(Part 1) The art of romantic comedy (on ABC Radio National)

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/breakfast
Why doesn't Australia seem to have mastered the genre of Romantic Comedies? The Brits do them well, from Four Weddings and a Funeral to Bridget Jones, to Love Actually. And the Americans love them - Pretty Woman, Groundhog Day, When Harry Met Sally, the list is a long one!

But it is hard to think of big grossing Australian romcoms. You had the Crocodile Dundee movies from two decades ago and then Strictly Ballroom in the early 90s. But what about more recently? Darker arthouse films like Samson and Delilah or Praise seem to be more the go rather than fluffy romantic comedies.

So does this mean the Australian film industry is missing out on the big bucks?

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[wattlesong]

Scripts are the first step, appropriate funding is another.

As a nation, we need to decide whether we want our own culture, or just to buy it all lock, stock and stinking barrel from Amerika.

Well done abc rn.

[tippngthevelvet]

Excellent piece on Australian culture.

Women will go to a film chosen by their male partner, but men are disenclined to return the favour. It is to men that we must address the issue of Australian cinema and romantic comedies.

I am one who believes that the pictures on radio are much more vivid than those on the screen. However, watching Fran's pas du deux with two hands here is something I have never conjured listening to Breakfast.

Thank you ABC RN for all the joy you bring me.

[SmileFromBehind]

Audiences need to support the Australian cinema, the governments need to support good scriptwriting and film funding, and we need to take back our own culture - or are we all just screaming sport consumers?

[SmileFromBehind]

Australians have allowed the appetite of 14 year old males to dictate the films we make. We don't support Australian cinema, and then complain about te paucity of it.

I recall the real golden age in the 1970s: Picnic at Hanging Rock and Caddie, and ABC series such as Certain Women and Rush.