The Cars That Ate Paris

What a treat for fans of Australian director Peter Weir and for fans of offbeat cinema! BFI have just released Weir’s 1974 debut feature THE CARS THAT ATE PARIS as a 2-disc Limited Edition Set, both in 4K UHD and Standard Blu-ray format. What’s more, the set also contains Weir’s psychological thriller THE PLUMBER from 1979 plus an array of other special features, including short films.

THE CARS THAT ATE PARIS was without doubt a massive inspiration for George Miller’s MAD MAX films. In fact, one of the cast in THE CARS… is Bruce Spence who, seven years after Weir’s satirical horror, would be cast by Miller as ‘The Gyro Captain’ in MAD MAX 2 and again in MAD MAX BEYOND THUNDERDOME (this time as ‘Jedediah the pilot’).
But back to The Cars That Ate Paris, which not only was co-written by Weir but he also penned the screenplay. On the surface, it may appear like one of those 70’s ‘Ozploitation’ flicks but if you look deeper, you will find social and political statements relevant at the time of filming. The opening scene looks decidedly lush and a young couple, judging by their house, their car and their clothes are upper middle-class, get into the car with their dog and drive through the idyllic countryside while chatting, smoking Alpine cigarettes and guzzling Coca Cola. You’d be forgiven for thinking the scene is a commercial and the actual film hasn’t started yet… until the cars skids off the road and plummets downhill, turning the car into a wreck. We don’t see the couple (nor the dog) again after the accident but one can assume that neither survived.

As it soon turns out, it was no accident… The road in question leads to a tiny backwater called Paris (filmed in the New South Wales village of Sofola) whose population doesn’t add up to more than 148 people - all of them murderers! That’s because the road which leads to Paris is so bad, cars keep crashing all the time and Len Kelly (John Meillon), the Mayor of Paris, sees to it that said road will simply not get repaired…because the locals (not exactly well off by the looks of it, except the Mayor) plunder clothes and other valuables of those perished. If someone survives, they are brought to Paris and subjected to medical experiments by Dr. Midland (Kevin Miles) who, together with his medical staff, lobotomises the car crash survivors with power tools and turns them into ‘veggies’ as the locals call them (and despise them). As for the car wrecks, these battered vehicles are modified by the youngsters of Paris, among them Charlie (Bruce Spence), a lanky lad who’s a bit slow on the uptake. The modified cars are used to terrorise the older and conservative generation of Paris, which ultimately leads to an increasingly violent standoff.

One day, two siblings, Arthur Waldo (Terry Camilleri) and his older brother George (Rick Scully) drive along the same dodgy road, with George behind the steering wheel. Minutes later, a fatal crash occurs though miracle of miracles, Arthur somehow survives and is brought to Dr. Midland’s clinic for his recuperation. Mayor Kelly, who takes a liking to Arthur because he sees the opportunity to adapt him as the ‘son’ he and his wife always wanted, forbids Dr. Midland to meddle and carry out a lobotomy on Arthur. After his recuperation, Arthur, who is painfully timid and terrified of driving a car after his brother George perished and he himself ran into trouble with the law some years earlier when he accidentally ran over an old man, is welcomed into the Kelly household. Arthur meets Len’s wife Beth (Melissa Jaffer) and their two young daughters though neither of them look like Mum or Dad, suggesting they too are survivors of a car crash and have been adopted by the Kellys.

As time goes on, Arthur wishes to leave Paris, not least because the constant standoffs between young and old trigger his anxiety attacks. But there’s no public transport and seeing how he’s too scared to drive, he sets out walking with his two suitcases. Suffice to say, he doesn’t get far… When Paris welcomes Reverend Mulray (Max Phipps) into the tiny community, he holds an enthusiastic Sunday sermon during which he makes the big mistake of mentioning that the road leading to Paris has to be renewed. That’s bad news for the Mayor and when the Reverend suddenly loses his life during a ‘shooting accident’, no one is surprised. Things take a turn for the worse when Mayor Kelly announces the town’s annual Pioneers Ball, which is basically a costume party (wait til you see those costumes) whilst the youngsters are pleased about news that a ‘car gymkkhana’ is planned. Instead, this bizarre car race is used as an excuse for a bloody massacre… Nobody leaves Paris… No one! Will Arthur?

Although THE PLUMBER is part of the generous bonus feature, it is in fact a feature-length movie (originally broadcast as a TV-film) and it’s great! Ivor Kants plays Max, the plumber in question who, unannounced, knocks on the door of Apartment 15c (a huge tower block) to the surprise of Jill (Judy Morris), a young academic married to Dr. Brian Cowper (Robert Coleby), who is often away long hours lecturing at universities or traveling. Meanwhile, Jill usually stays at home to study for her masters in anthropology. Surprised about Max turning up and claiming that he’s doing a mandatory check on all of the building’s pipes, it doesn’t even occur to her to ask for his ID. Aren’t academics supposed to be on the sharp side? Anyway, once she lets him inside her apartment, he begins to chip away in the bathroom, pretending this, that and the other is not okay though later one, she hears him taking a shower. When she informs her husband about Max, he seems too busy with work to take her concerns seriously. Over the next few days, Max returns and every time he leaves, the bathroom is in a bigger mess than before. At that point, others would long have grown suspicious, especially given his anti-establishment stance (exemplified by the slogan ‘Liberal = less tax’ written on this leather jacket) and his entire demeanour. Once minute he’s confessing to having been in the slammer on charges of rape, the next minute he announces that he’s in fact not a plumber but a wannabe folk singer (he even scribbles lyrics on the bathroom tiles!) And still, Jill, though increasingly irritated, lets him back into her apartment again and again, even leaving him working away in the bathroom while attending yoga class with best friend Meg (Candy Raymond). When she returns and undresses to take a shower, it doesn’t even occur to her to check first whether Max has left…he hasn’t! As the situation eventually spirals out of control and Jill realises she can’t count on hubby for help, she finally wisens up and decides to take matters into her own hands… THE PLUMBER is creepy and funny in equal measure, with very convincing performances from the three leads.

Other Bonus material includes the shorts ‘3 To Go: Michael’ (1970), ‘Incredible Floridas’ (1972), audio commentaries, interviews, Peter Weirs’ ‘Dream within a Dream’ with rare outtakes from his 1975 masterpiece ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’, trailers, image gallery and an illustrated booklet.