What Do Australian Audiences Want?

By Julian Karikalan

I have heard and read a lot of varied opinion about what is wrong with Australian films lately. Being an Australian filmmaker myself, I think I could throw some light on the issue from the perspective of a movie audience.

Most people wouldn’t complain about the technical aspects of our productions. Australian films have reached excellence in terms of cinematography, sound design, performance, production design, VFX etc. That said, most Australian films are well-made, technically excellent, sophisticated crap that do not resonate with the mainstream audience. Because, at the basic level, cinema is a storytelling medium, and most Australian films lack that key element, without which everything else will definitely be a waste of time, effort, and money. In analogy, it is like a restaurant with the best ceramics, glassware, ambience, décor, presentation and well-dressed staff, with food that is unpalatable.

The basic requirement of a story is to make the audience emote, and there are time-tested techniques to achieve that. Every good film utilises those techniques in interesting ways. Australian films that have followed those principles have been successful. The unsuccessful ones have failed to follow these requirements, sometimes deliberately.

There is a common attitude among many Australian filmmakers to not take their stories in a path that a mainstream storyteller would take. Avoiding clichés is a great thing. But avoiding the conventions of story is a mistake. By doing this, they are actually diverging away from the storytelling principles of Shakespeare, Aristotle, The Holy Bible, Ramayana, Mahabharatha, and other time-tested stories that are eternal.

Such Australian films start really well, and keep the audience hooked for some time by giving them something to look for, but then suddenly take a diversion that annoys the audience, and frustrates them for waiting so long to witness something that they didn’t want to happen. Sometimes nothing really happens at all. While one might argue that giving the audience something unexpected is a requirement for good storytelling, it is better to understand the technique properly and follow what noted screenwriting guru, Robert McKee, says regarding this. “Give them what they expect, but not in a way they expect.” When you devise new ways to give them what they expect, they are surprised, thrilled, entertained, and appreciative of your efforts. Instead, when you give them the opposite of what they expect, they get angry, frustrated, and annoyed at the storyteller. It is the storyteller who first gives them the idea about what to expect. So it is totally fair on their part to be angry with him/her as they fail to deliver their expectation.

Just like any other business, a frustrated customer would give a bad word-of-mouth review about the product, and that’s what has eventually led to the fear among Australian audiences about spending time and money on an Australian film. Personally, I have watched many Australian films in cinemas with just a handful of people, and have got the same emotional experience that I mentioned above. I was frustrated by the way the stories flow, and the way that they end. I don’t mean that they should have a “happy ending”, but they should be satisfactory. Audience members can even walk out angry or frustrated about life, God, government, society etc, but not at the filmmaker. So, could we conclude that Australia doesn’t have good screenwriters?

Or, could it be that good screenplays don’t get made, and what is chosen to be made are those that are written for the bureaucrats who have the power to fund it? Instead of writing for the audience, screenwriters here are forced to write for those funding bodies without whom this industry cannot survive. We are not a self-sufficient industry like those in Hollywood and India. The funding bodies ask for a so-called “Australianess”, which makes me wonder if Australia to them just means a dark, dull, mundane, pessimistic, barren land filled with junkies, losers, psychopaths, mentally ill people, and a suffering indigenous population. Because that’s how most Australian films portray Australia.

As a migrant from a different part of the world, I don’t see Australia that way. I see Australia as a land of opportunities filled with beauty, warmth, positivity, mateship, and multiculturalism. Of course, the other side exists. But the question is, do mainstream audiences really want to see a feature length movie about those elements? Do those elements really entertain moviegoers, and give them a memorable experience that would motivate them to recommend it to their friends and family? That’s where the real promotion for a movie happens, through word-of-mouth and social media.

In the first conversation with executives from funding bodies, a good writer would realise that they would never make the work materialise into a movie. In fact, said executives don’t even bother to listen to the story or read the script. All they want are the track records for the producer, director, and actors; they really don’t care about the writer, who is the real, key creative artist behind the success or failure of a movie. While a producer/director who has made a $4 million film that didn’t even make 10% of its budget back would be considered an industry expert and a potential candidate with a “successful” track record for further funding, a screenplay written by a newcomer that would appeal to a mass audience is never even considered for a preliminary reading. This is proof that those bureaucrats are focusing on the wrong area. Try calling those funding bodies and enquire about funding opportunities, and you will realise what I am talking about. Instead of seeing who is in it, if they would focus on what is in it, I believe that they could turn the situation around and get the audience back to watch Australian films.

I wrote a screenplay that followed the principles of good storytelling, and then took the risk of self-funding the whole project myself. I wanted to prove the point that the writing is the most essential element for the movie, and purposely kept the other aspects to the required level only, except for the music. When I was convinced that the movie had the potential to engage an audience throughout, by viewing my rough cut, I packed my bags for India. I was able to convince the world’s most prolific film composer, Ilaiyaraaja, to compose the songs and score for the movie, based on its merits alone, making this his first feature in English.

Now that I have screened the movie in festivals as well as a premiere with a packed audience from various cultures, I can confidently say that my theory is proven right. The audience included a mix of Indian, Australian, African and Asian men and women. Despite this diversity, they all reacted in unison to the key moments in the story, in the way that I intended. For the whole two hours, they didn’t resort to their gadgets and thoroughly enjoyed the experience, not noticing the few technical glitches that I deliberately made to test my point. Not only did they applaud and cheer at the end, but they lined up in the cinema to thank me personally for the experience. Men came out telling me that they were teary towards the end. It is a love story that appeals to both men and women. Many commented that they were skeptical that this would be another Australian film, but were excited that this was not one of those.

I am an Australian citizen, and the film was completely funded by money that I borrowed from Australian banks, which makes it 100% Australian. So what do they mean by, “This is not an Australian film”? It is the emotional experience and satisfaction that they got out of watching the movie. I am not saying this based on what they said in the end, but by observing them throughout the screenings.

Please check out the Love And Love Only website to learn more about my film. Please feel free to share your comments and opinion through the comments page and social forum. Pre-orders are open for the VOD release of the movie at the same website. Why VOD? is another topic on its own. The movie is also available on the “Cinema On Demand” platform, Fan-Force, where you can demand a screening anywhere within Australia and New Zealand.