From On the Beach to The Road Warrior to Tomorrow,
When the War Began, Australia has figured prominently in cinematic
depictions of the events surrounding total war, including the use of
thermonuclear weapons.
So what’s that all about then, eh, mate?
[NOTE: Whoops! Looks
like I goofed! This essay was meant to be published BEFORE February 28—that was
when these films were scheduled to be screened at the fabulous Spectacle Theater in Brooklyn. But since I hate to waste anything…]
Smoke ’Em If You Got
’Em
Dir. Ray Boseley, 1988
Australia, 48 min.
In Australian, no subtitles
With:
Ducked & Covered:
A Survival Guide to the Post Apocalypse
Dir. Nathaniel
Lindsay, 2009
Australia, 8:26 min.
I Love Sarah Jane
Dir. Spencer Susser,
2007
Australia, 14 min.
Spider
Dir. Nash Edgerton,
2007
Australia, 9 min.
Maybe it’s something
to do with the “Convict Stain,” but Oz has also found itself to be Ground Zero
for some of the more twisted takes on atomic destructions (if not physical,
then spiritual).
Not quite bummers
from Down Under, these four shorts view The End of Civilization, whether
overtly or not, with a bleak, black humor—this evening, the Spectacle presents two
atomic war perspectives, one zombie apocalypse, and one relationship
apocalypse, because sometimes a breakup really
feels like the end of the world.
“So what are we going
to do? Take it easy and conserve our strength, or are we gonna run ourselves ragged?!?”,
demands party-thrower Jon (Rob Howard) in his well-stocked bomb shelter in Ray
Boseley’s marvelous Smoke ’Em If You Got
’Em (at 48 minutes, a sort of cinematic novella—watch it HERE). The bombs
have dropped, the land is scorched, and the heavy radiation is penetrating the
bunker, dooming everyone.
At the shelter, all
who survived are invited to knock back a few, chow down, and puff a bong. “This
is a casual affair: Come as you are, smoke ’em if ya got ’em,” he mentions
offhandedly.
Released and highly
praised by Chris Gore’s Film Threat
in 1988, Smoke ’Em If You Got ’Em was
promptly lost and forgotten. Snappy and stylish, wearing its Aussie Punk Rock
heritage on its sleeve (the singer in the film’s bomb-shelter band has a very
Birthday Party-influenced look about him), it’s the best soiree you could ever
be invited to—lots of good food, great booze and drugs, wanton sex—it’s just
too bad the End of the World is happening right
fucking now.
Made in the
Reagan-Bush Era when nuclear war was expected at any moment—Whew! Sure glad
those days are over—Smoke ’Em If You Got
’Em is infused with pitch-black, yet often dry or absurdist humor, which,
as Slow Radiation Death creeps upon the characters, becomes philosophical, bittersweet
and even sentimental sometimes.
Boseley should be
considered this film’s auteur, writing, editing and directing the film, with
lead Rob Howard coming in second, as the film’s protagonist, art director and
opticals technician.
Joining Smoke ’Em If You Got ’Em are three
additional short films that I programmed, all of which are sick, sick, sick.
Nash Edgerton
(director of 2008’s acclaimed The Square)
helms the first short of the program: Spider
(2007—watch it HERE), where a hapless, immature prankster might as well
be dropping an atomic weapon into his love life.
The Zombie Apocalypse
makes its way Down Under in Spencer Susser’s I Love Sarah Jane (2007—watch it HERE), but not even that can
stop the serious crush young Jimbo has on classmate Sarah Jane (current “It
Girl” Mia Wasikowska in a very early role) in this Dawn of the Dead/Lord of the Flies mash-up.
Early-1980s public
safety films are expertly spoofed in Nathaniel Lindsay’s animated Ducked & Covered: A Survival Guide to
the Post Apocalypse (2009; 8:26 min. —watch it HERE) in the evening’s
penultimate short. Now you will know what to do when the killer robots show up,
or if you have too many skulls lying around.
POSTSCRIPT: So the
evening went well—there were five customers, and they seemed to have a good
time.
And by the way, I
have been accepted into the NYC Teaching Fellows!
It looks like I’m on
my way towards becoming a high school English teacher somewhere in New York,
probably the Bronx (I find out on March 10….). Whew!
Thank you for your
support!
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