From Nicole Kidman to Hugo Weaving, a who’s who of Australian cinema has assembled to pay tribute to the Australian film critic David Stratton in a new documentary out this March – David Stratton: A Cinematic Life.
George Miller, Gillian Armstrong, Geoffrey Rush, Eric Bana and Jacki Weaver all appear in the film to celebrate the critic’s long and revered career. After more than 50 years in the industry, Stratton is best known in Australia for cohosting the long-running film shows The Movie Show and At The Movies with Margaret Pomeranz but, as the film’s producer, Jo-anne McGowan, explained to Guardian Australia, his impact reaches far beyond local audiences.
“Here, we may just see him as our loveable former TV reviewer but, internationally, on the festival circuit, he is a rock star,” she said.
Directed by Sally Aitken (Getting Frank Gehry, Streets of Your Town), the documentary tracks Stratton’s love of films from his first cinema experience as a boy living in Melksham, England, where he founded a film society at the age of 19.
“Some people’s hobbies were collecting stamps, mine was collecting movies,” Stratton says in the trailer.
Expected to carry on the family tradition – Stratton Sons and Mead, a wholesale grocer – he instead broke with his parents and moved to Australia in 1963 to pursue his passion as, in his words, “a black sheep who loved movies”.
“My father was besides himself with fury,” explains his brother in the trailer but, for David, it was “the turning point of my life”.
In 1966 Stratton was appointed director of Sydney film festival, a position he held until 1983. SBS program The Movie Show premiered in 1986, cohosted by Stratton and Pomeranz, and, in 2004, the influential pair moved to the ABC to host At The Movies, which aired its final season in 2014.
“David is so knowledgeable and generous but he is a very private person,” McGowan said. “Making a documentary means being followed by a film crew even when you’d rather not be, so it was a negotiation. I’m sure he got very tired of being told to walk this way and that for no apparent reason.”
The interview process uncovered a swathe of colourful stories, she said.
“[Long-time Variety critic] Todd McCarthy recalled seeing David at his happiest when seated one evening between Uma Thurman and Nicole Kidman at a dinner party. He said he looked like he was in heaven. He is certainly a well-travelled, well-connected man. The overriding sense we got from our extensive interview process both here, in the US and UK was one of how respected David is on the world stage.”
Stratton will attend Q&A screenings around the country from late February, before the film opens nationally on 9 March. “David Stratton is a true champion of Australian cinema,” said Andrew Mackie, the joint managing director of Transmission Films. “The opportunity to share his unique personal story on the big screen is a privilege.”
