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Reviews
Night Cries: A Rural Tragedy (1990)
a passionate rejection of the realism and the romantic locationism of classical Australian cinema.
Tracey Moffatt's Night Cries is a horrifying short film that exposes a sombre Australian story. Obviously a sequel to Charles Chauvel's "Jedda"(1955), an older Aboriginal 'Jedda' takes care of her dying white (step mother). Jimmy Little appears at the beginning, middle and end of the film - pivotal points in the narrative. Like the main Aborignial woman, Little represents the assimilation process that changed the Aboriginal people. The artificial studio setting is unique compared to much of Australian cinema which is dominated by rural outback imagery. The mountain backdrop echoes the landscape viewed from Jedda's house in "Jedda" (1955), and also the paintings of Aboriginal artist Albert Namatjira - another example of an Aboriginie changed by the assimilation process. His watercolour works were completely different to the traditional dot paintings. Overall Moffatt has created a moving and haunting film, despite its short length.
Newsfront (1978)
take a step back and see what it was like in 1950s Australia
If you are interested in Australian Cinema this is a film for you. Although it is long, you will be thankful you sat it through. 'Newsfront' takes us back in time to a different Australia - a country that has no television or other technologies of today. Noyce uses the backdrop of the rivalry between the two newsreel production companies to explore the tensions that exist in the character's lives, set against the historical moments recorded in the Newsreels. With engaging characters and a superb depiction of what life was like in the newsreel industry of the 1950s, Noyce gives us an enjoyable and memorable experience of Australian film and national history.