Wish there were more people discussing it...
Not just for Australian football fans or even just for sports fans.
Its commentary on the economics of sport is as valid as ever.
The late great Graham Kennedy never put in a bad film performance. Terrific, as always, in this.
Good nostalgia for Collingwood supporters, too, seeing the old Vic Park and 1970s players.
Yep. People rave about Breaker Morant but this is Beresford's best (Australian, at least) film IMHO.
Carn the Tiges! (ah, 1980.. if only Micheal Roach was still playing...)
Agreed, though Breaker Morant is a great film too.
There was stuff in the paper recently about how all these Australian films from that era are having to be restored even though they’re not that old. Apparently they do fade and cop wear and tear relatively quickly, plus no-one has in the past insisted that copies be stored in national archives:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/film/thats-not-a-film-/2005/12/16/1134703607310.html
I’d prefer not to discuss 1980 (or 2003 or 2002 or 1981 or 1979 or 1977 or 1970 or…. awww dammit all to hell)
You do have his son (Thomas Roach) on your list. There's the occasional AFL thread on the Sport board. Self-evidently, I don't check The Club board very often.
...And in the hour of greatest slaughter, the great avenger is being born…
This film and another Aussie film with Jack Thompson in it, Sunday too far away, are probably my two favorite fims of all time, I love Aussie films made in the 60s 70s and 80s a lot of the characters in them are like people I have met or know of and some Aussie fims remind me of a Britain which now sadly has dissapeared.
shareI agree, this film is a classic and should have been better distributed.
And I hate Aussie rules!
see my post i was in this movie
I do love this film. Ok the acting isn't always that convincing and the story is a tad predictable. But it's such an absorbing film you don't tend to care about the little faults.
Jack Thompson is superb as the Coach - such an under-rated actor outsize Oz and yet he has appeared in some great films such as Sunday Too Far Away (my fave Oz film of all) and Breaker Morant to name but two.
The film does need a remastered "wash" and it does look a little out-dated but hey, who cares about looks! It's still a champion film!
I just watched this movie for the first time last night and absolutely LOVED it! Such great acting and a real insight into Melbourne in 1980. It was weird seeing some of the cityscape around Collingwood and Clifton Hill that look the same even today - such as the overpass over the Eastern Freeway.
There are so many layers in the movie - it would be great to study at school.
Also, I can't believe there are not more movies made about Aussie Rules Football out there!! And so many people haven't even heard of this great movie either!
I saw The Club on tv back in the 80s (here in the UK), just the once, and it stayed with me all these years. I always remembered how much I loved it and happily one of my friends had the dvd shipped from Australia last week and after more than 30 years I saw it last night for the second time and it is just as fantastic as I remembered. The shennanigans in the boardroom are so hilarious and well executed by the cast that I didn't care about the sports/action shots. After Mad Max II this is without doubt the best Australian film I've seen. A classic, and it's rating of 6 on here is disgraceful.
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The memories of a man in his old age are the deeds of a man in his prime
I watched it this past weekend. Only hours after seeing Collingwood win the AFL Grand Final, which made the viewing all the more enjoyable.
"Ahh, it's great to be young and insane" - Michael Keaton
The Dream Team
Certainly is.
I loved Frank Wilson as Jock - what a bastard!
Looks bobbins.
I loved Jock - such an arrogant buffoon; yet at the same time strangely lovable, like a favourite Uncle.
Seeing him stoned was a hoot, but I absolutely loved his outrageous comment during a training session when he boasts "...with the team we'll have next year, Jesus Christ will be flat out making the reserves!"
A classic case of talking before engaging brain; and yes, Jock was a bitter & twisted old geezer, but he was the perfect foil to the "by-the-book" coach, Laurie.
"One must first get behind someone, in order to stab them in the back!"