Tag Archives: Australia

Ablaze (2021)

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Image via miff.com.au

Ostensibly a deep dive by singer, and now filmmaker, Tiriki Onus into the history of his grandfather, Bill Onus, the result gives us important insight into the difficulties faced by Australia’s First Peoples over the past century.

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Day 30: A film I think everyone should watch

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Image via miff.com.au

In My Blood it Runs (2019)

I knew that I was going to choose a film about Australia’s First People for this prompt and was gearing up to feature The Song Keepers (2017), Naina Sen’s radiant documentary about the funny and spirited women of the Central Australian Aboriginal Women’s Choir. Dujuan, the star of Maya Newell’s In My Blood it Runs, has been on my mind, though, with the talk in the news and our socials lately about systemic racism and violence.

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Day 13: A film that reminds me of being a teenager

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Image via qagoma.qld.gov.au

Gallipoli (1981)

I was obsessed with this film from the age of 16 until I was around 20. I collected articles on it, created artwork when I was supposed to be doing homework, fell in love with its classical and contemporary music score and dreamed about star Mark Lee (and was jealous when my friend Alison saw him play at her university union night in his band).

I could quote swathes of it – “What are your legs? Springs, steel springs. And what are they going to do? Hurl me down the track. How fast can you run? As fast as a leopard. How fast ARE you going to run? As fast as a leopard. Well let’s see you do it then!” Mel Gibson was at his likeable best but his character was perhaps too much of a rogue for my delicate adolescent heart.

It was also an education on war and the first time I had really thought about its impact on ordinary people like myself. The story is not a new one and hit many beats that are familiar now that I have watched more films of its ilk – youth, innocence, mateship, heroism, the brutality of authority as well as the enemy. It succeeds in the same way 1917 (2019) does, by picking out the personal story of two people and showing how arbitrary the line is between surviving and dying.

What film reminds you of being a teenager? It might be one that you loved as a teen or one that embodies the feel of being young.

Posted as part of the 30-Day Fillums Challenge, created by me. If you want to see what’s coming up, have a look at my post here and feel free to join in by commenting each day with your own choice.

Coming Next: Day 14: Your favourite film by a female director

Day 10: My favourite Australian film

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Only the Brave (1994)

There were so many I could choose for this category. Lantana (2001) was my favourite for a long time, Gayby Baby (2015), In My Blood it Runs (2019) and The Songkeepers (2017) are favourite documentaries and, more recently, I loved the underrated Sleeping Beauty (2011), the bloody The Nightingale (2018) and the unique Terror Nullius (2018).

I saw Only the Brave a couple of years ago at MIFF along with some other excellent restored Australian films – Starstruck (1982), Spirits of the Air, Gremlins of the Clouds (1987) and Shame (1988); you can read my review here. It’s a story about what it is to be a teen that still resonates 25 years later. It is steeped in a dark, urban reality that is as Australian as The Castle (1997) but of course, much more bleak.

I have a feeling that most others might be drawn to the more commercially successful Australian films. What’s your favourite?

Posted as part of the 30-Day Fillums Challenge, created by me. If you want to see what’s coming up, have a look at my post here and feel free to join in by commenting each day with your own choice.

Coming Next: Day 11: A film you walked out of at a cinema