They’re a Weird Mob (1966)

Man at bar: Where do you come from?
Nino:  I-I am Italian
Man at bar:  Are ya?  Big bloke like you?  You don’t look it.
Nino:  Please, what means “big bloke”?
Man at bar:  Ah, well everyone’s a bloke. You’re a bloke, I’m a bloke. We’re all blokes. Cheers.
Nino:  Cheers.
Man at bar:  What do you do for a crust?
Nino:  Im sorry sir, I…I didn’t understand.
Man at bar:  How do ya earn your living?
Nino:  Oh, Im a writer.
Man at bar:  In Italian?
Nino:  Yes, in Italian.

What would it have been like for an Italian fella fresh off the boat wanting to start a life in Sydney?  They’re A Weird Mob tries to tell the story of such an immigrant landing on Australia’s shores and the experiences he has in trying to grasp the Australian lingo and simply make a living.  It is generally thought to be a reasonably realistic view of what Australia was like in the 60’s.  It’s not your typical comedy that has staged events but rather a comedy as seen in the experience of someone coming to grips with a new culture.   It’s quite a good movie to watch not just for the actors, locations and time period but also the film itself which is well made and a solid addition to an Australian film collection.  

I find these Aussie films really interesting to see what certain areas looked like, for instance in the 1977 film The FJ Holden there are views of Bankstown Square which is just the way I remember it when growing up, and The Siege of Pinchgut which shows a Sydney Harbour before there was an Opera House and in They're a Weird Mob we have Greenacre being shown with cows in what is now a park.  It’s just fascinating to see the changes.

Nino Culotta (Walter Chiari) has just arrived in Sydney by boat and is scheduled to meet up with his brother who runs a weekly magazine but when he arrives at the office he finds that his brother has gone broke and done the run.  He finds out that the money that paid for his boat fare to Australia was actually borrowed from Kay Kelly (Claire Dunne) the daughter of a Construction Company owner (Harry Kelly played by Chips Rafferty).  Kay comes to the office to try to claim money back but naturally Nino does not have anything to his name.  He decides to try to get a job to earn some money (pre-decimal currency, so it's in Pounds) and ends up being hired by builder Joe Kennedy (Ed Devereaux – you would recognise him perhaps as Sonny's father Matt Hammond in the TV series Skippy) as a brick layer.  Over a period of time Nino makes a few friends and ends up lodging with Joe and his wife and gradually starts paying Kay back and in the meantime forms quite a liking for her.

Interestingly, the house being built in the film was in Greenacre Rd, Greenacre NSW and the actors did the concrete and brick laying that is seen in the movie and was then completed by an external company.  The actors also left their foot prints in the pathway but having driven past the location recently it now seems that the house has been replaced.  
The film is also considered by many to have been instrumental in picking the Australian Film Industry up and putting it back on its feet again and can be attributed to the real start of the Australian New Wave of Cinema as it was quite popular at the Box Office and encouraged further investment in Australian films.  This New Wave, as it’s called, was further bolstered by various films in the 70's such as the well-known Picnic at Hanging Rock and of course Mad Max.

The film is probably a little slow moving but that forms a realistic look at Nino's life as opposed to many films these days that orchestrate or greatly exaggerate events in the character’s life to keep audiences in.  I wouldn't call it my favourite film, but it is a solid movie and I enjoyed watching it both for the story and the historical record.  For those wondering, yes it does have its funny moments but I would class it more of a Drama with Comedy elements as opposed to the opposite.  

The DVD reviewed comes from a remaster of the film (this was one of 50 films the National Film and Sound Archive chose to restore through the Kodak/Atlab Restoration Project) and doesn’t look too bad for its age though it does lack detail in the image and seems a bit too saturated especially in skin tones which can make it look a bit blotchy.  I suspect it would look much better on a newer higher definition transfer to DVD (the 2008 DVD here appears to be from a lower resolution) or better still a nice Bluray.  Nevertheless, the DVD presents the film with reasonable image quality in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio and a fairly standard Dolby 2 channel Stereo soundtrack.  It also contains the following extras:

• The Story of the Making of They’re A Weird Mob (in B&W) – about 55min
• Picture Gallery
• Original Theatrical Trailer

Overall it is a good quality Aussie movie that has some funny moments and provides us with a realistic look and feel of Sydney in the 60’s and is worth watching if you are seeking some quality Aussie films from yesty year.  For the $7 is cost me, it’s a bargain for a piece of Aussie film history.

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Running on Empty (1982)

Rebel: [sitting in the garage with Mike's trashed Falcon] Gimme a go, Mike... let me fix your car for you.
Mike: [knowing he can't afford to pay Rebel] Mmm, couldn't do that, mate.
Rebel: No, I mean really fix it... make her fly! She's a 351, right? I've got some nitrous oxide injection 'round that's a sweet sensation.

There is something neat about seeing an Aussie movie with Aussie cars shot in Aussie locations.  Not just do we see some of the great cars but we get an idea of what certain places looked like at the time and also that good ol Aussie know how in putting together a car flick.  We have a film that was shot around various parts of South Sydney (near Brighton Le-Sands and Cronulla, Kurnell, Homebush, near Kemps Creek, out west near Cobar along with a few other places) and we have a neat GTHO Phase III thrown into the mix which makes up for the “ok” acting and script.  Start those engines!

The street scene can be a tough one.  Fox (Richard Moir), who owns a supped up Dodge, likes to keep a look out for cars he can beat and he has a red GTHO Phase III, owned by Mike (Terry Serio), in his sights.  Whilst Mike and girlfriend Julie (Deborah Conway) are out together Fox arranges for his girlfriend to be taken knowing that Mike will chase after him.  When Mike catches up he is cornered into a best out of three race with Fox.  After the first race Mike, Julie and best friend Tony (Vangelis Mourikis) head out to the country to earn some bucks racing some country folk where they meet up with blind petrol station owner Rebel (Max Cullen) and form a friendship.  They then return back to Sydney to race Fox a second time with the intention to squash Fox once and for all.

I will be honest and say that this isn’t the best movie in terms of acting.  It is similar in a way to the 1974 Gone in 60 Seconds which is not watched for its fantastic script and acting performances but rather for the cars and this is the case for Running on Empty.  There are some great throaty V8’s roaring and burnouts that get the adrenalin in a keen car fan pumping through the veins.  That’s what this movie is all about.  There are a few scenes of nudity which are simply not needed and in my opinion shouldn’t be in the film, and swearing is also present so it’s not exactly young family safe.

We don’t have fake racing, our crashes are often spectacular and as per above, we can get some real tyre smoke happening. But after all that, is it worth seeing?  The movie is a classic when it comes to the car action but sadly not much else.  It’s an ok story with average acting but from that point of view it’s not really worth writing home about.  The recommendation however comes in the form of cars and the locations which may inspire some reminiscing to viewers who lived in the areas filmed.

The DVD reviewed should still be available in a movie only form with no extras.  The image is quite good, though not highly detailed which could be due to a lower resolution transfer to this single layered DVD.  The image is in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound but as is often the case with these older movies, don’t expect too much surround use.

Overall it’s a classic Australian movie from a car action point of view.  If you like some car action, check it out otherwise give it a miss.  For me I really enjoyed the cars, racing and locations so it was worth the ten bucks for the DVD.  Beware though of the few scenes of nudity.

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