Tarantino To Screen Aussie Cult Hit ‘Stone’
Quentin Tarantino has selected the iconic 1974 biker classic to screen in his personal selection of films at the New Beverly Cinema in Hollywood this March.
Those learning of Biker culture for the first time, from books like Hunter S. Thompson's Hell's Angel for example, would probably feel a distinct sense of disappointment when watching the pivotal American biker film Easy Rider. With its heavy handed symbolism and hallucinatory sequences, it's not quite an accurate reflection of life on the road as a member of a biker gang.
A more authentic depiction can be found here in Australia, with famous cult film, Stone, ticking all the necessary boxes. Auteur and underground cinema obsessive Quentin Tarantino agrees, which is why he is presenting a special screening of the Australian classic at the New Beverley Cinema in Hollywood on March 12.
Never one to stint on praise, the Inglourious Basterds director claims, "[Stone] has the quintessential most realistic ending of any biker film in history." One of the real surprises revealed in Mark Hartley's terrific documentary, Not Quite Hollywood, was just how much of an enthusiast Tarantino is for cult Australian movies. He even credits Stone director Sandy Harbutt as a major influence on his own directorial career. For the month of March, Tarantino was asked to curate a series of screenings at the New Beverley Cinema and he made sure Stone was on the schedule.
Sandy Harbutt co-wrote, directed and starred in this classic biker thriller (his one and only film), about an undercover cop on the trail of a murderer hiding among a biker gang called The Gravediggers. It's a story about living outside of the rules of society and according to a separate code, one which the hero Stone finally breaks, with fatal consequences.
When it was released, Stone earned $1.5 million at the box office, an incredible result when you consider it had a budget of $195,000. Popular at local cinemas and drive-ins all over Australia, Harbutt himself made a note of each destination on his own copy of the 35mm film print canisters. These he had presented to Tarantino as a gift at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.
There are even plans for a remastered Director's Cut of the film to be released later this year, for fans new and old.
Stone is screening at the New Beverley Cinema in Los Angeles, March 12, 2011. For more information, go here.
