The first popular success of the Australian new wave, indicating there was a healthy appetite for the right sort of local movie. David Williamson adapted the script from his play ‘The Coming of Stork’, and it was directed by Tim Burstall (who had just received a mauling from Aussie critics over his artier 2000 Weeks and was keen to do something un-respectable and popular).
Bruce Spence gives a bravura performance in the title role, a lanky aspiring revolutionary who torments those around him. Despite Stork’s antics and rhetoric, he retains a charm that makes him worthwhile, and the institutions he takes pot shots at are well work a little debunking.
The second half is a little weak, and viewers might not enjoy the portrayal of women. Jackie Weaver’s performance as a voluptuous, good-natured, easy lay ensured she was typecast in similar roles for the rest of the decade.
The DVD has an excellent featurette on the history of the movie and the play, putting it in context of the La Mama movement at the time.
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