The Pyjama Girl and Submerged women, liminal voices: A feminist investigation of feature film screenwriting as creative practice Lezli-An Barrett BA Hons 1st class Fine Art and History of Art (Goldsmiths’ College University of London, 1979) Master of Arts in Screenwriting and Screen Research (London College of Printing, The London Institute, University of the Arts London, 1998) This thesis is presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of The University of Western Australia School of Humanities English and Cultural Studies (Creative Writing) 2017 ii THESIS DECLARATION I, Lezli-An Barrett, certify that: This thesis has been substantially accomplished during enrolment in the degree. This thesis does not contain material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in my name, in any university or other tertiary institution. No part of this work will, in the future, be used in a submission in my name, for any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution without the prior approval of The University of Western Australia and where applicable, any partner institution responsible for the joint-award of this degree. This thesis does not contain any material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference has been made in the text. The work(s) are not in any way a violation or infringement of any copyright, trademark, patent, or other rights whatsoever of any person. The research involving human data reported in this thesis was assessed and approved by The University of Western Australia Human Research Ethics Committee. Approval #: RA/4/1/2444 This thesis does not contain work that I have published, nor work under review for publication. Signature: Date: 24th February 2017 iii ABSTRACT This PhD project consists of a creative writing component, which is a feature film screenplay titled The Pyjama Girl, and an exegesis entitled ‘Submerged women, liminal voices: A feminist investigation of feature film screenwriting as creative practice’. In the creative work the central image of a murdered, submerged women is used as a catalyst to produce a feminist reading of the detective crime genre. The subject matter of the screenplay is inspired by a notorious murder case that took place in Australia in 1934. The factual case was not closed until 1944; however, many questions remained open and unresolved. The screenplay pivots around the murders of two young women. One woman’s body is submerged in formalin and preserved for ten years; the other is submerged in the Murray River, New South Wales. The exegesis argues that women screenwriters and women directors have been largely excluded from feature film screenwriting and production. The effect of this exclusion is that women’s authorship and voice have been submerged and have yet to be thoroughly articulated in the feature film form. The thesis offers an analysis and critique of women’s participation in the feature film industry, using feminist theory and philosophical frameworks, which draw on Mikhail Bakhtin’s concept of dialogism and Gilles Deleuze’s concept of affect. It uses autoethnographic, and conventional evaluative methodologies and the acting theories of Stanislavski to explore the context and creative challenges faced when writing a feminist feature length screenplay. The exegesis links to the creative work through the central metaphor of the submerged woman, using this metaphor to explore the history, philosophy and politics of feminist and women’s feature film production with particular emphasis on the screenwriting process. The iv exegesis also considers the submerged woman as the other of screenwriting and points toward the liminal state of screenwriting as an in-between state to the becoming-film. The thesis outlines a theoretical framework and context for considering screenwriting as a liminal text and argues that women screenwriters are the limina within the liminal, excluded by the politics of the film industry. Finally, through the exegesis and creative work, I challenge that exclusion and emerge as woman-screenwriter. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Thesis declaration ii Abstract iii Acknowledgements vi Dedication vii Part 1 The Post Liminal: Woman Screenwriter Emerges The Screenplay The Pyjama Girl 0-135 Part 2 Submerged women, liminal voices: A feminist investigation of feature film screenwriting as creative practice 1 Prologue 2 Introduction 5 Chapter One: Theoretical Frameworks 34 Chapter Two: The Pre-Liminal Stage – Separation 59 Chapter Three: The Liminal Stage – The Challenge of the Submerged Woman Screenwriter 81 Conclusion 99 Coda 105 Bibliography 110 vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thank you to my supervisor, Senior Honorary Research Fellow Dr Stephen Chinna. Thank you to my co-supervisors Professor Van Ikin and Dr Chantal Bourgault du Coudray. Thank you to interviewees, criminal barrister Robert Flach; former curator of the Police and Justice Museum, Sydney Caleb Williams; co-founder of Circles feminist film distribution network, Felicity Sparrow; Executive Director of Women Make Movies, New York feminist film distributor Debra Zimmerman; founder and Director of the Festival International de Films de Femmes, Jackie Buet. Thank you all for sharing your expertise and generously providing me access to archives. Additionally I would like to thank the Italian Historical Society and the Museo Italiano, Melbourne. Thanks to my friends for support and encouragement, especially Liz Byrski, Janice Baker and Helen Merrick. In memory of my parents Hilda May ‘Babs’ Barrett 26/8/1930 – 23/7/2011 and Leslie Peter Edgar Barrett 7/6/1926 – 19/3/2012. Thank you both for the carnival of life that you bought me into. And Robert Flach, 1922 – October 2013. Thank you for your unfailing dedication to this film project, your friendship and legal advice regarding the Pyjama Girl murder case. Special thanks and appreciation to my daughter Miranda Barrett, thank you for all your love, laughter, inspiration, support and encouragement. vii DEDICATION To my daughter Miranda Molly-May Barrett, with all my love. 0 The Pyjama Girl by Lezli-An Barrett Inspired by a true crime case. All the characters and events depicted in this film are fictitious Draft: September 18th, 2017 Lezli-An Barrett © Mobile: E-mail: 1 MUSIC: Suspense 1 EXT. VAST RURAL AUSTRALIAN LANDSCAPE - SUNSET (1934) 1 A spectacular violent storm simmers on a molten horizon. The vast Murray River snakes through perfect fog-filled valleys. Kangaroos take flight into a native forest. 2 INT. A DARK ROOM - NIGHT 2 Dark shadows. A 1930s revolver cocks. The sight line of the gun cautiously approaches the head of a sleeping MAN. A WOMAN'S HAND nervously nudges the muzzle against his head. Her manicured finger hesitates on the trigger. The man makes a lunge for the gun. The woman fights viciously. He wins possession -- aiming the revolver at her head. We look straight down the barrel -- the GUN FIRES -- blood -- silence -- black. 3 INT. A DARK ROOM - CONTINUOUS 3 Inky shadows. A WOMAN gasps for air -- images and sounds are indistinct -- we lose focus sliding in and out of consciousness. We hear the muffled raging of a MAN shouting. YOUNG WOMAN (terrified) It’s the truth. He’s lying. I love you.... On my life it’s the truth... Something slams us hard -- we go down -- black -- silence. We regain consciousness and see a hazy FEMALE form approaching, she wraps a towel across our eyes -- darkness. A GUN BLAST rips -- we jerk back -- blood -- silence -- black. DISSOLVE TO: 4 EXT. RURAL LANDSCAPE, VICTORIA - NIGHT 4 Dark winter clouds spew rain. Below, a tiny beam of light slices through the storm. It’s a speeding 1930s car. 5 EXT. FOREST ROAD - NIGHT 5 The rain persists. The car is now parked. The DRIVER, a slight man, refills the fuel tank, water pours off his hat and coat. He gets back in the car. Concealed in shadow, he studies a road map of Victoria. The car drives through the storm, and through the night. 2 6 INT. MURRAY RIVER, RIVERBED - NIGHT 6 ANGLE FROM RIVERBED. BLACK. We hear a strong current overhead. The darkness above us is actually water. We hear the car approach. Headlights arc across the river illuminating the murky depths. The engine cuts. An object breaks the surface of the water and sinks towards us. Time extends -- as the object descends closer we see it is a 1930s revolver. Above, the surface breaks again. A HUMAN CORPSE, a beautiful young woman pirouettes feet first toward us. Time slows -- her silk garment engulfs her head and arms revealing voluptuous breasts. She twists in a balletic dance. The car screeches away. The body settles on the riverbed, enchanting and tragic in her murky grave. Time rapidly advances -- a blanket of silt covers the corpse, the body swells, a cancer of crabs devour flesh, the skeleton collapses. The body is finally consumed by the riverbed. 7 I/E. MONTAGE - STOCK/ARCHIVE PHOTOS AND FILM FOOTAGE 7 Credits: Macabre early forensics: finger printing - microscopic fragments - blood - bone - lab slides - a surgical knife dissects - a tooth is drilled - flesh is stitched - X-rays - diagrams - handwriting - photo negatives - bullet markings. The cops: smash cocaine labs - arrest drug barons and bent bookies - raid bootleggers - brothels and abortionists. The poor: queue for soup - march for jobs - beg and build squatter camps. TITLE: THE PYJAMA GIRL 8 EXT. RURAL LANDSCAPE, NEW SOUTH WALES - DAWN BREAKS 8 Below, bushland extends for miles eventually giving way to pasture, sheep and acres of vines. It is breathtaking. CAPTION: Days earlier - August 1934. 9 I/E. CAR - CONTINUOUS 9 In the rear passenger seat MABEL BLACKETT (40), intelligent, determined and elegant in a fashionable home- made Vogue-style suit, attentively looks ahead. An ornate gateway announces... the Griffith Estate. Beyond is a grand nineteenth-century mansion, thoroughbred horses train in the paddock.