Heatwave (1982)

Director:

Phillip Noyce

Writers:

Mark Stiles (original screenplay), Tim Gooding (screenplay),

Stars:

Judy Davis, Richard Moir, Chris Haywood

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Judy Davis	...	Kate Dean
Richard Moir	...	Stephen West
Chris Haywood	...	Peter Houseman
Bill Hunter	...	Robert Duncan
John Gregg	...	Philip Lawson
Anna Maria Monticelli	...	Victoria West (as Anna Jemison)
John Meillon	...	Freddie Dwyer
Dennis Miller	...	Mick Davies
Peter Hehir	...	Cigar-smoking bodyguard
Carole Skinner	...	Mary Ford
Gillian Jones	...	Barbie Lee Taylor
Frank Gallacher	...	Dick Molnar
Tui Bow	...	Annie
Don Crosby	...	Jim Taylor
Lynette Curran	...	Evonne Houseman

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

saying thank you | press conference | man with glasses | king's cross sydney | mother son relationship | 

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Taglines:

One man. One woman. Caught together in the cold terror of...HEATWAVE

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

June 1983 (USA)

Also Known As:

Heatwave - Kampen mod bolighajen

Filming Locations:

Kings Cross, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Company Credits

Production Co:

M & L Pty Limited, Preston Crothers

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Did You Know?

Trivia

This movie was inspired by the real life disappearance of Juanita Nielsen and her campaign against high-rise developments in Kings Cross, Sydney.

User Reviews

A good piece of Australian cinema

Despite this being a dated movie I liked it very much. The Green Bans are something that can be as easily forgotten as remembered. They are not the sort of thing that a memorial can be erected to, but are apart of our history nonetheless and a movie is probably one of the best ways to keep the memory of it alive. The movie does deviate a little from the true events surrounding the struggles between residents and developers, for example the police searched hard for Juanita Nielsen when she whent missing; of which the dissapearance in the film is inspired by, not the slack, apathetic attitude as shown in the film. But then I guess you do have to take a bit of poetic licence, and I guess this was it.

The film certainly had a good guy, bad guy element to it. The struggling squatters led by Kate Dean (played by the talented Judy Davis), against the greedy developer Peter Houseman (Chris Haywood). The cast also contribute to a distinctly Australian movie, along with Davis and Haywood, we have Richard Moir (as the architect of the developers who leans to the squatters) Bill Hunter, John Meillon, and John Gregg. Despite (in my opinion) shonky action movies like the Tom Clancy adaptations, Phillip Noyce has shown he is capable of good movies with the moderately good The Bone Collector, Rabbit Proof Fence (both of which included good music from the ever talented Peter Gabriel) and the Quiet American. This movie is the beginning of that tradition. The last two movies are like this one, historically based, somewhat different from the mainstream features, and intellectual to an extent.

Phillip Noyce, Marc Rosenburg, Judy Davis, and the rest of the cast, ensure that a part of Australain history is remembered through a medium other than a history book (nothing wrong with those though). An Australian movie, inspired by an Australian event, with an Australian director and distinctly Australian cast, make this a distinctly Australian movie. The events that inspired this film and the film itself are both something that we can call our own. A good movie which I am glad I saw.