M | 93 Mins | 1984 | DCP | US | D: Walter Hill

Arc Cinema presents a series of irreverent Friday night filmic feasts, curated and hosted by drag artist and culture warrior, Venus Mantrap.

Cult Classics with Venus Mantrap plumbs the archives to showcase cinema with bite: films that unnerve, push buttons, ask questions, and look good on the big screen! Gather your tribe of misfits and rowdy rebels and join Venus for edgy movies, fan favourites and hidden gems.

Rev your engines to full throttle and step Inside this rock‘n’roll fable, where mercenary Tom Cody (Michael Pare) is hired to rescue ex-girlfriend, Ellen Aim (Diane Lane) who has been kidnapped by the Bombers, a notorious motorcycle gang. With his take-no-prisoners sidekick McCoy (Amy Madigan), and Ellen’s manager Billy Fish (Rick Moranis), this unlikely trio plunge into the drowned streets of Richmond, a dystopian time and place where impassioned battles take place against a backdrop of music and menace.

This neo-noir cult classic has been described as the spiritual cousin to Walter Hill’s The Warriors. As writer Larry Gross describes, “Streets of Fire was about expanding The Warriors concept to a bigger stage… making it more of a fairy tale.”

The second installment in our ‘(Retro) Flex and the City’ mini-season (where cities share top billing with their co-stars) has a blistering soundtrack and stellar performances from its ensemble cast, including Willem Dafoe.

“In 94 minutes it manages to be an urban western, a backstage rock musical, and a biker flick set in an unidentified, run-down rust-belt inner city that might be yesterday or tomorrow…
The elegantly tattered clothes are designed by Giorgio Armani.” – Philip French, The Guardian

The details

What: Includes a pre-screening introduction and live performance by Venus Mantrap and screening of Streets of Fire
When: Fri 11 Apr 8:00 PM
Where: Arc Cinema, NFSA Acton
Cost: $14-18pp. Tickets available via NFSA