With an Oscar and four nominations, Nicole Kidman is undoubtedly one of the greatest actresses today. But do you know its beginnings? Here she is as a teenager in her first two films, including the little-known “BMX Gang”.
Nicole Kidman’s first notable role was in The BMX Gang, a colorful film released in 1983 and directed by Australian Brian Trenchard-Smith. The latter is known for having filmed The Hunted in 2000, and it was his work on this film which convinced producers to entrust him with the reins of the BMX Gang, or BMX Bandits in original language.
Nicole Kidman rebel and stuntwoman
Goose, PJ and Judy don’t ride bikes, they ride BMX! Stunts are part of their daily life, and they have no equal when it comes to performing superb acrobatics with their two wheels. By chance, they come across a package containing walkie-talkies. They sell them to pay for their bicross track, but quickly receive a visit from thugs, unhappy that their equipment intended to commit a hold-up had been sold in this way, and from the police, who think they are involved…
Nilsen Premiere Angelo D’Angelo, Nicole Kidman and James Lugton
Nicole Kidman, 15, is learning BMX for the occasion, and the stunts are performed by a professional wearing a wig!
The film is a sub-Goonies like so many others, but we can note very beautiful lighting and a careful image by John Seale, who had worked on the photo of The Man from Hong Kong by the same director in 1975 and will sign this one by Mosquito Coast, The Dead Poets Circle, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Mr. Ripley or Mad Max: Fury Road. He will also find Nicole Kidman years later on Return to Cold Mountain.
But this wasn’t his very first appearance!
Technically, BMX Bandits is the second film directed by Nicole Kidman, who had previously starred in the family drama Bush Christmas by Frenchman Henri Safran, and the two films were both released in December 1983.
The Samuel Goldwyn Company
Nicole Kidman in “Bush Christmas”
Bush Christmas is a remake of the 1947 film of the same name, which tells the story of how the children of the Thompson family decide to go in search of their missing horse, which they must race to win a prize and save their farm. Nicole Kidman plays Helen, the eldest child, in this family-friendly Christmas story, worthy of a Disney feature film.
If Bush Christmas remains quite difficult to view (its presence on YouTube is in poor quality), Le Gang des BMX was released in a very nice copy by Eléphant last November.