(Life and) Death in Brunswick: Ian Pringle’s The Legend Maker Rose Capp July 2014 2014 Melbourne International Film Festival Dossier The central character in The Legend Maker (Ian Pringle, 2014) is an avuncular crook, a criminal type familiar to contemporary audiences from the recent Hollywood hit American Hustle (David O. Russell, 2013) to ...
“‘Pathetic Little Perv’: Patrick Rises Again” Rose Capp July 2013 Uncategorized In Mark Hartley’s Not Quite Hollywood (Mark Hartley, 2008), the writer/director explores a substantial group of underappreciated Australian genre films produced in the 1970s and 1980s. The genteel historicity o...
Seriously Funny: History and Humour in The Sapphires and Other Indigenous Comedies Rose Capp July 2012 2012 MIFF Dossier The Sapphires (Wayne Blair, 2012) opens in an idyllic rural setting. A group of young Aboriginal girls run home across the paddocks in the fading evening light to sing for a gathering of family and friends. But...
It Runs in the Family: Sons, Sins and Structural Complexity in Fred Schepisi’s Six Degrees of Separation Rose Capp October 2011 Fred Schepisi Dossier Six Degrees of Separation (1993) sits precisely mid-career in Fred Schepisi’s filmography. The third in a series of stage adaptations the filmmaker undertook in this period (Plenty and Roxanne ), the film has ...
Chicks Don’t Surf: Puberty Blues (Bruce Beresford, 1981) Rose Capp March 2011 Key Moments in Australian Cinema The penultimate scene in Puberty Blues is for most viewers including this writer, the defining moment in the film. Over the course of the narrative, schoolgirls Sue Knight (Jad Capelja) and Debbie Vickers (Nell...
“Blood and Ink”: Fuller and the Fourth Estate in Park Row Rose Capp February 2007 CTEQ Annotations on Film Park Row (1952 USA 83 mins) Prod Co: Samuel Fuller Productions Prod, Dir, Scr: Samuel Fuller Phot: Jack Russell Ed: Philip Cahn Prod Des: Theobold Holsopple Mus: Paul Dunlap Cast: Gene Evans, Mary We...
Dead Man Walking in Frank Borzage’s Moonrise Rose Capp April 2004 CTEQ Annotations on Film Moonrise (1948 USA 85 mins) Source: NLA/ACMI Prod Co: Republic Prod: Charles Haas Dir: Frank Borzage Scr: Charles Haas, based on the novel by Theodore Strauss Phot: John L. Russell Ed: Harry Keller Art D...
First is First and Second is Nobody: Hoodlums and Heroines in Joseph H. Lewis’ The Big Combo Rose Capp March 2003 CTEQ Annotations on Film The Big Combo (1955 USA 88mins) Source: ACMI/NLA Prod Co: Allied Artists, Security Pictures, Theodora Productions Prod: Sidney Harmon Dir: Joseph H. Lewis Scr: Philip Yordan Phot: John Alton Ed: Robert E...
Breaking the Waves: Flawed Fatherhood and Fraternal Rivalries in Russell Mulcahy’s Swimming Upstream Rose Capp March 2003 Contemporary Australia Australian cinema's recent instalment into the study of domestic ties, fraught masculinity, and coming-of-age.
The Quiet American Rose Capp January 2003 Australian Cinema Noyce's latest film fails to deliver bold aesthetic and political convictions.
Interview with Jan Chapman Rose Capp December 2002 Women at Work: Interviews with Australian Filmmakers Jan Chapman, one of Australia's pre-eminent film producers, speaks with Rose Capp about life, film and her brilliant career.
Interview with Mandy Walker Rose Capp December 2002 Women at Work: Interviews with Australian Filmmakers Mandy Walker, one of Australia's leading cinematographers, talks about the long hours and many satisfactions of working behind the camera.
Interview with Livia Ruzic Rose Capp December 2002 Women at Work: Interviews with Australian Filmmakers Livia Ruzic, who has a long and distinguished career as a sound editor, talks to Rose Capp about the pleasures of sound editing, big bangs and working with Baz.
Single White Female Seeking Same: The Search for Sisterhood in Kissing Jessica Stein and The Banger Sisters Rose Capp December 2002 Feature Articles Rose Capp reviews two recently released female friendship comedies, Kissing Jessica Stein and The Banger Sisters.
Interview with Leah Purcell Rose Capp and Fiona Villella October 2002 Australian Women Writer, actor, and now director Leah Purcell talks to the co-editors about life, politics, talking tough to Phil Noyce and her documentary Black Chicks Talking.
Nicholas Ray, a Sentimental Bloke: They Live by Night Rose Capp May 2002 CTEQ Annotations on Film They Live by Night (1949 USA 95 mins) Source: ACMI/NLA Prod Co: Prod: John Houseman Dir: Nicholas Ray Scr: Charles Schnee Phot: George E. Diskant Ed: Sherman Todd Art Dir: Albert D'Agostino, Al Herman Mu...
Delhi Deluge of Colour and Movement in Mira Nair’s Monsoon Wedding Rose Capp December 2001 Feature Articles Women are once again the centre in Nair's latest offering, abundant in optimism, colour, and movement.
La Spagnola: Spanish Mission Fails to Conquer Rose Capp September 2001 Contemporary Australian Film A case of simplifying cultural difference: Capp considers this recent contribution to the crop of local multiculturally inflected films.
Crocodile Tears: Sally Potter’s The Man Who Cried Rose Capp June 2001 Essays/on/Films When Sally Potter first appeared on the independent British filmmaking scene in the late 1970s, she attracted considerable critical attention. The influential circle of feminist film critics who arguably do...
Monica Pellizzari: Rabbit on the Moon (1987) and Just Desserts (1993) Rose Capp April 2001 CTEQ Annotations on Film Rabbit on the Moon (1987 Australia 20mins) Source: NLA/CAC Prod. Co: AFTTRS Prod, Dir: Monica Pellizzari Phot: Brendan Young Mus: Georgio Zinzii Cast: Aurelia Eneide, Nicoletta Boris. Just Desserts (1993 A...
Jesus’ Son Rose Capp September 2000 Current Releases (Alison Maclean, 1999) It has been a long time between cinematic 'drinks' for Alison Maclean. The Canadian-born, ex-New Zealand and now New York-based director first made her presence felt with her inter...
This Gun for Hire Rose Capp July 2000 CTEQ Annotations on Film This Gun For Hire (1942, USA, 80mins) Source: NLA/CAC Prod Co: Richard M. Blumenthal Productions for Paramount Prod: Richard Blumenthal Dir: Frank Tuttle Scr: Albert Maltz, W.R. Burnett from the novel by Gra...
Akerman Resists Southern Comfort Rose Capp May 2000 Feature Articles A couple of years back, Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman found herself deep in the American South, and events unfolded which demanded her instant attention. The result was this unusual film, South.