Cheap Don's Party (Video) (Pat Bishop, John Hargreaves, Graham Kennedy, Veronica Lang) (Bruce Beresford) Price

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Customer Reviews of Don's Party

"What's that got to do with your hand on my bottom?"
In the Australian comedy, "Don's Party", it's election night, 1969. Don Henderson (John Hargreaves), a university professor decides to hold a party, and he invites a wide assortment of friends--married couples, swinging singles, and a newly separated man. Tensions are already obvious between Don and his wife, Kath (Jeanie Drynan) even before the party begins. But with the beer flowing, and opinions strongly divided on the results of the election, it doesn't take long before the social niceties disintegrate. <
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>Guests include: a volatile, jealous dentist, Evan (Kit Taylor), and his beautiful, slinky wife Kerry (Candy Raymond). The rambunctious, randy Cooley (Harold Hopkins) drags along his free-love minded 19 year old, Susan (Claire Binney). Stuffy pipe-smoking Simon (Graeme Blundell) attends with his naive wife, Jody (Veronic Lang). Mal (Ray Barrett) and his bitterly unhappy wife, Jenny (Pat Bishop) throw looks of unmistakable loathing at each other all evening. Mack (Graham Kennedy) has just separated from his wife, and he brings along a large naked photograph of the wife, so that she can maintain a presence at the party too. Mack, it seems, has a nasty little habit involving cameras. <
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>The truly great thing about this film is the manner in which it captures human behaviour in social situations. Jody, for example, at the beginning of the film, is the most attractive woman at the party. The men gather around her like flies, luring her away from her husband, and subtly laying the groundwork for a series of sly, emasculating digs at her socially inept and passive husband. When Kerry and her husband show up, the resident males try the same tactics with her husband, but his explosive reaction signals their temporary retreat. While the married women fuss over Simon's admirable characteristics, they can't help but loudly compare their husbands' inadequacies as providers, etc. The film maintains an intimate atmosphere throughout, and the setting--Don's House, reinforces this. The film, directed by Bruce Beresford, is adapted from a successful stage play, and it's really a very funny, excellent portrayal of bored married couples who are unleashed for a night of fun and fighting. The DVD quality is ok--not great, but then the film was made in the 70s--displacedhuman

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A bawdy, peculiar Australian cultural snapshot of 1969
I have to admit that I didn't like any of the characters in this movie, but I kept watching, anyway. Anti-heroic, Me-generation characters really mix it up with sex, booze and explitive-filled rants about the rich and the working class. To me, the context of this film was much more interesting than any of its other elements. The surprise sensation of watching this movie is kind of like stumbling across an old photo of one of your conservative uncles, who is now shown holding a biker chic in one arm and giving the finger to 'The Man' with the other.

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Party on, Don
Obscure but worthwhile little nugget from "Breaker Morant" director Bruce Beresford that folds in one part "Shampoo", one part "Return Of The Secausus 7" and sprinkles liberally with "Who's Afraid Of Virgina Woolf". The story takes place in Australia on election eve, 1969. Don and his uptight wife are hosting an "election party" for old college chums at thier solidly middle-class suburban home. With the exception of one self-absorbed Casanova, most of the guests range from recently divorced to unhappily married. Ostensibly gathering to watch election results, talk politics and socialize, Don's party quickly deteriorates into a veritable primer on bad human behavior as the alcohol kicks in. By the end of the night, marriages are on the rocks, friendships nearly broken and people are taking naked swims in the vacationing neighbor's pool. Yet, this is not just another wacky party story. It has a lot to say about mid-life crisis, elitism, politics, and the silly behavior between men and women in general. Savagely funny and well-acted, this is a sleeper worth seeking out. DVD notes: I would agree that the audio mix is uneven at times (the Aussie accents and slang are tough going anyway) but the picture isn't half bad if you tweak it a bit. I did an "A/B" with my 20 year old home-taped VHS copy, and it appears that the original print was a dodgy propostition to begin with, so short of a restored Criterion edition (don't hold your breath), "it is what it is".