| Cactus | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Paul Cox |
| Written by | Paul Cox Bob Ellis |
| Produced by | Paul Cox |
| Starring | Isabelle Huppert Robert Menzies |
| Cinematography | Yuri Sokol |
| Edited by | Tim Lewis |
Release date |
|
Running time | 93 minutes |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Budget | A$1.5 million [1] |
| Box office | A$73,751 (Australia) [2] |
Cactus is a 1986 Australian drama film directed by Paul Cox and starring Isabelle Huppert. [3]
The film was inspired by Paul Cox's memory of his mother temporarily going blind when he was a child. He worked on the story for a number of years, then decided he wanted to work with Isabelle Huppert and wrote the script with her in mind. Bob Ellis worked on the script but fought with Cox over the fact it was about a Frenchwoman staying in Australia, and the two men ended their collaboration. [1]
Actors Equity objected to Huppert's importation but this was overruled. [1]
The Djang'kawu, also spelt Djanggawul or Djan'kawu, are creation ancestors in the mythology of the Yolngu people of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is one of the most important stories in Aboriginal Australian mythology, and concerns the moiety known as Dhuwa.
Isabelle Anne Madeleine Huppert is a French actress. Known for her portrayals of cold, austere women devoid of morality, she is considered one of the greatest actresses of her generation. With 16 nominations and two wins, Huppert is the most nominated actress at the César Awards. She is also the recipient of several accolades, including five Lumières Awards, a BAFTA Award, three European Film Awards, two Berlin International Film Festival, three Cannes Film Festival and Venice Film Festival honors, a Golden Globe Award, and an Academy Award nomination. In 2020, The New York Times ranked her second on its list of the greatest actors of the 21st century.
Robert James Ellis was an Australian writer, journalist, filmmaker, and political commentator. He was a student at the University of Sydney at the same time as other notable Australians including Clive James, Germaine Greer, Les Murray, John Bell, Robert Hughes and Mungo McCallum. He lived in Sydney with the author and screenwriter Anne Brooksbank; they had three children.
Yirrkala is a small community in East Arnhem Region, Northern Territory, Australia, 18 kilometres (11 mi) southeast of the large mining town of Nhulunbuy, on the Gove Peninsula in Arnhem Land.
Where the Green Ants Dream is a 1984 English-language West German film directed and co-written by Werner Herzog, made in Australia. Based on a true story about Indigenous land rights in Australia, but slated as a mixture of fact and fiction, it only got a limited release in Australia, where it was not well received by critics; the film fared a bit better in Europe and North America.
Rosebud is a 1975 American action thriller film directed by Otto Preminger, and starring Peter O'Toole, Richard Attenborough, and Peter Lawford. The script was by Otto's son, Erik Lee Preminger, based on the novel by Joan Hemingway and Paul Bonnecarrère. Originally the film was set to star Robert Mitchum, but he left after disagreements with Preminger. Kim Cattrall made her film debut as a teenager.
Wandjuk Djuwakan Marika OBE, was an Aboriginal Australian painter, actor, composer and Indigenous land rights activist. He was a member of the Rirratjingu clan of the Yolngu people of north-east Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia, and the son of Mawalan 1 Marika.
Man of Flowers is a 1983 Australian film about an eccentric, reclusive, middle-aged man, Charles Bremer, who enjoys the beauty of art, flowers, music and watching pretty women undress. Werner Herzog has a cameo role as Bremer's father in flashbacks. The film was directed by Paul Cox and was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival.
Lonely Hearts is a 1982 Australian film directed by Paul Cox which won the 1982 AFI Award for Best Film and was nominated in four other categories.
Women of the Sun is an Australian historical drama television miniseries that was broadcast on SBS Television and later the Australian Broadcasting Company in 1981. The series, co-written by Sonia Borg and Hyllus Maris, was composed of four 60-minute episodes to portray the lives of four Aboriginal women in Australian society from the 1820s to the 1980s. It was the first series that dealt with such subject matter, and later received several awards including two Awgies and five Penguin Awards following its release. It also won the United Nations Association of Australia Media Peace Award and the Banff Grand Prix in 1983.
The Swindle is a 1997 French crime comedy film, directed by Claude Chabrol that stars Isabelle Huppert and Michel Serrault.
Short Changed is a 1986 Australian film directed by George Ogilvie based on a script by Aboriginal writer Bob Merritt, who described it as a "black/white Kramer vs Kramer".
Banduk is a 1985 Australian television film shot in Nhulunbuy in East Arnhem Land, Northern Territory of Australia.
Roy Dadaynga Marika was an Aboriginal Australian artist and Indigenous rights activist. He was a member of the Marika family, brother of Mawalan 1 Marika, Mathaman Marika, Milirrpum Marika and Dhunggala Marika.
Elle is a 2016 psychological thriller film directed by Paul Verhoeven from a screenplay by David Birke, based on the novel Oh... by Philippe Djian. Djian's novel was published in 2012 and received the Prix Interallié. The film stars Isabelle Huppert as a businesswoman who is raped in her home by a masked assailant and decides not to report it due to her past experience with police.
Banduk Mamburra Wananamba Marika, known after her death as Dr B Marika, was an artist, printmaker and environmental activist from Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia, who was dedicated to the development, recognition and preservation of Indigenous Australian art and culture. She uses her artwork to translate her ancestral stories through figures and motifs. She was one of the few Indigenous artists to specialize almost entirely in print making. She was the first Aboriginal person to serve on the National Gallery of Australia's board.
Dhuwarrwarr Marika, also known as Banuminy, a female contemporary Aboriginal artist. She is a Yolngu artist and community leader from East Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. She belongs to the Dhuwa moiety of the Rirratjingu clan in the homeland of Yalangbara, daughter of Mawalan Marika. Marika is an active bark painter, carver, mat maker, and printmaker.
Yalangbara is a coastal area in the East Arnhem (Miwatj) region of Australia's Northern Territory, around 35 km (22 mi) south of Nhulunbuy, the largest town in the area. It is on the country of the Rirratjingu clan of the Yolŋu people, and is one of the most significant cultural areas for the Yolŋu because of its role in the creation story of the Rirratjingu clan, based on the Djang'kawu ancestors.
Mawalan Marika, also referred to as Mawalan 2 Marika to distinguish from his grandfather Mawalan 1 Marika (c.1908-1967), is a Yolngu artist and land custodian of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. He is the son of well-known artist and leader Wandjuk Marika, and nephew to Banduk Marika.
Nancy Gaymala Yunupingu was a senior Yolngu artist and matriarch, who lived in Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, Australia. She worked at the Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre in Yirrkala, where her work is still held, and is known for her graphic art style, bark paintings and printmaking.
... the casting of Aboriginal artist Banduk Marika as Robert's friend. She acts as a kind of sensible chorus,...
