''Sunday Too Far Away'' is a 1975 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

Ken Hannam Ken Hannam (12 July 1929 – 16 November 2004) was an Australian film and television director who also worked in Television in the United Kingdom, British television drama. Career Born in St Kilda, Victoria, St Kilda, Melbourne, the eldest of ...

. It belongs to the Australian Film Renaissance or the "Australian New Wave", which occurred during that decade. The film is set on a

sheep station A sheep station is a large property ( station, the equivalent of a ranch) in Australia or New Zealand, whose main activity is the raising of sheep for their wool and/or meat. In Australia, sheep stations are usually in the south-east or sout ...

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 ...

in 1955 and its action concentrates on the shearers' reactions to a threat to their bonuses and the arrival of non-union labour. Acclaimed for its understated realism of the work, camaraderie and general life of the shearer, Jack Thompson plays the knock-about Foley, a heavy drinking gun shearer (talented professional

sheep shearer A sheep shearer is a worker who uses (hand-powered)-blade or machine shears to remove wool from domestic sheep during crutching or shearing. History During the early years of sheep breeding in Australia, shearing was carried out by shepherds, as ...

), and while he makes a play for the station owner's daughter Sheila (Lisa Peers), the film is a presentation of various aspects of Australian male culture and not a romance; the film's title itself is reputedly the lament of an Australian shearer's wife: "Friday night

e's is a Japanese shōnen manga series written and drawn by Satoru Yuiga. It was originally serialized in '' Monthly GFantasy'' from 1997 through 2005, and later published in 16 ''tankōbon'' volumes by Square Enix from March 18, 2003, to Febr ...

too tired; Saturday night too drunk; Sunday, too far away". ''Sunday Too Far Away'' won three 1975

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 Cinema of Australia, Australian film indu ...

awards: Best Film, Best Actor in a Leading Role and Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

Plot

In 1955, gun shearer Foley joins a new shearing team sharing a room with Old Garth, a once great shearer who is now a drunk. Foley and his team battle to get in a new cook, Old Garth dies and Foley befriends the grazier's daughter. Foley loses his status as top shearer to Arthur Black and blows most of his money gambling. The shearers go on strike and Foley and his team get involved in a brawl with non-union labour.

Cast

* Jack Thompson as Foley *

Max Cullen Maxwell Phillip Cullen (born 29 April 1940) is an Australian stage and screen actor. He has appeared in many Australian films and television series but is best known for his role in the film '' Spider and Rose'' and the television series '' The ...

as Tim King *

Robert Bruning Robert Bruning (27 May 1928 – 4 March 2008) was an Australian actor and film producer, who was the founder of film production firm Gemini Productions Biography Bruning was born as Robert Bell in Dongara, Western Australia in 1928. He worked ...

as Tom West *Jerry Thomas as Basher * Peter Cummins as Arthur Black *

John Ewart John Reford Ewart (26 February 1928 – 8 March 1994) was an Australian actor of radio, stage, television and film. Ewart was a double nominee (and one/time winner) of the AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role Early life Ewart was ...

as Ugly *

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 Beresford * Reg Lye as Old Garth *Graham Smith as Jim the Learner *Laurie Rankin as Old Station Hand * Lisa Peers as Sheila *Philip Ross as Mr Dawson *

Ken Shorter Kenneth Shorter (1945 – November 2024) was an Australian actor. Shorter's career spanned theatre, television and film, but he was best known for starring opposite Mick Jagger in a film adaptation of ''Ned Kelly'' (1970), as the title chara ...

as Frankie Davis * Gregory Apps as Michael Simpson * John Hargreaves (uncredited)

Production

The film was the first feature produced by the South Australian Film Corporation. They wanted to make a film about the Gallipoli campaign and considered a co-production with Crawford Productions. John Dingwall was signed to write it. However the film fell through when Crawfords fell out with the SAFC. Dingwall, still under contract to them, proposed instead a treatment called ''Shearers'', based on his brother-in-law, who was a shearer. Matt Carroll at the SAFC was particularly enthusiastic and recruited

to direct. The original treatment concerned the 1956 shearer's strike. This ended up being condensed greatly.David Stratton, ''The Last New Wave: The Australian Film Revival'', Angus & Robertson, 1980 p98-101 Among the investors in the movie were the Australian Film Development Corporation. Shooting began in May 1974 and took place near

Port Augusta Port Augusta (''Goordnada'' in the revived indigenous Barngarla language) is a coastal city in South Australia about by road from the state capital, Adelaide. Most of the city is on the eastern shores of Spencer Gulf, immediately south of the ...

and

Quorn Quorn is a brand of meat substitute products. Quorn originated in the UK and is sold primarily in Europe, but is available in 11 countries. The brand is owned by parent company Monde Nissin. Quorn is sold as both a cooking ingredient and as ...

in South Australia. It encountered rains and flood and was completed behind schedule in May. The original cut of the film was over two hours. A number of scenes were reduced during post production, including the removal of Foley's romance with the grazier's daughter, and shifting Foley having a car crash from the end of the movie to the beginning. This caused a great deal of conflict between Ken Hannam, Gil Brearley and Matt Carroll.

Release

Before being released, the film won four major prizes at the Australian Film Awards in March 1975 and was selected for screening in the Directors' Fortnight at Cannes Film Festival in May. ''Sunday Too Far Away'' grossed $1,356,000 at the box office in Australia ($ in dollars).''Film Victoria - Australian Films at the Australian Box Office''
/ref> The film's success after ''Petersen'' confirmed Jack Thompson's status as the biggest movie star in Australian cinema at the time.

References

External links

''Sunday Too Far Away''
at the

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''Sunday Too Far Away''
at the

National Film and Sound Archive 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 ...

''Sunday Too Far Away''
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 ...

''Sunday Too Far Away''
at Murdoch University Reading Room
''Sunday Too Far Away''
at

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

''Sunday Too Far Away''
at Oz Movies
Cinephilia''Sunday Too Far Away''
at

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Kodak/Atlab Cinema Collection
{{Ken Hannam 1975 films Australian drama films Films shot in Flinders Ranges Films about sheep 1975 drama films Films set in 1955 Films directed by Ken Hannam 1970s English-language films Films set in the Outback