Burke & Wills

For the Burke and Wills expedition, see Burke and Wills expedition.
Burke & Wills
Directed by Graeme Clifford
Produced by Graeme Clifford,
John Sexton
Written by Michael Thomas
Starring Jack Thompson
Nigel Havers
Music by Peter Sculthorpe
Cinematography Russell Boyd
Edited by Tim Wellburn
Production
company
Hoyts Edgley
Distributed by Hoyts Distribution
Release dates
 31 October 1985 (Australia)
May 1986 (Cannes Film Festival)
Country Australia
Language English
Budget A$8,900,000 (estimated)[1]
Box office A$1,567,000 (Australia)

Burke & Wills is a 1985 Australian adventure film directed by Graeme Clifford, starring Jack Thompson and Nigel Havers. The film is based on the true story of the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition across Australia.

The film follows the tragic expedition of Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills in their crossing of Australia's interior in 1860-1. The film's account of the story changes the expedition's ending by having the explorers actually reach the northern coast. This upbeat idea was vehemently criticised by Australian reviewers. The story was also filmed the same year as a comedy, Wills & Burke.[2]

Plot

Burke and Wills are portrayed as bold but flawed figures. Burke is anxious to return to his sweetheart in Melbourne, and win fame and honor for himself in the 'race' across Australia. Wills is the consummate English gentleman and faithful follower to the end. Impressive Australian desert vistas help to build the dramatic tension as Burke's rash decisions come to a head.

Taken from the write-up on the back of VHS of Burke and Wills - They were the first white men to cross the prehistoric desert of Central Australia. Robert O'Hara Burke (Jack Thompson) was a boisterous, flamboyant Irishman interested only in the challenge - to be the first to "write the map". William John Wills (Nigel Havers) could not have been more opposite, a scientist thrilled by the discovery of things never seen by civilization. BURKE and WILLS is a sweeping epic about the bold, adventurous spirit of two men who risked all to make history. Abandoned by their backers half way through, they continued. BURKE and WILLS fulfilled their promise, and thereby their destiny. They made history - the kind of heroes that one hundred years later walked on the moon. A true story, BURKE and WILLS is a-tribute to courage and endurance, an account of men who carve history from the stone of their vision. Excellent performances by Thompson and Havers are supported by such talent as GRETA SCACCHI, MATTHEW FARGHER and RAPL COTTERILL.

Cast

Production

Graeme Clifford was an Australian who had become a leading editor in Hollywood and had moved into directing. He was interested in making a film about the Burke and Wills expedition and in 1978 approached EMI Films, who had commissioned a script from Terence Rattigan based on the story. This did not work out so Clifford then hired a fellow Australian expatriate, Michael Thomas, to write a screenplay. Early financial assistance was provided by David Williams of Greater Union.[1]

Clifford then went to make his first feature, Frances and discovered that Greater Union's enthusiasm for the movie had cooled. However, he received support from Hoyts-Edgley who agreed to finance. The budget would be particularly high because of Clifford's insistence at filming at many of the real locations Burke and Wills passed through.

Charlton Heston was once interested in playing Burke but Clifford says he only ever envisioned Jack Thompson in that role. After seeing Chariots of Fire wanted Nigel Havers to play Wills, a decision opposed by Actors Equity, but this was overturned at arbitration.[1][3]

Filming started in September 1984 and took 13 weeks. Many of the original locations were used, such as Coopers Creek, because Clifford thought it was important to be as authentic as possible.[3] There was some additional filming in England some months later.[1]

Painter Sidney Nolan came out on set and was the film's official painter.[3]

Film Release

The film premiered in Melbourne on 2 November 1985 before Prince Charles and Lady Diana; the first Australian Royal Premiere. It opened in other Australian cities on 7 November 1985, was shown at the 1986 Cannes Film Festival in May,[4] the Toronto Film Festival in September 1986 and was released worldwide in early 1986.

Burke & Wills performed disappointingly grossing $1,567,000 at the box office in Australia,[5] (which is equivalent to $3,729,460 in 2009 dollars). Jonathan Chissick later said "people in Australia were just not interested in seeing a picture about these two guys dying in the desert."[6]

The movie was released in the US but performed disappointingly there, too.[7]

VHS Release

The movie was released on VHS Video in Australia by Charter Entertainment in 1987 and released in the USA on 26 October 1988 by Nelson Entertainment.

Laserdisc Release

The movie was released on laserdisc in the USA (UPC: 08258902146).

DVD Release

The movie was released on DVD in 2014 through Umbrella Entertainment. Although released in Australia on the PAL format, the disc is region free. Umbrella Entertainment reproduced the original 32mm film; no restoration was done and the sound was left as 2-speaker stereo. The DVD had no menu on the disc and the movie was presented in its original 2.35:1 widescreen.

Award nominations

At the 1986 AFI awards Burke & Wills received nominations in categories for Best Achievement in Cinematography, Best Achievement in Costume Design, Best Achievement in Sound and Best Original Music Score.[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 David Stratton, The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bust in the Australian Film Industry, Pan MacMillan, 1990 p31-32
  2. ↑ Murray, Scott; (ed.) (1994). Australian Cinema. St.Leonards, NSW.: Allen & Unwin/AFC. p. 117. ISBN 1-86373-311-6.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Debi Enker, "Making Treks", Cinema Papers, November 1984 p19-20
  4. ↑ "Festival de Cannes: Burke & Wills". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 15 July 2009.
  5. ↑ Film Victoria - Australian Films at the Australian Box Office
  6. ↑ Nick Roddick, "The budgets, the pictures, the problems...", Cinema Papers, September 1986 p.10
  7. ↑ THIS EXPLORER YARN WENT NOWHERE AT THE BOX OFFICE Mathews, Jack. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 23 July 1987: SD_E1.
  8. ↑ IMDb awards

External links