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movie, it is also a very funny one, with a wide enough four-letter vocabulary to make the odd backward schoolgirl blush." Martha DuBose wrote in the Sydney
Morning Herald "In spite of the cleverly crafted rough-edged look of the film and its peppery language, The Last of the Knucklemen is a wistful little romance on a dying breed of men." The Adelaide Advertiser's Terry Jennings commented on the films poor distribution and said of the film "Burstall has taken a modest subject and made a modest success - a well-crafted, well-acted, always entertaining adaptation of John Powers's boisterous if simple and machismo stage play." Colin Bennett in The Age says "Bruce Smeaton's music seems to be summing up 'The Last of the Knucklemen'. He uses a rousing frontier banjo ... and a set of caterwauling gibberish-lyrics." Writing in Cinema Papers Keith Connolly concludes "In sum, Knucklemen is disappointing, not for any marked defect of rendition, but rather because Burstall (who, of course, knows precisely what he is doing) keeps his sights so low." The Bulletin's
363:
I was trying to take the ocker stuff and cross it, as I think John Powers' play was, with anthropology. Before I rehearsed the cast, I got them to read 'The
Territorial Imparity of the Native Aid'. I wanted it to be seen not just as ockerism but as anthropology. But the only people who got that were
392:
John
Lapsley of the Sun-Herald gave the film 4 stars concludes "It is a very strong script nicely adapted by Burstall. The situations and relationships are subtly developed - yet all through there is a vigorous, rough overlay which makes it seem anything but delicate. Apart from being a very good
436:
was released on DVD by
Umbrella Entertainment in January 2012. The DVD is compatible with region codes 2 and 4 and includes special features such as the trailer, photo gallery and interviews with John Powers, Gerard Kennedy, Dan Burstall, Steve Bisley and Michael Caton.
31:
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I don't think they knew how to market it. A lot of women said to me, 'I'd never go to a picture that had the title The Last of the
Knucklemen'. But nobody ever looked at it as an analysis of the way men work. It's a right-wing view of
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The movie was shot over six weeks in
September and October 1978 mostly on sets at Melbourne's Cambridge Studios. Exterior scenes were shot in the South Australian outback town of
356:. He eventually decided on the latter. He had to wait to get the rights because the Melbourne Theatre Company were negotiating to sell the rights to the US but this fell through.
359:
Burstall did the adaptation himself, which was largely faithful to the play. He felt that the film was weak in the first half setting up characters. Burstall:
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states "It is precisely this evenness that makes it such a frustrating film to write about. There is professionalism but no passion or originality."
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grossed $ 180,000 at the box office in
Australia, which is equivalent to $ 703,800 in 2009 dollars. Reviews however were strong. Burstall:
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Leslie Rees described it as "a sequence of sketches using the same basic characters but without much development or thematic resolution".
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the French. It was bought in France and it's done terribly well there – much better than it ever did in
Australia.
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It was performed Off-Broadway in 1983 at the
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Sound - John
Phillips, Edward McQueen-Mason and Peter Fenton - Nominated
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Bennett, Colin (17 September 1979), "Fair fist of knuckles",
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Film Victoria – Australian Films at the Australian Box Office
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Lapsley, John (15 July 1979), "KO winner for Tim Burstall",
872:. St.Leonards, NSW.: Allen & Unwin/AFC. p. 266.
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Vagg, Stephen (24 July 2019). "50 Meat Pie Westerns".
612:"Curator's notes: The Last of the Knucklemen (1979)"
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832:"THEATER: 'KNUCKLEMEN,' CONTEST IN THE OUTBACK"
409:Supporting Actor - Michael Duffield - Nominated
546:The Last New Wave: The Australian Film Revival
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678:Jennings, Terry (8 December 1979), "Review",
497:John Power's play had been produced in 1973.
412:Adapted Screenplay - Tim Burstall - Nominated
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592:Interview with Tim Burstall, 30 March 1998
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415:Original Music - Bruce Smeaton - Nominated
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424:Costume Design - Kevin Regan - Nominated
421:Art Direction - Leslie Binns - Nominated
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234:is a 1979 Australian film directed by
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406:Best Actor - Mike Preston - Nominated
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1095:Great Expectations: The Untold Story
1071:The Adventures of Sebastian the Fox
820:, Angus & Robertson, 1978 p 207
749:"The Last of the Knucklemen (1979)"
491:A mining camp, north-west Australia
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548:, Angus & Robertson, 1980 p38
1158:Australian films based on plays
830:Gussow, Mel (27 October 1983).
332:Before Tim Burstall started on
1138:Films directed by Tim Burstall
575:Scott Murray, 'Tim Burstall',
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1143:Films scored by Bruce Smeaton
818:Australian Drama in the 1970s
1153:English-language drama films
1148:1970s English-language films
708:"The Last of the Knucklemen"
868:Murray, Scott, ed. (1994).
730:"Misfits out in the desert"
167: (Cannes film festival)
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1020:The Last of the Knucklemen
906:The Last of the Knucklemen
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801:The Last of the Knucklemen
448:The Last of the Knucklemen
434:The Last of the Knucklemen
381:The Last of the Knucklemen
311:Stewart Faichney as Tassie
231:The Last of the Knucklemen
63:The Last of the Knucklemen
24:The Last of the Knucklemen
666:The Sydney Morning Herald
601:Retrieved 14 October 2012
28:
775:"Umbrella Entertainment"
597:15 November 2013 at the
254:) before the big fight.
1133:Films shot in Melbourne
1079:Sculpture Australia '69
680:The Adelaide Advertiser
1128:Australian drama films
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354:Last of the Knucklemen
223:A$ 180,000 (Australia)
170:11 July 1979
146:Umbrella Entertainment
1087:A Descant for Gossips
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112:Edward McQueen-Mason
18:1979 Australian film
521:Cinema of Australia
338:Hexagon Productions
136:Hexagon Productions
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836:The New York Times
747:Kuipers, Richard.
579:Sept-Oct 1979 p577
473:Russell St Theatre
349:The Odd Angry Shot
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159:May 1979
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152:Release dates
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1012:Eliza Fraser
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988:Alvin Purple
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909:at Oz Movies
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849:26 September
847:. Retrieved
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783:. Retrieved
779:the original
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734:The Bulletin
733:
726:Hall, Sandra
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315:Gerry Duggan
306:Steve Bisley
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236:Tim Burstall
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187:Running time
104:Dan Burstall
74:Tim Burstall
62:
54:Tim Burstall
45:Tim Burstall
15:
475:, Melbourne
456:John Powers
395:Sandra Hall
336:he thought
276:Peter Hehir
248:Peter Hehir
95:Peter Hehir
71:Produced by
41:Directed by
1118:1979 films
1112:Categories
960:2000 Weeks
759:5 November
622:27 October
616:aso.gov.au
527:References
453:Written by
429:Home media
328:Production
308:as Mad Dog
220:Box office
215:A$ 460,000
191:93 minutes
174:1979-07-11
128:Production
51:Written by
981:The Child
844:0362-4331
388:unionism.
376:Reception
370:Andamooka
266:as Tarzan
199:Australia
109:Edited by
35:DVD cover
1052:Kangaroo
1004:End Play
996:Petersen
806:AusStage
595:Archived
515:See also
323:as Whore
284:as Horse
272:as Pansy
204:Language
117:Music by
83:Starring
59:Based on
694:The Age
560:Filmink
488:Setting
483:English
296:as Carl
290:as Monk
207:English
196:Country
172: (
163:1979-05
161: (
130:company
1098:(1987)
1090:(1983)
1082:(1969)
1074:(1961)
1055:(1987)
1047:(1985)
1039:(1982)
1031:(1981)
1023:(1979)
1015:(1976)
1007:(1975)
999:(1974)
991:(1973)
983:(1973)
976:Libido
971:(1971)
963:(1969)
876:
842:
785:15 May
755:. NFSA
278:as Tom
212:Budget
968:Stork
900:IMDb
874:ISBN
851:2017
840:ISSN
787:2013
761:2021
624:2016
507:and
352:and
258:Cast
242:Plot
898:at
804:at
1114::
1063:TV
979:-
838:.
834:.
751:.
732:,
710:,
614:.
584:^
568:^
535:^
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346:,
238:.
936:e
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882:.
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626:.
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176:)
165:)
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