Ulah Lippmann, a Jewish holocaust survivor, lives alone in a suburban house in Melbourne. One day, as she returns from shopping, she's attacked by Sadiq, a radical Muslim who was part of a terrorist bombing attack in which his partner was killed. Badly wounded, and planning his escape from authorities, Sadiq holds the woman hostage. The film takes on issues of the Israeli and Palestinian conflict.
2012 Australian Drama/Thriller
Film Festival Award Winner!
"A topical and pertinent film, concisely written, grounded by its profundity and made real and accessible by two superb performances."--Louise Keller, Urban Cinefile
"Blake has long been an under-utilized national treasure in our acting ranks, and she anchors Last Dance with great presence and assurance."--Leigh Paatsch, Herald Sun (Australia)
Director: David Pulbrook
Stars: Julia Blake, Firass Dirani, Danielle Carter, Nicole Clamoun
Trivia:
The film made its international premiere at the 2012 Melbourne International Film Festival. The female lead was meant to be Gena Rowlands but her casting was opposed by the MEAA.
Australian actress Julia Blake, who portrays a Jewish holocaust survivor in this film called Ulah Lippmann, previously co-starred alongside Max von Sydow in the Australian film Father, where Blake played Iya Zetnick, a Lithuanian holocaust survivor woman protagonist whose aim was to expose World War II Nazi war criminal Joseph Mueller, portrayed by Sydow.
The film's screenplay was nominated in 2012 for an Awgie Award by the Australian Writers' Guild (AWG) in the category of Feature Film - Best Original Screenplay for its screenwriters David Pulbrook and Terence Hammond.
The production utilized a studio on Pakington Street in St Kilda, Melbourne in Victoria, Australia where the classic Ozploitation movie Alvin Purple had been filmed almost forty years earlier.
David Pulbrook said of directing his first theatrical feature film: "I loved the experience of directing. If you've got the energy and the will and all your marbles, there's no reason why you can't keep making movies.''
This Australian hostage suspense-drama about the kidnapping of a Jewish holocaust survivor was made and released almost thirty years after the earlier Australian movie Savage Attraction [The Christine Maresch story] which was the true story of a woman whose husband eventually reveals to her that he is an active member of the Nazi party.
The production submitted the film's screenplay to the Islamic Council of Victoria who in turn provided notes and feedback which were incorporated into the movie.
Director and co-writer David Pulbrook and DOP/cinematographer Lee Pulbrook are brothers.
The name of the German song that plays on the record player was "Es führt kein and'rer Weg zur Seligkeit", written by Werner R. Heymann (as Heymann) and Robert Gilbert (as Gilbert) and performed by Sein & Oskar Joost Orchester and Kurt Mühlhardt.
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