Evil Angels | |
---|---|
Directed by | Fred Schepisi |
Screenplay by | Robert Caswell Fred Schepisi |
Based on | Evil Angels 1985 book by John Bryson |
Produced by | Verity Lambert |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Ian Baker |
Edited by | Jill Bilcock |
Music by | Bruce Smeaton |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. (United States) Roadshow Entertainment (Australia) [1] Cannon Films (International) |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 121 minutes |
Countries | Australia United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $15 million [2] |
Box office | $6.9 million (United States) [3] |
Evil Angels (released as A Cry in the Dark outside Australia and New Zealand) is a 1988 Australian drama film directed by Fred Schepisi. The screenplay by Schepisi and Robert Caswell is based on John Bryson's 1985 book of the same name. It chronicles the case of Azaria Chamberlain, a nine-week-old baby girl who disappeared from a campground near Uluru in August 1980, and the struggle of her parents, Michael Chamberlain and Lindy Chamberlain, to prove their innocence to a public convinced that they were complicit in her death. Meryl Streep and Sam Neill star as the Chamberlains.
The film was released less than two months after the Chamberlains were exonerated by the Northern Territory Court of Appeals of all charges filed against them. [4] The film received generally favourable reviews, with Streep's performance receiving high praise and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress, but was a box office disappointment, grossing only $6.9 million against its $15 million budget.
Seventh-day Adventist Church pastor Michael Chamberlain, his wife Lindy Chamberlain, their two sons, and their nine-week-old daughter Azaria are on a camping holiday in the Australian Outback. With the baby sleeping in their tent, the family enjoys a barbecue with their fellow campers when a cry is heard. Lindy returns to the tent to check and is certain she sees a dingo with something in its mouth running off as she approaches. When she discovers the infant missing, everyone joins forces to search for her, without success. It is assumed what Lindy saw was the animal carrying Azaria, and a subsequent inquest rules her account of events as true.
However, the tide of public opinion soon turns against the Chamberlains. For many, Lindy seems too stoic, cold-hearted, and accepting of the disaster that has befallen the family. Gossip about her begins to swell and soon is accepted as statements of fact. The couple's religious beliefs are not widely practiced in the country, and when the media report a rumour that the name Azaria means "sacrifice in the wilderness", the public is quick to believe they decapitated their baby with a pair of scissors as part of a bizarre religious rite.
Law-enforcement officials find new witnesses, forensics experts, and circumstantial evidence and reopen the investigation, eventually charging Lindy with murder. Seven months pregnant, she ignores her attorneys' advice to play to the jury's sympathy and appears stoic on the stand, convincing some onlookers of her guilt. As the trial progresses, Michael's faith in his religion and his belief in his wife falter, and he stumbles through his testimony, suggesting he is concealing the truth. In October 1982, Lindy is found guilty and immediately sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour, while Michael is found guilty as an accessory and given an 18-month suspended sentence.
More than three years later, while searching for the body of an English tourist who fell from Uluru, police discover a dingo lair with clothing that is identified as the jacket Lindy had insisted Azaria was wearing over her jumpsuit, which had been recovered early in the investigation. Lindy is immediately released from prison, the case is reopened and all convictions against the Chamberlains are overturned. The film ends with Michael commenting on the ongoing battle to clear the family's name.
John Bryson's book Evil Angels was published in 1985 and film rights were bought by Verity Lambert, who got the interest of Meryl Streep. Robert Caswell wrote a script and Fred Schepisi agreed to direct. The movie was one of the most expensive and elaborate ever shot in Australia, with 350 speaking cast and 4,000 extras. [5]
Evil Angels grossed A$3,006,964 at the box office in Australia. [6] This was considered a disappointment considering the publicity and subject matter. [5]
In his review in The New York Times , Vincent Canby said the film "has much of the manner of a television docudrama, ultimately being a rather comforting celebration of personal triumph over travails so dread and so particular that they have no truly disturbing, larger application. Yet A Cry in the Dark is better than that, mostly because of another stunning performance by Meryl Streep, who plays Lindy Chamberlain with the kind of virtuosity that seems to redefine the possibilities of screen acting ... Though Sam Neill is very good as Lindy Chamberlain's tormented husband, Miss Streep supplies the guts of the melodrama that are missing from the screenplay."
"Mr. Schepisi has chosen to present the terrible events in the outback in such a way that there's never any doubt in the audience's mind about what happened. The audience doesn't worry about the fate of the Chamberlains as much as it worries about the unconvincing ease with which justice is miscarried. Mr. Schepisi may have followed the facts of the case, but he has not made them comprehensible in terms of the film. The manner by which justice miscarries is the real subject of the movie. In this screenplay, however, it serves only as a pretext for a personal drama that remains chilly and distant ... As a result, the courtroom confrontations are so weakened that A Cry in the Dark becomes virtually a one-character movie. It's Mr. Schepisi's great good fortune that that one character is portrayed by the incomparable Meryl Streep." [7]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times observed, "Schepisi is successful in indicting the court of public opinion, and his methodical (but absorbing) examination of the evidence helps us understand the state's circumstantial case. In the lead role, Streep is given a thankless assignment: to show us a woman who deliberately refused to allow insights into herself. She succeeds, and so, of course, there are times when we feel frustrated because we do not know what Lindy is thinking or feeling. We begin to dislike the character, and then we know how the Australian public felt. Streep's performance is risky and masterful." [8]
In The Washington Post , Rita Kempley said, "Streep – yes, with another perfect accent – brings her customary skillfulness to the part. It's not a showy performance, but the heroine's internal struggle seems to come from the actress' pores. Neill, who costarred with Streep in Plenty , is quite good as a humble, bewildered sort who finally breaks under cross-examination." [9] Variety made note of the "intimate, incredible detail in the classy, disturbing drama." [10]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 94% from 31 reviews. [11]
Award | Category | Subject | Result |
---|---|---|---|
AACTA Awards (1989 AFI Awards) | Best Film | Verity Lambert | Won |
Best Direction | Fred Schepisi | Won | |
Best Adapted Screenplay | Fred Schepisi & Robert Caswell | Won | |
Best Actor | Sam Neill | Won | |
Best Actress | Meryl Streep | Won | |
Best Editing | Jill Bilcock | Nominated | |
Best Original Music Score | Bruce Smeaton | Nominated | |
Best Sound | Craig Carter, Peter Fenton, Martin Oswin & Terry Rodman | Nominated | |
Academy Award | Best Actress | Meryl Streep | Nominated |
Cannes Film Festival | Palme d'Or | Fred Schepisi | Nominated |
Best Actress | Meryl Streep | Won | |
Chicago Film Critics Association Award | Best Actress | Nominated | |
Golden Globe Awards | Best Motion Picture – Drama | A Cry in the Dark | Nominated |
Best Director | Fred Schepisi | Nominated | |
Best Screenplay | Fred Schepisi & Robert Caswell | Nominated | |
Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama | Meryl Streep | Nominated | |
Motion Picture Sound Editors | Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing - Sound Effects | Tim Chau | Nominated |
New York Film Critics Circle Award | Best Actress | Meryl Streep | Won |
Political Film Society Award | Exposé | A Cry in the Dark | Won |
Sant Jordi Awards | Best Foreign Actress | Meryl Streep | Nominated |
In 2005, the phrase "The dingo took my baby!", was nominated by the American Film Institute in its list of AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes. [12] The quote, often incorrectly quoted as "a dingo ate my baby", became part of pop culture after the release of the movie, appearing on such shows as Seinfeld , The Simpsons , Frasier , Supernatural , Buffy the Vampire Slayer , and Baby Daddy , as well as Tropic Thunder and The Rugrats Movie .
In June 2008, the AFI revealed its "Ten Top Ten"—the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres—after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. Evil Angels was acknowledged as ninth best in the courtroom drama genre. [13] [14]
Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep is an American actress. Known for her versatility and adept accent work, she has been described as "the best actress of her generation". She has received numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over four decades, including a record 21 Academy Award nominations, winning three, and a record 34 Golden Globe Award nominations, winning eight.
Kramer vs. Kramer is a 1979 American legal drama film written and directed by Robert Benton, based on Avery Corman's 1977 novel. The film stars Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Justin Henry and Jane Alexander. It tells the story of a couple's divorce, its impact on their young son, and the subsequent evolution of their relationship and views on parenting. Kramer vs. Kramer explores the psychology and fallout of divorce, and touches on prevailing or emerging social issues, such as gender roles, fathers' rights, work-life balance, and single parents.
Alice Lynne "Lindy" Chamberlain-Creighton is a New Zealand–born Australian woman who was falsely convicted in one of Australia's most publicised and notorious murder trials and miscarriages of justice. Accused of killing her nine-week-old daughter, Azaria, while camping at Uluru in 1980, she maintained that she saw a dingo leave the tent where Azaria was sleeping. The prosecution case was circumstantial and depended upon deeply flawed forensic evidence.
Michael Leigh Chamberlain was a New Zealand-Australian writer, teacher and pastor falsely implicated in the August 1980 death of his missing daughter Azaria, which was later demonstrated to be the result of a dingo attack while the family was camping near Uluru in the Northern Territory, Australia. Chamberlain's then-wife Lindy was falsely convicted of the baby's murder in 1982 and he was convicted of being an accessory after the fact. The findings of a 1987 royal commission ultimately exonerated the couple, but not before they were subjected to sensationalist reporting and intense public scrutiny.
Azaria Chantel Loren Chamberlain was a two-month-old Australian baby girl who was killed by a dingo on the night of 17 August 1980 during a family camping trip to Uluru in the Northern Territory. Her body was never found. Her parents, Lindy and Michael Chamberlain, reported that she had been taken from their tent by a dingo. However, Lindy was tried for murder and spent more than three years in prison. Michael received a suspended sentence. Lindy was released only after Azaria's jacket was found near a dingo lair and new inquests were opened. In 2012, 32 years after Azaria's death, the Chamberlains' version of events was officially supported by a coroner.
Plenty is a 1985 American drama film directed by Fred Schepisi and starring Meryl Streep. It was adapted from David Hare's play of the same name.
Frederic Alan Schepisi is an Australian film director, producer, and screenwriter. His credits include The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, Plenty, Roxanne, A Cry in the Dark, Mr. Baseball, Six Degrees of Separation, and Last Orders.
Sophie's Choice is a 1982 psychological drama directed and written by Alan J. Pakula, adapted from William Styron's 1979 novel. The film stars Meryl Streep as Zofia "Sophie" Zawistowska, a Polish immigrant to America with a dark secret from her past who shares a boarding house in Brooklyn with her tempestuous lover Nathan, and young writer Stingo. It also features Rita Karin, Stephen D. Newman and Josh Mostel in supporting roles.
Brian James was an Australian radio, stage, television and film actor.
Elly & Jools is an Australian children's television series that originally aired on the Nine Network in 1990. It starred Rebecca Smart as Elinor 'Elly' Lockett and Clayton Williamson as Julian 'Jools' Trevaller. It also featured Abigail, Anne Tenney, Peter Fisher, Dennis Miller, Damon Herriman and Vanessa Collier. It was filmed at Peninsula House in Windsor, New South Wales and at the Australiana Pioneer Village in Wilberforce.
David Hoflin is a Swedish-born Australian actor. He played Jason Bates in Ocean Girl between 1994 and 1998, and Oliver Barnes in Neighbours between 2007 and 2008.
Lindy is an opera in two acts by Australian composer Moya Henderson to an English libretto by Judith Rodriguez. It is based on the death of Lindy and Michael Chamberlain's baby Azaria Chamberlain in the Australian outback at Uluru in 1980.
John Bryson AM was an Australian author and lawyer. He wrote works of fiction, biography and non-fiction.
Dingo attacks on humans are rare in Australia, and when they do occur are generally on young children and small teenagers. However, dingoes are much more of a danger to livestock, especially to sheep and young cattle. The 5,614-kilometre-long (3,488 mi) Dingo Fence was constructed in Southeast Australia to protect the livestock there from attacks.
"A dingo ate my baby!" is a cry popularly attributed to Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton, as part of the 1980 death of Azaria Chamberlain case, at Uluru in the Northern Territory, Australia. The Chamberlain family had been camping near the rock when their nine-week-old daughter was taken from their tent. Prosecuting authorities rejected her story about a dingo as far-fetched, securing convictions for murder against her, along with her then-husband Michael Chamberlain as an accessory after the fact. After years of challenge in the courts, both parents were absolved of the crime, and a coroner found that Azaria was indeed killed by a dingo.
The Disappearance of Azaria Chamberlain is a 1983 Australian television docufilm about the Azaria Chamberlain case.
Through My Eyes is a two-part Australian television crime drama, written by Tony Cavanaugh and Simone North, that is based upon the memoirs of Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton, whose nine-week-old baby Azaria was taken by a dingo from her family's tent near Uluru in Australia's remote Northern Territory. Directed by Di Drew, the miniseries broadcast on the Seven Network at 8:30 pm on 23 and 24 October 2004. A broadcast in New Zealand followed in August 2005.
Nipper Winmarti also recorded as Nipper Winmati was a Pitjantjatjara man who worked as an Aboriginal tracker at the Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park where he was also recognised as a traditional owner. Winmarti worked as a tracker following the death of Azaria Chamberlain in 1980 and believed that baby Azaria had been taken by a dingo; he was the only Aboriginal tracker to give evidence at the first inquest.