Australian
Screen

an NFSA website

Living Room (1988)

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'An extension of your personality'

This clip chosen to be G

Clip description

Time-based portraits at a family home and Housing Commission flats in Erskineville and Redfern.

Curator’s notes

by Kate Matthews

There are some beautiful moments in this sequence. A young man seesaws between toughness and laughter as he stares down the camera. It is interesting to think about which mood a still photograph might have captured. The twins in Vegemite t-shirts have a comical quality, especially in this context that explores the nature of Australian suburbia.

Caesar wanted to explore the construction of 'safety’ and 'the whole idea that, as a society, bad things are out there and we can build something that makes us safe and protects us [but] how tenuous that idea of safety is’. The film also pushes the boundaries around popular images of Australian suburbia by showing a diverse range of inhabitants:

[I was] interested in saying this is our image of Australia … Euro-centric, middle class, healthy – like margarine ads … But who we really are is the rest as well … old people dying in nursing homes and young guys who feel marginalised … I was interested in presenting a spectrum.

The sequence also shows grainy visions of building sites, made eerie through their visual treatment and music from David Bridie and John Phillips, who Caesar met after attending a pub performance by their band Not Drowning, Waving. To get a grainy, abstract quality, the building site footage was shot on Hi8 film, and then filmed off a video monitor.

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australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.

When you access australianscreen you agree that:

  • You may retrieve materials for information only.
  • You may download materials for your personal use or for non-commercial educational purposes, but you must not publish them elsewhere or redistribute clips in any way.
  • You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
  • The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.

All other rights reserved.

ANY UNAUTHORISED USE OF MATERIAL ON THIS SITE MAY RESULT IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY.

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