Jill Bilcock: Dancing the Invisible (M). Director: Axel Grigor. Starring: Jill Bilcock, Cate Blanchett, Baz Luhrmann, Fred Schepisi, Phillip Noyce, Bruce Beresford, Rachel Griffiths, Kriv Stenders. 78 minutes
Rightly or wrongly, in filmmaking, directors are generally held up as the auteur. Occasionally writers emerge whose style is so distinctive (think Charlie Kaufman) that they are seen as the primary visionary no matter who is at the helm.
But of all the arts filmmaking is arguably the most collaborative, with many contributions from skilled craftspeople pivotal to the end result. Perhaps one of the most unsung of these unsung heroes is the film editor.
Consider the output of veteran Australian editor Jill Bilcock. Her filmography over several decades reads like a cross section of classic Australian films: Dogs in Space, Muriel's Wedding, Head On, Evil Angels, Strictly Ballroom, Red Dog and Japanese Story, to name a few.
It's no accident. In Dancing the Invisible, some of Australia's most accomplished directors — the ilk of Fred Schepisi, Baz Luhrmann, Phillip Noyce and Kriv Stenders — line up to laud Bilcock's passion, vision and skill.
The film is not pure biography, though it does chart a chronology of Bilcock's career, from her days cutting commercials with an equally green Schepisi, to her entrée to the fledgling feature film industry alongside Richard Lowenstein (director of Strikebound and Dogs in Space) in the 1980s, and on to the mainstream with films like The Dish, the Oscar winning UK production Elizabeth, and Red Dog.
Nor is Dancing the Invisible a technical masterclass; hardcore film buffs might regret that there's not a more detailed technical breakdown of Bilcock's craft, beyond such simple philosophical insights as 'If it doesn't work, cut it out.'
"Bilcock argues persuasively why lingering in excruciating detail on the ordeal of dragging a body from a waterhole was vital to the story."
Rather it is a warm-hearted tribute to the art of editing, the process by which a film takes its final form, often as different from what was shot as the footage might be from the original script.
Also, to one editor in particular, whose sense of character and audience is hailed by these directors as defining their films. Bilcock's mastery and boldness shine through, as she relates telling directors on set that 'That shot won't work,' or advising structural revisions on the fly that she knows the film needs.
Her work with Luhrman is particularly illuminating. We hear how she salvaged the