Eternity (1994) User Reviews

Timeless, haunting; Bravo!

[ptb-8 · 8/10 · 22 January 2006]

This is a 55 minute docudrama told in black and white noir style imagery of homeless Sydneysider Arthur Stace. His mission in a life of wandering Sydney in the 40s50s60s was to write the word Eternity in florid chalky script on the footpaths of the city. His tormented younger life was smoothed out by giving up the grog via church charity shelters and a reflective life of hobo solitude. As a result this private shadowy figure was glimpsed by night time revelers and workers slipping to and from the shadows of alleyways leaving 'the word' as his only evidence of existence. Lawrence Johnston has created one of Australia's most exquisite biographies, a film so perfectly realized and so emotionally overwhelming on first viewing I needed to see it again. As haunting as Stace himself, ETERNITY is a stylised masterwork in brevity and succinct homage. I saw it as a cinema release (quite successful) and was as touched by it's creative paced imagery as I was by the information and heart. Probably a film fest favorite, the Australian Film Commission would help you find a copy or try Ronin Films in Canberra Australia. ETERNITY is unlike anything I have ever seen... maybe it could be the flipside of the astonishing and sinister Busby Berkeley musical sequence "The Lullabye of Broadway" sequence from "The Gold Diggers of 1935"... or "Remember My Forgotten Man" from GD of '33... meaning that the depression era nightlife outside the nightclub world of this piece is the world of Stace and lost souls like him.... or maybe all of DETOUR ...(1945)

Documentary which explains why the word "Eternity" was displayed on the Sydney Harbour bridge during the Australian section of the New Years Eve 2000 TV broadcast.

[terryfisk · 10/10 · 26 January 2000]

Biography of Arthur Stace a reformed alcoholic who spent over 40 years of his life willfully writing the word "Eternity" on the footpaths of Sydney. Told with humour and compassion and accompanied by an achingly beautiful music score by Ross Edwards this is an inspiring study of the human spirit at its most open and hopeful. Impossible to forget and powerful beyond words. Unreservedly recommended.