''The Crossing'' is a 1990 Australian romantic

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- ...

directed by

George Ogilvie George Buchan Ogilvie (5 March 1931 – 5 April 2020) was a prolific Australian theatre director and actor, who also worked as a director and actor within film and television. Life and career George Ogilvie began as an actor at the Canberra ...

, produced by Sue Seeary and written by Ranald Allan. The film stars

Russell Crowe Russell Ira Crowe (born 7 April 1964) is an actor. He was born in New Zealand, spent ten years of his childhood in Australia, and moved there permanently at age twenty one. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maxi ...

Robert Mammone Robert Mammone (born 1969 in Adelaide, South Australia) is an Australian actor. He is known for his role as AK in ''The Matrix'' movies, as Sid Walker in the soap opera ''Home and Away'' and as Tim Palmer in '' Sons and Daughters''. He was also ...

and Danielle Spencer. The film was shot in the towns of

Junee Junee () is a medium-sized town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The town's prosperity and mixed services economy is based on a combination of agriculture, rail transport, light industry and government services, and in par ...

and

Condobolin Condobolin is a town in the west of the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia, on the Lachlan River. At the , Condobolin had a population of 3,486. History Prior to European settlement, the area was inhabited by the Wiradjuri pe ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. The film was released in Australia on 18 October 1990. Russell Crowe was nominated for the

Australian Film Institute Award The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, known as the AACTA Awards, are presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). The awards recognise excellence in the film and television industry ...

for best actor while Jeff Darling was awarded for the best cinematography.

Plot

The film is set in a small country town in the 1960s. Sam returns home from being away for 18 months to discover his former girlfriend, Meg, has moved on with their common friend, Johnny.

Cast

as Johnny *

as Sam * Danielle Spencer as Meg * Emily Lumbers as Jenny * Rodney Bell as Shortly *

Ben Oxenbould Ben Oxenbould is an Australian actor and comedian. His brother Jamie Oxenbould is also an actor, as is Jamie's son, Ed Oxenbould. Early career He was educated at North Sydney Boys High School. In 1980, Oxenbould was cast as "Hubert 'Fatty' Fi ...

as Heavyfoot * Myles Collins as Stretch * Marc Gray as Nort * Megan Connolly as Kathleen * John Blair as Billy * Rani Lockland as Gail * Lea-Ann Towler as Mandy * Paul Robertson as Birdie * George Whaley as Sid * Jacquy Phillips as Marion

Music

Martin Armiger John Martin Armiger (10 June 1949 – 27 November 2019) was an Australian musician, record producer and composer. He was one of the singer-songwriters and guitarists with Melbourne-based rock band the Sports from August 1978 to late 1981, whic ...

– soundtrack composer
Derek Williams
– orchestrator, conductor

Soundtrack

An album produced by

was released in 1990 in Australia and Europe. ''King of the Road'' was released as the first single, and made the top ten in UK and Germany. A video for ''Nature Boy'' performed by

Kate Ceberano Catherine Yvette Ceberano ( or , born 17 November 1966) is an Australian singer and actress who performs in the soul, jazz, and pop genres, as well as in film and musicals such as ''Jesus Christ Superstar''. Her song "Pash" received a gold sa ...

was also created to promote the album. # "Main Titles" by

# " King of the Road" by

The Proclaimers ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

# "

Nature Boy "Nature Boy" is a song first recorded by American jazz singer Nat King Cole. It was released on March 29, 1948, as a single by Capitol Records, and later appeared on the album, ''The Nat King Cole Story''. It was written by eden ahbez as a tri ...

" by

# "

She's Not There "She's Not There" is the debut single by British rock band the Zombies, written by keyboardist Rod Argent. It reached 12 in the UK Singles Chart in September 1964, and 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United States at the beginning of ...

" by

Crowded House Crowded House are a rock band, formed in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, in 1985. Its founding members were New Zealander Neil Finn (vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter) and Australians Paul Hester (drums) and Nick Seymour (bass). Late ...

# "

For Your Love "For Your Love" is a rock song written by Graham Gouldman and recorded by English group the Yardbirds. Released in March 1965, it was their first top ten hit in both the UK and the US. The song was a departure from the group's blues root ...

" by Peter Blakeley # "Betty Wrong" by

Tin Machine Tin Machine were a British–American rock band formed in 1988, and fronted by English singer-songwriter David Bowie. The band consisted of Bowie on lead vocals, saxophone and guitar; Reeves Gabrels on guitar and vocals; Tony Fox Sales on ba ...

# "The Chase" by Martin Armiger # " Here Comes That Feeling" by

The Cockroaches The Cockroaches were an Australian pub rock band active throughout the 1980s. The band was founded in 1979 by the Field brothers—Paul (lead vocals), John (rhythm guitar, vocals), and Anthony (lead guitar, vocals)—and Tony Henry on drums ...

# "My Boyfriend's Back" by The Chantoozies # "Love Letters" by

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 ...

# "Nowhere To Run" by Jenn Forbes # "Let's Dance" by

# "Love Theme" by Martin Armiger

Production

Ranald Allan's script had been around for a number of years before being picked up by producer Sue Seeary, who managed to get the film up at Beyond International Group. It was their first feature film. Beyond's head of production, Al Clark did commission some re-writing. Production took place in and around Junee in November and December 1989.Andrew Urban, "The Crossing", ''Cinema Papers'', March 1990 pp. 6–9

Box office

''The Crossing'' grossed A$87,392 at the box office in Australia.

References

External links

*
''The Crossing''
at Oz Movies {{DEFAULTSORT:Crossing, The 1990 films 1990 independent films 1990 romantic drama films 1990s chase films 1990s coming-of-age drama films Australian coming-of-age drama films Australian romantic drama films Australian independent films Coming-of-age romance films Films set in 1965 Films set in New South Wales Films set in the 1960s 1990s English-language films