big picture
The Australian New Wave revitalized post-World War II cinema, fostering new talent and diverse storytelling styles. Ozploitation added gritty, action-packed B-movies to the mix and influenced future filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino. The movement had a lasting impact on world cinema, producing iconic films such as Mad Max and stars such as Mel Gibson and Nicole Kidman.
After World War II, Australia’s film landscape was devastated. It’s not that there weren’t important or historical films in the 1950s and ’60s. 1955’s Jeddah was the first Australian film to feature an Indigenous person in the lead role. However, that number is by no means large; the number of domestic films released is consistently in the single digits every year, and very few films are currently accessible. This was at a time when many cultural hubs in Europe and Asia were experiencing a period of cultural boom, and many countries were experiencing the New Wave in the mid-20th century. Mainly France, England, Japan, Brazil, and Iran. Films made outside Hollywood, where the Hays Code was firmly in control, were becoming international hits. Television was introduced to Australia in 1956, just in time for the Melbourne Summer Olympics. There, there was a real struggle to gain a cultural identity other than being part of the now-collapsed British Empire.
Introducing Prime Minister John Gorton and Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. Their government had a vested interest in saving the Australian film industry from complete dissolution from 1968 to 1975. The Australian School of Film, Television and Radio was established in 1972 to invest all possible resources into developing new talent to put Australia on the map. From 1970 to 1985, there was an explosion of new films produced by the freshest creative minds and starring the hottest new stars, many of which would go on to become industry legends. This period came to be known as the Australian New Wave, and its aftershocks continue to this day, including the latest film, Furiosa: The Mad Max Saga.
mad max
In a not-too-distant dystopian future, when humanity’s most precious resource, oil, has been exhausted and the world descends into war, famine, and financial turmoil, the last vestiges of Australian law attempt to rein in a brutal biker gang. try. . Max (Mel Gibson), a lead patrol officer, begins a personal vendetta against the gang when his wife (Joanne Samuel) and son are hunted down and murdered, leaving him with only his instincts for survival and revenge.
Director George Miller
Running time 88 minutes
Screenplay George Miller, James McCausland, Byron Kennedy
What is Australian New Wave?
Unlike many New Wave movements in film, the Australian movement was not tied to a particular style of storytelling or presentation. The one thing all these titles have in common is that they feel as subversive and fresh as any Hollywood movie released around the same time. Many films of different styles and genres managed to reach the box office and became certified hits with the general audience.
Thanks to Quentin Tarantino’s endorsement and the documentary Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! My brother’s Ozploitation”. Australian new wave. Tarantino himself has said that the Kill Bill movies were heavily influenced by the films of Ozploitation MVP Brian Trenchard-Smith. Shown at grindhouses and drive-ins to take full advantage of the newly introduced R rating, Ozploitation is a catch-all term for the era’s quirky, goofy, action-packed B-movies. . These include horrors like Patrick and the Car That Ate Paris, bawdy comedies like The Adventures of Alvin Purple and Barry McKenzie, and gritty thrillers like Wake in Terror and The Road Game. Included.
Without the Australian New Wave, there would be no George Miller’s Mad Max.
This was the subgenre that spawned George Miller’s post-apocalyptic megahit Mad Max. Inspired by the chaos and destruction he saw on the roads of rural Queensland as a young man, and seeing the consequences of that chaos in gory detail during his medical education, Miller is known for his work in the genre. Created the very pinnacle of chases and explosions. Mad Max is a classic revenge tale, a harrowing tale rarely seen in the genre that depicts human-induced Armageddon from a national perspective. The first Mad Max was made on a budget of just $350,000, reflecting the culture of aggressive driving and reckless riding that remains a problem in Australia. As Miller said in an interview with the Australian Film Institute, the original film was a great example of “low-budget” filmmaking, doing the best you could with what little money you had.
Related Australian horror history, from ‘Wolf Creek’ to ‘Talk to Me’
From Ozploitation to splatter movies, the Land Down Under knows how to scare us.
When the sequels came out, they were still at the heart of the Australian New Wave, but each installment’s box office success allowed them to become even bigger. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior gave us the worldbuilding that established our modern understanding of the Mad Max world, with its insane car modifications and gangs of sadistic marauders. Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome once again recreates that production value with the addition of the queen of rock and roll herself, Tina Turner. Although he had previously appeared in many Australian New Wave films, it was Mad Max that made Mel Gibson a household name. The film created the idea of Australia’s future and is referenced and copied to this day by everyone from Overwatch to Rick and Morty. That’s because the very roots of the film, from its filming locations to its conceptual inspiration, are essentially Australian. The sustained success of Mad Max alone shows the far-reaching influence of Ozploitation and Australian New Wave.
The Australian New Wave and Ozploitation movement brought us different types of films
But the movement was about more than just leather-clad thugs and Thunderdome, and Australia produced its fair share of diverse classical works that explored subversive ideas. Heartwarming Australian gothic films include films such as The Last Wave and Picnic at Hanging Rock. If you want early feminist works with frank, layered discussions about relationships and what it means to be a woman, there’s Adolescent Blues and My Brilliant Career. Films like Walkabout and Jimmy Blacksmith, in particular, brought more Indigenous people to the forefront of the cultural movement.
With the avalanche of popular Australian cinema came a host of promoters, change-makers, actors, directors and cultural icons. Getting the most obvious out of the way, Paul Hogan played the title character in 1986’s Crocodile Dundee, becoming the mascot of Australia’s outsiders until Steve Irwin became popular. However, the importance of Dame Edna Everage’s (Barry Humphrys) international debut in The Adventures of Barry Mackenzie cannot be ignored. Directors George Miller and Peter Weir burst onto the scene during this time, relocating to Hollywood and achieving award-winning success. Australia’s new wave of films attracted actors in droves, with many actors making their debuts, including Sam Neill, Mel Gibson and Nicole Kidman.
Australian films continue to be successful after the New Wave
Australian New Wave was not a movement that came to a screeching halt. After a while the hype died down, but previous efforts to give Australia a desirable cultural status paid off. This movement was immediately followed by the “glitter cycle” of the early 1990s. Examples include Muriel’s Wedding, The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert, and Baz Luhrmann’s introduction in Strictly Ballroom. These are internationally well-known films from the 1980s that celebrate Australian culture and give volume to underrepresented groups in film, featuring new queer and female protagonists. There are many stories.
Today, Australia is firmly established as one of the best film and television industries in the world. Gone are the one-time bursts of movement and creativity, instead there is a consistent production on large, small, and handheld screens. We try our hand at all genres, from anime to world-famous horror establishments. More diverse voices can now shine not only in movies and television, but also online and streaming. Not to mention actors and directors who have achieved great success in Hollywood. Mad Max: Fury Road showed that the concepts created at the time still work decades later, with Miller’s continued success in the film industry. The Australian New Wave is the best example of why it is so important for governments to fund arts organizations, rather than stifle them. Because when given the opportunity and tools to create, this small country with a moribund film industry managed to conquer the world for a decade and maintain its relevance for decades to come. .
Mad Max is available to stream on Max
Focus on Max
