Julie Nihill Movies

It is a simple thing that police officer Tony Bourke has to do to regain his detective status. All he has to do is go to a remote outback town and clear the local police of any wrongdoing in the shooting of an Aboriginal suspect. After all, he himself recently suffered from being demoted because of an accidental shooting he committed while on the job. Nothing could be easier, except for one irritating little fact, which his superiors have ignored: Tony actually believes in the laws of the land. He is not prepared to whitewash the white cop's misdeeds (if that's what they are) just because they have been committed against a person of color. In this painful social drama, the tensions caused by discrimination in Australia are skillfully highlighted. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Tim Burstall directed this adaptation of D.H. Lawrence's semi-autobiographical novel recalling his experiences in Australia in the early 1920s. The film, set at the height of World War I, begins at the English coastal home of writer Richard Somers (Colin Friels) and his German-born wife Harriet (Judy Davis). Since Somers is a conscientious objector and his wife is the nationality of the enemy, the British police pay him a visit. Somers is then drafted and undergoes a humiliating physical examination at the draft board. Seeing harassment in the air, Somers and his wife decide to leave England for the relative calm of Australia, where their neighbors are a pair of earthy suburbanites, Vicki (Julie Nihil) and Jack Calcott (John Walton). Jack, disillusioned by the war, has joined a fascist paramilitary group called the Diggers, led by a wealthy old general with the code name "Kangaroo" (Hugh Keays-Byrne). The Diggers want to stifle the emerging union movement in the country, and Kangaroo hopes to enlist Richard in the cause because "a country does not exist until it has found a voice." But Somers finds himself torn between opposing camps, since the Socialist trade unionists also want to utilize his writing skills for their own ends, looking for Somers to help them carry through "a partnership between poetry and power." ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

This WW II musical is set in Australia and chronicles the exploits of a nightclub singer and the young Marine who loves her. She works in a Quonset hut turned into a saloon and helps stage shows for battle-weary troops returning from the South Seas. After one performance she holds a small party in her apartment and there meets the Marine sergeant who has just sailed in from Guadalcanal. Although she is married and awaiting the return of her husband, who is also at war, he decides to pursue her. Later she learns that her husband has been killed. Soon after, the Marine confesses that he can no longer handle the violence and has gone AWOL. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Set in Australia in the 1930s, this drama stars Nicholas Gledhill as P.S., a six-year-old boy who lives with his Aunt Lila (Robyn Nevin) and Uncle George (Peter Whitford). P.S.'s mother died in childbirth, so her sister Lila took him in, and while George and Lila don't have a lot of money, they've always done the best they can to give the boy a good home. One day, Lila's other sister Vanessa (Wendy Hughes) arrives after spending several years touring the world; Vanessa is quite wealthy, and upon her return to Australia, she expresses an interest in taking custody of the child. Lila is willing to let Vanessa visit with P.S., and his rich aunt is able to turn his head with limousine rides and lavish gifts. But when Vanessa decides she wants the boy full time, Lila decides to fight her in court. The case is complicated by the arrival of P.S.'s long-absent father, Logan (John Hargreaves), an alcoholic who loves his son but is incapable of caring for him. Careful He Might Hear You won eight Australian Film Institute Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress (Hughes), and Best Supporting Actor (Hargreaves). ~ Mark Deming, Rovi