Libido (1973 film)

Last updated

Libido
Directed byJohn B. Murray ("The Husband")
Tim Burstall ("The Child")
Fred Schepisi ("The Priest")
David Baker ("The Family Man")
Written by Craig McGregor
("The Husband")
Hal Porter
("The Child")
Thomas Keneally
("The Priest")
David Williamson
("The Family Man")
Produced by Christopher Muir
John B. Murray
Starring Judy Morris
Jack Thompson
Max Gillies
Robyn Nevin
Jill Forster
Elke Neidhardt
CinematographyEric Lomas ("The Husband")
Robin Copping ("The Child")
Ian Baker ("The Priest")
Bruce McNaughten ("The Family Man")
Edited byTim Lewis ("The Husband")
David Bilcock Jnr ("The Child")
Brian Kavanagh ("The Priest")
Edward McQueen-Mason ("The Family Man")
Music byTim Healey & Bill Green ("The Husband")
Peter Best ("The Child")
Bruce Smeaton ("The Priest" & "The Family Man")
Production
company
Producers' & Directors' Guild of Australia
Distributed by British Empire Films (Aust)
Anglo-EMI (UK)
Release dates
6 April 1973 (Australia)
1974 (UK)
Running time
118 mins
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
BudgetA$120,000 [1]

Libido is a 1973 Australian drama film comprising 4 segments written and directed as independent stories, but screened together as one piece, exploring a common theme of instinctive desire and contemporary sexuality. [2]

Contents

John B. Murray directed the segment called "The Husband", written by Craig McGregor, Tim Burstall directed "The Child", from a screenplay by Hal Porter, Fred Schepisi directed Thomas Keneally's "The Priest" and David Baker directed playwright David Williamson's screenplay for "The Family Man". [2] [3]

Plot

The four segments of the film average about 30 minutes in length and are presented in the following order. [4]

Cast

"The Husband"

"The Child"

"The Priest"

"The Family Man"

Production

The film arose from a series of workshops held in 1971 by the Victorian Branch of the Producers and Directors Guild to help writers work in narrative cinema. Professional writers were invited to prepare short stories on the theme of love which were adapted and produced by members of the Guild. Four of them were linked in the film. [1] [5]

Tim Burstall wanted to direct the David Williamson segment but because he had worked with Williamson before was given the Hal Porter one, originally called The Jetty. Burstall made some key changes to the story to make it more autobiographical and work better for film. [6] It was shot at Werribee Park Estate in June 1972. [7]

All the stories were shot and filmed in and around Melbourne on 16mm for a budget of $100,000, including $26,000 from the Australian Council for the Arts. According to Burstall, the episodes directed by Murray, Baker and Schepisi cost about $7,000 each and his cost $13,000 - although he says the true cost, accounting for deferrals, was closer to $23,000. He says the total cost of shooting the film was $75,000 being $120,000 after deferrals. [6]

British Empire Films later added some funds to enable the film to be blown up to 35mm (some sources say $20,000 [1] others $36,000 [5] ).

Release

The film was a popular success in Australia and screened overseas. Within two years of the film's release all deferred fees had been paid back. However, when the film screened in Spain, the segment "The Priest" had to be cut. [5]

By 1979 Burstall estimated the film had returned between $60,000 and $75,000 to the producers. [6]

Awards

In 1973, the film won the Golden Reel Award for best fiction film from the Australian Film Institute for the segment The Child, and Judy Morris won the best actress award for her performance in the same segment. [8] [9]

Proposed sequel

Burstall said there was meant to be a follow up film called The Bed, consisting of four stories revolving around the bed, written by Alan Marshall, Morris Lurie, John Powers and Max Richards, to be directed by Mal Bryning, Ross Dimsey, Simon Wincer and Rod Kinnear. However, they could not raise the money to make it. [6]

Related Research Articles

Timothy Burstall AM was an English Australian film director, writer and producer, best known for hit Australian movie Alvin Purple (1973) and its sequel Alvin Rides Again (1974).

<i>Alvin Purple</i> 1972 Australian film directed by Tim Burstall

Alvin Purple is a 1973 Australian sex comedy film starring Graeme Blundell in the title role; the screenplay was written by Alan Hopgood and directed by Tim Burstall, through his production company Hexagon Productions and Village Roadshow.

Don's Party is a 1971 play by David Williamson set during the 1969 Australian federal election. The play opened on 11 August 1971 at The Pram Factory theatre in Carlton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred Schepisi</span> Australian director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1939)

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.

<i>The Seventh Sin</i> 1957 film by Ronald Neame

The Seventh Sin is a 1957 American drama film directed by Ronald Neame and starring Eleanor Parker, Bill Travers and George Sanders. It is based on the 1925 novel The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham.

Judith Ann Morris is an Australian character actress, as well as a film director and screenwriter, well known for the variety of roles she played in 58 different television shows and films, starting her career as a child actress and appearing on screen until 1999, since then she has worked on film writing and directing, most recently for co-writing and co-directing a musical epic about the life of penguins in Antarctica which became Happy Feet, Australia's largest animated film project to date.

Kangaroo is a 1987 Australian drama film directed by Tim Burstall and starring Colin Friels, Judy Davis, and John Walton. It is based on the 1923 novel of the same name by D. H. Lawrence.

<i>The Last of the Knucklemen</i> 1979 Australian film

The Last of the Knucklemen is a 1979 Australian film directed by Tim Burstall.

Petersen is a 1974 Australian drama film directed by Tim Burstall.

Stork is a 1971 Australian comedy film directed by Tim Burstall. Stork is based on the play The Coming of Stork by David Williamson. Bruce Spence and Jacki Weaver make their feature film debuts in Stork, being honoured at the 1972 Australian Film Institute Awards, where they shared the acting prize. Stork won the prize for best narrative feature and Tim Burstall won for best direction. Stork was one of the first ocker comedies. Stork was the first commercial success of the Australian cinema revival called the Australian New Wave.

2000 Weeks is a 1969 Australian drama film directed by Tim Burstall and starring Mark McManus, Jeanie Drynan, and Eileen Chapman.

Eliza Fraser is a 1976 Australian bawdy adventure drama film, directed by Tim Burstall and starring Susannah York, Trevor Howard, Noel Ferrier and John Castle. The screenplay was written by David Williamson.

<i>The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith</i> (film) 1978 film

The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith is a 1978 Australian drama film directed, written and produced by Fred Schepisi, and starring Tom E. Lewis, Freddy Reynolds and Ray Barrett. The film also featured early appearances by Bryan Brown, Arthur Dignam, and John Jarratt. It is an adaptation of the 1972 novel The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith by Thomas Keneally.

<i>The Picture Show Man</i> 1977 Australian film

The Picture Show Man is a 1977 Australian film about a travelling film exhibitor in the 1920s. He has to deal with the rebelliousness of his son and a rival American exhibitor.

An Australian Independent Film, is an Australian film which is produced without government funding. This does not include deductions in the form of special tax concessions or rebates, but refers to up front financial investment from any local, state or commonwealth government authority, or the state and federal film funding bodies, such as Screen Australia, The New South Wales Film and Television Office, Screen Queensland, ScreenWest, The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and The South Australian Film Corporation.

End Play is a 1976 Australian thriller film directed by Tim Burstall and starring George Mallaby, John Waters and Ken Goodlet. It was an adaptation of the 1972 novel End Play by Russell Braddon. It was made by Hexagon Productions.

Hexagon Productions was an Australian film production company established in 1972 by Roadshow Distributors with Tim Burstall and Associates and the company Bilcock and Copping. All parties had successfully collaborated on Stork (1971) and wanted to engage in further production. The company was owned along the following lines:

Duet for Four is a 1982 film directed by Tim Burstall.

Great Expectations: The Untold Story is a 1987 Australian film which was made as a feature film and a mini series.

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

References

  1. 1 2 3 Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998 p270
  2. 1 2 The Screen Australia Listing for Libido Archived 27 May 2007 at archive.today
  3. ↑ Jones, Dave (1 January 1974). "David Williamson". Cinema Papers. No. 1. pp. 7–8.
  4. ↑ The Miles Ago database of Australian films
  5. 1 2 3 John B. Murray, "The Genesis of Libido", Senses of Cinema, 5 March 2006. Retrieved 27 September 2012
  6. 1 2 3 4 Scott Murray, 'Tim Burstall', Cinema Papers Sept-Oct 1979 p494
  7. ↑ David Stratton, The Last New Wave: The Australian Film Revival, Angus & Robertson, 1980 p27
  8. ↑ AFI Awards - Past Winners [ permanent dead link ]
  9. ↑ Awards summary at the Internet Movie Database
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.