LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Gillian Armstrong: Australia
built 290 days ago
In 1979, before anyone in America had heard much about the Australian film industry, Gillian Armstrong and an almost all-female company set out to make a movie about a woman trying to balance career and personal life. Based on a 19th century tale that had been captured in a book of the same name, My Brilliant Career tells the story of a young rural woman (Judy Davis) who turns down the obvious choice of marrying a good man (Sam Neill) to pursue her writing career. While timely when it came out, it addresses issues very much alive today. It is fueled by Judy Davis' fresh energy and by the fluidity of the storytelling.
Source:
Geoffrey Simpson ACS (cinematographer) and Armstrong began their collaboration on The Last Days of Chez Nous (1991). The film is based on a story by Australian writer Helen Garner. The film is more in the style of High Tide, with a low budget and more freeform narrative structure. It is typical of Armstrong's Australian films, with less than perfect heroes. She casts Bill Hunter alongside Bruno Ganz (who plays JP). The story focuses on two sisters, Beth and Vicki (played by Lisa Harrow and Kerry Fox, respectively), both aspiring writers.
Source:
In 1975 Armstrong began the first in a series of documentaries tracing the lives of three working-class girls. Starting with Smoke and Lollies, she revisited the girls in 1980 in Fourteen's Good, Eighteen's Better, and again in Bingo, Bridesmaids and Braces (1988). These were combined to make the award-winning feature length documentary, Not Fourteen Again, in 1996. In addition to both short and feature documentaries, Armstrong has ... made short dramas, music videos and, of course, feature film dramas both in Australia and internationally.
Source:
Set in a Pittsburgh prison and based on a true story, Mrs Soffel is Armstrong's first directing experience in Hollywood. Once again she draws on the talents and support of Australian cinematographer Russell Boyd, ACS, editor Nick Beauman, and production designer Lucciana Arrighi. She casts a young Mel Gibson (as Ed) and Dianne Keaton (as Mrs Soffel) in this dark love story. Mrs Soffel argues constantly with her husband about what she is allowed to do and she strongly advises her daughter not to marry young. She is driven by repressed passions that ultimately explode when she assists two prisoners (one of them Ed) in their escape, finally running away with them and briefly satisfying her desire before Ed is shot. “The films of Gillian Armstrong have regularly been noted for their rebellious, strong, independent heroines” (4), Felicity Collins wrote, and Mrs Soffel is no exception, leaving her husband, children and prison duties for a wild adventure.
Source:
Saying no is not hard for Ms. Armstrong, who has been doing so ever since "My Brilliant Career" established her as a force to be reckoned with. The movie, about a young Australian woman at the turn of the century who rejects love for literary ambition, was a hit. Hollywood came calling.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Australia