One of the most iconic Australian film critics, David Stratton, has died aged 85.
His family announced the death on Thursday afternoon, Stratton reportedly passing away peacefully in a hospital in the Blue Mountains. He reportedly had been in ill health for some years.
In a statement to the national broadcaster ABC, his family said: “David’s passion for film, commitment to Australian cinema and generous spirit touched countless lives… David’s family would like to express their heartfelt gratitude for the overwhelming support from friends, colleagues and the public recently and across his lifetime.”
Stratton and fellow critic Margaret Pomeranz were the Siskel & Ebert of Australian film TV criticism, the pair hosting “The Movie Show” on SBS and “At the Movies” on the ABC.
He ran the Sydney Film Festival from the mid 60s through to the early 1980s, championing foreign-language films and railing against censorship. In 1980, he joined the SBS network as their film consultant and introduced the SBS Cinema Classics on Sunday evenings.
“The Movie Show” launched on SBS in October 1986 and continued through until 2004, when the pair shifted over to essentially the same program on ABC’s “At the Movies,” which ran for another ten years. Together, the pair reviewed movies consistently over the course of 28 years.
One of his enduring legacies was playing a part in the introduction of the R18+ film classification in Australia. Unlike the American ‘NC-17’ rating, which is often deemed a ‘kiss of death’ for film titles, the R18+ rating proved to be a commercially viable rating in cinemas.
He received many honours in his time, including the Member of the Order of Australia in the Australia Day honours in 2015.
On a personal note, I met Stratton for the first time back in 1999 while attending media screenings and occasionally spoke with him over the years at various events here in Sydney. The man had a dry wit and fierce intelligence, and was open to discussing all sorts of films over the years.
That Sydney film media community is mostly gone now, influencers mostly replacing actual critics, while many of the old guard have moved into other industries. But Stratton’s mark on that field will long be remembered and my sincerest condolences go out to his family, friends and fans.
