Sounds of Aus, The (ATOM Study Guide)

The Sounds of Aus tells the rollicking story of the life and times of the Australian accent, described by the narrator, with tongue firmly in cheek, as 'hauntingly beautiful'. The fact that this narrator is none other than John Clarke, one of New Zealand's greatest exports, highlights the film's wry sensibility. While chronicling the peculiarities of the Australian accent, the film investigates the complex nature of national identity, arguing that 'our accent is a product of our social history'. The existence of one basic accent stretching across this huge continent is taken to indicate something important about the emergence of a shared Australian identity very early in the country's white settlement. The film ranges across two hundred years of colonial and cultural history, with every issue and event refracted through this central theme. This is truly oral history, with each significant detail emerging from someone's mouth and the unique sounds produced therein. From the First Fleet and the early days of the colony to Federation and the World Wars, the film traces the outlines of the country we were and of what we have become. Particularly entertaining is the sequence on the late post-war years, when our accent became a source of humour rather than cultural shame (think of the incomparable Dame Edna Everage, Ray Lawlor's Summer of the Seventeenth Doll [1956], Jack Hibberd's Dimboola [1967], the burgeoning local theatre scene with venues such as La Mama, and a resurgent film industry producing ocker classics such as The Adventures of Barry McKenzie [Bruce Beresford, 1972]).

The Sounds of Aus is at once entertaining and informative. It illustrates how the way we sound is a rich site for conflicts over identity. Myths about the accent are vigorously debunked and a varied range of people contribute to the film, from speech coaches to academics, actors and filmmakers. The film is to be credited for the ways in which it broadly embraces a host of ideas about what constitutes Australian-ness – the son of a Lebanese migrant is as important here as that Ipswich fish and chip shop owner.

Investigating our accent deepens understanding of how we see ourselves as Australians, what that might mean, and the influences that have shaped our national character. At a time when too many people drape themselves in the Australian flag for all sorts of dubious reasons, an examination of who we are, well leavened with humour, is most welcome.