Life

Australia, 1995

Film
Please note

Sorry, we don't have images or video for this item.

Johnston’s debut feature following on from his award winning shorts ‘Night Out’ and ‘Eternity’, is a dynamic re-visioning of actor/playwright John Brumpton’s theatre piece “Containment” that focused on the situation of inmates in the segregated HIV positive section of an Australian prison. To describe Johnston’s beautifully composed, movingly rendered, emotionally shattering film as ‘an AIDS prison drama’ denies it the full range and reach of its compelling grip on any number of wider issues and universal concerns. Brumpton forcefully fleshes out the lead role of quick-tempered hardened Des, a crim who tests positive and is sent to T2 division. His relationship with his cell-mate Ralph is vividly evoked via subliminal flashbacks and interaction between themselves and amongst the other inmates of T2. Photography, Mandy Walker. Cast: John Brumpton, David Tredinnick, Robert Morgan, Belinda McClory, Noel Jordan.

Content notification

Our collection comprises over 40,000 moving image works, acquired and catalogued between the 1940s and early 2000s. As a result, some items may reflect outdated, offensive and possibly harmful views and opinions. ACMI is working to identify and redress such usages.

Learn more about our collection and our collection policy here. If you come across harmful content on our website that you would like to report, let us know.

How to watch

This work has not been digitised and is currently unavailable to view online. It may be possible for approved reseachers to view onsite at ACMI.

Learn more about accessing our collection

Collection

In ACMI's collection

Credits

director

Lawrence Johnston

cinematographer

Mandy Walker

producer

Elisa Argenzio

production company

Australian Film Commission

Rough Trade Pictures

Duration

01:25:00:00

Production places
Australia
Production dates
1995

Please note: this archive is an ongoing body of work. Sometimes the credit information (director, year etc) isn’t available so these fields may be left blank; we are progressively filling these in with further research.

Cite this work on Wikipedia

If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/94488/ |title=Life |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=3 May 2024 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}