Rats in the Ranks

Sep 5, 1996

1h 33m

★ 7.0

Overview

Every September Sydney's inner-suburban Leichhardt Council re-elects it mayor. Incumbent Larry Hand was popular with the citizenry but they don't vote for mayor - the 12 councillors do - and after three years of Larry, at least four councillors were after his job. When film-makers Bob Connolly and Robin Anderson settled in at Leichhardt Council in early 1994 the knives were already being sharpened. A battle royal was in the making, and so it came to pass. By the end of September Larry had fought the fight of his life, with Connolly and Anderson documenting every bit of it on film. Ambition, courage, envy, hatred, loyalty, betrayal, disaster, triumph... in other words, a classic study in politics.

Genres

Documentary

History

TV Movie

Production Companies

Film Australia

Arundel Films

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

La Sept-Arte

Channel 4 Television

Rats in the Ranks Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

Himself

Larry Hand

Himself

Evan Jones

Himself

Neil Macindoe

Himself

Trevor Snape

Himself

Harry Sidaway

Himself

Nick Origlass

Himself

Bob Heffernan

Herself

Kate Butler

Herself

Kath Hacking

Herself

Sue Stock

Herself

Christine O'Brien

A photographer and a filmmaker challenge each other to shoot—one to photograph the other to film—two young actresses, one from Tokyo, the other from the countryside. The photographer seeks naturalism in his compositions, and Kawase observes and comments on his work. The competition between the photographer, the filmmaker, and the actresses creates a charged atmosphere.

5.7

Nepal Forever

Dec 5, 2012

This film features two Russian communist politicians. Being committed Leninists; both of them have served several terms as city council members. Their horizons are broad, but what concerns them the most is the future of global communism. At one point, by decree of fate, their booming activities begin to expand far beyond the boundaries of their native St. Petersburg and the Russian Federation. However, the future of global communism remains unclear. What remains clear is the fact that in the modern world the tail still wags the dog. A documentary comedy.

5.7

Cathedrals of Culture

May 29, 2014

"If buildings could talk, what would they say about us?" CATHEDRALS OF CULTURE offers six startling responses. This 3D film project about the soul of buildings allows six iconic and very different buildings to speak for themselves, examining human life from the unblinking perspective of a manmade structure. Six acclaimed filmmakers bring their own visual style and artistic approach to the project. Buildings, they show us, are material manifestations of human thought and action: the Berlin Philharmonic, an icon of modernity; the National Library of Russia, a kingdom of thoughts; Halden Prison, the world's most humane prison; the Salk Institute, an institute for breakthrough science; the Oslo Opera House, a futuristic symbiosis of art and life; and the Centre Pompidou, a modern culture machine. CATHEDRALS OF CULTURE explores how each of these landmarks reflects our culture and guards our collective memory.

7.3

Frost/Nixon

Oct 15, 2008

For three years after being forced from office, Nixon remained silent. But in summer 1977, the steely, cunning former commander-in-chief agreed to sit for one all-inclusive interview to confront the questions of his time in office and the Watergate scandal that ended his presidency. Nixon surprised everyone in selecting Frost as his televised confessor, intending to easily outfox the breezy British showman and secure a place in the hearts and minds of Americans. Likewise, Frost's team harboured doubts about their boss's ability to hold his own. But as the cameras rolled, a charged battle of wits resulted.

7.0

Thirteen Days

Dec 25, 2000

The story of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962—the nuclear standoff with the USSR sparked by the discovery by the Americans of missile bases established on the Soviet-allied island of Cuba.

6.3

All You've Got

May 20, 2006

Three friends' love for volleyball is tested to the limit when their school burns to the ground and they are forced to join a rival school in order to win the national championship.

6.0

The Order of Myths

Jul 25, 2008

In 2007 Mobile, Alabama, Mardi Gras is celebrated... and complicated. Following a cast of characters, parades, and parties across an enduring color line, we see that beneath the surface of pageantry lies something else altogether.

8.5

Polly: Comin' Home!

Nov 18, 1990

Broadway style songs are used to tell this interesting story of an ingenious orphan who gets involved in matchmaking and striving for inter-racial understanding in 1956 Alabama.

6.7

Startup.com

Jan 21, 2001

Friends since high school, 20-somethings Kaleil Isaza Tuzman and Tom Herman have an idea: a Web site for people to conduct business with municipal governments. This documentary tracks the rise and fall of govWorks.com from May of 1999 to December of 2000, and the trials the business brings to the relationship of these best friends. Kaleil raises the money, Tom's the technical chief. A third partner wants a buy out; girlfriends come and go; Tom's daughter needs attention. And always the need for cash and for improving the site. Venture capital comes in by the millions. Kaleil is on C-SPAN, CNN, and magazine covers. Will the business or the friendship crash first?

7.1

Cadillac Records

Dec 5, 2008

The story of sex, violence, race and rock and roll in 1950s Chicago, and the exciting but turbulent lives of some of America's musical legends, including Muddy Waters, Leonard Chess, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, Etta James and Chuck Berry.

6.8

Mad Hot Ballroom

May 13, 2005

Eleven-year-old New York City public school kids journey into the world of ballroom dancing and reveal pieces of themselves and their world along the way. Told from their candid, sometimes humorous perspectives, these kids are transformed, from reluctant participants to determined competitors, from typical urban kids to "ladies and gentlemen," on their way to try to compete in the final citywide competition.

7.3

Chuy, The Wolf Man

Oct 20, 2014

A biography movie directed by Eva Aridjis with Jesus Aceves. Jesus 'Chuy' Aceves and a dozen living members of his extended family suffer from the very rare condition of congenital hypertrichosis.

6.6

Alone

Jan 14, 2017

This investigation into the layers of mass incarceration and its shaping of the modern black American family is seen through the eyes of a single mother in New Orleans, Louisiana.

6.5

Petals on the Wind

May 26, 2014

This sequel to Flowers in the Attic picks up 10 years after Cathy, Chris and Carrie managed to escape Foxworth Hall.

4.5

Rachel's Dream

Jan 1, 1992

Fantasy drama Rachel's Dream was set sometime in the future when the world is besieged by technology, young Rachel discovers that through a large bank of video screens in her sister's apartment, her wishes can come true when she brings to life the image on an anti-pollution poster. This new friend helps her to make up her mind about her own future.

7.4

The Ron Clark Story

Aug 13, 2006

A passionate and innovative teacher leaves his small hometown to teach in one of Harlem's toughest schools. But to break through to this students, Ron Clark must use unconventional methods, including his ground-breaking classroom rules, to drive them toward their potential.

6.3

The (Dead Mothers) Club

May 12, 2014

Three women whose paths never cross, yet are bound by the shared experience of losing their mothers during adolescence, exploring each one’s sometimes-complex relationship with her mother.

5.7

Christmas Do-Over

Dec 16, 2006

A ne'er do well father and ex-husband who always raced his way through the holidays is forced to relive Christmas Day time and again until he gets it right in this family oriented fantasy comedy starring Jay Mohr. It's Christmas time once again, and as usual Kevin (Moore) is scrambling to get his son Ben a last minute gift before stopping by his ex-wife Jill's house for a quick swig of eggnog. Ben can't stand Jill's impossibly perfect new boyfriend, and the prospect of spending the entire evening with his former inlaws is nearly too painful to ponder. But this Christmas things are going to be different, because this Christmas might just last forever. At first Kevin resists the curious development by simply reverting to his childish ways, though he is about to find out that sometimes in order to build a better future one must finally make amends with the past. ~ Jason Buchanan

5.7

Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema

Feb 12, 2006

A chronological look at films by, for, or about gays and lesbians in the United States, from 1947 to 2005, Kenneth Anger's "Fireworks" to "Brokeback Mountain". Talking heads, anchored by critic and scholar B. Ruby Rich, are interspersed with an advancing timeline and with clips from two dozen films. The narrative groups the pictures around various firsts, movements, and triumphs: experimental films, indie films, sex on screen, outlaw culture and bad guys, lesbian lovers, films about AIDS and dying, emergence of romantic comedy, transgender films, films about diversity and various cultures, documentaries and then mainstream Hollywood drama. What might come next?

7.2

Salesman

Apr 17, 1969

This documentary from Albert and David Maysles follows the bitter rivalry of four door-to-door salesmen working for the Mid-American Bible Company: Paul "The Badger" Brennan, Charles "The Gipper" McDevitt, James "The Rabbit" Baker and Raymond "The Bull" Martos. Times are tough for this hard-living quartet, who spend their days traveling through small-town America, trying their best to peddle gold-leaf Bibles to an apathetic crowd of lower-middle-class housewives and elderly couples.