This is an ongoing series in which I chronicle the films of the Criterion Collection that I watch. I will include a brief synopsis and my thoughts. I usually watch these films on Hulu Plus' Criterion Channel..... I am currently paid by neither...
The town of Paris, Australia has a secret. Its citizens orchestrate auto accidents for people passing through, then they scavenge the wreckage for its valuables. The film begins with brothers Arthur and George stumbling into the town while towing a caravan and looking for a place to sleep for the night. They are met with the inevitable careening off of a sheer cliff, killing George. Arthur is left to recover in a town that murdered his brother and now has plans to keep him in their extremely weird company.
I'm a big fan of arthouse films from around the world and different eras of filmmaking. I've probably seen
more Kurosawa than Spielberg and frequently champion films that are more ponderous than visceral; more meditative than exploitive. All of this notwithstanding, it is often very easy to underestimate the value of the many cult classics and B roll gems from various regions and times in cinematic history. These films often tell a far more revealing story that relates more specifically to the turmoils and tribulations of the culture in which they were conceived. While auteurs like Renoir, Lang and Haneke have done amazing jobs at exploring artistic concepts and discovering universal truths, it has been the genre makers like Alex Cox, Seijun Suzuki and Roger Vadim that have more accurately portrayed the general attitudes and angst of their surroundings. Larger budgets along with more artistic prestige have afforded some artists the freedom to explore topics that are more relatable to all people and not confined to the limits of space and time. Whereas, films that are restricted by funds and experience will often be required to tell a smaller and more local story. This is one of those films. As the doctor in the film says:
"We get far more opportunity to do experimental work in the field of surgery and psychiatry than your city experts. This is where the really exciting work is being done..."
I really enjoyed the crescendo of this film. It begins with a glimpse of bizarre and gradually ascends into a very lovable form of bat-shit craziness that had a lot of fun with. It was filled with some very standout performances by John Meillon as the town's Mayor and Terry Camelliri as Arthur. I specifically liked Meillon s character. The opening of the film paints him a the benevolent protector but as we learn more, we find out he's one of the worst of the lot. Bruce Spence (The Gyro Captain in the Mad Max films) also has small but thoroughly amazing part in this film as the town loony.
This film is not without its faults however. The slow burn effect has an unfortunate side effect that causes the story to lull for the first half so just be patient. The third act more than makes up for it. I would suggest that you check this film out if you're a fan of Australian New Wave or "Ozploitation" flicks in general. This is a pretty good glimpse of what's to come from the country that would later give way to gems like "Long Weekend", the "Mad Max" trilogy and masterpieces such as "Picnic at Hanging Rock" and "Walkabout".
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