Many of Australian film’s most famous actors - Naomi Watts, Mel Gibson, and Guy Pearce to name a few ? had to leave Australian shores to reach the peak of their talent and to find their fame. This is now such a well-worn trail that few question it. But in the earlier era of black and white Australian film ? before its colourful rebirth in the 1970s - it was a daring strategy. [Mad as Hell: Peter Finch] is a revealing documentary that covers Peter Finch’s journey in its entirety. Surviving a chaotic childhood that saw him live in London, Paris and New Delhi before the age of ten, Finch was sent to live with relatives in Sydney in 1926. Leaving school early and after stints as a shearer and even a vagrant, Finch used his talent for mimicry to break into radio acting. Unafraid to address his womanizing or his psychiatric problems, this film also charts Finch’s discovery by Sir Laurence Olivier, his work in Australian cinema’s struggling post-WWII era and through to his still memorable and quotable Oscar-winning performance in Sidney Lumet’s [Network]. (Russell EDWARDS)