Kodak/Atlab Cinema Collection

L-R: Bill (John Jarratt), Harry (Graham Kennedy), Bung (John Hargreaves), Rogers (Bryan Brown) and Dawson (Graeme Blundell)

The Odd Angry Shot (1979)

A new 35mm print of this feature and trailer are now available on request. Courtesy of Tom Jeffrey and Kodak (Australasia) and Atlab Australia

National Film and Sound Archive National Collection
Title Number 8715.

Classification: M rating

Comments about the film by the director, Tom Jeffrey

Synopsis

Based on the novel by William Nagle, Tom Jeffrey's film version brings a 'rites-of-passage' story of soldiers coping with the isolation of their tour of duty in Vietnam. The film examines mateship and camaraderie of Australian men through the dangers of combat.

L-R: Tony Barry (actor), Tom Jeffrey (dir/producer) and Don McAlpine (cinematographer)
L-R: Tony Barry (actor), Tom Jeffrey
(dir/producer) and Don McAlpine
(cinematographer) at a screening of The
Odd Angry Shot presented by Popcorn
Taxi at Valhalla Cinema, Sydney,
25 October 2000.

Director
Tom Jeffrey

Year of Production 1979
Duration 92 minutes
Format 35mm, (1:1,85) Colour
Optical Soundtrack Mono, remastered to Dolby® Digital

Distributor
Australian Film Institute (AFI)

Production Company
Samson Productions

Producer
Sue Milliken, Tom Jeffrey

Screenplay
Tom Jeffrey

Director of Photography
Don McAlpine

Camera Operator
John Seale

Production Design
Bernard Hides

Costume Designer
Anna Senior

Editor
Brian Kavanagh

Sound Recordist
Don Connolly

Music Composer
Michael Carlos

Cast
Graham Kennedy (Harry)
John Hargreaves (Bung)
John Jarratt (Bill)
Bryan Brown (Rogers)
Graeme Blundell (Dawson)
Richard Moir (Medic)
Ian Gilmour (Scott)
Graham Rouse (The Cook)
Tony Barry (Black Ronnie)

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Director's Comment

Australians tend to be sardonic and ironic - rather than aggressive - when they recall traumatic events. So what continually comes through in The Odd Angry Shot is its biting comedy.

The Odd Angry Shot combines action, pathos and humour to tell the story of a group of Australian regular soldiers on a year's tour of duty in Vietnam in the late 1960s.

'It was a risky commercial venture making this movie in 1978. The Vietnam War was a dirty subject. Few people wanted to be reminded of our involvement', says director Tom Jeffrey. 'Remember the soldiers 'welcome home' march didn't happen until about seven years after the film was made.'

'But I wasn't making a conventional war movie. What I wanted to convey was soldiers as real people,' Tom says. 'Although the men are tough professionals, we focus on the human side of their lives. The film shows their courage, their fears, their loves and their humour - the full range of emotions shared and understood by everyone.'

'It is a film about men who happen to be soldiers.'

'We sought to make a very alive and human film, which is funny, exciting and tense but very warm and poignant, too.'

'It is a film about expectations: how we all imagine great things for ourselves but then have to cope with a reality which often falls far short of those expectations.'

'It is about trust: how we all need to trust in ourselves and others, and how that trust is like a fine thread which can be broken very easily.'

'It is about friendship: how we all rely on friends for protection and help and how, through their support, we can live through our fears.'

'And it is about laughter: how laughter can help overcome fears and worries, and, through it, help demonstrate our compassion.'

'And finally it is about alienation,' Tom says, 'the growing realisation that nobody much cares about the situation they're in, or what is happening. At the end Harry (Graham Kennedy) and Bill (John Jarrett) cope with this by denying they've served to Vietnam.'

'This is why The Odd Angry Shot continues to have resonance and appeal for today's audience.'

Tom Jeffrey, Director, Producer & Screenplay - 2000

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