Star Voyager: Exploring Space on Screen (ACMI, 22 September 2011 – 29 January 2012)
Margaret and David: 25 Years Talking Movies (ACMI, 17 August – 4 December 2011)
I am really reluctant to criticise anything about new shows at ACMI. Having written quite a nasty review of their Setting the Scene exhibition and then nit-picked at the much better Dreams Come True, I don’t want to seem like I have it in for them. I can also appreciate that we in Melbourne are fortunate to have the place at all: film fans in other Australian cities would love to have such a resource. So I don’t want to seem ungrateful for their new exhibition Star Voyager: Exploring Space on Screen. Once again, though, if I am honest I have to say I came away a little under-whelmed. I’ll keep this brief because as I said I don’t want to harp.
As with Dreams Come True, this is not nearly as problematic as Setting the Scene, avoiding many of that exhibition’s truly debilitating issues: things like layout and presentation of items are generally fine this time around. The big issue that remains, though, is one I have a nagging feeling might be inherent to the kind of moving-image gallery ACMI is trying to be: the oddity of presenting films in a gallery setting. A large part of the best content in this exhibition is film and video footage: there’s Georges Méliès’ Le Voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon) and other early silent films about space exploration; a great Fleischer Koko the Clown cartoon; some interesting contrasts of real launch footage with Hollywood recreations such as Apollo 13; a blistering attack by Tom Lehrer (embedded below) on rocket scientist Wernher von Braun; and so on. It’s good stuff, but it’s inherently problematic to present this kind of thing on wall-mounted screens in a gallery setting. There’s probably several hours of footage in the exhibition, which means it takes considerable stamina to sample a significant portion of it. Aside from a few genuine “installations,” most of it would be best enjoyed sitting down, in a theatre or at home on a couch, edited together into a documentary film or television show. So I worry that ACMI may never get around the fundamental problem that films are not best appreciated while walking around an exhibition space.
Part of the answer to this dilemma is to place as much focus as possible on stuff: physical exhibits that can tell us something about the moving images. Star Voyager features one really impressive display that shows how well this can work, in a collection of space suits from various movies from Star Trek: The Motion Picture through to Moon. It has the immediate “wow” factor of seeing the actual props, but also illustrates the variations on a single design theme simply and powerfully. The dilemma for ACMI, however, is how they can ever get hold of more than a smattering of material of this quality (while the corresponding dilemma for someone reviewing the exhibition is judging whether it is fair to expect them to). There’s nothing else of that level of interest in Star Voyager, and a couple of exhibits are actually embarrassing, such as the several space-themed movie toys solemnly placed under glass as if they were movie props. Perhaps it’s unrealistic to expect more given how far we are from the studio prop departments and model shops that might yield better items – but that then doesn’t bode well for the future of these ACMI exhibitions. Will it just always struggle to get top-shelf exhibits?
If that seems a little too downbeat, I should add that at the same time the centre has a more modest exhibition in its free gallery that works much better. Margaret and David: 25 Years Talking Movies is, as any Australian film fan will instantly gather, a tribute to Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton’s work as reviewers on the TV shows At the Movies and The Movie Show. Providing accessible, unpretentious but not pandering discussion of a full spectrum of film releases is not easy to do well, and their program must surely be one of the best serious programs on film in the world. Every Australian film fan will have their own favourite of the pair and a particular take on their foibles – I find myself irritated at the way Pomeranz constantly interrupts Stratton, and admire his endless patience – but there’s no doubting their on-screen chemistry, and nobody has done more to build film culture in Australia than these two. This is, therefore, a very welcome tribute.
Pleasingly, it’s exceedingly well done. The exhibition isn’t especially large, but it doesn’t need to be, providing a simple but effective historical survey. There’s a healthy sample of vintage clips of the show, including infamous reviews such as Stratton’s attack on Romper Stomper, and it’s nice to see such ephemera preserved and appreciated. One priceless clip, from a 1960s variety show, features a young, beardless Stratton talking about censorship: he is almost unrecognisable, with only his mannerisms and voice identifying him. And there are interesting physical exhibits too, such as samples of Pomeranz’ outfits and jewellery, and a truly mind-boggling collection of Stratton’s celebrity autographs.
So this is where ACMI restores some faith. If they had to get only one of these exhibitions completely right, I’m happy it was the tribute to David and Margaret.
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