Bliss (1985)

After a near-death experience, a man wonders if he actually did die and is now in Hell.

Director:

Ray Lawrence

Writers:

Ray Lawrence (screenplay), Peter Carey (screenplay)

Stars:

Barry Otto, Lynette Curran, Helen Jones

4 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Barry Otto	...	Harry Joy
Lynette Curran	...	Bettina Joy
Helen Jones	...	Honey Barbara
Miles Buchanan	...	David Joy
Gia Carides	...	Lucy Joy
Tim Robertson	...	Alex Duval
Jeff Truman	...	Joel
Bryan Marshall	...	Adrian Clunes
Jon Ewing	...	Aldo
Kerry Walker	...	Alice Dalton
Paul Chubb	...	Reverend Des
Sarah De Teliga	...	Harry's Mother (as Sara De Teliga)
Saskia Post	...	Harry's Daughter (as Saski Post)
George Whaley	...	Vance
Robert Menzies	...	Damien

Storyline

An advertising executive dies and goes to hell... except nothing changes. Well, his daughter is buying drugs with sexual favours from her brother, and the number of cancer-causing products is on the increase. But the notes he writes to himself to prove he hasn't gone insane are getting more disjointed, and he runs off with an ex-prostitute called Honey Barbera.

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Plot Keywords:

australian fantasy | directorial debut | one word title | australia | story telling | 

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Taglines:

After Harry Joy dropped dead... his life was never the same again.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 February 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

Blogosc

Filming Locations:

Iron Cove Bridge, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

AUD 3,400,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,998, 23 February 1986, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$660,537

Company Credits

Production Co:

Window III Productions, New South Wales Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min 130 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Was shown on Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) by John Hind on his film show, and created a mass controversy due to the film's sexual content. The complaints at the time created the most criticised event ever on the ABC.

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Alternate Versions

There is a Director's Cut version running 135 minutes. The main addition is a lengthy monologue to camera by the protagonist in a police station.

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Connections

Featured in Reading Australian Film (1988)

User Reviews

Unique

I was just killing time and ended up spotting the link to Bliss. If I am asked what is my favorite movie I always say bliss. I could not believe that so few people have reviewed this masterpiece. This isn't a movie for everyone some of it is quite dark in nature but the characterizations are brilliant. Even though I hadn't seen the movie for many years when I saw that it was going to be shown television a few years back I realized before I saw it again that I knew Harry Joy told stories I remembered most of the plot but just couldn't wait to see it again.

If you like your movies a bit different this is really different and well worth a try if your adventurous.

Other movies I like include Babel Das Boot, Dr Strangelove, V, American Beauty, Being John Malkovich, Bad Santa.