''Weekend of Shadows'' is a 1978 film directed by Tom Jeffrey and starring John Waters.

Premise

In the 1930s, a farmer's wife in a small town is murdered. Suspicion falls on a Polish labourer and a posse is formed to catch him.

Cast

* John Waters as 'Rabbit' * Melissa Jaffer as Vi * Wyn Roberts as Sergeant Caxton *Graham Rouse as Ab Nolan *

Graeme Blundell Graeme Blundell (born 7 August 1945) is an Australian actor, director, producer, writer, playwright, lyricist and biographer Early life Blundell was born on 7 April 1945 in Melbourne; he grew up in the suburb of Clifton Hill. He was educated a ...

as Bernie Collins * Bill Hunter as Bosun * Bryan Brown as Bennett

Production

Writer Peter Yeldham later called the film a "real disaster... we had constant changes and insecurity about it, right up to the day of shooting. I think many of these changes didn't help the film." Shooting commenced in July 1977 in

Macclesfield Macclesfield is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Bollin in the east of the county, on the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east ...

in the Adelaide Hills. The film was a commercial disappointment. Director Tom Jeffrey:

I screened the film to Hugh Atkinson, the writer of the novel, after we had finished it and he came up to me afterwards and I remember him saying quite clearly, "You've got it." I said, "What do you mean?" He said, "You understand the ending." And I still didn't know whether I had it right, whether I was on his wavelength, and I said, "Please explain, Hugh." And he said, "It's about the Crucifixion." And I said, "Yes, well, I didn't really realise that, but if you can see that in the ending and if that's what your original intention was and I've unwittingly achieved that for you, I'm very pleased.".. The film was actually looking at the power of the group and how it can get out of hand.Interview with Tom Jeffrey, 12 November 1998
accessed 19 October 2012

References

External links

*
''Weekend of Shadows''
at Oz Movies 1978 films Australian crime drama films Films set in the 1930s Films set in Australia 1970s English-language films Films directed by Tom Jeffrey 1970s Australian films {{1970s-Australia-film-stub