From the Mailbag

Peter Thompson Says Goodbye

Peter Thompson is one of my favorite film critics. He's great because he's a practitioner, so he has an eye for what filmmakers look for in a film. Consequently, over the years, his calls on films have ben remarkably accurate, and I don't think he has had to reverse many of his initial opinions on films like some critics have had to do over a 25 years stretch. In that sense, he's a much more reliable reviewer of work than the vaunted pair of David Stratton and Margaret Pomeranz, in my humble estimation.

He's also one of my favorite critics because I actually learned the basics about filmmaking from educational films he made for the then AFTS back in the 1970s. He's actually a giant in this industry who is seldom spoken about. I would imagine his influence as a film educator alone has left a very long echo of thought about what a movng image is and why it is so fascinating.
Anyway, Pleades sent in this article where he is signing off from Sunday.

And that's it from me. This is my last regular film review for Sunday. After 25 years, I'm moving on to other things although I will still contribute to the program. It's been a unique privilege to be associated with Sunday for so long, and I'm profoundly grateful for the chance to work alongside so many talented and dedicated people.

As for the world of movies, it's changed so much over a quarter of a century but that's a subject for another time. If I have one regret, it's that the Australian film scene looked fantastically exciting back in 1981. The first film I reviewed was Bruce Beresford's cheeky comedy Puberty Blues and Crocodile Dundee followed soon after. The future looked rosy but the national consensus in support of Australian film culture broke up and the political will soon evaporated. The last ten years, especially, have been disastrous. We now export our actors along with our iron ore and our woodchips and we're quite comfortable when they come back to us with foreign accents in other people's films.

Still, while there's life, there's hope. New generations of filmmakers will have passion enough to turn things around and put more of their stories, our stories, in front of us again. It needs political change but I'm sure it will happen.

Ever the generous optimist! Good luck Mr. Thompson!