drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...
comprising 4 segments
written
Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically inscribed, mechanically transferred, or digitally represented symbols.
Writing systems do not themselves constitute ...
and
directed
Director may refer to:
Literature
* ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine
* ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker
* ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty
Music
* Director (band), an Irish rock band
* ''D ...
as independent stories, but screened together as one piece, exploring a common theme of instinctive desire and contemporary sexuality.The Screen Australia Listing for ''Libido''
John B. Murray directed the segment called "The Husband", written by Craig McGregor,
Tim Burstall
Timothy Burstall AM (20 April 1927 – 19 April 2004) was an English Australian film director, writer and producer, best known for hit Australian movie '' Alvin Purple'' (1973) and its sequel '' Alvin Rides Again''.
Burstall's films featured ...
directed "The Child", from a screenplay by
Hal Porter
Harold Edward "Hal" Porter (16 February 1911 – 29 September 1984) was an Australian novelist, playwright, poet and short story writer.
Biography
Porter was born in Albert Park, Victoria, grew up in Bairnsdale, and worked as a journalist, te ...
,
Fred Schepisi
Frederic Alan Schepisi ( ;Pauline Kael, Kael, Pauline (1984). ''Taking It All In''. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. p. 55. born 26 December 1939) is an Australian film director, producer and screenwriter. His credits include ''The Chan ...
directed
Thomas Keneally
Thomas Michael Keneally, Officer of the Order of Australia, AO (born 7 October 1935) is an Australian novelist, playwright, essayist, and actor. He is best known for his non-fiction novel ''Schindler's Ark'', the story of Oskar Schindler's rescu ...
's "The Priest" and David Baker directed playwright
David Williamson
David Keith Williamson AO (born 24 February 1942) is an Australian dramatist and playwright. He has also written screenplays and teleplays.
Early life
David Williamson was born in Melbourne, Victoria, on 24 February 1942, and was brought up ...
's screenplay for "The Family Man".
Plot
The four segments of the film average about 30 minutes in length and are presented in the following order.The Miles Ago database of Australian films /ref>
* Part 1: "The Husband" - Focuses on a suburban husband and wife, their relationship and their sexual fantasies.
* Part 2: "The Child" - A lonely boy seeks revenge on a man he finds engaging in intercourse with his beloved governess.
* Part 3: "The Priest" - A priest contemplates leaving the church as a result of his indefatigable attraction to a nun.
* Part 4: "The Family Man" - The husband of a woman in labor arranges with a friend to take two women to a secluded beach house.
Cast
"The Husband"
*
Elke Neidhardt
Elke Cordelia Neidhardt AM (5 July 194125 November 2013) was a German Australian actress and opera and theatre director. She appeared in theatre, television and feature films in Germany, Austria, France and Australia, and directed operas in Zur ...
as Penelope
*Bryon Williams as Jonathon
*Mark Albiston as Harold
"The Child"
*John Williams as Martin
* Jill Forster as mother
*
Judy Morris
Judith Ann Morris (born 17 February 1947) is an Australian character actress, as well as a film director and screenwriter, well known for the variety of roles she played in 58 different television shows and films, starting her career as a child ...
as Sybil
* Bruce Barry as David
*Louise Homfrey
*George Fairfax
"The Priest"
*
Robyn Nevin
Robyn Anne Nevin (25 September 1942) is an Australian actress, director, and stage producer, recognised with the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards and the JC Williamson Award at the Helpmann Awards for her outstanding contributions to Austr ...
as Sister Caroline
*
Arthur Dignam
Arthur Dignam (9 September 1939 – 9 May 2020) was an Australian stage and screen actor.
Biography
Dignam was born on Lord Howe Island. He attended Newington College in Sydney as a boarder in 1955 and 1956 and then the University of Sydney.
...
as Father Burn
*Vivean Frau
*Vicki Bray
*Valma Pratt
*
Penne Hackforth-Jones
Penne Hackforth-Jones (5 August 194917 May 2013) was an American-born Australian actress and biographer.
Early life
Penelope Beatrix Hackforth-Jones was born in August 1949 in Greenwich, Connecticut, to Paul and Susan Felicity (née Gullett) H ...
"The Family Man"
*
Jack Thompson Jack Thompson may refer to:
Sports
* Jack Thompson (footballer, born 1892) (1892–1969), English footballer who played for Sheffield United and Bristol City
* Jack Thompson (1920s footballer), English footballer who played for Aston Villa and Brig ...
as Ken
*
Max Gillies
Maxwell Irvine Gillies AM (born 16 November 1941) is an Australian actor and a founding member of the 1970s experimental theatre company, the Australian Performing Group.
Early life and education
Gillies studied art teaching at Frankston Tea ...
as Gerald
*Debbie Nankervis
*Suzanne Brady
Production
The film arose from a series of workshops held in 1971 by the Victorian Branch of the Producers and Directors Guild to help writers work in narrative cinema. Professional writers were invited to prepare short stories on the theme of love which were adapted and produced by members of the Guild. Four of them were linked in the film.John B. Murray, "The Genesis of Libido", ''Senses of Cinema'', 5 March 2006 Retrieved 27 September 2012
Tim Burstall
Timothy Burstall AM (20 April 1927 – 19 April 2004) was an English Australian film director, writer and producer, best known for hit Australian movie '' Alvin Purple'' (1973) and its sequel '' Alvin Rides Again''.
Burstall's films featured ...
wanted to direct the David Williamson segment but because he had worked with Williamson before was given the Hal Porter one, originally called ''The Jetty''. Burstall made some key changes to the story to make it more autobiographical and work better for film.Scott Murray, 'Tim Burstall', ''Cinema Papers'' Sept-Oct 1979 p494 It was shot at Werribee Park Estate in June 1972.David Stratton, ''The Last New Wave: The Australian Film Revival'', Angus & Robertson, 1980 p27
All the stories were shot and filmed in and around Melbourne on 16mm for a budget of $100,000, including $26,000 from the Australian Council for the Arts. According to Burstall, the episodes directed by Murray, Baker and Schepisi cost about $7,000 each and his cost $13,000 - although he says the true cost, accounting for deferrals, was closer to $23,000. He says the total cost of shooting the film was $75,000 being $120,000 after deferrals.
British Empire Films
British Empire Films (BEF) was an Australian film distributor, serving as the distribution arm of Greater Union. They distributed films of Cinesound Productions. others $36,000).
Release
The film was a popular success in Australia and screened overseas. Within two years of the film's release all deferred fees had been paid back. However, when the film screened in Spain, the segment "The Priest" had to be cut.
By 1979 Burstall estimated the film had returned between $60,000 and $75,000 to the producers.
Awards
In 1973, the film won the Golden Reel Award for best fiction film from the
Australian Film Institute
The Australian Film Institute (AFI) was founded in 1958 as a non-profit organisation devoted to developing an active film culture in Australia and fostering engagement between the general public and the Australian film industry. It is responsi ...
for the segment ''The Child'', and
Judy Morris
Judith Ann Morris (born 17 February 1947) is an Australian character actress, as well as a film director and screenwriter, well known for the variety of roles she played in 58 different television shows and films, starting her career as a child ...
won the best actress award for her performance in the same segment.AFI Awards - Past Winners /ref>Awards summary at the Internet Movie Database /ref>
Proposed sequel
Burstall said there was meant to be a follow up film called ''The Bed'', consisting of four stories revolving around the bed, written by Alan Marshall,
Morris Lurie
Moses "Morris" Lurie (30 October 19388 October 2014) was an Australian writer of comic novels, short stories, essays, plays, and children's books. His work focused on the comic mishaps of Jewish-Australian men (often writers) of Lurie's generati ...
, John Powers and Max Richards, to be directed by Mal Bryning, Ross Dimsey,
Simon Wincer
Simon may refer to:
People
* Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon
* Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon
* Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...
and Rod Kinnear. However, they could not raise the money to make it.