Literature Review
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The impact of the counterculture on Australian cinema in the mid to late 20th century A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Art Administration (Hons) within the School of Art History and Art Education, College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. Fiona Hooton 1 PLEASE TYPE THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES Thesis/Dissertation Sheet Surname or Family name: Hooton First name: Fiona Other name/s: Abbreviation for degree as given in the University calendar: School: School of Art History and Art Education Faculty:COFA Title: The impact of the counterculture on Australian cinema in the mid to late 20th century 2 Abstract 350 words maximum: (PLEASE TYPE) This thesis discusses the impact of the counterculture on Australian cinema in the late 20thcentury through the work of the Sydney Underground Film group, Ubu. This group, active between 1965 -1970, was a significant part of an underground counter culture, to which many young Australians subscribed. As a group, Ubu was more than a rat bag assemblage of University students. It was an antipodean aspect of an ongoing artistic and political movement that began with the European avant-garde at the beginning of the 20th century and that radically transformed artistic conventions in theatre, painting, literature, photography and film. Three purposes underpin this thesis: firstly to track the art historical links between a European avant-garde heritage and Ubu. Experimental film is a genre that is informed by cross art form interrelations between theatre, painting, literature, photography and film and the major modernist aesthetic philosophies of the last century. Ubu’s revolutionary aesthetic approaches included political resistance and the involvement of audiences in the production of art. Their creative wellspring drew from: Alfred Jarry, Dadaism, Surrealism, Futurism, Fluxus, Conceptual and Pop art. This cross fertilization between the arts is critical to understanding not only the Australian experimental movement but the history of contemporary image making. The second purpose is to fill a current void of research about early Australian Experimental film. This is a significant gap given it was a national movement with many international connections. The counterculture movement also contains many major figures in Australian art history. These individuals played their parts in the Sydney Push, Oz magazine and the activities of the Yellow House and have since become important multi arts practitioners and commentators. Thirdly, the thesis attempts to evaluate Ubu’s political and social agenda for the democratization of film appreciation through their objectives of: production, exhibition, distribution and debate of experimental film both nationally and internationally. Ultimately the group would succeed in these objectives and in winning the war on repressive censorship laws. Their influence has informed the practice of many of Australia’s current film heavy weights. Two key films have been selected for analysis, It Droppeth as the Gentle Rain (1963) and Newsfront (1978). The first looks forward to Ubu’s contemporary practices and political agenda while the second demonstrates their longer term influences on mainstream cinema. Declaration relating to disposition of project thesis/dissertation I hereby grant to the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or in part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all property rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. I also authorise University Microfilms to use the 350 word abstract of my thesis in Dissertation Abstracts International (this is applicable to doctoral theses only). …………………………………………………………… ……………………………………..……………… ……….……………………...…….… Signature Witness Date 3 The University recognises that there may be exceptional circumstances requiring restrictions on copying or conditions on use. Requests for restriction for a period of up to 2 years must be made in writing. Requests for a longer period of restriction may be considered in exceptional circumstances and require the approval of the Dean of Graduate Research. FOR OFFICE USE ONLY Date of completion of requirements for Award: THIS SHEET IS TO BE GLUED TO THE INSIDE FRONT COVER OF THE THESIS ORIGINALITY STATEMENT ‘I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project's design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged.’ Signed …………………………………………….............. Date …………………………………………….............. Acknowledgements Thanks to the following people for their generous support of this project. I was able to complete the thesis while working full time thanks to the commitment of my supervisor, Joanna Mendelssohn, Associate Professor College of Fine Arts University of NSW, who gave up a number of her own precious weekends to discuss its progress with me. Special thanks go to both my parents and mentors Joy and Viv Hooton for their unfailing support and encouragement. Thanks to my partner Catrina Vignando for her empathy, solidarity and love throughout. For moral encouragement thanks are due to old friends, confidants and fellow art lovers Sally Clarke and Brenda Factor. The following people are listed as having provided critical input at key moments: David Campbell NFSA, Michael Glasheen, Mike Jones, Richard Keys, Philippe Mora, David Perry, Sue Hardisty, David Atfeild, Garry Shead, Albie Thoms and Pauline Webber. 4 Table of Contents Acknowledgements................................................................................................................... 4 Table of Contents...................................................................................................................... 5 Introduction............................................................................................................................... 6 Chapter 1 Literature Review .................................................................................................... 9 Chapter 2 It Droppeth as the Gentle Rain .............................................................................. 39 Chapter 3 Ubu and the Counterculture ................................................................................... 87 Chapter 4 The Impact of Experimental Film on Mainstream Cinema.................................. 135 Chapter 5 Conclusions…………………………………………………………………… 202 Appendix A Timeline ........................................................................................................... 207 Appendix B DVD 1, 2, 3 Viewing Menu ............................................................................. 213 List of Illustrations................................................................................................................ 216 Bibliography ......................................................................................................................... 218 5 Introduction It is hoped that this thesis may assist to stimulate debate and further research on Australia’s experimental film. Given that experimental film in this country is now more than forty years old and was a national movement in the late 1960s, with active practitioners in all state capitals it seems extraordinary that so little work has been done to analyse its important legacies. The focus of this thesis is on the late 1960s period but in creating the context this paper includes the beginning of the 20th Century avant-garde through to the 1970’s Australian film renaissance. The scarcity of writing on the topic represents a significant gap in our critical understanding. The fact that the alternative history told by Australian avant-garde filmmakers has been largely ignored, has assisted in minimizing later awareness of the level of dissent that occurred in this period. As a consequence of this vacuum of critical discussion there has been no teasing out of the impact of the ‘60s experimental movement on mainstream Australian film or visual art. Experimental film is framed both by its marginal status in reaction to the dominant cinema industry and its role as a laboratory of ideas for it. A review of the ideas that the movement provided the industry and the ideas that the industry ignored are therefore well overdue. The experimentation of Ubu and the counterculture period was a necessary precondition to the public success of the 1970s cinema renaissance. Ubu’s most important initiatives were the founding of the Sydney Film Cooperative and the handmade films and lightshows. Both were manifestations of a key Ubu principle —access to 6 filmmaking for all as a political and social right. Forty years on independent cinema