Cloudstreet (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Cloudstreet is an Australian television drama miniseries for the Showcase
subscription television channel, which first screened from 22 May 2011, in three parts. It is an adaptation of Cloudstreet
, an award-winning novel by Australian author Tim Winton
. It was filmed in 2010 in Perth with Matthew Saville
as the director, and script written by Tim Winton and Ellen Fontana.
The Sydney Morning Herald's Brad Newsome wrote: "The production and costume designs are wonderful, as is the original music by Bryony Marks (who also provided the haunting score for Tangle). Director Matthew Saville (Noise, The King) and cinematographer Mark Wareham (Clubland, Answered by Fire) bring it all to vivid, entrancing life. Outstanding."
Showtime Australia
For the American service, see ShowtimeShowtime Movie Channels is an Australian pay-TV movie service, available on the Foxtel, Optus and Austar TV platforms, the service consists of five original channels , three HD simulcasts For the American service, see ShowtimeShowtime Movie Channels is an...
subscription television channel, which first screened from 22 May 2011, in three parts. It is an adaptation of Cloudstreet
Cloudstreet
Cloudstreet is a novel by Australian writer Tim Winton. It chronicles the lives of two working class Australian families who come to live together at One Cloud Street, in a suburb of Perth, over a period of twenty years, 1943 - 1963...
, an award-winning novel by Australian author Tim Winton
Tim Winton
Timothy John "Tim" Winton , is an Australian novelist and short story writer.-Life:Winton was born in Perth, Western Australia, but moved at a young age to the regional city of Albany....
. It was filmed in 2010 in Perth with Matthew Saville
Matthew Saville
Matthew Saville is an Australian television and film director, who began his career working as a titles designer for many Australian television series...
as the director, and script written by Tim Winton and Ellen Fontana.
Overview
Precipitated by separate personal tragedies, two families flee their rural livings to share a "great continent of a house", Cloudstreet, in the Perth suburb of West Leederville. The two families are contrasts to each other; the Lambs find meaning in industry and in God's grace; the Pickles, in luck. The Lambs' God is a maker of miracles; the Pickles' God is the ‘Shifty Shadow’ of fate. Though initially resistant to each other, their search and journey for meaning in life concludes with the uniting of the two families with many characters citing this as the most important aspect of their lives. As a novel, Cloudstreet is tightly structured, opening and ending with a shared celebratory family picnic - a joyous occasion which, ironically, is also the scene of Fish’s long sought-after death or return to the water. The novel is narrated effectively by flashback "in the seconds it takes to die" by Fish Lamb, or the 'spiritual' omniscient Fish Lamb, free of his restricting retarded state. As such the novel gives a voice to social minorities, the Australian working class and the disabled.Historical Context
Cloudstreet is set firmly in a particular period of Australian history, from the mid 40's to late 50's, and although world events influence the Lambs and Pickles, the novel focuses on the domestic and personal lives of the protagonists. The period is carefully recreated, and never deviates from the lives of the families. A motif that recurs throughout the series involves the stolen generations of Aboriginal children, some of whom were long before harshly treated in the house.The Pickles
- Dolly Pickles - Essie DavisEssie DavisEssie Davis is an Australian actress. Born and raised in Hobart, Tasmania, she is the daughter of locally famed artist George Davis.She emerged from the Old Nick Company at the University of Tasmania in the late 1980s and has gone on to appear in Hollywood movies. She is a graduate of the National...
- Sam Pickles - Stephen Curry
- Rose Pickles - Emma BoothEmma Booth (actress)Emma Booth is an Australian model-turned-actress. From Perth in Western Australia, the former teen model and TV star played a significant role in the 2007 film Introducing the Dwights, opposite Brenda Blethyn.-TV and Movies Career :...
- Young Rose Pickles - Lara RobinsonLara RobinsonLara Robinson is an Australian child actress, works on films, television series, and theaters. She has appeared in a remake of an 1978 Australian thriller Long Weekend starring Claudia Karvan as well as an American science fiction drama, Knowing, starring Nicolas Cage and Rose Byrne...
- Ted Pickles - Sean KeenanSean Keenan (actor)Sean Keenan is an Australian television actor best known for his leading role in two seasons of the Australian children's television series, Lockie Leonard in 2007 and 2010....
- Young Ted Pickles - Will Mattock
- Chub Pickles - Shannon LivelyShannon LivelyShannon James Lively is an Australian actor who has recently finished producing the second series of The Sleepover Club. He graduated in the class of 2009 from Corpus Christi College, Bateman. He has finished working on a new Australian television series entitled Wormwood...
- Young Chub Pickles - Reece Sardelic
The Lambs
- Lester Lamb - Geoff Morrell
- Oriel Lamb - Kerry FoxKerry FoxKerry Fox is a New Zealand actress. She came to prominence playing author Janet Frame in the movie An Angel at My Table directed by Jane Campion, which gained her a Best Actress Award from the New Zealand Film and Television Awards....
- Fish Lamb - Hugo Johnstone-Burt
- Young Fish Lamb - Tom Russell
- Quick Lamb - Todd LasanceTodd LasanceTodd James Lasance is an Australian actor and is best known for his role as Aden Jefferies in the Australian soap opera Home And Away.-Personal life:...
- Young Quick Lamb - Callan McAuliffeCallan McAuliffeCallan McAuliffe is an Australian actor. He starred in the American feature films Flipped and I Am Number Four. He will also star in the 2012 films, The Great Gatsby and Paradise Lost.-Life and career:...
- Young Hat Lamb - Freya Tingley
- Hat Lamb - Siobhan Dow-Hall
- Young Elaine Lamb - Annie Smith
- Elaine Lamb - Sarah McKellar
- Lon Lamb - Adam Sollis
- Red Lamb - Amanda Woodhams
Reception
David Knox from Tvtonight.com stated: "There are visuals, concepts and performances that surpass the usual small screen dramas which stick to pedestrian storytelling and talking heads. Cloudstreet is bursting with character, imagination and offers a cornucopia for the eye."The Sydney Morning Herald's Brad Newsome wrote: "The production and costume designs are wonderful, as is the original music by Bryony Marks (who also provided the haunting score for Tangle). Director Matthew Saville (Noise, The King) and cinematographer Mark Wareham (Clubland, Answered by Fire) bring it all to vivid, entrancing life. Outstanding."
International Distribution
| Country | Channel | Premiere date |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... |
Sky Atlantic Sky Atlantic Sky Atlantic is a television channel owned by British Sky Broadcasting, which launched on 1 February 2011 on Sky in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.... |
Autumn 2011 |