Don's Party

While it's often dismissed as a dated period piece, D.P is actually a scathing satire of a country that was, and remains, caught awkwardly between boorishness and sophistication, adolescence and maturity. Beresford captures the bickerings and resentments of this motley assortment of colourful characters over the course of an election night in longish conversational takes that are closer to Ashby and Altman than any Aussie film from the period. The ensemble cast all make positive impressions.

A terrific ensemble cast act the hell out of a terrific screenplay (the screenwriter receiving top billing in the credits) in this one-night film that's designed for great acting and writing. The political angle becomes more and more subdued as the characters get more and more drunk, until personal relations take precedence over political noise. What a party!

63.500

Blistering critique of male attitudes and ideas circa 1969 has aged and mellowed incredibly well, while never losing its at times savage bite. Beresford extracts brilliant performances from his 4 alpha males - Hargreaves, Hopkins, Kennedy and Barrett are equally fine, with Drynan's portrait of bubbling exasperation a fascinating bookend to MURIEL'S WEDDING some 20 years later. That it also remains consistently gut-bustingly hilarious is a testament to Williamson's knowing and clever screenplay.

Though betraying stage origins (it's conceptually too cute for cinema), Beresford's film about a group of friends who are very friendly towards one another on election night in 1969 is often funny and an interesting look at Australian politics and culture (for a non-Aussie like me, anyways).