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Union Street (1990)

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clip An ordinary inner-city street

Original classification rating: not rated. This clip chosen to be PG

Clip description

We are introduced to the residents of Union Street on an 'ordinary’ Sunday. The odour of cooking wafts from a Greek household to that of an elderly Anglo-Australian woman who wrinkles her nose in distaste. Her cat jumps through a window to stalk her middle-class neighbours’ caged parrot. While James Armstrong-Taylor (voiced by James Manche) shoos it away with a copy of the Financial Times, his wife Patricia’s (Trish Starrs) bathroom redecorating is interrupted by a basketball bounced on the adjoining wall. The ball comes to rest inside the squatters’ building, but fails to wake any of its sleeping residents. Voice-over narration in this clip is by Andrew Denton.

Curator’s notes

by Dr Marian Quigley

The noises and aggravations of urban living are humorously conveyed in this clip. A train rattles past the row of houses, causing them to rock on their foundations. We are cleverly transported from one home interior to the next by movement: of wafting smells, cats jumping, and balls bouncing.

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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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