Other DVDs and Videos on Australian Topics
Today is 5/24/2012
The Shiralee (DVD TV SHI) 190 min. 1987.
A fiercely independent man reluctantly takes his daughter on the road with him to the Australian outback while he looks for work.
Sweetie (DVD DRAMA SWE) 99 min. 1989.
Jane Campion, director of The Piano, will always be remembered for this stunning debut feature. The focus of this film is the hazardous relationship between button-down, superstitious Kay, and her rampaging sister, “Sweetie.”
Swimming Upstream (DVD DRAMA SWI) 97 min. 2003.
Based on the true story of Tony Fingleton, a young man from a troubled family. He lives in the shadow of an abusive father, but Tony finds the inner strength to become a swimming champion. Always overshadowed in his father's eyes by his brothers, it is only when Tony displays an extraordinary swimming talent that he feels he has a shot at winning his father's heart.
Tap Dogs (DVD MUSICAL TAP) 73 min. 1996.
Six young Australian men steal tap from the world of black ties and tails and carry it body and soul into the nineties.
Ten Canoes (DVD FOREIGN TEN) In Aboriginal language and English, with English captions. 88 min. 2006.
In the past, Dayindi coveted his older brother's wife. To teach him the proper way, he is told a parable of forbidden love from the mythical past, a story of wrong love, kidnapping, sorcery, and revenge gone wrong.
The Thorn Birds (DVD TV THO) 487 min. 1983.
The epic story of a priest torn between God and human passion and a beautiful girl desiring only what she cannot have − spanning five decades of ambition, fear, longing and revenge, and set against the vast horizons of Australia's Outback.
Two Hands (DVD DRAMA TWO) 90 min. 1999.
19-year-old Jimmy finds himself in debt to a local gangster when some gang loot disappears and sets him on the run from thugs. Meanwhile, two street kids start a shopping spree when they find the missing money.
Walkabout (DVD DRAMA WAL) 100 min. 1971.
Stranded in the Australian outback, an English girl and her brother are rescued by an Aborigine boy who is there on his "walkabout" − a tribal initiation into manhood.
Whale Rider (DVD DRAMA WHA) 101 min. 2002.
The Whangara people of New Zealand believe their ancestor Paikea was saved from drowning by riding home on a whale, and have since granted leadership positions to the first-born males of a certain family, believing them to be the descendants of Paikea. A mother dies in childbirth along with her newborn son, but his twin sister, Pai, survives and is raised by her grandparents. Learning the skills of chiefdom from her grandfather, Pai shows that she possesses natural leadership ability. This film is based on the book by Witi Ihimaera.
Wolf Creek (DVD SCI-FI WOL) 104 min. 2005.
Kristy, Ben and Liz are friends who set out to hike through the scenic Wolf Creek National Park in the Australian outback. Trouble begins when they return from their hike to find that their car won't start. They think they have a way out when a friendly local bushman named Mick Taylor offers help, but what Mick has in mind for them has nothing to do with friendliness.
The World’s Fastest Indian (DVD DRAMA WOR) 127 min. 2005.
Burt Munro, a Kiwi from far south New Zealand, has been building and rebuilding his antique Indian motorcycle for the last forty years, dreaming of the day when he and the bike can go to Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats and see what they can really do. When Burt’s heart goes bad on him, he is afraid his dream has come to an end, but he is not ready to give up. He mortgages his house and he and the motorcycle head for America to participate in “Speed Week” at the Salt Flats.
