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 !

When respected film critic David Stratton rates a movie as his all time Australian favourite it's a high bar to reach. And there's no doubt Newsfront conveys a terrific sense of post WW2 life and times, fortified by the injection of a generous dose of archival newsreel footage.

But despite boasting so many of Australia's finest new wave actors, there's a certain emotional pull missing from the fictional narrative, script and characters around the real life events. Even the film's saddest moment, occurring during the 1955 Maitland floods, whilst technically clever on one level, lacked gravitas (not aided by the newsreel inspired music). And the stunning Wendy Hughes, who plays a strong female lead in the early going, becomes oddly passive and morose by the latter stages. Perhaps it was a deliberate pattern that went to Len Maguire's (played by Bill Hunter) effect on women, his ex-wife portraying a similar demeanour throughout.

Also curious was the back and forth between colour and black & white, which I found mildly distracting for lack of any logical pattern.

Interestingly, the project was originally conceived as a documentary, and whilst the surrounding story added some depth and context to the political and historical aspect, as a drama it felt like a skipping stone through time. Writer Bob Ellis' displeasure at the cuts to his screenplay might have been justified. Or maybe the production tried to achieve too much.

All criticism aside, overall Newsfront is an above average movie that will engage, until the final Cinetone credits, anyone with an interest in Australian cinema and history.

This movie had excellent cinematography, first in black and white, and a great sense of period. And the acting seemed quite good. The problem is, I had no idea what anyone was saying most of the time. I've seen Australian movies before and haven't had any problems with the language, but this movie was full of strange words spoken in the fast cadence that has long been used to represent old-fashioned newsmen. I tried to watch it for a while, because really, it looks like it would be a really good movie if I understood it, but it was just impossible. I once saw an English movie that was subtitled for Americans, because it was a very slangy sort of English, and I wish they'd done the same thing with this one.

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.