Going Down (film)
| Going Down | |
|---|---|
 VHS cover | |
| Directed by | Haydn Keenan |
| Written by | Moira MacLaine-Cross, Julie Barry, Melissa Woods (also credited as "Additional Directed Material") |
| Starring | Tracy Mann Vera Plevnik Julie Barry Moira MacLaine-Cross |
Release date |
|
Running time | 92 min |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Budget | A$400,000[1] |
Going Down is a 1982 Australian film about young people living in a share house.[2]
The film's one-liner reads: "Four women friends leave behind the feral days of youth after a night of uncontrolled excess in inner-city Sydney during the early 1980s."[3]
Cast
- Tracy Mann as Karli
- Vera Plevnik as Jane
- Julie Barry as Jackie
- Moira MacLaine-Cross as Ellen
- David Argue as Greg / Trixie [4]
- Esben Storm as Michael
- Ian Gilmour as Shadow
- Danny Adcock as Supporter
- Mercia Deane-Johns as Ned
Release
The film was self-distributed and ran for 14 weeks in Sydney but performed poorly in Melbourne.[5] In 2025, Muscle Distribution, as part of its first acquisition and theatrical release, restored the film in 4K for its first-ever U.S. run, premiering at BAM Rose Cinemas in New York. [6]
Reception
"A remarkable landmark in Australian independent filmmaking. Unfortunately, it is a landmark that few people noticed.” - Marcus Breen, Australian Film 1978 - 1992 (1993).[7]
"One of the first films to show the world the true gritty underside of Australian life, Going Down has become a cult classic for its realistic depiction of Sydney in the 1980s, a portrayal decidedly at odds with the sun, surf, sand and barbies of Australia's tourism campaigns." - Melbourne International Film Festival 2009 [8]
In the Sydney Morning Herald in 2011 Mark Swayer wrote "no film I've seen has better captured the chaotic heartbeat of the young sensation-seeker's Sydney."[1]
References
- ^ a b Mark Swayer, 'The morning after the night before', Sydney Morning Herald, 15 April 2011 accessed 13 October 2012
- ^ David Stratton, The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bust in the Australian Film Industry, Pan MacMillan, 1990 p144
- ^ "Video Overview Going Down (1983) on ASO - Australia's audio and visual heritage online". aso.gov.au. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
- ^ Vagg, Stephen (2 August 2025). "A Tribute to David Argue". Filmink. Retrieved 2 August 2025.
- ^ Haydn Keenan, 'Going Down', AACMI, January 2008 Archived 28 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine accessed 13 October 2012
- ^ https://www.indiewire.com/news/breaking-news/aussie-indie-going-down-restoration-bam-muscle-distribution-1235104644/
- ^ Murray, Scott, 1951-; Caputo, Raffaele; Australian Film Commission (1993), Australian film 1978-1992 : a survey of theatrical features / compiled and edited by Scott Murray ; editorial assistant Raffaele Caputo, Oxford University Press in association with the Australian Film Commission and Cinema papers, ISBN 0195535847 – via National Library of Australia
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ https://miff.com.au/festival-archive/films/13404/going-down-1982-m
External links
- Going Down at IMDb
- Going Down at Australian Screen Online
- Going Down at Street Smart Films
- Going Down at Oz Movies