The Atlab / Kodak Cinema Collection
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INTRODUCTION BV SERIES EDITOR: riD ~·. ~.· £ u~r M C FA R LA. N~E ........... .., THE NATIONAL FILM AND SOUND ARCHIVE HAS DEVELOPED AN IMPOSING LIST OF AUSTRALIAN FILM TITLES AVAILABLE FOR SCREENING IN NEW PRINTS. THIS VENTURE HAS BEEN MADE POSSIBLE BY GENEROUS SUPPORT FROM THE POST-PRODUCTION HOUSE ATLAB AUSTRALIA, AND KODAK (AUSTRALIA). OST of the films for which new -awkward length, generic unclassifiabil- for the general reader how such reso prints have been struck belong ity, downbeat proclivities, obdurately art nant titles in our recent film history came Mto the first two decades of the house affiliations- have not received the to be as they are, and how they seem 'revival', but there are also several titles attention they may deserve. in hindsight as compared with what we ···· ······ ··· ·· ·w.,-fch··aerive··trom···the··pre~1-s"io···periOC:L ··· ......... · · ······· ··· ----------- ....... ·· · ..... · ··· ····made otli1erii al ttietimeofti1eirre= · including Charles Chauvel's classic, The films in the collection cover a wide lease. Some of them may have lost their Jedda (1955) and Michael Powell's range of genres, as even the titles initial lustre; others, it may be felt, were popular success They're A Weird Mob referred to above suggest; they take in undervalued in their time. (1966), the full spectrum from multiplex to art house to specialist screenings; and they Contellts The nearly sixty significant Australian belong to a crucial period of Australian films currently on the arcllive's list are filmmaking. They warrant the detailed By situating any individual film in its broadly representative of the output critical, scholarly scrutiny to which it is 'context', I have several things in mind. of twenty years of local filmmaking. It the intention of Metro magazine, over First, and most obviously, each essay embraces the earliest days of the 1970s' the next several years, to submit them. will attempt to recreate the produc- revival, with the likes of The Adventures tion circumstances of the film. When of Barry McKenzie (Bruco Beresford, The Series and where was it made? Did it involve 1972) and the much less well-known much/any location work? How long did Morning of the Earth (Albert Falzon, Starting in early 2007 and to tie in with it take? Was the production attended by 1971), and works its way through such the availability of these new prints, any particular difficulties? How was the ground breaking titles as Sunday Too Far Metro will foreground a series of essays, screenplay developed, and from what Away (Ken Hannam, 1975) and the huge each of which will focus on a title in the kinds of sources? How was it financed: commercial successes of The Man from Kodak/Atlab Cinema Collection. The was it, for instance, like most Austral Snowy River (George Miller, 1982) and informing idea behind the series is that ian films of the period, dependent on Crocodile Dundee (Peter Faiman, 1986), these should become the first port of government funding? How costly was for the moment cutting out at 1990 call for anyone wanting to study in depth it? How was it publicized? with Nadia Tass's engaging adolescent the particular films in question. The aim wish-fulfilment comedy The Big Steal. is that the essays should be definitive: Questions such as these may seem to However, the list is refreshingly free from not definitive in the sense of offering the one side of the film's aesthetic dis mere obeisance to eithel' the critically last interpretive word about this or that tinction or otherwise. However, this is privileged or the box office champions. film but from the point of view of provid not really the case, as many of these It noticeably offers such titles as Pure ing indispensable material relating to the matters bear substantially on the nature Shit (Bert Deling, 1975), The F.J. Holden film's various contexts, detailed analysis and quality of the finished film. What is (Michael Thornhill, 1977), Love Letters of how the film works as a film, and a up there on the screen may well be at from Teralba Road (Stephen Wallace, comprehensive account of how it was least in part determined by budgetary 1977), Palm Beach (Aibio Thoms, 1980), received, both critically and commer constraints, on the use made of location Goodbye Paradise (Carl Schultz, 1983) cially. In such ways, it is expected that shooting, and so on. In order to place a and Sweetie (Jane Campion, 1989), the essays will provide a valuable basis discussion of, say, Sunday Too Far Away films which, for one reason or another for further research, as well as recalling in the context of Australian film produc- ~ 116 • Metro Magazine 152 tion at the time, a full analysis of the personae, the contributions of cinema The authors for the series of essays film is likely to require attention to the tography and production design, and have been chosen on the basis of their · · ····· ·· ·· · ·· · ·· circumstancesofitsmaking: so-··an:· Listed like that; tfiese··c:an sound particular interestinthefiim···of thE!ir··· dull, but in the individual ways of the choice. They include academics from ··· ··························various.auti16rsit5eems .. ii.i<ei}l .. li1al··iiieir .. ······ ·Austraiian .. andoverseas·univeisities···· ........................ l:lt:l~t~Elti.C:l:IPP~ec;iation,l:lr1cl t~Elir c:.ri.!ic;l:ll 8,r1d local. f.il~ ··"'.r.itEl.r:ol'N~Q~e .. "'Cl.~~.. i.~.. 'N.t:lll .. Neither in the matter of textual analysis appraisal, of the film texts will take such known and its quality admired. As the ....... nor. in. any .. otheuelated.to. .this.series ................. matters .. on..b.oard.ln examining .how.the ........... series. progresses,.Lhopeto be able ..to ..... is there an intention to impose a grid films work as narratives in the medium spread the net as widely as possible. ··Or·template on the authors.ln broad ... of. audio-visual moving. images, there is . This series seems like an. enterprise of ··· · terms, though, one would expect that, inevitably a complex set of determinants some real value, and one would want to ··· to varying degrees;· the treatment of ······················responsible for the affective ·andintel- · ···· ·· · canvass· a range of engaged talents·· and·· the film as a text would involve certain lectual responses generated. voices for the job. avenues otenqliiry: one would sUppose · it important to consider the source of Reception 'Goodbye Paradise' the film's screenplay, whether, as many were, derived from literary antecedents, The third main area of exploration the se It seems very apt to be initiating this or whether original screenplays. To ries will incorporate has to do with how series with a study of Carl Schultz's discuss, say, My Brilliant Career (Gillian the films were received. This includes .Goodbye Paradise, a film undervalued Armstrong, 1976) without taking into ac- both their domestic reception by critics at the time of its release but graced count the semi-autobiographical novel and audiences and their international with a hugely enjoyable performance. by Miles Franklin on which it is based box-office careers, and the critical reac- from Ray Barrett and exhibiting a genre is no doubt a possibility, and for many tions they elicited if they managed to find sophistication not then (or now?) com of its viewers it might just as well be an overseas distribution. How important mon in Australian cinema. It remains original screenplay. But lt is not: the an- was a particular film ih alerting world perhaps the most accomplished film terior text has a certain status in Austral- markets and audiences to the existence noir thriller of the revival, and the series ianTiierailire ana in ieminisidiscourse ····· ··afan A:usfraliaii iilm inc:iustri? Wtiatsort · has tieen iortunaieinsecuring Ai1Cirew and one would hope that the relevant of after-life has the film had? Has it led to Spicer for its inaugural essay. Spicer is essay in the series would see these as a wide range of critical exegeses or does an acknowledged international author bearing on the finished film. Other mat- it seem to have been forgotten since ity on film noir; his 2002 book, Film Noir ters likely to emerge in textual analysis the time of its release? This may lead to (Pearson) has become a standard text include the question of authorship (e.g., consideration of whether or not such a and his Euro-Noir, due out in 2007, is directorial and screenwriting influ- film is too closely tied to its first release eagerly awaited. ences), the kinds of genre associations for serious later assessment- or whether the film exhibits, the importance of star it deserves re-evaluation. Metro Magazine 152 • 117 .