Australian
Screen

Clip description

Since they can’t decide who should be their candidate for mayor the caucus of four Australian Labor Party (ALP) councillors meet to draw the lucky name out of a hat.

Curator’s notes

This is both a humorous and tragic scene and illustrates the power of observational filmmaking. It is a great personal and political drama being played out on a small stage. At this meeting of Larry Hand’s main opponents for mayor, the four ALP members know that if they vote as a bloc their candidate has the numbers to defeat Hand. The only problem is their conflict over who that candidate should be.

The scene is at the heart of the drama but it is also a comment on party politics in a wider sense, demonstrating the behind-the-scenes personal and political machinations of how a democratic vote can be used. The filmmakers let the scene play out, knowing that it is a critical moment in the narrative. It is a plot point revealing the characters and the motivation, political and personal, of each of the players.

This is the climax of an ongoing battle between them since the very first scene of the film. It is a low point for all personally but could enable them to beat Larry Hand and achieve victory at the election. It’s a bitter pill for the caucus members to swallow and sets up in narrative terms the dramatic turnarounds in the battle to follow.