the literary curmudgeon

Louis Nowra has his claws out again. In his article to be published in The Monthly this week, Nowra sets his sights on the Australian film industry. He is singing that familiar tune of “monotonous bleakness”. Which we have heard before (see, for example, Michael Coulter’s recent tirade in the Sunday Age). And Nowra’s article appears at time in which Australian cinema is particularly diverse. 2009 has been strong year for local films – consider Beautiful Kate, Mary and Max, Balibo, My Year Without Sex and Samson and Delilah. Were these the films Nowra watched to reach his conclusion that “Australian films were boring, grim and unsatisfying”? Surely not. But I look forward to reading the article.