This sixties Australian film is more famous for the fact of its existence than for its artistic merit. Not that it is totally without merit, but its importance lies elsewhere.
Weird Mob was the most successful of a handful of Australian films to get a general release in Australia between 1950 and 1970, and the first film to depict contemporary Australian city life for Australian audiences since the early Australian film industry succumbed to the invasion of Hollywood films in the late 1940s.
And now it is the only film from that era to show us Australia and Australians as they were then. The film broke new ground in other ways, it was the first major Australian film to show Sydney in colour and it was the first to show (a version of) multicultural Australia and the impact and experiences of non-British migrants in Australia. As such it is an important cultural artefact.
And so to the film itself. The film follows the comic adventures of an Italian migrant, Nino Cullotta, who arrives in Sydney in the mid-1960s. Italian star Walter Chiari is perfect in the role, full of cheerful energy that carries him through many challenging situations.
The film also features many great Australian actors of the time, including Chips Rafferty, John Meillon, Ed Devereux, Slim deGrey, and even has a cameo from Graham Kennedy, playing himself.
The film offers an idealised view of the immigrants' story, with little of the racism many faced, but at least it tells the story from a migrant's view, which few other films or TV shows attempted.
It was directed by the great British director Michael Powell, and while it's not one of his best, it is a rare chance to see Australia as it was, more or less, at the time.
Weird Mob was the most successful of a handful of Australian films to get a general release in Australia between 1950 and 1970, and the first film to depict contemporary Australian city life for Australian audiences since the early Australian film industry succumbed to the invasion of Hollywood films in the late 1940s.
And now it is the only film from that era to show us Australia and Australians as they were then. The film broke new ground in other ways, it was the first major Australian film to show Sydney in colour and it was the first to show (a version of) multicultural Australia and the impact and experiences of non-British migrants in Australia. As such it is an important cultural artefact.
And so to the film itself. The film follows the comic adventures of an Italian migrant, Nino Cullotta, who arrives in Sydney in the mid-1960s. Italian star Walter Chiari is perfect in the role, full of cheerful energy that carries him through many challenging situations.
The film also features many great Australian actors of the time, including Chips Rafferty, John Meillon, Ed Devereux, Slim deGrey, and even has a cameo from Graham Kennedy, playing himself.
The film offers an idealised view of the immigrants' story, with little of the racism many faced, but at least it tells the story from a migrant's view, which few other films or TV shows attempted.
It was directed by the great British director Michael Powell, and while it's not one of his best, it is a rare chance to see Australia as it was, more or less, at the time.