My second cinematic tour of duty for ANZAC Day '24 is Tom Jeffrey's 1979 comedy/drama The Odd Angry Shot.
Bill (holy fuck I just now realised that this was a baby-faced John Jarratt! He is near unrecognisable from his later Wolf Creek persona) is drafted to Vietnam where he serves alongside seasoned jokester Harry (Graham 'King of Television' Kennedy) and a collection of your stock standard good Aussie blokes including Bryan Brown, John Hargreaves and Graeme Blundell. They serve out the war through a mixture of bordeom, good humour, beer and intense combat, which is few and far between hence the titular odd angry shot.
This has everything we expect from a Vietnam War movie. Male bonding. Camo facepaint. Patrols through humid jungle terrain. A visit to a brothel. Gruesome combat injuries. But it is also filtered through that instantly recognisable Aussie larrikin lens and has some cultural touchpoints that you just aren't going to see in Hollywood Nam prodictions.
A spider named after Gladys Moncrieff. An appearance from Alf 'Flamin' Stewart. The ABC Radio news theme music. And this line, which may be the most iconic in Vietnam War movie history:
"Jeez, I'd love a Passiona"
Graeme Kennedy is the highlight of the movie, although his acting range begins and ends at Graeme Kennedy wearing a uniform. He rattles of a slew of one-liners and contributes the odd world weary home truth about the appreciation, or lack thereoff, for their efforts on the homefront.
My work colleage, who served in the Australian Armed Forces, advised this was filmed at the Jungle Warfare Training Centre at Canungra in South East Queensland and due to this location choice features a historically inaccurate cement bridge featured in one of the brief action sequences.
My second cinematic tour of duty for ANZAC Day '24 is Tom Jeffrey's 1979 comedy/drama The Odd Angry Shot.
Bill (holy fuck I just now realised that this was a baby-faced John Jarratt! He is near unrecognisable from his later Wolf Creek persona) is drafted to Vietnam where he serves alongside seasoned jokester Harry (Graham 'King of Television' Kennedy) and a collection of your stock standard good Aussie blokes including Bryan Brown, John Hargreaves and Graeme Blundell. They serve out the war through a mixture of bordeom, good humour, beer and intense combat, which is few and far between hence the titular odd angry shot.
This has everything we expect from a Vietnam War movie. Male bonding. Camo facepaint. Patrols through humid jungle terrain. A visit to a brothel. Gruesome combat injuries. But it is also filtered through that instantly recognisable Aussie larrikin lens and has some cultural touchpoints that you just aren't going to see in Hollywood Nam prodictions.
A spider named after Gladys Moncrieff. An appearance from Alf 'Flamin' Stewart. The ABC Radio news theme music. And this line, which may be the most iconic in Vietnam War movie history:
"Jeez, I'd love a Passiona"
Graeme Kennedy is the highlight of the movie, although his acting range begins and ends at Graeme Kennedy wearing a uniform. He rattles of a slew of one-liners and contributes the odd world weary home truth about the appreciation, or lack thereoff, for their efforts on the homefront.
My work colleage, who served in the Australian Armed Forces, advised this was filmed at the Jungle Warfare Training Centre at Canungra in South East Queensland and due to this location choice features a historically inaccurate cement bridge featured in one of the brief action sequences.
