Australian Movies and the American Dream

(Hardback)

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This book is thorough, well organized, and useful. It establishes background on the Australian understanding of the American dream, Austalian photography, image, and subject matter, and American influence on Australian cinema. Brief chapters summarize film theory, applicable mass communication theory, and financial practices of the Australian motion picture industry. Choice . . . presents an examination of major movies made in Australia in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The author argues that part of the reason for the success of Australian cinema in recent years may lie with America's identification with a simpler culture, an almost `wild west' atmosphere. To explore his thesis the author first offers a short history of the Australian cinema, and then a theory of film as mass communication. Communication Booknotes Lewis introduces Australian films from the 1920's and 30's and then focuses on thirty films produced between 1975 and 1987. He suggests that part of the reason for Australia's film success may lie in America's identification with a simpler culture and the portrayal of wild west type territory which is often found in Australian films. He also points out that various aspects of American culture have seeped into Australian culture and now appear in their films, making them more appealing to an American audience. He concludes this insightful study with a projection analysis for the future of Australian cinema. With its up-to-date content and analytical approach, this book will be valuable to anyone concerned with mass communication and society, cinema studies, media, or U.S.-Australian relations.

Reviews

Based on a course on postwar Australian motion pictures taught by the author at University of Kansas in 1986, this book is thorough, well organized, and useful. It establishes background on the Australian understanding of the American dream, Australian photography, image, and subject matter, and American influence on Australian cinema. Brief chapters summarize film theory, applicable mass communication theory, and financial practices of the Australian motion picture industry. Most of the book narrates the history of Australian films, provides well-written and balanced summaries of recent Australian motion pictures, and puts them in the context of American movies of the same periods and in the social context of Australian viewer demand. The detached Australian style is aptly illustrated with discussions of American films made by Australians and by the establishment of Australian film's international reputation. Some trivial work is seriously considered, and the profound is not always differentiated from the merely successful, but the text is remarkably complete for its brevity. It demonstrates conclusively that Australian film existed before Crocodile Dundee, and that the acclaim of 1986 was built on earlier success.-Choice
"Based on a course on postwar Australian motion pictures taught by the author at University of Kansas in 1986, this book is thorough, well organized, and useful. It establishes background on the Australian understanding of the American dream, Australian photography, image, and subject matter, and American influence on Australian cinema. Brief chapters summarize film theory, applicable mass communication theory, and financial practices of the Australian motion picture industry. Most of the book narrates the history of Australian films, provides well-written and balanced summaries of recent Australian motion pictures, and puts them in the context of American movies of the same periods and in the social context of Australian viewer demand. The detached Australian style is aptly illustrated with discussions of American films made by Australians and by the establishment of Australian film's international reputation. Some trivial work is seriously considered, and the profound is not always differentiated from the merely successful, but the text is remarkably complete for its brevity. It demonstrates conclusively that Australian film existed before Crocodile Dundee, and that the acclaim of 1986 was built on earlier success."-Choice

Author Bio

GLEN LEWIS is Lecturer in the Department of Communication Studies at Canberra College of Advanced Education.