Australian cinema renaissance on the cards

Ruth Harley, only recently took up the role of CEO of the newly created Screen Australia, but many are hoping the former head of the New Zealand Film Commission can revive Australia’s filmmaking fortunes in the way that Lord of the Rings and Whale Rider turned New Zealand into a cinematic titan.

“Things are already looking up,” said Tait Brady, Screen Australia’s executive director of marketing. Brady feels that 2009 has a strong slate of films that could ride the momentum of Baz Luhrman’s epic film Australia. Indeed, an Australian clay animation feature titled Mary and Max has just been chosen as the prestigious opener for January’s Sundance Film Festival. One or two more hits could restore confidence in Antipodean fare.

The key is to make films with an emotional experience, said Tristram Miall, producer of Strictly Ballroom and The Black Balloon. “That’s the one area where you can compete with anybody, Hollywood included,” said Miall. “You don’t need mega-budgets to do that, you just need a good story.”

Australian cinema has come a long way since creating the world’s first feature-length film. The nation’s cinematic legacy includes Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Man from Snowy River, Muriel’s Wedding and Shine. Indeed, Babe was so popular worldwide that its talking pig briefly threatened to eclipse the kangaroo as Australia’s most iconic animal.

The vast but sparsely populated continent also launched a number of A-list actors: Mel Gibson, Naomi Watts, Heath Ledger, Russell Crowe, Nicole Kidman, and Cate Blanchett. Australia has produced directors of the calibre of Robert Luketic, Peter Weir, Gillian Armstrong, and Phillip Noyce.

However, in recent times, films from Down Under are rarely screened overseas. Home-grown Australian films accounted for less than one percent of the country’s total box office in 2008 - the lowest share in 30 years.

The release of Luhrmann’s Australia, starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, has raised optimism that Australia’s film industry has the potential for a comeback. The Australian government, which funds most of the domestic industry, recently initiated a 40 per cent rebate on the film budgets to encourage production. It has also consolidated the country’s three film agencies into an entity called Screen Australia.

But there’s widespread agreement that Australian films need to gear themselves to what audiences want to see. Given that the English-speaking nation enjoys American movies, Australian filmmakers face a fundamental quandary: How to compete with Hollywood films yet still maintain a unique cinematic identity?

“We don’t feel we should be copying Hollywood models - we don’t think that’s our strength,” said Brady. “We are continually emphasizing that ... the way you break out is to be different.”

A number of Australian films have appealed to both domestic and international viewers by adding an Australian twist to different genres. Mad Max was a road movie set in apocalyptic Australia, The Man from Snowy River was an outback Western, and Crocodile Dundee was a fresh take on the fish-out-of-water comedy.

“In a curious way, Australian cinema ... seemed to shy away from genre, as if it wasn’t quite respectable enough,” says Brian McFarlane, author of The Oxford Guide to Australian Cinema. “We had a lot of films that seemed preoccupied with projecting the national life and taking on big issues.”

In recent years, the industry has been dominated by small-scale, personal films dealing with subjects such as immigration, dysfunctional families, and coming-of-age rites. Unfortunately, these films often lacked drama.

Case in point, a 2007 film called Noise focused on a passive policeman tasked with solving two sets of horrific murders. But the laconic character just sits in a van while people in a community vent their frustration at him. In the end, he doesn’t even solve the case.

Its star, Brendan Cowell, later noted that in American stories, the protagonists feel a sense of crisis if they don’t get what they’re after. “In Australia, if they don’t get what they want, it’s kind of all right. And that’s the problem,” Cowell said in a 2008 documentary about Australian cinema titled Into the Shadows.

A few commentators attribute this lack of cinematic tension to a cultural trait: Australians are generally averse to conflict. Another reason Australian screenplays sometimes eschew a classic storytelling structure is that filmmakers want to distance themselves from seeming too Hollywood-like.

There are commercially inclined filmmakers in Australia who make low-grade thrillers about killer crocs, but few filmmakers are making comedies, despite the fact that Australians love to laugh.

But the root of the matter is that most Aussie scripts aren’t good enough to compete with international fare, says Screen Australia’s Brady. There’s widespread consensus that the industry needs to invest more time in rigorous assessment of screenplays. Eric Bana, for one, has indicated that he’d make more films in his home country if he were offered better

material. The actor returned to Australia to film 2007’s Romulus, My Father.

The weak Australian dollar, coupled with cutting-edge production facilities, means that Australia is poised for a resurgence in location filmmaking. Production companies are smiling, as overseas producers are again looking Down Under to save money on big-budget productions.

One of the first to be announced is the all-dancing, all-singing sequel, Happy Feet 2. This production will be based in the new Dr. D digital production facility in Sydney employing an average of 438 people over the period.

Another bright spot for the industry: Australian crew members flying back to make Hollywood-financed blockbusters such as Happy Feet 2, and the X-Men spin off, Wolverine. These overseas productions will give young Australian filmmakers invaluable experience. The challenge will be nurturing that talent.

The Australian Film Institute (AFI) Awards were announced and the year’s highest-grossing local film, The Black Balloon, has emerged on top. The Black Balloon grossed A$2.1 million at the local box office. Altogether, the four nominated films grossed less than A$4 million.

Local producers and commentators were up in arms over the poor box office of these movies and compared them to the American comedy Step Brothers, which was critically panned in Australia but still took in A$8.7 million. In that regard, all eyes are on the newly created Screen Australia. ASIAIMAGE