Emerald City (Michael Jenkins, 1988) aka David Williamson's Emerald City, prod. Joan Long; John Hargreaves, Robyn Nevin, Chris Haywood, Nicole Kidman, Ruth Cracknell; 91 min.
Successful screenwriter Colin Rogers moves from Melbourne to Sydney and becomes involved with commercial movie hustler Mike McCord.
Richard Kuipers:
Emerald City does have its spiky charms and is worth a look for its contribution to the eternal Sydney vs Melbourne debate. It was released in Australian cinemas on 9 December 1988 and nominated for five AFI Awards in 1989: Best Actor (Hargreaves), Supporting Actress (Kidman), Adapted Screenplay (Williamson) and Cinematography (Paul Murphy), with Chris Haywood winning the prize for Best Supporting Actor. Richard Kuipers, NFSA.
Luke Buckmaster:
Adapted from David Williamson’s popular play of the same name, it is underrated among the veteran writer’s screenplays. Thanks to Jenkins’s direction and his cast’s energy it plays in a higher, shriller key than most of Williamson’s stage-to-screen transitions – more The Club in its verbal cha-cha-cha than a slower-paced chinfest like Don’s Party. The Guardian.
Australian Screen page
Wikipedia entry
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