Review: The Killing of Angel Street

Liz Alexander returns to her father Alexander Archdale’s urban abode (mostly filmed in the suburban area of Balmain in Sydney) on the title street to find the old man and his leftie associates (the late Arkie Whiteley among them) are involved in protests against a current plan by a top developer to get rid of homes on Angel Street to make way for flash new high-rise apartments. They really, really want the residents out and aren’t above using strong-arm tactics, as thugs like Tony Martin (Yes, Father Bob from “E Street”) are always lurking about intimidatingly. However, when the old man dies under fishy circumstances, Alexander suspects that things have escalated to new, criminal heights. Along with a commie local union guy (John Hargreaves), she starts to do some digging and uncovers something very sinister indeed, something that appears to involve both government and police. “Prisoner” co-star David Waters appears as a TV host, and David Downer is Alexander’s brother.

 

Although the title suggests something in the vicinity of a killer-thriller, this 1981 Australian film from director Donald Crombie (“Caddie”, “The Irishman”) is actually a crime-drama ripped from the headlines. Loosely based on the same true incident as the more well-known “Heatwave”, this is actually a film about dodgy developers, and police and government conspiracy/corruption (The real story was set in King’s Cross, closer to the city than Balmain). It’s all rather familiar stuff and hardly unique to Australia. It’s also really stereotyped and overdone, right down to John Hargreaves’ commie/anti-nuke posters in his character’s office. The film really hasn’t aged too well. I guess I’m supposed to be outraged by what went on, but because none of this is new or shocking, I just didn’t care. It plays silly today when 1997’s “The Castle” basically sent some of this sort of subject matter up, and I also don’t think it was terribly shocking or original for its era, either.

 

It’s all a bit blah, despite good work by Liz Alexander (a familiar face from loads of TV work in particular) and Alexander Archdale. In fact, all of the acting in this is pretty good right down the line. Apparently Julie Christie, of all people was offered the Alexander part, which I don’t think would’ve worked nearly as well. Alexander more than gets the job done, there’s no need to import a ‘star’, and she’s every bit as good as more lauded Aussie actresses like Sigrid Thornton and Wendy Hughes, too. The best thing about the film is the surprisingly good score by the usually cheapjack Brian May (“Snapshot”, “Gallipoli”, “Turkey Shoot”), who goes a more traditional route than his normal cheap-sounding synth stuff. Although it has its basis in truth, the film is based on a fictionalised story by actor Michael Craig (the star of TV’s “G.P.”), with the screenplay by Craig, Evan Jones (“Wake in Fright”, “Escape to Victory”), and Cecil Holmes (who mostly comes from a documentary and short film background). Not a shining example of Aussie cinematic storytelling, I’m afraid.

 

Rating: C