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focus on monsters kiss of the beast

King Kong. Courtesy: British Film Institute and Effie Holdings

Friday 9 December - Sunday 18 December 2005

Surrender to this mega-movie season coinciding with the opening of Academy Award-winner Peter Jackson's much-anticipated King Kong.

Kiss of the Beast explores the origins and influences of Kong, from early animation, through cinematic interpretations of Darwinian theory, to the many incarnations of the 'Beauty and the Beast' tale in Hollywood movies.


Curated by Kathryn Weir for the launch of the Australian Cinémathèque at the Queensland Art Gallery, in association with an exhibition co-curated with Dr Ted Gott. 

Full $13  Concession $10
Six session pass: Full $60  Concession $48

king kong Hollywood director Carl Denham, his team of explorers and Ann Darrow (Fay Wray) travel to mysterious Skull Island where they meet the giant ape.

king klunk This King Kong satire, released just six months after the film, is an episode from a cartoon series about a happy-go-lucky dog.

sur un air de charleston A rare, playful piece of reverse ethnography, Renoir's film  features a young woman roaming the streets with an ape-like creature.

origin of species: darwinism in cinema Program of early silent films exploring the influence of Darwin's theory of evolution on cinema and the widespread interest in primates.

trader horn A trader on safari with his sidekick and African guide encounters a missionary woman who is searching for her long-lost daughter.

mighty joe young Cooper and Schoedsack's third big-gorilla picture is a variation on the cross-cultural and cross-species exploitations of the original Kong story.

tarzan the ape man The enduring popularity of the first MGM Tarzan talkie can be attributed to its eager embrace of taboo topics.

tarzan and his mate Jane and the scantily clad Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller) swing through the trees, playing erotically charged games.

the son of kong This sequel to King Kong explores the central character Carl Denham's sense of guilt for Kong's death in the first movie.

bride of the gorilla Set on a plantation in the depths of the Amazon,  this 50s trash B-movie stars Raymond Burr as a man cursed, who sees himself turning into a gorilla.

mighty peking man Hong Kong's take on King Kong has sleazy promoter Mr Lu commissioning handsome hero Chen Zhengfeng to help track down a mythical ape-like monster.

the lost world A group of explorers venture into the wilds of the Amazon to bring back proof of living dinosaurs.

king kong vs godzilla The mighty ape clashes with Japan's finest flamethrower in what must be one of the great drawcard title fights of the century!

king kong escapes A mad scientist builds a giant robotic Kong to mine plutonium. When it fails, he is forced to kidnap the real King Kong.

murders in the rue morgue A loose adaptation of the Edgar Allan Poe tale, Murders in the Rue Morgue is a dark exploration of the relationship between human and great ape.

creature from the black lagoon Marine scientists on a riverboat journey into the Amazon discover the Gill Man: an amphibious, prehistoric creature.

revenge of the creature The sequel to Creature from the Black Lagoon has the Gill Man removed from his natural habitat and taken to a marine park to be studied by scientists.

special events > free

hollywood goes wild! Join the program curators and acclaimed author, film critic and curator Adrian Martin for a discussion of key themes in Kiss of the Beast.

king kong: the game Join special guest Owen Hughes from Ubisoft for a live demonstration of the new King Kong game.

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