I am honoured and frankly somewhat surprised to be able to add the very first IMDb user review for this extraordinary and hopefully soon-to-be rediscovered example of 1960s independent Australian cinema.
Giorgio Mangiamele's film has been remastered by the Australian National Film and Sound Archive and issued in a special edition DVD set from Ronin Films along with four other projects from the Italian immigrant director. I decided to watch the film on Vimeo On Demand as I was taking part in one of OldAle1's wonderful year-by-year polls on the Classic Film Board and couldn't contain my desire to discover the film. The physical media release does look intriguing though and pretty essential stuff for any fan of Australian cinema or, indeed, art-house world cinema. I hope to buy the set at some stage. At present, his short films don't even appear to be listed on this site.
So, yes, a few brief thoughts on the film itself. 'Clay' is really a fascinating dream-like poem of the screen with a haunting and hypnotic visual quality that has a semblance of Resnais and Cocteau to it. Indeed, the film's startling imagery is what most sticks in my mind. The landscape, with gnarled trees conveying an air of mysticism and the slow, inexorable passing of time, is lensed with a deftness that draws upon both the timelessness of the surroundings and the vital immediacy of the human interaction/connection between the sheltered yet outward-pondering girl and the enigmatic fugitive who seeks sanctuary in this isolated community. Water and the land and the closeness of nature are all filmed in vivid and cinematically captivating ways that help to create a film with a very unique touch and ambiance to it.
It is truly unfortunate that Mangiamele didn't really find an audience in Australia (it did though play at Cannes) for this imaginative and intriguing effort. Who knows what films he might have been able to realise had this been more of a success. If I recall correctly, the film had a mere one week run in a Melbourne cinema with the costs of exhibiting it being met by Mangiamele and others involved in the project.
As an aside, it is important to be aware that the dialogue was added to the film after it had been finished due to budgetary and filming constraints. There are unfortunately some very noticeable problems with synchronisation in the last reel or so. I read a very interesting piece online from the people who undertook the restoration and matching up the various elements does seem to have posed a very real challenge. Despite these imperfections, 'Clay' is indeed a film well worth owning and an indispensable milestone of an Australian national cinema in gradual emergence during the 1950s and 1960s.
Giorgio Mangiamele's film has been remastered by the Australian National Film and Sound Archive and issued in a special edition DVD set from Ronin Films along with four other projects from the Italian immigrant director. I decided to watch the film on Vimeo On Demand as I was taking part in one of OldAle1's wonderful year-by-year polls on the Classic Film Board and couldn't contain my desire to discover the film. The physical media release does look intriguing though and pretty essential stuff for any fan of Australian cinema or, indeed, art-house world cinema. I hope to buy the set at some stage. At present, his short films don't even appear to be listed on this site.
So, yes, a few brief thoughts on the film itself. 'Clay' is really a fascinating dream-like poem of the screen with a haunting and hypnotic visual quality that has a semblance of Resnais and Cocteau to it. Indeed, the film's startling imagery is what most sticks in my mind. The landscape, with gnarled trees conveying an air of mysticism and the slow, inexorable passing of time, is lensed with a deftness that draws upon both the timelessness of the surroundings and the vital immediacy of the human interaction/connection between the sheltered yet outward-pondering girl and the enigmatic fugitive who seeks sanctuary in this isolated community. Water and the land and the closeness of nature are all filmed in vivid and cinematically captivating ways that help to create a film with a very unique touch and ambiance to it.
It is truly unfortunate that Mangiamele didn't really find an audience in Australia (it did though play at Cannes) for this imaginative and intriguing effort. Who knows what films he might have been able to realise had this been more of a success. If I recall correctly, the film had a mere one week run in a Melbourne cinema with the costs of exhibiting it being met by Mangiamele and others involved in the project.
As an aside, it is important to be aware that the dialogue was added to the film after it had been finished due to budgetary and filming constraints. There are unfortunately some very noticeable problems with synchronisation in the last reel or so. I read a very interesting piece online from the people who undertook the restoration and matching up the various elements does seem to have posed a very real challenge. Despite these imperfections, 'Clay' is indeed a film well worth owning and an indispensable milestone of an Australian national cinema in gradual emergence during the 1950s and 1960s.
