WARNING: SPOILER AHEAD.
Screened by the ABC here in Sydney on the night of this year's Aussie Rules Grand Final, this little piece is showing its age and its minimal production values, but it is still more interesting to watch than, say `Any Given Sunday'. It was written by David Williamson from his play and directed by Bruce Beresford, who has since gone on to greater things (`Driving Miss Daisy', `Black Robe').
Williamson specialises in teasing out hidden resentments and long-standing hurts from his characters, and in the context of professional sport the combination of testosterone, ambition, stupidity and poor communication skills provides him with plenty of material for the Act 3 catharsis. He is very careful not to rely on caricature: Jock (Frank Wilson), the nearest person to a villain here, is not completely unsympathetic, and the `hero' Laurie the coach (Jack Thompson) is not superman either. Play, and the players are not central to the action; it is largely a boardroom drama and victory on the field comes as a coda. This is just as well as the match scenes are woeful - at least in that area Ollie Stone in `Any Given Sunday' outdoes them.
For this viewer, it was interesting to see the young John Howard (the actor, not prime minister) who has since become one of Australia's leading stage and TV actors, as an athletic and intelligent dissident from football ideology. It was poignant to see the great Graham Kennedy, now retired and ill, at the height of his powers in the role of Ted, the club president, a pie manufacturer who has never played a senior game, yet who has been obsessed by football and the club since he was six. The degree of devotion of fans to football clubs is a striking feature of Australian society woeful, perhaps, but it's there.
As several reviewers have suggested, this is one Aussie semi-classic that would stand a re-make. I don't think Ollie Stone is the one to do it though. Maybe Lee Tamahori (`Once Were Warriors') is the guy. He understands the importance of tribal history and the need to channel aggression. Williamson's dialogue stands up well, though it is probably a bit genteel for current tastes. It was interesting to note that players with a penchant for sticking their fingers up an opposing player's rectum at an opportune moment is not a new problem. Still, I suppose that's better than getting hold of the other side's medical records looking for weaknesses to exploit such as previous bone injuries a strategy allegedly followed by certain U S football coaches. We're not quite that desperate to win down here I hope so anyway.
Screened by the ABC here in Sydney on the night of this year's Aussie Rules Grand Final, this little piece is showing its age and its minimal production values, but it is still more interesting to watch than, say `Any Given Sunday'. It was written by David Williamson from his play and directed by Bruce Beresford, who has since gone on to greater things (`Driving Miss Daisy', `Black Robe').
Williamson specialises in teasing out hidden resentments and long-standing hurts from his characters, and in the context of professional sport the combination of testosterone, ambition, stupidity and poor communication skills provides him with plenty of material for the Act 3 catharsis. He is very careful not to rely on caricature: Jock (Frank Wilson), the nearest person to a villain here, is not completely unsympathetic, and the `hero' Laurie the coach (Jack Thompson) is not superman either. Play, and the players are not central to the action; it is largely a boardroom drama and victory on the field comes as a coda. This is just as well as the match scenes are woeful - at least in that area Ollie Stone in `Any Given Sunday' outdoes them.
For this viewer, it was interesting to see the young John Howard (the actor, not prime minister) who has since become one of Australia's leading stage and TV actors, as an athletic and intelligent dissident from football ideology. It was poignant to see the great Graham Kennedy, now retired and ill, at the height of his powers in the role of Ted, the club president, a pie manufacturer who has never played a senior game, yet who has been obsessed by football and the club since he was six. The degree of devotion of fans to football clubs is a striking feature of Australian society woeful, perhaps, but it's there.
As several reviewers have suggested, this is one Aussie semi-classic that would stand a re-make. I don't think Ollie Stone is the one to do it though. Maybe Lee Tamahori (`Once Were Warriors') is the guy. He understands the importance of tribal history and the need to channel aggression. Williamson's dialogue stands up well, though it is probably a bit genteel for current tastes. It was interesting to note that players with a penchant for sticking their fingers up an opposing player's rectum at an opportune moment is not a new problem. Still, I suppose that's better than getting hold of the other side's medical records looking for weaknesses to exploit such as previous bone injuries a strategy allegedly followed by certain U S football coaches. We're not quite that desperate to win down here I hope so anyway.