Dalmas (1973) User Reviews

experimental film with the production crew mixing with the cast

[HairynosedWombat · 6/10 · 11 December 1998]

This film has the same plot and structure as Norman Mailers "Maidstone", with LSD replacing alcohol. It starts as a Police murder mystery. The hero eventually enters a picnic with the rest of the cast and crew, who are imbibing LSD. He attacks the Director(Bert Deling) with an axe, which forces them to re-evaluate their relationship. In "Maidstone" there is a party where cast and crew get drunk instead of an LSD picnic. I enjoyed Dalmas as posing interesting questions about relationships between the crew of a film Unit in a poetic way. Deling and the crew appeared relaxed about drugs, whereas the lead actor was hired to be the lead. Maidstone was an alcoholic self-indulgence of Norman Mailers. I do not know whether Deling or Mailer got the idea first.

Awful

[jimmy-161 · 1/10 · 20 September 2007]

This is pretty bad, and I can't imagine why anyone would want to watch it (incredibly I saw it at the cinema in about 1978).

It's quite good for about the first five minutes, after which the plot is abandoned and we see a lot of the cast and crew in some sort of communal house discussing how things should develop. Apparently they eventually decide to spend the rest of the budget on LSD, and the final scene features the cast on crew lying around on a hillside tripping - "man this acid is really weird". Trust me, there are few things more boring than watching hippies tripping.

Max Gillies and John Duigan went on to have impressive careers, but I imagine they'd prefer to forget "Dalmas".