Newsfront

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 !

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.

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.

Phillip Noyce's historical and oddly prophetic first feature traces the story of two newsreel photographers in post-war Australia. Starting from the first waves of European post-war immigration, the storyruns through to the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne. As colour narrative and genuine black-and-white newsreel footage merge together with brilliantly recreated events(the 1954 Maitland flood scenes slip from story to newsreel quite seamlessly) so the stories of the characters, the newsreel industry (eventually to fall to television's instant power) and indeed the political development of the nation itself are cleverly intertwined in a multi-layered tour de force by editor John Scott.

Chris Hayward's cockney - and cocky - young camera assistant is a great foil to Bill Hunter's doggedly dependable and ever-cautious senior cameraman Len Maguire, trapped in a world of changing values, always knowing the "right" thing to do, but always troubled by the outcome as his marriage falters, his job is threatened by TV, and his company is taken over and its work marginalised. Meanwhile his brother and rival cameraman Frank, played by Gerard Kennedy "sells out" his values, abandoning his responsibilities, and heading off to success in the USA.

Scriptwriter Bob Ellis has remained a fierce supporter of a strong and distinctly Australian film industry (Newsfront was among the first of the features of the Australian "Renaissance" of the mid-70s), while director Phillip Noyce has found success in Hollywood with films he could never have made in Australia (Clear & Present Danger, Sliver, The Bone Collector). How would he treat Len and Frank today - who would be the hero?

This film is a compelling story, essential viewing for all film fans, film history fans, anyone interested in learning where Australian films emerged from, and a good yarn for everyone else.

Newsfront is a film with a great deal of integrity. It's superbly crafted and acted with a real feel for the times it deals with. It's a film made by Australians FOR Australians with a sense of, and love for, Australia's past. It's also funny, honest and moving. I've seen it many times now and it gets better with each viewing. I value Bill Hunter especially and, as an Australian, am proud of his achievements and his contribution to the cinema. I can't think of an Australian film that has affected me in quite the same way Newsfront has. It's a near flawless achievement and to those who think it too long I really think you ought to work on your attention spans.