More Hot Shots from Downunder Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Year of Living Dangerously

Based on C.J. (Christopher) Koch's 1978 novel of the same name, "The Year of Living Dangerously" is set in tumultuous times during President Sukarno's reign in Indonesia. Mel Gibson is a green reporter on his first foreign correspondence who suddenly finds himself with the hottest story in town. He is helped out by Linda Hunt, as Billy Kwan, a photographer. Yes, Linda is playing a male role. Hunt would receive an Oscar nomination for her performance.

Koch used his own brother's experiences as a journalist in Indonesia to write the novel.

Answer: Red Dog

This story is based on true events and tells of a dog who doesn't return before his family have to leave. He spends his time trying to find them, and travels extensively across Western Australia, 'hitching' rides, and making friends along the way. He adopts a new owner, John, who suffers and accident and dies; however, Red Dog doesn't realise this and once again starts to look for his 'owner'.

He is immortalised in a monument in Dampier, WA.

Answer: Looking for Alibrandi

This coming-of-age story tells of Josephine Alabrandi's life in her last year of high school. She learns to appreciate her mother and grandmother, and meets her father for the first time. When the boy she has a crush on commits suicide, she finds an unlikely support in Jacob Coote (played by Kick Gurry).

The movie was nominated for several awards, and won the Australian Film Institute Best Film award in 2000.

Answer: Ladies in Black

The movie was directed by Bruce Beresford, and starred Angourie Rice as Lisa and perennial Australian actors Shane Jacobson (Mr. Miles) and Noni Hazlehurst (Miss Cartwright). This coming-of-age movie tells the story of a young girl who is 'educated' by the saleswomen with whom she works, and is a droll but poignant look at life in post-war Australia.

Answer: Mary Poppins

Mary Poppins is the wise nanny who is able to tame the errant children and bring peace to the Banks household. This classic film was an adaptation of the book by Pauline Travers, though it is said that Travers loathed the film version of her work.

Although not listed on IMDB's all-time best movie list, Mary Poppins remains nonetheless a favourite. In 2009 poll by Oreo Family Movies, it beat Harry Potter and The Wizard of Oz into first place. Angela Lansbury and Bette Davis were considered for the role of Mary Poppins - it could have been quite a different movie!

Answer: Evil Angels

'Evil Angels' tells the story of the Chamberlain family who lost their daughter, Azaria, to a dingo in 1980. It was initially found that Azaria's mother, Lindy, had killed the baby and she was sentenced to life in prison. However, after when, in 1985, new evidence in the form of a baby jacket was found, Lindy's conviction was overturned and she was immediately released.

Answer: Romulus, My Father

Set in the mid-twentieth century Australia, the 2007 movie adaptation and book (awarded Nettie Palmer Prize for Non-fiction) tell the story of a father who is devoted to his son in spite of immense hardship. Raimond Gaita provides an autobiographical account of early life in a migrant family after World War II.

His mother had an affair and abandoned the family; she later committed suicide. His father, Romulus, suffered a breakdown that required institutionalisation. However, the two remained devoted to each other until Romulus died of a heart attack.

Answer: Mob

Based on John O'Grady's fine book we are given a snapshot of an Italian immigrant who arrives in Australia to start a job as a journalist for his brother's magazine. Things go awry when he discovers that his brother has shut down the circulation and done a runner to escape creditors. Nino ends up with a bricklaying job.

The humour in this film, which stars Nino Culotta and Chips Rafferty, comes from the "fish out of water" Italian trying to come to grips with the 1950s Australian vernacular and way of life.

The book is really worth a read.

Answer: The Hunter

Adapted from a 1999 novel by Julia Leigh, the movie puts Tasmania's spectacular wilderness on show. The hunter, played by Dafoe, is ostensibly doing zoological research, but is in reality looking for the Tasmanian tiger, though it is believed to be extinct from the early 1900s.

There is an parallel story of Martin (the hunter) getting to know the family with whom he is staying, and local loggers who are afraid he is a conservationist trying to prevent them logging. The movie was not greeted with universal acclaim, though it won several awards for music and cinematography.

Answer: For the Term of His Natural Life

Marcus Clarke's 1874 novelisation of a young man transported to Australia for a murder he did not commit is regarded as the best fictional illustration of what life as a convict was like during the country's early days.

It was first put to film in 1908 (as a silent movie) and is the fourth Australian feature film to have been made. Sadly, it is also considered a "lost film". The 1927 film, also silent, has the distinction of being Australia's most expensive silent movie but it is also regarded as the country's most famous and highly regarded films of that era. A three part, six-hour mini-series was developed for television in 1983 and starred Colin Friels in the lead role.