Newsfront

If you are interested in Australian Cinema this is a film for you. Although it is long, you will be thankful you sat it through. 'Newsfront' takes us back in time to a different Australia - a country that has no television or other technologies of today. Noyce uses the backdrop of the rivalry between the two newsreel production companies to explore the tensions that exist in the character's lives, set against the historical moments recorded in the Newsreels. With engaging characters and a superb depiction of what life was like in the newsreel industry of the 1950s, Noyce gives us an enjoyable and memorable experience of Australian film and national history.

A really good Australian film .Beautifully recreates the look and feel of Sydney as it was in the 1950s. This movie greatly impressed me when I first saw it during its initial cinema release and it still stands up very well. Fine directing job by Phil Noyce, wonderful camera work , thoughtful lighting and some fine performances across the board. An absolute "must see" for any students of '70's Australian cinema.One out of the box !

As a child growing up in the Sydney of the 1950s, I can readily identify with the content of this fine film. Each week I visited the Wynyard Newsreel cinema on George Street to watch the Cinesound (and usually 3 Stooges) shorts. Never has there been a better blending of B/W and colour in a film. Faultless production values round off a never to be forgotten movie experience.

This finely crafted little film from Australia has a freshness and spontaneity lacking in most major productions, and because it is so fresh and spontaneous, and because the actors are not known in the States (except for Bryan Brown, who has since made a name for himself) nothing is predictable. The backdrop of the newsreel industry, and the men and women dedicated to their careers is slightly reminiscent of some of those Warner Brothers pictures of the early 30's where everything happened in the pressroom or the police station or the hospital, the job itself structuring the plot and moving the characters' development forward. A thoroughly different and enjoyable film.

i saw this film as part of my australian cinema course and i thought it was very good, if a little too long. casting was very good, with bill hunter doing a good job as len mcguire, the quintessential aussie battler who has old fashioned values and a strong commitment to his work. wendy hughes was absolutely GORGEOUS in this film, she puts many hollywood starlets to shame, she was so hot in this movie. the transitions from B&W to colour were inventive and the use of stock newsreel footage gave the film a sense of reality. overall, a good but not excellent aussie film.