“Petersen” (1974)

It starts out like a goofy sex romp, but it’s really about a footballer who, catching glimmers of a bigger world out there, quits the game and enrolls in university to better himself.  He’s still a magnetic lug, though, so being married with a couple of kids doesn’t stop him from having an affair with one of his lecturers and tucking into other bits on the side. By the end, the Sexual Revolution, people’s fickleness and his own working class roots have all risen up to bite him; he’s left with his tiny electrical business and his optimism. An early entry in the Australian renaissance of the ’70s, it’s not as great as what was to come, but it’s likable and human and very entertaining—kind of an Aussie Five Easy Pieces that doesn’t crap on its characters. With the great Jack Thompson, Wendy Hughes, Jacki Weaver and Arthur Dignam. (The Australian ratings board sure works differently than the MPAA. The movie has 3-4 scenes showing full frontal nudity, a shot of Thompson playing with Weaver’s naked snatch, a nasty rape scene, and a lot of simulated sex that looks pretty damn real, yet it’s rated 18+ for “Medium level violence”. Period.)