H231 AUSTRALIAN CINEMA

 

ASSIGNMENT TWO

PART 1

 

JO TOYNE

 

 

The Monkeyâs Mask

 

Director:                                Samantha Lang

Scriptwriter:                         Anne Kennedy

Cinematographer:                Garry Philips

Producers:                             Robert Connolly, John Maynard

Production Company:         Arena Film

 

Lead Actors:                          Susie Porter plays Jill Fitzpatrick

Kelly McGillis plays Diana

Marton Csokas plays Nick

Deborah Mailman plays Lou

Abbie Cornish plays Mickey

 

Release Dates for Australia:           Theatrical release:        10 May 2001

                                                Video release:              9 January, 2002

                                                DVD release:               15 March 2001

 

Released in the US:              27 July 2001

Box Office Figures              

Total US gross:                     $49, 007

 

 

Weekend Chart Record

 

Date

Rank

 

Gross

% Change

Theaters

Per Theater

Total Gross

Days

7/27/2001

99

$3,942

 

1

$3,942

$3,942

3

8/3/2001

90

$3,015

-23.52%

1

$3,015

$9,616

10

8/10/2001

106

$1,379

-54.26%

1

$1,379

$12,555

17

8/17/2001

105

$553

-59.90%

1

$553

$13,833

24

8/24/2001

86

$6,621

+1,097.29%

2

$3,311

$20,859

31

9/7/2001

89

$7,436

 

3

$2,479

$32,899

45

9/14/2001

115

$753

-89.87%

2

$377

$36,714

52

9/28/2001

112

$2,044

 

2

$1,022

$39,155

66

10/5/2001

119

$397

-80.58%

1

$397

$42,134

73

10/12/2001

119

$535

+34.76%

1

$535

$41,001

80

10/26/2001

128

$1,087

 

1

$1,087

$42,218

94

11/9/2001

125

$717

 

1

$717

$43,521

108

12/7/2001

109

$1,830

 

1

$1,830

$45,826

136

12/14/2001

106

$2,006

+9.62%

1

$2,006

$49,007

143

 

This table was found on ãThe Numbersä Website:

http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2001/0MNKY.html

 

I was unable to find information on the Australian box office figures.

 

 

 

Bibliographical details of interviews with filmmakers

I was only able to find two interviews with director Samantha Lang about ãThe Monkeyâs Maskä. I was unable to find any information on interviews with scriptwriter Anne Kennedy or the producers- Robert Connolly and John Maynard.

 

David Strattonâs interview with filmmaker (director) Samantha Lang on The Movie Show Website about her film ãThe Monkeyâs Maskä:

http://www.sbs.com.au/movieshow/interviews.php3?id=44

 

Andrew L. Urbanâs interview with filmmaker (director) Samantha Lang on the Urban Cinefile Website about her film ãThe Monkeyâs Maskä:

http://www.urbancinefile.com.au/home/view.asp?a=4813&s=Interviews

 

Bibliographical details of reviews in newspapers, critical essays in journals, discussions in books

I was unable to find any hard-copied information on ãThe Monkeyâs Maskä at the Murdoch University Library. I also tried to do a number of searches on the internet for information on The Monkeyâs Mask with articles/reviews in newspapers, critical essays in journals and discussions but I was unable to find anything. I think this was to do with the fact that it was not a very popular film or a very successful film compared to other Australian films or US blockbusters. It would be possible to find these things, but time stopped me from finding them.

 

Details of the filmâs on-line presence in the web literature.

There was plenty of coverage on The Monkeyâs Mask on-line. I did searches through a number of different search engines and it came up with a large list of different websites. On most of them I typed in ãThe Monkeyâs Maskä or ãSamantha Langä as well as ãAnne Kennedyä and some other names that I was unable to get any results from. On the websites that I did find, these contained things such as principal cast and credits, reviews and synopsises. Hereâs a list of websites that I found with some coverage on Samantha Langâs ÎThe Monkeyâs Maskâ:

Official Website

http://www.monkeysmaskmovie.com/

Rotten Tomatoes

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/TheMonkeysMask-1109846/reviews.php

Haro Online

http://www.haro-online.com/movies/monkeys_mask.html

AMG All-movie Guide

http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll

The Internet Movie Database

http://us.imdb.com/Title?0259442

Urban Cinefile Website

http://www.urbancinefile.com.au/home/view.asp?Article_ID=3815

Hollywood.com

http://www.hollywood.com/movies/detail/movie/185303

Upcomingmovies.com

http://www.upcomingmovies.com/monkeysmask.html

 

Detail of how I went about collecting information for my search

To collect my information I used the internet. This film was only released in 2001 and this made it very difficult for me to find any information in film texts and books. Searching for Samantha Langâs ãThe Monkeyâs Maskä on the internet was not a difficult task at all. I used a number of search engines such as http://www.google.com, http://www.yahoo.com.au, http://www.looksmartsearch.com. All of which were very good in covering the many websites on The Monkeyâs Mask. I found google.com to be particularly helpful as it seemed like there were a lot more websites in this search engine. I also found a number of websites on the Murdoch Library Website.

 

CRITICAL REVIEW PART 2

SYNOPSIS

 

ÎThe Monkeyâs Mask,â by director Samantha Lang is the story taken from Dorothy Porterâs verse novel, which is also called, ÎThe Monkeyâs Maskâ. It is an Australian film noir.

 

Jill Fitzpatrick (Susie Porter), a lesbian private investigator, is drawn to the city, away from her mountainous country home to investigate the disappearance of Mickey Norris (Abbie Cornish), a young poet who has recently gone missing.

 

During her investigation, Jill manages to track down Diana (Kelly McGillis), Mickeyâs poetry lecturer. Jill finds herself attracted to Diana and although Jill is positive that Diana is hiding the truth from her it doesnât seem to stop her from having an affair with this academic femme fatale.

 

Diana is married to Nick (Marton Csokas) and he doesnât seem at all bothered by his wifeâs affair with Jill. After investigating a number of senior poets with whom Mickey was sexually involved with, Jill is still far from the truth. She is blinded by her powerful passion for Diana and she is compromised in her search for the truth, until her own life becomes endangered.

 

Jill decides to question Nick, Dianaâs husband, and it is only then when the truth finally comes out.

 

I feel this film tells the usual investigation story from an interesting and different perspective. This film is quite different to that of the usual private investigation story, unlike a common detective story, the women tend to have more power than the men. This film managed to keep me engrossed throughout the entire film. It is a rather clichŽd film with the usual story of a former cop turned private investigator, and has a clichŽd storyline but it still has enough in it to keep the viewer switched on and engrossed. I wouldnât say itâs the best film Iâve seen but then I wouldnât say it was the worst Iâve seen either. I think, although predictable at the best of times, it was still a quite enjoyable film.

 

 

CRITICAL UPTAKE

 

This is a film may have caused a bit of controversy when it was first released due to the very visual sex scenes between Jill and Diana, which are shown on more than one occasion. Most critics of this film said that the female sex scenes were unnecessary in telling the story.

 

One reviewer said, ãThe nudity is in the context of a lesbian affair that's about as convincing as a Playboy photo shoot.ä

 

One critic said that the best part of the film was the camera shots.

ãSpeaking of cameras, Garry Phillips's cinematography is the one bright spot of the movie. Using a blend of extreme close-ups set off center and stunning widescreen shots, he creates a look that's much better than the material deserves,ä he said.

 

I think it wouldnât too be far from the truth for me to say that all of the reviews I read about this film on the internet didnât really compliment this film.

 

Susie Porter was said by one critic to be a sex symbol.

 ãAgain it's Porter and lots of sex. Sex sex sex! Porter used to be the sideshow comic relief like in Two Hands or Amy. Now, with Better Than Sex, Feeling Sexy and this film, she seems to have become The Complete Sex Symbol,ä she said.

 

The reviews that have been made from the time it was released until present date have not really changed at all, they mostly talk about it being clichŽd, containing too many unnecessary female sex scenes and not having much suspense in it for a detective story.

 

THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF PRODUCTION AND RELEASE AND ITS BOX-OFFICE

 

The circumstance of the production of ÎThe Monkeyâs Maskâ is that this film was based on Dorothy Porterâs novel that is in verse. I believe this may have been a very hard task for Scriptwriter Anne Kennedy to write it into a film. Maybe that is why this film was not as successful as it could have been. The film seems rather cluttered with different subplots, such as when different titles are placed upon the screen. These headings are chapter titles that are in Dorothy Porterâs novel. These headings are not really necessary in the film as they donât really take us anywhere or make much of a point.

 

This film was not at all a blockbuster but it made a US $49, 007 whereas Samantha Langâs previous release of ÎThe Wellâ only made a mere US $9, 043. This is a big difference between her two films.

PRIOR WORK

 

In 1997 Samantha Lang released ÎThe Wellâ which was selected for a competition at Cannes. This film also received 11 AFI (Australian Film Industry) nominations.

Samantha Lang starts shooting LâIdol in Paris, France in July. ÎThe Monkeyâs Maskâ made a higher US gross amount but ÎThe Wellâ shows to be a bit more successful in Australia than ÎThe Monkeyâs Maskâ as it received nominations for AFI awards.

 

Cinematographer, Garry Philipsâ prior work was ÎBetter Than Sexâ in 2000, which made a US gross of $94, 940. This, by the amount of money it made, shows it to be a much more successful film in the US than ÎThe Monkeyâs Maskâ.

 

Susie Porter won an FCCA award for Best Supporting Actress in 19 for her role in ÎTwo Handsâ in 1999. She also appeared in ÎParadise Roadâ and ÎWelcome to Woop Woopâ. She played lead roles in ÎFeeling Sexyâ and ÎBetter Than Sexâ. She also appears in ÎBootmenâ and her TV experience includes ÎWildsideâ, ÎWater Ratsâ and ÎAftershocksâ. She is also going to star in the next Star Wars film ÎAttack of the Clonesâ.

 

Kelly McGillis previously starred in ÎTop Gunâ in 1989 which won the 1986 Best Original Song -  Tom Whitlock,  Giorgio Moroder  presented by: Academy Awards, 1986  Nominated Best Film Editing -  Billy Weber  presented by: Academy Awards, 1986  Nominated Best Sound  presented by: Academy Awards and 1986  Nominated Best Sound Effects Editing  presented by: Academy Awards. These awards prove that ÎThe Monkeyâs Maskâ was nowhere near as successful as this other film that Kelly McGillis starred in.

 

One of the producers of ÎThe Monkeyâs Maskâ, Robert Connolly is also a film director of the 2001 film, ÎThe Bankâ. He won an AFI award for his achievement.

 

John Maynard, another producer of ÎThe Monkeyâs Maskâ, has been a producer for 20 years. He co-produced Jane Campionâs ÎAn Angel at my Tableâ, which was the winner of a ãSilver Lionä at the 1990 Venice Film Festival. In 1994 he produced ÎAll Men Are Liarsâ, in 1997 ÎThe Boysâ and in 2001, ÎThe Bankâ which received AFI awards.

 

THIS FILM IN RELATION TO AUSTRALIAN CINEMA

 

 

The movie ÎThe Monkeyâs Maskâ, although not one of the best, is an important film to Australia. It raises the points and ideas that women are now taking on roles in Australian films that were once only filled by males. It stands out in a significant way compared to that of other Australian films. ÎThe Monkeyâs Maskâ could arguably be said to be a feminist film. This film operates along the front that it, as said by Tom OâRegan,

 

ã..brings into being a womanâs cinema: a cinema operating in and creating its own alternative cultural space, such as that attempted by the Sydney Womenâs Film Group from 1971, Reel Women in Melbourne from the mid01970s to early 1980s, and Cinematrix in Perth in the 1980s and Beyond.ä (OâRegan, 1996).

 

This means that ÎThe Monkeyâs Maskâ which was written by a female, directed by a female and the lead roles that were played by females, allows women to achieve and maintain some political and bureaucratic power. This may be done by many box-office US movies but it is not such a common thing in Australia and this is why it is such an important thing in making us see the general position of Australian film and its values.

 

AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL CINEMA AS A MEDIUM SIZED ENGLISH LANGUAGE CINEMA

 

In English speaking countries, film industries only really cater for English Language films. These countries such as Australia, United Kingdom, United States, Canada and any other primary English speaking countries are only a small part of the world, this enabling them to only be able to compete with the big budget Hollywood films. This means that their films must be appealing to the American film industry and audience, as that is where a lot of the money is for English Language Cinema. It must also be something that is quite different at the same time so it enables them to compete with the US market. It should be ãantipodalä, enabling a negotiate path between Australian and US filmmaking.

 

ÎThe Monkeyâs Maskâ by Samantha Lang is clearly an Australian film and is evident through the landscapes that are represented throughout the film. The actual narrative could enable it to be a Hollywood film, but if this film was a Hollywood film I doubt it would be any more successful than it was with being Australian. This film shows Australiaâs landscapes and by lead roles in this film being lesbians, it gives a different perspective to Australian films.