Not quite Hollywood

Madman Entertainment

Released theatrically August 28^th 2008

Web: http://www.notquitehollywood.com.au

Not Quite Hollywood is the ultimate guilty pleasure, it is the most fun I have watching a movie in the last year and I watch lots of films. It is a rip roaring roller coaster ride through the low brow world of Ozploitation, the world of Australian genre cinema. This is a super fast paced doco made by Mark Hartley which is not only a homage to cult cinema but to Hartley’s superb direction and editing style. It is a doco which has the punch and style of an action film - filled to the brim with movie clips, action shots, nudity, explosions, violence, more nudity, interviews, kung fu and more nudity - it is an orgiastic banquet of 70s and 80s films.

There are just so many cult classics which have been long forgotten which are now discussed in this truly affectionate yet irrelevant celebration. You leave the film savouring all the different flavours and wishing for more.

Australian genre films are those we may so often remember but pretend not to. While the art and period epics of Australian cinema were heralded as great masterpieces, these were the films that were lambasted by the critics but adored by the public and loved at the late night sessions of the local drive in. They were the films that people flocked to in droves while the puritans denounced them as bringing about the fall of Western Civilization. Well, Western Civilization did not fall and while the wowsers still wail, the genre film is still here and still being fondly remembered and luckily, now are experiencing a bit of a renaissance..

Ranging from sex romps such as Alvin Purple and Stork to the crass humour of Barry Mackenzie and his first technicolour yawn on screen. From the action classics such as Mad Max and the Man from Kong Kong to offensive splatter classics such as Turkey Shoot, they are all here, remembered in their wild abandon and show in all their midnight glory.

Throughout this journey into the underbelly of cinema is a wide range of interviews ranging from such lovers of the medium as Quentin Tarantino, Richard Franklin, Dennis Hopper, Barry Humphries and George Miller to its staunchest critics in the like of Bob Ellis and Phillip Adams. Quentin Tarantino is especially memorable with his colourful dialogue, offhand comments and obvious adoration for the genre.

There are lots of wild gossip, rumours, juicy titbits and memories as well as stories which were probably best not told “out of school”, but lovely to hear anyway ! At times it is like listening to a bunch of old friends reminiscing, it has a marvellously direct quality as well as the enthusiasm of a director who is obviously a true film obsessive.

At the same time it is not all puff and ego stroking, there are lots of honest moments and blunt reflections on the dangers of “gonzo” filmmaking in a period when safety regulations were not existent and pretty well anything was fair game. It is intelligent filmmaking, allowing the movies, memorabilia and film clips coupled with interviews tell the story, there is no overriding critical judgment, and thank god, no unnecessary film criticism. These were films made to shock the conservative cobwebs out of the psyche of a narrow Australia and they successes admirably. Many were great successes, others were dismal failures. Sadly so many now are relegated to the selves of film archives and have never seen the light of day, even the most basic DVD release.

This is an enthusiastic film which gets the motor running, it is excitable, energetic and infectious. The moment it finished I began rummaging through the internet to look for DVD releases of these old classics. While many could not be found, I located some and will start my journey down memory lane tomorrow night !

There is also a serious side to Not Quite Hollywood as it explores the censorship row that occurred during the 70s and 80s which still raises its ugly head today in 2008. You would think that in the 21^st century the government would believe adults would be mature enough to decide what they wish to watch in the privacy in their own home, but not so. The Wowsers such as Fred Nile (as shown) are still pocking their noses into our privates now and many of the observations by Barry Humphries on the then chief censor of Australian films could equally still apply today.

Not quite Hollywood reminds you of just how daring Australian film was in the 70s and 80s and also holds out hope for a return to such genre glory again, especially with the success of such films as Wolf Creek, Saw and Rogue.