Films in Malta [1st July, 1980 - 30th June, 1981]

Abstract

It was a bad year. It does not really require an experienced eye to notice that distributors, exhibitors, film critics and anyone seriously interested in the cinema were looking much less happier than they did during the previous two years. Summer, the traditionally silly season for films in Malta, brought the usual quota of 'Z' grade sex films (Queen oft he Blues), rock bottom movies (Jailbreak from Hamburg), the seasonal holiday offerings from Walt Disney, the expected number of re-issues and a few supposedly intellectual and therefore commercially unviable films like 3 Women. Local film distributors use the long, hot summer months as a dumping ground for their worst product. Dedicated picturegoers have learned to accept this and sweat it out, hoping that once the distributors have cleared their shelves they would have a rewarding product lined up when the new film season begins in October. But during the period under review this did not materialise. The really good films were less in evidence and thinly spread out while the number of disappointments is too long to list here. [excerpt]