MAD DOG MORGAN

Director Philippe Mora / 1976 / Australia

David Gulpilil joins Dennis Hopper and Jack Thompson for Philippe Mora's gonzo, booze-soaked 70s take on the life of the legendary bushranger.

An Ozploitation classic, this weird and wild western features Gulpilil as Billy, an outcast wanderer who teams up with Dennis Hopper's titular bushranger to rob the rich and take down corrupt law enforcers in 19th-century Victoria.

Gulpilil went on a walkabout during the shoot in order to ask the trees if his co-star was crazy (their answer: a resounding "yes"), while Hopper, who literally poured himself into character via generous servings of rum, was duly deported the day after production wrapped. Peckinpah with flashes of surrealism, the result is mad indeed, a work that could only have emerged from the heady days of Australian genre filmmaking.

"Mad Dog Morgan is a film of blood, dirt, sprawling vistas, and a well-placed disrespect for authority." – The AV Club

Find the book at Readings.

 

Mad Dog Morgan will now screen from DCP rather than the previously advertised 35mm.

 

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