Stir (1980)

Filmed in the Clare Valley, Gladstone and the Flinders Ranges in South Australia, this prison movie was inspired by the true life prison riot at Bathurst Jail in 1974 and its subsequent Royal Commission into New South Wales Prisons.

Director:

Stephen Wallace

Writer:

Bob Jewson

Stars:

Bryan Brown, Max Phipps, Dennis Miller

11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bryan Brown	...	China Jackson
Max Phipps	...	Norton
Dennis Miller	...	Redford
Gary Waddell	...	Dave
Phil Motherwell	...	Alby
Michael Gow	...	Andrew
Edward Robshaw	...	Partidge
Tex Morton	...	The Govenor (as Robert 'Tex' Morton)
Ray Marshall	...	Chalmers
Syd Heylen	...	Old Bob
Robert Noble	...	Riley
Paul Sonkkila	...	McIntosh
Keith Gallasch	...	Tony
Les Newcombe	...	Hogan
James Marsh	...	Webster

Storyline

Filmed in the Clare Valley, Gladstone and the Flinders Ranges in South Australia, this prison movie was inspired by the true life prison riot at Bathurst Jail in 1974 and its subsequent Royal Commission into New South Wales Prisons.

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Plot Keywords:

prison | jail | riot | australia | cell | 

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Taglines:

The most controversial Australian movie ever made

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Thriller

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Details

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 October 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

Kapinalliset

Filming Locations:

Clare Valley, South Australia, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

AUD 485,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

New South Wales Film Corp., Smiley Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min 97 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This picture was part of a cycle of prison pictures which had been made and released around the end of the 1970s and start of the 1980s. The films included Stir, Scrubbers, Scum, Doing Time, Brubaker Hoodwink, Escape from Alcatraz and the documentary 'The Bitter Lessons of Attica".

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Connections

Referenced in Tales from the Inside (2005)

User Reviews

A realistic look at Aussie prison life in the 70s

This film is based around the wave of rioting and unrest that swept through jails in NSW in the 1970s over officer brutality and generally poor treatment. It depicts the incredible violence of the time without becoming excessively graphic and touches on situational homosexuality and other aspects of prison life realistically.

For anyone that is interested in seeing a side of Australia that doesn't get a look in that often in cinema, this is well worth a look.