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Ray Argall, born Melbourne 1957, has often worked as a cinematographer. He has directed these two feature films.
Return Home (Ray Argall, 1990) wr. Ray Argall; Dennis Coard, Frankie J. Holden, Ben Mendelsohn, Micki Camilleri, Rachel Rains; two brothers reunited; AFI Best Director award
Bill Mousoulis:
'... no film in the 1990s matches Ray Argall's Return Home (1989) for sheer depth, humanity and inventiveness (what a lead performance by Dennis Coard!), not even Argall's second film, Eight Ball (1991)'. Bill Mousoulis.
Eight Ball (Ray Argall, 1991) wr. Ray Argall, Harry Kirchner; Matthew Fargher, Angie Milliken, Paul Stevn, Frankie J. Holden
Ray Argall:
I spent too much time and put too much energy into making everybody else happy and doing the right thing by everybody else instead of doing the right thing by myself. There's a point where you need to actually focus on what is there. There were many elements of the storytelling that I could have focused on and developed, rather than just dropping and replacing them with something new, and it may have helped. The romance between the main character and his girlfriend - there was a great desire on the part of quite a few of the people who were financing it, to develop this and to make it a strong element. It's not a real strength of mine, and I did all that, but at the expense of other elements that were probably more in tune with the story that I originally had in mind. I developed those things but in the editing room we probably cut it down to what it was in the original script. Ray Argall, Interview with Peter Malone, Signis, 13 March 1998, as quoted in Wikipedia.
Wronsky (Ian Pringle, 1980) wr. Ian Pringle, Doug Ling, prod. Ian Pringle for Seon Film Productions, dp Ray Argall, ed. Tony Paterson; Miranda Brown, Phil Dagg, John Flaus, Rob Jordan, Doug Ling, Lisa Parish, Ross Thompson, Frank Walsh; drama; Eastman colour, 16 mm, 70 min.
Plains of Heaven, The (Ian Pringle, 1982) prod. John Cruthers for Seon Films, wr. Ian Pringle, Doug Ling, Elizabeth Parsons, dp Ray Argall, composer Andew Duffield, design Elizabeth Stirling, ed. Ray Argall; Adam Briscombe, Jenny Cartwright, Reg Evans, John Flaus, Gerard Kennedy, Richard Moir; Fuji colour, 16 mm, 80 min.
Camera Natura (Ross Gibson, 1984) dp Ray Argall
Wrong World (Ian Pringle, 1986) prod. Bryce Menzies, Ian Pringle for Seon Film Productions, wr. Ian Pringle, Doug Ling, dp Ray Argall, music Eric Gradman, design Christine Johnson, ed. Ray Argall; Richard Moir, Jo Kennedy, Nick Lathouris, Robbie McGregor, Esben Storm; Victoria; disturbing road movie; Fuji colour, 35mm, 100 min.
Prisoner of St Petersburg, The (Ian Pringle, 1990) dp Ray Argall; Noah Taylor, Solveig Dommartin; Noah's character thinks he's in a novel by Dostoevsky
Castanet Club, The (Neil Armfield, 1990) dp Ray Argall; Steve Abbott, Penny Biggins, Glenn Butcher; musical
Tender Hooks (Mary Callaghan, 1989) wr. Mary Callaghan, prod. Chris Oliver, dp Ray Argall; Nique Needles, Jo Keenedy, Anna Philips, Robert Menzies, John Polson; key in prison
People Who Still Use Milk Bottles (Brian McKenzie, 1991) dp Ray Argall; Barry Dickins, John Flaus, Melissa Jaffer, Barry Jones
Stan and George's New Life (Brian McKenzie, 1992) dp Ray Argall; Paul Chubb, John Bluthal, Julie Forsyth, Margaret Ford; review by Jan Epstein in Murray 1995: 348; from her review in Cinema Papers, 90, October 1992: 55; review by Barrett Hodsdon, Filmnews, August 1992: 13; old-fashioned comedy
Body Melt (Philip Brophy, 1994) wrs. Philip Brophy, Rod Bishop, dp Ray Argall, music Philip Brophy; Gerard Kennedy, Andrew Daddo, Ian Smith, Vince Gil, Regina Gaigalas, Maurie Annese, Nick Polites, William McInnes
Look Both Ways (Sarah Watt, 2005) prod. Bridget Ikin, Hibiscus Films, wr. Sarah Watt, dp Ray Argall; Justine Clarke (Meryl), William McInnes (Nick) (McInnes was married to the late Sarah Watt), Anthony Hayes, Andrew S. Gilbert, Andreas Sobik, Lisa Flanagan, Daniela Farinacci, Sacha Horler; premiere SAFF Feb 2005; mix of animation and live action, set over hot weekend, when six people dealing with unexpected events find their lives intersecting; Australian release 18 August 2005; 100 min.
Wikipedia page.
Ray Argall interview with Peter Malone, Signis, 13 March 1998
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