Contemporary Australian Cinema An Introduction

by Rayner, Jonathan

• ISBN13: 9780719053276
• ISBN10: 0719053277
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-12-28
• Publisher: MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY PRESS

Summary

This introduction to the new Australian film industry explores prominent directors and stars, themes, styles, and evolving genres in an analysis of key films. The evolution of genres peculiar to Australia and adaptations of conventional Hollywood forms such as the musical and the road movie are examined through readings of landmark films, including Picnic at Hanging Rock, Mad Max trilogy, and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. The key issue of the revival--the definition, representation, and propagation of a national image--is woven through the analysis.

Author Biography

Jonathan Rayner is Lecturer in Film Studies at Sheffield Hallam University.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations	vii
Preface	ix
Acknowledgements	xi
List of abbreviations	xiii
Introduction
The nationalities of the cinema	1	(2)
The prehistory of Australian cinema	3	(5)
Representing the nation	8	(2)
The valuable territory	10	(2)
The big country	12	(3)
The Australian abroad	15	(6)
Reading the national cinema	21	(3)
Australian Gothic
Origins	24	(4)
The Gothic rural community	28	(9)
The Mad Max trilogy	37	(6)
The urban Gothic	43	(14)
Conclusion	57	(3)
The period film
The AFC genre	60	(3)
Picnic at Hanging Rock and the literary adaptation	63	(7)
The period film cycle	70	(8)
Fred Schepisi's period films	78	(6)
Newsfront: the nation on record	84	(2)
Sirens: the parody of the period film	86	(4)
Conclusion	90	(4)
The male ensemble film
Australian-ness and masculinity	94	(2)
The working environment	96	(3)
Sexual politics	99	(3)
The sporting life	102	(2)
The personal factor: Between Wars	104	(3)
Sons of Anzac: The Odd Angry Shot	107	(2)
Parabolic history	109	(8)
Landscape cinema	117	(2)
Male drama and the mini-series	119	(2)
Males and mateship in '90s cinema	121	(3)
Conclusion	124	(5)
New glamour, new Gothic: Australian films in the 1990s
The quota quirky	129	(1)
The Australian Film Finance Corporation	130	(2)
New Gothic	132	(10)
The rite of passage film	142	(7)
Australian road movies	149	(4)
Glamour, kitsch and camp	153	(8)
Conclusion	161	(5)
Conclusion	166	(15)
Filmography	181	(13)
Bibliography	194	(6)
Index	200