Australian Top Twenty

It's been a while, but here's another Top Twenty. This time, my favourite Australian films. There are quite a few recent Aussie films I haven't seen, so I'd be happy to hear recommendations, but this is the list I've come up with. Once again, aside from the number one, the ordering was difficult, not to mention the beauties that missed out (Mad Max 2 & 3, Lantana, The Dressmaker, Muriel's Wedding, The Tracker, Don's Party, Look Both Ways, Newsfront, The Sum of Us and Bad Boy Bubby, just to name a few). So, in ascending order, have away at it.

20. The Boys (Rowan Woods - 1998)

An uncomfortable watch but really well-acted with David Wenham in fine form. Based on the real life case of Anita Cobby, this film creeps to its ugly finale. I foolishly took a girl to see this at the cinema back in 1998. A great movie but not a date movie.

19. Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller - 2015)

Simply structured (I can only think of Withnail & I that has such an equally obvious framework) but inventively bonkers with breathless chase sequences. Hardy and Theron could crack marble with their faces.

18. Sunday Too Far Away (Ken Hannam - 1975)

Jack Thompson stars as a unionised shearer in the 1950s who likes a drink and a brawl. This is a biting political drama dressed up as a knockabout blokey romp, but don't be fooled.

17. The Nightingale (Jennifer Kent - 2018)

Hard to watch but kind of beautiful in its horror. A stark look back at Australia's shameful history. Aisling Francioisi and Baykali Ganambarr work brilliantly together as Clare and Billy. Don't be put off by the chat around this, it's required viewing.

16. The Rover (David Michod - 2014)

A fairly dystopian view of Australia's future with no sugar and loads of dust. Guy Pearce could be the guy you see walking along Scarborough Beach Road with no shoes but plenty of intent.

15. Mad Max (George Miller - 1979)

And speaking of dystopian...say hello to Mr. Rockatansky. The original is still (just) the best for me, though I really like parts of 2 and 3 as well. This is a pure, animalistic revenge drama in an inhospitable landscape. The post-apocalypse never looked so bronzed Aussie.

14. Chopper (Andrew Dominik - 2000)

Eric Bana with a bravura performance here as Mark 'Chopper' Read, notorious Melbourne gangland figure. This film skirts glorification very close but the ridiculousness of Read and Bana's take on him give the film some nicely odd balance.

13. The Year of Living Dangerously (Peter Weir - 1982)

Gibson's star on the rise here, and regardless of the twat he's since shown himself to be, he had bags of charisma back then. He plays an Aussie reporter in Indonesia during an attempted coup against Sukarno in 1965. Pretty gripping stuff, well maneuvered by Weir.

12. Breaker Morant (Bruce Beresford - 1980)

A fine dissection of crimes in wartime and the consequences of them. Edward Woodward, Bryan Brown and Jack Thompson put in some sterling work in a film often distilled to its climactic lines.

11. Picnic at Hanging Rock (Peter Weir - 1975)

Creeeeepy shit, this. The shooting style, the pace, the ethereal performances, the music - all make this one of the scariest Aussie films made. Weir again pushes all the right buttons.

10. Idiot Box (David Caeser - 1996)

I'll be honest here. This may be a bit high on the list as I can't remember too much about it. What I do remember is that I thought it was a bag of stupid fun and Ben Mendelsohn was one of our best actors. And still is.

9. Walkabout (Nicolas Roeg - 1971)

I really hope we can accept this Nic Roeg gem as an Aussie co-prod, because it's a great little piece of cinema. David Gulpilil stars with Jenny Agutter and the director's son, Luc in this oddly affecting film of privilege and pathos.

8. Travelling North (Carl Schultz - 1987)

Probably the quietest film here but one of the best. Old Rumpole of the Bailey (Leo McKern) stars with Julia Blake as a couple who head north from Melbs to Queensland to retire. Graham Kennedy pops up and is brilliant as usual.

7. Gallipoli (Peter Weir - 1981)

Simply, one of the most iconic films Australia has produced. No surprise that Peter Weir helmed it, nor that playwright David Williamson co-wrote it (he's responsible for two more on this list - 8 & 12). Gibson and Mark Lee star as champion runners who sign up for WW1 and end up at the infamous Turkish battleground. A film rightly famous for its finale.

6. Death in Brunswick (John Ruane - 1990)

Sam Neill and the late, great John Clarke star in this weird black comedy set in the Melbourne suburbs. I reckon this was an influence on many lesser 90s Aussie urban comedy dramas. Hard to bottle this stuff.

5. Animal Kingdom (David Michod -2010)

Bloody Nora. What a brilliantly misanthropic film this was. And 10 years old now! Mendo and Joel Edgerton ooze grungy menace and Guy Pearce adds integrity but Jackie Weaver is the standout for me. Hell mother in spades.

4. Little Fish (Rowan Woods - 2005)

Yeah, you may like Blanchett doing English Queens or classy Yanks but she's never better than on her home turf and this is her best performance for my money. With Sam Neill and Hugo Weaving to bounce off, she's supreme as a recovering addict. The choir doing Flame Trees is a spine-tingler.

3. Romper Stomper (Geoffrey Wright - 1992)

This was Russell Crowe's breakout film (though he was still a few years away from being a Hollywood big hitter). Nobody does brooding intensity like Crowe, and his Neo-Nazi thug, Hando, is the perfect outlet. Far from sensationalising this pathetic sub-culture, Romper highlights the dead-ends expertly. Jacqueline McKenzie is incredible, too. Sadly, Daniel Pollock (centre) killed himself just after filming wrapped.

2. The Proposition (John Hillcoat - 2005)

An amazing Aussie western from a script by Nick Cave, this has a basically perfect pace. Guy Pearce stars alongside Danny Huston, Ray Winstone and David Gulpilil. It's all very bleak, very outback, very harsh and illustrates what extreme circumstances can do to people. The cinematographer, Benoit Delhomme, certainly lent a majestic external eye to the landscape.

1. Proof (Jocelyn Moorhouse - 1991)

A peerless three-hander with Hugo Weaving, as a blind guy who likes photography, Genevieve Picot, as his housekeeper and Russell Crowe, as his new friend, who agrees to describe his photos to him. The performances are excellent and the bubbling emotions and anxieties are perfectly teased out by Moorhouse. It's a crime she hasn't made more films.

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Ghost Cat Anzu (Me & Kid)

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Bird

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My first taste of the Perth Festival schedule for the coming season was a 'hybrid' film called The Wolves Always Come at Night , directed by Gabrielle Brady. The term 'hybrid' really just seems to mean tweaking the traditional methods of documentary production, in this case, adding some clearly set-up shots and situations, but also, calling on the subjects to help in the writing process. This film is about a family of goat farmers in Mongolia whose difficult existence is made even harder by an unforeseen event that forces them to relocate to the city. The family are led by mother, Zaya Dashzeveg and father, Davaa Dagvasuren, and Brady made the film with their input in mind. She says; Our intention was that Davaa and Zaya have agency within the making of their own story. So, in working together as co-writers, we were able to shape the story together. They would share ideas for what could be filmed and I would translate this into the cinematic language for the film. It...

Audrey

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The Monk and the Gun

This Bhutanese comedy drama is part of the Perth Festival and it follows the country's attempts to move from a monarchy to a democracy in 2006. In the small town of Ura, a novice monk, Tashi (Tandin Wangchuk) is tasked with finding two guns for his Lama, played by real life monk Kelsang Choejay. He's not told why but he gets on with the job. At the same time, a 'fixer/tour guide' from Thimphu, Benji (Tandim Sonam) gets a gig driving a newly arrived American, Ronald (Harry Einhorn) around the country in search of a particularly valuable US Civil War rifle. You might be able to see where this is going... This is satire in deep cover. It might even be satire adjacent, such is its mildness. This is not a bad thing. At times I felt like I was experiencing an old Ealing comedy, or maybe a low-key Ken Loach. The government sends officers around the country to run a mock election to show people how to vote, and one of them, Tshering Yangden (Pema Zangmo Sherpa) wanders through...

Timestalker

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Merchant Ivory

Here's the first of a few films I'm planning to catch at the British Film Festival so I'll attempt to keep the reviews relatively brief. This a documentary directed by Stephen Soucy about the legendary filmmaking team, Merchant Ivory Productions. The formidable ensemble consisted of producer Ismail Merchant, director James Ivory, writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, and composer Richard Robbins. After meeting in 1961, Ivory and Merchant started a fruitful partnership, both professionally and romantically. The film shows us their somewhat ramshackle early films, made in India, moving on to marginally more assured productions in the US, and finally to the English period dramas they became known for in the 80s and onwards. Together, they made over 40 films, some absolute gems among them. A Room with a View , Howard's End , and The Remains of the Day are probably their best, though you could throw in Heat and Dust , Maurice , and The Golden Bowl as very strong examples of their...

Lee

Biopics are tough to get right. For every Lawrence of Arabia , there's a Diana , for every Raging Bull , there's an Ali . The film Lee shines some natural light of the life of renowned war photographer Lee Miller, played by Kate Winslet. She gives it full welly in this - physically and emotionally nude, with camouflage painted boobs, close-ups with no make-up, moles, wrinkles, rage and tears. It's very much the kind of 'brave' performance that the Academy loves to reward. The film starts with Miller crustily answering questions to a young man in 1977, and as she remembers things from her past, we head to flashback territory. It seems a fairly cack-handed framing device until we realise why it's happening. A modicum of research reveals that the film is a pretty accurate retelling of Miller's life - first her carefree bohemian days in pre-WW2 France (including her intro to future hubby, Roland Penrose, played by Alexander Skarsgård), then how she started with...

Gladiator II

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Sand Land (Me) (Kids)

Popped down to Palace cinema in the city for a packed screening of Sand Land , part of the Japanese Film Festival Australia . Created by Akira Toriyama (of Dragon Ball fame), this started as a manga book series in 2000. It seems this film was made slightly before, or at the same time as a TV series covering similar ground. That ground being a Mad Max style wasteland where the water supply is controlled and sold by a rotund King (Chafûrin). An old, local sherriff, Rao (Kazuhiro Yamaji), suspects there's a source of water in the desert a few days drive away and so decides to investigate. Knowing he'll need help, he approaches the gang of demons who live nearby. The demons chosen to accompany Rao are the keen Beelzebub (Mutsumi Tamura) and the less enthused Thief (Chô). The trio head off but are soon beset by issues, including enormous sand snakes, marauding punks and the King's military units. As their vehicles tyres were punctured by said punks, Rao commandeers a tank, set...

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