Kangaroo *** (1986, Colin Friels, Judy Davis, John Walton, Julie Nihill, Hugh Keays-Byrne) – Classic Movie Review 13,812

Tim Burstall’s 1986 Australian drama film Kangaroo is based on D H Lawrence’s 1923 autobiographical novel and stars Colin Friels and Judy Davis, who won the AFI Award for Best Actress.

Director Tim Burstall’s 1986 Australian drama film Kangaroo stars Colin Friels and Judy Davis, with John Walton, Julie Nihill, Hugh Keays-Byrne. Judy Davis won the AFI (Australian Film Institute) Award for Best Actress for her role in Kangaroo and Terry Ryan won Best Costume Design.

Real-life husband and wife Colin Friels and Judy Davis team up for this rather impressive Australian adaptation of D H Lawrence’s 1923 autobiographical novel about an English author (Friels) and his wife (Davis), who set off to live Down Under in the 1920s. There, the writer joins a circle of fascist para-militarists run by a general, code-named Kangaroo (Hugh Keays-Byrne).

The carefully defined characters are well acted, the exotic outback settings beautifully photographed, and D H Lawrence’s ideas about class and relationships faithfully re-created. But the film lacks true vitality and a real life of its own outside the literary source.

Cast: Colin Friels as Richard Somers, Judy Davis as Harriet Somers, John Walton as Jack Calcott, Julie Nihill as Vicki Calcott, Hugh Keays-Byrne as Kangaroo, Peter Hehir as Jaz, Peter Cummins as Struthers, Tim Robertson as O’Neill, Malcolm Robertson as Publisher, David Hutchins as Cornwall Detective, Kerry Bannister as nurse, and Victor Kazan.

Kangaroo was shot in Melbourne, Australia, from 21 October 1985 to 14 December 1985.

Judy Davis won the AFI (Australian Film Institute) Award for Best Actress for Winter of Our Dreams (1981) and Kangaroo (1986), and in 1981 also won the AFI Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Hoodwink (1981). High Tide (1987) is Judy Davis’s fourth AFI Award for acting.

© Derek Winnert 2025 – Classic Movie Review 13,812

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