Treasures of Katoomba
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Historically worthwhile
This 11-minute tourist documentary of the high Blue Mountains of New South Wales in Australia is an invaluable slice of social history.
No spoilers because there's almost no plot -- but being made in the final years of the Great Depression, there's no surprise that money is at the heart of this little mini-movie.
A young couple find their only chance of buying a home is to win the lottery. No chance of that -- but they read that a treasure-hunt will be held in the Blue Mountains that coming weekend -- with first prize, a cheque for 500 pounds. No mean amount in those days -- that would have been enough not for just one home, but two. So up to the mountains they go, in league with several-score other treasure-hunters, in search of the hidden cheque.
The film not only shows (in glorious Black and White of course) the unchanging beauty of the Blue Mountains, but serves as a documentary reminder of the way people lived - their cars, their clothes, the sheer naturalness of their behaviour in the early decades of the 20th Century. And the movie shows a natural Australian sense of humour -- low-key but refreshingly our own. The high score relates not to the quality of the film (the print I saw was average-only, cropped at edges and with lots of flaws) but to its importance as social history. And since I live amongst the beauty it shows, it's got special relevance for me!
No spoilers because there's almost no plot -- but being made in the final years of the Great Depression, there's no surprise that money is at the heart of this little mini-movie.
A young couple find their only chance of buying a home is to win the lottery. No chance of that -- but they read that a treasure-hunt will be held in the Blue Mountains that coming weekend -- with first prize, a cheque for 500 pounds. No mean amount in those days -- that would have been enough not for just one home, but two. So up to the mountains they go, in league with several-score other treasure-hunters, in search of the hidden cheque.
The film not only shows (in glorious Black and White of course) the unchanging beauty of the Blue Mountains, but serves as a documentary reminder of the way people lived - their cars, their clothes, the sheer naturalness of their behaviour in the early decades of the 20th Century. And the movie shows a natural Australian sense of humour -- low-key but refreshingly our own. The high score relates not to the quality of the film (the print I saw was average-only, cropped at edges and with lots of flaws) but to its importance as social history. And since I live amongst the beauty it shows, it's got special relevance for me!
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- ajhclarke
- Oct 3, 2008
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