Metro Australia — January 2018

(WallPaper) #1

110 •Metro Magazine 195 | © ATOM


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medic and ‘revisionist’ westerns of the period such as'D@QSR NE SGD
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2GNV ,@Mreceived a decidedly staggered and uneven international
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can be traced across occasional reviews of
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in late 1980, in Britain’s,NMSGKX %HKL !TKKDSHM
in early 1982 and as a result of its screening
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countries.^14 Taylor himself was more critical of
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would have been better served by employing
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commercial and internationally competitive work than even a cursory
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Australian release in 1977. Although"@CCHDis still commonly
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alised aspect and practice of cultural history. This rarely revived
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anecdotal screenplay, as well as its comfortable place within the
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ema history would have garnered more attention and sympathy,
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art movies such as the remarkable8@BJDSX 8@BJ 'DYH -RQHV
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3GD /HBSTQD 2GNV ,@MLV SUREDEO\ QRZ PRVW QRWDEOH IRU WKH VLJQLĺ
cant involvement of one of the key Australian female screenwriters
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to be produced by a woman in the early stages of the Australian
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precursor to,X !QHKKH@MS "@QDDQ(1979), a major breakthrough at
the end of the decade that was produced (Margaret Fink), directed
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advocate for the greater involvement of women in the Australian
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as writing several articles on the history of women’s involvement
in Australian cinema and the parlous state of the contemporary
industry in this regard.^22 +HU ĺOPV DUH RIWHQ
centred on female experience and follow
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her characters’ quotidian existences. Of
course,3GD /HBSTQD 2GNV ,@Mis something
of an exception here – even if it does give
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acters – because of its sporadic structure
and the way it tunes into the unspectacular
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focus is characteristic of the episodic forms
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as the subsequent/TADQSX !KTDR(Bruce
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cant and formative moments in time, narrating a growing sense of
personal awareness while noting the relationship of the individual
subject to broader cultural and historical trends.
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the place of women in Australian cinema within a historical con
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the two key documentaries she wrote and, in the latter case,
also directed for the Australian Commonwealth Film Unit (CFU):
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Anderson, 1968) and3GD /@RRHNM@SD (MCTRSQX  ^24 These
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number of women working in such roles at the time for the CFU,
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concentrate, in turn, on the relatively ‘open’ and genuinely pioneer
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Australia (3GD /HBSTQDR 3G@S ,NUDC) and the subsequent consoli
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production that became symptomatic of the stuttering Australian
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The film has largely receded
from critical attention since
its Australian release in 1977
...The Picture Show Manis
routinely seen as an affectionate,
episodic, leisurely and relatively
ineffectual period piece dealing
withamarginalisedaspectand
practice of cultural histor y.
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