AMERICAN AUDIENCES are just awakening to the breadth of extraordinary cinematic talent emanating from Australia. Initially, only the films with distinctly Aussie themes made it to this side of the Pacific--films like Breaker Morant and Gallipoli, which depicted with a bloody poignancy the British manipulation of the colony's armed forces during the early part of this century. Other successful films like The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith and The Last Wave were classified as uniquely Australian because they delved into the racial tensions between the white settlers of the continent and the Black Aborigines whom they tried to wipe out.

More recently, the Aussie market in America has diversified, featuring futuristic thrillers like Mad Max and The Road Warrior, as well as films depicting current Australian culture. This summer, for instance, Puberty Blues, with its raw portrayal of a distinctly Australian teenage-surfer subculture, arrived on the scene.

The newest Aussie import Lonely Hearts bridges the gap between Australian film ingenuity and universal themes. This bittersweet romantic comedy confronts the budding relationship between two middle aged people with delightful sincerity. The film is of special interest because middle aged loneliness is something few of today's filmmakers seem eager to deal with. And while the actors speak in a distinctly Australian drawl, the plot could have taken place anywhere.

Peter (Norman Kaye) is the protagonist of Lonely Hearts, and the movie comes in on the 49-year-old bachelor after the death of his mother. We watch him slowly adapt to his new independence as he decides to go to a match-making service to find companionship. Peter's terrible self-consciousness while preparing for his date is exquisite--his agony is almost palpable as he gets fitted for a new toupee and fumbles with a red carnation in his lapel.

The service matches him up with Patricia (Wendy Hughes), who though ten years younger is as awkward and as lonely. Shy and sexually inexperienced. Patricia is fighting for independence from her overly protective and meddlesome parents and from her own lack of self-confidence.

THE COURTSHIP of Peter and Patricia makes for sometimes hilarious entertainment, but it never descends into mere farce. Both lovers are forced to confront their own flaws: Peter is caught shoplifting, and Patricia battles her fear of sex. Director Paul Cox never lets the comic episodes detract from the seriousness of the pair's problems, but rather lets them compliment the underlying drama.

Kaye's Peter is a romantic who loves to make other people happy. Kaye makes Peter young at heart despite his age through lively and energetic movement. Likewise, Hughes gives an excellent performance, accentuating Patricia's insecurity with her low, almost mumbling speech, and her down-cast eyes. Hughes makes Patricia appear more and more attractive as she warms up to Peter's warmth.

Both actors develop their characters particularly nicely in a scene in which the couple participates in an amateur production of Strinberg's The Father. The rehearsals are directed by an eccentric, egotistical fop (Jon Finlayson) who makes Patricia into his new protege and who takes the play so seriously that its absurdity is hysterical rather than pathetic.

The film is filled with such touching and funny episodes. These come together into a surprisingly honest look at the problems of single middle-aged men and women. Certainly the Australian film industry has much more still to say to world wide audiences.