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Strangers in Paradise (1989)


Set on the eve of Australia’s bicentennial celebrations, this observational documentary looks at Australian (Indigenous and non-Indigenous) culture through the eyes of a group of American and British tourists on a ‘Dreamtime’ bus tour around the country. The tourists’ expectations, projected ideals and romantic stereotypes are challenged by the realities they encounter.

Curator’s notes

This documentary explores the outsider’s view of (both Indigenous and non-Indigenous) Australian culture, set against the backdrop of both the bicentenary celebrations as well as the protests and mourning ceremonies that took place around those celebrations. Zubrycki and Scrine highlight the gulf between the glossy image of Australia as a tourist destination with a reality that is more difficult to digest by building a series of vignettes in which the tourists respond to what they experience as they bus around the country. When the tourists are confronted with protesters at the Australia Day celebrations, they have trouble understanding why Indigenous people are so upset. After being taken ‘out bush’ to what is essentially a version of Indigenous culture created for tourists, one man laments the ‘vanishing race’ and pities them. In the end, the experience they are looking for involves koala spotting, beer drinking, beach going and accessing an unrealistic version of the ‘outback’. While their notions may have been challenged, they mostly retreat back to their hotel rooms and finish their journey in much the same mindset in which they started.

As well as being a study of the cultural dynamics of Australia at a controversial chapter in its history, Strangers in Paradise is also an exploration of tourism and a sociological study of the tourists themselves. A subtle filmmaker, Zubrycki refrains from portraying these people as caricatures (although at times they verge closely on parodying themselves) to tease out the undercurrents that many post-colonial settler societies have to come to terms with. Like 'Cannibal Tours’ (Dennis O’Rouke, 1987) Strangers in Paradise studies the group’s attitudes towards ‘the other’, exploring definitions of what is civilised and the idea of the noble savage. The documentary looks at this small group of tourists to reveal something about where our attitudes and beliefs come from and the difficulty of change.

The soundtrack is filled with the songs of Bing Crosby including 'Stranger in Paradise’ from which the title of the film comes. Crosby’s golden voice and the nostalgic mood that his songs create are often used by Zubrycki as an ironic counterpoint to the views being expressed by the tourist group.

Tom Zubrycki has been making documentaries since 1974 and has directed over 13 feature-length films. In the 1970s, Zubrycki also made around a dozen community videos in collaboration with community action groups around the issues of urban redevelopment, marginalised youth and workers’ rights. He is best known for his documentaries The Diplomat and Molly & Mobarak (2003).