Schirmer Encyclopedia of Film

the strange volcanic rocks at Hanging Rock, just north of
Melbourne. The film was heralded as evidence of the
artistic maturity of the Australian film industry.
The success of both films was influential, and they
were followed by a series of low-key period films in the
next four years, including Caddie (Donald Crombie,
1976) and The Irishman (1978), Storm Boy (Henri
Safran, 1976), Break of Day (Hannam, 1976), The
Picture Show Man (John Power, 1977), The Getting of
Wisdom (Beresford, 1977), The Mango Tree (Kevin
Dobson, 1977), and Blue Fin (Carl Shultz, 1978). The
languid pacing and downbeat tone of these films encouraged
producer, author, and radio commentator Phillip
Adams to catalog them as ‘‘elegiac images of failure.’’
Bruce Beresford’s Money Movers (1979) and George
Miller’s Mad Max (1979) were tough crime genre films
and represented a significant change. Beresford’s film,
one of his best, was underrated by critics at the time of
its release. On the other hand, Miller’s film, which was
made on a very tight budget, struck a chord with audi-
Australia
David Gulpilil (left) and Richard Chamberlain (center) in Peter Weir’s The Last Wave (1977). EVERETT COLLECTION.
REPRODUCED BY PERMISSION.
ences in Australia, America, and elsewhere. The film,
which made Mel Gibson (b. 1956) a star, was rooted in
the most elemental of melodramatic plots, the revenge
story. It was lean, violent, humorous, and had little
interest in the nuances of characterization. While some
critics condemned it, its commercial success resulted in
two sequels, The Road Warrior (1981) and Mad Max
Beyond Thunderdome (1985). Larger budgets gave
Miller an opportunity in the two sequels not only to
intensify the visceral spectacle of the first film but to be
more ambitious thematically.
The success of the Mad Max trilogy, in conjunction
with changes in the nature of government support for the
industry, provoked a rapid increase in the production of
crime films and other forms of melodrama. In 1981
division 10BA of the Income Tax Assessment Act offered
a tax deduction of 150 percent of eligible film investment
and exemption from taxation on the first 50 percent of
net earnings from that investment, providing that the
projects could verify their Australian credentials and
could be financed, completed, and released in the year
SCHIRMER ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FILM 137