Crocodile Dundee
Clip 1: ‘Mind over matter’
3 min 8 sec
Taken from the feature Crocodile Dundee (1985)
Original title classification M – this clip chosen to be PG
Availability of the complete title
This clip contains low-level coarse language.
Curator’s clip description
En route to crocodile country, reporter Sue Charlton (Linda Kozlowski) asks Mick Dundee (Paul Hogan) about his age and background. Mick’s business partner Wally (John Meillon) tries to embroider the legend but Mick sets her straight, suggesting a rough childhood and an inability to sustain a marriage. Mick demonstrates his mental powers over a recalcitrant buffalo.
Curator’s notes
One of the film’s most appealing attributes is its playful, self-mocking humour. This scene is both self-aware and unselfconsciously honest. Wally sees the reporter as a publicity tool, an effective means of getting more tourists to the travel company he runs with Mick. He takes every opportunity to build Mick’s legend, which underestimates her intelligence. Dundee positions himself as a more honest source of information. In the process he reveals a glimpse of an unhappy childhood, and a failed relationship – ‘a sort of’ marriage. His power over the water buffalo suggests he is more at home with animals than women.
Paul Byrnes, curator
have teachers’ notes.
