Travelling North (1987) (original) (raw)
Synopsis
Travelling North tells the story of Frank, a crotchety old man with an unending zest and passion for life and Frances his much younger companion travelling to Queensland to enjoy their retirement and each other. Unfortunately the North cannot calm Frank's complex personality and Frances watches helplessly as Frank struggles to understand his own emotional and physical limitations.
Cast
Popular reviews
Travelling North is one of those rare Australian films which can change your whole conception of a national cinema, without seeming to lift a finger or offer anything remotely seismic.
This unfairly forgotten 1987 gem achieves this with such a simplicity and minimum of fanfare, as well as being saddled with thinly sketched character constructions just waiting for the right actor to come along and yank them into flesh. Above all, it feels so recognisably true, excelling in its tragicomic humanity, how it negotiates human timelines, individually and conditionally as a whole, and its impressive ability to capture the currents of contemporary Australian life in almost unrivaled fashion. Rarely has mainstream Australian life been captured on screen with such grace…
MARGARET: ★★½
DAVID: ★★★★
Reviewed on The Movie Show, SBS, 1987. Review by David Stratton*
TRAVELLING NORTH is a screen adaptation by David Williamson of his popular play, though if you didn't know it was based on a play, you'd never guess it. This is one of the most cinematic plays I've ever seen. It is also one of the best Australian films ever made, thanks to Williamson's intelligent, witty screenplay, the superlative direction of Carl Schultz, and the flawless performances from the entire cast.
Frank (played by Leo McKern), a cantankerous former communist, retires from his job in Melbourne as a civil engineer. He's a widower and has persuaded his widowed lover, Frances, to accompany him north to Port…
Travelling North belongs into the genre of the Cantankerous Old Man Movie, and Leo McKern plays the main character in such a grandiose and shouty way that I didn't even have to look up his Wikipedia page to know for a fact that he was a stage-trained Shakespearean actor (I admittedly did look him up to confirm that very strong suspicion, though).
It's a fun performance, artificial as it may be, whether he is bickering with his doctor or quarreling with his significantly younger partner (played by Julia Blake), who gets a subplot of her own, as she is trying to keep in touch with her family who is unhappy about her moving far away with our protagonist.
Everyone goes a little ‘Troppo’ up here!!!
It’s all just a bit of fun!
Been one of those films I've randomly wanted to watch for years and only now finally got around to it. Totally charming but also far more interesting than the premise suggests. This is a film about an elderly couple travelling north to retire, but it's more about Leo McKern's character coming to terms with his ailing body and his shitty attitude. He gives me very Archie Bunker vibes (ironic given they are political opposites), a man raging at the world to make up for his own shortcomings. There's a lot of Victor Meldrew from One Foot In The Grave there too, a comparison increased by Julia Blake's patient but quietly frustrated character. She loathes and loves McKern in equal measure…
Travelling North
“Travelling North” tells the story of a curmudgeon in his 60s who marries for a second time and moves to a cottage on a lake in northern Australia where he can fish and listen to music on the radio and be happy for the days that are remaining to him. What he doesn’t figure on is that those days are numbered. But this isn’t a heartrending movie about how he puts up a brave fight against death. It’s about how he carries on just as before, stubborn and crusty, irascible and temperamental, and about how his wife and his friends love him anyway, most of the time.
The movie stars Leo McKern as its hero, Frank, who in…
David Stratton’s Review for Variety.
It’s early days yet, but “Travelling North’’ already looks set to be a major contender in the 1987 Australian Film Awards, especially in the acting stakes. This superbly crafted adaptation of David Williamson’s popular stage play makes few concessions to the youth audience, but as a mature, frequently funny and ultimately most moving story of old age and retirement, it doubtless will be dubbed Australia’s ‘On Golden Pond.’ With the right handling, it could do solid biz anywhere.
Opening scenes are set in Melbourne. Leo McKern plays Frank, a rather cantankerous ex-Communist and civil engineer who retires from work at age 70. A widower, he has persuaded his close friend, Frances (Julia Blake), a widow…
Reviewed as part of the 2004/2005 Summer Recess - Australian films special.
DAVID: I also love 'Travelling North'. I thought Carl Schultz was a director who made wonderful work here and I was very sad when he left to work in television overseas. Because 'Travelling North', an adaptation of David Williamson's play, had the most sublime performances from Leo McKern and Julia Blake but also Graham Kennedy. Graham Kennedy who played the neighbour..
MARGARET: Yes.
DAVID: Was, of course, a wonderful television personality but he was an amazing actor in a handful of films around about that time, and I think this was his best performance.
MARGARET: I don't think he ever believed he was, though, you know.
DAVID: No, I'm sure he didn't. I'm sure he didn't.
MARGARET: And I think he was too, I think he was great.
DAVID: He was great, really great.
A cantankerous Aussie retires and moves to a Queensland beach house to fish and listen to Mozart and make life a misery for his long suffering girlfriend and his neighbours. He’s not a bad guy, but advancing infirmity has rendered him impotent (literally and figuratively) and furious.
He reminds me a lot of my grandfather, a cheery and kindly soul who in his last decade growled and cursed his way through deteriorating health and drove away most of the people around him.
By the end though, the old fella has come full circle, making peace with his loved ones as he prepares for the inevitable journey. It seems so simple, but is anchored by a wonderful central performance and a strangely uplifting final ten minutes which build beautifully on what came before. Really enjoyed it.
Eh. I think I would've like this one more if I'd switched the On Golden Pond and Travelling North double feature around because being kicked in the guts made this one feel more lacklustre.
Will say though, having seen a couple of David Williamson play adaptations this one did do more in terms of feeling like a film and less like play that had been filmed, so I will give it that.
Also I did watch this so I could decide whether or not it goes in my most important list ("Australian TV Comedian Graham Kennedy putting his whole pussy into dramatic acting"). It does. Just. Not The Club levels of putting his pussy into dramatic acting, but some pussy was put into it.
The stagebound origins are obvious and this feels very plainly like the Australian response to On Golden Pond, but it distinguishes itself through strong performances and some powerful character moments. It’s easy to imagine a competent staging of the play being every bit as impactful, if not more so.
63/100
Screenplay by Australia’s greatest playwright David Williams. A very well acted character study.