The ’80s were the golden age of the art house cinema. Every weekend your local theater would put up another film from around the world that seemed to go against the grain of the corporate studio product. One film that nailed that attitude perfectly was The Coca-Cola Kid. The movie was about a small Australian bottling firm that doesn’t want to give up their market to crank out Coca-Cola. Eric Roberts played the corporate executive sent Down Under. He was a hot young star with Star 80 and The Pope of Greenwich Village. Roberts played the romantic lead without losing his thumbs or ending up in a gory crime scene. Greta Scacchi (The Player) is his assistant who is supposed to get him to understand how things are done in Australia. The film did well on VHS at rental shops for a while. The Coca-Cola Kid is one of those films that made you happy you dropped by your local Art House on a Saturday night where you could order a soda that wasn’t a Coke. You can preorder the Blu-ray from vinegarsyndrome.com. Here’s the press release from Fun City Editions:
Works of cinema and music which exist outside of their time.
When a small-town Australian soda maker refuses to convert his factory to Coca-Cola production, the parent company sends in its whiz kid “troubleshooter” Becker (Eric Roberts, The Pope of Greenwich Village and Star 80) to resolve the issue. The previously unflappable Becker, however, finds his own resolve challenged by Australia’s unique character and characters—namely Terri (Greta Scacci, The Player and White Mischief), his beautiful and very eccentric secretary, and McDowell (Bill Kerr, Gallipoli and Razorback), the stubbornly independent soft drink entrepreneur. Serbian auteur Dušan Makavejev (Montenegro and W.R.: Mysteries of the Organism) brings his celebrated off-kilter and boundary-pushing sensibilities to this classic screwball comic set-up, so that the narrative remains refreshingly unpredictable, unconventional and subversive throughout.
Becker, Terri and McDowell originate in the short stories of award-winning Australian writer Frank Moorhouse, who adapted them for the film’s screenplay. The film’s attractive primary locations—cosmopolitan Sydney and the stunning Blue Mountains region—are stylishly shot by Mad Max cinematographer Dean Semler. The original songs, including the incredibly catchy “Coca-Cola Jingle,” come from Tim Finn, founding member of popular New Zealand rock band Split Enz. For this worldwide Blu-ray premiere, The Coca-Cola Kid has been restored in 2K from its 35mm interpositive.
directed by: Dusan Makavejev starring: Eric Roberts, Greta Scacchi, Bill Kerr, Chris Haywood, Max Gillies 1985 / 98 min / 1.85:1 / English DTS-HD MA 2.0
Additional info: Region A Blu-ray New 2K restoration from its 35mm interpositive Theatrical trailer Booklet with a new essay by Spike Carter Newly recorded audio commentary by film programmer Lars Nilsen and Fun City Editions’ Jonathan Hertzberg “Dark and Bubbly,” a newly filmed video interview with star Eric Roberts “The Real Thing,” an archival video interview with star Greta Scacchi and producer David Roe Image Gallery English SDH subtitles
Joe Corey is the writer and director of "Danger! Health Films" currently streaming on Night Flight and Amazon Prime. He's the author of "The Seven Secrets of Great Walmart People Greeters." This is the last how to get a job book you'll ever need. He was Associate Producer of the documentary "Moving Midway." He's worked as local crew on several reality shows including Candid Camera, American's Most Wanted, Extreme Makeover Home Edition and ESPN's Gaters. He's been featured on The Today Show and CBS's 48 Hours. Dom DeLuise once said, "Joe, you look like an axe murderer." He was in charge of research and programming at the Moving Image Archive.
