Directed by Gillian Armstrong • 1979 • Australia
Starring Judy Davis, Sam Neill
For her award-winning breakthrough film, director Gillian Armstrong drew on teenage author Miles Franklin’s novel, a celebrated turn-of-the-twentieth-century Australian coming-of-age story, to brashly upend the conventions of period romance. Headstrong young Sybylla Melvyn (Judy Davis, in a star-making performance), bemoans her stifling life in the backcountry, where her writerly ambitions receive little encouragement, and craves independence above all else. When a handsome landowner (Sam Neill), disarmed by her unruly charms, begins to court her, Sybylla must decide whether she can reconcile the prospect of marriage with the illustrious life’s work she has imagined for herself. Suffused with generous humor and a youthful appetite for experience, MY BRILLIANT CAREER is a luminous portrait of an ardently free spirit.
Directed by Bruce Beresford • 1980 • Australia
Starring Edward Woodward, Jack Thompson, John Waters
At the turn of the twentieth century, three Australian army lieutenants are court-martialed for alleged war crimes committed while fighting in South Africa. With no time to prepare, an Australian ...
Directed by Peter Weir • 1981 • Australia
Starring Mel Gibson, Mark Lee, Bill Kerr
Director Peter Weir captures a decisive moment in Australian history in one of the most shattering antiwar films ever made. Opening in Western Australia in 1915, GALLIPOLI follows Archy Hamilton (Mark Lee) and Fra...
Directed by Bruce Beresford • 1981 • Australia
Starring Nell Schofield, Jad Capelja, Jeffrey Rhoe
Adapted from the popular novel by Gabrielle Carey and Kathy Lette, this Australian coming-of-age classic is a frankly realistic look at the experiences of two teenage girls growing up in early 1980s...
