Get out of the house on the third Wednesday evening of each month and enjoy films on the big screen with us!

The Drill Hall Film Society screens classic films at an affordable price in comfortable tiered seating in our air-conditioned theatre. Grab a delicious snack and beverage from the bar, and be part of our lively film discussions after each show.

Become a Film Society subscriber for just $75 and gain entry to 11 films/year (or $60 if you’re a Drill Hall Theatre Company associate member). Casual guest rates cost $10/film.

Renewals due in July.

Contact Peter on [email protected] for more information or to become a member.

The Drill Hall Film Society is a member of the Australian Film Societies Federation which provides support and information. To find out more visit AFSF.

Wednesday August 26^th @ 7pm

After Sam Neill’s great success in films like Dead Calm, Jurassic Park and Hunt for Red October he kept returning to Australia in the early nineties to make more intimate films like Death in Brunswick, The Piano and Country Life. Country Life was the brainchild of Sydney born, prolific West End, RSC and National Theatre director Michael Blakemore. Blakemore directed the original Noises Off and many Chekhov’s. His love of Uncle Vanya inspired him to return to Australia and write, direct and act in his adaption retitled Country Life and set in the 1920’s Hunter Valley.

This is a classy film, steeped in a kind of melancholy nostalgia, with solid performances and a good dose of down-to-earth humour.

The ‘Vanya’ character Jack (John Hargreaves) has abandoned his own literary ambitions to run the farm he inherited from his father. His elderly mother (Patricia Kennedy) lives in the house, as does his niece, Sally (Kerry Fox). Sally was abandoned by her feckless father, Alexander, after her mother, Jack’s sister, died. Sam Neill plays the neighbour Dr. Max Askey, who Sally is hopelessly in love with, even though he is hardly aware she’s around. Neill brings complexity to his character, who’s a pacifist and leftist at a time when such beliefs were decidedly unfashionable and who has a secret drinking problem.

Every month, Jack sends hard-earned money to his brother-in-law Alexander (Michael Blakemore) to support him in his career as a literary critic in London. When Alexander returns with his beautiful young wife Deborah (Greta Scacchi), tensions rise as the family soon tire of Alexander’s idle ways, while both Jack and Max fall for Deborah.

The fact that the story is essentially a downer, in which none of the characters winds up fulfilled or happy, is leavened by the prevalent humour, which takes the edge off the pain.

Wednesday September 23^rd @ 7pm

Tampopo (タンポポ, Tanpopo; literally “dandelion”) is a Japanese comedy written and directed by Juzo Itami, and starring Tsutomu Yamazaki, Nobuko Miyamoto, Kōji Yakusho, and Ken Watanabe. The publicity for the film calls it the first “ramen Western”, a play on the term spaghetti Western.

Following the success of The Funeral, Itami began writing Tampopo immediately after, drawing inspiration from Luis Buñuel’s The Phantom of Liberty, and American westerns, Sergio Leone in particular. He then infused it with his own observations of ramen culture and its ability to democratize Japanese society, a subject he briefly explored in The Funeral.

Roger Ebert gave the film four out of four stars, commenting that “Like the French comedies of Jacques Tati, it’s a bemused meditation on human nature in which one humorous situation flows into another offhandedly, as if life were a series of smiles.”

Tampopo has received unanimous praise from critics, with a 100% approval rating and average score of 8.53/10 from Rotten Tomatoes, based on 52 reviews. The site’s critical consensus states, “Thanks to director Juzo Itami’s offbeat humour and sharp satirical edge, Tampopo is a funny, sexy, affectionate celebration of food and its broad influence on Japanese culture.”

Tampopo has influenced many famous chefs including legendary chef and food writer Alice Waters, who has made the film required viewing for her kitchen staff, and her protégés Jerry Jaksich, Sam White, and Rayneil De Guzman who have not only made pilgrimages to Japan as a result, but opened their own ramen shop in 2013 as well.

Many film critics point to Tampopo as the originator of food porn. The film is notable for dealing with food and sexuality together, a theme found in later films such as Like Water for Chocolate (1992), Chocolat (2000) and The Taste of Things (2024).

Wednesday October 21^st @ 7pm

The Petrified Forest is a masterclass in ensemble acting. Though its single-location setting reveals its stage-play roots, the sharp dialogue and iconic clash between a disillusioned intellectual and a ruthless outlaw gangster make it a timeless, philosophical thriller.

Adapted from Robert E. Sherwood’s hit Broadway play, the story traps a group of misfits inside a lonely Arizona diner in the Petrified Forest. The title also serves as a powerful metaphor for the spiritual emptiness and stagnation felt by the characters during the Great Depression. Thus, the hostage situation acts as a catalyst for deep, existential dialogue, exploring themes of love and fatalism.

The 1935 Broadway production of The Petrified Forest starred Howard, an established star, and Bogart, an actor in his first leading theatrical role. Sherwood based the Duke Mantee character on John Dillinger, the notorious criminal who in 1933 was named by J. Edgar Hoover as the FBI’s first “Public Enemy #1”. When Howard was cast for the movie version, his contract gave him final script control, so he informed the studio that he would not appear in the movie without Bogart as his co-star. The film made Bogart a star, and he remained grateful to Howard for the rest of his life.

If you appreciate classic Hollywood tension or are interested in seeing Bogart’s career-defining leap from Broadway stage to movies, then this is an absolute must-watch. While the painted desert backdrops and philosophical monologues might feel a bit stage-bound to some, the undeniable star power of Bette Davis, Leslie Howard and Humphrey Bogart, and the surprisingly poignant ending, make it one of the most compelling dramas of its era.