Australian Western, also known as meat pie Western or kangaroo Western, is a genre of

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

-style films or TV series set in the Australian

outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than Australian bush, the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastli ...

or "

the bush "The bush" is a term mostly used in the English vernacular of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, where it is largely synonymous with hinterlands or backwoods. The fauna and flora contained within the bush is typically native to the regi ...

". Films about

bushrangers Bushrangers were armed robbers and outlaws who resided in the Australian bush between the 1780s and the early 20th century. The original use of the term dates back to the early years of the British colonisation of Australia, and applied to ...

(sometimes called bushranger films) are included in this genre. Some films categorised as meat-pie or Australian Westerns also fulfil the criteria for other genres, such as

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

, revisionist Western,

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

or thriller. A sub-genre of the Australian Western, the Northern, has been coined by the makers of ''

High Ground High ground is an area of elevated terrain, which can be useful in combat. The military importance of the high ground has been recognized for over 2,000 years, citing early examples from China and other early-dynastic cultures who regularly eng ...

'' (2020), to describe a film set in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

that accurately depicts historical events in a fictionalised form, that has aspects of a thriller. The term "

meat pie A meat pie is a pie baked with pastry with a filling of meat and often other savory ingredients. They are found in cuisines worldwide. Meat pies are usually baked, Frying, fried, or deep-fried to brown them and develop the flavour through the ...

Western" is a play on the term

Spaghetti Western The spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's filmmaking style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most o ...

, used for Italian-made Westerns. Since Westerns are a genre associated with the United States, the food qualifiers indicate the origin of other cultures that play with the characteristics of the genre. Historically some Australian Westerns were made specifically with the influence of American Westerns in mind. The Ealing Westerns, made in Australia, are particular examples of this, though they depict

Australian history The history of Australia is the history of the land and peoples which comprise the Commonwealth of Australia. The modern nation came into existence on 1 January 1901 as a federation of former British colonies. The human history of Australia, ...

. One connection has been the parallel between the two native people, and their treatment by settlers and the white colonial people. In the case of Australia,

Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia (co ...

, and in the US, the Native Americans.

Cattle ranch A ranch (from /Mexican Spanish) is an area of landscape, land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of farm. These terms are most often ap ...

es and vast tracts of land are both similar themes, being borrowed from US Westerns and used in Australia, in particular the movie '' The Overlanders'' (1946).

History

Terminology

The definition of what is an Australian Western (i.e. taking its influence from US cinema) and what is simply an Australian historical film set in the era that covers similar themes, is fluid. Cinema about

bushranger Bushrangers were armed robbers and outlaws who resided in The bush#Australia, the Australian bush between the 1780s and the early 20th century. The original use of the term dates back to the early years of the British colonisation of Australia ...

s, which some regard as Australian Westerns, goes back to some of the first Australian feature films. Ned Kelly, as subject of a feature film, was first made in 1906, in ''

The Story of the Kelly Gang ''The Story of the Kelly Gang'' is a 1906 Australian bushranger film directed by Charles Tait (film director), Charles Tait. It traces the exploits of the 19th-century Kelly gang of bushrangers and outlaws, led by Ned Kelly. The silent film was ...

''. The British company Ealing Studios, made a number of Westerns in Australian in the 1940s and '50s, including ''The Overlanders'' (1946), about a cattle drive, which was marketed in Australia as a drama, but marketed overseas as an "Australian Western". It starred Australian actor

Chips Rafferty John William Pilbean Goffage MBE (26 March 190927 May 1971), known professionally as Chips Rafferty, was an Australian actor. Called "the living symbol of the typical Australian", Rafferty's career stretched from the late 1930s until he died i ...

and was successful at the box office. Another British film production house, Rank, made

Robbery Under Arms ''Robbery Under Arms'' is a bushranger novel by Thomas Alexander Browne, published under his pen name Rolf Boldrewood. It was first published in serialised form by ''The Sydney Mail'' between July 1882 and August 1883, then in three volumes in ...

in 1957. One of the prominent post-war productions made in Australia was the technicolour Western,

Kangaroo Kangaroos are marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use, the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...

. This was a big budget (800,000 pounds) film made by 20th Century Fox in 1952, starring imported stars

Maureen O'Hara Maureen O'Hara (; 17 August 1920 – 24 October 2015) was an Irish-born naturalized American actress who became successful in Hollywood from the 1940s through to the 1960s. She was a natural redhead who was known for playing passionate b ...

and

Peter Lawford Peter Sydney Ernest Lawford (né Aylen; 7 September 1923 – 24 December 1984) was an English-American actor.Obituary ''Variety Obituaries, Variety'', 26 December 1984. He was a member of the "Rat Pack" and the brother-in-law of US president Jo ...

Mad Dog Morgan ''Mad Dog Morgan'' is a 1976 Australian bushranger film directed by Philippe Mora and starring Dennis Hopper, Jack Thompson and David Gulpilil. It is based upon the life of Dan Morgan. Plot Dan Morgan witnesses a bloody massacre of Chines ...

, was made in the 1970s, carrying Western themes along with

Ozploitation Ozploitation films are exploitation films – a category of low-budget horror, comedy, sexploitation and action films – made in Australia after the introduction of the R rating in 1971. The year also marked the beginnings of the Australia ...

cinema The term "kangaroo Western" is used in an article about ''The Man from Snowy River'' (1982) in that year, and Stuart Cunningham refers to Charles Chauvel's '' Greenhide'' (1926) as a "kangaroo Western" in 1989. Grayson Cooke attributes the first use of the term "meat-pie Western" to Eric Reade in his ''History and Heartburn'' (1979), referring to

Russell Hagg Russell Hagg (1938 – 10 February 2022) was an Australian designer and director. He studied architecture at Melbourne University before becoming a designer in British films, then worked for Crawford Productions as a writer and director.Andrew P ...

's ''Raw Deal'' (1977). This term is again used in 1981 in an ''

Australian Women's Weekly ''The Australian Women's Weekly'', sometimes known simply as ''The Weekly'', is an Australian monthly women's magazine published by Are Media in Sydney and founded in 1933. For many years it was the number one magazine in Australia before bein ...

'' column by John-Michael Howson (about a film planned to be made in Australia by

James Komack James Komack (August 3, 1924 – December 24, 1997) was an American television producer, director, screenwriter, and actor. He is best known for producing several hit television series, including '' The Courtship of Eddie's Father'', ''Chico and ...

, but apparently never made). Howson compares the term to the "Spaghetti Western". Historian Troy Lennon (2018) says that meat pie Westerns have been around for more than a century. Cooke (2014) posits that the Australian Western genre never developed a "classic" or mature phase. He lists the following as broad categories: "the early bushranger and bush adventure films; Westerns shot in Australia by foreign production studios; contemporary re-makes of bushranger films; and contemporary revisionist Westerns, noting that most fall into the bushranger category (with only '' The Tracker'' and '' The Proposition'' falling into the latter category at that time). Other recent films, such as

Ivan Sen Ivan Sen (born 1972) is an Indigenous Australian filmmaker. He is a director, screenwriter and cinematographer, as well as an editor, composer, and sound designer. He is co-founder and director of Bunya Productions, and known for the 2013 film ...

's ''

Mystery Road Mystery Road may refer to: * ''Mystery Road'' (film), a 2013 Australian neo-western crime film * ''Mystery Road'' (TV series), an Australian television drama series beginning in 2018 * ''Mystery Road'' (album), a 1989 album by Drivin N Cryin * '' ...

'' (2013), a

crime film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

, also uses some of the Western themes. Emma Hamilton, of the University of Newcastle, refers to the Australian Western, kangaroo Western and meat-pie Western as alternative terms, in her exploration of the development of the Western genre in Australia comparing film representations of Ned Kelly. She refers to the work of Cooke and other writers, paraphrasing Peter Limbrick's view that the Western is basically "about societies making sense of imperial-colonial relationships", and considers the parallels between American and Australian histories. Hamilton lists a number of films which can be termed Australian Westerns by virtue of being set in Australia but maintaining elements of American Western conventions. The list includes, amongst many others, ''

'' (1920), ''

Captain Fury ''Captain Fury'' is a 1939 American Western film directed by Hal Roach. It is set in colonial Australia as one of Hollywood's few attempts to depict Australian history.' Plot In the 1840s, Captain Michael Fury ( Brian Aherne) is an Irish pa ...

'' (1939), ''

Eureka Stockade The Eureka Rebellion was a series of events involving gold miners who revolted against the British administration of the colony of Victoria, Australia, during the Victorian gold rush. It culminated in the Battle of the Eureka Stockade, wh ...

'' (1949) and '' The Shiralee'' (1957). Director Stephen Johnson and his team of filmmakers dubbed their creation, ''

'', set in the

, a "Northern". Johnson said "We really feel it's a film that immerses the audience in a time and place and that perhaps hasn't happened in this way before", and producer

Witiyana Marika Witiyana Marika is an Aboriginal Australian musician, filmmaker and elder, known for being a founding member of the band Yothu Yindi and producer of the film ''High Ground''. Early life and family Marika was born into the Rirratjingu clan of ...

called it a "northern action thriller". The feature fiction film is based on many stories of the First Nations people of

Arnhem Land Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territorial capital, Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compa ...

that are not told in the history books. Johnson also said "There's a thriller aspect to it. It's not a Western, it's a Northern".

Films

'' (1906) could be said to be the first in the genre (and possibly the world's first feature film), with "good guys, bad guys, gunfights ndhorseback chases". In 1911 and 1912, the state governments of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

all banned depictions of bushrangers in films, which lasted for about 30 years and at first had a significantly deleterious effect on the Australian film industry. Films in the Western genre continued to be made through the rest of the 20th century, many with

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

collaboration (such as '' Rangle River'' based on a

Zane Grey Pearl Zane Grey (January 31, 1872 – October 23, 1939) was an American author and dentist. He is known for his popular adventure novels and stories associated with the Western genre in literature and the arts; he idealized the American frontier ...

novel in 1936), and some

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

(such as the

Ealing Studios Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in west London, England. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on th ...

' ''The Overlanders'' in 1946). ''

Ned Kelly Edward Kelly (December 185411 November 1880) was an Australian bushranger, outlaw, gang leader, bank robber and convicted police-murderer. One of the last bushrangers, he is known for wearing armour of the Kelly gang, a suit of bulletproof ...

'' (1970) and '' The Man from Snowy River'' (1982) were the most notable examples of the genre in the second half of the century. Some films in the genre, such as '' Red Hill'', '' The Proposition'', and '' Sweet Country'', re-examine the treatment of

and focus on racism and sexism in

, with the latter two of these being successful with both critics and

box-office A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicket. ...

. A variety of Westerns has been made since 1990 in Australia.

, Australia's most infamous bank robber, featured in two films, ''Ned Kelly'' (2003) and The ''True History of the Kelly Gang'' (2019). Also notable were ''

The Legend of Ben Hall ''The Legend of Ben Hall'' is a 2016 Australian bushranger film. Written and directed by Matthew Holmes, it is based on the exploits of bushranger Ben Hall and his gang. The film stars Jack Martin in the title role, Jamie Coffa as John Gilb ...

'' (2017) and ''The Tracker'' (2002). '' The Proposition'' (2005) was a " revisionist Western" or "anti-Western" film influenced by

Robert Altman Robert Bernard Altman ( ; February 20, 1925 – November 20, 2006) was an American film director, screenwriter, and film producer, producer. He is considered an enduring figure from the New Hollywood era, known for directing subversive and sat ...

and

Sam Peckinpah David Samuel Peckinpah (; February 21, 1925 – December 28, 1984) was an American film director and screenwriter. His 1969 Western epic '' The Wild Bunch'' received two Academy Award nominations and was ranked No. 80 on the American Film Instit ...

's work. The 2008 film, ''

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

'', was an epic Western which included other genres such as adventure, action, drama, war and romance. '' Sweet Country'', about European settlers' incursions into

' traditional lands, was made in 2017.Leigh, S., Morris, H., & Thornton, W. (2017). Warwick Thornton discusses his new film, an Australian western called Sweet Country: A new Australian film that hasn't even been released let's already generating Oscar buzz. 7.30, 2017(1206). https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/tvnews.tsm201712060103 (Original work published 6 December 2017)

Examples

*''

'' (1906) *'' Rangle River'' (1936) *''

'' (1939) *'' The Overlanders'' (1946) *''

'' (1949) *''

Sons of Matthew ''Sons of Matthew'' is a 1949 Australian film directed and produced and co-written by Charles Chauvel (filmmaker), Charles Chauvel. The film was shot in 1947 on location in Queensland, Australia, and the studio sequences in Sydney. ''Sons of Matt ...

'' (1949) *'' The Kangaroo Kid'' (1950) *''

'' (1952) *''

The Phantom Stockman ''The Phantom Stockman'' is a 1953 Australian Western film written and directed by Lee Robinson and starring Chips Rafferty, Victoria Shaw, Max Osbiston and Guy Doleman. It was the first of several movies produced by Lee Robinson in associatio ...

'' (1953) *'' The Sundowners'' (1960) *''

Shadow of the Boomerang ''Shadow of the Boomerang'' is a 1960 Australian drama film directed by Dick Ross and written by Dick Ross and John Ford. It is a 'Christian Western' about a cattle station manager who learns to overcome his prejudice against aboriginals. Plot ...

'' (1960) *'' Whiplash'' (1960–61) – TV series *''

'' (1970) *'' Rush'' (1974–76) – TV series *''

Cash and Company ''Cash and Company'' is an Australian television period adventure series, set during the Victoria (Australia), Victorian Victorian gold rush, gold rush of the 1850s. It screened on the Seven Network in Australia in 1976 and on ITV (TV channel) ...

'' (1975) – TV series *''

Inn of the Damned ''Inn of the Damned'' is a 1975 Australian Western (genre), western horror film, directed by Terry Bourke. It has been called Australia's first "horror Western". Plot In 1896, a crazed woman and her husband run an inn in eastern Victoria and ta ...

'' (1975) *''

'' (1976) *''

Tandarra ''Tandarra'' is an Australian television series which screened on the Seven Network in Australia in 1976 and on ITV (including the London Weekend Television and Anglia regions) in the UK. It was a follow-up series to ''Cash and Company'' which ...

'' (1976) – TV series *'' Raw Deal'' (1977) *''

Mad Max ''Mad Max'' is an Australian media franchise created by George Miller and Byron Kennedy. It centres on a series of post-apocalyptic and dystopian action films. The franchise began in 1979 with '' Mad Max'', and was followed by three sequels: ...

'' (1979) *'' The Man from Snowy River'' (1982) *''

Five Mile Creek ''Five Mile Creek'' is a western television drama series adapted from Louis L'Amour's novel ''The Cherokee Trail'' and produced in Australia. It starred Liz Burch, Louise Caire Clark, Rod Mullinar, Jay Kerr, Michael Caton, Peter Carroll, ...

'' (1983–85) – TV series *''

The Man from Snowy River II ''The Man from Snowy River II'' is a 1988 Australian drama film, the sequel to the 1982 film '' The Man from Snowy River'', which was distributed by 20th Century Fox. It was released in the United States by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution un ...

'' (1988) *''

Quigley Down Under ''Quigley Down Under'' is a 1990 Western genre film, directed by Simon Wincer and starring Tom Selleck, Alan Rickman, and Laura San Giacomo, and set in Australia. Although it opened to generally poor reviews, it has since developed an enduring ...

'' (1990) *'' The Tracker'' (2002) *''

'' (2003) *'' The Proposition'' (2005) *'' Lucky Country'' a.k.a. ''Dark Frontier'' (2009) *''

The Outlaw Michael Howe ''The Outlaw Michael Howe'' is a 2013 Australian historical drama film written and directed by Brendan Cowell. Set in the early 19th century, the film is based on the exploits of Michael Howe, an Englishman who was transported as a convict t ...

'' (2013) – TV film *''

'' (2013) *'' The Rover'' (2014) *''

'' (2016) *'' Goldstone'' (2016) *'' Sweet Country'' (2017) *'' The Nightingale'' (2018) *''

True History of the Kelly Gang ''True History of the Kelly Gang'' is a novel by Australian writer Peter Carey, based loosely on the history of the Kelly Gang. It was first published in Brisbane by the University of Queensland Press in 2000. It won the 2001 Booker Prize a ...

'' (2019) *''

'' (2020)

Footnotes

References

External links

* {{Film genres , state=collapsed * Cinema of Australia Film genres Western (genre) films by genre Australian outback Western (genre) subgenres