''Boulevard of Broken Dreams'' is a 1988 Australian film. It was the first movie from

Boulevard Films Boulevard Films was an Australian production company which made a number of movies in the late 1980s and early 1990s, many which were set against a background of the entertainment industry.David Stratton, ''The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bust in ...

Plot

A successful Australian writer discovers he has cancer and returns home to Melbourne to be with his estranged wife and daughter.

Production

Producer-writer

Frank Howson Frank Michael Howson (born 1952) has had a career in entertainment. He directed ''Flynn'' (1996) on the early life of Errol Flynn and ''Hunting'' (1991). Howson, with Peter Boyle, helped establish Boulevard Films which produced thirteen film ...

met

Pino Amenta Pino Amenta is an Australian director best known for his work in television. Selected credits Film Television The numbers in directing credits refer to the number of episodes. Personal life He is the father of actress Jade Amenta. Haywar ...

when discussing a possible mini-series about

Les Darcy James Leslie Darcy (28 October 189524 May 1917) was an Australian boxer. He was a middleweight, but held the Australian Heavyweight Championship title at the same time. Les Darcy was the 2003 Inductee for the Australian National Boxing Hall ...

. That was never made but they decided to collaborate on this film. Howson later said, "It was the first film we'd done, and it was made with a lot of commercial requirements because we weren't in the position to just make a film and hope for the best. We set out to make a film that would do well here and internationally."Paul Kalina, "Boulevard Films", ''Cinema Papers'', November 1989 p42-43 Among these decisions was the ending. Originally, John Waters' character was to get on a plane to Los Angeles without anyone knowing that he returned home to die. In the final film, though, he was reunited with his wife and child. Howson placed a great emphasis on music for the movie:

We recorded a great deal of those songs in LA with people like Richie Havens, Dan Hill, and Marc Jordan. On most Australian productions, the soundtrack tends to be done last and usually at a stage when they have almost run out of money. It suffers as a result. To me, the soundtrack is one of the most important things for the emotional balance of a film.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack album was released in 1988 through CBS. It earned songwriters Frank Howson,

John Capek John Joseph Capek is a composer, arranger, keyboardist, producer. Biography John Capek was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic). on 27 November 1947. He is the son of Fred Capek, a concert pianist and Mechanical Engineer, and ...

Beeb Birtles Beeb Birtles (born Gerard Bertelkamp, 28 November 1948) is an Australian musician, singer, songwriter and guitarist. He has been a member of various Australian groups including Zoot (1967–71), Mississippi (1972–74), Little River Band (1975 ...

and David Scofield a nomination for the 1989

ARIA Award for Best Original Soundtrack, Cast or Show Album The ARIA Music Award for Best Original Soundtrack / Cast / Show Album is an award presented within the Fine Arts Awards at the annual ARIA Music Awards. The ARIA Awards recognise "the many achievements of Aussie artists across all music genres ...

. * Boulevard of Broken Dreams (Frank Howson/John Capek/Marc Jordan) –

Marc Jordan Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system o ...

. * Breathless (Howson/Capek) – Renee Geyer. * Dreams (Howson/Beeb Birtles) –

. * Under Fire (Howson/Capek) – Marc Jordan. * The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter (Howson/Capek) –

Stephen Cummings Stephen Donald Cummings (born 13 September 1954) is an Australian rock singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer of Melbourne-based rock band the Sports from 1976 to 1981, followed by a solo career which has met with critical acclaim but ha ...

. * We Had It All (Dan Hill/Capek/Howson) –

Dan Hill Daniel Grafton Hill IV (born 3 June 1954) is a Canadian pop singer and songwriter. He had two major international hits with his songs " Sometimes When We Touch" and "Can't We Try", a duet with Vonda Shepard, as well as a number of other charti ...

. * Somewhere in the Night (Howson/Capek) –

Vanetta Fields Venetta Lee Fields (born 1941) is an American-born singer, musical theater actress and vocal coach. She was a backing vocalist for American and British rock and pop acts of the 1960s and 1970s, including Ike & Tina Turner, Pink Floyd, Humble P ...

. * True Love Ways (Buddy Holly/Norman Petty) – Buddy Holly. * I Could Have Been A Hero (Howson/David Schofield) –

. * One Good Reason (Howson/Capek) – Richie Havens. * Tom Traubert's Blues (Tom Waits) –

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...

Reception

John Waters earned an AFI Award for Best Actor and the film was popular enough for Boulevard Films to secure funding for a further five movies. Reviews were mostly poor.Paul Byrnes, 'Not just wet but dripping', ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', 19 October 1988
accessed 17 October 2012

References

External links

*
''Boulevard of Broken Dreams''
at Oz Movies Australian drama films 1988 films 1980s English-language films 1980s Australian films {{1980s-Australia-film-stub