David James Stratton (10 September 1939 – 14 August 2025) was an English and Australian film critic and historian. He also worked as a journalist and author, interviewer, educator and lecturer, television personality and producer. His career as a film critic, writer, and educator in Australia spanned 57 years, until his retirement in December 2023. Stratton's media career included presenting film review shows on television with Margaret Pomeranz for 28 years, writing film reviews for The Weekend Australian for over 30 years, and lecturing in film history for 35 years. He was widely regarded as a highly influential film critic in Australia.

Early life and education

David James Stratton was born in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England, on 10 September 1939, a week after Britain declared war on Germany. His father, Wilfred, enlisted in the army and fought in Burma and his mother, Kathleen, volunteered with the Red Cross. His younger brother, Roger, but never finished secondary school. Stratton later described his relationship with his father as "fractious", as his father wanted him to take over the family business, and did not understand his son's interest in films. At the age of 19, he founded the Melksham and District Film Society.

Career

Sydney Film Festival

Stratton arrived in Australia in 1963 under the "Ten Pound Poms" migration scheme. The festival director at the time objected to the motion and quit in protest, leading Stratton to be appointed director in 1966. Around the same time, he was the subject of surveillance by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) due to the festival showing Soviet films and his late-1960s visit to Russia. This information was not made public until January 2014. Stratton remained director of the Sydney Film Festival until 1983. It was at SBS that Stratton met Margaret Pomeranz, then a producer. onwards Stratton co-hosted the long-running SBS TV program The Movie Show with Pomeranz, who was also the show's original producer, after having to persuade her to join him on-air.

The pair moved to the ABC where they hosted the similarly formatted show, At the Movies, from 1 July 2004. Stratton later said that he regretted his decision to end the show, and lamented the lack of a champion on television to promote small independent films, such as Partho Sen-Gupta's thriller Slam.

Writing and teaching

Stratton had a review of 3 to Go published in Variety in 1971 and wrote regular reviews for them from 1984 to 2003, becoming their principal Australian reviewer. He also wrote reviews for The Weekend Australian for over 30 years He also contributed articles to The Age, The Bulletin, The Sydney Morning Herald, Cinema Papers and International Film Guide. He lectured in film history at the University of Sydney's Centre for Continuing Education from around 1988 until December 2023, during which he covered around 840 films and showed 7,506 film clips. Many of his students re-enrolled year after year. Stratton retired from writing criticism and teaching in 2023.

Juries and other roles

Stratton and Pomeranz played an important role in challenging the often heavy-handed decisions of the Australian Classification Board throughout their career. One of his legacies is the part he played in bringing about the R18+ film classification.

Stratton was invited to sit on many international juries at film festivals,

thumb|Stratton speaking at the Perth Festival Writers Week in 2019

Stratton acted as programming consultant to the London and Los Angeles festivals and contributed regularly to the International Film Guide, compiled and published in London. The one-hour conversation was Lynch's first and only public appearance in Australia.

In film and other television

The documentary film David Stratton: A Cinematic Life, written and directed by Sally Aitken, was released in 2017 and re-edited for television. It features interviews with Stratton about his life and with actors, directors and producers representing Australian cinema since the 1960s. A preliminary version of the film was first released at the 2016 Adelaide Film Festival as David Stratton's Stories of Australian Cinema, a "work in progress screening... a celebration of 110 years of Australian Cinema history and its creators". The title was later screened as a three-part series on ABC Television. The series was produced by Jo-anne McGowan of production company Stranger Than Fiction.

In 1993, Stratton made an uncredited cameo appearance in Paul Cox's "Touch Me", one of the short films featured in the series Erotic Tales. He appeared in several ABC programs, including The Chaser's War on Everything, Review with Myles Barlow, Good Game, Adam Hills in Gordon Street Tonight, Lawrence Leung's Choose Your Own Adventure, Dance Academy and The Bazura Project, often parodying himself.

Recognition and honours

  • 1 January 2001: Centenary Medal for "Service to Australian society and Australian film production"
  • 22 March 2001: Croix de Commandeur of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Literature), the highest rank for this award, for his services to cinema, in particular French cinema
  • 2001: Australian Film Institute's Longford Life Achievement Award
  • 2007: 60th Anniversary Medal by the Festival du Film de Cannes and The Chauvel Award by the Brisbane International Film Festival
  • 2015: Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the Australia Day honours
  • 2018: Co-recipient (with Pomeranz) of the Don Dunstan Award
  • 2024: National Cinema Pioneer of the Year
  • 2025: Australian Film Walk of Fame star outside the historic Ritz Cinema in Randwick, Sydney, along with Pomeranz; the first non-actors to be so honoured

Personal life

Stratton was twice married. His first marriage was at a young age. He became an Australian citizen in the 1980s. His favourite Australian film was Newsfront, directed by Phillip Noyce. He was also a great fan of French New Wave films, including the directors François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Claude Chabrol and Jacques Demy.

Two articles which analysed their reviews at SBS and ABC showed that Stratton was generally a slightly harsher critic than Pomeranz. According to Ozflicks website, run by Peter Morrow, both critics gave five stars to: Evil Angels (1988), Return Home (1990), The Piano (1993), Lantana (2001), and Samson and Delilah (2009).

They disagreed particularly on Romper Stomper (Stratton refusing to rate it because of the racist violence in the film), The Castle (1997), Last Train to Freo (2006), Human Touch (2004), and Kenny (2006), with Stratton awarding fewer stars than Pomeranz on all but Human Touch. His family invited everyone "to celebrate David's remarkable life and legacy by watching their favourite movie, or David's favourite movie of all time—Singin' In the Rain". A public memorial service was being planned after a private funeral.

The Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, posted a personal tribute to Stratton on X, saying "All of us who tuned in to At the Movies respected him for his deep knowledge and for the gentle and generous way he passed it on."

Publications

References

  • Stratton at the National Film and Sound Archive