Cinema Papers' 100 Best Films of Australian Cinema
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- DirectorPeter WeirStarsRachel RobertsAnne-Louise LambertVivean GrayDuring a rural summer picnic, a few students and a teacher from an Australian girls' school vanish without a trace. Their absence frustrates and haunts the people left behind.
- DirectorGeorge MillerStarsMel GibsonJoanne SamuelHugh Keays-ByrneIn a self-destructing world, a vengeful Australian policeman sets out to stop a violent motorcycle gang.
- DirectorGillian ArmstrongStarsJudy DavisSam NeillWendy HughesA proud young woman in early 20th century Australia must choose between marriage and independence.
- DirectorBaz LuhrmannStarsPaul MercurioTara MoriceBill HunterA maverick dancer risks his career by performing an unusual routine and sets out to succeed with a new partner.
- DirectorBruce BeresfordStarsEdward WoodwardJack ThompsonJohn WatersThree Australian lieutenants are court martialed for executing prisoners as a way of deflecting attention from war crimes committed by their superior officers.
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsMel GibsonMark LeeBill KerrTwo Australian sprinters face the brutal realities of war when they are sent to fight in the Gallipoli campaign in Turkey during World War I.
- DirectorKen HannamStarsJack ThompsonMax CullenRobert BruningA hard-drinking but hard-working gun shearer leads a group of Outback sheep herders into striking after wealthy landowners attempt to drive them from their territory.
- DirectorCharles ChauvelStarsRosalie Kunoth-MonksRobert TudawaliBetty SuttorSet against the harsh natural surrounds of outback Northern Territory, Jedda captures a rare and honest glimpse into the heart and history of indigenous Australia. Young Jedda is caught between two cultures forbidden from learning about her indigenous heritage and never fully accepted by the other.
- DirectorJohn DuiganStarsNoah TaylorLoene CarmenBen MendelsohnIn rural 1960s Australia, a boy watches helplessly as his best friend falls in love with a small-time criminal, setting off a violent chain of events.
- DirectorPhillip NoyceStarsBill HunterGerard KennedyWendy HughesIn post-war Australia the men and women of Cinetone struggle to produce the weekly news reels for the movie-going public.
- DirectorFred SchepisiStarsTommy LewisFreddy ReynoldsAngela Punch McGregorAfter suffering racist abuse throughout his life - which intensifies following his marriage to a white woman - a half-Aboriginal farmhand finds himself driven to murder.
- DirectorP.J. HoganStarsToni ColletteRachel GriffithsBill HunterA young social outcast in Australia steals money from her parents to finance a vacation where she hopes to find happiness, and perhaps love.
- DirectorJocelyn MoorhouseStarsHugo WeavingGeneviève PicotRussell CroweThe life of a blind photographer who is looked after by a housekeeper is disrupted by the arrival of an agreeable restaurant worker.
- DirectorPeter FaimanStarsPaul HoganLinda KozlowskiJohn MeillonAn American reporter goes to the Australian outback to meet an eccentric crocodile poacher and invites him to New York City.
- DirectorFred SchepisiStarsCharles McCallumJohn FrawleyArthur DignamFred Schepisi's first feature is this lushly photographed period drama detailing a young boy's coming-of-age in a strict Catholic seminary in 1950s Australia.
- DirectorNadia TassStarsColin FrielsJohn HargreavesLindy DaviesA socially awkward and mechanically gifted man becomes involved in a quirky and unconventional crime.
- DirectorTed KotcheffStarsDonald PleasenceGary BondChips RaffertyAfter a bad gambling bet, a schoolteacher is marooned in a town full of crazy, drunk, violent men who threaten to make him just as crazy, drunk, and violent.
- DirectorBruce BeresfordStarsJohn HargreavesPat BishopGraham KennedyOn the night of the 1969 Australian election, Don holds a party in his suburban Sydney house, where his raucous, rude, embarrassing, extrovert friends discuss sex, politics, and their lives, and seduce each others wives.
- DirectorDonald CrombieStarsHelen MorseTakis EmmanuelJack ThompsonSydney, Australia in the mid-1920's. Proud and classy Caddie Marsh is forced to get a job as a barmaid and raise two children on her own after her rich cad husband walks out on her. Despite numerous hardships such as the Great Depression, Caddie still manages to catch the eye of smooth dandy Ted and strikes up a romantic relationship with dashing Greek gentleman Peter.
- DirectorStephan ElliottStarsHugo WeavingGuy PearceTerence StampTwo drag performers and a transgender woman travel across the desert to perform their unique style of cabaret.
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsTerry CamilleriJohn MeillonKevin MilesThe small town of Paris, Australia deliberately causes car accidents, then sells/salvages all valuables from the wrecks as a means of economy.
- DirectorRaymond LongfordStarsArthur TauchertLottie LyellGilbert EmeryA down-at-heal ex-convict undergoes an epiphany as he experiences the love of a good woman for the first time.
- DirectorGeorge MillerStarsMel GibsonBruce SpenceMichael PrestonIn the post-apocalyptic Australian wasteland, a cynical drifter agrees to help a small, gasoline-rich community to get rid of a horde of bandits.
- DirectorJane CampionStarsHolly HunterHarvey KeitelSam NeillIn the mid-19th century a mute woman is sent to New Zealand along with her young daughter and prized piano for an arranged marriage to a farmer, but is soon lusted after by a farm worker.
- DirectorPaul CoxStarsNorman KayeAlyson BestChris HaywoodAn eccentric elderly man tries to enjoy the three things in life that he considers real beauty: collecting art, collecting flowers, and watching pretty women undress.
- DirectorCharles ChauvelStarsGrant TaylorBetty BryantChips RaffertyThree young Australians join the army at the beginning of World War I and are assigned to the Australian Light Horse cavalry, which is serving in Palestine. The three eventually take part in the attack during the Battle of Beersheba, which was the last cavalry charge in modern warfare.
- DirectorGeorge MillerStarsKirk DouglasTom BurlinsonTerence DonovanIn 1880s Australia, after young Jim Craig's father dies, he takes a job at the Harrison cattle ranch, where he is forced to become a man.
- DirectorGeoffrey WrightStarsRussell CroweDaniel PollockJacqueline McKenzieA group of skinheads become alarmed at the way their neighbourhood is changing.
- DirectorCarl SchultzStarsWendy HughesRobyn NevinNicholas GledhillHis mother dead, PS lives in Sydney with working-class Aunt Lila and Uncle George. When he's six or eight, his posh Aunt Vanessa descends from England. Named a co-guardian by PS's feckless, absent father, she asserts her rights and convinces Lila to have PS live with her weekdays. PS is happy at Lila's, playing with children, running about, speaking up. At Vanessa's, there's a regimen of private school, round vowels, piano and riding lessons, and lonely indoor play with fancy toys. He's miserable and when he objects, she sues for complete custody. Will anyone listen to him? And will he take on Vanessa's challenges to find out who he is and to love someone?
- DirectorRay LawrenceStarsBarry OttoLynette CurranHelen JonesAfter a near-death experience, a man wonders if he actually did die and is now in Hell.
- DirectorJohn RuaneStarsSam NeillZoe CaridesJohn ClarkeCarl Fitzgerald is down-on-his-luck until he meets Sophie, a beautiful Greek girl. He gets a job as a cook, but accidentally kills a fellow worker. He turns to his unscrupulous best friend for help and they attempt to dispose of the body.
- DirectorHenri SafranIan GoddardStarsGreg RowePeter CumminsDavid GulpililMike is a lonely Australian boy living in a coastal wilderness with his reclusive father. In search of friendship he encounters an Aboriginal native loner and the two form a bond in the care of orphaned pelicans.
- DirectorGeoff BurtonKevin DowlingStarsJack ThompsonRussell CroweJohn PolsonA widowed father has to deal with two complex issues: while he is searching for "Miss Right," his son, who is in his 20s and gay, is searching for "Mr. Right."
- DirectorBruce BeresfordStarsSusannah FowleDorothy BradleyPatricia KennedyOscar-nominated director Bruce Beresford (Driving Miss Daisy, Tender Mercies) crafts a tender coming-of-age tale that introduces one of Australian literature's most beloved characters to the screen, Laura Tweedle Rambotham (Susannah Fowle).
- DirectorJane CampionStarsGeneviève LemonKaren ColstonTom LycosAn introspective young woman's life is upturned by the arrival of her maladjusted sister.
- DirectorKen CameronStarsNoni HazlehurstColin FrielsAlice GarnerA frank portrayal of a year in the life of a divorced mother living in Melbourne, trying to cope with her daughter and her own relationship with a drug addict while trying to get into the music business.
- DirectorHarry WattStarsChips RaffertyJohn Nugent HaywardDaphne CampbellIt's the start of WWII in Northern Australia. The Japanese are getting close. People are evacuating and burning everything in a "scorched earth" policy. Rather than kill all their cattle, a disparate group decides to drive them overland half way across the continent.
- DirectorBruce BeresfordStarsBarry CrockerBarry HumphriesDick BentleyYoung Australian, Barry McKenzie, travels to England with his Aunt Edna after his father dies and a request is revealed in his will.
- DirectorSteve JodrellStarsDeborra-Lee FurnessTony BarrySimone BuchananA barrister visiting a town in Western Australian town battles police corruption and the silence of the locals to help a teenage girl seek justice against a gang of young rapists.
- DirectorPhillip NoyceStarsNicole KidmanSam NeillBilly ZaneAfter a tragedy, John Ingram and his wife Rae are spending some time isolated at sea, when they come across a stranger who has abandoned a sinking ship.
- DirectorMichael PowellStarsWalter ChiariClaire DunneChips RaffertyAn Italian sports journalist arrives in Australia but finds no work. The only employment he can find is as a builder's labourer. At first, he cannot comprehend the culture, but eventually he finds mateship and romance.
- DirectorJohn DuiganStarsNoah TaylorThandiwe NewtonNicole KidmanTwo freethinking teenagers - a boy and a girl - confront with authoritarian teachers in their boarding schools. The other students treat this differently.
- DirectorCharles ChauvelStarsMichael PateKen WayneTommy BurnsThe story of five brothers who homestead, with other settlers, on the virgin plateaus of the Australian bush country. In addition to being beset with the obstacles and difficulties with the land and nature, another complication arises when two of the brothers fall in love with the same woman.
- DirectorJohn PowerStarsJohn MeillonRod TaylorJohn EwartAt the beginnings of this centuary a man, his son and a piano player travel around Australia showing the first silent movies (naturally in black and white). But what they really want is stay at one place and open up a cinema.
- DirectorNorman DawnStarsGeorge FisherEva NovakDunstan WebbA convict, wrongfully accused and sent a harsh prison colony, attempts to escape.
- DirectorCarl SchultzStarsLeo McKernJulia BlakeHenri SzepsAfter their late-life marriage, a middle-aged Australian couple move to the countryside. Their life and tempestuous marriage is detailed.
- DirectorRolf de HeerStarsNicholas HopeClaire BenitoRalph CotterillBubby has spent thirty years trapped in the same small room, tricked by his mother. One day, he manages to escape and, deranged and naive in equal measures, his adventure into a modern and nihilistic life begins.
- DirectorKen G. HallStarsBert BaileyFred MacDonaldAlfreda BevanA tale of the ups and downs of the Rudd family who live on a ranch in Southwest Queensland.
- DirectorJohn DuiganStarsJudy DavisBryan BrownCathy DownesWhen a womanizing bookshop owner hears about the suicide of his former girlfriend, he tries to find out more and meets her friend, a prostitute. They hook up, but when she finds her friends diary, she discovers she's repeating her mistakes.
- DirectorLeslie NormanStarsPeter FinchDana WilsonElizabeth SellarsAfter Jim Macauley finds his wife with another man, he takes their young daughter and they hit the road. With a young child as his responsibility, he finds he can't be quite the fancy-free wanderer that he had been.
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsMel GibsonSigourney WeaverLinda HuntA young Australian reporter tries to navigate the political turmoil of Indonesia during the rule of President Sukarno with the help of a diminutive photographer.
- DirectorBruce BeresfordStarsNell SchofieldJad CapeljaJeffrey RhoeThe mating rituals of two teenage surf chicks from the southern suburbs of Sydney.
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsRichard ChamberlainOlivia HamnettDavid GulpililA Sydney lawyer defends five Aboriginal Persons in a ritualized taboo murder and in the process learns disturbing things about himself and premonitions.
- DirectorMark JoffeStarsAnthony HopkinsBen MendelsohnAlwyn KurtsAn expert on productivity shows wacky workers in 1966 Australia how to run their moccasin factory like clockwork, despite laying off more than half the workforce.
- DirectorTim BurstallStarsGraeme BlundellAbigailLynette CurranWaterbed salesman Alvin consults a psychiatrist about his irresistibilty to women.
- DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsDeborah KerrRobert MitchumPeter UstinovIn Australia's Outback during the early twentieth century, the impoverished Carmody family lives a nomadic life out of their wagon, but the mom and son want to settle, while the dad is against it.
- DirectorJohn HeyerStarsTom KruseWilliam Henry ButlerJack the DoggerA documentary film which follows a mailman as he travels along the Birdsville Track in the Outback.
- DirectorGillian ArmstrongStarsJudy DavisJan AdeleClaudia KarvanA rock'n roll singer gets stranded in a small Australian town after losing her job in a band. She winds up in a trailer park only to encounter, by accident, the teenage daughter she deserted following her husband's death. In HD.
- DirectorGillian ArmstrongStarsLisa HarrowBruno GanzKerry FoxVicki returns to her elder sister Beth's house in Australia after an affair in Italy. Beth, with a teenage daughter, has become involved in something of a marriage of convenience with Frenchman J.P., and her rather prickly houseproud ways are causing frictions counterpointed by Vicki's more laid-back and indolent air. When Beth goes off on vacation to the outback alone with her cantankerous father to see if they can finally get to know each other, relationships in the household start to shift.
- DirectorFred SchepisiStarsMeryl StreepSam NeillDale ReevesA mother whose child was killed in a dingo attack in the Australian Outback fights to prove her innocence when she is accused of murder.
- DirectorTal OrdellStarsRobin 'Pop' OrdellCharles RobertsRay SalmonYoung "Fatty" Finn and his friends enter their pet goat in a race, but his rival "Bruiser" Murphy lets the goat loose, right before the race.
- DirectorGillian ArmstrongStarsJoey KennedyRoss O'DonovanMargo LeeA teenage girl, with dreams of becoming a famous singer, tries to secure a spot on a local televised talent show.
- DirectorNadia TassStarsBen MendelsohnClaudia KarvanMarshall NapierTo impress a girl a shy teenaged boy buys a used Jaguar.
- DirectorPaul CoxStarsWendy HughesNorman KayeJon FinlaysonIn this offbeat comedy, an unlikely romance develops between a flamboyant, middle-aged piano tuner and an extremely timid office worker.
- DirectorPhillip NoyceStarsBill HunterGary FoleyZac MartinA black and white lowlife duo drives around Australia's Outback in a stolen vehicle and finds trouble after trouble.
- DirectorCharles TaitStarsElizabeth TaitJohn TaitNicholas BrierleyOriginally 70 minutes in running time, only 17 minutes of the world's first full-length narrative feature film survived in stills and other fragments and tell the story of Ned Kelly, an infamous 19th-century Australian outlaw.
- DirectorPhillip NoyceStarsJudy DavisRichard MoirChris HaywoodA planned housing development in the mid 70's designed for an upstart Cockney immigrant developer, becomes the centre of controversy as tenants and squatters in the older houses refuse to move.
- DirectorTom JeffreyStarsGraham KennedyJohn HargreavesJohn JarrattIn between drinking cans of Fosters beer, Australian soldiers tread on a few landmines, and generally experience the war in Vietnam.
- DirectorRalph SmartStarsChips RaffertyJohn FernsideStan TolhurstIn Australia, five children pursue horse thieves through the mountains.
- DirectorSimon WincerStarsTom BurlinsonJudy MorrisMartin VaughanThe true story of a New Zealand racehorse that became a champion, with the help of a local stable-boy.
- DirectorAnn TurnerStarsRebecca SmartNicholas EadieVictoria LongleyAn imaginative and somewhat disturbed young girl fantasizes about evil creatures and other oddities to mask her insecurities while growing up in rural Australia.
- DirectorBert DelingStarsSally McNeeDoc SmithRussell KirbyA group of Australian heroin addicts go out and try to score a hit after a friend overdoses.
- DirectorTim BurstallStarsBruce SpenceJacki WeaverHelmut BakaitisA gangly, awkward, would-be revolutionary loses his virginity to the vivacious hippie girlfriend of his two flatmates, and becomes hell-bent on sabotaging her wedding to one of them.
- DirectorRay ArgallStarsDennis CoardFrankie J. HoldenBen MendelsohnA man and his wife are partners in a small business, a service station, that is stuggling to survive financially. They are visited by his brother, a divorced middle-aged man, who has taken a break from his stressful career in a big business corporation.
- DirectorRichard LowensteinStarsChris HaywoodCarol BurnsHugh Keays-ByrneThe dramatised story of a coal-miners' strike in 1930s Australia, in the small south Gippsland town of Korumburra. The story is told through the struggles of Agnes and Wattie Doig, two Scottish immigrants, who were real people.
- DirectorKen G. HallStarsRon RandellMuriel SteinbeckJohn TateAn Australian biopic about the life of pioneering aviator Charles "Smithy" Kingsford-Smith.
- DirectorGeorge MillerGeorge OgilvieStarsMel GibsonTina TurnerBruce SpenceAfter being exiled from the most advanced town in post apocalyptic Australia, a drifter travels with a group of abandoned children to rebel against the town's queen.
- DirectorKen G. HallStarsBert BaileyAnn RichardsFred MacDonald
- DirectorYahoo SeriousStarsYahoo SeriousOdile Le ClezioJohn HowardAlbert Einstein turns the science community upside down with his discoveries including a formula to put bubbles back in beer and rock n' roll.
- DirectorRichard FranklinStarsCaroline GoodallCaroline GillmerTara MoriceMeg (Caroline Goodall), Pippa (Tara Morice), and Hilary (Caroline Gillmer) are sisters who grew up in Sorrento, Australia. Meg, who has lived in England for ten years, has just written a criticially acclaimed novel which she claims is entirely fictional. The book causes a stir in Sorrento and in her family when it is supected that the book is not as fictional as she claims.
- DirectorIgor AuzinsStarsAngela Punch McGregorArthur DignamMartin VaughanJeannie Gunn faced being the only civilised woman in an uncivilised land. A story of personal triumph about one woman who reached out in a hard, hostile, prejudiced world and managed to find love.
- DirectorCarl SchultzStarsRay BarrettRobyn NevinGuy DolemanOn Queensland's Gold Coast in the early 1980s, when a disgraced former cop, Michael Stacey writes a book exposing police corruption, does an investigation resulting in 2 murders, exposes a religious cult and watches the army begin a military coup.
- DirectorBruce BeresfordStarsJack ThompsonGraham KennedyFrank WilsonBoardroom and dressing-room intrigues spill on to the field at the Australian Rules football club.
- DirectorKen G. HallStarsJohn LongdenCharlotte FrancisConstance WorthAfter serving 20 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit, a man returns home to take revenge on a local pastor who knew he was innocent but did nothing to clear his name. He discovers that things aren't exactly what they seem.
- DirectorJohn DuiganStarsKim KrejusSonia PeatIan GilmourMouth to Mouth follows the lives of four young people, trying to improve their lives in a harsh and unforgiving city.
- DirectorHarry WattStarsChips RaffertyJane BarrettJack LambertIn 1854, Australian gold rush miners struggle for their rights against an oppressive government.
- DirectorCharles ChauvelStarsGrant TaylorPeter FinchChips RaffertyTells the story of three men--Bluey, a tough two fisted drover (Taylor), Milo, a laconic dingo trapper (Rafferty), and Pete, an intellectual English "new chum" (Finch). Together they serve in North Africa, fighting against the forces of Rommel in what has now become one of Australia's greatest wartime legends--The Rats of Tobruk.
- DirectorStanley KramerStarsGregory PeckAva GardnerFred AstaireAfter a global nuclear war, the residents of Australia must come to terms with the fact that all life will be destroyed in a matter of months.
- DirectorMichael ThornhillStarsPaul CouzensEva DickinsonCarl SteverBankstown, NSW, Australia, 1970s. Kevin and his mate Bob spend their time drinking and cruising around the western suburbs of Sydney in Kevin's yellow FJ Holden, looking for girls. One day Kevin meets Anne. Anne works in a large shopping center. Anne and Kevin spend some time together until one day Kevin gets drunk and tries to make love to Anne with Bob watching. Anne throws them out of her house. When Anne later refuses to be pacified, Kevin becomes aggressive and causes a scene at a party. The police are called. Kevin escapes but later returns home to find the police waiting there for him.
- DirectorBruce BeresfordStarsKristina NehmJustine SaundersBob MazaStory of an aboriginal family who tries to move out of the fringe into the main white community.
- StarsPeter BathurstDamien ParerCameraman Damien Parer has just returned from the front in New Guinea, where he's documented Australian troops in action. He explains this to us in a prolog. We then see air drops of supplies, wounded men being carried on stretchers by native porters, and men leaving camp to go to the front. There's a tiny bit of possibly staged combat footage. A narrator explains that the Japanese soldiers are expert at disguise, and how important support from the home front is.
- DirectorKen G. HallStarsConstance WorthGrant LyndsayJohn WarwickA story of rival sheep stations and of the strong-willed squatter's daughter who wants to unite them.
- DirectorNicolas RoegStarsJenny AgutterDavid GulpililLuc RoegTwo city-bred siblings are stranded in the Australian Outback, where they learn to survive with the aid of an Aboriginal boy on his "walkabout": a ritual separation from his tribe.
- DirectorRaymond LongfordStarsLottie LyellBoyd IrwinRoland ConwayRalph Manton discovers that his sister Marjory has been seduced and demands to be told the name of the man. Faithful to her lover, she refuses but later Ralph discovers his identity and confronts him. The tables are turned.
- DirectorRoger ScholesStarsMelita JurisicChris HaywoodRod ZuanicLocated among the haunting peaks and brooding mists of Tasmania's Central Highlands, RUBY ROSE is the story of a woman's quest to break out of the isolated an demanding farm life she lives and find something challenging.
- DirectorRichard LowensteinStarsMichael HutchenceSaskia PostNique NeedlesTwo man are the key members of a band called 'Dogs in Space' and share a house in a Melbourne suburb with a variety of young music fans and social misfits, including a college student and a transient and apparently nameless teenage girl.
- DirectorMichael PateStarsPiper LaurieMel GibsonAlwyn KurtsA somewhat mentally handicapped 20-year-old man works as a laborer, but everyone abuses his naiveté. A nice 40-year-old American woman hires him one day and they become close. However, the town and his family see her as predatory.
- DirectorJames RicketsonStarsJohn MooreDavid NgoombujarraJaylene RileyAn Aboriginal man is caught between his allegiance to his people and his aspirations to escape the cycle of self-destructive behaviour.
- DirectorSimon WincerStarsPeter PhelpsNick WatersJohn LarkingIn 1917 when the British forces are bogged down in front of the Turkish and German lines in Palestine they rely on the Australian light horse regiment to break the deadlock.