1981 Directed by Donald Crombie
Jessica Simmonds returns from overseas to find her retired professor father in a bitter public fight to save the historic Sydney waterfront houses on Angel Street. After her father's mysterious death, she joins forces with local residents and a union leader against corrupt forces. Based on the real life mysterious disappearance of Juanita Nielsen.
Australia
Australia
Surprised they actually went there. Sydney has seldom seemed so helplessly terrifying.
Having been seven years since I saw sibling film Heatwave, it felt like the right time to dip back into this tale of developer intimidation all refreshed. Whereas the more noirish Heatwave focused a bit on those behind the project and Juanita Nielsen, The Killing of Angel Street feels more TV-movie friendly and like it has been ripped straight from emerging headlines, pandering beyond an art-house audience. It feels like a dangerous film to make, and fictionalises slightly to escape increased legal scrutiny. The director was unfazed by warnings of his dark depiction of the nexus of power but still checked under his car for a few days…
Juanita Nielsen was a young woman fighting the shady powers of Sydney, until one day she disappeared. An Aussie Karen Silkwood, if you like.
This is her story, told not without bite but far from the horror promised on the tin. Also told with a bit of meta, as there are protesters name-checking Juanita Nielsen way before our heroine Jessica vanishes.
John Hargreaves is a stand out in the cast, but as always with these films set in Sydney of yesteryears the locale is the major star. Moving the story from Kings Cross with its decadence to Balmain where there’s little risk of anyone building a high-rise, was maybe not the best choice. Then again the filmmakers had serious threats…
I find it fascinating this topic has not been touched upon more in Australian cinema. There are moments of this film that are brutally crafted and others that are just confusing.
The lead up to the TV appearance at the end was definitely my favourite part.
Despite a few less than great tonal warps from what appears to be a shoehorned romance, this is a steady, heavily nostalgic film that is unfortunately still very pertinent for all of Australia, but particularly Sydney.
How long till New South Wales is back to kidnappings & murders committed by the blind tentacles of the irredeemable "Elite"?
