''Illuminations'' is a 1976 Australian film directed by
Paul Cox. It was Cox's first full-length feature film although he had made numerous shorts beforehand.
Plot
A couple living together have a tense relationship. The woman's father dies and she becomes preoccupied with death. She almost drowns in the bath but then recovers her enthusiasm for life.
Cast
*Gabriella Trsek as Gabi
*
Tony Llewellyn-Jones
Tony Llewellyn-Jones is a British-born Australian actor. He was nominated for the 1976 AFI Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his role in '' Picnic at Hanging Rock''.
Born in London, England, Llewellyn-Jones lived in Singapore, Kua ...
as Tony
*
Norman Kaye
Norman James Kaye (17 January 1927 – 28 May 2007) was an Australian actor and musician. He was best known for his roles in the films of director Paul Cox.
Early life and education
Kaye was born in Melbourne and won a scholarship to study at ...
as Gabi's father
*
Sheila Florance
Sheila Mary Florance (24 July 1916 – 12 October 1991) was an Australian theatre, television and film actress. She was best known for her performance as elderly, alcoholic convict Lizzie Birdsworth in the television series ''Prisoner''.
F ...
*
Athol Shmith
Louis Athol Shmith (19 August 1914 – 21 October 1990) was an Australian studio portrait and fashion photographer and photography educator in his home city of Melbourne, Australia. He contributed to the promotion of international photograph ...
*Tibor Markus
*Robert Trauer
*
Elke Neidhardt
Elke Cordelia Neidhardt Member of the Order of Australia, AM (5 July 194125 November 2013) was a German Australian actress and opera and theatre director. She appeared in theatre, television and feature films in Germany, Austria, France and Aust ...
*Fabian Muir
*Alena Leiss
*Christopher Stewart
*Dora Stubenrauch
*Ilona Enten
*John Williams
Production
The film was inspired by a dream Paul Cox had in the early 1970s about being trapped in a coffin, seeing people who he had known all his life.
[Tom Ryan, "Making Silence Speak: Interview with Paul Cox", ''Cinema Papers'', July 1977 p18]
$16,000 of the budget came through the Film, Radio and Television Board of the
Australia Council
The Australia Council for the Arts, commonly known as the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announced in 1967 as the Austra ...
, with the rest from private investment. It was released through Melbourne Co-operatives but never recovered its cost.
[Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, ''Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production'', Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, p 299]
References
External links
*
''Illuminations''at Oz Movies
1976 films
Australian drama films
Films directed by Paul Cox
1970s English-language films
1970s Australian films
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