Main Cast: Judy Morris, Robert Coleby, Ivar Kants, Candy Raymond
Release Year: 1979
Country: AU
Run Time: 76 minutes
Plot
The plumber (Ivar Kants) shows up at the door of well-to-do Australian couple Robert Coleby and Judy Cowper. Though the plumber apparently hasn't been summoned, he is given unquestioned free reign in the household. He ends up staying several days, his work and personality growing weirder with each passing day. Housewife Cowper is driven to neurotic distraction by the plumber's presence and by his iconoclastic attitudes towards everything she holds dear. Then, the plumber walks out of the flat, never to return...leaving behind a residue of paranoia and shattered values. Filmed for Australian television, The Plumber may well be the most maddening 76 minutes ever committed to celluloid. Naturally, it only served to further the reputation of its gifted writer/director Peter Weir. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Herbert Pinter - Art Director, Ken James - Art Director, Peter Weir - Director, Gerald Turney-Smith - Editor, Rory O'Donohue - Composer (Music Score), Gerry Tolland - Composer (Music Score), Wendy Weir - Production Designer, David Sanderson - Cinematographer, Matt Carroll - Producer, Peter Weir - Screenwriter
Max (Ivar Kants) is a plumber working in the apartment building complex into which anthropologist Jill Cowper (Judy Morris) and her husband doctor Brian (Robert Coleby) have recently moved. Max appears uninvited at the Cowper apartment claiming their plumbing needs repair, even though the couple has noticed no irregularities. Convincing them that the problems with their plumbing are not easily noticed, he begins work in their bathroom by dismantling some pipes. Max's work on the bathroom drags on for days and it becomes increasingly obvious that he is only doing more damage by tearing out walls and pipes and rendering the bathroom useless. Over time, Max begins to frighten Jill by taking the liberty to use their shower without permission and playing guitar and singing songs in the bathroom while he was supposed to be working. He also makes his way into the apartment through the roof when the door is not opened for him. The damage he caused to the bathroom eventually leads to a serious injury to a house guest who happens to be an official from the World Health Organization. The Cowpers are able to rectify the situation but Max, a self-declared "rock-and-roll rebel", is unrelenting.
