Australian Cinema Rolls Into Town
Nicole Kidman. Russell Crowe. Guy Pierce. They're well known Hollywood stars who have one thing in common – they're Australians who launched their careers in the Australian film industry. Beijingers now have the chance to check out this stream of talent at its source at the 2009 Australian Film Festival from December 4-13.
Australia's modern film industry began in the 1970s, and one of the key figures in this cinematic renaissance was actor Jack Thompson. Although not as well known in China as the likes of Nicole Kidman, in his homeland Thompson is something of a legend, having played a string of iconic roles across more than three decades, in films such as Sunday Too Far Away (1975), Breaker Morant (1980), The Sum of Us (1994) and Australia (2008). He has also appeared in numerous Hollywood productions, including Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997) and Star Wars: Attack of the Clones (2002). Dan Edwards caught up with Jack Thompson in Beijing on the eve of the Australian Film Festival.
Is this your first trip to China?
I actually first came out here in 1983. Breaker Morant was the first foreign film not from a Communist country ever released commercially in the People's Republic. In 1982 we completed the sale, and in 83 I made my first visit here on a cultural exchange tour, along with [Australian playwright] David Williamson, the head of the Australian Film Commission, [journalist] Phillip Adams and [Australian actor] Noni Hazlehurst. We toured the studios in Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai and other cities. We watched films and talked to the directors and cinematographers. It was still very much grey Mao suits, no advertising, and in Shanghai, when you looked across from the Bund, it was just docks and sampans. No Pearl Tower! It was a fabulous experience. I also met the actor who dubbed my voice in the Chinese version Breaker Morant.
I've been to China eight times since then, and this is my third visit to Beijing. I'll be back in January. We're putting together a television series that will tell the history of China through its cuisine. I'm helping to produce and will probably narrate the English versions. I'll be back eating all that Chinese food... someone has to do! [Laughs]
One of your most recent projects had a China connection – the film version of Li Cunxin's book Mao's Last Dancer.
Yes, it's a wonderful film. I play a very small role, the part of US Federal Judge.
The film features a number of Chinese actors, including Joan Chen. Are you very familiar with Chinese cinema? What's your favorite Chinese film?
I'm not really familiar with Chinese cinema. I don't see enough of it – actually I don't think enough of it is seen outside China. One film I liked I saw in 83, called The River – a stunning film about an old man and a boy on a raft coming down the Yangzi. The director was from the Shanghai studio. It came from a period when there wasn't really a set budget for a film. You'd get the go-ahead and just make it. I asked, “How long did it take you to shoot this film?” And they said, “A bit over two and a half years.” How wonderful not to be tied to the dollar mill!
For Beijing audiences who may not be familiar with Australian movies, what would you say makes Australian cinema distinctive, and what differentiates Australian films from Hollywood?
I think it's our view of life. Its hard to say exactly what that is, but it's as characteristic, as individual and as different and as French or Italian films. You don't have to hear what people are saying before you are aware of where it comes from. There is a very particular Australian view of life, and that's expressed in our films and makes them different.
Our films also reflect where we live. It's usually not long in Australian movies before the landscape asserts itself, which isn't strange when you think of Australia as a land mass the size of the United States, with the number of people in Beijing, clinging mostly to the south-eastern corner. It's not surprising we are affected by the landscape and express that in our films. That doesn't mean they're all set in the outback. Whether it's our beaches, the harbor in Sydney – whatever it is, we are affected by it and it's expressed in our films. We're different. We're not English, and we're not American.
Do you have any personal picks from the films screening at the festival?
I can't help but say Samson and Delilah [this film won the Camera d’Or at Cannes this year]. It's an extraordinary film. I've seen it three times now. I'm a patron of the Asia-Pacific Screen Awards, now in its third year in Australia. The jury had one Australian on it, and the rest were all Asian filmmakers. They unanimously voted for Samson and Delilah as best film. It's about people living in poverty, but it's also an extraordinary teenage love story. It's stark and a really exceptional filmmaking achievement.
The 2009 Austrlaian Film Festival, Megabox Cinema Complex, December 4-13.
The festival's FREE closing event at 3pm on Decemeber 13 will feature a BBQ and wine tasting in the piazza of The Village at Sanlitun. Revellers will mix with artworks by Australian artists Guan Wei, Wang Zhiyuan and Tony Scott, as well as Christmas decorations and Australian performers.
Detailed times for film screenings were not yet available from the Megabox Cinema Complex, but the daily schedule is as follows:
Friday December 4
Afternoon: Australia 澳洲乱世情(165分钟)
Saturday December 5
Morning: Ten Canoes 十只独木舟(91分钟)
Afternoon: Happy Feet 快乐的大脚(104分钟)
Evening: Mary & Max 玛丽和麦斯; Films from the Tropfest Short Film Festival超普节短片合集(71分钟)
Sunday December 6
Morning: Look Both Ways 回望(100分钟)
Afternoon: Razzle Dazzle 眼花缭乱(87分钟)
Evening: Samson and Delilah 萨姆森和德莉拉(101分钟); Kokoda 苦战科科达(91分钟)
Friday December 11
Morning: Kenny 肯尼(100分钟)
Afternoon: Australia 澳洲乱世情
Evening: Mary & Max 玛丽和麦克
Saturday December 12
Morning: Ten Canoes 十只独木舟
Afternoon: Happy Fee t快乐的大脚
Evening: Mary & Max 玛丽和麦克斯
Sunday December 13
Morning: Look Both Ways 回望
Afternoon: Razzle Dazzle 眼花缭乱
Evening: Samson and Delilah 萨姆森和德莉拉; Kokoda 苦战科科达; Films from the Tropfest Short Film Festival超普节短片合集