The Melbourne Cinémathèque & ACMI present
The Legend of the Stardust Brothers
When
Wed 14 Dec 2022
Directed by the son of 'the Father of Manga', Astro Boy creator Osamu Tezuka, shot on Super 16mm and bizarrely adapting a soundtrack album written by TV personality Haruo Chikada for a non-existent film, this only recently rediscovered rise-and-fall New Wave musical, with its unflagging cartoonish freneticism, can lay claim to marking “the greatest ‘becoming an overnight sensation’ montage in musical history” (David Ehrlich). Drawing inspiration from Brian De Palma’s Phantom of the Paradise, it features cameos galore from Japanese musicians, manga artists, filmmakers and more, along with an animated sequence by Yōsuke Takahashi.
Also screening on Wed 14 December
Program
Genre Nonconformity and East Side Stories: Decentering the Musical Part 1
Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001) – Wed 7 Dec, 7pm
City of Lost Souls (1983) – Wed 7 Dec, 8.50pm
The Lure (2015) – Wed 14 Dec, 7pm
The Legend of the Stardust Brothers (1985) – Wed 14 Dec, 8.45pm
The Hop Pickers (1964) – Wed 21 Dec, 7pm
Singing on the Treadmill (1974) – Wed 21 Dec, 8.45pm
About the program
The movie musical, while intermittently revived in the mainstream affections, has long been associated with the golden age of Hollywood between the 1930s and the 1960s. This season demonstrates that the musical has also flourished away from this perceived American “centre” – while still existing in dialogue with it – throughout the subsequent decades.
Plan your visit
Read our COVIDSafe visitor guidelines, information on accessibility, amenities, transport, dining options and more.
About Melbourne Cinémathèque
Australia's longest-running film society, Melbourne Cinémathèque screens significant works of international cinema in the medium they were created, the way they would have originally screened.
Melbourne Cinémathèque is self-administered, volunteer-run, not-for-profit and membership-driven.
