My Brother Jack (TV 2001)

A boy looks up to his big brother, Jack, who is his hero and is someone that he is not - brave, noble and has the courage to stand up to their father. When their father returns from the ... See full summary »

Director:

Ken Cameron

Writers:

John Alsop, George Johnston (novel),

Stars:

Matt Day, Simon Lyndon, Claudia Karvan

5 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Matt Day	...	David Meredith
Simon Lyndon	...	Jack Meredith
Claudia Karvan	...	Cressida Morley
William McInnes	...	Mr. Meredith
Angie Milliken	...	Minnie Meredith
Ellouise Rothwell	...	Helen Midgeley
Robert Menzies	...	Gavin Turley
Raelee Hill	...	Sheila
Felix Williamson	...	Sam Burlington
Jack Thompson	...	Bernard Brewster
Lucy Taylor	...	Jessica
Ross Thompson	...	Old Joe Denton
Petru Gheorghiu	...	Paul Klein
Jonathan Oldham	...	Bert
Rebecca Howell	...	Peggy Turley

Storyline

A boy looks up to his big brother, Jack, who is his hero and is someone that he is not - brave, noble and has the courage to stand up to their father. When their father returns from the battlefields of France to his family, he sends his younger son to an apprenticeship in a jam factory designing the labels. There, his boss sends him off to art school, but his real passion is writing. He began to send small stories into the newspaper. While the boy cannot draw, he discovers that he has a talent for writing. The depression sets in. The older son, Jack, who had escaped to the country returns with a girl suffering double pneumonia. Worst of all she is a Catholic and the father hates Catholics. The phrase Susso kids: the outbreak of World war II. Brother Jack rushes to enlist and his brother was unable/not allowed because he was a key reporter for the newspapers. They need him for propaganda.

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Plot Keywords:

spanking | abuse | belt | australia | based on novel | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Also Known As:

Meu Irmão Jack

Filming Locations:

Ballarat, Victoria, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

AUD 7,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Network Ten

Technical Specs

Runtime:

240 min

Color:

Color

User Reviews

Good old time in Australia

Once upon a time, there was Australia, where prostitution and gambling were not officially legalized major industries in Melbourne, there were enough jobs outside these industries in other fields of activities for Anglo-Saxons at least, and there were enough newcomers from other places than England for a dirty low paid existence.

This good old time between WWI and WWII has been depicted with a DVD extract of TV show "My brother Jack", at the time a revolutionary tale of ordinary people's family, not a usual Australian story of British adventurers, pirates or simply bandits - Kelly or no-ideology-attached other criminals.

And it very much differs from usual Australian top-movies among which recent "Ten Canoes" is a welcome sound exemption, where stupidity and sexuality rule (Jakass, Bad Boy Buddy for instance).

I will not place this DVD on my shelf, but it is definitely of some interest for trying understand roots of contemporary Australia.