35mm Shame (1988)
Their town has a secret...
Shame, a feminist revenge-thriller which powerfully indicts patriarchal oppression in 80s Australia, is a film far ahead of its time. Star Deborha-Lee Furness offers a transfixing star turn as Astra, a woman from the city confronted with the toxic male culture that has taken hold over one small town. And while the film doesn't pull any punches regarding its dark themes, its narrative of female empowerment remains powerfully relevant over three decades later.
A stranger, Asta Cadell (Deborra-Lee Furness, Jindabyne) limps into an outback town on a crippled motorcycle. Trapped while she waits for repairs, Asta stays at the garage of Tim Curtis (Tony Barry, Australia).The outsider soon discovers that Tim's young daughter Lizzie (Simone Buchanan, My Brilliant Career) is the latest victim of the local sport: gang rape. Some women are intimidated, others make excuses and the law looks the other way – but nothing ever changes.
Attacked herself, Asta is drawn in to the struggle of the town's women for safety and dignity. Emboldened by her, Lizzie lays charges and all hell breaks loose. The women rise up, but resistance is never that easy or that simple...
Rating
M
Cast
Deborra-Lee Furness, Tony Barry, Simone Buchanan, Gillian Jones, Peter Aanensen, Margaret Ford, David Franklin
Director
Steve Jodrell
