Movie review - "The True Story of Eskimo Nell" (1975) *

An early work from Richard Franklin who went on to become one of Australia’s leading directors (Road games, Psycho II), this was an adaptation of a bawdy ballad and stars Max Gillies and Serge Lazareff as two drifters in nineteenth century Australia who go looking for the legendary Eskimo Nell. It's based on a poem that was apparently famous but no one seems to know anymore (maybe it was bigger in 1975).

Their adventures aren't very interesting - hooking up with some prostitutes, Lazareff bangs Abigail (cue nude sequences), they run into Graham Bond (random cameo), then some nasty people who make fun of Nell (like those who made fun of Lily Langtry in The Westerner), there are flashbacks to how Gillies lost his eye, they run into Nell who is (gasp shock horror) not as hot as we've been led to believe.

It's weird to think why this film was made or how it got funded. It's not really a Western or even a meat pie Western; there's some nudity (full frontal from Abigail) but not much (certainly not as much as say Alvin Purple); it's not very sexy or raunchy; it's not that funny; it's not that poignant; there's not a lot of action. We don't really care about Gillies or Lazareff - why should we? They're not particularly funny or engaging or exciting or attractive; they don't even seem to like each other that much.

According to the informative featurette on the DVD (which makes the film sound better than it is), Lazareff’s role was originally meant for Jack Thompson, who would have been much better. Lazareff isn't that believable as a stud - maybe in real life he had them lined up around the block but there is only one Jack Thompson. He also lacks chemistry with Max Gillies which is crucial since this is a male love story.

The film was controversial on release because the AFDC (forerunner to the AFC) put a lot of government money into what was a basically a rambling sex comedy (there was filming done in Canada!) The film’s failure at the box office helped spell the end of the era of early 70s Australian ocker sex comedy.