Australian Movies - Once were blockbusters...now straight to video

Once were blockbusters.... now straight to video

" Founded by rejects from British society, Australia has a holiday devoted to a military fiasco, a hero hanged after bungling a bank robbery, an alternative anthem about a thief who commits suicide, and a film industry that keeps making self-critical movies that nobody goes to see" Who we are

"We can't even rationalise the miserable results by saying Australia now concentrates on making art films shown to connoisseurs. In 2007, that audience preferred the work of Swedes, Gauls and Germans." David Dale

Australia has consistently produced the great stories, great actors, and great directors necessary to make great movies. Unfortunately, it has not always had the teamwork spirit necessary to unite the talents in a way that always appeals to an Australian or international audience. Consequently, Australia's once mighty industry is now a production line of government-funded movies that go straight to video.

The Australian talent for movie making was first put on show in 1906 with the production of The Story of the Kelly Gang, the world's first feature-length film. The film was extraordinary popular; running for five weeks to full houses. It only cost 1,000 pounds to make but returned 26,000 pounds. Over the next five years Australia produced more successful films such as the Eureka Stockade, The Assigned Servant, The Squatters Daughter, Attack on the Gold Escort, Sentenced for Life and The Mark of the Lash. In these early years, Australia was clearly the world leader in the production of feature films.

Although the rebel stories were popular with large numbers of the general public, they offended wowsers. Consquently, in 1912 the entire genre of bushranging films was banned. With its own government saying the Australian story had no value, the Australian industry was overrun by Hollywood. Rather than grow up watching bushrangers fight corrupt troopers, Australian kids grew up watching cowboys shoot Indians and American outlaws duel with corrupt sheriffs.

In the 70s, Australia produced some art house movies such as Walkabout, Picnic at Hanging Rock, and Gallipoli that inspired community pride and drew international attention. In the 80s, private enterprise funded blockbuster movies such as Mad Max 1,2,3 and Crocodile Dundee 1, 2.

By the late 90s, the Australian industry seemed on the verg of something huge. It then shot itself in the foot. The general thinking was that a "blockbuster" had to feature at least one ABBA song, some "critical commentatary" on Australian life, and some beautiful shots of the Australian landscape. In reality, the ABBA songs alienated anyone who wasn't gay or a 70s addict, the critical commentary was usually more insulting than thought provoking, and the beautiful scenes of the Australian environment became to Australian directors what special effects are to American directions. Even though the landscape scenes were impressive, they were often used to compensate for a lack of character development, and/or plot weaknesses. Furthermore, they often had nothing to do with the themes of the movie.

Although such ingredients didn't appeal to either private investors or the general public, they did appeal to the public servants that funded movies. Consequently, political movies with no real direction, community pride or entertainment value were held up as the the face of modern Australian cinema and rejected. With all the crap being produced as a result of the government funding, it was difficult to find the gems hidden among them. In time, the audience just stopped looking.

The cultural trait to produce great individual talent for movie making, but to struggle to bring the talent together stems from the same two cultural influences; the Australian environment and Australian history. Both influences have a way of splitting people into different spectrums that cultivate individuality but impedes that individuality from working in a sense of harmony.

The Australian environment splits people because it is both a source of punishment and beauty. Some see its harshness as a metaphor of all that is wrong with Australian culture. Poet A.D Hope saw it as a "A woman beyond her change of life, a breast still tender but within the womb is dry". Painters such as Albert Tucker and Russel Drysdale used the outback to represent the failure of white civilisation and moral decay. Novelist Patrick White used the outback to symbolise the inevitable doom of Australian aspiration. Not surprisingly, negative assessments have governed movie makers. In Welcome to Woop Woop and Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Stephan Elliot used the outback to portray the heart of Australia as racist, sexist, homophobic and crass. In Mad Max, George Miller used the outback to symbolise a wasteland that followed the breakdown of civilisation into a series of hunter gatherer tribes.

Although a negative environmental view governs most Australian artists, there have been a few who have the seen the environment as an influence of beauty that can in turn represent a wider appreciation for Australia. Painter Pro Hart, Australia’s most successful artist, blended positive imagery of the outback with positive imagery of Australian people. Likewise, poet Dorothea Mackellar expressed a heartfelt love for the "sunburnt country" and rugged mountain ranges. In a few movies, the same positive sentiments towards the environment have also been paired with symbolism of Australians. For example, in Crocodile Dundee, Paul Hogan used the tough rugged Australian environment to represent the tough rugged Australian people. In Japanese story, Sue Brooks tried to use the beauty of the outback to convey the beauty of doomed romance between an Australian woman and a Japanese man.

Just as the Australian environment has been a source of division, so has Australian history. A civilisation built on foundations of criminality lacks the inspiring stories to unite people in praise. Again, the consequence has been the splitting of people into different spectrums that are alienated from each other. For example, the bushranging movies of the early 20th century were successful with the market, but they alienated the wowsers. Consequently, the genre was banned. Likewise, another Ned Kelly movie in 2003 also alienated the wowsers and led to criticism of false nationalism.

With Convict history being a barren ground, some directors have turned to Aborigines to find a sense of historical morality and group belonging. In Rabbit-proof Fence, director Phillip Noyce used Aborigines as a kind of metaphoric Jesus that could be nailed to the cross, so that whites could apologise and atone for their sins. While some whites did in fact use the movie to embrace evangelical morality and ask for forgiveness, others viewed it as being about as useless as Jews and Christians bickering about who killed Jesus.

Although a clash of perspectives can be a source of artistic energy, a clash often diminishes the teamwork spirit necessary to produce true quality and commercial appeal. Consequently, instead of praise and support being a feature of the Australian film industry, criticism is its most dominant feature. For example, those with a negative view of Australia were alienated by Hogan's positive view of it in Crocodile Dundee, and let their alienation be known. Likewise, those with a positive view of Australia were not always endeared by directors such as George Miller coming out and saying:

"We really don't have significant stories to tell, perhaps apart from the indigenous story...Australia at its heart is so racist that I don't think we can stomach it."

Despite the diversity and critical nature of Australia, some Australian movies have shown a Shakesperean ability to navigate its cultural mine field by producing movies that have managed to provoke thought without overtly offending anyone. They have kept their moral code ambiguous and their political judgements very subtle. Unfortunately, other movies have not had such nuances and have in turn been destroyed by Australia's diversity, and brought down other players in the Australian industry with them.

Walkabout contrasted urban civilization with life in the natural world. The characters were represented as one aspect of the beauty and horror at play in the Australian outback. More...

Picnic at Hanging Rock contrasted ordered English society with the un-ordered Australian bush. It portrayed three school girls that went missing in mysterious circumstances. In a very unique way, director Peter Weir never resolved the mystery and so left the audience hanging in a state of bemusement. More...

An anti-war movie, Peter Weir showed how war builds positive human qualities and also destroys them. More...

Based upon Australia's most famous poem, The Man from Snowy River takes the universal story of the underdog and infuses into it the positive emotions of romance. More...

With no history of Stockmen fighting Aborigines to draw from, George Miller had to conceive a failed future in order to portray the classic spaghetti western tale of the man with no name defending the good folk from the marauding tribes. More...

Two cultural extremes meet each other. One is the Australian outback and the other is New York City. Inaccurate stereotypes and cultural absurdities combine with romance to make a light-hearted comedy enjoyed by most. More...

A romance comedy about two dancers who want to invent new steps in the face of strict competition rules that no new steps be allowed. More...

In theory, the release of Romper Stomper in 1992 was going to combat racism. By showing the mind of neo-nazis in Australia, Australians could stop being denial about the existence of racism and in turn be diligent in fighting it. In practice; however, the years following the movie's release indicate that Australia became a polorised society. While the calls to eliminate racism increased, so too did the expression of racist sentiments. More....

As an antidote to Crocodile Dundee, Stepan Elliot wanted to clarify to the world that rather than Australia being a nation of crocodile wrestlers, Australia is a nation of homosexual men that dress up in women's clothes. Furthermore, rather than show Aborigines as people to be respected, as was the case in Crocodile Dundee, Stephan Elliot showed them as outcasts on a similar social level to homosexuals. More...

Although promoted as a comedy, the R-rated Welcome to Woop was Stephan Elliott's mean-spirited attempt to portray the heart of Australian culture as racist, sexist, crass and revolving around excessive drinking. Presumably, Elliot was hoping Australians would open their eyes and develop a culture more like Sydney's gay and lesbian mardi gras where public anal fisting, men sitting in bathtubs being used as urinals, drug use, and high rates of HIV infection are defining features. More...

A thought provoking romance comedy drowned in an increasingly negative industry, Two Hands integrates a ying yang theme with chaos theory. In every good person there is a little bit of bad, and every bad person there is a little bit of good. The actions of each of these people have a reaction in others and the small actions of one person can lead to dire consequences in others. More…

Describing his political beliefs as to "the right of Genghis Khan" confessed murderer Chopper Reid has become an Australian icon. In 2000, his story was told in a movie bearing his name. Chopper's appeal can be traced to market demand for a figure from the right to counter the extreme left. More..

Lacking the nuances of an art house director, Phillip Noyce (known for his right-wing action movies) created a story based around a rabbit-proof fence that divided Australians into black and white camps. Basically, Rabbit-proof Fence was a movie that provided close-minded Australians with an easy way to convince themselves that they were open-minded. By taking an indignant stand against a government policy long since ended, Noyce convinced whites that they were showing open-mindedness to morally confronting aspects of Aboriginal cultures. More...

Set in a Paris brothel, inspired by Italian Operas, influenced by Bollywood, and integrating songs from America and England, one one hand there doesn't seem much uniquely Australian about Moulin Rouge. On the other hand, with 4 out of 10 Australians having at least one migrant parent, Australia has somewhat of a bohemiem culture that integrates the diverse cultures of the world into something new. It is an eye for integration that gives some Australians the ability to blend diverse cultures. It is the lack of a strong native culture that gives cultural creatives the freedom to do so. More...

Like Stephan Elliot before him, Greg McClean seemed intent on creating an antidote to Crocodile Dundee. Instead of the outback being home to good natured larrikin from Walkabout Creek named Mick Dundee, Wolf Creek shows the outback as being the stomping ground of a serial killer named Mick Taylor More ....

"The usual answer to this question has been along the lines that our film-makers and script-writers are tunnel-visioned in that they are only interested in black armband stuff that denounces our (always meaning "your") almost innate racism or our acquiescence in an "incontrovertible" genocide, yet another sad dirge about drug addiction or another dissing everything "mainstream" Australians respect - hence the dreary queue of pictures that 80% of us have little connexion with. In other words, producers, directors, et al., need to get out more, to see how people who don't dress all in black and can't carry on a 20-minute discussion about coffee genres, or who reckon that their outer suburban lives are fulfilling and that the fortunes of their local football team are interesting, live their lives. Interesting to know how accurate that assessment is these days. " (Leonard Colquhoun - message board poster)

"Unfortunately the damage done by the self important, government funded w=nkers who took control of Australia's film industry back at the beginning of the latest culture cringe will take time to fix. I hope and pray that we have ended the period of economic rationalism and are heading into a new and exciting time when all things truly Australian are things to be proud of. Our rejection of American Tv is just the beginning, now if we can just find out once again who we are.... " Unknown

"...holding breath for the newly empowered lefties to start blaming Howard for not funding the arts...., it's simple, if you want people to watch your films, make films people want to watch and stop telling them they are idiots\selfish for not watching a load of miserable, self-indulgent, amateur-hour tripe." Unknown

"I go to the movies to be entertained and have a laugh. Where have all the entertaining movies gone???
Croc Dundee, The Castle, Kenny, The Dish. What have all these movies got in common?? They were entertaining and made us laugh.
I was at the AFI Awards this year and there was not one film that I would go and see. There was not one film that was writen for us to sit back, enjoy and laugh.
Every movie made in this country now has to have a moral, is this part of the funding crieteria???
Just my 2 cents" Unknown

"As good as these movies are/may have been, as one earlier poster pointed out, its escapism that brings in the audiences. Thanks to our high-minded government film financing bodies, the only projects that usually get funded are serious/intimate dramas or arthouse fare. If it is comedy it has to be "uniquely Australian", read: mocking bogans or bushies." Unknown