An illuminating and visually led guide to a selection of the films set wholly or in part in Melbourne, World Film Locations: Melbourne covers the big screen representations of life in the city from the Victorian era to the present day. Short analyses of iconic scenes and themed essays focusing on key directors and recurring themes and locations combine to highlight the city's relationship to cinema. Illustrated throughout with full colour film stills and photographs of the locations as they are now â from architectural landmarks to largely unexplored outer-suburbs â the book also contains city maps for those wishing to explore Melbourne's richly diverse cinematic streets.
From visions of Ned Kelly, via tales of sporting drama to the coming-of-age films of the 1980s and beyond, this accessible trip around the birthplace of the Australian film industry will both firmly cement Melbourne's reputation as a richly diverse creative hotbed and enhance the standing of the films and filmmakers associated with the city.
5. ON THE BEACH (1959) Williamstown Naval Dockyard, Williamstown, VIC 3016 page 18
6. NINETY NINE PERCENT (1963) Gold Street State School, Clifton Hill (now Clifton Hill Primary School), 185 Gold Street, Clifton Hill, VIC 3068 page 20
7. NED KELLY (1970) Old Melbourne Gaol, 377 Russell Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000 page 22
8. THE NAKED BUNYIP (1970) Luna Park, 18 Lower Esplanade, St Kilda, VIC 3182 page 24
THE STORY OF THE KELLY GANG(1906)
The former Chartersville Estate, now part of Heidelberg, VIC 3084
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THE STORY OF THE KELLY GANG was a bold undertaking. At the turn of the twentieth century, films were generally at most ten minutes in length. The Story originally ran for an hour, and is thought to be the worldâs first narrative feature-length film. The film is classically Aussie in how it âbats for the underdogâ. The Kelly gang are good blokes with a bit of cheek, protecting decent citizens from corrupt police, âlarrikinsâ who take the time to remove their hats for ladies. The film advertised itself as being shot on location at the ârealâ Glenrowan Inn, where the ârealâ Kelly gang had been overpowered and seized. In actual fact, most of the film was shot on a property owned by the Tait family, known as the Chartersville estate, now part of the suburb of Heidelberg. A replica of the inside of the Glenrowan Inn was built for the filmâs iconic showdown. In this scene, the police set the pub alight to smoke out the Kelly brothers hiding within. As the pub cinders the film is dyed a violent pink. Inside, two of the gang accept their fate. Outside, Ned, dressed in homemade armour, is shot and seized. Over the past century, Melbourneâs expansion has consumed the leafy Chartersville estate and pushed rural life in general to the outskirts of the city. The film is a relic from some of our enterprising ancestors, the energy of whom made Melbourne the dynamic metropolis it is today.
MARVELLOUS MELBOURNE: QUEEN CITY OF THE SOUTH(1010)
Flinders Street Station, corner of Flinders and Swanston Street, VIC 3000
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FLINDERS STREET STATION is undoubtedly one of Melbourneâs most iconic buildings. Posed on one of the cityâs busiest intersections it has a wonderful baroque grandeur that seems to rise above the bustle beneath. The front steps, topped with clocks announcing the next departing trains, remain a popular meeting place for tourists, estranged friends and suburban teens. Yet the story goes that Flinders Street Station is not very Melbourne at all. Rumours suggest the plans for the building â built between 1905 and 1910 â were actually intended for Mumbai. A mix-up when the plans were posted from London resulted in a piece of East Indian architecture becoming the principal landmark in Australiaâs cultural capital. Even if Melbourneâs true train station did wind up thousands of miles away, it is understandable that Marvellous Melbourne would feature the Flinders Street landmark. Filmed the year the building was created, the short documentary is keen to show off the cityâs wealth, with footage lingering over rooftops and admiring such structures as the Royal Exhibition Building â built three decades earlier â which here seems to rival the grandest European palace. Part of a journey that takes us along St Kilda Road and up onto the Swanst...
