Emerald City (film)

Last updated

Emerald City
Emerald City (film).png
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Michael Jenkins
Screenplay by David Williamson
Based on Emerald City
by David Williamson
Produced by Joan Long
Starring
CinematographyPaul Murphy
Edited byNeil Thumpston
Music by Chris Neal
Production
companies
  • Limelight Productions
  • New South Wales Film Corporation
Distributed byGreater Union Film Distributors
Release date
  • 9 December 1988 (1988-12-09)(Australia)
Running time
93 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
BudgetA$2.8 million [1]
Box officeA$192,831 [2]

Emerald City is a 1988 Australian comedy-drama film directed by Michael Jenkins, based on the 1987 play of the same name by David Williamson. Much of the play's dialogue is retained, though discussion of off-stage characters is usually replaced with their appearance, and a more conventionally cinematic level and speed of dialogue is maintained. Also, the younger daughter Hannah is omitted.

Contents

Plot

Colin, a principled screenwriter of some success, and his wife Kate, the editor for a publishing house, relocate from the warmer Melbourne to the more ruthless Sydney and soon become lured by the bright lights of the big city. Colin meets Mike, a hack but resourceful screenwriter with commercial ambitions, and strikes a partnership with him, while instantly falling for his attractive girlfriend Helen. Meanwhile, Kate starts working on a socially important book but soon begins to lose sight of her ideals in this new world of hustlers and cynics.

Cast

Production

The film rights to the play were bought by Joan Long, whose first choice to direct was Bruce Beresford. However, he had just filmed an adaptation of the play Crimes of the Heart and did not want to do another play adaptation, so Michael Jenkins was hired instead. According to some accounts, the original draft of the script pared down the dialogue but John Hargreaves and Robyn Nevin insisted it be put back during rehearsals. Michael Jenkins decided to go along with the actors but had them speak the dialogue especially fast. [3] Jenkins:

We sat down with the piece when it was in script form and we thought, 'This is not going to survive if we approach it too politely', so... we decided we would do it as we did – we were a bit inspired by some of the Cary Grant movies of the '40s when they talked so quickly. So we thought we would pursue that line and feed the information to an audience at a fairly fast rate so that it keeps happening for them. There were mixed critiques. We had some friends and some foes. Those that loved it loved it - those that hated it were very angry about how fast we spoke. [4]

Possible inspirations

Williamson and Denis Whitburn worked on a World War II miniseries with director Chris Thomson titled The Last Bastion , which ran on Network Ten. The running time was 360 minutes. (Academy Home Entertainment released a version that ran only 160 minutes to US home video). The miniseries was much ballyhooed but was not well rated. Also, Williamson assisted his brother-in-law, Chris Löfvén, on Oz , an Australian rock musical film that retold The Wizard of Oz on the streets of Melbourne. The fictional Land of Oz rarely comes up in Australian conversation; the term is used almost exclusively as the nickname for one's own country.[ citation needed ]

The title of the play Emerald City has been used as a frequent moniker and nickname for the city of Sydney ever since the play was first presented. The title has been attributed to Brett Sheehy who was Sydney Theatre Company's Literary Manager when the play was written and first produced. The play's director Richard Wherrett recalls in his autobiography The Floor of Heaven: My Life in Theatre that Sheehy suggested Emerald City as the title, which Williamson accepted, adding the line of dialogue, "The Emerald City of Oz. Everyone comes here along their yellow brick roads looking for the answers to their problems and all they find are the demons within themselves." [5]

Reception

The Australian Film Institute nominated the film for five awards: Best Actor (John Hargreaves), Best Achievement in Cinematography (Paul Murphy), Best Adapted Screenplay (David Williamson), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Nicole Kidman), and Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Chris Haywood), for which it won.

Williamson enjoyed the adaptation saying it "had a lot of raw energy". [6]

Home media

The film has never been released on home video in the United States, though it has been shown on the cable channel Romance Classics. A region-free PAL DVD was released in the United Kingdom by an anonymous company in Herts (VFC31962 NL041; UPC: 5 017633 41002 >) sometimes given online as "Hollywood Classics". This edition was pressed with a ten-second jump in the master early in the film. Although this jump is noted in the counter, it happens in exactly the same place on all copies. In Germany, the film was released on DVD on 23 March 2012 under the title City of Sex. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicole Kidman</span> Australian and American actress and producer (born 1967)

Nicole Mary Kidman is an Australian and American actress and producer. Known for her work in film and television productions across many genres, she has consistently ranked among the world's highest-paid actresses. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and six Golden Globe Awards. She became the first Australian actor to receive the AFI Life Achievement Award honor in 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emerald City</span> Fictional place in the Oz books by L. Frank Baum

The Emerald City is the capital city of the fictional Land of Oz in L. Frank Baum's Oz books, first described in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Williamson</span> Australian dramatist and playwright

David Keith Williamson is an Australian playwright. He has also written screenplays and teleplays.

John Anthony Bell FRSN is an Australian actor, theatre director and theatre manager. He has been a major influence on the development of Australian theatre in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

The Nimrod Theatre Company, commonly known as The Nimrod, was an Australian theatre company based in Sydney. It was founded in 1970 by Australian actors John Bell, Richard Wherrett and Ken Horler, and gained a reputation for producing more "good new Australian drama" from 1970 to 1985 than any other Australian theatre company.

The Emerald City is the capital city of the fictional Land of Oz in L. Frank Baum's Oz books and in the 1939 film adaptation The Wizard of Oz.

Genevieve Lemon is an Australian actress and singer who has appeared in a number of Australian television series and international film, including a frequent collaboration with Jane Campion for Academy Award-winning The Piano (1993) and The Power of the Dog (2021), which earned her a Satellite Award as cast member and a Critic's Choice Awards nomination. In television Lemon is best known as Zelda Baker in The Young Doctors, Marlene "Rabbit" Warren in Prisoner and Brenda Riley in Neighbours.

<i>Careful, He Might Hear You</i> (film) 1983 Australian film

Careful, He Might Hear You is a 1983 Australian drama film. It is based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Australian-American author Sumner Locke Elliott.

The Great Macarthy is a 1975 comedy about Australian rules football. It was an adaptation of the 1970 novel A Salute to the Great McCarthy by Barry Oakley. It stars John Jarratt as the title character as a local footballer playing for Kyneton, who is signed up by the South Melbourne Football Club. It also stars Barry Humphries and Judy Morris. It was released at a time of resurgence in Australian cinema but was not very successful despite its high-profile cast.

Belvoir is an Australian theatre company based at the Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney, Australia, originally known as Company B. Since 2016 and as of 2022 its artistic director is Eamon Flack.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Hargreaves (actor)</span> Australian actor

John William Hargreaves was an Australian actor. He won three Australian Film Institute Awards and was nominated six times.

<i>Emerald City</i> (play) 1987 play by David Williamson

Emerald City is a 1987 play by the Australian playwright David Williamson, a satire about two entertainment industries: film and publishing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theatre of Australia</span> Overview of theatre in Australia

Theatre of Australia refers to the history of the live performing arts in Australia: performed, written or produced by Australians.

The Old Tote Theatre Company (1963–1978) was a New South Wales theatre company that began as the standing acting and theatre company of Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA). It was the predecessor to the Sydney Theatre Company. The Old Tote was one of the leading Australian theatre companies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robyn Nevin</span> Australian actress

Robyn Anne Nevin is an Australian actress, director, and stage producer, recognised with the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards and the JC Williamson Award at the Helpmann Awards for her outstanding contributions to Australian theatre performance art. Former head of both the Queensland Theatre Company and the Sydney Theatre Company, she has directed more than 30 productions and acted in more than 80 plays, collaborating with internationally renowned artists, including Richard Wherrett, Simon Phillips, Geoffrey Rush, Julie Andrews, Aubrey Mellor, Jennifer Flowers, Cate Blanchett and Lee Lewis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">See-Saw Films</span> British-Australian film and television production company

See-Saw Films is a British-Australian film and television production company founded in 2008 by Iain Canning and Emile Sherman, with offices in London and Sydney. Their productions include The King's Speech, Top Of The Lake, Lion, The Power of the Dog, Slow Horses and the British teen series Heartstopper.

Nothing Personal is a 2011 play from David Williamson.

Skin Deep is a 1984 Australian television film produced by PBL Productions for Channel 9. It was directed by Chris Langman and Mark Joffe and stars Briony Behets and Carmen Duncan and features an early appearance by Nicole Kidman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brett Sheehy</span>

Brett Joseph Sheehy AO is an Australian artistic director, producer and curator. He is currently the CEO of the Melbourne Theatre Company (MTC). He was also appointed to direct three of the five international arts festivals in Australia's State capital cities, namely: Sydney Festival, Adelaide Festival and Melbourne Festival.

The Removalists is a 1975 Australian film based on the play of the same name.

References

  1. ↑ "Production Survey". Cinema Papers . September 1987. p. 66. ISSN   0311-3639.
  2. ↑ "Australian Films at the Australian Box Office", Film Victoria Archived 2014-02-09 at the Wayback Machine accessed 24 October 2009
  3. ↑ Stratton, David (1990). The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bust in the Australian Film Industry. Chippendale, NSW: Pan MacMillan. pp. 192–193. ISBN   0-7329-0250-9.
  4. ↑ Interview with Mike Jenkins, 25 March 1996 Archived 22 February 2013 at archive.today accessed 19 October 2012
  5. ↑ Wherrett, Richard (2000). The Floor of Heaven: My Life in Theatre. Sydney: Hodder Headline. p. 213. ISBN   0-7336-1049-8.
  6. ↑ Greg Gallaghan, "10 questions - David Williamson", The Australian 18 December 2010 accessed 5 April 2014
  7. ↑ "Nicole Kidman – City Of Sex". Amazon (Germany) (in German). Retrieved 20 July 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.