Gary Foley cuts a fine figure in his outback trash coutire. Backroads was one of the first Australian films to have significant Aboriginal creative control.
Western New South Wales was the location and didn't need much art direction to reveal the third world condition it's Aboriginal inhabitants endured. Not much has changed in forty years since the films was made.
The Parisienne cuts a fine figure an outback roads.
From left; Bill Hunter, Zac Martin, Terry Camilleri and Gary Foley. Neither Foley nor Hunter had drivers licences.
Julie MacGregor as the outback shop assistant who jumps in the car to get out with Terry Camilleri as the stoned French hitchhiker they pick up.
Bill Hunter near the end of the journey.
Zac Martin plays opposite Hunter in several brilliant scenes in Backroads. He was a member of the National Black Theatre and also appeared in feature films 27A and Going Down.
Foley on the run from the law
Director of photography Russell Boy, (Master and Commander) brings an elegant eye to the outback.
The dialogue in the car was rocorded by Lloyd Carrick stuffed into the boot of the Parisienne. The cross talk reminiscent of Robert Altman's films.
The desolation is not just in the landscape but in the lives of the people who inhabit it.
From left; Bill Hunter, director Phillip Noyce (The Quiet American) and Zac Martin during a break in shooting.
Bill Hunter (left) and Zac Martin play with guns.
