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Backroads (1977)

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clip Pulling a stunt for a tank of petrol

Original classification rating: R. This clip chosen to be M

Clip description

With no money for petrol, Jack (Bill Hunter) works an old trick on a country petrol station owner. Uncle Joe (Zac Martin) acts as decoy and almost gets shot.

Curator’s notes

by Paul Byrnes

The film attempts to be a modern Australian outlaw movie, as well as a road movie and a film about race relations. Part of its theme is the question of whether the poor, the dispossessed, the downtrodden have some kind of an automatic solidarity with each other, no matter what their colour. The film’s answer is, probably not – although by the end, a kind of friendship has developed between Jack and Gary – although not between Anna and the other men. Her friendship with the hitchhiking Frenchman is brought to an abrupt end by Jack, when he throws him out of the car. The outlaw theme meant that the bloodshed at the end, where Uncle Joe kills a stranger, and Gary is killed by cops, was almost inevitable.

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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. All rights are reserved.

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  • 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.

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