FLUTEMAN
Australia, 1982, 84 minutes, Colour.
John Jarratt, Debra Lawrance, Patrick Dickson, John Ewart, Michael Caton, Peter Gwynne, Sheila Kennelly, Emil Minty, Aileen Britton.
Directed by Peter Maxwell.
Fluteman is one of several films made by Brendon Lunny’s company for a children’s audience in the early 1980s. Another example was Run Rebecca Run.
This is a variation on the Pied Piper theme. A rainmaker comes to a town, the people don’t pay him for his services and he then gathers up the children to take them away. The film has an outback Australian setting, an authentic atmosphere – and has an appeal for children’s and family audiences.
1.A successful children’s film? Story, characters and dialogue, for young audiences? Interest, entertainment? Moralising?
2.The brevity of the film, colour photography, locations? Audiences identifying with the characters? Children with the children?
3.The title, expectations – fulfilled? The tone and the character, the Pied Piper variation? Audiences knowing the story of the Pied Piper and able to apply the story? The Australian setting, clothes, the parallel? The identity of the rainmaker?
4.The town, its name, the countryside, the landscapes, the drought, houses and school? The attention to detail?
5.The situation, the rain, the mayor, the leaders of the townspeople, hiring the rainman? Their refusal to pay him?
6.The focus on the children, the small group, at school, their homes, at play, their delight? The council meeting, the children’s needs? Believing the fluteman? The children delighted, following him? Their reappearance and the happy ending?
7.The fluteman, his appearance, age? Eccentric and different? The music and its effect? In the town, the work, the houses? People’s comments? The class and its delight? The pledge, the reactions the promises? The reporters? The rituals, the rain coming, the townspeople’s reaction? The threat, the threat to the children? Returning, the house, seeming selfish? Returning the children? Saving them? His departure and farewell? The poem? His good deed?
8.A Pied Piper story for an Australian audience?
