Newsfront

Australia | 1978 Directed by Philip Noyce Starring Bill Hunter Wendy Hughes Gerard Kennedy B&W, Color | 110 Minutes | PG Format: DVD (R0 - NTSC) Blue Underground

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6     8   10 = Highest Rating   Guest Review by Troy Howarth

A troupe of newsreel filmmakers documents the major events in Australia while fighting against the coming of television...     Winner of several 1978 AFI (Australian Film Industry) awards, including Best Picture, Newsfront seems curiously undeserving of such critical adulation. This is not to suggest that it is an unaccomplished film — far from it. However, despite its interesting central concept, it is never fully involving.     The central idea of the piece — of the dedicated men and women who toiled over newsreels, fighting against the coming of television which would ultimately drive them out of business — is an interesting one, but the film never really catches fire. Part of the problem lies in the characterization. The central character played by Bill Hunter (in a solid performance that netted him the AFI's Best Actor award) comes off as dour and unbelievably selfless in his unquestioning loyalty to the film company. Doubtless he is supposed to represent an 'old fashioned' embodiment of loyalty and dedication, but he frequently comes across as little more than a company stooge. Much of the narrative rests on his shoulders, and while Hunter does the best he can, it's a character that invites little sympathy or interest — he remains an enigmatic symbol of bygone values rather than a three-dimensional human being.     Nevertheless, there is something to be said for the film's decision to spotlight a virtually forgotten part of news and cinema history. Long before television became the number one source for visual images of the news, it was in up to the men and women of the newsreel industry to get the images and tell the stories. Their newsreels had a dramatic, cinematic quality that is far removed from the cut and dry approach of television news. Many of these newsreels were cut and scored with the dramatic aplomb of feature films, providing an exciting overview of the week's events. There was an artistry and sense of pride that permeated many of these shorts, something that is largely absent in the world of television news production, and it is the contrast between the dying art form and the less desirable alternative destined to replace it gives the film its focus.     Director Philip Noyce, who later graduated to bigger — if not necessarily better — fare like Dead Calm and Patriot Games, does a skillful job of blending the newsreel footage with newly created dramatic footage. Sections of the film play out in black and white to better conceal the subterfuge, and it is sometimes difficult to tell the difference between the old and new footage. One can tell that the director and his associates are sincere in their desire to bring the story of the forgotten heroes of a dead medium to the screen, yet the film simply never attains the dramatic intensity one would hope for. The pacing is frequently slack, and apart from a few well-timed laughs, there's little to really engage the viewer's interest.     In terms of its physical production, however, it is easy to see why Newsfront took home several statuettes on that front. The production design and costuming evoke the period in which the story is set — approximately 1948 to 1958 — very well indeed, and to the film's credit it never turns into a stiff waxworks piece. The cinematography is slick and stylish, evoking the newsreel quality when necessary and going for low key effects in place of flashy pyrotechnics. The end result is handsomely produced, even if it falls short in the drama department.

Blue Underground's release of Newsfront marks the film's R1 DVD debut. The 1.85/16x9 transfer is sharp and colorful, with the black and white footage boasting deep blacks, clean whites, and a nice gray tone scale. Print damage is limited to some minor speckling. The remixed 5.1 audio is clean and clear, with no signs of distortion. Dialogue comes through clearly, and the Aussie accents are never so strong as to be problematic for U.S. viewers. The original 2.0 track is also included. Extras include a commentary track with Noyce, producer David Elfick and writer Bob Ellis, a featurette on the attempts to salvage Australia's newsreels (not produced for this DVD, and disconnected from the film itself, it is really only of interest to newsreel buffs), a text history of the film's genesis and production, a trailer, clips from the 1978 AFI awards ceremony, and some DVD-ROM accessible materials about the film's production and restoration. The commentary is clearly the most substantial of the extras, and it makes for an informative guide to the film's history. 1/13/06

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