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Not Quite Hollywood : The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! - 2008
Written & Directed by Mark Hartley
Featuring Quentin Tarantino, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dennis Hopper
Jackie Weaver, Jack Thompson and Barry Humphries
Not Quite Hollywood opened doors that had heretofore been shut, even to Australian audiences who had lived through the explosion that was the Australian New Wave of cinema during the 1970s and 1980s. It was a hidden treasure just waiting to be discovered - although there was on the surface a reluctance to acknowledge the more base levels of Australian film, there is a uniqueness here that strikes people who come across these movies. Quentin Tarantino was influenced a great deal by them - but they were loathed by Australian critics who felt especially image-conscious, and as such they were buried at home and rarely seen overseas thereafter. In 2003 Tarantino caused something of a sensation in Australia when he premiered Kill Bill Vol. 1 and at the screening dedicated it to Brian Trenchard-Smith in front of critics and filmmakers who had fervently wished that Trenchard-Smith had never decided to carve out a career directing Australian exploitation cinema. For his part, Tarantino considered those at the screening 'snobs' - but attitudes began to change when this documentary hit the big screen and film fans began to rediscover a forgotten era of movie history.
Mark Hartley spent a number of years researching this subject - something akin to cutting a trail through virgin jungle in the Amazon. It was a subject virtually unresearched - it's foremost expert Quentin Tarantino himself. There were no books published on this subject. When Hartley sent Tarantino his rough draft for the film he expected no reply - but instead the reply was instant. From that moment on Tarantino did everything in his power to help the project go forward - including sitting for hours of interviews regarding the films and his personal history with them. His help didn't end there. There were some cases where the negatives of the films involved didn't exist or couldn't be found - and Hartley discovered that Tarantino himself had hunted them down in the past and owned them personally. With this auspicious start, Hartley spent the next five years putting together the documentary Not Quite Hollywood : The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation!
This documentary's advantage is the fact that it is one of the most entertaining 100-plus minute films you can encounter - with the added effect of arousing your curiosity enough to set film lovers into action hunting down these films and watching them. Examining film after film, it could be excused for becoming tedious or tiresome - but Hartley has expertly and wisely cut down his film into a digestible size. He had over 250 hours of interviews and film footage to wrestle with - and had a film of over three hours in length when he had cut everything but it's most essential elements. I applaud him for delivering a film that runs under 2 hours in the end - and not leaving us exhausted and perhaps fed up. Special mention should also go to editors Jamie Blanks, Sara Edwards and Mark Hartley. On it's DVD release, another 100 minutes of cut footage entertains no less - but an important lesson to learn is that some things, no matter how lively and wonderful they are, must be left on the cutting room floor. The rest is left to us to explore - and Hartley has faith in us to do that.
The film is divided into three sections, with an introduction that gives us the background of what state the Australian film industry was in the decades leading up to the 1970s - which was that it was virtually nonexistent. Here Hartley has had some luck inasmuch as the explosion of genre filmmaking in Australia did go through three distinct phases, the first coming during the 'free love' era and consisting of sexual exploits and nudity, the second being more horror based and the third honing in on action and stunts. The titles of these sections are appropriately bawdy and irreverent : Ockers, Knockers, Pubes and Tubes - Comatose Killers and Outback Chillers - High Octane Disasters and Kung Fu Masters. The tone and content are laid back and rude in keeping with the films, but behind it all is some serious research, skill and delivery only seen in the best of documentaries. There are an extensive number of films examined in an attractive way that actually gives most viewers a great urge to search them out and see them. Writers, directors, crew and actors all appear to have fond memories of the era - and to have had a great time.
Co-existing with the exploitation genre were the serious Australian New Wave films, which deserve a mention. Some, like Wake in Fright, Breaker Morant and Picnic at Hanging Rock do get that mention - but only in service to the genre films being examined - although Wake in Fright did initially have much greater coverage in the documentary. It's a little-seen great film, and described by Jack Thompson as showing a true-to-life depiction of Australian culture that most Australians did not want people overseas to witness. Many of the exploitation films, as mentioned by Tarantino, were not promoted as being Australian. Some, such as Dead Kids (otherwise known as Strange Behavior) were set in the United States and utilized U.S. actors nearly exclusively. Others, like Road Games featured U.S. stars such as Jamie Lee Curtis, and Stacy Keach. Mad Dog Morgan featured Dennis Hopper in the title role. Importantly, Hartley manages to interview Jamie Lee Curtis, Dennis Hopper and Keach for this film - giving it a comprehensive profile and getting serious star power behind it.
For those old enough to remember drive-ins, there is some nostalgia delivered pre-credits and during the film. There's some sadness that the era came to an end, but the advent of the video era gave many of these films an exposure they wouldn't have had otherwise. There is also prominent mention of the fetishistic love Australian men have for cars, and the role they played in many exploitation films. Most issues like this are well-balanced and not stretched to the point where we begin to lose interest. The film's music also keep us charged up and includes Angry Anderson belting out Rose Tattoo's 'We Can't Be Beaten', The Angels with 'Shadow Boxer', 'Living in the 70s' from Skyhooks and The Easybeats with 'I'll Make You Happy'. Some great animation - a real staple of the film - is provided by the film's animation department. Such is the editing, there is no need for any narration - the story flows smoothly and coherently from beginning to end.
Being film fans, my friends and I were surprised by Not Quite Hollywood when we saw it at an arthouse cinema - and so were film fans in general. It led to a mass release of films which up until that moment were largely forgotten. Many I recognized from the days when video revolutionized the film-watching experience, and many I had until then not heard about. Some I never knew were Australian - such as the very strange musical The Return of Captain Invincible, where Alan Arkin plays a superhero whose secret weakness is booze and where a villain played by Christopher Lee belts out songs. I know a few friends who cleared a spot for a whole new genre in their collections. It's a documentary I'm thankful for, and one I can be always in the mood to watch. For anyone that enjoys it - I recommend the two-disc collectors version which includes hours of footage cut from the film, trailers for all of the films featured (and trailers were very different in those days,) interviews, a fantastic collection of images and film posters, Q&A sessions and various funding pitches from the film's early gestation. I'll leave this with a small section (the whole thing is too long to transcribe) of the Fantasm Comes Again press kit which is included with the release :
We will probably never see the repeat of this particular New Wave movement of films and their exploitation deluge of "boobs, pubes and kung fu".
I also recommend, to whoever enjoyed this, Mark Hartley's Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films, which was released in 2014.
(I decided not to give it a rating - since it's my nomination in the Hall of Fame)
__________________
What I actually said to win MovieGal's heart:
- I might not be a real King of Kinkiness, but I make good pancakes
What I actually said to win MovieGal's heart:
- I might not be a real King of Kinkiness, but I make good pancakes
~Mr Minio
