Period features, heritage cinema: Region, gender and race in The Irishman

ABSTRACT

The Irishman (Crombie 1978) has long been regarded as typical of the Australian period film genre of the late 1970s, which is said to collectively exhibit the Australian Film Commission's influences on national culture. In this article, The Irishman is seen as a ‘heritage’ film for the way locations and authentic sets and decor are featured, and for the nostalgic performances of gender and race. Regional influences on the genesis and production of The Irishman in North Queensland are also considered, and its adaptation from the novel, The Irishman: A Novel of Northern Australia (Elizabeth O'Conner 1960). Heritage, it is argued, can be seen as a cinematic mode in which regional and national elements of production are synthesized. Heritage also offers a framework through which to view other Australian period films, including Australia (Luhrmann 2008), which was also shot partly in North Queensland locations.

KEYWORDS:

• adaptation
• Australia
• heritage
• Indigenous actors
• period film
• North Queensland
• The Irishman