SHAME
There will be no more Shame...
CREDITS
Producers: Damian Parer, Paul D.Barron
Director: Steve Jodrell
Script writers: Beverly Blankenship, Michael Brindley
Production Designer: Phil Peters
Costume Designer: Noel Peters
Editor: Kerry Regan
Composer: Mario Millo
Cinematography: Joseph Pickering
CAST
Deborra- Lee Furness Asta Cadell
Tony Barry Tim Curtis
Simone Buchanan Lizze Curtis
Margaret ford Norma Curtis
Gillan Jones Tina Farrel
Peter Aanensen Sergent Wal Cuddy
David Franklin Danny Fiske
Bill McClusky Ross
Allison Taylor Penny
RELEASE DATES
26th February 1998 (Perth)
28th April 1988 (Sydney)
22nd March 1989 (Video Release)
PRODUCTION COMPANIES
Barron Entertainment Ltd
UAA Films
DISTRIBUTORS
Columbia Tristar Home Video
Hoyts Disribution
LK- Tel Video (Brazil video)
RCA/Columbia - Hoyts Home Video
Skouras Pictures (1998, USA)
RUNNING TIME
97 minutes
AWARDS
Best screenplay Film critics' Circle of Australia Awards
Best Actor - Female lead Film critics' Circle of Australia Awards
REVIEWS
Newspapers and Journals
The West Australian, Perth, 29 February 1988
Sunday Times, Perth, 6 March 1988
Variety, 16 March 1998
Daily Telegraph, Sydney, 29 April 1988
The Sydney Morning Herald, 14 April 1988
The Weekend Australian, 30 April1988
Daily Mirror, Sydney, 2 May 1988
The Australian Financial Review, 6 May 1988
The Bulletin, 10 May 1988
Film News, May 1988
The Canberra Times, 10 June 1988
The Age, Melbourne, 16 July 1988
Sunday Press, Melbourne, 26 June1988
The Sun, 14 July 1988
The Advertiser, 13 August 1988
The Courier, 16 July 1988
Arena, n 85, Winter 1988
Antithesis v2 n2, 1988-9
Metro No 99, Summer 1994 p77-79 Review of Book Identification, Gender and Genre in Film; The Case of Shame By Stephen Crofts.
United States - 17 Reviews
United Kingdom 20 Reviews
Books
Crofts, Stephen Identification, Gender and Genre in Film; The Case of Shame, Australian Film Institute, 1993
Interviews
Beverly Blankenship, 1990, Interview Sydney 16 March
Steve Jodrell, 1988, Cinema Papers n 70
Ann Macbeth, October 23 1985.
Wwwmcc.murdoch.edu.au/ReadingRoom/film/image/macbeth.html
Part creator of Barron Films, the production company for Shame. At time of interview Shame was due to be filmed that year. The company had produced only 3 other films and one documentary.
Online Presences
I think that the age of the film contributed to the small online presence. There was a lot more information about the current projects of the actors/directors etc. The reading room had many links to film information.
www.hollywood.com/movies/detail/movie/261890
www.washingtonpost.com
www.us.imdb.com
Collecting Information
I began my search for information about Shame, on the Internet, through the H231 Australian cinema website. This lead to three articles about the film, all from American sites that included a list of cast and crew and recent reviews from the public. This proved useful for up to date information. The reading room link on the homepage provided the information regarding Barron films. The journals database on the library system was the most beneficial regarding articles. I found at least 6 reviews in the library from journals in Australia, America and the United States. One review was actually about a book called Identification, Gender and Genre in Film; The Case of Shame By Stephen Crofts. This Book, which was found in the library presented a comprehensive account of the film Crofts deals with the mix of genres, how viewer's identified with the film, the Australian cultural issues presented and the films intentions.
SHAME
Critical Review
"A black leather clad figure on a motorcycle appears, a dot in the distance of the open road. The figure draws closer. The big engine purrs in the still open countryside. The motorcycle runs past us. The rider is ASTA CADELL..."
The film Shame, directed by Steve Jodrell is an influential and compelling film about the horror and acceptance of gang rape within a small community. The film begins with the arrival of Asta Cadell (Deborah Lee Furness) a tough, leather clad, witty female lawyer who is forced to stopover in the small country town of Ginaborak whilst waiting for her motorbike parts to arrive. From the very beginning, the gender differences in the film are apparent. The men are aggressive and portray ownership whilst the women are cowering and quiet. Although reluctant to stay in the town, Asta is offered lodgings by Tim Curtis (Tony Barry) a local mechanic and learns of the rape of his daughter Lizze (Simone Buchanan) the previous evening. As Asta befriends Lizze, she confesses that the local lad's repeatedly gang rape the women of Ginborak without any consequences. Even the law enforcement turn a blind eye to the youths who are 'highly spirited'. As the story unfolds we meet Ross and Penny, she has been ostracised from the town for speaking up about her rape and her husband is regularly harassed and beaten by the town's lads. Their mothers try to blame Lizzie for 'being too easy' and one mother tries to bribe her with clothes to stay quiet. The fathers condone their behaviour stating that 'boys will be boys'. So Lizze and Asta decide to fight back. This builds up to a huge crescendo which combines all the subplots of the film. The women of the town come together as they fight back against the rapists. Unfortunately it is all too late for Lizze. As she hides in the police station whilst the town fights the drunken lads attacking the Curtis household, two boys find her. Despite screams of help she is whisked away in their car. Lizzie tries to escape only to be thrown onto the road and killed. A tragic heart wrenching ending to this very powerful film. In the final scene the town of Ginaborak stands in silence as her body is placed in the back of a truck. The Sheriff looks at one of the women:
WAL CUDDY (Sherif): Well - I hope you're bloody satisfied.
Asta stares at him. She can't speak.
TINA: No, Wal - we're not bloody satisfied - not by a along way - 'mate'...
This final scene is an interesting end to the film. After the death of a teenager the mentality of the Sheriff stays the same. However, it is resolved that the women will no longer stand for such opinions and that there has been communal recognition of a social problem. I felt very attached to the film as I was taken along this rough journey of oppression, hatred, ignorance and fear.
The public absorbed the film in many different ways, mostly agreeably. Women and feminists felt the film was encouraging women to speak out and seek justice. The only negative reviews I could find were by men. I think this is understandable as they are more likely to have a problem with the films politics. Most negative reviews praised the film in some way yet had a problem with Asta's feminist role and felt the film entertained feminist points of view. The majority of the public, especially the women, loved Shame. In central Sydney it was the 2nd highest grossing film of 1989 (Crofts sites Parer 1990: 179). Packed out theatres were known to clap and cheer in support of the women. It also gained an important role in the overseas market. When Jodrell and Furness promoted the film in the US it really hit a nerve. Furness claims that the women who saw Shame felt it was all too tragically familiar stating that she was almost seen as a rape counsellor (cited in Croft 1998: 179). The films American distributor, Majorike Skouras reported a screening where radical feminists urged men to leave the theatre (Crofts 1998: 57). Although Asta did have a boyfriend in the film, feminist took it on board as their film of the year. They loved Asta, who was a tough independent woman who stood up to the male preconceptions of a women's place in society. Yet the film was not produced for the feminist point of view. This was Steve Jodrell's reflection for the film
"Why do people subscribe to community attitudes about rape? Why should the person who is raped immediately be treated with suspicion? (Cinema papers 1998 )
There are many factors that should encourage sceptics to look beyond the feminist's discourse to see the real problem underneath. Firstly, a male directs the film. His vision was of an action adventure film, in the true genre of a western. Secondly Shame is now used as a class text to help understand and portray the consequences of rape and the mentality of some communities. There are two central male characters that also encourage a non-feminist reading of the film. This is important, especially as a class text so that male viewers have someone to relate to. Tony Curits has a strong role in the film, as he continues to strengthen his relationship with Lizzie. Ross, the roo shooter, is also portrayed differently from the towns' lads.
Shame was faced with pressure and criticism as it made its way to the big screen. It had trouble being funded for the original story and was unable to compete in the AFI awards. Shame was written by Beverly Blakenship and Michael Brindley in 1981. When they sought funding for the film they were encouraged to change the script. The UAA a Perth Finance company and the US encouraged them to add more graphic material. They wanted to change the lead to a man, have the rape scene present and make the men more prominent. They encouraged Blankenship and Brindley to have a male hero for Asta to love and to blow the boys head of with a gun, whilst he was raping Lizzie. The scriptwriters got support from Barron Films, and the UAA finally funded the film for $1.6 million dollars without the script changing. For Shame the biggest disappointment was being unable to compete in the Australian Film institute awards. It had been entered in 1987 then withdrawn due to poor print quality and therefore deemed ineligible. 'Shame should have scooped the pool at the 1988 AFI award...The film's box-office career undoubltly suffered as a result' (Crofts cites Stratton 1993:7)
Steve Jodrell:
The Great Gold Swindle Actor
(1984)
Fran (1985) First assistant director / Actor
Windrider (1986) First assistant director
Tudawali (1987) Director
Steve went on to work in many television productions including
Round the Twist 2 (1992) Director
Hailfax f.p (1995 - 1999) Director/ Actor/ script editor
Sea Change (1998) Director
Stingers (1998) Director
CrashBurn (2003) Director
Asta Cadell
Kings (1983) TV Series Actress
Crossover Dreams (1985)
Glass Babies (1985)
Jenny Kissed Me (1986)
Cool Change (1986)
The Humpty Dumpty Man(1986)
After Shame Furness went on to do many TV series and Films including:
Houseboat Horror (1989) Casting Director
Hailfax fp: The Feeding (1994) Actress
Sea Change (1998) Guest appearance
Standing Room only (2002) Writer
Simone Buchanan
The following are 4 of the 9 TV series / Films that Simone was involved with before Shame
My Brilliant Carrer (1979) Actress
Sons and Daughters (1981) Actress
The flying Doctors (1985) Actress
Hey Dad! (1985) Actress
Shame(1988) Actress
Pacific Drive (1995) Actress
A country practice (1981) Guest appearance
Blue Heelers (1994) Guest appearance
Water Rats (1996) Guest appearance
All Saints (1998) Guest appearance
Beverly Blankenship
Shame (1992) TV Screenplay
Natural Justice: Heat (1996) Play
Micheal Brindley
A Country Practice (1981) Writer
The Dark Room (1982) Producer
Police Rescue (1990) Writer
Entertaining Angles (1998) Director
Grass Roots (2000) Script editor
Crooked Earth (2001) Writer
I think that Shame showed a great deal of ingenuity and value at its time of release. It was shot in Perth, on a very small budget, in an unknown town called Toodyay. It was also released when numerous Australian films were on the market, therefore increasing competition. The mix of genres from Hollywood and Australia creates public interest in this film. The sub genres include the western, the rape revenge, the horror film and the biker film. The rape- revenge scene is addressed in a new style. By not showing Lizzie being raped, Shame focussed on the reactions and consequences of the event. It is also revealed that Asta, the strong willed protagonist of the film is afraid. Even she has to 'watch every shadow and jump at every sound'. Lizze's confession that 6 boys raped her also encourages the story to be about a collective of women fighting back. Therefore the shift is again not focused on the single event. We experience the potency the lads have when they attempt to rape Lizze's grandmother Norma. This changes the focal point from sex to power. Crofts suggests Shame ranges from the 'militant Mourir a Tue-tete to the horror film and the mainstream The Accused'. (1993:10) It also incorporates the bike film, such as The Wild One and Mad Max. Jodrell expects that many viewers would have assumed the bike rider to be a man (Crofts cites 1993: 58).
The Australian influence into the film was that of the social realist genre. This emerged in 1977 as a change from the period film. This was the most important genre as it created the most stylistic codes, the setting and the social attitudes concerning gender and class. Although this film could have been filmed anywhere, the involvement of the Australian community created an Australian Hero. This was a welcome change from the traditional Aussie battler, such as in Breaker Morant or Gallipoli.
The value of the sub genres within Shame helped to create the suspense and value of this film. It enticed the audience by creating a new way to tell the story. However, the depth of the dramatisation and the role reversal of characters came from the social realist genre. This meant the film ended on a social problem, rather than one from a genre. This Australian influence is a good example of how Australian film as a whole, works within Hollywood. As a medium sized English language cinema we slice into the mainstream with something different. Australia as a national cinema works within the boundaries of Hollywood to create its own style of film, such as Shame.
REFERENCES
Crofts, Stephen (1993) Identification, Gender and Genre in Film; The Case of Shame, Australian Film Institute
O'Reagan, Tom (1996) Australian National Cinema, Routledge, London
H231 Australian Cinema Reader
Furness, Deborra-Lee (1988) quoted The News, 9 August
Jodrell, Steve (1988) quoted Cinema Papers No70
Cinema Papers, No 70, Nov 1988 pg 32-43
Monthly Film Bulletin v56 n 665 June 1989 pg 188-189
Encore v6 n3 10 March 1988 pg12
Hollywood Reporter v303n23, 27 July 1988
www.liswa.wa.gov.au/filmcoll.html
www.hollywood.com/movies/detail/movie/261890
www.washingtonpost.com
www.us.imdb.com
www.online.murdoch.edu.au
wwwmcc.murdoch.edu.au/ReadingRoom/film/dbase>
FILMS CITED
Breakor Morant, dir. Bruce Breesford 1980
Gallipoli, dir. Peter Weir 1981
Mad Max, dir. George Miller 1979
Mouirir a Tue-tete, dir. Anne-Claire Poirier 1979
The Accused, dir. Jonathan Kaplan 1988
The Wild One, dir. Laslo Boendeck 1953
Shame, dir. Steve Jodrell 1988