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The Naked Bunyip
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Wikipedia article
'The Naked Bunyip' is a 1970 Australian documentary film directed by John B. Murray. The film explores sex in Australia using a fictional framework.
Synopsis
'The Naked Bunyip' is a sex documentary and a blend of fact and fiction; "[it] incorporates the fictionalizing of the 'real' that had been a feature of tendencies in French 'new wave' and the American avant-garde narrative cinema." Graeme Blundell plays a shy young man who works for an ad agency, and the agency hires him to survey about sex in Australia. The film consists of "unrehearsed and unscripted" interviews as Blundell's character investigates a variety of sexual experiences, all except for the "normal" heterosexual experience.
Among the people interviewed are Dame Edna Everage, Jacki Weaver, Aggy Read, Harry M. Miller, and Russell Morris.
Production
Phillip Adams and John Murray decided to make the film after much study of the Australian film industry at the time, noting the popularity of 16mm travel documentaries shown in public halls in the suburbs and the country. They decided to make a comic film about sex as the most commercial option. Finance was provided almost entirely by tyre dealer Bob Jane and it was shot on 16mm.[http://www.acmi.net.au/2AE73511596043D3BAD7250AB452790A.htm John B. Murray 'Prelude to a Screening', AACMI website, 2008] Retrieved 20 September 2012
Release
Murray chose to exhibit 'The Naked Bunyip' himself rather than use a distributor, often using his own equipment, hiring theatres directly and handling his own publicity. This proved successful and the movie ended up running for two years in cinemas.[http://melbfilmblog.blogspot.com.au/2008/09/naked-bunyip.html Paul Martin, 'The Naked Bunyip Q and A', 'Melbourne Film Blog', 21 Sept 2008]. Retrieved 20 September 2012
It led to director Tim Burstall also deciding to use the direct approach for his comedy film 'Stork' in 1971. 'The Naked Bunyip' was the stepping stone for Australian film distribution in the 1970s, leading to Australian films' presence at international festivals and the US release of 'Mad Max' in 1979.
Censorship controversy
The Commonwealth censors insisted on five minutes of footage being removed but the producers refused, simply blacking out the offending images and bleeping the soundtrack. On the black footage, Murray inserted a picture of a bunyip performing a parody of the forbidden action. Murray also previewed the film without cuts to censors, angering the censor. This led to a debate about censorship which helped lead to a reform of censorship standards.[http://www.refused-classification.com/censorship/films/1970-to-1971-naked-bunyip.html 'Film Censorship 1970-1971: The Naked Bunyip (1970)', 'Refused Classification: Film Censorship in Australia']. Retrieved 20 September 2012Footnotes
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