The Adventures of Barry McKenzie
| Year: | 1972 |
| Director: | Bruce Beresford |
| Writer: | Bruce Beresford/Barry Humphries |
| Cast: | Barry Crocker, Barry Humphries, Spike Milligan, Peter Cook |
Currently one of the Australian directors comprising the renaissance of the Australian film industry along with Schepisi and Noyce, Bruce Beresford's name is one we equate with experience and quality, the antithesis to the current sad state of Australian film and the crap it's been churning out for years now.
Barry McKenzie was also one of the films that formed part of the Australian New Wave, although I bet a few people are embarrassed about it now. Taking a single joke - the cultural cringe and the larrikin Aussie and transporting him to the genteel pageantry of old England - Beresford, Humphries, Crocker and co plug the gag for all it's worth. Barry is breezily diverted from one situation to another with more concern to champion the ocker mentality and mythology than tell a story.
As such, it's a much less interesting movie to watch than it is a piece of culture whose place in Australia media history makes it interesting to think about.
Barry McKenzie was also one of the films that formed part of the Australian New Wave, although I bet a few people are embarrassed about it now. Taking a single joke - the cultural cringe and the larrikin Aussie and transporting him to the genteel pageantry of old England - Beresford, Humphries, Crocker and co plug the gag for all it's worth. Barry is breezily diverted from one situation to another with more concern to champion the ocker mentality and mythology than tell a story.
As such, it's a much less interesting movie to watch than it is a piece of culture whose place in Australia media history makes it interesting to think about.