''Blue Fin'' is a 1978 Australian

family film A children's film, or family film, is a film genre that contains children or relates to them in the context of home and family. Children's films are made specifically for children and not necessarily for a general audience, while family films are ...

directed by

Carl Schultz Carl Schultz (born 1939) is a Hungarian-Australian film director. Early life and works He left his native Budapest during the uprising of 1956 with his brother Otto Schultz. They fled to England, and after arriving in London they moved to Man ...

and starring

Hardy Krüger Hardy Krüger (; born Eberhard August Franz Ewald Krüger; 12 April 1928 – 19 January 2022) was a German actor and author, who appeared in more than 60 films from 1944 onwards. After becoming a film star in Germany in the 1950s, Krüger increa ...

Greg Rowe Greg Rowe (born 1964 in Adelaide, South Australia) is an Australian former child actor who starred in Australian films such as '' Storm Boy'' (1976) and ''Blue Fin'' (1978), both based on novels by Colin Thiele. His last film was ''Freedom'' ( ...

and

Elspeth Ballantyne Elspeth Ballantyne (born 20 April 1939) is an Australian retired actress, who appeared in productions in theatre, television and films over a career that spanned nearly 60 years, a veteran of the industry having started her career as a child a ...

. It is based on a 1969 Australian novel written by

Colin Thiele Colin Milton Thiele AC (; 16 November 1920 – 4 September 2006) was an Australian author and educator. He was renowned for his award-winning children's fiction, most notably the novels '' Storm Boy'', ''Blue Fin'', the ''Sun on the Stubble'' s ...

Plot

Based on the children's novel by

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

n author

, this is a father and son story about tuna fishing of Southern Blue Fin tuna in South Australia's

Port Lincoln Port Lincoln is a town on the Lower Eyre Peninsula in the Australian state of South Australia. It is situated on the shore of Boston Bay, which opens eastward into Spencer Gulf. It is the largest city in the West Coast region, and is located a ...

fishing district. Accident-prone son Snook is forever making mistakes much to the chagrin of his father Pascoe. But when tragedy strikes the fishing boat during a deep sea fishing trek in the Southern Ocean, the boy is called on to become a man in a rites of sea passage to reconcile his past mishaps and save both his father and the ship from certain disaster. Twelve-year-old Steve Pascoe is nicknamed 'Snook' by everyone in Port Lincoln. He's thin and long-faced, like the fish he's named after. At school he's no good at sport and, at home, his father scorns him. Snook joins his father and fellow crewmen on a tuna-fishing expedition, when disaster strikes. It is up to Snook to save himself and his father from a desperate situation.

Cast

as Bill Pascoe *

as Steve "Snook" Pascoe *

Liddy Clark Elizabeth Anne Clark (born 6 November 1953 in Adelaide, South Australia), is an Australian former politician with the Labor Party in the Queensland Legislature who held the seat for Clayfield and also an actress of television and film, director ...

as Ruth Pascoe *

as Mrs. Pascoe *

John Jarratt John Jarratt is an Australian television film actor, producer and director and TV presenter who rose to fame through his work in the Australian New Wave. He has appeared in a number of film roles including '' Picnic at Hanging Rock'' (1975), ' ...

as Sam Snell *

Hugh Keays-Byrne Hugh Keays-Byrne (18 May 1947 – 2 December 2020) was a British-Australian actor and film director. A former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he was best known for playing the main antagonist in two films from the ''Mad Max'' franchise ...

as Stan

Production

The film is an unofficial follow up to '' Storm Boy'' (1976) with the same writer and star, also adapted from a Colin Thiele novel. The

South Australian Film Corporation South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC) is a South Australian Government statutory corporation established in 1972 to engage in film production and promote the film industry, located in Adelaide, South Australia. The Adelaide Studios are managed ...

(SAFC) did not want to use

Henri Safran Henri Safran (born 7 October 1932) is a Paris-born director who worked extensively in Australia. He worked in French television, then in Britain, before moving to Australia in 1960 to work with the ABC. He became an Australian citizen in 1963 but ...

as director, though, so employed another director from the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

.David Stratton, ''The Last New Wave: The Australian Film Revival'',

Angus & Robertson Angus & Robertson (A&R) is a major Australian bookseller, publisher and printer. As book publishers, A&R has contributed substantially to the promotion and development of Australian literature.Alison, Jennifer (2001). "Publishers and editors: A ...

, 1980 p271-272 The film was shot in

Streaky Bay Streaky the Supercat is a fictional superhero cat that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. He first appeared in ''Action Comics'' #261 (February 1960) and was created by Jerry Siegel and Jim Mooney. He is Supergirl (Kara Zor-El), Su ...

in mid 1978.

Reshoots

During post production editor Rod Adamson claimed the film would not cut together. Five weeks after filming had completed, Schultz had to leave the film to take up a directing job at the ABC. Accordingly, Matt Carroll of the SAFC called in

Bruce Beresford Bruce Beresford (; born 16 August 1940) is an Australian film director who has made more than 30 feature films over a 50-year career, both locally and internationally in the United States. Beresford's notable films he has directed include ''Br ...

, who was under contract to them, to re-shoot some sequences. Some of these had to be done using a body double for Hardy Kruger since he had returned to Europe. Schultz was supportive of Beresford stepping in but was unhappy with the fact he supervised the final re-cut.Peter Beilby & Rod Bishop, "Carl Schultz", ''Cinema Papers'', Jan-Feb 1979 p242

Proposed Remake

In 2017 it was announced the movie would be remade.

DVD release

A DVD was released on 1 January 2003.

References

External links

* *
''Blue Fin''
at Oz Movies
''Blue Fin''
at the

National Film & Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national c ...

Blue Fin
at

Screen Australia Screen Australia is the Australian Federal Government's key funding body for the Australian screen production industry, created under the ''Screen Australia Act 2008''. From 1 July 2008 Screen Australia took over the functions of its predecess ...

''Blue Fin''
at the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''
Pacific International Enterprises
{{portalbar, Novels, Children's literature 1978 films 1978 drama films 1978 independent films Australian drama films Australian independent films Films about fishing Films based on Australian novels Films directed by Carl Schultz Films set in South Australia Survival films Australian novels adapted into films 1978 directorial debut films 1970s English-language films