why are we a weird mob?
Starring Walter Chiari, Clare Dunne, and Bondi Beach
Australian Film Critics Association panel discussion explores an icon of Aussie comedy
It is no surprise that the mainstay issues of Australian culture are also common threads through our cinema. Race, nation, masculinity have all provided substantial material for on screen drama. Ditto for our chief locations - the beach, the bush, the pub - all have provided the stage for many Australian on-screen stories.
All of these national myths (and plenty more!) are gloriously rolled out for Michael Powell's 1966 comedy They're A Weird Mob. Adapted novel by John O'Grady (written under the pseudonym of Nino Culotta) this is an hilarious period view of immigration, and the ideology of assimilation that dominated mid-century Australia.
Even if They're a Weird Mob is a peculiarly Australian story, the appeal of its migrant-out-of-water tale was not lost on international cinema heavyweights. Gregory Peck read the book in 1958, when in Australia shooting On The Beach. Imaging its Ealing Studios-style comic potential, he optioned the novel. Peck shelved the project, but did mention the idea to British director Michael Powell, who in turn called on his favoured collaborator Hungarian born script writer Emeric Pressburger, to collaborate on the script.
So. it's story about a Wog, first optioned by a Yank, eventually made by a Pom, scripted by a Hungarian refugee - what could be more Australian?!
See this classic on the big screen this Saturday 13th December at 4pm, then learn more about the whys, the wherefores and the makings of this important film, in a panel discussion with members of the Australian Film Critics Association.
For full details head here
Published Wednesday, 10 December 2008
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