NFSA Restores: The Cars That Ate Paris – 'We're keeping him'
1974
NFSA Restores: The Cars That Ate Paris – 'We're keeping him'
1974
- NFSA IDV90HQSS2
- TypeFilm
- MediumMoving Image
- FormFeature Film
- GenresHorror, Drama
- Year1974
This is an excerpt from The Cars That Ate Paris, the 1974 debut feature film by acclaimed director Peter Weir.
After his brother is killed in a car accident outside the small town of Paris, Arthur (Terry Camilleri) meets Len (John Meillon), the mayor, who leads the funeral procession.
At a council meeting afterwards, the mayor complains about unemployed youth, racing around in their souped-up cars. He announces that Arthur is not leaving.
The Cars That Ate Paris was filmed predominantly on location in the New South Wales town of Sofala, and starred Melissa Jaffer, Chris Haywood (in his feature film debut), Bruce Spence and Max Gillies. Many of those who worked on the film collaborated with Weir on subsequent projects including producers Jim and Hal McElroy (Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Last Wave, The Year of Living Dangerously), composer Bruce Smeaton (Picnic at Hanging Rock) and actor Terry Camilleri, who played a small role in TheTruman Show more than 20 years later.
The film marked a significant leap for Weir from directing documentaries and 16mm shorts for the Commonwealth Film Unit. Cars gained international recognition at the Cannes Film Festival where it premiered internationally in 1974. To publicise the screening, Weir drove a second-hand Volkswagen through the French Alps to be transformed into the film’s now iconic metal-spiked buggy by a local mechanic who then drove it up and down the Cannes Croisette.
The reception of Cars domestically was mixed, after it screened at both the Sydney and Melbourne film festivals in 1974. But its success at Cannes and later at the Chicago International Film Festival helped establish Australian cinema and Weir on the global stage. Today the film is a cult classic. While lesser known than the rest of Weir’s films, Cars began his exploration of the impact of modernity and consumerism and the struggle for maintaining personal identity, themes that echo throughout much of his later work.
The NFSA restoration of The Cars That Ate Paris premiered at the Sydney Film Festival on 13 June 2024.
This is an excerpt from The Cars That Ate Paris, the 1974 debut feature film by acclaimed director Peter Weir.
After his brother is killed in a car accident outside the small town of Paris, Arthur (Terry Camilleri) meets Len (John Meillon), the mayor, who leads the funeral procession.
At a council meeting afterwards, the mayor complains about unemployed youth, racing around in their souped-up cars. He announces that Arthur is not leaving.
The Cars That Ate Paris was filmed predominantly on location in the New South Wales town of Sofala, and starred Melissa Jaffer, Chris Haywood (in his feature film debut), Bruce Spence and Max Gillies. Many of those who worked on the film collaborated with Weir on subsequent projects including producers Jim and Hal McElroy (Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Last Wave, The Year of Living Dangerously), composer Bruce Smeaton (Picnic at Hanging Rock) and actor Terry Camilleri, who played a small role in TheTruman Show more than 20 years later.
The film marked a significant leap for Weir from directing documentaries and 16mm shorts for the Commonwealth Film Unit. Cars gained international recognition at the Cannes Film Festival where it premiered internationally in 1974. To publicise the screening, Weir drove a second-hand Volkswagen through the French Alps to be transformed into the film’s now iconic metal-spiked buggy by a local mechanic who then drove it up and down the Cannes Croisette.
The reception of Cars domestically was mixed, after it screened at both the Sydney and Melbourne film festivals in 1974. But its success at Cannes and later at the Chicago International Film Festival helped establish Australian cinema and Weir on the global stage. Today the film is a cult classic. While lesser known than the rest of Weir’s films, Cars began his exploration of the impact of modernity and consumerism and the struggle for maintaining personal identity, themes that echo throughout much of his later work.
The NFSA restoration of The Cars That Ate Paris premiered at the Sydney Film Festival on 13 June 2024.
- NFSA IDV90HQSS2
- TypeFilm
- MediumMoving Image
- FormFeature Film
- GenresHorror, Drama
- Year1974
- ProducersJim McElroy, Hal McElroyDirectorPeter WeirScreenplayPeter WeirFrom a story byKeith Gow, Piers Davies, Peter WeirComposerBruce SmeatonCastTerry Camilleri, John Meillon, Melissa Jaffer, Chris Haywood, Bruce Spence, Max GIllies
The Cars That Ate Paris synopsis
Mild-mannered Arthur (Terry Camilleri) wakes up in a hospital in the quiet NSW country town of Paris after he and his brother have run off the road. The brother is dead. The mayor (John Meillon) takes Arthur under his wing, but Arthur senses that things are not right. The town’s feral youth take over the streets at night in souped-up cars. The hospital is full of brain-damaged accident victims. Arthur discovers he is not allowed to leave.
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