Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Not Quite Hollywood (2008)

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Posted by Stu Jamieson (Member # 4626) on 08-28-2008, 08:56 AM:

It's not just the Italians that did it. It's not just black American film makers who did it. And it's not just the Japanese and Koreans who do it. Us Aussies used to have an exploitation "genre" film industry as well. Due to the pioneering efforts of the late Don Chipp in the 1970's (and some political lobbying from a young David Stratton who was the director of the Sydney Film Festival at the time), censorship restrictions were relaxed on films and a new "R" certificate was introduced. This new found artistic freedom was exploited by the Australian film industry resulting in a slew of movies flaunting softcore sex, nudity and violence. Retrospectively coined "Ozploitation" by the director of this documentary, Mark Hartley, and subsequently adopted by Quentin Tarantino (who contributes heavily to this film), the genre thrived until the mid 1980's when pompous film financing bureaucrats decided that it was more appropriate for Aussie film makers to make "important" films. It's not all doom and gloom, however, the "genre" film is currently undergoing a minor renaissance thanks to the success of the likes of SAW (albeit funded on American dollars) and Wolf Creek.

For fans of the genre, Not Quite Hollywood is a wet dream come true as it features just about every tit, arse and severed limb featured in the films it reveres. It opens with a great credit sequence consisting of a montage of iconic Ozploitation images set to a driving Oz Rock soundtrack (Rose Tattoo's We Can't be Beaten, if I remember correctly). It features just about every important player this side of the grave - sadly some of the pivotal personalities have since passed away, most notably Tim Burstall and Richard Franklin (to whom this film is dedicated) - the list of contributors includes Quentin Tarantino, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dennis Hopper, George Miller, Lynda Stoner, Barry Humphreys, George Lazenby, Greg McLean, Brian Trenchard-Smith, Antony Ginnane, Fred Schepisi, Roger Ward and the list goes on and on and on. Covering every avenue of the genre from sex comedys to horror to action flicks, the film chronicles the forgotten guilty pleasures of Australia's golden age of cinema.

Admittedly this documentary is much better than most of the films it idolises, but it's a monumental achievement nonetheless and an important Australian historical document.

8.5 out of 10.

Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 08-28-2008, 05:31 PM:

I so much want to see this film.

Posted by Stu Jamieson (Member # 4626) on 08-28-2008, 09:56 PM:

John, I understand you know Steve Maggs and if your enthusiasm for Aussie cinema in any way reflects his, then I reckon you'll get a kick out of this. I saw this at the Brisbane International Film Festival a few weeks ago where they included several of the featured movies in the Festival programme. It was a hoot!

Steve was hopefully going to see this today and I'm itching to hear what he thinks of it. I'm sure many a long post-work 1am conversation will ensue as a result. [Wink]

Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 08-28-2008, 10:48 PM:

I may have to actually dust off my Cinema Pioneer's card and go watch it.

Here's the trailer. [thumbsup]

Posted by Stu Jamieson (Member # 4626) on 08-28-2008, 11:08 PM:

Yeah, it's an awesome trailer! Here's a better quality one on the official site:
http://www.notquitehollywood.com.au/video/?videoId=trailer

It also has a stack of original trailers for many Ozploitation films which is a lot of fun.

Posted by Stephen Jones (Member # 16) on 08-30-2008, 03:24 AM:

Recommend this film John.I am currently screening this film at work and managed to see it today.All the films mentioned I have screened in the days I worked at the Drive-Ins and ran to packed houses.
Steve