User Reviews

I have been trying to get my hands on this play for ages, probably because it is one of those rather famous Australian plays. In fact, The Club, and Don's Party, both by the same author, are pretty much the quintissential Australian plays, not that I actually read any of them back when I was in High School (though I suspect that it has a lot to do with which High School you went to, and who your English Teacher happened to be).

The story is set on election night in 1969 where everybody was expecting Labor to win, which would have been the first time that they were in government since World War II. However, while at the start it seems that Labor is ahead, it becomes clear by the end of the night that they have fallen short. The scene takes place at Don's house, where they have a few friends over to celebrate, though when it turns out that Labor isn't going to win, it pretty much turns into a drunken free for all.

The film, along with the play, is really about lost aspirations, something that seemed to be common in a lot of the plays, and literature, at the time. The characters are all baby boomers (I believe), and at numerous times they reflect on where they have come from, and the dreams that they had when they were young. However, not all of them seem to have come to pass. For instance, the marriages, while they haven't failed, don't seem to be all that fulfilling. In fact, most of the male characters seem to be trying to bed women who don't happen to be their wives. The women are pretty much the same, and the fact that some of the married women are happy to be chatted up indicate this.

I guess the play explores a couple of concepts, and that is the hope that politics bring, and the failure of youthful dreams. All of the characters are now middle age, and they seem to be pretty much stuck in their jobs, and stuck in their marriages. Mind you, when we look at this from 2021, a part of us almost feel that despite all of this they still had it pretty good. For instance, while it was never actually stated, they all seem to have decent, well paying jobs, and it also seems that Don owns his home, despite the fact that he is a school teacher (something that just does not seem to be possible these days).

In a way the election is just in the background, but the outcome of the election does seem to suggest the lost hope and dreams that the post war society has brought about. Well, okay, the Vietnam war is still raging, and there does not seem to be any indication of withdrawl, and the fact that the characters' hopes were dashed that evening when the libs won a 9th consecutive term, so it is also the case that they are looking at how the hopes and dreams from 10 years earlier had also been dashed.

It was also interesting to see Graham Kennedy starring in a film role, but for those of us who remember the eighties, he was certainly a huge star, and the role he plays here is pretty typical of the roles he plays.

Personally, I can't say that this film was particularly great, and a part of me still wants to read the play, namely because film adaptations rarely do much justice. It was interesting though seeing the actual election, and the fact that only one sheet of paper was filled out, as opposed to the two sheets that we fill out these days. I later discovered that this was because the senate elections and the house elections weren't held at the same time, at least it wasn't back then.

The summary title might be embarrassing to a modest man like Williamson but he really does have an uncanny knack of exposing human foibles that I have found astonishing for many years.

Don's Party is well recognised as a work of genius portraying the hopes of Australians on Election Night in 1969 who wanted to see the end of successive Liberal Governments for over 20 years. This election did not provide a change but established Whitlam as a very real threat to the Liberals' perceived right to rule. He was successful 3 years later.

The characters are of real interest in this film as they lose control due to the unlimited flow of alcohol. Had they been in a more restrictive environment there may have been some very interesting thoughts exchanged.

Intelligent and beautiful actresses are the sober ones whose presence as human beings with feelings and opinions goes woefully unappreciated by the "Ugly Australian" in the males. The male behaviour becomes more tribal as the evening degenerates and the gorgeous enchanting women are left to themselves.

An adaptation of a popular play, this inherently Australian film examines the dynamics of a cocktail party thrown by a couple on election night in 1969, which eventually deteriorates into confrontation and some sexual shenanigans. Hargreaves and Drynan play the couple who have a minor amount of dissatisfaction between them which is exacerbated by the interplay of their guests. Barrett and Bishop are on the verge of divorce themselves. Blundell and Lang are the black sheep of the group, living a bit better off and rooting for the opposite political party. Taylor and Raymond are on the rocks due to his attempts to rein in her free and artistic spirit. Sexually voracious Hopkins brings his latest nubile conquest Binney with him. Kennedy is the lone single guest, having just evicted his wife following another domestic squabble. These folks drink and chatter about politics, but as the night wears on and the political party that most of them support begins to flounder, things begin to spiral downward. Binney decides she wants to bed down with Hargreaves, understandingly upsetting Drynan. Taylor gets angry and storms out when Raymond doesn't wish to leave. The remaining men gang up on Blundell and humiliate him for being different. Hopkins makes a move on one of the wives while the rest bicker amongst themselves or with their mates. It's almost a plot less film; more of a character study with the characters representing exaggerated facets of the Australian populace. Accordingly, it may mean more to its core audience, though it remains entertaining and compelling to others as well. It's aggressively tacky in décor and costuming and vulgar in dialogue, but has a nice clipped pace and contains many interesting exchanges between the characters. Also, there are considerable doses of skin on display to keep things spicy. Four of the men and three of the women have nude scenes of varying exposure. Though some of the actors are not well-known apart from their work Down Under, the cast is made up of several of the country's most popular performers of the era. Sadly, Hargreaves died of AIDS in 1996.