Until the 1970s, Australians flocked to see the products of Hollywood, with perhaps the notable exceptions of They're A Weird Mob and Age of Consent. However, during the 1970s the Australian film industry expanded greatly, and produced a number of films which won international acclaim. Films such as Wake in Fright, The Adventures of Barry McKenzie, Sunday Too Far Away, and Breaker Morant.
The Removalists is a savage microcosm of Australia, rather than just a look at the then-topical issue of police hypocrisy and brutality. Written in 1971, it was David Williamson's first large-scale success and premiered in the same month in Melbourne as his equally successful Don's Party. Apparently based on a story told to Williamson in a pub by a removalist, the play coincides with the birth of the feminist movement. The development of the contraceptive pill around the same time also empowered women, and the women in The Removalists react to the power of choice in very different ways.
Filmed mostly in two locations - a police station and a flat - the story may sound dreary; anything but intriguing. It may also sound dark and violent. The truth is it is utterly compelling.
| I was always taught to respect my elders and I've now reached the age when I don't have to respect anybody. George Burns |
