HUNT ANGELS
Director: Alec Morgan Stars: Ben mendelsohn, Victoria Hill, Charles Tingwell, Robert Bruning
Reviewed by WENDY RAWADY
If there is one thing that has always bothered me about our amazing National Film and Sound Archives, it is the sad scaling down of their documentary unit. This tiny band of merry archivists put their love of historical footage to good commercial use, making stories that put together a heap of footage and selling to the public. Thus came Cops, Spies And Private Eyes and many other NFSA productions. These sold well to the public (probably not self-sustaining, but served a purpose) and were a ready reference to the range of footage available.
Hunt Angels - conceived, written and directed by the multi-talented scripting lecturer, Alec Morgan - is an intriguing docudrama (or some other genre!). It puts Ben Mendelsohn and Victoria Hill in the roles of early guerrilla filmmakers, the mysterious Rupert Kathner and Alma Brooks. Around their stories is a flurry of interviews with people who were there, or their dramatic representatives. This latter choice is the only aspect bothering me about the way the story unfolded. As soon as I recognised esteemed actor, Robert Bruning, in there, speaking as though he were the real thing, I thought: “Aha! Mockumentary, not Doco!” and shut down a little. However, rather quickly, the reality does eventually sink home and it is, ultimately, entertaining and fascinating.
You see, the pair didn’t just content themselves with adding music and effects to their newsreels in the manner of, say, Perth television in the 1960’s. No, they went the whole hog and recreated the stories without police permission. Thus, gory murders, such as that of The Pyjama Girl, were filmed with actors (of Alma and Rupert themselves) and it was all a lot like the blood and guts approach of Truth Newspaper, a scary tabloid icon for many decades. Rupe and Alma were not only there to direct and produce, but also made sets, acted in many roles and hunted for the funding (hence the title). They also had a great feel of the sensational, and Alec Morgan has turned his own personal voyage of discovery into something really worthwhile.
This film reflects strongly the passion of its creators, pivotal to that, Alec Morgan who stumbled across the story while engaged as Creative Director for the Nine Network series, Our Century. This was seven years ago. I asked Alec what the crack-through moment was, when the dream that he had nurtured and deeply researched over a period of five years, was to become reality. Oddly, in this age of ABC ineffectiveness, it was Stuart Menzies, Commissioning Ed of docos, who put his hand up for support. Then followed Sue Maslin and Film Victoria and gradually, Sue pushed all the pieces into place in such an efficient way that the film came in on time and budget. This is all good news. A note on this factor though, it still worries me a bit that it was December Films, Stuart’s own company, which had involvement in the film through Tony Stevens (editor) and Rose Draper (VFX). As with Family Footsteps there appears to be a strong conflict of interest here - there may NOT be, but that’s the way it looks. In this tiny industry it is very difficult to avoid working with close associates, so it’s probably the only way this splendid project could have been supported. But many rejected doco makers may just see this as insider trading!
For writers out there tearing their hair out over all those projects wasting away in the bottom drawer, Alec is adamant that good stories will rise to the surface and get made. Alec writes every day, is a born story teller from the kind of stock that is now a cliché of literary talent: Irish catholic born in New Zealand and Jesuit educated in his secondary years. But when he spots a story, his eyes light up and he has an innate ability to make it entertaining.
Regrets? Well, none about this film which should garner a steady audience and will have a long life. No, Alec regrets the current climate of our money-driven society in which some stories can never be told. As a crack researcher, it is clear that he has stumbled across many thousands of good yarns but theres a dominating sector of society threatened by aspects of Australia’s past. Alec is the man who brought the multi-award winning Lousy Little Sixpence to our screens on ABCTV in 1983, and this was added to a list of productions already getting the hackles up of those whose job it is to whitewash our past and lie with statistics. He was co-producer of The Secret Country (1988) and Admission Impossible (1992) which looked at the controversial White Australia Immigration Policies. There have been many more. But modestly, he hasn’t listed much of it on imdb.com, despite being one of the most highly awarded people in our industry, winning the Gold Medal for Best Environmental Film at the 1990 New York Film Festival.
Oldies will love seeing the archival footage, younger audiences will just have a good laugh. Note that the woman who put this together, Compositor and VFX Supervisor, Rose Draper, was pretty much inventing her own method as she grappled with the complex visual effects. The look is not just true to the period but has a great wit and rhythm about it.
Performances are fine across the board, though sometimes Ben Mendelsohn is a little wooden and his lisp is rather getting in the way of things and perhaps should be addressed so that his fine acting skills can rise to the surface once more. I asked Alec about the authenticity of the dialogue as I had some concerns with the language used, but he assured me that much of it was in Rupert Kathner's own words. The book Let's Make A Movie by Kathner was an invaluable resource. As well, Paul Kathner, son of Rupert, gave the film his support and I am sure that he is happy with the treatment of his Robin Hood-like father!
Don’t miss it!
Reviewed by GREG KING
Pioneer or charlatan? That is the question explored by writer/director Alec Morgan in this ironically funny dramatised documentary exploring the career of Australian film maker Rupe Kathner (played by Ben Mendelsohn) and his wife (Victoria Hill).
In the decade immediately following WWII, the Australian film scene was still largely dominated by Hollywood, a monolpoly which Kathner was determined to break. However, his many attempts kick start an Australian film industry often ended in spectacular failure.
His reputation as a maverick and outlaw film maker has endured, and some of his early footage, including a version of the legend of Ned Kelly, has survived. Shot in glorious black and white, this often very funny film cleverly incorporates archival footage with specially recreated film footage and revealing “interviews” with supposedly real characters.
Reviewed by PETER KRAUSZ
An absolute delight from start to finish, this mockumentary expose of the domination of the Australian film industry by the US as told through the eyes of two fictional filmmakers, is a brilliant combination of special effects, archival footage, recreated footage and smart dialogue.
Shot in black and white, this Australian treat by Alec Morgan features Ben Mendelsohn and Victoria Hill, plus appearances by other actors playing supposedly real characters.
Not to be missed!