Paul Cox

Directing

Paul Cox

Born 1940-04-16 · Venlo, Limburg, Netherlands

Paulus Henrique Benedictus Cox, known as Paul Cox, was a Dutch-Australian filmmaker who has been recognized as "Australia's most prolific film auteur".

Acting credits

Where the Green Ants Dream poster
6.9

The Australian Aborigines (in this film anyway) believe that this is the place where the green ants go to dream, and that if their dreams are disturbed, it will bring down disaster on us all. The Aborigines' belief is not shared by a giant mining company, which wants to tear open the soil and search for uranium.

Where the Green Ants Dream

1984

Lust and Revenge poster
3.7

This caustic Australian comedy meant to burn those commercial interests who sponsor artists for tax breaks. It is also a sexually unresponsive wife's revenge against her cheating husband. Heiress Georgina Oliphant, the daughter of pharmaceutical magnate George Oliphant is on a mission to find a sculptor suitable of her father's sponsorship. Normally, George doesn't give a hoot about art, but tax time approaches and he needs a big deduction. Since large bronze statues are 100% deductible, that's what he wants. Georgina comes through with the lesbian sculptor Lily Carmichael who suggests a detailed male nude, sans fig leaf. For her model, Lily chooses unemployed hunk Karl-Heinz Applebaum who at first doesn't realize he is to model totally nude. Fortunately, coquettish Georgina is around to convince him to shed those clothes.

Lust and Revenge

1996

Apostasy poster
7.0

Claustrophobic drama sent in the summer of 1973 against the backdrop of day-to-day social and political turmoil including the sacking of the Whitlam government. Two people meet: the gap between their intellectual and emotional response widens as their relationship develops.

Apostasy

1979

On Borrowed Time poster
5.3

Auteur filmmaker Paul Cox contemplates his own mortality and his life's work as he wits for a life saving liver transplant.

On Borrowed Time

2011

Careful poster
6.0

The mountain-village passions of a German widow and her sons unfold in the style of a 1920s expressionist movie.

Careful

1992

To Music poster
3.0

Villagers surrounding Antwan, a middle-aged lute player who struggles with a depression, try to get him involved with life again. But only when an old friend and musician appears in the village something changes

To Music

2013

The Remarkable Mr. Kaye poster
NR

The Remarkable Mr Kaye is a blatantly biased portrait by filmmaker Paul Cox about the life of Norman Kaye - actor, musician and compassionate lover of life. Norman Kaye and Paul Cox first met in Melbourne in 1967. Norman, a music teacher and 'after hours' actor and Paul, a stills photographer, discovered in each other a mutual desire to explore their ideas and dreams through film. So began a 36-year working relationship that ceased only as the curtains of Alzheimer's Disease gradually closed around Kaye. There are few films by Paul Cox that are without some significant contribution, on-screen or off, by Kaye. Whether as lead actor or in a supporting role; as composer or performer, Kaye influenced everyone around him with guileless enthusiasm and humour. The Remarkable Mr Kaye includes film extracts and personal memories in a moving film that is homage to friendship and a creative partnership that shaped and changed Paul Cox's life.

The Remarkable Mr. Kaye

2005

The Media Project poster
8.0

A group of people working in film and television are gathered at a dinner party to discuss Australian media coverage of the Gulf War.

The Media Project

1991

Project 22 poster
NR

In the United States alone, twenty-two Veterans commit suicide per day. Project 22 follows two combat-wounded Veterans on a mission to find hope. Riding motorcycles from San Francisco to New York, Daniel and Doc speak with Veterans about post-war challenges that lead to suicide and the healing Veterans are finding in alternative forms of therapy such as sailing, pottery, education, service dogs and more. During the 6,500 mile journey, our riders interview leading researchers, mental health clinicians and educators who specialize in Traumatic Brain Injury and Post Traumatic Stress, as well as, a leading expert in Warrior Culture and Combat Stress. Asking hard hitting questions and opening up about their own struggles, Daniel and Doc will stop at nothing to reach tomorrow's twenty-two.

Project 22

2015

Behind the camera

Vincent poster
6.5

A biography of Vincent van Gogh using only images and the letters he wrote to his brother Theo.

Vincent

1987

Vincent poster
6.5

A biography of Vincent van Gogh using only images and the letters he wrote to his brother Theo.

Vincent

1987

Exile poster
5.0

Set in the last century, a man is outlawed and condemned to live alone on a small island, his only crime the theft of a few sheep. A girl from the mainland learns of his existence and, compelled by loneliness and romantic dreams, crosses the treacherous sea to join him. Together they create their own truth.

Exile

1994

Exile poster
5.0

Set in the last century, a man is outlawed and condemned to live alone on a small island, his only crime the theft of a few sheep. A girl from the mainland learns of his existence and, compelled by loneliness and romantic dreams, crosses the treacherous sea to join him. Together they create their own truth.

Exile

1994

Exile poster
5.0

Set in the last century, a man is outlawed and condemned to live alone on a small island, his only crime the theft of a few sheep. A girl from the mainland learns of his existence and, compelled by loneliness and romantic dreams, crosses the treacherous sea to join him. Together they create their own truth.

Exile

1994

Touch Me poster
5.1

Two women escape to the mountains where they enjoy each others company, apparently disappointed with their male partners.

Touch Me

1993

Touch Me poster
5.1

Two women escape to the mountains where they enjoy each others company, apparently disappointed with their male partners.

Touch Me

1993

Molokai: The Story of Father Damien poster
6.3

The true story of the 19th century Belgian priest, Father Damien, who volunteered to go to the island of Molokai, to console and care for the lepers.

Molokai: The Story of Father Damien

1999

Calcutta poster
NR

Calcutta is one of India’s largest cities. Paul Cox’s camera explores the lives of the poorest of its inhabitants. Filled with the vibrant sounds of Indian music, the culture of the people of Calcutta is rich and vital despite the harsh conditions in which they live.

Calcutta

1970

Lust and Revenge poster
3.7

This caustic Australian comedy meant to burn those commercial interests who sponsor artists for tax breaks. It is also a sexually unresponsive wife's revenge against her cheating husband. Heiress Georgina Oliphant, the daughter of pharmaceutical magnate George Oliphant is on a mission to find a sculptor suitable of her father's sponsorship. Normally, George doesn't give a hoot about art, but tax time approaches and he needs a big deduction. Since large bronze statues are 100% deductible, that's what he wants. Georgina comes through with the lesbian sculptor Lily Carmichael who suggests a detailed male nude, sans fig leaf. For her model, Lily chooses unemployed hunk Karl-Heinz Applebaum who at first doesn't realize he is to model totally nude. Fortunately, coquettish Georgina is around to convince him to shed those clothes.

Lust and Revenge

1996

Lust and Revenge poster
3.7

This caustic Australian comedy meant to burn those commercial interests who sponsor artists for tax breaks. It is also a sexually unresponsive wife's revenge against her cheating husband. Heiress Georgina Oliphant, the daughter of pharmaceutical magnate George Oliphant is on a mission to find a sculptor suitable of her father's sponsorship. Normally, George doesn't give a hoot about art, but tax time approaches and he needs a big deduction. Since large bronze statues are 100% deductible, that's what he wants. Georgina comes through with the lesbian sculptor Lily Carmichael who suggests a detailed male nude, sans fig leaf. For her model, Lily chooses unemployed hunk Karl-Heinz Applebaum who at first doesn't realize he is to model totally nude. Fortunately, coquettish Georgina is around to convince him to shed those clothes.

Lust and Revenge

1996

Lust and Revenge poster
3.7

This caustic Australian comedy meant to burn those commercial interests who sponsor artists for tax breaks. It is also a sexually unresponsive wife's revenge against her cheating husband. Heiress Georgina Oliphant, the daughter of pharmaceutical magnate George Oliphant is on a mission to find a sculptor suitable of her father's sponsorship. Normally, George doesn't give a hoot about art, but tax time approaches and he needs a big deduction. Since large bronze statues are 100% deductible, that's what he wants. Georgina comes through with the lesbian sculptor Lily Carmichael who suggests a detailed male nude, sans fig leaf. For her model, Lily chooses unemployed hunk Karl-Heinz Applebaum who at first doesn't realize he is to model totally nude. Fortunately, coquettish Georgina is around to convince him to shed those clothes.

Lust and Revenge

1996

Island poster
5.6

Island is Paul Cox's serene and beautiful film which explores a spectrum of emotions - ranging from extreme passion to fear, leading to murder - from loneliness to sensuality. Three women from Australia, Sri Lanka, and Greece meet on a Greek island. All are exiles escaping from their own personal tragedies. Ultimately, it is the island itself, with the generosity and warmth of the islanders, which leads all three women to revelations about themselves and their place in the world.

Island

1989

Skindeep poster
4.0

A mood piece involving two lesbian lovers and a disturbed young man contemplating suicide.

Skindeep

1968

My First Wife poster
4.5

My First Wife is about the dramatic collapse of the marriage between John and Helen. It is also a film about our children and the future we offer them. Helen has decided to leave, and it is John who lacks the inner resources to cope with the impending tragedy. Slowly he is sucked into a tunnel of despair – fighting his conservative nature and the romantic memories of his married life.

My First Wife

1984

My First Wife poster
4.5

My First Wife is about the dramatic collapse of the marriage between John and Helen. It is also a film about our children and the future we offer them. Helen has decided to leave, and it is John who lacks the inner resources to cope with the impending tragedy. Slowly he is sucked into a tunnel of despair – fighting his conservative nature and the romantic memories of his married life.

My First Wife

1984

My First Wife poster
4.5

My First Wife is about the dramatic collapse of the marriage between John and Helen. It is also a film about our children and the future we offer them. Helen has decided to leave, and it is John who lacks the inner resources to cope with the impending tragedy. Slowly he is sucked into a tunnel of despair – fighting his conservative nature and the romantic memories of his married life.

My First Wife

1984

No artwork available
NR

An experimental meditation on the nature of time as a young woman is traumatised by a visit to an abandoned suburban warehouse...

Time Past

1966

No artwork available
10.0

A couple living together have a tense relationship. The woman's father dies and she becomes preoccupied with death. She almost drowns in the bath but then recovers her enthusiasm for life.

Illuminations

1976

Man of Flowers poster
5.2

An eccentric elderly man tries to enjoy the three things in life that he considers real beauty: collecting art, collecting flowers, and watching pretty women undress.

Man of Flowers

1983

Man of Flowers poster
5.2

An eccentric elderly man tries to enjoy the three things in life that he considers real beauty: collecting art, collecting flowers, and watching pretty women undress.

Man of Flowers

1983

Human Touch poster
5.1

To try to raise money for her choir's trip to China, Anna poses nude for an ageing artist and upon seeing the finished results goes on a journey of self discovery.

Human Touch

2005

Innocence poster
6.3

After more than forty years apart, Andreas and Claire embark on an affair as reckless and intense as when they were young lovers. Widowed musician Andreas decides to get back in touch with his one great love, Claire, who is still married to her first husband, John. Andreas and Claire find that the connection they shared when they were young is still there and they soon become involved in a rekindled love affair.

Innocence

2000

Lonely Hearts poster
5.4

In this offbeat comedy, an unlikely romance develops between a flamboyant, middle-aged piano tuner and an extremely timid office worker.

Lonely Hearts

1982