THE FIRE IN THE STONE

Australia, 1984, 94 minutes, Colour.
Allan Cassell, Ray Meagher, Paul Smith.
Directed by Gary Conway.

The Fire in the Stone is an entertaining children's adventure. It was sponsored by the Australian Children's Television Council and made by the South Australian Film Corporation. Based on a novel by Colin Thiele (Storm Boy), the film was shot in Coober Pedy. Paul Smith is very good in the central role and Alan Cassell is very persuasive as his irresponsible father. The film focuses on opal mines as well as on friendships amongst teenagers (including an aboriginal friend) in the town.

The Children's Television Foundation went on the make the successful series Winners.

1. Family and teenage entertainment? A quality adventure? Enjoyment? Values?

2. The use of Coober Pedy locations: the town itself, its distinctive homes, the mines, the desert? Authentic atmosphere? The title and the references to opals? The concluding song and its lyrics? Mining, miners and the consequences of their way of life, isolation, wealth and poverty, crime and violence?

3. The film as a teenage story? Focus on adventure? Adolescent perspective? Ernie as focus, his experience in the town, his absent mother and his longing for her, his irresponsible father and his disappearances, the long absences, the clash when they met? His father hitting him, not reading his mother's letters, Ernie paying off the bills? Working in the mines?

4. His range of friends - the strong bond with Willie? Sophie and her brother? The attraction towards Sophie, the tentative kiss, the sharing of adventures? His place in the town, relationship with the police etc.?

5. The welcome by the aborigines and their inviting him to meals? The opals, Dingo and the robbery, the lift with Dosh?

6. The chase sequences? Hospital? Talking things over with his father? The trip to Adelaide and a new start? A sketch of an Australian boy? His father and his background, leaving his mother, his no-hoper friends, as a no-hoper and bludger, work, absences, excuses, irresponsibility, not being back for Christmas, his being upset about Ernie paying the bill. striking his son, telling lies about visiting his mother? His future?

7. The film's comment on family relationships in Australia? Bonds between fathers and sons? (And Ernie being more responsible and capable than his father?)

8. An entertaining adventure: opal mining, people and their claims, sales, Dingo and the opals, Dosh and the lift and his murdering Dingo, the discovery of the body, the police. the chases through the mine, the desert sequences, the plane coming down? Adventure, danger, heroism? Willie as a good friend, an Australian friend? Aboriginal friend - and the affectionate title 'Mad Boong'? The comments about the aborigines? Their treatment by the people in the town? Willie and his family, the camp, the sharing of meals? In all the adventures?

9. The Andropolous family: Greek background, work, education, language? The son and his accented Australianism? Loud style? Taunting his sister? Helping out? The bike? His being injured? Sophie at school in Adelaide. losing weight. clashes with her brother, the expectations at home? Friendship with Ernie, the kiss? The family lifestyle, the Christmas dinner? The role of mother and father? The theme of migrant families in Australia?

10. Dosh and Dingo, robberies, mining, plans? Dosh and his cover-up? The plan for the downing of the plane? His help? The comparisons with the other miners: Harry and Davo?

11. The style of life in Coober Pedy, the mining town, the celebration of Christmas - the irony of Christmas carols, the priest and the underground church and the dressed-up aborigines for Christmas celebrations? Australian spirit: enterprise, suffering and difficulties, adventure?