comedy film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
8th Moscow International Film Festival
The 8th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 10 to 23 July 1973. The Golden Prizes were awarded to the Soviet film '' That Sweet Word: Liberty!'' directed by Vytautas Žalakevičius and the Bulgarian film '' Affection'' directed by L ...
.
Plot summary
A group of public servants go on an annual picnic. Two of them, Peter and Elly, disappear.
Kate Fitzpatrick
Kerry Kathleen Fitzpatrick (born 1 October 1947) known as Kate Fitzpatrick, is an Australian television, film, and theatre actress.
Early years
Kate grew up in the Adelaide suburb of Dover Gardens, and it was in Adelaide that her love for cl ...
as Mara
*Philip Deamer as Peter
*Gaye Steele as Elly
*Ben Gabriel as Mr Johnson
*
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 Jim O'Casey
*Anne Tait
*Francis Flannigan
* Bryon Kennedy
*Graham Richards
Production
Cowan got the idea to make the film while walking through the bush during shooting of a documentary in the Victorian countryside.David Stratton, ''The Last New Wave: The Australian Film Revival'', Angus & Robertson, 1980 p184-185 He says he was also influenced by the novels of
Patrick White
Patrick Victor Martindale White (28 May 1912 – 30 September 1990) was a British-born Australian writer who published 12 novels, three short-story collections, and eight plays, from 1935 to 1987.
White's fiction employs humour, florid prose, ...
and the films of
Antonioni
Michelangelo Antonioni (, ; 29 September 1912 – 30 July 2007) was an Italian filmmaker. He is best known for directing his "trilogy on modernity and its discontents"—''L'Avventura'' (1960), ''La Notte'' (1961), and ''L'Eclisse'' (1962 ...
.Interview with Tom Cowan, 12 November 1998 accessed 11 Oct 2012
The film was shot on 35mm using a budget in part funded by the Experimental Film and Television Fund. It started in January 1972 but the money ran out during filming and there was a hiatus until filming resumed in April. The shoot took fifteen days in all.
Release
The film was successfully previewed at Toorak and for a time it looked as though it would be distributed by
British Empire Films
British Empire Films (BEF) was an Australian film distributor, serving as the distribution arm of Greater Union. They distributed films of Cinesound Productions.