Australian
Screen

Clip description

Jean Paget (Helen Morse) returns to the village to consult with head man Mat Amin (Zain Ariff) on the construction of a well.

Curator’s notes

This scene is a lesson in village politics. Jean has returned to Kuala Telang to build a well, something she knows will greatly benefit the villagers, especially the women. However, because she is wise in the ways and customs of this place she doesn’t browbeat them into accepting her gift immediately but consults first with the men of the village in the proper way.

Also in this clip we get a good look around the superb location on the Malaysian island of Langkawi where most of the Malayan footage was shot. The decision to shoot in Malaysia (the name change is a result of independence from British rule following the war) meant all kinds of hardship for the production, not to mention extra expense. Producer Henry Crawford recalls that while the Malaysian Tourist Development Corporation was most helpful, it took 11 months of negotiation with several different government departments simply to get permission to film in the country. Nevertheless it was a decision that paid off, as illustrated in this and numerous other scenes. Langkawi is now a big tourist resort littered with five-star hotels but in 1980 it was virtually unspoilt. Art director Lawrence Eastwood, who had the enormous job of re-creating dozens of settings across three continents and a decade of turbulent history, at least had the advantage here of a completely authentic background in which to work.