26 of the Best Films from Australia
by Timothy_Ryan | created - 22 Mar 2011 | updated - 14 Nov 2011 | PublicAs an Australian and a big fan of film I'm rather proud of our still rather small countries track record.
A lot of you will already be familiar with some well received or well known Aussie films such as Babe, Mad Max, Wolf Creek, Rabbit-Proof Fence, (the utterly insulting) Australia, Shine, Moulin Rouge!, or even just Crocodile Dundee.
The following, however, I like a lot more.
If you are at all interested in good film I sincerely recommend checking out the titles on this list. I think Aussie film maintains a slightly unique flavour, much like our character, which I'm sure many people will love if they give it a chance.
There's a bit of everything in here, from comedy and drama, to action and horror. Let me know what you think, and please feel free to recommend me more!
Here's my top 26 Australian films (in alphabetical order). It certainly wasn't easy.
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1. Animal Kingdom (2010)
R | 113 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A seventeen-year-old navigates his survival amongst an explosive criminal family and the detective who thinks he can save him.
Director: David Michôd | Stars: James Frecheville, Guy Pearce, Joel Edgerton, Bryce Lindemann
Votes: 60,458 | Gross: $1.04M
2. Beneath Clouds (2002)
Not Rated | 90 min | Drama, Romance
Lena is the daughter of an Aboriginal mother and Irish father and Vaughn is a Murri boy doing time in a minimum security prison in North West NSW. Dramatic events throw them together on a journey with no money and no transport.
Director: Ivan Sen | Stars: Dannielle Hall, Damian Pitt, Jenna Lee Connors, Terry Dahlstron
Votes: 1,186
3. The Boys (1998)
R | 86 min | Crime, Drama
Brett Sprague is a violent and psychopathic man, who is released on parole after serving a sentence for assault. As he returns to his family house and we watch him and his brothers, Stevie ... See full summary »
Director: Rowan Woods | Stars: David Wenham, Toni Collette, Lynette Curran, John Polson
Votes: 1,722 | Gross: $0.00M
4. The Castle (1997)
R | 85 min | Comedy, Drama
A working-class family from Melbourne, Australia fights city hall after being told they must vacate their beloved family home to allow for infrastructural expansion.
Director: Rob Sitch | Stars: Michael Caton, Anne Tenney, Stephen Curry, Anthony Simcoe
Votes: 17,471 | Gross: $0.86M
5. Chopper (2000)
R | 94 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Chopper tells the intense story of Mark "Chopper" Read, a legendary criminal who wrote his autobiography while serving a jail sentence in prison. His book, "From the Inside", upon which the film is based, was a best-seller.
Director: Andrew Dominik | Stars: Eric Bana, Simon Lyndon, Vince Colosimo, Renée Brack
Votes: 41,461 | Gross: $0.23M
6. The Home Song Stories (2007)
103 min | Drama
A man remembers his childhood and his mother, a Chinese night club singer who struggled to survive in Australia with her two children.
Director: Tony Ayres | Stars: Joan Chen, Yuwu Qi, Joel Lok, Irene Chen
Votes: 923
7. The Illustrated Family Doctor (2005)
102 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
"The Illustrated Family Doctor" is a dark comedy, that centres on the story of Gary Kelp, a young man who condenses reference books for a company called the Info Digest.
Director: Kriv Stenders | Stars: Samuel Johnson, Colin Friels, Jessica Napier, Sacha Horler
Votes: 246
8. Kenny (2006)
PG-13 | 99 min | Comedy
This hilarious mockumentary film follows the numerous misadventures of a porta-john worker through both his personal and professional life, including an oddly glamorous excursion to the Pumper and Cleaner Expo in Nashville, TN.
Director: Clayton Jacobson | Stars: Shane Jacobson, Travis Golland, Chris Davis, Alf Scerri
Votes: 7,278
9. Lantana (2001)
R | 121 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
The relationships of four couples unravel after the discovery of a young woman's body in Lantana bush in suburban Sydney.
Director: Ray Lawrence | Stars: Anthony LaPaglia, Geoffrey Rush, Rachael Blake, Kerry Armstrong
Votes: 20,219 | Gross: $4.46M
10. Little Fish (2005)
R | 114 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A woman trying to escape her past becomes embroiled in a drug deal.
Director: Rowan Woods | Stars: Cate Blanchett, Sam Neill, Hugo Weaving, Martin Henderson
Votes: 9,218 | Gross: $0.01M
11. Look Both Ways (2005)
PG-13 | 100 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
During one unusually hot and tragic weekend, four people struggle after hearing some life-changing news. This, in turn, brings them together.
Director: Sarah Watt | Stars: Mary Kostakidis, Justine Clarke, Daniela Farinacci, Robbie Hoad
Votes: 3,081 | Gross: $0.10M
12. Looking for Alibrandi (2000)
103 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
At seventeen Josie Alibrandi is about to enter her final year as a scholarship student at an exclusive Catholic College. It's the year her life is turned upside down and changed forever.
Director: Kate Woods | Stars: Greta Scacchi, Anthony LaPaglia, Elena Cotta, Kerry Walker
Votes: 3,588
13. The Magician (I) (2005)
TV-MA | 85 min | Crime, Drama
A Melbourne hitman who is simultaneously ruthless and caring and volatile. 'Filmed' by his media student for a university assignment, Ray is under contract to kill a low life of the Melbourne underworld when a more tempting offer is made.
Director: Scott Ryan | Stars: Scott Ryan, Ben Walker, Massimiliano Andrighetto, Kane Mason
Votes: 1,765
14. Noise (I) (2007)
Not Rated | 108 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
This is a story about the wrong person in the right place at the wrong time. Two heinous crimes have left a suburban town reeling.
Director: Matthew Saville | Stars: Brendan Cowell, Maia Thomas, Katie Wall, Maude Davey
Votes: 2,761 | Gross: $0.02M
15. Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)
PG | 115 min | Drama, Mystery
During a rural summer picnic, a few students and a teacher from an Australian girls' school vanish without a trace. Their absence frustrates and haunts the people left behind.
Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Rachel Roberts, Anne-Louise Lambert, Vivean Gray, Helen Morse
Votes: 40,970 | Gross: $0.23M
16. Praise (1998)
98 min | Drama
An unfocused twentysomething (Peter Fenton) moves in with a former co-worker (Sacha Holder), who is suffering from low self-esteem because of her weight, looks, and a case of eczema. Their ... See full summary »
Director: John Curran | Stars: Peter Fenton, Sacha Horler, Marta Dusseldorp, Ray Bull
Votes: 647 | Gross: $0.03M
17. The Proposition (2005)
R | 104 min | Crime, Drama, Western
A lawman apprehends a notorious outlaw and gives him nine days to kill his older brother, or else they'll execute his younger brother.
Director: John Hillcoat | Stars: Ray Winstone, Guy Pearce, Emily Watson, Richard Wilson
Votes: 54,960 | Gross: $1.90M
18. Romper Stomper (1992)
R | 94 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A group of skinheads become alarmed at the way their neighbourhood is changing.
Director: Geoffrey Wright | Stars: Russell Crowe, Daniel Pollock, Jacqueline McKenzie, Alex Scott
Votes: 41,584 | Gross: $0.18M
19. Romulus, My Father (2007)
R | 104 min | Biography, Drama
It tells the story of Romulus, his beautiful wife, Christina, and their struggle in the face of great adversity to bring up their son, Raimond. It is a story of impossible love that ultimately celebrates the unbreakable bond between father and son.
Director: Richard Roxburgh | Stars: Eric Bana, Franka Potente, Marton Csokas, Kodi Smit-McPhee
Votes: 4,315 | Gross: $0.00M
20. Samson & Delilah (II) (2009)
Not Rated | 101 min | Drama, Romance
A glue-sniffing boy and his girlfriend escape the government-controlled no-hope Aboriginal community they live in and go to the city, Alice Springs, looking for a better life.
Director: Warwick Thornton | Stars: Rowan McNamara, Marissa Gibson, Mitjili Napanangka Gibson, Scott Thornton
Votes: 3,762
21. The Snowtown Murders (2011)
Not Rated | 119 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Based on true events, 16 year-old Jamie falls in with his mother's new boyfriend and his crowd of self-appointed neighborhood watchmen, a relationship that leads to a spree of torture and murder.
Director: Justin Kurzel | Stars: Lucas Pittaway, Daniel Henshall, Louise Harris, Bob Adriaens
Votes: 20,590 | Gross: $0.01M
22. Storm Boy (1976)
Not Rated | 88 min | Drama, Family
Mike is a lonely Australian boy living in a coastal wilderness with his reclusive father. In search of friendship he encounters an Aboriginal native loner and the two form a bond in the care of orphaned pelicans.
Directors: Henri Safran, Ian Goddard | Stars: Greg Rowe, Peter Cummins, David Gulpilil, Judy Dick
Votes: 1,516
23. Ten Canoes (2006)
Unrated | 90 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
In Australia's Northern Territory, a man tells us a story of his people and his land. It's about an older man, Minygululu, who has three wives and realizes that his younger brother Dayindi may try to steal away the youngest wife.
Directors: Rolf de Heer, Peter Djigirr | Stars: Crusoe Kurddal, Jamie Gulpilil, Richard Birrinbirrin, Peter Minygululu
Votes: 5,106 | Gross: $0.28M
24. Three Dollars (2005)
R | 118 min | Drama
THREE DOLLARS is the story of Eddie, an honest, compassionate man who finds himself with a wife, a child, and three dollars. Eddie's world revolves around the three women in his life: his ... See full summary »
Director: Robert Connolly | Stars: David Wenham, Frances O'Connor, Sarah Wynter, Robert Menzies
Votes: 742
25. The Tracker (2002)
Not Rated | 90 min | Drama, Western
Fanatic is a government trooper who is heading an expedition to find an Aboriginal man accused of murdering a white woman. Others in the expedition are the Follower, a greenhorn trooper, the Veteran, and the Tracker.
Director: Rolf de Heer | Stars: David Gulpilil, Gary Sweet, Damon Gameau, Grant Page
Votes: 3,291
26. Two Hands (1999)
R | 103 min | Comedy, Crime, Thriller
A 19 year old finds himself in debt to a local gangster when some gang loot disappears and sets him on the run from thugs. Meanwhile two street kids start a shopping spree when they find the missing money.
Director: Gregor Jordan | Stars: Heath Ledger, Bryan Brown, David Field, Tom Long
Votes: 13,648
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