A Big Country – The White Rose

Clip 1: Down on the farm

1 min 41 sec

Taken from the TV program A Big Country – The White Rose (1979)

Original title classification PG – this clip chosen to be G

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Curator’s clip description

Frank Bourke, the band leader and composer of reliable dance tunes, revisits the dirt poor farm where he grew up.

Curator’s notes

This is one of the revealing moments of an otherwise rather slow documentary. Frank Bourke was born on the land but never took to farming. The piano was his escape and he quickly found his role in life bringing pleasure to the people of the land via his dance band.

This clip, starting with the evocative shots of the farm where Frank grew up, now deserted and surrounded by dusty paddocks, effectively summons up his childhood, and cutting to his new home, very reminiscent of his old home cleverly lets us know how close he is to his roots and his country audience.

Janet Bell, curator

australian screen