Editorial

Before the Revolution

“Mange ta soupe”: Introduction to the Bourseillers on Jean-Luc Godard by Sally Shafto

Published here for the first time in English, translator Sally Shafto provides a brief context for the two pieces that follow by Antoine and Christophe Bourseiller on their encounters with Godard.

“1963-1968. Paris: The Godard Years” by Antoine Bourseiller

A chapter from Bourseiller’s memoir Sans relâche: Histoires d’une vie which offers a rich and moving account of his friendship with Godard.

Excerpts from L’Aventure moderne by Christophe Bourseiller

Some salient passages from Christophe Bourseiller’s memoirs on growing up in the 1960s. Christophe is one-time child actor for Godard, Maoist and Situationist.

Vivre sa vie: An Introduction and A to Z by Roland-François Lack

Roland-François Lack provides an informative lexicon to this early masterpiece by Godard.

Deval in ’68: An Interview with Patrick Deval by Maximilian Le Cain and Fergus Daly

The director of Acéphale and Héraclite l’obscur looks back on the people, films and events that have shaped his work and thoughts.

General Articles

The Saragossa Manuscript by John Fidler

A new article to coincide with screenings at the Australian Centre For the Moving Image in Melbourne.

Prisoners of Possibility: Robbe-Grillet’s La Belle Captive as ‘Quantum Text’ by Lisa K. Broad

A detailed essay on Alain Robbe-Grillet’s René Magritte-inspired film derived from his 1975 picto-roman of the same title.

John Ford Made … Monsters? The Grotesque Tradition in Ford’s Work by Phil Wagner

“The grotesque æsthetic is a window into many of the unresolved contradictions in Ford’s work especially, the uneasy juxtaposition of the tragic and the comic and mankind’s perpetual battle with an unruly inner beast.” So writes Wagner, who traces the strong presence of the grotesque in Ford’s cinema.

Backyard and Ross McElwee’s Observational Comedy by Derek Jenkins

Jenkins discusses one of McElwee’s early and seminal works, and discovers that, “Like all vérité filmmakers, he relies heavily on serendipitous events – what Dziga Vertov called ‘life caught unawares’.”

Land of Promise: The British Documentary Movement 1930-1950 by Richard Armstrong

Richard Armstrong takes a look at this historically significant DVD compilation from the British Film Institute.

Reminiscences

Man of Cinema: Pierre Rissient by Geoff Gardner

Todd McCarthy’s recent documentary on Rissient chronicles the remarkable life of an individual devoted to cinema. Gardner offers his own thoughts on the man in question.

Sydney Pollack: A Personal Recollection by Scott Murray

The death of Sydney Pollack earlier this year affords the occasion for Senses of Cinema’s co-Editor to reflect on the man and his films.

Dossier on Australian Exploitation

To celebrate the “Focus on Ozploitation” program screening of several important Australian exploitation films from the 1970s and ’80s at the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF), Senses of Cinema has delved back into the archives to find articles written at the time of each film’s production or release. These have been chosen to present a historical point of view in contrast with (but also to complement) the views expressed about these same films in Mark Hartley’s documentary, Not Quite Hollywood, which is having its world première at MIFF. “Focus on Ozploitation” is co-presented by MIFF and Australian Centre For the Moving Image (ACMI) and curated by Mark Hartley and ACMI.

Richard Franklin: Director/Producer by Scott Murray and Tom Ryan

An extensive interview originally published in 1980 with the director of the classic road-movie thriller Roadgames. Written by Everett de Roche and starring Stacy Keach and Jamie Lee Curtis.

Russell Mulcahy by Jim Schembri

A 1984 interview with the director of the Aussie outback baroque thriller Razorback.

Long Weekend by Scott Murray

Review of the Everett de Roche-scripted ecological thriller directed by Colin Eggleston.

Everett de Roche by Paul Davies

Extract from a 1980 interview with the screenwriter of Long Weekend.

Turkey Shoot by Geoff Mayer

Review of the now infamous 1982 violent hunter-versus-hunted film directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith and produced by Antony I. Ginnane.

Dead-End Drive-In by Philippa Hawker

Review of Brian Trenchard-Smith’s 1986 apocalyptic thriller. One of Quentin Tarantino’s favourite Aussie movies.

The Two Bazzas by Keith Connolly

Combined review of Bruce Beresford’s two early seminal comedies of the grotesque, The Adventures of Barry McKenzie and Barry McKenzie Holds His Own.

From the Senses Archives

The Genesis of The Naked Bunyip by John B. Murray

A producer, director, screenwriter and activist for an Australian national cinema provides a first-hand socio-cultural account of the era surrounding the late 1960s-early ’70s revival in local film production.

The Genesis of Libido by John B. Murray

Comprehensive account of the production of this seminal 1973 portmanteau film containing contributions from directors Fred Schepisi, Tim Burstall, John B. Murray, David Baker, and writers Thomas Keneally and David Williamson, among others.

Festival Reports

AniFest Destiny: The 7^th AniFest: International Festival of Animated Films by Cerise Howard

BAFICI at 10: Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: The 10^th Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente by Jay Kuehner

Movement Per Mutation: A Report on the 61^st Cannes Film Festival by Markus Keuschnigg

New Dates, New British Films: The 62^nd Edinburgh International Film Festival by Nagisa Hikino

A City of Forgetting: The 32^nd Hong Kong International Film Festival by Adrian Danks

From the Margins of Japanese Cinema Culture: The 22^nd Image Forum Festival by Brian Coffey

Roads of Excess, Roads of Access: A Report From the 5^th IndieLisboa by Neil Young

Circling Back: The Avant-Garde Looks to the Past, and Other Small (But Substantial) Pleasures: The 37^th International Film Festival Rotterdam by David Schwartz

Rotterdam Delights aka Asia Expanded, Russia Displayed and China Revisited: The 37^th International Film Festival Rotterdam by Barbara Wurm

Children of the Palais: The 25^th St Kilda Film Festival by Fiona Trigg

Consistent Pickings But Few Difficult Pleasures: The 55^th Sydney Film Festival by Hamish Ford

Of Common Happiness and Sorrow: The 10^th Udine Film Festival by Olaf Möller

Book Reviews

Alejandro and the Academy: Anarchy and Alchemy: The Films of Alejandro Jodorowsky by Ben Cobb feature review by Margaret Barton-Fumo

Polanski in Motion: Roman Polanski: The Cinema of a Cultural Traveller by Ewa Mazierska review by Michael Goddard

Blacksmith Blues: History, Film and the Outlaw: The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith by Henry Reynolds review by Sean Gorman

The Cinema of Small Nations edited by Mette Hjort and Duncan Petrie review by Polona Petek

Hitchcock’s Romantic Irony by Richard Allen review by Karen Goodman

Don’t Let Them Drag You Down: The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert by Philip Brophy review by Diana Sandars

The Cinema Book edited by Pam Cook review by Constantine Verevis

Scenes from a Revolution: The Birth of the New Hollywood by Mark Harris review by Simon Weaving

Great Directors

Alex Cox by Ralph Beliveau and Randolph Lewis

Ang Lee by David Minnihan

Cinémathèque Annotations on Film