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Rex Stapleton (Bruce Anderson) explains his idea of a new tribe of young urban intellectuals to Sarah Gardiner (Eileen Chapman), at a party. Noel Oakshot (David Turnbull) declares he’s no longer a part of that tribe, especially if it pretends to honesty in personal relationships. He demonstrates by asking Jackie (Jeanie Drynan) if she’s Will’s mistress, and asking Sarah, Will’s wife, if she minds. Will (Mark McManus) watches this humiliation without much comment – essentially passive, as ever.
Curator’s notes
Burstall’s hard satirical edges are never far below the surface in this sequence, which pokes fun at the modern pretensions of the artistic classes. Will’s wife Sarah knows all about his mistress, and the film later reveals that Sarah was the first one to break the marriage vows. Nevertheless, both women appear shame-faced at the public disclosure of their arrangement, and Burstall focuses the scene on their reactions, rather than those of Will. The question of infidelity is a frequent preoccupation in Burstall’s films (see Stork, 1971, clip three).
