JACK AND JILL: A POSTSCRIPT

Australia, 1968, 64 minutes, Black and White.
Anthony Ward, Judy Leech.
A Film by Phillip Adams and Brian Robinson,

Jack and Jill: A Postscript was released as a support around Australia, distributed by Columbia, whereas television authorities were reluctant to screen it. This is a very competent film made by Phillip Adams (pictured), noted television critic and journalist for "The Australian" as well as film-maker, and Brian Robinson, who has made a number of acclaimed short films. The style of Jack and Jill is somewhat reminiscent of films made by the National Film Board of Canada like Phoebe, The Game or No Reason to Stay. Jack and Jill could stand well in this company.

The film Is a contemporary moral fable set in Melbourne and capturing the city's atmosphere very well. The plot is not new, the conflicts and questions are perennial. However, they are well presented and probed, especially by the device of using a commentator instead of dialogue. This gives the fiction a realistic, documentary tone. But the special feature of the film (as the name indicates) Is the use of nursery rhymes. Very many of them are recited during the film and these highlight themes and point the significance of the moral fable providing a satisfactory blend of fiction, documentary and parable.

Jack and Jill runs for about an hour and would provide good talking points on important ordinary issues in a familiar setting.

1. Was this a realistic film? Did you think it dealt with real people, real issues?

2. How important was the Melbourne setting and the impact the various aspects of city life had on the characters?

3. What was the point of all the nursery rhymes? Did it help to make the film a convincing contemporary nursery rhyme or, rather, a moral fable?

4. Was the use of a commentator overdone? Would you have preferred the actors themselves to speak in dialogue or did the commentary and the rhymes make a satisfactory blend of documentary and fiction?

5. What was the significance of the title - the nursery rhyme and its implications? A postscript - what did this mean?

6. Were Jack and Jill (and their families and Chris and Stan) typical city characters?

7. What kind of young man was Jack - his family, his home and background, his bike, friends, attitudes, standards?

8. How did Jill contrast with him in all these details?

9. Why did Jill grow tired of Chria's ordinariness? Why did she become attracted to Jack? Why did she continue the friendship in defiance of her mother? Was this typical?

10. What was the basis of this friendship? How were the contrasts of mutual education (ballet versus wrestling, etc.) satirical, even overdone, yet real?

11. Why wouldn't Jill go all the way with Jack despite all his efforts?

12. What picture of Melbourne life did the film give? In its portrayal of ordinary things e.g. the radio stations, the outings, St. Kilda, Luna Park, the church dance, did it give insight into this way of life?

13. Was the early sequence of the accidents and the interviews with the towing people well done? Was it out of place so early? What did you think of the attitudes expressed? How did it prepare the audience for the end of the film?

14. Were you sorry Jack died? What future would there have been for Jack and Jill?

15. Was the framing of the film by the funeral well done - (what role did religion play in the film?) the reality of death and, finally, its significance?

16. This is an Australian-made film. Was it a worthwhile contribution to our cinema presentation and understanding of the Australian way of life?