Hollywood’s Overbearing Undeniable Effect on Editing and Cinematography in Australian Cinema

 

            Taking a step back and looking at the countries of the United States and Australia, one cannot help but notice the astounding resemblance between the two countries’ cultures.  While on one hand Australia has the heritage and culture of the native Aborigine tribes, the urban and popular culture of Australia bears a striking similitude to our own nation.  But when looking at world history between Australia, the United States, and Great Britain, things begin to make sense.  The US as well as Australia were both colonized by the British.  Therefore, the similarity between these nations has a foundation.  Now adding to that the widespread popularity of America’s pop culture, we gain a better grasp of why things appear the way they do.  Through the analysis of the power of Hollywood and US pop culture on the world, moreover Australia, the similarity between the two nations, as well as certain Australian cinema, an argument will be developed for a more in depth knowledge of the effects of the US on Australian cinema. 

            In order to begin this greater understanding, a foundation must be set as a reference.  The impressive history of Australian cinema has made it one of the most distinguishable and recognized countries around the world for producing very popular films.  The Australians have been producing internationally competitive movies for over a hundred years, and continue to do so today.  The extensive list of talented actors and directors are a living testament to this.  However, because of the success of Hollywood, many of these actors come to America to gain greater exposure, and seldom go back to the homeland to produce domestic movies.  In order to take a stand against Hollywood, the Australian government is involved with the countries film industry by way of funding through a media agency known as Screen Australia.  Also, some studios moved to, or were built in Australia, namely Fox Studios Australia and Warner Roadshow Studios, in order to lure large productions in lieu of lower filming costs. 

            One notable Australian romantic comedy, “Strictly Ballroom”, shows the unquestionable 

influence of Hollywood on Australian cinema, specifically the editing and cinematography.  “Strictly 

Ballroom,” directed by Baz Luhrmann, is about a man who has grown up into the ballroom dancing 

culture, and happens to be a very good dancer.  However, his parents look down on him when he 

tries to dance his own steps.  

When his dancing partner leaves him, he gets a new one that he will fall in love with and dance 

with at the big competition.  Soon he finds out that the competition is fixed, but he and his partner 

“dance with their hearts” anyways and go ahead to be a huge crowd pleaser.  He finds out that his 

parents also encountered a problem when going to the same competition when they were young, 

and they bend the truth to try and convince him to not dance his own steps.  All in all, we never find 

out the outcome of the competition because the greater issue at hand is the fact that the two young 

dancers have fallen in love.  “Strictly Ballroom” was a movie that was said to be the “Australian 

version of the American dance films of the 1940s,” (Hutcheson 1) and that the movie ”enticed from 

the suburbs thousands who go to see films most infrequently and, even more rarely, Australian 

ones” (Hutcheson 1). As far as the editing goes, Luhrmann (who would later go on to Hollywood), 

inherited some American techniques.  In “Strictly Ballroom,” the editing takes on a Hollywood look 

with the scenes that were “designed to permit seamless transitions from shot to shot…Invisible 

cutting was the aim” (Bowan 2).  Moreover, one of the most prominent editing similarities between 

Luhrmann’s “Strictly Ballroom” is the way “[he] has… used wipes that were popular in Hollywood 

films of the thirties and forties” (Bowan 2).  

 Other editing techniques used in “Strictly Ballroom” such as jump cuts as well as accelerated montages that “function as alienation devices, reminding the audience that they are watching a story, not a slice of life” (Bowan 2)  These jump cuts and montages are also very commonly found in editing American movies. 

            In Australia, as well as other countries there is a debate as to whether it is good or bad to produce film highly influenced on Hollywood cinema.  In Australia seems the most common way of thinking is that “it is positive to be Hollywood-influenced and negative not to be” (Rowly 3).  Devaluing national cinema and admitting to the value of Hollywood is part of how filmmakers--- like Baz Luhrmann… declare the ‘newness,’ ‘relevance,’ and ‘importance’ of their work.”  It is along this line of thinking that we prove not only the fact of Hollywood’s effect on Australian cinema, but also the sheer magnitude of this effect.  With Australian cinema there are two ways you can go: you can be Hollywood-influenced, or you have to go against the norm of filmmaking so hard that people find it entertaining.  There is no happy medium between the two, and the latter of the two is not very feasible, and more often than not fails.  With huge production studios right at home in Sydney, their decision is basically made up for them. This is compiled with the fact that Hollywood runs the Australian box office anyways so it makes sense to make films like Hollywood films because those are the ones that do well in their own country.

 Another film we can discuss would be the film “Australia,” also directed by Baz Luhrmann. 

This is an interesting film because it is directed by an Australian,and the main actors areAustralian 

(Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman) who have made their careers big in Hollywood.  The film is about 

Australia in the 1940’s and the racism that went on during that period with the Aborigines and the 

Japanese.  This film was a large effort to make a Hollywood type film, with all native Australians, 

(but all made their careers in Hollywood), directed by an Australian who made his career in 

Hollywood, give it a Hollywood sized budget ($130,000,000 subsidized by the Australian 

government), and make it about a period in Australian history.  The story was meant to be made as 

a way to bring Australians together away from racism, and as a way to advertise Australia to 

foreigners and promote tourism.  They did this by giving it an 

Australian story that paid respect to Hollywood style western films.  There has been some criticism even, of Luhrmann “shoehorning Australia’s sprawling and untidy history into stories drawn from other sources, particularly the American western” (Rundle 4). So in this sense the story may have even been altered in order to make it more like an American western to appeal to the Hollywood crowd.

            All in all, it is obvious for a number of reasons why Australian cinema is influenced so much by Hollywood and the United States.  With such a great presence at the box office, Hollywood in a way forces Australian film producers to  mimic or produce films very similar to the movies that are dominant in their very own country.  These similarities can range from filming techniques and editing all the way to portraying classic Hollywood genres with their own history.  Overall, alike or not those involved with the cinema of both the United States and Australia have much to be proud of, and are respected among the entire world.

Works Cited

1. Hutcheson, Tearlach. http://www.utexas.edu/depts/cas/anzsana/papers/hutcheson1996.html

2. Bowan, Lorraine.

http://www.hsc.csu.edu.au/english/esl/experience/elect2/strictly_ballroom/ballroom_terms.html

3. Rowley, Stephen. http://home.mira.net/~satadaca/australi.htm

4.Rundle, Guy. http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/6037/