The Castle (1997)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Rob Sitch

Writers:

Santo Cilauro (written by)
Tom Gleisner (written by)
(more)

Release Date:

7 May 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Ordinary Family. Extraordinary Story.

Plot:

A Melbourne family is very happy living where they do, near the Melbourne airport (according to Jane Kennedy...

Plot Keywords:

Airport | Prison | Court Case | Photocopier | Aviation

Awards:

2 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Michael Caton	...	Darryl Kerrigan
Anne Tenney	...	Sal Kerrigan
Stephen Curry	...	Dale Kerrigan
Anthony Simcoe	...	Steve Kerrigan
Sophie Lee	...	Tracy Kerrigan
Wayne Hope	...	Wayne Kerrigan
Tiriel Mora	...	Dennis Denuto
Eric Bana	...	Con Petropoulous
Charles 'Bud' Tingwell	...	Lawrence Hammill
Robyn Nevin	...	Federal Court Judge
Costas Kilias	...	Farouk
Bryan Dawe	...	Ron Graham
Monty Maizels	...	Jack
Lynda Gibson	...	Evonne
John Benton	...	Mr. Lyle
Laurie Dobson	...	John Clifton
John Lee	...	Chairman
Stephanie Daniel	...	Council Officer
John Flaus	...	Sgt. Kennedy
Les Toth	...	Heavy at Door
Erik Donnison	...	Barlow Representative
Roger Neave	...	High Court Judge
Tony Evans	...	High Court Judge
Robin Miller	...	High Court Judge
Julie Kulpinski	...	Kerry
Sam Gleisner	...	Steve and Kerry's Child
Sebastiano Liotta	...	Mr. Petropoulos
Josie Noviello	...	Mrs. Petropoulos
Lynda Keane	...	Federal Court Lawyer
Marilyn Chestnut	...	High Court Stenographer
Julian Scarff	...	High Court Clerk of Courts
Marie-Therese Byrne	...	Assistant to Chairman
Clare O'Sullivan	...	High Court Lawyer
Warwick Begg	...	High Court Lawyer
Maria Theodorakis	...	Federal Court Stenographer
John Evans	...	Federal Court Clerk of Courts
Michael Roland	...	High Court Lawyer
Matthew Giordanella	...	Con & Tracey's Son
Larry Emdur	...	Himself - Host of Price is Right
Ian Ross	...	Himself - TV News Reader
Tony Martin	...	Adam Hammill
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Chris Hilton-Wood	...	News Cameraman (uncredited)

Directed by
Rob Sitch

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Santo Cilauro		written by
Tom Gleisner		written by
Jane Kennedy		written by
Rob Sitch		written by

Produced by
Debra Choate	....	producer
Michael Hirsh	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Edmund Choi		(US version)
Craig Harnath

Cinematography by
Miriana Marusic

Film Editing by
Wayne Hyett

Casting by
Jane Kennedy

Production Design by
Carrie Kennedy

Art Direction by
Ben Morieson

Costume Design by
Kitty Stuckey

Makeup Department
Steven Clode	....	hair stylist
Steven Clode	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Annie Maver	....	first assistant director
Susannah Mott	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Josh Morieson	....	art department assistant

Sound Department
Jim Dunwoodie	....	boom operator
Peter Graham	....	sound editor
Tracey Grimshaw	....	foley artist (as Tracy Grimshaw)
Chris Izzard	....	sound recordist
Ian MacWilliams	....	sound supervisor
George Parton	....	foley editor
Steve Witherow	....	dialogue editor (as Stephen Witherow)

Special Effects by
Aaron Beaucaire	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Ian Sheath	....	optical effects
Tim Trumble	....	film recording technician

Camera and Electrical Department
Darryl Byrne	....	clapper loader dailies
Danny Christie	....	lighting assistant
Santo Cilauro	....	camera operator
Freddo Dierck	....	rigging grip
Joanne Donahoe	....	camera operator
Johnny Earthmover	....	gaffer
Brett Hull	....	gaffer: second unit
Matthew James	....	video split operator
Warik Lawrance	....	assistant camera: second unit
Joshua Litle	....	electrician
Miriana Marusic	....	camera operator
Robin Plunkett	....	camera operator: second unit
Emmanuel Santos	....	still photographer
Gary Scott	....	clapper loader

Casting Department
Susannah Mott	....	casting assistant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Charlz Chan	....	wardrobe assistant
Michael Davies	....	wardrobe: second unit

Editorial Department
Dan Edelstein	....	editorial supervisor
Tim Morgan	....	color grader
Rohan Wilson	....	negative matcher

Music Department
Ross Cockle	....	music score engineer: Australian
Martin Lubran	....	musician
Lawrence Manchester	....	score mixer
Lawrence Manchester	....	score recordist
Shari Schwartz	....	music editor

Other crew
Ann Beresford	....	continuity
Jenny Davies	....	production assistant
Pauline Hirsh	....	production assistant
Greg Sitch	....	legal
Annabel Wang	....	accounting assistant

Production Companies

• Working Dog

Distributors

• Ascot Elite Entertainment Group (Switzerland)
• Budapest Film (Hungary)
• Miramax Films (1999) (USA)
• RCV Film Distribution (Belgium)
• RCV Film Distribution (Luxembourg)
• RCV Film Distribution (Netherlands)
• Roadshow Entertainment Video
• Village Roadshow Entertainment (Australia)

Other Companies

• Cameraquip Australia  camera equipment provided by
• Complete Post  telecine transfers (as Complete Post)
• Labsonics  sound post-production
• Optical & Graphics  titles

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

82 min

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:PG (TV rating) (censored) | Malaysia:U | UK:15 | Australia:M | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

Company:

Working Dog

Trivia:

On Miramax's US poster, writer/creator Santo Cilauro's name is misspelled "Cilaurio".

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Dennis Denuto dictates a letter, takes a tape out of the dictaphone, puts the tape in the tape player, pushes the "Play" button and starts typing. He didn't rewind the tape first.

Quotes:

Darryl Kerrigan: Compulsorily acquired? You know what this means don't you, they're acquiring it compulsorily.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "20 to 1: Great Aussie Movies (#3.5)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Tequila

In praise of low-key brilliance

This is one of those movies, like "This Is Spinal Tap", that appears to aim low but taps into a certain subculture so precisely that it is elevated into something wonderful.

As a pom living in Sydney, I always insist that all overseas visitors watch this film in order to "get" Australia and Australians. The Kerrigan family are easy to mock, but qualities of togetherness, moral courage, unpretentiousness and un-PC earthiness embody a great strand of the national character and warm them to us.

Most of all, though, The Castle is just plain funny. You'll find yourself using the catchphrases over and over again, and you'll smile every time you do it. It's just one of those films. A classic.