Scorpio

Suzanne Hawle Suzanne Hawle Jam ie Doola Guntis Sics Tim W ellburn Roger Ford Laurie Faen H elen H o p p Martin Armiger

Planning and Development Casting Extras casting

Production Crew Prod, m anager Prod, coordinator Prod, secretary Location m anager Unit m anager

Liz Mullinar Casting Consultants LesleyBurge

CarolH ughe Barbara Ring Jacinta Hayne M aude H eath William Matthews

Prod, m anager Prod, accountant Accounts asst Insurer Travel coord.

David Holmes Moneypenny (Gill McKinlay) D onna Wallace Steeves Lumley Set in Motion

Focus puller Clapper-loader Key grip Asst grips Gaffer Best boy G enerator operator

Colin Deane Katrina Crook David Nichols Toby Cropping Les Frazer Gary Scholes Jo h n Lee

Camera Crew

On-set Crew

1st asst director 2nd asst director 3rd asst director Continuity Boom operator Make-up Make-up asst Hairdressers Special 6c Stunts coord. Stunts Safety officer U nit nurse Still photography U nit publicist Catering R unners

Art Department

P.J. Voeton Emma Schofield Karan M onkhouse Pam Willis Garry Nucifora Lesley Rouvray Adele Wilcox Rebecca Simon Lesley Rouvray Adele Wilcox CinefFects Pty Ltd Stunt Agency Stunt Agency Stunt Agency Jacqui Ramsay R obert McFarlane Victoria Buchan Kollage Catering Sue Andrews

Art director Asst art director Art d ep t ru n n er Props buyers

Laurie Faen Sarah Tooth Deke Dvrece Sandy Wingrove Bill Booth Standby props Jam es Cox A rm ourer Film props Weapons Hire Action vehicle coord. Tim Parry

Wardrobe

Standby wardrobe

A nim als

Animal trainer

Construction Dept Construct, m an ’r C arpenters

Post-pro duction Asst editor Editing assts Laboratory

Marketing

Barbara Zussino Evanna and Murray Chesson Graem e Ware Danny B urnett Jam es Kibble Gordon McIntyre Am anda Robson Pat Mackie Atlab Australia

Victoria Buchan Publicity Cast: Caroline Goodall (H elen Sim m ons), C atherine O xenburg (Fiona McDonald), Linda C ropper (M arlene W aker), Jack

Scalia (Richard D evereaux), P eter Kowitz (Gary W ithers), Rebecca Gibney (Judith), Martin Jacobs (P eter), Alastair Duncan (Mr W atts), Camille Stone (M andy), Caz Lederm an (Pauline). Synopsis: T hree women share a secret of love and b etray al... and revenge.

SKIRTS Prod. co.

(series) Simpson Le M esurier Films

Principal Credits Directors

Brendan M aher Richard Sarell Ian Gilmour P roducer Roger Le Mesurier Exec, producer Des Monaghan Assoc, producer Ros Tatarka Original concept Roger Simpson Peter H erbert Editor Phil Reid Original prod, designi Tel Stolfo Series prod, designer Georgina G reenhill Com poser David Hirschfelder

Planning and Development Police adviser Script supervisor Script editor Casting consultants Extras casting

Production Crew

Prod, coordinator Prod, m anager Prod, accountants

Camera Crew Camera operators Key grip Lighting director

On-set Crew

Julie Tyres Betty Parthim os Robert T headgold Chris Opray Steve Scoble Phil Bowler Stewart Crombie Greg Rawson

Mery Ford Ed Stevenson 2nd asst director Andrew Mitchell Continuity Kay Hennessy Pauline Walker Boom operators Mai Hughes Julian Glavacich Make-up Fiona R eesjones Hairdresser Zjelkica Stanin Stunts New G eneration Stunts Still photography Ross Dearing Kim Bassett U nit publicist Food for Film Catering

Art Department

Props A rm ourer

Wardrobe W ardrobe supervisor

Post-production

Lisa T hom pson Adele Flere Danae G unn Zlatko Kasumovic Ben Bauer Brian Holmes Michael

Chisholm Gail Mayes

Sound editor T hem e perf. by

Track-Rite Sound David H irschfelder Daryl Braithwaite Titles The Peter Schmideg Company Cast: Tracy M ann (Pauline Reardon), Nicholas Bell (Gary Block), Mary Coustas (Julie Makris), Antoinette Byron (Tina van H ervel), Karen Davitt (Debbie Priest), Kate Gillick (Wanda Nowacek), Ben Mitch ell (Bevan Q uinn). Synopsis: Skirts is based around an innersuburban Community Policing Squad, a welfare unit with a predom inantly female m em bership. Skirts follows the routine and duties of a close-knit contingent of seven policewomen and policem en as they face the daily stresses, defeats and triumphs of life on the force.

SOUTH PACIFIC ADVENTURES (“The Phantom Horsemen”) Prod, company

Cheryl Steff Barbara Bishop Michael Joshua Liz Mullinar Julie Tyres

1st asst directors

Art director Set dressers

Standby wardrobe

Principal Credits Director Producer Exec, producer Scriptwriter D.O.P. Sound recordist Editor Prod, designer

Other Credits

Grundy Television Howard Rubie Philip East Roger Mirams David Phillips Joe Pickering Phil Tipene Kerry Regan Ken McCann

Prod, m anager Sandra Alexander Prod, coordinator Lori Flekser Prod, secretary Belinda Pribil U nit m anager Richard Montgomery Prod, run n er Grayden le Breton Prod, asst Deborah Green Gemma Rawsthorne Prod, account Carolynn C unningham 1st asst dir. 2nd asst director Philip Roope Robert Helliwell 3rd asst director Jackie Sullivan Script super. Keith Bryant Focus Puller Gaffer Richard Curtis Graham Litchfield Key Grip Cathy Gross Boom operator Fiona Scott Props buyers Philip Cum m ing Set dresser 1 Sam Richard Judy Kelly Set dresser 2 Art dept coordinator Lee Bulgin Loroy Plum m er Standby props Danie Daems Cost, m anager A ndrea Burns W ardrobe super. Standby wardrobe H eather Laurie Cathy Jam es W ardrobe coord. Terri Lam era Stunt Coord. Claude Lam bert W rangler Tony Jablonski

Cassie H anlo Wayne Perrot R obert Howarth Catering Rangi Nicora Safety officer Jim Townley Stills photographer T he Editing Machine Post production Inese Vogler Casting Kirstin Truskett Casting asst Laboratory VFC (Colorfilm) Tape house Bob Dog Inc. Cast: Beth Buchanan (Charlotte), Brian Rooney (Toby), Bryan M arshall (Tremayne), Jam es Coates (Longworth), Violeta Bravo Cela (Rita), Jo h n Bonney (M acA rthur), A nto in ette Byron (Ara b ella), M arshall N ap ier (Jo h n sto n ), M ichael Gow (M a u le ), Bill C o n n (M arsden), Martin Vaughan (Cross), Ken Radley (Blake), Marc Gray (M artin). Synopsis: ‘T h e Phantom H orsem en” is an adventure set in early Sydney. A mysteri ous masked horsem an is the only defence the colonists have against corru p t officials and m arauding soldiery at the time o f the rum rebellion. M ake-up/H air art.

SOUTH PACIFIC ADVENTURES “Pirate’s Island” Prod, company Grundy Television Director Viktors Ritelis P roducer Philip East Exec, producer Roger Mirams Synopsis: “Pirate’s Island” is a fantasy. A group o f children are swept away in a hot air balloon and land on an island o ut o f time, an island where a group o f Spanish pirates have been m arooned for a hundred years or more.

SOUTH PACIFIC ADVENTURES “Mission Top Secret” Prod, company Grundy Television Director Howard Rubie P roducer Philip East Exec, producer Roger Mirams Synopsis: In “Mission T op Secret”, a group of children from all over the world are linked through their com puters, and in touch with C entauri H eadquarters, which enlists their aid to fight against a gang of terrorists in a Middle-eastern State. W HICH WAY HOME (tele-feature) Prod, company McElroy and McElroy Dist. company Southern Star Group

Principal Credits Director Producer Line producer Based on novel W ritten by D.O.P. Sound recordist

CIN EM A

Carl Schultz Hal McElroy Tim Sanders

Which Way Home Michael Laurence Ellery Ryan Mike Westgate

PAPERS

• 77

Sasha Haskell Henry Dangar Runners Editor Michele Diedrich George Liddle Prod, designer Art D epartm ent P l a n n i n g and Development Dave Cooke Faith Martin Art director Casting Janette Goode Joselyn Morton Asst art director Casting cons’t M erran Bacon Susan Jowsey Art dept coord Cast m anager Kirsty Griffin Set dresser Production Crew Kirsty Griffin Props buyer Prod, supervisor Murray Francis A lF ord Prod, coordinator Naomi Joseph Standby props Kevin Chisnall A rm ourer Bronwen Stokes P roducer’s asst Anna Rasmussen W ardrobe Prod, secretary David Rowe Paul G rinder W ardrobe designer Location m anager Gavin McLean Standby wardrobe Martin Walsh U nit m anager Construction Dept Les Doar U nit asst John Williams Construct, m an’r Tami Sinclair Location coord. Mike Sudholter Carpenters Rob Fisher Financial director Mike Poole Christine Robson Prod, accountant Peter Dorian Brown Michelle D ’Arcey Accounts asst George V. Stum pf Travel coordinator Hady Alt Robert Barton (ASPAC Vacations) Trevor Tutte Mondiale Freight coordinator Post-production Camera Crew John Hollands Post-prod, super. Camera operator Allen Guilford Basia Ozerski Editing asst Allan Annand Focus puller Colorfilm Laboratory Phillip Prendeville Clapper-loader Marketing Key grip Terry Fraser Victoria Buchan Allistair Anderson Publicity Asst grips Cast: Cybill Shepherd (Karen Parsons), Don Jowsey Gaffer Bindy Crayford Jo h n Waters (Steve H annah), Peta TopBest boy pano (Annie), Marc Gray (Billy), John Neil Taylor Electrician Ewart (Ferguson), Kiet Lam (H aing), Brendan Shadholt G enerator o p ’r Mark Ngo (N arun), Anna Ngo (B opha), On-set Crew Alina Kwan (Suthy), Adrian Kwab (Khai). Chris Short 1st asst director Synopsis: Karen Parsons, a dedicated and Victoria Hardy 2nd asst director courageous American nurse, sets out with Michelle Coventry 3rd asst director five young orphans on an epic journey Jenny Quigley Continuity from a Thai refugee camp to freedom in Boom operator Steven Buckland Australia. She is rescued by an Australian Viv Mepham Make-up charter boat captain Steve H annah and Francia Smeets Hairdresser love blossoms against impossible odds. Kevin Chisnall Special fx Ken Drury POST-PRODUCTION ■ Peter Bell ■ Stunts coordinator Peter Bell Safety officer For details on the following, please see Rohan H oddinott U nit nurse previous issue: Ken George Still photography JACKAROO Victoria Buchan U nit publicist THE PAPER MAN (mini-series) Catering Bonifante Oliver

C E N S

DECEMBER

1989

G (GENERAL EXHIBITION) Animated C. M onahan, Australia, 91 mins, Ronin Films Lady CameliaKogiTanak, Japan, 91 mins, Japan Inform ation and Culture Centre Le Maitre de Musique RTBF & K2 - One (Belgian TV), Belgium, 97 mins, Premium Films Madama Butterfly F. Buttenstedt, West Germany, 148 mins, Filmpac Holdings PG (PARENTAL GUIDANCE) Beyond El Rocco K. Lucas, Australia, 102 mins, Kevin Lucas, Adult concepts and low-level coarse language, O (adult con cepts) L(i-l-g) Bill & T e d ’s Excellent Adventure M. Murphey-S. Kroopf-J. Soisson, U.S., 89 mins, R. A. Becker & Co, Sexual allusions and occasional low-level coarse language, O(sexual allusions) L(i-l-g) Chorus o f Disapproval, A M. W inner, UK, 99 mins, Village Roadshow Corporation, Sexual allusions, occasional low-level coarse language and violence, O (sexual allusions), L(i-l-g) V(i-l-g) DadJ. Stem , U.S., 117 mins, U nited Inter national Pictures, Adult concepts, O (adult concepts) Fishy Story, A (said-to-be m ain title not shown in English) Bo Ho Films-Mobile Film Pons, H ong Kong, 97 mins, China 78

• CIN EM A

PAPERS

town Cinema, Adult concepts, O (adult concepts) Gross Anatomy H. Rosenman-D. Hill, U.S., 109 mins, Village Roadshow Cor poration, Occasional low-level coarse lan guage and adult concepts, 0 (d ru g refer ence, adult concepts), L(i-l-g) M em ories of You Ryoji Ito Yoshihiro Kojima, Japan, 100 mins, Japan Inform a tion and Culture Centre, Adult concepts, O (adult concepts) Mountains of the Moon D. Melnick, UK, 135 mins, Fox Columbia Tri Star Films, Occasional low-level violence and sexual allusions, V(i-lJ) O (sexual allusions) Sayonara Fraulein (main title n ot shown in English) Koichi Ishii Tomokazu Ichim ura, Japan, 90 mins, Japan Inform a tion and Culture Centre, Adult concepts, O (adult concepts) Witches, T he M. Shivas, U.S., 91 mins, Village Roadshow C orporation, Mild horror, 0 (m ild horror) M (MATURE AUDIENCES) Comic Book Confidential R. Mann, Can ada, 84 mins, Prem ium Films, Occasional coarse language and adult concepts, L(im-g) O (adult concepts) Crocodile H unter (said-to-be main title n ot shown in English) Wins’ Movie Pro duction & I/E Co, H ong Kong, 102 mins, Chinatown Cinema, Violence, V(f-m-g) Fabulous Baker Boys, The P. Weinstein-

ROSE AGAINST THE ODDS SHADOWS OF TH E HEART 2nd asst, directors T he following serial was recently cancelled, but is included here for the record.

Script assistant Continuity

FAMILY AND FRIENDS (serial) Nine Network Drama Prod, company Nine Network Drama Dist. company Principal Credits Julian Pringle Directors Chris M artinjones Bruce Best Producer Alan Bateman Exec, producer Bevan Lee Scriptwriters Greg Hadrick David Morgan D.O.P. David Scandal Matthew Dorn Sound recordist Dominic Brine Scott Davis David Jones Editor Mike Perjanik Composer Planning and Development Anthony Ellis Script editors Elizabeth Coleman Casting consultants Maura Fay & Associates Hatice Kanli Extras casting Production Crew Janeen Faithfull Prod, supervisor Lisa Fitzpatrick Prod, m anager Laura May Prod, coordinator Rosemary Dodge Prod, secretary Vicki H arper Prod, assistant Jane Dawkins P rod’n runner Therase Tran Financial control. Camera Crew Gary Jansen Camera operator Mark Gledhill Camera assistant Ikegami HL 55 Camera type Hoyts Television Camera main. Adam Good Key grip Mick Morris Gaffer On-set Grew Soren Jensen 1st asst, directors

Boom operators

Make-up Hairdressers U nit publicist Catering Art D epartm ent Art director Art dept, coord. Set dresser Props buyer

Cathie Roden G rant Brown Matthew Enfield Steve Haig Matthew O ’Sullivan Jen n i Fraser Marcus Georgiades Karen Moore Steve Marshall Rob Surdich Richard Murray Mark Bolitho Mary Georgiou Angela Conte Gail Edmonds G eorgina Bush Beth Kindler Lizzie Chappie

Standby props W ardrobe W ardrobe super. W ardrobe buyer Standby wardrobe

Len Barratt Penny Lang Joy T hom pson Bliss Swift Patricia Ryan Mai Viles Tony Broderick Sue Cormack M adeleine Cullen Ann Reynolds A ndrea Burns Kirsty Reynolds

W ardrobe asst. Post-production Tony M urtagh Sound transfers Philip Purcell Mixer Gemini Sound Mixed at Hoyts Television Video transfers by C ast Dinah Shearing (A ntonietta), Jo n athan Hardy (Iggy), Anne Phelan (Dawn), Abigail (D oreen), Diane Craig (Pamela), Roxane Wilson (Jennifer), Adrian Lee (M arco), Justine Cloarke (Cheryl), Ross Newton (T hom m o), Dominic McDonald (Toby). Synopsis: Contem porary serial the Rossi and Chandler families and their friends, set in the rural township of Kingsmead.

F >

M. Rosenberg, U.S., 110 mins, Filmpac Holdings, Coarse language, L(f-m-g) Family Business L. Gordon, U.S., 110 mins, Village Roadshow Corporation, F requent coarse language and occasional violence, L(f-m-j) V(i-m-g) ImmediateFamilyS. Pillsbury-M. Sanford, U.S., 97 mins, Fox Colum biaTri Star Films, Occasional coarse language, L(i-m-g) N extofK inD . Enright-L. Alexander, U.S., 108 mins, Village Roadshow Corporation, Occasional violence, frequent coarse lan guage, L(f-m-g) V(i-m-g) No Holds Barred M. Rachmil, U.S., 82 mins, Filmpac Holdings, Violence (f-m-g) Radicals, The R. Nowotny, U.S., 99 mins, Village Roadshow C orporation, Infre quent violence, V(i-m-j) Sentenced to H ang (said-to-be main title not shown in English) Johnny Mak, H ong Kong, 108 mins, Chinatown Cinema, Oc casional violence and coarse language, V(i-m-g) L(i-m-g) O (adult concepts) She Devil J. Brett-S. Seidelman, U.S., 98 mins, Village Roadshow C orporation, Adult concepts, O (adult concepts) Sur Bac Films, Argentina-France, 113 mins, Prem ium Films, Occasional sexual scenes, S(i-m-j) L(i-m-j) Vietnam Texas R. Ginty-RJoy, U.S., 88 mins, Village Roadshow Corporation, Oc casional violence and coarse language, V(i-m-g) L(i-m-g) W ar o f the R oses, T he J. Brooks-A.

Milchan, U.S., 117 mins, Fox Columbia Tri Star Films, Occasional violence, sex ual scenes and coarse language, V(i-m-g) S(i-m-g) L(i-m-g) R (RESTRICTED EXHIBITION) Cook, The T hief His Wife & H er Lover, The K Kasander, UK, 123 mins, Newvision Film Dist’s, Occasional graphic violence and sexual scenes, V(i-m-g) S(i-m-g) JANUARY

1990

G (GENERAL EXHIBITION) Little Mermaid, The H. Ashman J . Musker, U.S., 82 mins, Village Roadshow C orp’n Take Me O ut to Snowland (main title n ot shown in English) Hideji Miyajima-Shinya Kawai, Japan, 95 mins, Jap an Infor m ation and Culture Centre PG (PARENTAL GUIDANCE) Always F. M arshall-K . K ennedy-S . Spielberg, U.S., 119 mins, U nited Inter national Pictures, Occasional low level coarse language, adult concepts, L(i-l-j) O (adult concepts) Children on the Island (m ain title n o t in English) Takeshi Motomura-Toru NajimaToshihiro Iljima, Japan, 124 mins, Japan Inform ation and Culture Centre, Adult concepts O (adult concepts) Courage M ountains, Ujlaki, France-U.SU.K., 95 thins, Hoyts Distribution, Occa-

ABOVE: KELLY LYNCH AND MATT DILLON IN GUS VAN SANT'S DRUGSTO RE CO W B O Y. RATED M.

sional low-level violence, V(i-l-g) Hachi-Ko ( main title not shown in Eng lish) Hisao Nabeshima-Junichi Shindo, japan, 104 mins, Japan Inform ation and Cultural Centre, Adult concepts, 0 (a d u lt concepts) Heart of Dixie S. Tisch, U.S., 95 mins, Village Roadshow C orporation, A dult concepts, 0 ( a d u lt co n ’s) V(i-lj) L(I-l-j) Henry V B. Sharm an, U.K., 133 mins, Fox Columbia Tri Star Films, Occasional vio lence, V(i-m-j) I Ain Sorry (main tide n o t shown in Eng lish) Golden Way Films, H ong Kong, 98 thins, Chinatown Cinema, Adult concepts, L(i-l-g) O (adult concepts) Out of our Tim e C. Pacilio, U.S., 63 mins, AFT Distribution, Adult,concepts, O (adult concepts) Salut Victor! M onique Letourneau, Can ada, 81 mins, AFI D istribution, Adult concepts, O (adult concepts) Thank You Sir (main tide not shown in English) Magnum Films, H ong Kong, 94 thins, Yu Enterprises, Occasional low-level violence, V(i-l-j) Tora-San Goes North (m ain title not shown in English) K. Shimazu, Japan, 104 mins, Jap an Inform ation an d C ulture Centre, Adult concepts, O (adult concepts) Torn Apart D. Fisher-J. M enkin, U.S., 95 mins, Reid and Puxkar, Occasional vio lence and sexual scenes, V(i-m-j) S(i-m-j) Want to Stay Alive Sergio Gobbi, France, 85 mins, Village Roadshow Corporation, Occasional violence, V(i-m-j)

M (MATURE AUDIENCES) Better Tomorrow HI, A Tsui Hark, Hong Kong, 198 mins, Yu Enterprises, Frequent violence, V(f-m-g) Blaze G. Friesen-D. Pollock, U.S., 114 mins, Village Roadshow C orporation, Occa sional coarse language and sexual scenes, S(i-m-j) L(f-mj)

Born on the Fourth of July A. Kitman HoOliver Stone, U.S., 140 mins, United In-

tem ational Pictures, Occasional Violence and frequent coarse language, V(i-mJ) L(f-m-j) S(i-m-j) Into the Fire (said to be - main title not shown in English) Bojon Films Company, H ong Kong, 90 mins, Chinatown Cinema, F requent violence and occasional sexual scenes, V(f-m-g) S(i-m-g) Look Who’s Talking J. Krane, U.S., 95 mins, Fox Columbia Tri Star Films, Adult concepts and occasional coarse language, O (adult concepts) L(i-m-g) Mack the Knife Stanley Chase, U.K,-Hun gary', 121 mins, Fox Columbia Tri Star Films, Sexual allusions, occasional vio lence, O (sexual allusions) V(i-m-g) Music Box I. Winkler, U.S., 122 mins, Fox Colum biaTri Star Films, Occasional coarse language, L(i-m-j) Night Visions M. Bociurkiw, Canada, 56 mins, AFI Distribution, Occasional coarse language, adultconcepts, L(i-m-j) 0 (a d u lt concepts) Outrageous Animation T. T horen, U.S., 76 mins, State Film Centre of Victoria, Occasional coarse language and sexual allusions, L(i-m-j) O(sexual allusions)

Reincarnation of Golden Lotus, The

Friend Cheers, H ong Kong, 95 mins, Chi natown Cinem a, O ccasional violence, sexual scenes, drug use, S(i-m-g) V(bm-j) 0 (d ru g use) Return of the Demon Charles HeungW ong Ying, H ong Kong, 94 mins, Yu Enterprises, F requent violence and hor ror, V(f-m-g) O (horror) Roger and Me M. Moore, U.S., 90 mins,

Village Roadshow C orporation, Adult concepts, O (adult concepts) Shocker M. Maddalena-B. Kumar, U.S., 109 mins, Fox Columbia Tri Star Films, Frequent coarse language and occasional violence, V(i-m-g) L(f-m-g) Cold Dog Soup R. Abramson-W. McEvenT. Pope, U.S.-U.K., 85 mins, Fox Colum bia Tri Star Films, Occasional coarse lan guage and violence, L(i-m-g) V(i-m-g) Criminal Hunter, The (main title not shown in English) Lo Wei Motion Pic tures, H ong Kong, 94 mins, Chinatown Cinema, Frequent violence, V(f-m-g) Deception (said-to-be main title notshown in English) Golden Princess, H ong Kong, 91 mins, Yu Enterprises, Occasional vio lence, V(f-m-g) Enemies, A Love Story P. Mazursky, U..S., 119 mins, Village Roadshow Corporadon, Occasional sexual scenes, S(i-m-g) Everybody Wins J. Thomas, U.S., 96 mins, Hoyts D istribution, O ccasional coarse language, L(i-m-j) Fightingjustice W. Parker-L.Lasker, U.S., 105 mins, Fox Columbia Tri Star Films, Frequent coarse language and occasional drug use, L(f-m-g) 0 (d ru g use, horror) §(i-m-g) Glory F. Fields, U.S., 118 mins, Fox Co lumbia Tri Star Films, Occasional violence and coarse language, V(i-m-g) L(i-m-g) God of Gamblers Win’s Movie Produc tion and I-E Co., H ong Kong, 125 mins, Yu Enterprises, Occasional violence, V(i-mg) L(i-m-g) Have a Nice Night S. Gobbi, France, 95 mins, Village Roadshow Corporauon, Oc casional violence, V(i-m-g) Heart Condition Steve Tisch, U.S., 99 mins, Fox Columbia Tri Star Films, Frequent coarse language and occasional violence, L(f-m-g) V(i-m-j) Short Film About Love, A (main title not shown in English) Film Polski, Poland, 86 mins, Newvision Film Distributors, Occa sional coarse language and adult con cepts, L(i-m-g) O (adult concepts) Stanley and Iris A. Winitsky-A. Sellers, U. S., 104 mins, U nited International Pic tures, Occasional coarse language, L(i-mg)

Tango and Cash J.

Peters-P. Guber, U.S., 103 mins, Village Roadshow C orporadon, Frequent violence and coarse language, V(f-m-g) L(f-m-g) Triumph of the Spirit A. Kopelson-S. Arama, U.S., 129 mins, Fox Columbia Tri Star Films, Infrequent violence, adult con cepts, V(i-m-j) O (adult concepts) Truth Final Episode, The (main tide not shown in English) H ong Kong, 107 mins, Chinatown Cinema, Occasional violence, V(i-m-g) We’re No Angels Art Linson, U.S., 106 m ins, U nited In te rn a tio n a l P ictures, Occasional violence, V(i-m-g)

R (RESTRICTED EXHIBITION) Blood Moon S. O ’Toole, Australia,

99 mins, Village Roadshow Corporadon, Oc casional graphic violence, V(i-m-g) City Kids 1989 (main title n ot shown in English) Wallace Cheung, H ong Kong, 89 mins, Chinatown Cinema, Occasional graphic violence, V(i-m-g) Drugstore Cowboy N. Welcher-K. Murphy, U.S., 98 mins, Newvision Film Distribu tors, Drug abuse, 0 (d ru g abuse)

Fun Down

T here R. Stigliano, U.S., 85 mins, AFI Distribution, Occasional sexual activity, S(i-m-g) FEBRUARY

1990

G (GENERAL EXHIBITION) Barbar The Movie M. Hirsch-P. CoubortC. Smith, France-Canada, 74 mins, Fox Columbia Tri Star Films Driving Miss Daisy R Zanuck-L. Zanuck, U .S.,96m ins,Fox Colum biaTri Star Films Magic Flute, The I. Bergman, Sweden, 134 mins, Filmpac Holdings Words and Silk P. Tyndall-J. Cruthers, Australia, 89 mins, Philip Tyndall

P (PARENTAL GUIDANCE) Bu Su H. Ogura, Japan, 92 mins, Jap an In form ation and Culture Centre, Adult Con cepts, O (adult concepts) Camille Claudel C. Fechner, France, 157 mins, Prem ium Films, Nudity and adult concepts, O (adult concepts) O (nudity)

Fun, The Luck and The Tycoon, The

(main title notshown in English) R. Wong, H ong Kong, 88 mins, Yu Enterprises, Oc casional low level coarse language and adultconcepts, L(i-l-g) O (adultconcepts) Heart Into Hearts (main title not shown in English) S. Shin, H ong Kong, 85 mins, Chinatown Cinem a, Sexual allusions, O(sexual allusions) KillingDad (or How to Love Your Mother) I. Smith, U.S., 92 mins, Fox Colum biaTri Star Films, Occasional low level coarse language and adult concepts, O (sexual allusions, adult concepts) L(i-l-g) Second Sight M. Tarlov, U.S., 81 mins, Village Roadshow Corporation, Frequent low level coarse language and mild sexual allusions, L(f-l-J) 0 (m ild sexual allusions) Shadow Makers T. Garnett, U.S., 126 mins, United International Pictures, Occasional low-level coarse language and adult con cepts, L(i-l-j) O (adult concepts) Stella S. Goldwyn Jr., U.S., 108 mins, Filmpac Holdings, Infrequent coarse lan guage and d rug referen ces, L(i-m-j) 0 (d ru g references) Two Brothers Running P. Emanuel-M. Cohen, Australia, 88 mins, Fox Columbia Tri Star Films, Occasional coarse language and sexual allusions, L(i-m-j) O(sexual allusions) Wizard, The D. Chisholm-K. Topolsky, U.S., 99 mins, U nited In tern ’nal Pictures, Adult concepts, occasional low level coarse language, O (adult concepts) L(i-l-g)

M (MATURE AUDIENCES)

All Night Long (main title not shown in English) Hsu Li Wa, H ong Kong, 95 mins, Chinatown Cinema, Occasional violence, V(i-m-g) Ariel Aki Kaurismaki, Finland, 72 mins, Prem ium Films, Occasional violence and adult concepts, V(i-mj) O (adult concepts) Blood Moon (edited version) S.O’Toole, Australia, 99 mins, Village Roadshow Corporation, Frequent violence and oc casional sexual scenes V(f-m-g) S(i-m-g) Collision Course T. Field-R. Cort, U.S., 96 mins, RA. Becker & Co., Occasional vio lence, V(i-m-g) Dark Angel J. Young, U.S., 91 mins, Vil lage Roadshow Corporation, Impactful violence and coarse language, L(f-m-g) V(f-m-g)

Films examined in terms of the Customs (Cinematograph Films) Regulations as States film censorship legislation are listed below. An explanatory key to reasons for classifying non- G films appears hereunder: Frequency Explicitness/Intensity Purpose Gratuitous Justified High Low Medium Frequent Infrequent h 1 m f g j i S(Sex) h 1 m f g j i V (Violence) h 1 m f g j i L(Language) h 1 m j g f O (Other) > Reason for decision Applicant Submitted length Country Producer Title CIN EM A

PAPERS

8 0

• 79

scenes, S(i-mJ)

Drugstore Cowboy

(a) N. Welcher-K. Murphy, U.S., 98 mins, Newvision Film Distributors, Frequent d rag use depic tions and occasional violence. Eight Taels of Gold (main title n o t shown in English) J. Sham, H ong Kong, 104 mins, Yu Enterprises, Occasional coarse language, L(i-m-g) Flashback M. W orth, U.S., 107 mins, U nited International Pictures, Frequent coarse language, L(f-m-g) Girl in a Swing, The J. Betzer, U.K-Denmark, 118 mins, Village Roadshow Corpo ration, Occasional sexual scenes, S(i-m-j) I Want To Go Home M. Karmitz, France, 105 mins, Hoyts Fox Columbia Tri Star Films, Occasional coarse language, L(i-mg)

Internal Affairs, F. M ancuso,Jr., U.S., 114

A B O V E : TIM R O TH A S M ITC H EL IN PETER G R E E N A W A Y 'S THE C O O K , THE T H IE F , H IS W IF E & H ER LO V E R . RATED R .

Downtown C. Maguire, U.S., 95 mins, Fox Columbia Tri Star Films, Frequent coarse language and violence, L(f-m-g) V(f-m-g) El Dorado Andres Vicinte Gomex, Spain, 122 mins, Filmpac Holdings, Occasional violence, V(i-m-g) Fourth War, The W. Schmidt U.S., 90 mins, Newvision Film Distributors, Occa sional violence and coarse language, V(im-g) L(i-m-g) Gate II A. Hamori, U.S., 92 mins, Village R oadshow C o rp o ra tio n , H o rro r O (horror, drug use) Impulse A. Ruddey-A. Morgan, U.S., 109 mins, Village Roadshow C orporation, Impactful violence and occasional coarse language, L(i-m-g) V(i-m-g) O (druguse) In Between Loves (main dde not shown in English) Paragon Films, H ong Kong, 90 mins, Chinatown Cinema, Occasional vio lence and coarse language, V(i-m-g) L(im-g) Limit Up J. Krane, U.S., 87 mins, Village Roadshow Corporation, Occasional coarse language, L(i-m-g) Love or Money E. England, U.S., 90 mins, Hoyts Fox Columbia Tri Star Films, Occa sional coarse language, L(i-m-g) Me and Him Bernd Eichinger, U.S., 93 mins, Hoyts Fox Columbia Tri Star Films, Occasional coarse language and sexual allusions, L(i-m-g) 0(sexual allusions) Monsieur Hire R. Cleitman-P. Carcassone, France, 79 mins, Dendy Cinema, Adult concepts and sexual allusions, O (adult concepts, sexual allusions) My Darling Domestic (GreytEskeyp) PVQ Productions, Philippines, 134 mins, Mega star Promotions, Occasional violence, V(im-g) Phantom of the Opera, The H. Towers, U.S.-Hungary, 90 mins, Hoyts Distribu tion, Impactful violence, V(f-m-g) Pretty Woman Touchstone-Silvers Creen, U.S., 117 mins, Village Roadshow Corpo ration, Occasional coarse language and adult concepts, L(i-m-g) 0 (a d u lt con cepts) Pumpldnhead H. Smith-R. Weinman, U.S., 85 mins, R.A. Becker & Co., H orror and occasional coarse language, O (horror) L(i-m-g) Rude Awakening A. Russo, U.S., 100 mins, Filmpac Holdings, O ccasional coarse language and drug use, L(i-m-g) 0 (d ru g use) 80

•

CIN EM A

PAPERS

Shanghai Shanghai (said to be -

main title not shown in English) Bo Ho Films, H ong Kong, 86 mins, Chinatown Cinema, Occa sional violence, V(i-m-g) Speaking Parts Ego Film Arts Production, Canada, 91 mins, Dendy Cinema, Adult concepts, 0 (a d u lt concepts) Vampire Buster (main title not shown in English) Rover K.C. Tang, H ong Kong, 92 mins, Chinatown Cinema, Occasional vio lence, and horror O (horror) V(i-m-g) Yeu Tieng Hat O Vietnam Chun Sing Film, Hong Kong, 94 mins, Yu Enter prises, Occasional violence, V(i-m-g)

R (RESTRICTED EXHIBITION) Deadly Sin, The (said to be - main title not shown in English) Fu Ngai Film Pro duction, H ong Kong-Netherlands, 104 m ins, C hinatow n C inem a, F re q u en t graphic violence, V(f-m-g) Fight to Survive Dragon Production, Hong Kong, 82 mins, Yu Enterprises, Occasional graphic violence, V(i-m-g)

SPECIAL CONDITIONS Alien Views ZDF, West Germany, 61 mins, The Australian Video Festival

Leo Kottke: Home and Away M. Perillo, U.S., 58 mins, The Australian Video Fest’l

Maroubra to Mexico M. Gould, Australia, 59 mins, The Australian Video Festival S. Bill-Madeli, Australia, 56 mins, The Australian Video Festival

Radio Redfem

FILMS BOARD OF REVIEW Cook, the Thief His Wife and Her Lover, The K. K asander, U.K., 123 m ins, Newvision Film Distributors, Occasional graphic violence and sexual scenes, V(im-g) S(i-m-g) Decision reviewed: Classify “R - For Re stricted Exhibition” by the Film Censor ship Board. Decision of the Board: Uphold the deci sion of the Film Censorship Board. MARCH

1990

G (GENERAL EXHIBITION) Brief Encounter in Shinjuku Golden Harvest P roduction,H ong Kong, 98 mins, Chinatown Cinema

Meher Baba - Avatar of the Age: The Human Side of God I. Luck, U.S., 75 mins, Rod Tyson

Summer Page, A

Noboru Kaji and Tabashi Sakuta Jap an , 89 mins, Quality Films War and Flowers, Katsumi O no Toru Aizawa, Japan, 95 mins. Quality Films

PG (PARENTAL GUIDANCE) Chocolat A. B elm ondo-G . C ro sn e r, France, 102 mins, Dendy Cinema, Occa sional coarse language and nudity, L(i-mj) O (adult concepts/nudity) Dream of Desire (main title not shown in English) Always Good Film Company, H ong Kong, 100 mins, Yu Enterprises, Occasional low level violence, V(i-l-g) L(i>-g) Forest of Little Bear (main title not shown in English) Hisashi Yabe,Japan, 114 mins, Quality Films, Occasional low-level vio lence, V(i-l-j) Joe Versus the Volcano T. Schwartz, U.S., 100 mins, Village Roadshow Corporation, Occasional low-level coarse language, L(i1-g) O (adult concepts) Lambada P. Shepherd, U.S., 104 mins, Village Roadshow C orporation, Occa sional low-level coarse language and vio lence, L(i-l-g) V(i-l-g) Romancing Stars Eli, The (main title now shown in English) Wins’ Movie Produc tion, H ong Kong, 91 mins, Chinatown Cinema, Occasional low-level coarse lan guage and adult concepts, L(i-l-g) O (adult concepts) Torrents of Spring A. Rizzoli, Italy-France, 98 mins, Village Roadshow Corporation, Sexual allusions, O (sexual allusions) White Hunter Black Heart C. Eastwood, U.S.-Zimbabwe, 112 mins, Village Road show Corporation, Occasional low-level coarse language, V(i-l-j) L(i-l-j)

M (MATURE AUDIENCES) Another Way (main title not shown

in English) Tsutomu Taki, Japan, 114 mins, Quality Films, Occasional violence, V(im-g) Best of the Best P. Rhee-P. Strauss, U.S., 97 mins, Palace E ntertainm ent Corpora tion, Impactful violence, V(f-m-g) Black Rainbow J. Quested-G. Helman, U.S., 100 mins, Hoyts Fox Columbia Tri Star Films, Occasional coarse language and violence, L(i-m-g) V(i-m-g) Blood Red J. Bernard-P. Casey, U.S., 89 mins, Hoyts Fox Columbia Tri Star Films, Frequent violence, V(f-m-g) City Cops (main title not shown in Eng lish) Joe Siu, H ong Kong, 92 mins, China town Cinema, Occasional violence, V(im-g) Cry-Baby R. Talalay, U.S., 85 mins, United International Pictures, Occasional coarse language, L(i-m-g) Discamates, The Shigemi Sugisaki, Ja pan, 105 mins, Quality Films, Sexual

mins, U nited International Pictures, Fre quent violence, coarse language and oc casional sexual scenes, V(f-m-g) L(f-m-g) S(i-m-g) Mad Monkey, The A. Gomez, U.K.-France, 107 mins, Hoyts Fox Columbia Tri Star Films, Occasional coarse language, sexual scenes and adult concepts, L(i-m-g) S(im-g) 0 (a d u lt concepts) Men Don’t Leave J. Avnet, U.S., 111 mins, Village Roadshow C orporation, Occa sional coarse language, L(i-m-g) Nightbreed G. Martinelli, Canada-U.K., 101 mins, Hoyts Fox Columbia Tri Star Films, F re q u e n t violence, occasional coarse language and horror, V(f-m-g) L(im-g) O (horror) Path of Glory Movie Impact, H ong Kong, 94 mins, Chinatown Cinema, Occasional coarse language and violence, L(i-m-g) V(i-m-g) Raw Nerve M. Lynch, Australia, 90 mins, Pyodawn, Adult concepts, drug use and fre q u e n t coarse lan g u ag e, L(f-m-g) O (adult concepts-drug use) Revenge H unt Lowry-Stanley Rubin, U.S., 120 mins, Hoyts Fox Columbia Tri Star Films, Impactful violence, frequent coarse language, drug use, V(f-m-g) L(f-m-g) 0 (d ru g use) Road Home, The H. Rosenman-T. Baer, U.S., 113 mins, Village Roadshow Corpo ration, Frequent coarse language and adult concepts, L(f-m-g) O (adult con cepts) Run Don’t Walk (main title not shown in English) Dennis Yu Film Production, H ong Kong, 86 mins, Yu Enterprises, Oc casional violence, V(i-m-g) True Blood P. Maris, U.S., 96 mins, Hoyts Fox Columbia Tri Star Films, Frequent coarse language and occasional violence, V(i-m-j) L(f-m-g) Valley, The, France, 104 mins, Valhalla Holdings, Sexual scenes and occasional coarse language, S(i-m-g) L(i-m-g)

R (RESTRICTED EXHIBITION) Bad Taste (edited version) P. Jackson, New Zealand, 86 mins, Reid & Puskar, Graphic horror effects, O (graphic horror effects) Santa Sangre C. Argento, Italy, 123 mins, Newvision Film Distributors, Occasional graphic violence, V(i-m-j) Wild Orchid M. Damon-T. Anthony, U.S., 111 mins, Village Roadshow Corporation, Occasional sexual activity, S(i-m-g)

FILMS BOARD OF REVIEW Drugstore Cowboy (a) N. Welcher-K. Murphy, U.S., 98 mins, Newvision Film Distributors, Frequent drug use depic tions and occasional violence. Decision reviewed: Classify “R - For Re stricted Exhibition” by the Film Censor ship Board. Decision of the Board: Direct the Film Censorship Board to classify “M - For M ature Audiences”. (a) See also under “M (Mature Audi ences)” ■

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Daylight stock yes, I shot “Father” on 5297 and EXR 5245 They intercut really well. Daylight films give me the look of reality I’m after, and lots of flexibility in difficult lighting situations. I started using 5297 when it was introduced a couple of years ago. Then the new EXR 5245 and 7245 came along and I saw their great potential. The low grain content is particularly important as well as the clean look and the warmth I can get in the night shots. I really appreciate the sharpness, the details in both shadow and highlight... plus the under- and overexposure latitude. I think these EXR stocks are the finest quality motion picture films available. They really set a standard of their own.

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