Chatter Box Film

Directed by Peter Weir in 1974, the film THE CARS THAT ATE PARIS, became his calling card to the larger cinema community. TCTAP is a controversial but satirical film about the clash of classes and ages in society.

Terry Camilleri (Best known as Napoleon from Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1988)) plays Arthur, who survives a crash near a small town in the Outback. His friend George passes away in the tragedy, so Arthur finds himself alone in the small town while he recuperates.

Yet it becomes clear to Arthur that the unstable youth of the country town, Paris, are deliberately causing the accidents and filling up the hospital with brain damaged invalids.

The film attempts to show the hubris of the youngsters, lost in the wilderness with nothing better to do than crash cars and cause mayhem. This is in contrast to the mundanity of the socials systems in place within the town – the town meetings and the church have no answer to the bedlam caused by the youth.

This is a film full of good ideas but suffers from odd tonal shifts, which is a shame considering that is not something you could label with Weir in later years as he moved from genre to genre during his esteemed Hollywood years. There is a Mexican standoff which smacks of Support Your Local Sheriff so the attempt at humour falls flat.

However, the film that marks a crossing of the bridge from Ozploitation films of early 1970s Australian to an Australian cinema industry. The next year would produce Weir’s true breakthrough Picnic At Hanging Rock (1975). The use of cars as a vehicle for narrative was a fore-bearer for George Miller’s Mad Max franchise which also gave the world Mel Gibson.

There are familiar themes in this film that run throughout Weir’s stellar career – community (The Mosquito Coast), males lost in a world they cannot or do not want to leave (The Truman Show), the battle of tradition versus technology or the reluctance of modern thinking (Dead Poets Society).

What are the bonus features?

The new UHD and Blu-ray is out now from BFI and the discs feature a veritable feast of extras, the most telling be the addition of The Plumber (1979)

• Audio commentary on The Cars That Ate Paris by Dr Stephen Morgan
• My First Film: Terry Camilleri on The Cars That Ate Paris (2026, 21 mins): a new interview with one of the stars of the film
• Interview with Peter Weir – The Cars That Ate Paris (2003, 11 mins)
• The Guardian Interview: Peter Weir (1985, 70 mins, audio only)
• 3 To Go: Michael (1970, 31 mins): three young filmmakers, of whom Peter Weir was one, were commissioned by the Australian Commonwealth Film Unit to each write and direct a half-hour fiction drama on the theme of ‘Youth’. These were combined for cinema release as 3 To Go: Michael was Weir’s contribution to the project
• Incredible Floridas (1972, 12 mins): a portrait of Australian composer Richard Meale
• ‘Nobody Leaves Paris! No One!’ (2026, 15 mins): a new video essay by Chris O’Neill
• Interview with Hal McElroy (2008, 6 mins): an interview with the one of the producers of The Cars That Ate Paris
• The Plumber (1979, 77 mins): newly remastered, Peter Weir’s made-for-television thriller follows a couple whose lives are disrupted when an over-familiar plumber begins intrusive ‘repairs’
• Audio commentary on The Plumber by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Josh Nelson
• Interview with Peter Weir – The Plumber (2003, 8 mins)
• Peter Weir’s Dream Within a Dream (2026, 18 mins): sparked by the discovery of rare outtakes from Picnic at Hanging Rock, this newly made work by Polish filmmaker Jakub Duszynski offers fresh insight into Weir’s 1975 masterpiece
• Trailers
• Image galleries
• Illustrated booklet featuring a new written interview with Peter Weir, an original review, essays on The Cars That Ate Paris by Dr Stephen Morgan and on The Plumber by Tara Judah and writing about his short films by Peter Weir

My thanks to the BFI for the opportunity to review.