''Sunday Too Far Away'' is a 1975 Australian

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Ken Hannam Ken Hannam (12 July 1929 – 16 November 2004) was an Australian film and television director who also worked in British television drama. Career Born in St Kilda, Melbourne, the eldest of three boys, Hannam lived in his youth in Sydney and ...

. It belongs to the Australian Film Renaissance or the "Australian New Wave", which occurred during that decade. The film is set on a

sheep station A sheep station is a large property ( station, the equivalent of a ranch) in Australia or New Zealand, whose main activity is the raising of sheep for their wool and/or meat. In Australia, sheep stations are usually in the south-east or sout ...

in the Australian

outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastlines and encompass a n ...

in 1955 and its action concentrates on the shearers' reactions to a threat to their bonuses and the arrival of non-union labour. Acclaimed for its understated realism of the work, camaraderie and general life of the shearer,

Jack Thompson Jack Thompson may refer to: Sports * Jack Thompson (footballer, born 1892) (1892–1969), English footballer who played for Sheffield United and Bristol City * Jack Thompson (1920s footballer), English footballer who played for Aston Villa and Brig ...

plays the knock-about Foley, a heavy drinking gun shearer (talented professional sheep shearer), and while he makes a play for the station owner's daughter Sheila (Lisa Peers), the film is a presentation of various aspects of Australian male culture and not a romance; the film's title itself is reputedly the lament of an Australian shearer's wife: "Friday night

e's is a Japanese shōnen manga series written and drawn by Satoru Yuiga. It was originally serialized in ''Monthly GFantasy'' from 1997 through 2005, and later published in 16 ''tankōbon'' volumes by Square Enix from March 18, 2003 to Februa ...

too tired; Saturday night too drunk; Sunday, too far away". ''Sunday Too Far Away'' won three 1975

Australian Film Institute The Australian Film Institute (AFI) was founded in 1958 as a non-profit organisation devoted to developing an active film culture in Australia and fostering engagement between the general public and the Australian film industry. It is responsib ...

awards: Best Film, Best Actor in a Leading Role and Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

Plot

In 1956, gun shearer Foley joins a new shearing team sharing a room with Old Garth, a once great shearer who is now a drunk. Foley and his team battle to get in a new cook, Old Garth dies and Foley befriends the grazier's daughter. Foley loses his status as top shearer to Arthur Black and blows most of his money gambling. The shearers go on strike and Foley and his team get involved in a brawl with non-union labour.

Cast

as Foley *

Max Cullen Max Cullen (born 29 April 1940) is an Australian stage and screen actor. He has appeared in many Australian films and television series but is best known for his role in the film ''Spider and Rose'' and the television series ''The Flying Doctors ...

as Tim King *

Robert Bruning Robert Bruning (27 May 1928 – 4 March 2008) was an Australian actor and film producer, who was the founder of film production firm Gemini Productions Biography Bruning was born as Robert Bell in Dongara, Western Australia in 1928. He worked a ...

as Tom West *Jerry Thomas as Basher *

Peter Cummins Peter Cummins (born 2 June 1931 in Melbourne) is an Australian retired character actor of stage and screen and chorister who was especially prominent in the 1970s and appeared in some of the most famous Australian films of the period. He was pa ...

as Arthur Black *

John Ewart Jon Ewart (06th May 1996) is a British television and film actor. Ewart attended the prestigious National Youth Theatre, Identity School of Acting and has appeared in many successful Television shows. Biography Career Ewart, who was born in M ...

as Ugly *

Sean Scully Sean Scully (born 30 June 1945) is an Irish-born American-based artist working as a painter, printmaker, sculptor and photographer. His work is held in museum collections worldwide and he has twice been named a Turner Prize nominee. Moving fro ...

as Beresford *

Reg Lye Reginald Thomas Lye (14 October 1912 – 23 March 1988), was an Australian actor who worked extensively in Australia and England. He was one of the busiest Australian actors of the 1950s, appearing in the majority of locally shot features at th ...

as Old Garth *Graham Smith as Jim the Learner *Laurie Rankin as Old Station Hand *Lisa Peers as Sheila *Philip Ross as Mr Dawson *

Ken Shorter Ken Shorter (born -1947), also credited as Kenneth Shorter. is an Australian actor best known for playing the title role in the biker film ''Stone'' (1974), and ''You Can't See 'round Corners'' (1969).> Television appearances include '' Skippy ...

as Frankie

Production

The film was the first feature produced by 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 ...

. They wanted to make a film about the Gallipoli campaign and considered a co-production with Crawford Productions.

John Dingwall John Dingwall (13 July 1940 – 3 May 2004) was an Australian journalist, writer and director of film and television, best known for his screenplay '' Sunday Too Far Away'' (1975). Dingwall should not be confused with the Scottish journalist of ...

was signed to write it. However the film fell through when Crawfords fell out with the SAFC. Dingwall, still under contract to them, proposed instead a treatment called ''Shearers'', based on his brother-in-law, who was a shearer. Matt Carroll at the SAFC was particularly enthusiastic and recruited

to direct. The original treatment concerned the 1956 shearer's strike. This ended up being condensed greatly.David Stratton, ''The Last New Wave: The Australian Film Revival'', Angus & Robertson, 1980 p98-101 Among the investors in the movie were the Australian Film Development Corporation. Shooting began in May 1974 and took place near

Port Augusta Port Augusta is a small city in South Australia. Formerly a port, seaport, it is now a road traffic and Junction (rail), railway junction city mainly located on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf immediately south of the gulf's head and about ...

and

Quorn Quorn is a brand of meat substitute products, or the company that makes them. Quorn originated in the UK and is sold primarily in Europe, but is available in 14 countries. The brand is owned by parent company Monde Nissin. Quorn is sold as b ...

in South Australia. It encountered rains and flood and was completed behind schedule in May. The original cut of the film was over two hours. A number of scenes were reduced during post production, including the removal of Foley's romance with the grazier's daughter, and shifting Foley having a car crash from the end of the movie to the beginning. This caused a great deal of conflict between Ken Hannam, Gil Brearley and Matt Carroll.

Release

Before being released, the film won four major prizes at the Australian Film Awards in March 1975 and was selected for screening in the Directors' Fortnight at Cannes Film Festival in May. ''Sunday Too Far Away'' grossed $1,356,000 at the box office in Australia ($ in dollars).''Film Victoria - Australian Films at the Australian Box Office''
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References

External links

''Sunday Too Far Away''
at the

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''Sunday Too Far Away''
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''Sunday Too Far Away''
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Australian Screen Online 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 co ...

''Sunday Too Far Away''
at Murdoch University Reading Room
''Sunday Too Far Away''
at

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

''Sunday Too Far Away''
at Oz Movies
Cinephilia''Sunday Too Far Away''
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Kodak/Atlab Cinema Collection
{{Ken Hannam 1975 films Australian drama films Films shot in Flinders Ranges Films about sheep 1975 drama films Films set in 1955 Films directed by Ken Hannam 1970s English-language films Films set in the Outback