While the movie seeks to celebrate what Melbourne still has, it also mourns the “cultural cringe” - a famous phrase coined by the Australian critic A. “Even though I know Melbourne so well and I’ve lived here all my life, it was just like exploring a sort of secret city, if you like - a city that I wasn’t familiar with.” “It was really like exploring another city,” he told me recently. Gus Berger, the movie’s director and an independent cinema owner in Thornbury, started the self-funded project in lockdown. Since then, screenings at independent cinemas across the city have regularly sold out, as Melburnians rush to learn more about the place they call home. The film premiered earlier this year at Melbourne’s International Film Festival. In less than 90 minutes, the movie retraces Melbourne’s architectural history, eulogizing some of the magnificent 19th-century buildings felled in the name of glass-fronted progress in the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s. Even at the municipal museum, the wing dedicated to the city’s history dwells on its colonial roots, before galloping through the last century.Ī new documentary, “The Lost City of Melbourne,” goes some way to explaining why the city looks the way it does. It barely features in school curriculums, which take a broader approach. Instead, those architectural aspects that linger are on a far smaller scale: the lacy ironwork that fringes cottages and terraced houses the unusually broad streets of the central city the independent cinemas spread across town - the Astor, the Palace, the Sun Theatre - with their grand facades and gently creaking seats.Īnd while people in New York celebrate its cycles of boom and bust, ask Melburnians about their city’s recent history and many draw a blank. Melbourne has little such on-screen cachet. Momentary glimpses of the Chrysler Building or the New York Public Library work almost as an establishing shot: This is New York City, baby. To walk through Central Park is to trace the footsteps of Harry and Sally, Spider-Man or various Muppets. Visitors to New York often remark that it feels like stepping into a film set. Lucky for you then that it´s a lovely place to be.The Australia Letter is a weekly newsletter from our Australia bureau.
Perth is one of the most isolated cities in the world – if you visit, you´re going to want to spend a good amount of time there to make the journey worthwhile. It has a wealth of bars, restaurants and cultural sites, as well as loads of outdoor activities, which attract visitors and locals alike. With lovely beaches, amazing weather, and a cosmopolitan feel to it, Perth is a city to savor and enjoy. The laidback, youthful capital of Western Australia is the perfect place to visit if you´re looking to sit back and relax for a bit. Located out in the bush, Canberra has lots of quality outdoor activities for you to sink your teeth into, with many visitors electing to stop by the nearby Namadgi National Park. Thanks in part to the large student body, there is a lively nightlife scene and a plethora of restaurants and bars to choose from. Originally inhabited by politicians and civil servants, the young city now has numerous museums, galleries and monuments to explore. The capital of Australia is a planned city that is slowly growing into a fantastic place to spend some time. Now, the good times are back, with Hobart welcoming more and more people to its shores each year, thanks to its wealth of attractions and captivating buzz. The southernmost city in the country, Hobart´s remote location on the island of Tasmania ironically helped to preserve its historic buildings and Victorian architecture – primarily because it was overlooked for so long. With a bustling waterfront lined with things to see and do, a beautiful mountain forming a backdrop to the city, and the dark blue of the ocean surrounding the shore, Hobart is definitely a picturesque place to visit. On top of all this, there are a variety of incredible amusement parks, which you could easily spend two or three days exploring. Coupled with the lively and raucous party scene, you´re guaranteed a good time on the Gold Coast. Apartment blocks tower above the city´s almost endless array of beaches, with Surfers Paradise being the most popular of them all.Ī beautiful place to visit, sunshine is almost guaranteed here. A popular destination among tourists and locals alike, Gold Coast´s primary drawcard is the spectacular combination of sun, sea and surf.
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