armadalestate

I must admit I was expecting a Discovery Channel how-to. You know the sort of thing-- all nuts and bolts and boring. How refreshing then to see a film that placed The Sydney Harbour Bridge- indeed the entire nation- squarely in its social and historical context. This was not so much a film about a structure as it was about a young nation's striving to find its way in the world.

Skillfully blending marvellous archives with recreations and an entirely original way of re-imagining old photographs, the film was documentary craftwork at its best. Yet it went a step further, offering snippets of real drama, brilliantly displayed by actors. Danny Adcock as the driven engineer Bradfield and especially Bill Young as the scheming Premier Jack Lang carried their roles convincingly- and with obvious relish.

While it packed a lot into if one hour- at times perhaps too much - this film marked a coming of age for Australian history on TV. It was neither derivative nor compromised by playing to foreign audiences. An Australian story tremendously told for Australian audiences. That it was watched by one of the biggest TV audiences of the year is a testament to our desire for such productions. Congratulations to all involved

So many biographies stick to a ready-made and familiar pattern-- little more than a lame recital of movies and talking head interviews that do little to dig beneath the surface. A recently released American documentary about Errol Flynn was just that: predictable and lame Now from Australia, the homeland of the Tasmanian Devil himself, comes a much-more imaginative effort. This film is less about his film and much more about the man himself. And what a man! Flynn's amazing life was more extraordinary than any of his movie roles, and this film captures it with honesty, humour and not a little sadness.

Recently shown by the BBC and a feature of the 2007 Sydney Film Festival, director Nasht has complied another of his telling portraits of Australian icons. We can only wonder at the reaction it engendered from Flynn's surviving widow, Patricia Wymore, when she saw the rake's last girlfriend Beverley Aadland claim that she was the one true love of his life. Narrator Christopher Lee does a deft job of taking us through the often difficult life of his old friend and colleague. Despite Flynn's many faults, we can understand why so many of his contemporaries- and most of his many wives and girlfriends were so fond of the man.

Notable for some cheeky photographic montages (though it could have done with more)this is a fond but clear-eyed assessment of one of Hollywood's most fascinating characters- and a reminder of how anodyne most actors are today.