Hunger | |
---|---|
Written by | Louis Nowra |
Directed by | Stephen Wallace |
Starring | Brendan Higgins Melita Jurisic |
Music by | Nathan Waks |
Country of origin | Australia |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Producer | Jan Chapman |
Cinematography | Julian Penney |
Editor | William Russo |
Running time | 90 mins |
Production company | ABC |
Original release | |
Network | ABC |
Release | 10 October 1986 |
Hunger is a 1986 Australian TV film about a Romanian refugee who settles in Australia. [1]
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (October 2023) |
Louis Nowra wrote the film for Jan Chapman following their successful collaboration on Displaced Persons . He says the subject matter was close to Chapman's heart, and the producer thought it would be a romantic story. However the more research Nowra did, the less romantic he felt the story was and he had a deal of trouble writing it as a love story. He felt swamped with the research and did not like the real life men on whom the story was based. Nowra was not satisfied with the final script, although he said the director did the best he could. Nowra also plays a support role. [2]
Anna Murdoch of the Age writes "HUNGER, the telemovie written by Louis Nowra, never realises it's promise as powerful drama. It should have done so, for the subject is powerful - a young Romanian on a hunger strike to get his wife out to Australia." [3] In the Sydney Morning Herald Chris Purcell says "Hunger is a very good film. Higgins and Jurisic play their roles with plenty of style, working with a strong supporting cast that includes John Bell and Briony Behets." [4] Mark Mordue, also in the Sydney Morning Herald, states "Hunger is another significant triumph in this Jan Chapman-produced series of Australian telemovies." [5] A capsual review in the same masthead gives it two stars (out of 4) calling it "Another quality ABC telemovie." [6]
Walkabout is a 1971 adventure survival film directed by Nicolas Roeg and starring Jenny Agutter, Luc Roeg, and David Gulpilil. Edward Bond wrote the screenplay, which is loosely based on the 1959 novel by James Vance Marshall. It centres on two white schoolchildren who are left to fend for themselves in the Australian Outback and who come across a teenage Aboriginal boy who helps them to survive.
Darryl William McInnes is an Australian film and television actor and writer. He is best known for his roles as Senior Constable Nick Schultz in Blue Heelers, as Max Connors in SeaChange, and more recently as TV boss Lindsay Cunningham in The Newsreader and Dr. Roy Penrose in NCIS: Sydney.
Mark Doyle, better known by his stage name Louis Nowra, is an Australian writer, playwright, screenwriter and librettist.
Sarah Murdoch (née O'Hare) is a British-Australian model, actress, and television presenter.
Dominic Haakon Myrtvedt Purcell is an Australian actor. He is best known for his portrayals of Lincoln Burrows in Fox's Prison Break, Mick Rory / Heat Wave in The CW's The Flash (2014–2016) and Legends of Tomorrow (2016–2021), as well as Drake / Dracula in Blade: Trinity (2004). He is also known for his role as Lewis "Lew" Brookbank in the 2004 film Three Way.
Catherine McClements is an Australian stage, film, and television actress, and television presenter. She is known for her TV roles in Water Rats and Tangle, for which she won Logie Awards, and has performed in stage productions for theatre companies such as Belvoir St Theatre, the Melbourne Theatre Company, the Sydney Theatre Company and the State Theatre Company of South Australia.
Rhett Walton is an Australian actor who has appeared in various theatre, film and television productions, including the soap operas Families and Home & Away. He is a National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA) graduate, from the class of 1985, where he studied alongside his future wife, Sonia Todd.
The Last Resort was an Australian television drama series which originally screened by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). The show premiered on 27 April 1988 and ended 13 December 1988 for a total of 30 weekly episodes of fifty minutes each. The series was created and co-written by Louis Nowra. The plot revolves around three adult sisters, Elizabeth Parker, Jennifer Shannon and Louise Shannon, who attempt to live together and help in the management of the dilapidated sea-side Hotel Isis. The series is set in Sydney's Bondi area and was "part of the initiative to increase the network's Australian drama output to 100 hours for [the year]." It featured original music by Martin Armiger.
Susie Porter is an Australian television, film and theatre actress. She made her debut in the 1996 film Idiot Box, before rising to prominence in films including Paradise Road (1997), Welcome to Woop Woop (1997), Two Hands (1999), Better Than Sex (2000), The Monkey's Mask (2000), Mullet (2001), Teesh and Trude (2002), and The Caterpillar Wish (2006). Porter is also highly recognised for her roles in television series, most notably, as Patricia Wright in East West 101, Eve Pritchard in East of Everything, as Kay Parker in Sisters of War, and as Marie Winter in the prison drama, Wentworth.
First Australians is a seven-part Australian historical documentary TV series produced by Blackfella Films over the course of six years, and first aired on SBS TV in October 2008. A book was published to accompany the series.
The Hour Before My Brother Dies is a 1986 Australian telemovie.
The Lizard King is a 1988 Australian television film about a woman who comes from France to Australia in search of her son.
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.
The Petrov Affair is a 1987 mini series based on the defection of Vladimir Petrov.
Mandy Sayer is an Australian novelist and narrative non-fiction writer.
"Breakfast at Sweethearts" is a song from Australian rock band Cold Chisel. Written by keyboardist Don Walker, it was released as a single in 1979, peaking at number 63 on the Australian charts. It appeared as a track on the album of the same name.
Brendan Higgins is an Australian actor. For his performance in Hunger was nominated for the 1987 Australian Film Institute Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Telefeature (1986–1989). Other screen roles include the film Mary. and a lead role in the ABC TV series Relative Merits.
Wicked City is a 1973 Australian television play. It was meant to be the pilot for a series that never eventuated; however, it aired as a standalone movie.
Melita Jurisic is an Australian actress.
Raymond Richard Harding is a New Zealand film and television scriptwriter, producer and story editor. He started his television writing career working for Crawford Productions in 1979. Harding has worked on three of Australia's most well-known soap operas; Home and Away, Neighbours and A Country Practice. He wrote the telemovies I Can't Get Started and Sisterly Love, and scripted episodes for various dramas and children's programmes, including Mirror, Mirror, The Adventures of Skippy, The Miraculous Mellops, and Blue Heelers. He also acted as a story consultant on MDA. Harding has taught at the University of London and Charles Sturt University. He is also a playwright. In 2019, Harding was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM).