Homesdale

Written and directed by Peter Weir, this is the very rarely seen debut of the australian director, a 50 minute B&W black comedy in 1971 about a group of guests getting together at a bizarre summer lodge named Homesdale. This hunting and fishing lodge is the place where a group is staying for the night. The lodgers are prodded by the innkeeper to do things that they wouldn’t normally do and sooner or later each is led into dealing with their sorted past. Very difficult plot to understand and follow. At the beggining of the 70's, while Weir was in a team making documentaries for The Australian Commonwealth Film Unit (which is now Film Australia), he began work on his first major solo project, Homesdale . This was made with the support of The Experimental Film and Television Fund, which was a fund initiated by the federal government. The film was later purchased by a major Australian television network. Homesdale is a black comedy with a twist. Many elements in this film recur with much more polish in his later films, and in particular there is a very similar sense of underlying menace and dread in Weir's first feature film, The Cars That Ate Paris. Guests arrive to spend the weekend at the Homesdale Hunting Lodge. This is an isolated summer lodge, staffed by people who look more like mental hospital staff. All this is overseen by the bizarre and creepy lodge director, who seems to know everything about his guests. The purpose of the lodge is to help fulfil the secret fantasies and desires of the guests, all of whom have different reasons for being there. The guests include Mr Vaughan (Barry Donely), Mr Levy (James Lear), Mrs Sharpe (Doreen Warburton), Miss Greenoak (Kate Fitzpatrick), Mr Kevin (Grahame Bond) and most interesting of all, Mr Malfrey (Geoff Malone). Peter Weir himself made a cameo. All the characters have some element of interest to their personalities except Mr Malfrey. He is particularly introverted, much to the frustration of the director and his staff. As all the guests participate in the bizarre games and situations concocted by the staff, Mr Malfrey fails to make an impression. When he begins to receive the taunts of Mr Kevin, a more sinister and disturbing side of Mr Malfrey's personality starts to emerge. The film was awarded the Grand Prix at the Australian Film Institute Awards.