Looking for Alibrandi (film)

Last updated

Looking for Alibrandi
Directed by Kate Woods
Written by Melina Marchetta
Based on Looking for Alibrandi
by Melina Marchetta
Produced by Robyn Kershaw
Starring Pia Miranda
Kick Gurry
Anthony LaPaglia
Greta Scacchi
Elena Cotta
Cinematography Toby Oliver
Edited by Martin Connor
Music by Silverchair
Killing Heidi
Lo-Tel
Production
companies
Distributed by Beyond Distribution [1]
Release date
  • 4 May 2000 (2000-05-04)
Running time
103 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguagesEnglish
Italian
Budget $4.5 million [2]
Box office$8.3 million

Looking for Alibrandi is a 2000 Australian coming-of-age [3] [4] film directed by Kate Woods and written by Melina Marchetta (which she adapted from her 1992 novel of the same name). The film is set in 1990s Sydney, New South Wales and features a cast of Australian actors, including Pia Miranda as Josephine Alibrandi, the film's main character; Anthony LaPaglia as her father, Michael Andretti, who left her and her mother before her birth; and Kick Gurry as Josie's love interest, Jacob Coote. The film won the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Film in 2000.

Contents

Plot

Josephine (nicknamed "Josie") Alibrandi (Pia Miranda) is an ambitious and outspoken 17-year-old Italian-Australian teenager who lives in Glebe, an inner-western suburb in Sydney, and is in her final year of high school. Josie is a scholarship student (also vice-captain) at the prestigious Catholic girls school St Martha’s (which is located in the eastern suburbs of Sydney), where she is completing her HSC. Most of the students are Anglo-Australian and from elite socio-economic backgrounds, and she experiences xenophobia and discrimination due to her Italian and working-class background (and also due to growing up in a single parent household). Josie attends St. Martha’s with her two best friends, Sera (Leanne Carlow) and Anna (Diane Viduka). She is friends with John Barton (Matthew Newton), who attends St Anthony’s College, the brother school of St Martha’s. She has romantic feelings for him, but has not explicitly disclosed them. He is the son of an influential politician, and feels pressure to follow in his father’s footsteps. Josie meets Jacob Coote (Kick Gurry), a rebellious and charismatic public school student, at an inter school debate. They dance together at Josie’s Year 12 formal, and even go on a date, but their personalities clash and they mutually decide to not pursue things further.

Josie’s mother, Christina Alibrandi (Greta Scacchi), gave birth to Josie out of wedlock when she was 17. Christina was disowned by her father, Francesco Alibrandi, and banished from the family home until his death. Josie has a rocky relationship with her grandmother/nonna, Katia Alibrandi (Elena Cotta), and they frequently argue. Christina never told Josie’s father, Michael Andretti (Anthony LaPaglia), that she had his baby. He moved to Adelaide to study law, and has since been working as a lawyer there. During Josie’s final year of high school, he visits Sydney temporarily for work and finds out about his child. Josie is initially uninterested in pursuing a father/daughter relationship with Michael, due to his absence for most of her life.

One day, Josie arrives at school and it is revealed that John Barton has taken his own life. Josie is devastated and struggles to cope with the loss. She seeks comfort in Jacob, and they begin a romantic relationship. Josie gets into a physical altercation with Carly (Leeanna Walsman) at school, and after Carly’s father threatens to sue, she asks Michael for his help. They bond as father and daughter and start spending time together. Michael decides to move back to Sydney for a more long-term basis.

Katia reveals a family secret; throughout their marriage, Francesco was abusive and neglectful towards her. She then had an affair with an Anglo-Australian man, Marcus Sandford, and he is the biological father of Christina. Francesco was aware that Christina was not his biological daughter because he is infertile, and this is one of the reasons why he resented her so much. Katia revealing this secret helps improve her relationship with Christina and Josie, and they subsequently grow closer as a family.

Cast

Production

The world premiere of the play Looking for Alibrandi, based on the novel, was created and performed by the PACT Youth Theatre in 1995. [5] It sold out for three seasons, leading to the making of a film adaptation. [6]

The film was produced by Robyn Kershaw. [7]

The entire film was filmed in Sydney, including such locations as Glebe (Alibrandi's house), Bondi Beach, Sydney Central Station on Eddy Avenue, the Concert Hall Northern Foyer, and entrance of Sydney Opera House (the Have your Say Day scene), George Street/Anzac Bridge (the scene where Jacob Coote sent Josephine Alibrandi home with his motorcycle), the Scots College and Kincoppal School were also used throughout the film, the main quadrangle of University of Sydney (the John Barton and Josephine Alibrandi scene), Village Cinema (Jacob and Josie's date) and Oporto (where Josie works part-time).[ citation needed ]

Critical acclaim

The film, while not well known in international markets, has received critical acclaim for its insights into both the second-generation-migrant experience and the universal human condition.

Looking for Alibrandi was Kate Woods' directorial debut in film; Woods was acclaimed for "giving [the film's] multicultural terrain the true respect and depth it deserves." [8]

Awards

Looking for Alibrandi won five awards at the 2000 AFI Awards: [7]

Box office

Looking for Alibrandi grossed approximately $8,300,000 at the box office in Australia. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miranda Otto</span> Australian actress (born 1967)

Miranda Otto is an Australian actress. She is the daughter of actors Barry and Lindsay Otto and the paternal half-sister of actress Gracie Otto. Otto began her acting career in 1986 at age 18 and appeared in a variety of independent and major studio films in Australia. She made her major film debut in Emma's War in 1987 in which she played a teenager who moves to Australia's bush country during World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anzac Bridge</span> Cable-stayed bridge in Sydney, Australia

The Anzac Bridge is an eight-lane cable-stayed bridge that carries the Western Distributor (A4) across Johnstons Bay between Pyrmont and Glebe Island, on the western fringe of the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. The bridge forms part of the road network leading from the central business district, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and Cross City Tunnel to the Inner West and Northern Suburbs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony LaPaglia</span> Australian actor (born 1959)

Anthony LaPaglia is an Australian actor. He has won three AACTA Awards, Best Actor in a Leading Role for Lantana (2001) and Balibo (2009), and Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Nitram (2021).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greta Scacchi</span> Italian-born actress (born 1960)

Greta Scacchi, OMRI is an actress known for her roles in the films White Mischief (1987), Presumed Innocent (1990), The Player (1992), Emma (1996) and Looking for Alibrandi (2000).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leeanna Walsman</span> Australian actress

Leeanna Walsman is an Australian actress. She is best known for her role as Zam Wesell in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002), and for her roles in the 2000 film Looking for Alibrandi and the television series Wentworth. She was nominated for both AACTA and Logie awards for her role in Emmy Award-winning series Safe Harbour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gia Carides</span> Australian actress (born 1964)

Gia Carides is an Australian actress. She portrayed Liz Holt in Strictly Ballroom (1992), Susy Connor in Brilliant Lies (1996), and Cousin Nikki in the My Big Fat Greek Wedding franchise (2002–2023).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blanche d'Alpuget</span> Australian writer

Josephine Blanche d'Alpuget is an Australian writer and the second wife of Bob Hawke, the longest-serving Labor Prime Minister of Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riverside Girls High School</span> School in Huntleys Point, New South Wales, Australia

Riverside Girls High School is a secondary, public, day school for girls, located in Huntleys Point, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia. It was founded in 1934, celebrating its 80th anniversary in 2014.

Carmelina Marchetta is an Australian writer and teacher. Marchetta is best known as the author of teen novels, Looking for Alibrandi, Saving Francesca and On the Jellicoe Road. She has twice been awarded the CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers, in 1993 and 2004. For Jellicoe Road she won the 2009 Michael L. Printz Award from the American Library Association, recognizing the year's best book for young adults.

<i>The Heartbreak Kid</i> (1993 film) 1993 Australian film

The Heartbreak Kid is a 1993 Australian romantic comedy film directed by Michael Jenkins, who also wrote with Richard Barrett. It stars Claudia Karvan as Christina Papadopoulos, a 22-year-old Greek-Australian teacher who falls in love with her 17-year-old, soccer-obsessed student, Nick Polides, played by Alex Dimitriades.

<i>Looking for Alibrandi</i> (novel) 1992 Australian novel by Melina Marchetta

Looking for Alibrandi is the debut novel of Australian author Melina Marchetta, published in 1992. A film adaptation of the same name was made in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pia Miranda</span> Australian actress

Pia Miranda is an Australian actress. Her career was launched with her role in the 2000 feature film Looking for Alibrandi, an Australian film based on the novel of the same name by Melina Marchetta. She is also known for her roles as Karen Oldman in Neighbours (1998–1999), Jodie Spiteri in Wentworth (2015), and Jen in Mustangs FC (2017–2020), as well as winning Australian Survivor in 2019.

Jessica is an Australian television miniseries based on the historical novel by Bryce Courtenay. Originally broadcast by Australia's Network Ten in 2004 and set in the Australian outback at the turn of the twentieth century, this family based drama follows a young woman who is unjustly institutionalised. Jessica won a 2005 Logie award for best mini-series or telemovie, plus two awards at the 2004 Chicago International Film Festival - one of them for the direction of Australian Peter Andrikidis.

<i>Garage Days</i> 2002 Australian film

Garage Days is a 2002 Australian comedy-drama film directed by Alex Proyas and written by Proyas, Dave Warner and Michael Udesky. Garage Days is the story of a young Sydney garage band desperately trying to make it big in the competitive world of rock music. Its soundtrack includes the song "Garage Days" composed by David McCormack and Andrew Lancaster and performed by Katie Noonan. The climax of the film was filmed at the Homebake festival in Sydney in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kick Gurry</span> Australian actor

Christopher "Kick" Gurry is an Australian actor. He is known for his roles in films such as Looking for Alibrandi (1999), Garage Days (2002), Speed Racer (2008), and Edge of Tomorrow (2014), and has also starred in several television series.

Daisy Betts Miller is an Australian actress, who starred in Out of the Blue and Persons Unknown. Betts appeared in the 2010 motion picture Caught Inside, directed by Adam Blaiklock and starring Ben Oxenbould, Sam Lyndon, Simon Lyndon, Leeanna Walsman, Harry Cook, and Peter Phelps. Betts starred on the ABC TV series Last Resort playing Lieutenant Grace Shepard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robyn Kershaw</span>

Robyn Kershaw is an Australian independent film and television producer, best known for her work on feature drama, Looking for Alibrandi (2000), musical-comedy, Bran Nue Dae (2009), the hit TV series Kath & Kim and working with the YouTube sensation Mychonny on Sucker (2015), Mychonny Moves In (2015) and The China Boy Show (2017).

<i>Holding the Man</i> (film) 2015 Australian film directed by Neil Armfiel

Holding the Man is a 2015 Australian romantic drama film adapted from Timothy Conigrave's 1995 memoir of the same name. It was directed by Neil Armfield and stars Ryan Corr and Craig Stott, with supporting performances from Guy Pearce, Anthony LaPaglia, Sarah Snook, Kerry Fox and Geoffrey Rush. The screenplay was written by Tommy Murphy who also adapted the memoir for the stage play.

<i>Home and Away: An Eye for an Eye</i> 2015 Australian TV series or program

Home and Away: An Eye for an Eye is a television film and spin-off of the Australian soap opera Home and Away. It was written by Sarah Walker and directed by Arnie Custo. It premiered on 9 December 2015 on streaming service Presto, following the season finale of Home and Away. An Eye for an Eye was the first local production commissioned for Presto. The idea for a special was suggested during talks about a joint venture between Presto and the Seven Network. The network's CEO hoped An Eye for an Eye would keep regular viewers of Home and Away interested while the show was off air, while also attracting a new audience to Presto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leila George</span> Australian actress (born 1992)

Leila George D'Onofrio is an Australian actress.

References

  1. ↑ "Looking for Alibrandi (2000) - the Screen Guide - Screen Australia".
  2. ↑ Fry, Catherine. "Looking for Alibrandi". Murdoch University. Archived from the original on 23 July 2001. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
  3. ↑ Speed, Lesley. "Looking For Alibrandi at 30: "No matter how far you run": Looking for Alibrandi and coming of age in Italo-Australian cinema and girlhood". Screening the past. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  4. ↑ Marsh, Walter (7 July 2022). "Looking For Alibrandi at 30: 'There's a white-hot shame about sticking out'". Guardian Australia . Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  5. ↑ "PACT Centre for Emerging Artists facing an uncertain future". Australian Arts Review. 25 August 2020. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  6. ↑ Blake, Elissa (14 October 2014). "PACT Centre for Emerging Artists celebrates 50 years". The Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  7. 1 2 "2000 Winners & Nominees". AFI Awards . Retrieved 25 November 2016.
  8. ↑ "Looking for Alibrandi". ABC . Retrieved 25 April 2010.Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg
  9. ↑ "Top 100 Feature Films of All Time". Screen Australia. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
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.