The Pursuit of Happiness (Martha Ansara, 1988) prod. Martha Ansara, wr. Martha Ansara, Laura Black, Alex Gibson; Anna Gare, Laura Black, Peter Hardy, Jack Coleman; set and shot in Fremantle WA; female journo involved in peace movement; low-budget political thriller
I'm not very enthusiastic about Martha Ansara's film which proposes a conspiracy theory about the Americas Cup in Freo in 1987 and the USA's interest in 'defence' installations in Australia. Whatever. I was simply interested in seeing Peter Hardy, and Anna Gare in a leading role, and her sister Sophie, and the Jam Tarts, and Lucky Oceans, and John Troy ... in a Fremantle film.
According to the Wikipedia article on Ric Throssell, this was based on a book written his daughter Karen Throssell. He donated the Victoria Cross won by his father Hugo Throssell to the People for Nuclear Disarmament organisation to assist in funding the film. Senator Jo Vallentine appears in it: she was a member of the Nuclear Disarmament Party, then an independent, and finally a Green.
Stratton:
The film tries to cover quite a lot of ground: a family in crisis, the anti-nuclear movement, and a conspiracy theory suggesting a link between syndicates formed to defend the America's Cup and arms dealers. ... It is an emotional subject, and that is what lifts it above the usual worthy, but didactic low-budget political film. Stratton: 223.
Stratton, David 1990, The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bust in the Australian Film Industry, Pan Macmillan, Sydney.
IMDb page.
Wikipedia page.
See also: Worth, David 2005, 'Project Iceberg: Fremantle's response to visiting nuclear warships in the 1980s', Fremantle Studies, 4: 50-65.
Garry Gillard | New: 9 October, 2012 | Now: 11 April, 2024