''Cactus'' is a 1986 Australian

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. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by Paul Cox and starring

Isabelle Huppert Isabelle Anne Madeleine Huppert (; born 16 March 1953) is a French actress. Known for her portrayals of cold, austere women devoid of morality, she is considered one of the greatest actresses of her generation. With 16 nominations and two win ...

Plot

Colo, a Frenchwoman visiting Australia, is injured in a car accident with her friend Tom. She loses sight in her left eye and her vision in the other eye is threatened. The specialist advises that the left eye must be removed, or she could go completely blind. Tom asks Robert, a blind friend, to talk to her. Tom and Colo become lovers.

Cast

as Colo *

Robert Menzies The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, praise, reno ...

as Robert *

Norman Kaye Norman James Kaye (17 January 1927 – 28 May 2007) was an Australian actor. He was best known for his roles in the films of director Paul Cox. Early life and education Kaye was born into a tough childhood in Depression Era Melbourne, as one ...

as Tom *

Monica Maughan Monica Cresswell Maughan (née Wood, 15 September 1933 – 8 January 2010) was an Australian actor with roles in theatre, radio, television, film and ballet over a career spanning 52 years. Early life and education She was born Monica Cresswel ...

as Bea *

Banduk Marika Banduk Mamburra Wananamba Marika (13 October 1954 – 12 July 2021), known after her death as Dr B Marika, was an artist, printmaker and environmental activist from Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia, who was dedicated to the developme ...

as Banduk *

Sheila Florance Sheila Mary Florance (24 July 1916 – 12 October 1991) was an Australian actress known for her work in theatre, television and film. Born in Melbourne, she married an Englishman in 1934 and relocated to London. Her early career was based ...

as Martha * Peter Aanensen as George *

Julia Blake Julia Blake (born 1937) is a British-Australian actress, notable for numerous film and TV roles, particularly in Australia. She also acted in the theatre. Early life and education Julia Blake was born in 1937 in the United Kingdom. She atte ...

as club speaker * Jean-Pierre Mignon as Jean-Francois * Ray Marshall as Kevin *

Maurie Fields Maurice Fields (born Maurice Sheil, 4 August 1926 – 18 December 1995) was an Australian vaudeville performer, actor and stand-up comedian. Career Fields became a well-known face on television first thanks to his comic sketches on live progra ...

as Maurie *

Sean Scully Sean Scully (born 30 June 1945) is an Irish-born American-based artist working as a painter, printmaker, sculptor and photographer. His work is held in museum collections worldwide and he has twice been named a Turner Prize nominee. Moving fro ...

as doctor * Dawn Klingberg as pedestrian * Kyra Cox as sister *

Tony Llewellyn-Jones Tony Llewellyn-Jones is a British-born Australian actor. He was nominated for the 1976 AFI Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his role in '' Picnic at Hanging Rock''. Born in London, England, Llewellyn-Jones lived in Singapore, Kua ...

as father

Production

The film was inspired by Paul Cox's memory of his mother temporarily going blind when he was a child. He worked on the story for a number of years, then decided he wanted to work with

and wrote the script with her in mind.

Bob Ellis Robert James Ellis (10 May 1942 – 3 April 2016) was an Australian journalist, screenwriter, playwright, filmmaker, and political commentator. He lived in Sydney with author and screenwriter Anne Brooksbank; they had three children. Early ye ...

worked on the script but fought with Cox over the fact it was about a Frenchwoman staying in Australia after a serious accident, and the two men ended their collaboration.David Stratton, ''The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bust in the Australian Film Industry'', Pan MacMillan, 1990 p95-96 Cox wanted to cast Huppert after seeing her in ''

The Lacemaker ''The Lacemaker'' () is a 1977 French drama film directed by Claude Goretta and starring Isabelle Huppert and Yves Beneyton. It is based on the 1974 Prix Goncourt winning novel '' La Dentellière'' by Pascal Lainé. Plot In Paris, the shy an ...

'' and offered her the role at the Cannes Film Festival.

Actors Equity The Actors' Equity Association (AEA), commonly called Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing those who work in live theatrical performance. Performers appearing in live stage productions without a book or thro ...

objected to Huppert's importation - Equity rules stated a film needed a budget of over $3 million to have a foreign star - but this was overruled after two months of negotiation. The Australian Film Corporation was a major investor. Filming took place in October 1985.

Reception

The film screened in Director's Fortnight at Cannes.

Footnotes

References

External links

*
''Cactus''
at

Australian Screen Online The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting, and providing access to a national c ...

''Cactus''
at Oz Movies
''Cactus''
at Letterbox DVD {{Bob Ellis 1986 films 1986 drama films Australian drama films Films directed by Paul Cox 1980s English-language films Films about disability