Cactus (1986 film)

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Cactus
Cactus 1986.jpg
Film poster
Directed by Paul Cox
Written byPaul Cox
Bob Ellis
Produced byPaul Cox
Starring Isabelle Huppert
Robert Menzies
CinematographyYuri Sokol
Edited byTim Lewis
Release date
  • 5 September 1986 (1986-09-05)
Running time
93 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
BudgetA$1,515,000 [1] [2]
Box officeA$73,751 (Australia) [3]

Cactus is a 1986 Australian drama film directed by Paul Cox and starring Isabelle Huppert. [4]

Contents

Plot

Colo, a Frenchwoman visiting Australia, is injured in a car accident with her friend Tom. She loses sight in her left eye and her vision in the other eye is threatened. The specialist advises that the left eye must be removed, or she could go completely blind.

Tom asks Robert, a blind friend, to talk to her. Tom and Colo become lovers.

Cast

Production

The film was inspired by Paul Cox's memory of his mother temporarily going blind when he was a child. He worked on the story for a number of years, then decided he wanted to work with Isabelle Huppert and wrote the script with her in mind. Bob Ellis worked on the script but fought with Cox over the fact it was about a Frenchwoman staying in Australia after a serious accident, and the two men ended their collaboration. [1] Cox wanted to cast Huppert after seeing her in The Lacemaker and offered her the role at the Cannes Film Festival. [10]

Actors Equity objected to Huppert's importation - Equity rules stated a film needed a budget of over $3 million to have a foreign star - but this was overruled after two months of negotiation. [1] [11]

The Australian Film Corporation was a major investor.

Filming took place in October 1985.

Reception

The film screened in Director's Fortnight at Cannes. [10]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Not Banula Marika, as incorrectly credited in some sources.

References

  1. 1 2 3 David Stratton, The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bust in the Australian Film Industry, Pan MacMillan, 1990 p95-96
  2. ↑ Glover, Richard (5 June 1985). "What's on in the cheapies". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 50.
  3. ↑ "Australian Films at the Australian Box Office", Film Victoria Archived 28 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine accessed 24 October 2009
  4. ↑ Goodman, Walter (2012). "Cactus". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 27 May 2010.
  5. ↑ "Cactus". Ozmovies. 4 September 1986. Retrieved 28 July 2021. ... the casting of Aboriginal artist Banduk Marika as Robert's friend. She acts as a kind of sensible chorus,...
  6. ↑ "Cactus (1986): Principal credits". Australian Screen Online . Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  7. ↑ Cactus at IMDb
  8. ↑ Ellis, Rennie. "[With Paul Cox, Isabelle Huppert and Aboriginal artist Banduk Marika]" (Photos). State Library Victoria. Five photographs showing "Paul Cox, Isabelle Huppert and artist Banduk Marika... sitting at a table under the shade of some trees". Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  9. ↑ Murray, Scott; Caputo, Raffaele; Tanskaya, Alissa, eds. (1995). Australian Film, 1978-1994: A Survey of Theatrical Features . Oxford University Press in association with the Australian Film Commission and Cinema Papers. pp. 186–8. ISBN   978-0-19-553777-2 . Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  10. 1 2 Perkin, Corrie (11 July 1986). "Paul Cox Who Needs Hollywood?". The Age Good Weekend. p. 33-35.
  11. ↑ "Either you Cannes or you can't". The Age. 17 May 1985. p. 11.
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