TheAustralian New Wave (also known as theAustralian Film Revival,Australian Film Renaissance, orNew Australian Cinema) was an era of resurgence in the worldwide popularity of theAustralian cinema, particularly in the United States. It began in the early1970s and lasted until the mid-late1980s. The era also marked the emergence ofOzploitation, a film genre characterised by the exploitation of colloquialAustralian culture.
The Australian film industry declined afterWorld War II, coming to a virtual stop by the early 1960s. TheGorton (1968–71) andWhitlam governments (1972–75) intervened and rescued the industry from its expected oblivion.[1] The federal and several state governments established bodies to assist with the funding of film production and the training of film makers through theAustralian Film, Television and Radio School, which fostered a new generation of Australian filmmakers who were able to bring their visions to the screen. The 1970s saw a huge renaissance of the Australian film industry. Australia produced nearly 400 films between 1970 and 1985, more than had been made in the history of the Australian film industry.[1][2]
In contrast to pre-New Wave films, New Wave films are often viewed as fresh and creative, possessing "a vitality, a love of open spaces and a propensity for sudden violence and languorous sexuality". The "straight-ahead narrative style" of many Australian New Wave films reminded American audiences of "theHollywood-maverick period of the late 1960s and early '70s that had just about run its course".[3]
Film critic Stephen Farber said of the appeal of the New Wave of Australian films to American audiences in 1980:
Unlike many of the acclaimed German films of recent years, these Australian movies are accessible and entertaining, as well as searching and innovative. Audiences who are tired of the formula fare from the Hollywood studios and the more impenetrableart films from Europe will find a breath of new life in these films from down under.[4]
Many filmmakers and actors launched international careers through their work in the Australian New Wave.
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In 2008,Empire magazine choseMad Max 2 andThe Year of Living Dangerously as two of the500 Greatest Movies of All Time, ranking in at #280 and #161 respectively.[18] The 2011 book1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die featuresWalkabout,Picnic at Hanging Rock,The Last Wave,The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith,My Brilliant Career,Mad Max andGallipoli (winner of multipleAACTA Awards[19]).[20] Since its re-release in 2009,Wake in Fright has been assessed as one of, if not the greatest, Australian New Wave film.[21][22][23]
The term "glitter cycle" refers to asubgenre of eccentric Australian comedies that came to prominence in the early 1990s, spurring a post-new wave revival of Australian film. These films are noted for their celebration of Australian popular culture,camp aesthetic, colourful makeup and costuming, and musical performance pieces. Prominent glitter films includeStrictly Ballroom (1992),Muriel's Wedding (1994),The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) andLove Serenade (1996). Other prominent post-new wave revival films of the 1990s includeThe Big Steal (1990),Proof (1991),Romper Stomper (1992),Babe (1995),Shine (1996),Kiss or Kill (1997), andThe Castle (1997).[24][16]
In 2008, director Mark Hartley releasedNot Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation!, a documentary film celebrating the romps of the Australian New Wave of 1970s and 1980s low-budget cinema and includes George Miller,Quentin Tarantino andBarry Humphries.[25][26]
Media theorist Theodore Scheckles argues that the post-1970 period of Australian cinema attempted to "revise the traditional Australian hero and problematize that revision" asserting the best films of this era will be viewed "as films, not as pieces of Australiana".[27] Likewise Michael Walsh argues that the period represents not an "over nationalist" period of Australian cinema, but an adaptation of Australian cultural tropes, culture and history to an American mass market.[28]
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