Cinema
Stork
Tim Burstall · 1971
Synopsis
Graham Wallace, known as Stork, very tall, a hypochondriac, a virgin with an overactive imagination who believes himself a revolutionary, is dismissed from Holden after a striptease at his workplace. He moves into a shared house in Carlton, Melbourne, with Westy and two fashionable housemates, Tony and Clyde, who share the same girlfriend, Anna. Stork loses his virginity with her and falls in love with her; when Anna finds herself pregnant, Clyde decides to marry her.
Context
The film adapts David Williamson's first play, premiered in 1970 at Betty Burstall's La Mama theatre and performed only nine times. Shot on a low budget, with private capital and a budget of 60,000 dollars, it was first distributed by the director himself, who hired a cinema in Melbourne, then by Village Roadshow, and earned 224,000 dollars in rentals. Burstall regarded it as the first of the so-called ocker comedies and the first Australian commercial success since the fifties.
Who it is for
A comedy in Australian English, fast and crude, whose humour targets middle-class conformism.
Prizes and reception
Awards for Best Feature Film and Direction at the 1972 Australian Film Awards; shared acting award.
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