Festive Lights and Napoleon's Plight | S02E24

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First on Film and Entertainment, Alex
first with You and I am joined by

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Peter Kraus. It is getting closer
to the festive season. The babulls are

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starting to show in the city.
Are you noticing, Beta, I don't

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always look at the baubles, but
maybe the bangles and beads. Well exactly,

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no, no, no, I'm
well it's a question that has I

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mean, there are many more important
things in life, but the question has

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been raised many a time. When
is the right time, if you are

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of that persuasion to put up Christmas
lights? What do you reckon? Is

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it the first of December? Is
there such a thing? Well, it's

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kind of like when hot cross buns
appear, right, I mean they fear

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right after Christmas and people are saying
no, no, no, no,

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you can't do that. So things
have changed over the years. Is there

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an appropriate time to well, not
only put them up, but tear them

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down? You don't think there's any
hard and fast rules, but some people

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like to put up their Christmas festivities
very early because they need a little Christmas.

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I suppose lights the airs now.
Again, obviously, they are dictated

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in a sense by the fact that
there are eight candles, plus the central

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one for those people who are not
Jewish, which is sort of lighting the

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other eight. So you know you've
got the eight days, but you don't

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put them up before right. First
night is first night with Christmas lights.

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Though it's quite the thing, mind
you. I read with the sort of

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scrooge like approach to Christmas, if
you spread far and wide beyond your home,

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you can incur the eyre of local
government and as such they continue to

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cease and desist. In other words, you can't spread onto the nature strip.

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That's what. I'm not sure that's
true in every state in Australia,

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but I read an alarming story where
somebody basically said, well that's it.

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If I'm not allowed my own territory, I'm not going to do it anymore.

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And locals are very very peeved by
that. But I understand from a

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safety point of view. It's about
the balance, is it. And some

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people really revel in the Christmas chair, which I must admit, it really

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lifts and able, doesn't it when
you're driving around or walking around, and

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lots of youngsters I noticed a lot
during Halloween as well. Were you around?

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I mean, you've got paper thin
walls, so you can just look

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through the walls. But new I'm
yes, that's the traffic and the noise.

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But yeah, but it's great to
see. Yes, a number of

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houses were currently lis up or really
yeah. Yeah, Look it's one of

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those things Halloween like Christmas. It
hasn't been there for thousands of years.

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I mean it wasn't it a coca
or invention? Is that not the basis

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of Christmas? I read somewhere?
No, true, I'm not sure about

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that. I would have thought it
goes back to christ days. No,

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no, no, apparently not.
Anyway, let us talk about it talking

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about people who are prominent. I
wonder, in terms of historic figures,

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how many more are prominent in a
more sizable manner than Napoleon Bonaparte. There

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wouldn't be too many historic figures that
I can think of. Can you think

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of any other sort of I mean, was he a warmonger? I suppose

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is the first question that has to
be asked, because the film basically shows

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a lot of his military endeavors,
and it says that he fought in sixty

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one battles. That was astounding to
me. Were you aware of that before

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he saw the movie? No?
No, I knew he loved to celebrate

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war and to invade other countries and
to be personally I suppose successful all the

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time as well well, but he
was successful because all the time he was

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in the early days, and then
he was exiled twice. So the other

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thing that is incredibly alarming is three
million people apparently died under his watch.

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That is extraordinary, extraordinary and horrible
to even contemplate. And well, war

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creates death, it does well.
I mean, you know, we talk

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about war, it's very difficult to
go past the Holocaust and the six million

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Jews that were killed and so many
others, Gypsies and I mean, you

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know, homosexuals, And we look
at what's going on now in Gaza and

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Israel and October seven and horrible,
horrible, you know, the Hummas invasion

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that killed twelve hundred to begin and
now the thousands of deaths that have taken

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place. I mean, it's I
just hope that there is a long term

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solution, but I fear there isn't, notwithstanding the fact that we've got a

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cease fire and the exchange of hostages
as we speak. It's war is a

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horrible thing that we should be learning
from and not repeating. But it doesn't

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seem to be that way. Man's
in humanity demand seems to know no bounds.

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That I'm not to say that as
an expression. It's just the damage,

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the long term damage, the mental
scarring as well that as the physical

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wounds. Just it's hard to contemplate
later, isn't it. It is And

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we should also think about some of
the other conflicts that are still ongoing,

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like in Africa, in Sudan and
add places like that. Well, but

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the Russian, yes, in ukrain
yeah, absolutely right, And there are

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conflicts all the time, the idea
that someone has to be victorious, someone

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has to be a loser, and
losers die well, but but winners also

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die. That's the thing that winners
lose lots of lives as well, right,

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so I mean any loss of life. And that's so it's a pity

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that you can't come to some sort
of agreement. And often it's about power

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and control, which is what it
was Fornobolion, right, So you know

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that's that that's the fundamental undercurrent to
all of is and wanting more and more

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and more, you know, that's
what Hitler wanted of course as well,

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and the other the other aspect about
this is the ugliness that it pervades in

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countries that are not involved in the
war. You look at what Australia is

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like today, Peter, it's not
a nice place. The protests, you

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know, as long as they are
sort of done in a manner that doesn't

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cause violence. But the hatred is
what what I fear, and it just

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seems to and I was really uncomfortable
with the children on was a weendsday of

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this week. How did you feel
about that as somebody who provides guidance and

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counseling. Yes, absolutely, they're
obviously being convinced through social media and by

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other groups about going out and demonstrating. And yet they many of them,

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would have no understanding really of what
they're demonstrating about and what the background of

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all of this is. But yeah, I mean, it's very easy for

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somebody to say it didn't start on
October seven, but there was a what

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do we call it, an uncomfortable
not peace, But there wasn't the situation

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of people being killed in the numbers
that are being killed now. If October

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seven hadn't happened, then you could
argue that the twelve hundred Israeli lives and

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the what eleven twelve thousand now on
the Palestinian side would not have been lost.

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So I mean, it's a very
it's very easy to sort of say,

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oh, this goes back centuries,
et cetera. I don't in any

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way question that. But what I
do question is people who don't say that

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it was prompted by this latest war. It was not hamas it was.

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I mean, of course it was, yes, you know. And to

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dismiss that and the other aspect about
all of this, the fake the fake

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news that is being imparted, which
obviously, in any situation, sides are

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going to put their their perspective.
We get that, but the fake news,

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I mean, Donald Trump started all
of this with his presidency right and

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against because I don't believe that that
was in the lexicon the way it has

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been since and now anybody can say
anything. And social media has a lot

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to answer for because so much falsehood
is perpetrated in that medium and people read

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it and believe it because it looks
so real as recently as Friday, I

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and this this has been going on
for a while, but they artificially created

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what the Royal family, the General
the generation that will at this stage a

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young children, what they will look
like as adults. And for all intents

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and purposes, they were real.
Now anything can be created and recorded and

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whatever, and so how do you
believe? I mean, I have no

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doubt that the strategic position of Hamas
from a pr point of view has been

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effective because they they utilize that to
win hearts and minds, and that that's

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what creates a lot of the Mayhem. So you know, what do you

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do? How do you address that? So if somebody shows you the tunnels,

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if somebody shows you that the hospitals
underneath the hospitals used as a safe

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house, you know, or the
starting point for military might buy hummas,

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how do you how do you prove
that you get knows through there? But

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then people don't believe the journos and
unfortunately, so many of the United Nations

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officials who are overseeing this, I
mean, they've been killed as well.

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So nobody wins, as we've said
right along, and it's deeply distressing for

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the Jewish community, it's deeply distressing
for the world at large, and obviously

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deeply dispressing for Amas and the Palestinians. But the problem is that Humas is.

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There's no other way I can see
Hamas other than as a terrorist organization.

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That's what they represent, and it
appears to be that they don't care

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if there are casualties on their own
side, and yet they then use that

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as a as a pr tool.
So how do you counter that? Pta

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Is there an answer? There is
really no answer because who is in control?

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Is the United Nations in control?
Can anyone really stop things like this

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from happening or control them? And
the answer is not really, I mean,

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how can it be done without further
bloodshed or without all sorts of other

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implications of control of people's lives,
which also people automatically object to. Look,

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I have no problem with finding a
solution where there is land for both

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sides, as long as it's peaceful
and as long as it's possible, and

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that may require some overtures from neighboring
countries so that there is enough land for

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this to happen. I mean,
would that be a possible you know,

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without the possibility, I can't see
that it couldn't be. But there's got

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to be good will on both sides, and that's the hardest part to achieve,

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and all of this conversation, not
just because of what happened on October

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seven, but because we're talking about
Napoleon, and I pose the question was

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he warmonger? I think the answer
to that is pretty obvious. But was

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he also a jealous and hasty lover? Because the film presents him so,

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does it not? Right? I
mean, I found that rather interesting.

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Obviously that was a choice. Now
I've got no idea whether there is any

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evidence to support that, because that's
one of the questions asked about Napoleon.

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How accurate it is it? Well, any movie is a movie, it's

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not a documentary. Doesn't purport to
be a documentary. There are dramatic that's

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a dramatization, clearly. Now I
don't doubt that it's based on reference books

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and so on. But the movie
shows that Bonaparte was somebody who was very

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strategic on the battlefield and had lots
of victories in the early days, and

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then his bravado got the better of
him and he took on more than he

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should have, and thereafter things went
downhill quickly. And the consequence, as

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I referenced earlier on, was that
Bonaparte was exiled not once but twice,

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and of course, the second time
he died where he was exiled six years

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after that. So the cost of
media that took es under him was their

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lives. And as for the love
of his life, it was Josephine.

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Her inability to bear an air proved
particularly costly, and while Napoleon eventually chose

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country over continuity of his marriage to
Josephine, that didn't mean his feelings for

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her diminished. She may actually have
been quite an unlikely match, and she

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was because she was a widow with
two children and six years older than him,

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But she still captivated him, and
basically that continued until her passing.

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And in the end, of course, like medi that flied too close to

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the sun, Napoleon's demise was inevitable. He was a Corsican. He led

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the French Revolution as the French Republic
rather as the First Consul from seventeen ninety

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nine to eighteen o four, and
then he was Emperor of France from eighteen

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oh four to eighteen fourteen, then
again briefly in eighteen fifteen. It's his

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story, It's the belligerents, it's
the bombast it's the vanity, the vulnerability

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through the eyes of the director Ridley
Scott, and it's been written by David

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Scarpa, who did all the money
in the world. No doubting that Scott

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makes powerful and impactful films. I
was sort of going back through his CV

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and might impressive. I mean Thilmon
and Luise, Gladiator blackhowt Down, American

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gangster, Prometheus, the Martian,
that's just for starters. I thought that

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this one, Napoleon rated MA runs
for two hours and thirty eight minutes,

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is a spectacle. The war scenes
particularly evocative, the costuming, the interiors

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are lavish. As Bonaparte wack in
Phoenix, it comes across as determined,

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as resolute, caught up as well
in his own sense of self worth to

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others detriment. He's depicted here as
cruel and needy. Vanessa Kirby plays Josephine,

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and she displays this unique hold over
him and she knows it too.

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There's a resilience about Vanessa Kirby's characterization. Rupert Everett displays a stiff upper lip

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as the Duke of Wellington who has
Napoleon's measure in the Battle of Waterloop.

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It is one of the most powerful
sequences in the film. Ultimately, it

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is the Duke that dispatches Bonaparte to
what would be his final destination, which

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is the island of Saint Helena,
which is the Atlantic Ocean, nearly two

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thousand k's from the west coast of
Africa. And this picture switches from the

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political upheaval and the plotting to the
wars being waged, and Bonaparte's personal life

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starts in seventeen eighty ninety, was
born in seventeen sixty nine, charts his

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path until his death in eighteen twenty
one. So that makes it about fifty

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one, doesn't it? Something like
that when he passed away. So there

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still appears to be wholesale jumps,
is that right? So seventeen sixty nine,

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yeah, two, right, Yeah, that's fifty one. There appeared

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to be wholesale jumps in time as
the highs and lows of his relationship with

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Josephina applotted. Look, you get
a bit of a feel for the man

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and his motivations. But I didn't
find Napoleon the easiest film to follow.

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While Ridley Scott tried to cram a
lot in the two and a half hour

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plus running time, I thought that
the story development was bitsy and in fact,

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I'd argue there's enough source material,
so much of it, to have

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readily developed the plot further and turned
the offering into a two parter, because

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as it stands, I didn't regard
Napoleon as must see material, Peter,

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It's not in the same league as
Oppenheimer, which I consider a much more

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complete film. Nevertheless, notwithstanding debates
about it's historical accuracy, which we referenced

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earlier, Napoleon the movie is often
hard hitting, so that they were my

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thoughts about it, did you think
it was the complete film? Look,

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I want to approach this from a
number of different perspectives. First of all,

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I've had a look at two reputable
historic websites that have analyzed Ridley Scott's

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film, and they have both agreed
that there are a number of inaccuracies in

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the film, including that what for
other than dramatic reasons? Correct, I

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mean, for example, Napoleon was
never at the French Revolution, gillotining of

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you know, it just didn't happen. Also, they never he never met

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the Duke of Wellington, even though
in the film they do. So that's

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just a few perspectives. And really
God has already said that he did take

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advice from historians, but he ignored
most of them because he wanted to make

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a dramatically powerful film. And as
you said, and as we all know,

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this is a narrative film, not
a documentary. However, people will

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have this idea that some of the
aspects of the film were true, when

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in fact they didn't happen. Okay, that's one perspective, and we have

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to deal with that. Secondly,
there is a four hour version of the

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film that Ridley Scott will be releasing
to Apple TV, because it's an Apple

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TV production to begin with, and
he's already said he's releasing a four hour

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version, and that may address some
of the plot holds or the plot the

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way it develops in this two and
a half hour cut of the film.

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For cinematic reasons, Oh there you
go, There you go better. I

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mean that four hour version, if
it was part one and part two,

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that could have been played in cinemas
as well, possibly possibly, And that

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also goes to an argument about where
there should be intermissions in cinema. And

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I know that some cinema owners are
really looking into this in some detail for

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any films that are over a half
hours. Yeah, but The tyficulty here

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is that the I mean this was
this was one? Was it on Oppenheimer

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or was it another film that basically
a number of cinemas were called out for

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their Some of them inserted a break
and they were called out because the director

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did not want that to occur.
Yes, yeah, I mean where where

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does this is a really important issue. Where does the control of a director

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start and end? Right the moment
the movie is out there? Can he

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or she or they did German a, oh well, it should only be

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seen in Imax, right because it
was shot on Imax? Should there be

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any interval? Should there not be
an interval? I mean, is that

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is that under How is that fair? Is that? I understand that's their

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preference, But preference is different from
dictating to somebody that you can't put in

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an interval. That well, that's
true, but don't forget most directors don't

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have total control of their film.
It's usually under the control of producers and

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distributors who make decisions about how a
film will be released and in what sort

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of format. And it wasn't actually
Oppenheimer. I I misspoke. Then the

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film that I was thinking of was
the one that came out the one about

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the Killers of the Flower Moon,
thank you, that's the one. Yeah,

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with the director there, Mars Masese
calling people out on that. Yeah,

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yeah, that I understand why.
But I'm also somewhat concerned about it

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because I mean, look, many
people can't hold their bladder, and then

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is it better than miss I know, I mean there's no sugar coating.

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No, it's true, true,
and that is that fair? Then that

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he'd rather people miss out on five
minutes of the movie, you know,

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or would have a break that allows
them to seed in comfort. I mean,

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if you're if you're in your seat
feeling discomfort while you're watching a movie,

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surely that's not a desirable thing either. No, look, I agree,

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and I think what should happen,
and it's already happening with some films

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that are released like Japanese Animation,
which is released either in a dubbed format

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or in its original format, that
cinemas should be able to screen the film

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two ways, with and without an
intermission and people can make their own decisions.

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Yeah, which is great. So
it gives people choice and you can

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get to a session that is or
isn't. Yeah, I think that's a

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wonderful solution. And again, I
don't know whether you need to put this

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into agreements. There's been strikes enough
in the United States, but I think

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it should be put in there that
they don't they don't their producers don't have

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that control or whatever. I mean, at some point, the cinema chains

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need to make money as well,
right, and if people and if people

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are going to be unhappy with what
the format and winging et cetera, et

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cetera some have, that's just not
appropriate either. So all right, let's

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get back to your thoughts about the
copy. Okay, Look, overall,

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it's a well cast film, and
the battle sequences, which were largely shot

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in Malta, are really well handled, and I mean the staging of the

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film is very good. Indeed,
I had a small objection to Arkam Phoenix's

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depiction of Napoleon. He came across
more as whining rather than as as someone

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who was really powerful wanted control,
et cetera. I also, I think

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there's both, and that's the thing
that really I think it depends on the

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scene that he's in. There's certainly
an arrogance there and puffing out his chest

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et cetera. And then there is
it's almost like he's a puppy dog at

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times, and you know, like
he rushes back from war when he finds

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out something about Josephine and things of
that nature, and it sort of it

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almost belittles him in some respect.
Now, perhaps that was him, Perhaps

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that's the dramatization, but yeah,
I found that rather. Yeah, that

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dichotomy that's presented more than a dichotomy
and a bit hard to swallow. I

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guess. Look, I agree now
it may be psychologically part of his character,

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but I haven't read enough analysis of
the psychology of Napoleon in the eighteenth

284
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century to be able to make that
comment. Also, Vanessa Herby, I

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think her role as Josephine is not
very well written, and she struggles to

286
00:24:00.400 --> 00:24:03.960
really come to grips with whether she
is someone who is a more powerful sort

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of influence on Napoleon or whether she
is subservient to him and is just,

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you know, at his will.
Again, I think that she basically knew

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that she used sex as a control
mechanism, but she also knew when she

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went too far. And I wasn't
as troubled by that as perhaps you were.

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However, I was troubled by the
fact that the time span suddenly you

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see her in one shot one scene, and then you see her in another,

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and time has elapsed, but you're
not aware the time has elapsed until

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a scene at the end, towards
the end where the reference or sort of

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in the second half, shall we
say, where there was a reference to

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fifteen years had gone by. It
was really with a feather at I mean,

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normally, you know what. I
thought. It was almost a jump

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cut. So in other words,
I don't know whether they edited a four

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00:25:04.799 --> 00:25:07.720
hour version then edited it down to
two and a half, or whether they

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just did the two and a half
hour version and they're going to extend it.

301
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I hope they did the two and
a half hour version, but at

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times I got the feeling they did
the four hour version. Oh yeah,

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00:25:17.200 --> 00:25:18.079
we'll cut this, we'll cut this, we'll cut this. That's what it

304
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felt like to me. Well,
according to Scott, he filmed it as

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a four hour film, but he
was asked to cut it back to two

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and a half hours for cinema release
purposes. But anyway, we'll see about

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that. I also, I'm also
disappointed that tahar Rahim, who plays an

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important French aristocrat is dismissed very much
in the film. His role is not

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regarded as particularly important or interesting,
even though his third build in the film.

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So I did note that. Yeah, and look, there are a

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number of these aspects occasionally. I
liked it in terms of characterization, even

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very much. Napoleon front and center
and Joseph that that love story between them

313
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and the relationship. I mean that. And it's almost like the other characters

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00:26:15.440 --> 00:26:21.079
wafted it out at times, some
of them, but none of them commanded

315
00:26:21.480 --> 00:26:25.440
a lot of attention. I mean, that was exactly that was obviously a

316
00:26:25.440 --> 00:26:30.039
deliberate ployee on the part of the
director. Well maybe, but again,

317
00:26:30.279 --> 00:26:33.000
the four hour version might be fleshing
out some of those characters in a bit

318
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more detail. So we'll see about
that. And I do want to make

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reference to Abel Gancer's superb and restored
nineteen twenty seven epic of Napoleon, which

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has been restored on Blu Ray by
Francis Ford Coppler. It's an incredible I've

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00:26:52.519 --> 00:26:56.559
seen it. It's an incredible experience
of five and a half hour production.

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Oh oh my god. Yeah,
did you sit there? Did you see

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00:27:00.480 --> 00:27:03.680
it in a cinema or did you
see it online. Oh, online,

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00:27:04.119 --> 00:27:10.000
obviously not in cinema, especially because
the last twenty minutes of the film is

325
00:27:10.319 --> 00:27:15.839
remarkable because it's shot in triptich.
There are three screens that are melded together,

326
00:27:17.039 --> 00:27:19.200
or three predictors that go together.
If it's seen in a cinema and

327
00:27:19.240 --> 00:27:25.799
it's presented that way on not three
separate shots. There's one shot or the

328
00:27:25.839 --> 00:27:30.160
three. There are three separate shots
that are sort of presented like a huge

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CinemaScope production. The last twenty minutes, which is the I think the Battle

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00:27:36.480 --> 00:27:41.240
of Waterloo. It only goes up
to a certain date, but it is

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remarkable the way it's filmed, progressive
filmmaking, just before sound came in,

332
00:27:48.960 --> 00:27:52.599
and it's just an incredible So if
anyone wants to catch up on I think

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00:27:52.720 --> 00:27:56.680
the best version of Napoleon, have
a look at that on Blu Ray.

334
00:27:56.960 --> 00:28:03.759
Look. I didn't mind Ridley Scott's
film. I didn't think it needed to

335
00:28:03.799 --> 00:28:07.359
be shown at Imax because it was
not shot at Imax. I know both

336
00:28:07.359 --> 00:28:11.880
of us saw it. Yeah,
but I'm understand. I love the Imax,

337
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that sense of wow that the battle
scenes have, as disturbing as they

338
00:28:18.359 --> 00:28:22.359
are, you've got the best biggest
screen possible to see it on that.

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00:28:22.839 --> 00:28:26.519
I'm a big rap for Imax,
to be honest, and so am I,

340
00:28:26.240 --> 00:28:32.640
but I always prefer Imax for films
that are shot in Imax, not

341
00:28:32.839 --> 00:28:38.359
that are projected in the Imax cinema
but really are not. I don't in

342
00:28:38.440 --> 00:28:41.920
the way. I definitely want to
see Imax films that have been shot in

343
00:28:41.920 --> 00:28:47.720
Imax. But if they could screen
every film at Imax, I would be

344
00:28:47.759 --> 00:28:52.319
delighted. I just think we are
so privileged in Victoria. We've had this

345
00:28:52.440 --> 00:28:56.839
right through. Sydney's just got theirs
back up again after many, many years.

346
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But it's quite an experience is if
people hadn't been. It's not cheap,

347
00:29:02.279 --> 00:29:06.920
but as a treat absolutely, and
I agree with you in that regard

348
00:29:07.000 --> 00:29:11.319
if you haven't been, probably the
first film to see it is in there

349
00:29:11.680 --> 00:29:15.319
is one that's been shot on Imax
format. So yeah, all right,

350
00:29:15.759 --> 00:29:21.000
I guess let's get to the score. Npolem rated one hundred and fifty eight

351
00:29:21.039 --> 00:29:27.200
minutes. Peter Okay. In summary, I think it's a film worth seeing,

352
00:29:27.440 --> 00:29:32.880
but has lots of difficulties attached to
it, so I give it six

353
00:29:33.000 --> 00:29:37.359
out of ten. Well, I
struggled as well to find the right mark

354
00:29:37.440 --> 00:29:42.079
with regards to a score. But
I still thought as a spectacle, even

355
00:29:42.079 --> 00:29:48.160
though it didn't always hang together,
it was worthwhile and I'm giving it a

356
00:29:48.200 --> 00:29:52.519
seven and a half for that reason. But yeah, with a few butts

357
00:29:52.559 --> 00:29:59.000
as well. Let us move on. Jay eighty eight FM two talking about

358
00:29:59.119 --> 00:30:03.400
The Royal hote Hell, which is
an Australian movie. And did you see

359
00:30:03.440 --> 00:30:08.799
the documentary in twenty seventeen called Hotel
GULGARDI? I certainly did, and even

360
00:30:08.839 --> 00:30:14.519
interviewed the filmmaker responsible for it,
which I thought was a really powerful film.

361
00:30:14.960 --> 00:30:19.839
Yeah, so there's two lead if
somebody's just driven through a front wall,

362
00:30:22.240 --> 00:30:26.559
my dol oh, these demonstrators aren't
it. But look it sounds like

363
00:30:26.640 --> 00:30:32.799
there's a rally, a motorbike and
feral chats going through the wall. Okay,

364
00:30:32.960 --> 00:30:37.640
So I think Pieter lives in a
home that has the thinnessles I've ever

365
00:30:37.799 --> 00:30:42.000
experienced, Right, I think Mason. They're not even Mason night sheets are.

366
00:30:42.000 --> 00:30:47.200
They're little little paper that get get
wet and then you get wet.

367
00:30:47.319 --> 00:30:52.200
Anyway, The Royal Hotel am I
rated ninety one minutes. Men behaving very

368
00:30:52.240 --> 00:30:57.640
badly towards women and drinking to excess
with consequences. They are the two scenes,

369
00:30:59.200 --> 00:31:03.359
and the director and co writer alongside
Oscar Reading is Kitty Green. First

370
00:31:03.359 --> 00:31:10.200
saw the documentary Hotel Gurgardi as an
Australian Film Festival jury member, and that

371
00:31:10.559 --> 00:31:15.160
was her inspiration. She was taken
by the story of two young Scandinavian women,

372
00:31:15.200 --> 00:31:21.519
as the doco showed trapped in an
Australian mining town. And while she

373
00:31:21.720 --> 00:31:26.480
had seen movies set in ossie pubs
before, many of them in remote communities,

374
00:31:26.160 --> 00:31:30.720
never threw a female lens. And
in the Royal Hotel, twenty five

375
00:31:30.799 --> 00:31:37.160
year old Hannah played by Julia Garner
and live Jessica Henwick, who's twenty four,

376
00:31:37.599 --> 00:31:42.599
are Canadians, right, So they've
changed nationalities from the documentary. They've

377
00:31:42.680 --> 00:31:47.880
chosen the furthest place from home to
travel to and enjoy, and they're running

378
00:31:47.920 --> 00:31:51.720
short of cash, so they take
the only jobs available at short notice,

379
00:31:52.039 --> 00:31:56.519
being at a pub in an isolated
mining town. And what greets them,

380
00:31:56.680 --> 00:32:00.720
well, it's hardly enticing peta no
wi fi, oh golly, how can

381
00:32:00.759 --> 00:32:04.880
they survive you know, their twenties? Oh my golly, and limited hot

382
00:32:04.920 --> 00:32:07.119
water. Yeah, that is an
issue, Okay, let alone. The

383
00:32:07.160 --> 00:32:13.279
extremely curt pub owner whose name is
Billy played by Hugo Weaving, who lays

384
00:32:13.319 --> 00:32:15.440
down the ground rules. He's quite
a piece of work, that man.

385
00:32:15.599 --> 00:32:19.799
Anyway. He lives in a caravan
out the front of the watering hole with

386
00:32:19.880 --> 00:32:24.440
his indigenous girlfriend Carol played by Ursula
Yovich, and she helps him out in

387
00:32:24.480 --> 00:32:30.599
the kitchen. Now, while one
of the two young ladies live embraces their

388
00:32:30.640 --> 00:32:36.559
new environment, Hannah is less than
impressed. Is the patrons, while they're

389
00:32:36.559 --> 00:32:40.440
a wild and rowdy bunch who come
on strong. While Billy, who's the

390
00:32:40.599 --> 00:32:47.319
pub owner, frequently falls dead drunk
and he doesn't pay his bills. The

391
00:32:47.400 --> 00:32:52.519
other of the two young ladies,
Hannah, who's given a crude nickname,

392
00:32:52.279 --> 00:32:57.480
is fearful. She wands out,
but Live convinces her to stay on for

393
00:32:57.480 --> 00:33:04.440
a few more weeks. It's a
move that backfires badly so. The Royal

394
00:33:04.440 --> 00:33:09.519
Hotel shows Australians at a very negative
light as misogynistic boozes and reprobates. Really

395
00:33:09.599 --> 00:33:14.400
ugly picture, hard to watch,
but that, of course is the whole

396
00:33:14.440 --> 00:33:17.240
point. You can have a great
time without stepping over the mark, but

397
00:33:17.240 --> 00:33:22.680
apparently not in this remote corner of
the country. There is an edginess about

398
00:33:22.680 --> 00:33:25.240
the Royal Hotel from the get go
that does not let up, and the

399
00:33:25.279 --> 00:33:30.640
film's all the better for it.
I really like the contrasting characterizations of the

400
00:33:30.680 --> 00:33:35.759
two women. Julia Ganner presents Hannah
as wary will guard it, while Jessica

401
00:33:35.839 --> 00:33:39.079
Henwicks Live appears to be up for
anything. We sit back and wait,

402
00:33:39.640 --> 00:33:45.559
frustrated that we can't do anything to
influence the behavior of the town's inhabitants,

403
00:33:45.039 --> 00:33:50.759
which presents as an ever present threat. Thought Hugo Weaving was very powerful,

404
00:33:50.960 --> 00:33:54.599
quite pervasive as the rough and tumble
publican on a slippery slope, and as

405
00:33:54.680 --> 00:34:00.599
Karl LUs Lyyovich appears resigned to her
fate. Tough on the outside, she

406
00:34:00.680 --> 00:34:04.880
has a strong moral compass. Mattie, played by Toby Wallace, is perhaps

407
00:34:04.960 --> 00:34:07.639
the most interesting of the men folk
in town. The twenty five year old

408
00:34:07.639 --> 00:34:12.760
seems like a good guy, but
when tanked up, goes too far and

409
00:34:12.880 --> 00:34:19.039
teeth. James Fresherville is desperate for
some romantic action, but booze again affects

410
00:34:19.079 --> 00:34:24.440
him badly. But the most sinister
of the townsfolk is Dolly Daniel Henshell,

411
00:34:24.800 --> 00:34:31.519
who's positively sinister, right, most
sinister and positively sinister. Absolutely, Kitty

412
00:34:31.559 --> 00:34:37.400
Green has waven a taught psychological thriller. Anything but a tourism Australia. Add

413
00:34:37.679 --> 00:34:40.440
it's a warts and all portrait that
hardly paints a pretty picture of the outback

414
00:34:40.960 --> 00:34:46.880
save for a star infested skyline and
a few arresting landscapes during the day.

415
00:34:47.199 --> 00:34:52.960
Nevertheless, their Royal Hotel stays with
you long after you exit the cinema.

416
00:34:52.840 --> 00:34:58.039
It's a really strong imprint and it's
a very strong movie. It is called

417
00:34:58.639 --> 00:35:05.320
The Royal Hotel Peter your Thoughts certainly
is and it certainly reveals the ugly side

418
00:35:05.360 --> 00:35:09.400
of living in the outback community where
there isn't much to do apart from drinking.

419
00:35:10.320 --> 00:35:16.079
And certainly the various men involved,
including Hugo Weaving and Toby Wallace and

420
00:35:16.079 --> 00:35:23.440
so Daniel Henchel, all very interesting
perspectives on what men do when they're in

421
00:35:23.480 --> 00:35:28.960
that sort of environment and especially when
they encounter women. So it is a

422
00:35:29.039 --> 00:35:31.760
very disturbing film in many respects.
It's interesting how the film was shot in

423
00:35:31.920 --> 00:35:37.880
South Australia in a place called Yatina, which is about half an hour from

424
00:35:37.920 --> 00:35:43.480
Adelaide, and they found this old
pub which had been closed and they were

425
00:35:43.519 --> 00:35:47.760
able to restore it for filming purposes, and they've done an excellent job.

426
00:35:49.239 --> 00:35:55.199
They're micking to some extent Wake in
Fright, which is best comparison. And

427
00:35:55.280 --> 00:36:00.360
so this notion that there are some
evil things happening in the outback of Australia,

428
00:36:01.199 --> 00:36:06.039
I mean, Wolf Creek is probably
another example, but the best example

429
00:36:06.199 --> 00:36:12.880
is Waken From It probably demonstrates that
there are darker aspects to Australian character that

430
00:36:12.920 --> 00:36:17.360
we don't often want to talk about, and this film certainly does reveal that.

431
00:36:19.159 --> 00:36:22.039
It's so interesting how the two women, the backpackers who were hoping just

432
00:36:22.079 --> 00:36:28.440
to make money and to have a
reasonable time, were referred to as fresh

433
00:36:28.639 --> 00:36:35.679
meat on board outside the pub,
and that just indicates where this film is

434
00:36:35.760 --> 00:36:40.199
heading. Look, it's a very
impressive film. Kitty Green worked also with

435
00:36:40.320 --> 00:36:46.199
Julia Ghana on their previous film The
Assistant, which was such an impressive film

436
00:36:46.239 --> 00:36:52.079
about a woman who works for I
think it's for a film production company and

437
00:36:52.880 --> 00:37:01.079
it's given difficult circumstances being somewhat isolated. Has done a great job in continuing

438
00:37:01.119 --> 00:37:08.000
that theme in very much The Royal
Hotel look an excellent Australian film. I

439
00:37:08.119 --> 00:37:13.639
was quite impressed by it and I
was getting very worried at one stage about

440
00:37:13.639 --> 00:37:15.960
where this was heading. But without
any spoilers, I won't spoil it for

441
00:37:16.000 --> 00:37:21.679
anyone. It is certainly a disturbing
film worth seeing. Eight out of ten

442
00:37:22.039 --> 00:37:25.760
from me. For the Royal Hotel
M I rated ninety one minutes. Nothing

443
00:37:25.800 --> 00:37:30.480
wrong with a ninety minute movie,
Peter. It depends on the story,

444
00:37:30.639 --> 00:37:36.719
that's right. Yeah, what do
you would you believe? I absolutely agree

445
00:37:36.760 --> 00:37:40.280
with your score eight out of ten. You were looking over my shoulder when

446
00:37:40.320 --> 00:37:45.039
I wrote it. I'll tell you
what, looking over my paper thin walls.

447
00:37:45.239 --> 00:37:50.559
Yes, exactly. You are on
j AD eightmm. And folks,

448
00:37:50.840 --> 00:37:53.639
if you want to participate in our
programming and you want to spend a little

449
00:37:53.639 --> 00:37:58.719
bit of money to become a member
of JAM, please do so. Fifty

450
00:37:58.760 --> 00:38:02.599
four bucks go through jh air dot
com dot AU. And that's what community

451
00:38:02.679 --> 00:38:07.239
radio is all about. Yeah,
community folks, get on board. Please.

452
00:38:07.480 --> 00:38:12.760
If you feel so inclined, cat
person, are you, Peter?

453
00:38:13.960 --> 00:38:16.079
You couldn't keep a cat? A
cat did literally break through your walls?

454
00:38:16.079 --> 00:38:20.639
Correct? Well, exactly right?
Is it? Eat? The scenery?

455
00:38:21.079 --> 00:38:25.440
Have you ever had any any animal
at all in your possession as a pet.

456
00:38:27.079 --> 00:38:31.000
No, not even a sea slug, Peter. Now, if you

457
00:38:31.039 --> 00:38:34.760
see a sluck, what do you
do with it? Exactly? You do

458
00:38:35.159 --> 00:38:38.639
so you hang on. Growing up, you didn't have any pets at home?

459
00:38:39.079 --> 00:38:44.480
No, no, not at all. Well, don't you feel you've

460
00:38:44.519 --> 00:38:47.960
missed out? Because dogs can be
very loving, cats can be very purring.

461
00:38:50.119 --> 00:38:54.400
I've think, Well, I feeling
good about that. Yeah, my

462
00:38:54.599 --> 00:39:00.519
first pet, I was a crazy
mixed up kid. My first pet,

463
00:39:00.840 --> 00:39:02.840
well, I grew up with and
you would have as well. No,

464
00:39:02.840 --> 00:39:07.840
no, sorry you were born in
seventeen thirty three, but no, yeah,

465
00:39:08.559 --> 00:39:15.760
I grew up with Charles Schultz and
Peanuts. So we had a cat.

466
00:39:15.960 --> 00:39:20.360
And what do you think the cat
was named crazy, right, Charles

467
00:39:20.360 --> 00:39:24.239
Souls? No, it was named
Snoopy, which is a dog. Yes,

468
00:39:24.320 --> 00:39:29.280
and so yeah, I mean it
really it scarred me for life anyway,

469
00:39:29.800 --> 00:39:31.440
and I think I think I was
the one who named it. So

470
00:39:31.519 --> 00:39:37.039
there you go, hopefully, Well, mind you I did name. I

471
00:39:37.079 --> 00:39:40.280
gave my daughter a unisex name.
And I'm not sure that that's a good

472
00:39:40.320 --> 00:39:45.400
thing to do because I told you
this story, did I not about she

473
00:39:45.559 --> 00:39:51.639
was at school and she'd been in
that class for the entire year, and

474
00:39:52.239 --> 00:39:57.880
we received a written report from the
teacher and the teacher said that my daughter,

475
00:39:59.519 --> 00:40:01.880
he has done a wonderful job.
And I'm thinking, well, that's

476
00:40:01.920 --> 00:40:06.119
wonderful. You've been with my daughter
for a year and you don't know that

477
00:40:06.199 --> 00:40:10.000
she's a girl. That was a
bit of a worry, and that stuck

478
00:40:10.000 --> 00:40:13.960
with me all these years. You
would have thought that. I understand it

479
00:40:14.000 --> 00:40:16.480
takes time to write reports, but
you know the sex of the person you're

480
00:40:16.480 --> 00:40:21.159
writing about, don't you. Although
this age, I shouldn't presume that.

481
00:40:21.519 --> 00:40:24.519
No, No, back in the
day, back in the day, right,

482
00:40:27.840 --> 00:40:31.480
oh my goodness me. So just
referring to your dog Snoopy, how

483
00:40:31.559 --> 00:40:38.039
animated was it? No, as
a Snoopy slept a lot ah, But

484
00:40:38.480 --> 00:40:45.480
there was very good chasing vermin,
right, so that's what cats are good?

485
00:40:45.559 --> 00:40:47.320
Yeah? Right, I mean,
if it sees vermin, it goes.

486
00:40:47.519 --> 00:40:51.159
But I can't say there was a
lot of vermin around our neighborhood.

487
00:40:51.199 --> 00:40:53.880
Nevertheless, they were the days,
though Peter, where cats could actually go

488
00:40:53.920 --> 00:40:59.119
outside and come back in and you
know all of that. It's a lot

489
00:40:59.159 --> 00:41:02.280
different now. We had Clydesdale horses. You might remember those. You were

490
00:41:02.320 --> 00:41:08.519
about two hundred and three at the
time. But yeah, they Oh my

491
00:41:08.559 --> 00:41:12.840
goodness, what kind of fool am
I? Yes, exactly. And you

492
00:41:12.840 --> 00:41:15.039
know we used to race out and
there was the milk bottles. Remember the

493
00:41:15.039 --> 00:41:19.679
milk bottles? I do, Yes, they were. It was great.

494
00:41:19.880 --> 00:41:23.360
So it was six am. I
used to love the clip clopping sound of

495
00:41:23.360 --> 00:41:28.320
the horses far better than Yahoo's sort
of heard tooting the ear ones at six

496
00:41:28.360 --> 00:41:30.599
in the morning. I thought that
was that was great. And you know,

497
00:41:30.679 --> 00:41:34.440
collecting the milk, and we didn't
worry too much about the fact that

498
00:41:34.559 --> 00:41:38.119
was left out in the sun,
mostly tootling as we speed. Most of

499
00:41:38.199 --> 00:41:42.360
us survived, you know, just
but we we you don't, right,

500
00:41:42.760 --> 00:41:45.159
And I remember I remember getting a
bottle of milk at school every day.

501
00:41:45.719 --> 00:41:49.679
Yes, there you go. Oh
sorry, you went too? Did they

502
00:41:49.679 --> 00:41:54.920
have school and you know well and
just didn't get along? No, I

503
00:41:54.960 --> 00:41:58.199
mean, hang on, there were
there were there were rocks, won't they.

504
00:41:58.239 --> 00:42:01.880
I mean you didn't actually have a
chure board, right, I suppose

505
00:42:01.920 --> 00:42:06.880
it was the brown dirt around you
you use that, you know. Did

506
00:42:06.920 --> 00:42:09.000
you actually have cutlery? No,
you wouldn't have got Look, it's not

507
00:42:09.119 --> 00:42:14.760
easy milking rocks. No, this
isn't I like the I like to think

508
00:42:14.800 --> 00:42:16.920
that you could pull the bottle top
off and there was that pop of the

509
00:42:16.920 --> 00:42:22.480
bottle top. That was element.
That was very nice. Yeah. And

510
00:42:22.719 --> 00:42:27.079
it was of the good old days
where health wasn't well when when what wasn't

511
00:42:27.079 --> 00:42:30.719
an issue? Health? Health?
Yes? Yes, yes, well,

512
00:42:30.559 --> 00:42:34.199
yes and no. I mean one
of the things that I would say is

513
00:42:34.239 --> 00:42:38.760
that these days there needs to be
a bit of play in the dirt to

514
00:42:38.800 --> 00:42:44.119
build resilience. Does there not?
Right, you can't be too clean,

515
00:42:45.480 --> 00:42:50.639
yeah, So I mean it's it's
the balance between the two. This leads

516
00:42:50.679 --> 00:42:53.800
us into Cat Person, which is
a very long film for what it is.

517
00:42:53.840 --> 00:42:58.719
Peter, it's one hundred and nineteen
minutes. It's a rated This could

518
00:42:58.760 --> 00:43:01.320
have been a ninety minute. Do
you agree. Well, it's based on

519
00:43:01.360 --> 00:43:05.920
a sort of story to begin with. So the answer to that is yes,

520
00:43:06.440 --> 00:43:10.320
yes, very good. Okay,
you're very pliable today. I like

521
00:43:10.400 --> 00:43:17.119
that. Okay. So there's This
is a quirky psychological drama. It does

522
00:43:17.159 --> 00:43:22.119
take its sweet time to ignite.
It comes into its own in the third

523
00:43:22.159 --> 00:43:25.719
act. You've got Margo played by
Amelia Jones. She's this diligent twenty year

524
00:43:25.719 --> 00:43:32.440
old university student specializing in anthropology.
She's got a vivid imagination and she works

525
00:43:32.480 --> 00:43:37.880
part time in the popcorn and candy
bar in an old style movie theater.

526
00:43:37.800 --> 00:43:43.960
Into this cinema walks tall, dark, awkward stranger Robert played by Nicholas Braun,

527
00:43:44.280 --> 00:43:49.440
who's a thirty three year old not
good at small talk. Margo has

528
00:43:49.480 --> 00:43:55.280
an ultra feminist roommate called Taylor.
Taylor is played by Geraldine. I'll get

529
00:43:55.280 --> 00:44:02.039
this wrong. This one a fan
right. She cannot understand why the attraction

530
00:44:02.280 --> 00:44:07.920
is there for Margo to Robert in
the first instance, and she tries to

531
00:44:07.960 --> 00:44:13.519
wound her off as a good friend
does, but there remains something about Robert

532
00:44:13.519 --> 00:44:16.000
that interests Margo. When he turns
up with the movies a second time,

533
00:44:16.400 --> 00:44:22.719
Margo seizes her opportunity. Carp adm
sees that I she fantasizes about what could

534
00:44:22.760 --> 00:44:28.440
be. That's notwithstanding the fact that
she's left to fill the inevitable silences between

535
00:44:28.480 --> 00:44:32.800
them, and a relationship of sorts
developed starting with text messages, but there's

536
00:44:32.840 --> 00:44:37.840
still an uncomfortable, unnatural feel to
it, and as things get physical,

537
00:44:38.199 --> 00:44:44.360
Margo struggles to get over her feelings
of ike. Are you familiar with that

538
00:44:44.480 --> 00:44:51.920
term, Peter H No, Okay. Ike is a modern use of the

539
00:44:51.960 --> 00:44:55.360
word. Yeah, it just doesn't
feel right, but it's quite It's an

540
00:44:55.400 --> 00:44:59.760
automatic, pa, really, ike? Don't you think it's I like the

541
00:44:59.760 --> 00:45:02.480
words anyway, it is. It's
one of these. It should be.

542
00:45:02.559 --> 00:45:06.800
If it's not, it should be
in the dictionary. Anyway. This comfort

543
00:45:06.800 --> 00:45:09.679
turns to fear for Margo, as
she doesn't know how to break things off

544
00:45:10.320 --> 00:45:19.000
and believes that he is stalking her. Susanna Susanna Fogel directs this story,

545
00:45:19.000 --> 00:45:25.039
adapted by Michelle Ashford from a twenty
seventeen New Yorker short story by Kristin Rupinian.

546
00:45:25.719 --> 00:45:30.559
And while I appreciated the eccentric characterizations, I did that the pacing of

547
00:45:30.639 --> 00:45:36.639
much of the film can best be
described as languid, and I would have

548
00:45:36.719 --> 00:45:39.280
liked it to move along more readily. Amelia Jones does have an X factor

549
00:45:39.639 --> 00:45:45.079
particularly appealing actually, she brings emotional
intelligence to the role. Among the best

550
00:45:45.119 --> 00:45:50.800
scenes in the film of Margo's nightmares
and thought bubbles, Geraldine vis Fan is

551
00:45:50.920 --> 00:45:55.119
a scene stealer with her fourth right
take no prisoner's attitude. Nicholas Braun has

552
00:45:55.280 --> 00:46:00.039
arguably the hardest persona to fill because
he could hardly call Robert laikable. He's

553
00:46:00.079 --> 00:46:05.159
often distant, He's a fish out
of water. In fact, I was

554
00:46:05.199 --> 00:46:09.119
left wondering what qualities Margo actually sees
in him that she actually appreciates. And

555
00:46:09.199 --> 00:46:13.280
it appears to me that she merely
loves the thought of having someone special.

556
00:46:14.280 --> 00:46:19.960
Margo and Taylor's musical theater obsessed buddies
add a little bit of fun. Some

557
00:46:20.039 --> 00:46:22.920
may read that to mean cringe value
to this offering. Also, don't be

558
00:46:22.960 --> 00:46:29.719
fooled by the title cat person.
A dog has more screen pime than a

559
00:46:29.719 --> 00:46:34.519
feline. Now that is really a
dichotomy anyway you might explain that to me.

560
00:46:34.599 --> 00:46:37.639
But the film has some delightful moments. It does show promise, but

561
00:46:37.719 --> 00:46:43.960
it doesn't realize it's full potential.
And two hours is too indulgent be done.

562
00:46:44.239 --> 00:46:50.760
Yes, yes, yeah, Look. What disappointed me greatly about this

563
00:46:50.840 --> 00:46:54.559
film is that it was set up
from a short story as a warning to

564
00:46:54.679 --> 00:47:04.400
women about online dating and especially about
male predators, and a problem that it

565
00:47:04.480 --> 00:47:07.280
was set up that way. I
it wasn't a problem was set up that

566
00:47:07.320 --> 00:47:09.920
way, but it was the way
it was done. Is that correct?

567
00:47:10.239 --> 00:47:16.400
Correct? The screenplay I think compromises
the story badly, And I actually I

568
00:47:16.440 --> 00:47:22.519
think even though the setup lives reasonably
well for me and the relationship between the

569
00:47:22.559 --> 00:47:30.079
two people starts off in an interesting
way, it is quite obvious that it's

570
00:47:30.119 --> 00:47:34.800
going to develop in a very predictable
sort of way. And I just didn't

571
00:47:35.760 --> 00:47:40.760
I found the final third of the
film ridiculous. I really did feel that

572
00:47:40.800 --> 00:47:45.639
it was not set up properly for
the way the story develops, and it

573
00:47:45.719 --> 00:47:50.159
just goes completely out of control.
Well, look, I suppose finally something

574
00:47:50.199 --> 00:47:52.239
happens, but it's not in keeping, as you rightly say, with what

575
00:47:52.719 --> 00:47:59.199
happened beforehand. And I mean,
seriously, why would you pursue that relationship?

576
00:47:59.199 --> 00:48:02.480
I still struggle of that. Do
you understand why you would? Is

577
00:48:02.519 --> 00:48:08.599
it quite said that they they're thought
of having someone special? Yes, look,

578
00:48:08.639 --> 00:48:13.480
I agree with you about that.
She was a very downtrodden sort of

579
00:48:13.480 --> 00:48:17.199
cinema worker and she just found this
guy so appealing because he would keep on

580
00:48:17.440 --> 00:48:22.079
ordering popcorn and red vines, which
is something we don't have in Australia,

581
00:48:22.119 --> 00:48:27.599
I don't think. Which is is
that anything like red snakes or red lollies?

582
00:48:27.639 --> 00:48:30.239
Or something. I do not think
we need it. Yeah, very

583
00:48:30.280 --> 00:48:34.440
bad. Anyway, No, I
wasn't going to make any allusions to anything

584
00:48:35.239 --> 00:48:37.559
anything like that, but anyway,
No, the point is that she was

585
00:48:37.599 --> 00:48:42.519
looking for someone in her life.
She felt that this guy was quirky enough

586
00:48:42.559 --> 00:48:49.360
and interesting enough to have a relationship
with, and online they would have this

587
00:48:49.679 --> 00:48:57.159
constant text messaging and I think the
cat person reference comes into their into their

588
00:48:57.159 --> 00:49:00.400
messaging about are you the type of
person wants a cat or wants a dog?

589
00:49:00.760 --> 00:49:05.599
All that sort of thing. So
I think it's that sort of reference.

590
00:49:06.599 --> 00:49:10.559
Look, I really wanted this film
to be much better than it was.

591
00:49:10.679 --> 00:49:15.199
I mean, Susanna Fogel does her
best with a screenplay she's saddled with,

592
00:49:15.559 --> 00:49:20.639
which I don't think is particularly useful
at all. So for me,

593
00:49:20.840 --> 00:49:24.039
it was disappointing. Although I have
to say it was great to see Isabella

594
00:49:24.159 --> 00:49:29.800
Rossellini in the film. It was
great, But I kind of thought,

595
00:49:30.039 --> 00:49:35.320
hmm, now it's a terrible thing
to say, but she is such a

596
00:49:35.360 --> 00:49:39.639
grand actor and this is not This
is not a grand film. Now,

597
00:49:40.400 --> 00:49:44.159
she wouldn't have known that because well, she would act, because you could

598
00:49:44.159 --> 00:49:49.320
have read the script. But I
can't. I want to see her in

599
00:49:49.360 --> 00:49:52.239
grand movies, This is my answer, but I understand that you've got to

600
00:49:52.239 --> 00:49:58.440
work right. So she's been appearing
of late in a number of smaller independent

601
00:49:58.480 --> 00:50:02.159
productions. I saw one of the
film Festival, So I think she's looking

602
00:50:02.199 --> 00:50:08.960
for different, quirky and female lead
films. There aren't roles for older women

603
00:50:09.360 --> 00:50:14.760
enough, yes, exactly, and
so Hope Davis is also in the film

604
00:50:15.039 --> 00:50:19.679
in a small but key role.
So the casting is interesting, is pretty

605
00:50:19.719 --> 00:50:24.000
good. It's the screenplay that lets
the film down considerably. Yeah, I

606
00:50:24.559 --> 00:50:31.519
kind of I'm wondering because in terms
of female roles, older female roles,

607
00:50:31.559 --> 00:50:38.960
the British do it better, but
you typically get the same noteworthy female actors

608
00:50:39.000 --> 00:50:43.599
in them, but you at least
get them. The Americans don't seem to

609
00:50:43.639 --> 00:50:45.039
do a lot of that, do
they, when you think about it.

610
00:50:46.119 --> 00:50:52.519
Or they belittle older people in terms
of you're pandering to them, and I

611
00:50:52.519 --> 00:50:57.800
don't like that either, right,
they feel formulaic. That's a gross generalization,

612
00:50:57.920 --> 00:51:01.639
But I mean, can you think
of too many meaty roles for women

613
00:51:01.679 --> 00:51:07.000
who are let's say sixty five plus? Well known? Lit Old Streep is

614
00:51:07.039 --> 00:51:10.960
now in her early sixties, so
she would be getting more of those meaty

615
00:51:12.079 --> 00:51:15.960
sort of roles, I'm sure,
but European cinema does it much better.

616
00:51:16.800 --> 00:51:21.719
Yeah. I mean again, I
know it's a generalization, but that's that's

617
00:51:21.840 --> 00:51:23.679
that's a it's a real pity,
to be honest, but yeah, I

618
00:51:24.119 --> 00:51:28.960
agree with those words. I wanted
this to be better, and when it

619
00:51:29.039 --> 00:51:30.480
started, I actually thought, oh, oh, this is great. You

620
00:51:30.519 --> 00:51:35.519
know, Amelia Jones I really like
as an actor, and I like the

621
00:51:36.280 --> 00:51:39.159
portrait of her, the character,
her character, et cetera. I like

622
00:51:39.239 --> 00:51:44.639
that, and I thought, okay, and then this sort of guy walks

623
00:51:44.679 --> 00:51:49.480
into a life who just doesn't have
a lot going going for him, and

624
00:51:49.480 --> 00:51:54.760
and I mean it seemed like they
were pushing he suddenly turned, and then

625
00:51:54.840 --> 00:51:58.920
then you meant to question whether he
turned or you know, whether it was

626
00:51:58.960 --> 00:52:01.559
really him or not. Yeah,
let's get a score. Camp person M

627
00:52:01.840 --> 00:52:05.639
rate at one hundred and nineteen minutes, Peter, what do you reckon?

628
00:52:06.000 --> 00:52:08.519
Okay? As a psychological thriller?
I don't think it's particularly effective, but

629
00:52:08.559 --> 00:52:14.320
it is quite predictable. Unfortunately,
should have been a more nuanced film.

630
00:52:14.599 --> 00:52:16.480
I can only give it five out
of ten. Yeah, look, I

631
00:52:16.519 --> 00:52:22.519
think it was better than that,
but I don't think it's Yeah, it's

632
00:52:22.559 --> 00:52:24.719
disappointing, so I'll give it six
and a half. I will give it

633
00:52:24.719 --> 00:52:29.119
six and a half. I like
quirky, but yeah, I wanted to

634
00:52:29.159 --> 00:52:30.719
hang together more than it did.
Peter, thank you very much mate.

635
00:52:30.760 --> 00:52:36.079
We will do it all again very
very soon and be good to one another

636
00:52:36.119 --> 00:52:39.039
and we'll catch up next week on
First On Film and Entertainment.