Bliss (1985 film)
| Bliss | |
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DVD cover
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| Directed by | Ray Lawrence |
| Produced by | Anthony Buckley |
| Written by |
Peter Carey Ray Lawrence |
| Starring | Barry Otto, Gia Carides |
| Music by | Peter Best |
| Cinematography | Paul Murphy |
| Edited by | Wayne LeClos |
| Distributed by | Anthony Buckley Umbrella Entertainment |
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Release date
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1985 |
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Running time
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112 minutes 130 minutes (Director's cut) |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Budget | A$3.4 million |
| Box office | A$1,144,863 (Australia) $660,537 (USA only) |
Bliss is a 1985 Australian film directed by Ray Lawrence, co-adapted by Lawrence and Peter Carey, author of the original novel Bliss from which it is adapted.
It starred Barry Otto who, at the time, was best known in Sydney for his theatre work, and Lynette Curran, a veteran star of Australian stage, TV and film and a former co-star of the popular ABC soap opera Bellbird. Notable among the supporting roles is an early film appearance by Gia Carides and an early cameo role by John Doyle.
After a rocky start – 400 of the 2000-strong audience walked out during its first screening at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival – the film went on to receive multiple awards at the AFI awards.
Harry Joy, an advertising executive in an unnamed Australian city who is known for his ability to tell stories, has a terrifying near-death experience after suffering a massive heart attack, brought on by his dissolute lifestyle. Upon recovering, he believes himself to be either in a hellish version of the world he knew, or with his eyes opened to an altogether different view of that world. He eventually discovers that his wife is unfaithful, his dissolute daughter trades sex for hard drugs with his deviant son, and his latest client is a carcinogenic polluter.
Harry tries to reform and steer a morally correct path, abandoning most of the trappings of his previous affluent life, to the dismay and disruption of everyone around him. He is also seemingly 'tested' by a series of bizarre and frightening events including being 'sectioned' to a psychiatric hospital. In one memorable sequence, Harry is dragged through a bizarre and blackly humorous chain of events, in which he smokes marijuana for the first time with a terminally ill waiter friend, then has his car crushed by an elephant and is finally arrested. The extended version of this sequence was cut from the original theatrical release after its premiere at Cannes, but the full length scene featuring a tour-de-force monologue by Barry Otto (captured in a single unedited take) was restored for the film's re-issue in the 1990s.
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Wikipedia