The 80s were the golden age of auteur cinema. Every weekend your local theater would put on another film from around the world that seemed to go against the grain of the corporate studio product. A film that nailed this attitude perfectly was The Coca-Cola Kid. The film was about a small Australian bottling company that didn’t want to give up its market to launch 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 Town. Roberts played the romantic lead without losing his thumbs or ending up in a bloody crime scene. Greta Scacchi (The player) is his assistant who is supposed to make him understand how things are in Australia. The film did well on VHS at rental stores for some time. The Coca-Cola Kid is one of those movies that made you glad you popped into your local Art House on a Saturday night where you could order a soda that wasn’t a Coke. You can pre-order the Blu-ray from vinegarsyndrome.com. Here is the press release from Fun City Editions:
| Works of cinema and music that exist outside of their time. |
| When a small-town Australian soda maker refuses to convert its factory to Coca-Cola production, the parent company sends its child prodigy “troubleshooter” Becker (Eric Roberts, The Pope of Greenwich Village and Star 80) to solve the problem. However, the previously unfazed Becker 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 author Dušan Makavejev (Montenegro and WR: Mysteries of the organism) brings his famously quirky, boundary-pushing sensibilities to this classic comic book setup, so the narrative remains refreshing, unpredictable, unconventional, and subversive throughout.
Becker, Terri and McDowell originated in short stories by award-winning Australian writer Frank Moorhouse, who adapted them for the film’s screenplay. The film’s appealing main locations – cosmopolitan Sydney and the stunning Blue Mountains region – are shot in style by Mad Max’s 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 Blu-ray world premiere, The Coca-Cola Kid was restored in 2K from its 35mm interpository. Directed by: Dusan Makavejev Additional information: |
Keywords: Eric Roberts, Fun City Editions, The Coca Cola Kid
About the Author
Joe Corey
Joe Corey is the writer and director of “Danger! Health Films” currently streaming on Night Flight and Amazon Prime. He is the author of “The Seven Secrets of the Great Walmart People Greeters”. This is the last way to get a working book that you will need. He was associate producer of the documentary “Moving Midway”. He has worked as a local crew on several reality shows, including Candid Camera, American’s Most Wanted, Extreme Makeover Home Edition, and ESPN’s Gaters. It has been featured on The Today Show and the CBS 48 Hours. Dom DeLuise once said, “Joe, you look like an ax murderer.” He was responsible for research and programming at the Moving Image Archive.