Death in Brunswick (1990)

Carl Fitzgerald is down-on-his-luck until he meets Sophie, a beautiful Greek girl. He gets a job as a cook, but accidentally kills a fellow worker. He turns to his unscrupulous best friend for help and they attempt to dispose of the body.

Director:

John Ruane

Writers:

John Ruane, Boyd Oxlade

Stars:

Sam Neill, Zoe Carides, John Clarke

1 win & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sam Neill	...	Carl 'Cookie' Fitzgerald
Zoe Carides	...	Sophie Papafogos
John Clarke	...	Dave
Yvonne Lawley	...	Mrs. Fitzgerald (Carl's mother)
Nick Lathouris	...	Mustafa
Nicholas Papademetriou	...	Yanni Voulgaris
Boris Brkic	...	Laurie
Deborah Kennedy	...	June
Doris Younane	...	Carmel
Denis Moore	...	Catholic Priest
Kris Karahisarlis	...	Aris
Steve Hutchison	...	Tony
Huriye Balkaya	...	Mustafa's Wife
Orhan Akkus	...	Aslan
Daniel Kadamani	...	Cousin Con

Storyline

Carl Fitzgerald is down-on-his-luck until he meets Sophie, a beautiful Greek girl. He gets a job as a cook, but accidentally kills a fellow worker. He turns to his unscrupulous best friend for help and they attempt to dispose of the body.

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Plot Keywords:

ozploitation | australia | black comedy | independent film | 

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Taglines:

Carl's life is a minefield. Dave's in charge of damage control.

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

Debut full length theatrical feature film directed by Australian writer-director John Ruane who had previously though directed a couple of short features such as Feathers (1987) and Queensland (1976).

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Goofs

In the scene where Cal goes to church with his mother, in the rite of peace when shaking hand with Mustafa, a boom mic appears at the top left.

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Quotes

Dave: Was that you?
Carl 'Cookie' Fitzgerald: No.
Dave: Must've been me. Sorry.

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Connections

Features Howling III (1987)

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Soundtracks

Danger
Written by Mark Bremner, Tony Bucci, Nick Cetrola, Tony Dilaveris and Colin Roydez
Performed by Vortex

User Reviews

Australian dark romantic humour

A funny, dark comedy about a life changing episode of a 34 year old single man.

Coming from a posh upbringing but a complete slacker, or so you are lead to believe. The confused man seems to aspire to more and meets a young (19) bar girl at his work where he has just become the struggling head cook.

The clue to the twist is in the title, from being a romantic comedy with lovely little moments that echo your own ways in the early stages of dating. It then spins on it's head as an offbeat thriller, still just as funny though.

The darker side to the film gives it's funniest moments, notably after paralysing his mother, he then controls her wheelchair with a remote control to get about. Also his best friend deserves a mention, great deadpan calmness, especially when burying the body.

Maybe it is a little long for the story at hand but still well worth watching even if romance or thrillers aren't your thing as it has many other layers.

Details

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 April 1991 (Australia)

Also Known As:

Death in Brunswick

Filming Locations:

22 Nash St, Brunswick

Company Credits

Production Co:

Australian Film Finance Corporation (AFFC), Film Victoria, Meridian Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)