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CARLTON
+ GODARD = CINEMA
A
film from Nigel Buesst
Completed
April 2003 145 mins
Film-making got going in Carlton during the sixties when enthusiasts
like Giorgio Mangiamele and
a group of film buffs at Melbourne University started turning
their dreams into celluloid. Giorgio's inspiration was probably
the neo-realists of Rome like Roberto Rossellini, while the locals
took their cue from the French New Wave. The strange thing was
that at the time most of the film buffs' discourse swirled around
directors like Hitchcock, Eisenstein, Renoir, Bresson, John Ford
(and numerous other Hollywood auteurs) - and even Jerry Lewis.
Jean-Luc Godard's films were rarely screened and occupied little
space in the critical journals of the day. Yet when Carlton enthusiasts
managed to get their hands on the cameras and started making their
own films in the mid sixties the influence of Godard was transparent.
Apparently all were in denial!
Now in CARLTON
+ GODARD = CINEMA many of these films have been gathered together
for closer scrutiny, for a historical perspective on this age
of innocence, when films were made for the proverbial "donut
and a cup of tea". Bursting with energy and humour, they
stand up well to this day. You be the judge.
The master,
Godard himself, in describing one of his films said "This
is not a film, it's an attempt at cinema". So this rambling
epic, running more than two hours, claims to be "not so much
a documentary as a document".
Major players
from the period such as producer Antony I. Ginnane and MIFF director
Geoff Gardner give fascinating insights into the period and fond
thoughts on some who are no longer with us such as Giorgio Mangiamele,
Brian Davies and David Minter.
The
film premiered at the St.Kilda Film Festival on Sunday, June 1,
2003.
Images
from CARLTON + GODARD = CINEMA
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Four
old Carlton filmmakers
reminiscing (from Barry Dickins'
play "Go In Tight")
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Brian
Davies -
Melbourne's very own
Jean-Luc Godard.
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Giorgio
Mangiamele
with his
old Bolex.
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Jean
Paul Belmondo in
Godard's Breathless
identifies with Bogey.
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Swinging
blondes of the '60s
in Peter Elliot's
The Girlfriends.
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John
Duigan, one of the
disconnected lovers in
Brian Davies' Brake Fluid.
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John
Duigan and friends
at the trots in
Nigel Buesst's Bonjour Balwyn.
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Dennis
Pryor plays the
passionate academic in
The Girlfriends.
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Alan
Finney -
screening old movies at the
Queensberry St buffs' hangout.
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Geoff
Gardner -
actor, producer and eventually
director of MIFF '80-82.
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Sue
Ingleton -
could have been Melbourne's
Anna Karina.
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La
Mama -
scene of much endeavour
in the '60s.
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Julia
(Margaret Jacobs) and
her new love (John Duigan)
in Brake Fluid.
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Best
current source of film
finance - 3 letters? FFC,
AFC, ABC, SBS?
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Antony
I. Ginnane's
Sympathy in Summer -
La Dolce Vita in Melbourne.
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Antony
I. Ginnane was a major
player in the Carlton '60s,
now operates from Hollywood.
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A
film producer (James Clayden)
waits for a film financier at
Genevieve Restaurant.
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End
title -
some of the featured
interviewees in the film.
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images
© Nigel Buesst, May 2003
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