Five Bells

Made by Film Australia 1978. Directed by Dean Semler. Taking its title from the Kenneth Slessor poem "Five Bells" Sydney Harbour is the subject of this documentary. A pre-dawn memory of the harbour's convict past appears like a dream, but as the sun rises and the trawlers return with their cargo of prawns, the harbour comes to life. Australia's multicultural society is epitomised in this film; people of Italian, Greek,Turkish, Filipino, Russian, Maltese, South American, British and Asian descent all have something to do with Sydney Harbour, either at work or at play. This film was Dean Semler's directorial debut which was followed up the following year by the equally evocative Film Australia film Saturday http://www.youtube.com/edit?ns=1&o=U&... Five Bells refers to the 12 hours of a ship's day or night that are divided into watches of four hours counted from midday or midnight. After the first half hour there is a bell, after the hour two bells, and so on until eight bells and the four-hour watch. Five bells sound at 10.30 am. or 10.30 p.m.