S03E12: Remembering Donald Sutherland: A Cinematic Legacy

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First on film and entertainment. The
whole team is together. Peter Krauss,

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delightful to have you back. Jackie
Hamilton, where have you been? We

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haven't seen or heard from you for
what at least a year or two?

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And Greg King the team. Absolutely, let's start with you. Peter.

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You gave us a scare. But
you're back, and you're firing and you're

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fit. Correct pretty much? So, yes, fantastic. Well this is

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really nice, Jackie. You've been
a world traveler. Correct. Oh,

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yes, but I've spoken with you
since then. Alex, So have I

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forgotten that? You must? Yes, you've forgotten that I have? Okay,

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Well you're old, Alex exactly.
That's terrific, you know, it's

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the mind sort of wanders in all
sorts of directions. Gregory, Correct,

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I would know that's not that old, not that old. Okay. Donald

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Sutherland's passing, extremely sad. One
thing. I just thought he carried himself

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throughout his life remarkable, And I
mean he was a very very well known

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figure around the world for those who
are delighted by cinema like we are.

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I don't know, it's again we
talk about age, et cetera. He

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was eighty eight years of age.
One thing that strikes me, and I

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suppose this is somebody who has become
envious as I've become. What does one

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say about losing the thatching up top
challenged in that area? He had a

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fine head of air right throughout his
life and in fact, when I saw

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a shot of him from about two
or three years ago, although he was

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snow white, it was extremely elegant. Now why does that stand with me,

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Jackie Hamerton, Well, because you're
jealous. But apart from that snowy

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white, he also had a magnificent
beard from time to time when it was

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called upon. So maybe that's why
it's prominent for you, because it really

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stood out. The voice of his
He often had that silky citizen andrew his

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voice sometimes and played great villains.
He did play great villains, and I

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mean it was relatively late. Some
of the roles have been relatively recent for

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which he's known, and I think
that that's part of his allure, that

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he spent one of the one of
the first time you notice he was as

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Oddball and Killer Zeroes way back then. Yes, but but I was in

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math, yes, but I was
also thinking about more recently, President snow

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right, that that's the thing.
The Hunger Games franchise, which was huge,

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you know that that we're only talking
about. You know that that ended

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not even a decade ago, so
you know, this is a figure that

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It's funny I was thinking about this. I can't remember which actor I was

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hearing stories about, whether it was
Sutherland or somebody else that young, younger

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people used to go up to him
and want him to sort of put on

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a nasty face when they took a
photograph of him to reflect you know,

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the nastier characters. Now that that
shows cut true. And I mean he

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had such a prolific career, the
number of movies that he made that really

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stood out. And I mean,
you know you're thinking about the Dirty Doesn't

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and so on and mash and stories
like that, and then you know,

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you work through this and you go
to one of the movies that stood out

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for me with six degrees of Separation. So a very prolific career, somebody

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highly regarded. And of course a
Canadian, wasn't he He was born in

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Canada exactly. So you know what
stands out to you Peter Grause about Donald

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Sutherland, Well, he's very much
a journeyman actor with two hundred credits to

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his name, an incredible array of
films. He was in. Clute is

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probably one of his best films.
But I also want to mention a film

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that's not that well known, a
film called Disclosure, which a film made

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in the nineties with Michael Douglas and
Demi Moore. And it was a film

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well ahead of its time because it
looked at a computer organization with virtual reality,

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which for nineteen ninety four was quite
amazing, and he was the head

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of that organization. And the film
also dealt with sexual harassment. So he

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was very good at being cast in
such a wide range of roles, some

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of which were quite unusual, very
elegant as well. Greg wasn't he a

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really a statuesque elegant person that really
he stood out. You knew that he

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was Donald Sutherland and that you paid
attention. That's how I recall him with

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a great deal of fonders and you
Yeah, I liked some of his more

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villainous roles, like in nineteen hundred
when he was a fascist leader who Bastiput

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did this there in that film.
I like that one I remember from the

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yoty dozen and mash of course,
Clue look now one of his best films.

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I thought The Igle Has Landed.
He had a great role in that

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one as well. But he also
did comedy like National Ampoons and Warhouse and

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those kind of films. Everybody often
played villains like I as a Noodle.

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Was also in films like back Draft, JFK. JFK was the one that

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again Oliver Stone movie that really Trying
to Kill and Space Cowboys, the remaking,

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The Italian Job, a lot of
a lot of films and The Horrible

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Bosses as well as in that,
and lots of TV werek. But he

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made a few TV yeares like Dirty
sixty Money an Impearian Command in Chief as

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well. So yeah, prolific career, memory, some memorable roles, but

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a lot of shocking there as well. But as Peter said, he was

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a journeyman actor just for god the
roles and built up what he worked well

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in terms of He's won a lot
of awards, but I don't think he

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ever won an Oscar. Did he
honore? Yeah, exactly what Time Achievement

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Award? Yes? Yes, again, I mean I thought he was highly

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deserving. You could have chosen any
number of movies that could have won him

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an Oscar. He's not unusual in
that regard. But Jackie, what are

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your recollections of Donald Sutherland and how
fondly did you regard him? Well,

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not a lot of his films,
to be honest, were really my favorite

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kind of films, So he wouldn't
be up there for me as one of

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my you know, as being in
my favorite films. However he will.

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He is an all time Hollywood,
old school Hollywood gentleman, if you like.

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I think it's the kind of person
that I liked. And I thought

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that he could always almost physically dissolve
himself into a character very well, even

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though he was he had quite physically
he had quite he was quite imposed,

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you know, been having the height
and a very angular faith, so he

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was easy. He could actually with
quite a bit of makeup whatever, change

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his hair all that. You know, he dissolved himself into a role very

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much. And that's what I think
of it. He has a very distinctive

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voice. And the other thing that
was really appealing about him was he smile.

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He had a really nice, lopsided
sort of smile. He did.

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And as you're rightly say, he
won the twenty eighteen Honore Award at the

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Academy Awards. So it was terrific
that during his life at least, I

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mean, I think he was very
highly regarded by his peers. So that

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speaks volumes as well. It's interesting
how friends of mine who are not really

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the cinema were quite sort of they
expressed their sadness about his passing, whereas

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they perhaps wouldn't have commented on other
people. So I think he had a

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strong impact on the world. You
know. Also he was eighty eight,

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Alex, so that's a good life
and a good body of work, and

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he'll be a you know, forever
legend, really wanty of Hollywood of all

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likely you think, I think that's
absolutely true. I think he's one of

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the names that will stand out and
stand for all time and a number of

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the movies. Of course. You
know, when you've got such a prolific

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career, Peter, with two hundred, as you say, credits to his

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aim, there's going to be a
lot of people who are going to appreciate

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his work long into the distance,
aren't there. Similarly, Yes, there's

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such a longevity and such a wide
range of roles. And he also said

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hed win an Emmy award, I
must say as well for a television production,

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so apart from the honor are Oscar, he certainly was well recognized.

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And his son Kiefer, who posted
on X I thought his words were extremely

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well chosen and you know, cut
to the chase in a most effective manner

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and very respectful. But it was
a very pointed message and poignant message at

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that. So vallet Donald Sutherland and
we're talking about sort of franchise movies,

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and we talked about the Hunger games
that have had real impact that that sort

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of on j eighty eight FM.
Let's turn our tension to which what I

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would argue is the movie of the
Despicable Me for now, what, oh

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my, what a wonderful fourth movie
in the franchise. I mean, okay,

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you've got Minions movies, but to
me, this shows that sometimes when

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you have got a second to third
or fourth movie, it can be just

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as good as the original and how
clever and creative and funny. And we

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went along on opening opening like the
media Nite, and a lot of the

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laughter came from adults who really appreciated
what was going on here. I think

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that speaks volumes and you know,
it may be the first film in the

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collective, specifically the Despicable Me collective, for seven years, but it only

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goes to show that in the intervening
period the filmmakers have continued to own in

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skills. So and wouldn't you love
to be a voice talent in a successful

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series like this? That's that I
was thinking about this when I was thinking

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of Steve Carrell and Will Ferrell joins
this one, so that's really sort of

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it's a big thing. And because
Kristen Wig, they're the sort of three

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that stood out for me. But
anyway, you've got grew the world's favorite

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supervillain turned anti villain League Agent Avl
attending his I think it's not an eighty

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five high school reunion if I'm not
wrong, And it's where his former nemesis,

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a character called Maxine Lamau, the
voice of Will Ferrell, continues to

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mock him and lord it all over
him, and much to his chagrin,

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the principle of the school they attended
announces Maxim Lamal as the most successful student

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and he presents him with a trophy. But of course that's where the real

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skullduggery begins, because in his victory
speech, Lamel outlines an nefarious plan in

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which he turns into this all powerful
mega cockroach. Who would have thunk it?

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Yeah, but anyway, he's got
a loyal cockroach following behind him,

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and he's ready to take over the
world. Of course, he is until

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Grew and members of the Anti Villain
League jump upon him and capture him and

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put him in jail. The problem
is that he isn't going to be in

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prison too long before he's sprung,
and he's got vengeance in mind. So

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to that end, the Anti Villain
League has to act swiftly to keep Grew

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and his family out of harm's way. So at short notice they moved to

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the picturesque town of Mayflower, and
I speak about Grew, about his partner

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Lucy played by Kristen Wigg, their
daughters Margo, Edith and Agnes, and

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the baby Grew ju So they're given
false names that the parents adopt new fake

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occupations, and with them are their
three closest minions, who continue to get

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into all sorts of trouble, and
so too the army of Minions, who

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are now all shifted to AVL headquarters, and among them five so called volunteers

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are turned into mega millions at sort
of larger versions of minions who can get

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into even bigger mischief, and they're
the ones who are called upon to help

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recapture them out. So Gruel is
also prevailed upon to tone down his cranky

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irrit his irritable ways, shall we
call them, and he tries to ingratiate

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himself to his upperty car car dealer
owner neighbor Perry Prescott, the voice of

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Stephen Colbert and Perry's snooty daughter up
Poppy, played with voice talent at least

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by Joey King. In fact,
it's the that's the daughter, that Poppy,

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who dreams of becoming a super villain. She's obsessed with all things villainous,

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and she blackmails Grew into helping her
pull off a heist at his old

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school. And while not all goes
according to plan, Grew's real reckoning is

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yet to come. That's going to
happen when, despite the anti villain League's

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elaborate planning and with his fem fatale
girlfriend Valentina in tow, Valentino voiced by

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Sophia Viagara lamal uncovers Grew's secret hideaway
their home in this picturesque town, so

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delightful, script, beautifully realized,
with a surfeit of color and movement,

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hijinks of plenty, characters really really
well drawn, and there are laughs in

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almost every scene, and many stem
from Grew's awkward relationship with his new son,

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who is a real well a real
mischief maker. And equally, the

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minions are frequently out of control,
but continue to do their own thing with

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some hilarious consequences. I reckon this
is the ultimate family film. You know,

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You've got two really good family movies
out, both of which are Seat

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A sequences or seat A series based
or franchise based at the moment, so

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this is the second one, and
to me, it's the ultimate family film.

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As I mentioned, lots of mirth
and merriment abound, perfect for children

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and adults alike. It's one you
can really get your teeth into. And

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I love a movie like this.
I mean, I thought it would be

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good, but I didn't think it
would be great. And I consider this

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to be a great sequel, a
really strong film that I would urge people

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to go along and see. I
mean, you know, it's it's an

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important film in that regard, and
you know fabulous that you've got two really

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good movies, the other one being
Inside Out Too, playing at the cinemas

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as we speak. What did you
think of it, Jacqueline, I loved

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it too, Alex Me Despicable Me
for much. Yes, I have seen

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them all. It's all a little
bit of a blurer over the years as

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to you know wh what I thought
of each one specifically, but certainly don't

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have a memory of being disappointed in
any of them. The only thing,

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if I'm going to allow one criticism
of this film, I didn't find it

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quite as funny as you seem to
have. For me, it wasn't much

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of a laugh out loud film.
The dialogue, the scripting for me wasn't

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actually witty or funny, so I
didn't burst out laughing, and I noticed

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this because there were a couple of
times when I did. However, on

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the other side of the coin,
it was endlessly entertaining and mildly amusing the

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whole time, like I didn't want
to take my eyes off the screen and

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some of that. Let's sort of
dig down a bit here. So you

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said it was endlessly amusing, but
you didn't find it funny, saying on

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how does that work? Okay,
so there were splitting hairs here, perhaps,

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but I didn't laugh out loud funny. I didn't out loud funny scroll

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lines, witty lines, yes,
And yet it was what was happening on

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the screen was was visually very amusing. There was a lot of slap slapstick,

202
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and of course the minions. But
you went to opening night, didn't

203
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you? You went to the media. No, I didn't, actually,

204
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and I would like to say I
rent along all by myself at a very

205
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strange time for what could be,
you know, a cartoonish young Nigle's film

206
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at about six thirty PM, and
in the cinema with me were several couples

207
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in their twenties. And I thought
that was a fantastic audience for this film.

208
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And yes, at the times that
it was funny, they were laughing

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out loud. They obviously loved it
as much as I did. And I

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don't see who couldn't love this.
You know, it's right, and it's

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at and it's got fast action,
and it's got minions. The other thing

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I noted very much about this is
that the main plot that you gave in

213
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a bit of detail, there actually
didn't seem to me to be a dominating,

214
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strong plot because there were so many
little subplots to entertain this along the

215
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way, and most of those subplots
had to do with emotion and family and

216
00:17:27.079 --> 00:17:32.160
warmth. And you know, it's
like the youngest daughter worrying about her little

217
00:17:32.960 --> 00:17:36.559
was it a go to little kid, yes, not remembering her when she

218
00:17:36.680 --> 00:17:41.559
came home, and it's about it's
about Grew trying to connect with Junior,

219
00:17:41.720 --> 00:17:47.559
who obviously had a stranger danger thing
with his dad. And there were probably

220
00:17:47.960 --> 00:17:52.920
you know, a good eight little, many subplots going along the way that

221
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kept us amused. And so nothing
about it was too complicated, is what

222
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I'm saying. They didn't have to
have a big plot that got complicated.

223
00:18:02.599 --> 00:18:07.079
It was just a banny who was
obviously a baddie and he was a cockroach,

224
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and you know, villain versus good
guy. So when you've done it,

225
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I like that when you think about
it, you think about the fact

226
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that there's a cockroach at the center
of this, a mega cockroach or whatever.

227
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You're thinking, oh, now,
this could never work. And yet

228
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you know, this is where I
really admire the writing. And we talk

229
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about this a lot Honestly, I
dispute your claim there. I think a

230
00:18:29.920 --> 00:18:34.359
villainous cockroach would totally work. I
think it was a brilliant whoever came up

231
00:18:34.400 --> 00:18:38.200
with that at the round table.
When I think of a cockroach, I

232
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think of a credit that I'm not
particularly fond of as such. Thankly,

233
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we just want to step on it
and squash it. Yes, but I

234
00:18:45.880 --> 00:18:51.680
mean so fine. You hardly think
about it in the same way that you

235
00:18:52.200 --> 00:18:56.720
you would something really puffed up and
bowerful, though, do you. I'm

236
00:18:56.759 --> 00:19:00.319
sorry, Well, this villain doesn't
have to be huffed up and powerful.

237
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He's a he's a try hard this
villain, right, you know. And

238
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the other thing being a cockroach allows
for is the gadgetry behind its movements and

239
00:19:11.519 --> 00:19:17.359
its flight and it's you know,
its body. So it brought there was

240
00:19:17.400 --> 00:19:22.920
a lot of gadgets in this film, which is visually fantastic, and the

241
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kids love that, so that worked
really well. Well. The other thing,

242
00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:30.880
you know, we talk about the
writing my goalie to do it the

243
00:19:30.880 --> 00:19:36.079
way that they do, and then
for the animators to achieve what they have

244
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done, and of course the minions
make it. The minions are just mayhem.

245
00:19:38.880 --> 00:19:41.920
The moment and they've got to come
up with smarter ways of doing it

246
00:19:41.960 --> 00:19:45.119
and sort of blowing them up if
you like. The Mega Minions thought that

247
00:19:45.279 --> 00:19:49.400
was brilliant. So now I'm really
pleased you enjoyed it as much as I

248
00:19:49.480 --> 00:19:53.519
did, Jaackie, because you know, we rarely agree totally on films,

249
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but we seem to hear greg you
did see it at the media opening,

250
00:20:00.119 --> 00:20:03.119
And what I was getting at is
I think that the audience around me,

251
00:20:03.240 --> 00:20:10.119
the sheer pleasure that I could see
derived by them, sort of really also

252
00:20:10.200 --> 00:20:15.920
catapulted the film in my eyes the
way that I've expressed, did you were

253
00:20:15.960 --> 00:20:19.119
you cognizant of how enjoyable the film
was for those around you. Well,

254
00:20:19.160 --> 00:20:22.759
when you're seeing a film with an
audience like that who are into it,

255
00:20:22.759 --> 00:20:26.279
it does sort of build and make
it more enjoyable. But I had a

256
00:20:26.319 --> 00:20:29.400
little problem with the film. I
thought it was a little too overcrowded blot

257
00:20:29.440 --> 00:20:32.920
wise. There were so many subplots
running throughout the film there it was sort

258
00:20:32.920 --> 00:20:34.720
of a little bit hard to keep
up with them all. But as usual,

259
00:20:34.960 --> 00:20:38.839
the Minians steal the show with their
zany and it's their slapsip humor,

260
00:20:40.079 --> 00:20:42.079
all that sort of stuff, and
I like the Metaminians who had to learn

261
00:20:42.160 --> 00:20:47.480
how to harness their superpowers, which
provided some big Lass as well as they

262
00:20:47.559 --> 00:20:52.599
learned how to use them properly.
The film's been written by Mike White,

263
00:20:52.640 --> 00:20:56.200
who's better known for things like School
of Rock and the regular series writer Tendio.

264
00:20:56.720 --> 00:21:00.920
But as I said, it's very
busy with subplots. It feels like

265
00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:06.200
several short films thrown together to make
a feature film there. I thought it

266
00:21:06.240 --> 00:21:10.240
failed to mind that fish, mind
that fish out of water scenario big Lass.

267
00:21:10.279 --> 00:21:12.839
There's a bit of a wasted opportunity
there. But the theme of family

268
00:21:12.960 --> 00:21:18.680
and the subplat which Grew attempts to
bond with his baby son I thought added

269
00:21:18.720 --> 00:21:22.200
some emotional hests to the material there. But it's got a great vocal class.

270
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As you said, a lot of
new characters brought into the mix as

271
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well, who are well brought to
life. There great vocal class there.

272
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That's perfect entertainment for the whole family, especially with school always there. And

273
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younger audiences certainly did love it with
its color, its movement, and the

274
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antics and minions, but I feel
that some older audiences may be a little

275
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bit shaded by it all by now, probably not as fressally it was when

276
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I first hit the screen, what
fourteen years to do? It's been a

277
00:21:48.640 --> 00:21:53.079
long time, which but that's the
beauty of something like this that you get

278
00:21:53.440 --> 00:21:57.319
a new generation can appreciate it,
and those that saw the first one and

279
00:21:57.519 --> 00:22:00.599
you sort of you clamor or to
go along and see it because you know

280
00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:04.759
it's going to be done good green, So I think that's important. Peter,

281
00:22:07.160 --> 00:22:10.119
have you had the chance to catch
up on it. I have,

282
00:22:10.440 --> 00:22:15.960
yes. Look I'm not as impressed
as all of you are about the film.

283
00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:22.039
I think it's lost sight of its
original franchise or its original plot line,

284
00:22:22.160 --> 00:22:27.720
and it's become a sort of a
watered down film trying to introduce this

285
00:22:29.119 --> 00:22:34.480
version four as much as humor and
over the top sort of slapstick. And

286
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I don't know. It feels to
me as if it might appealed to young

287
00:22:40.240 --> 00:22:45.000
children. But I just don't feel
that it was a cohesive enough plot.

288
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I agree with Greg that it threw
in far too many characters and far too

289
00:22:49.160 --> 00:22:55.440
many storyline threads, and I don't
think all of them work particularly well or

290
00:22:56.319 --> 00:23:02.440
In fact, the grou character has
been come a sort of a very much

291
00:23:02.480 --> 00:23:07.759
as I mentioned, a watered down, sort of inverted Commas evil type character

292
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who now has a family, and
it's all very friendly and in fact,

293
00:23:14.480 --> 00:23:18.759
we have to have a cock approach
as a villain because there's not much further

294
00:23:18.720 --> 00:23:23.160
that the that the writers have been
able to go. And I must say

295
00:23:23.240 --> 00:23:33.039
the minions annoy me. They dominate
the film and look overall, I think

296
00:23:33.599 --> 00:23:38.119
the writing is a bit of hidden
miss and I would have liked a much

297
00:23:38.160 --> 00:23:44.359
stronger, my cohesive story. You
are a Calcier treny individual. This is

298
00:23:44.400 --> 00:23:48.759
a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful movie. It is. It is a joyful

299
00:23:48.960 --> 00:23:53.599
production. I can't see how you
can't possibly see that. Look. I'm

300
00:23:53.680 --> 00:24:00.119
just that can imagine that seesles plots
and then exactly exactly that's how I see

301
00:24:00.160 --> 00:24:06.319
it. Correct. Oh my golly, wow, Jackie comment on Peter please,

302
00:24:06.880 --> 00:24:10.359
oh, I'd be happy to.
I think that the minions. The

303
00:24:10.359 --> 00:24:14.480
one thing I thought about the Minions
in this was they dominated less than I

304
00:24:14.519 --> 00:24:18.440
seem to remember. In two or
three, I think they suddenly everyone realized

305
00:24:18.480 --> 00:24:22.519
how popular the Minions were, and
in those at least one or two of

306
00:24:22.559 --> 00:24:27.799
those previous in the sequel in the
series the minions did dominate too much,

307
00:24:27.839 --> 00:24:32.759
but this I thought they had a
great role. There was a great balance

308
00:24:33.079 --> 00:24:37.000
in the way that they were brought
out because because their little, if we

309
00:24:37.079 --> 00:24:42.680
say, activities didn't impinge on the
main story, they had their own were

310
00:24:42.839 --> 00:24:47.759
They were like sidekicks the whole way
through, doing their own little little bits

311
00:24:47.759 --> 00:24:52.559
and pieces that were just mildly amusing. And I also think Peter that grew

312
00:24:52.200 --> 00:24:57.599
had gone from evil and he turned
to good previously, so he's not a

313
00:24:57.680 --> 00:25:02.000
villain anymore. He actually worked for
the anti villain Leak, which is why

314
00:25:02.000 --> 00:25:06.279
they were being put into a safe
house and had to move away from their

315
00:25:06.319 --> 00:25:10.960
home when they were being pursued by
the villains. So he isn't evil anymore.

316
00:25:11.000 --> 00:25:14.559
He's got family and he loves them
and he wants to be a good

317
00:25:14.559 --> 00:25:19.200
guy now. So that's been the
change, the shift in the series in

318
00:25:19.240 --> 00:25:25.599
his character. And if I could
just also briefly to say with regards to

319
00:25:25.839 --> 00:25:30.799
the number of subplots, I mentioned
that earlier as an example of something I

320
00:25:30.880 --> 00:25:36.119
loved about it. Greg and Peter
have said there was too much of that,

321
00:25:36.559 --> 00:25:38.319
but from my point of view,
apart from the fact that I actually

322
00:25:38.400 --> 00:25:42.920
really enjoyed it there because they were
all simple little snippets. Kids are going

323
00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:48.119
to watch this over and over and
over a hundred times, so it's not

324
00:25:48.240 --> 00:25:52.880
too complicated or too busy or too
much for them. They'll pick up on

325
00:25:52.920 --> 00:25:56.079
the threads right the way through.
So I didn't have a problem with that.

326
00:25:56.440 --> 00:26:00.519
And it's interesting because Greg, you
saw the minions as dominating, whereas

327
00:26:00.640 --> 00:26:03.880
Jackie didn't, so it's we all
were. It's fascinating. We've all seen

328
00:26:03.960 --> 00:26:11.359
this same movie and we view it
differently, so differently. That's not normal.

329
00:26:11.519 --> 00:26:15.000
That's not normal on this show because
we're viewing the same product. And

330
00:26:15.079 --> 00:26:18.079
yet I suppose it's the way that
we take to that product. Peter,

331
00:26:18.160 --> 00:26:22.000
as you say, you know this
is not I mean, I get the

332
00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:26.720
impression this isn't your cup of Titi
well, and that's disappointing because I enjoy

333
00:26:27.759 --> 00:26:33.880
a lot of these animated franchises,
and Inside Out Too is an excellent instance.

334
00:26:33.920 --> 00:26:37.599
There's better than Inside Out Too.
And I loved Inside Out Too Too,

335
00:26:37.519 --> 00:26:41.960
Yes, two too. I gave
Inside Out to a seven and a

336
00:26:42.000 --> 00:26:45.920
half. I gave the original Inside
Out an eight, and I'm going to

337
00:26:47.000 --> 00:26:52.559
give this one, which is a
wonderful movie and one of my year's favorite.

338
00:26:52.599 --> 00:26:55.480
I'm giving this an eight and a
half out of dan Jackie. What

339
00:26:55.519 --> 00:26:57.759
about you, Well, I was
giving it between seven and a half and

340
00:26:57.839 --> 00:27:02.279
eighteen. I think I'll go for
the full eight because I'm going to give

341
00:27:02.319 --> 00:27:04.480
that last little bit to the minion
who gets stuck in the vending machine.

342
00:27:06.799 --> 00:27:12.319
But that's a great little submage.
And then yeah, it's clever, lovely

343
00:27:12.720 --> 00:27:15.119
the pink part of that, if
you know what I mean, where you

344
00:27:15.279 --> 00:27:18.519
just see the eyes. Sorry about
the spoiler, folks, but that was

345
00:27:18.640 --> 00:27:22.920
just just priceless, you know.
And it's part of the trailer, and

346
00:27:22.039 --> 00:27:26.920
I just think it's, Oh,
it's gorgeous. There's all warm and mushy

347
00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:33.240
stuff. Greg, what about you
just speak to what You're gonna only muster

348
00:27:33.319 --> 00:27:37.680
a six? Yeah? Oh golly, PG rated ninety five, Peter,

349
00:27:37.319 --> 00:27:41.720
Do I need a drum roll?
Or not? Maybe not? But I

350
00:27:41.759 --> 00:27:45.640
agree with Greg. Actually I gave
it six out of ten as well.

351
00:27:45.559 --> 00:27:51.400
Oh where's your inner child, Peter? I left it at the cinema door

352
00:27:51.920 --> 00:27:55.079
exactly. Well, it does appear
that way, so hang on one of

353
00:27:55.079 --> 00:27:57.759
the Greg, do do the sums
please? Six? Six? Eight?

354
00:27:59.359 --> 00:28:03.359
Right? Secretion right, six,
six, eight, twenty and then hang

355
00:28:03.400 --> 00:28:06.839
on, is that twenty? Yes
it is, and then eight and a

356
00:28:06.839 --> 00:28:10.880
half, So twenty and a half
divided by four or seven seven a bit?

357
00:28:11.759 --> 00:28:18.599
Okad well is that the technical result? You? Yeah? That is

358
00:28:18.640 --> 00:28:22.119
so well, seven and a bit
is better than average, isn't it,

359
00:28:22.200 --> 00:28:27.359
Jackie? Oh definitely, I reckon
it's extraordinary. And I wouldn't be surprised

360
00:28:27.359 --> 00:28:30.759
if this is in my top ten
movies of the year. That's how highly

361
00:28:30.839 --> 00:28:34.440
I regarded Despicable Me for what about
you, Jackie? No, you no,

362
00:28:34.480 --> 00:28:37.839
I don't. I don't think it'll
be in my top you know,

363
00:28:37.880 --> 00:28:41.000
it could be there somewhere. But
what I think is it's going to be

364
00:28:41.039 --> 00:28:45.960
one of those films that he kids
will just revisit for years. It's you

365
00:28:47.000 --> 00:28:49.640
know, it's a it's going to
be a part of the childhood thing.

366
00:28:51.119 --> 00:28:55.279
Despicable met the childhood thing exactly.
Well, I know, Jackie, you're

367
00:28:55.279 --> 00:28:57.720
going to push off and we hopefully
we'll catch up with you very very soon.

368
00:28:57.759 --> 00:29:02.960
Thank you for your insight. Enjoyed
fleet, and I want to move

369
00:29:03.039 --> 00:29:04.480
on. JR eighty eight FM.
By the way, if you want to

370
00:29:04.519 --> 00:29:08.759
subscribe, fifty four bucks a year
just go to jdash air dot com dot

371
00:29:08.799 --> 00:29:14.799
au and you are supporting community radio, which we love. The other thing

372
00:29:14.839 --> 00:29:18.359
I wanted to talk to you about
is the Sitting Duck. Now, Peter,

373
00:29:18.480 --> 00:29:22.079
you've seen that as well? Have
you not? And did you when

374
00:29:22.119 --> 00:29:26.400
did you see it? Did you
see it recently or also through the French

375
00:29:26.480 --> 00:29:30.680
Film Festival? That's what I thought
now, So I never know, and

376
00:29:30.680 --> 00:29:34.559
I suppose this is the case.
Palace does wonderful job with its film festivals.

377
00:29:34.720 --> 00:29:40.400
I never know which films are going
to be sort of make general release

378
00:29:40.480 --> 00:29:44.240
thereafter and which ones are not.
I wonder, how do you do you

379
00:29:44.240 --> 00:29:48.359
have any insight into how they determine
that, because I mean, is it

380
00:29:48.400 --> 00:29:52.400
on ticket sales? Is it on
is it just lack of the draw any

381
00:29:52.400 --> 00:30:00.519
insights? Not necessarily there are issues
related to who the distributor to her is,

382
00:30:00.039 --> 00:30:04.680
and I think this might be a
Palace film her and they bought quite

383
00:30:04.720 --> 00:30:08.599
a few of the films from the
French Film Festival. And also depends on

384
00:30:08.640 --> 00:30:14.440
the star power, and of course
Isabelle Hupeer has a love star power.

385
00:30:14.559 --> 00:30:18.960
In fact, we just received an
invite yesterday for another movie with Isabella and

386
00:30:19.039 --> 00:30:23.759
Pair in Japan. Yes certainly in
Japan, which also was part of the

387
00:30:23.759 --> 00:30:26.519
French Film Festival. Ah was it? Indeed? Right? Got it?

388
00:30:26.559 --> 00:30:29.880
Well? Okay, The Sitting Duck
is a couple of hours. It's two

389
00:30:29.880 --> 00:30:33.799
hours and two minutes. It's rated
M and it is a political thriller concerning

390
00:30:33.920 --> 00:30:41.279
a trade union official and whistleblower.
She was not believed after a violent personal

391
00:30:41.359 --> 00:30:45.240
attack. Now I didn't know this, and I because I don't read about

392
00:30:45.240 --> 00:30:49.559
movies until i've seen them and i've
actually written things up. But once I've

393
00:30:49.599 --> 00:30:55.400
written up at my review and started
sort of talking about it, I realized

394
00:30:55.400 --> 00:30:59.440
it was based on fact, and
that elevates it in my eyes, because

395
00:31:00.599 --> 00:31:06.200
in a fact is often stranger than
fiction. And you can't quite believe this,

396
00:31:06.359 --> 00:31:11.720
that this was actually based on a
real situation, a court case,

397
00:31:11.759 --> 00:31:15.960
and so on and so forth.
Now, the central figure is Maureen Kearney

398
00:31:15.279 --> 00:31:21.920
played by Hooper, who has well
had a hood put over her head.

399
00:31:22.440 --> 00:31:25.759
She was bound, she was raped, she was cut, and this was

400
00:31:25.799 --> 00:31:30.279
the seventeenth of December twenty twelve.
Now I don't imagine it's identical to the

401
00:31:30.279 --> 00:31:33.759
real story, because I think the
real story occurred in Belgium. Didn't it

402
00:31:33.799 --> 00:31:37.640
better? As well. That's my
understanding. I'm not sure whether you're over

403
00:31:37.680 --> 00:31:41.960
that or not, but I think
that's true. Yes, yeah, anyway,

404
00:31:41.160 --> 00:31:48.160
Maureen Kearney worked for a company called
Arriva are V, a French multinational

405
00:31:48.519 --> 00:31:55.240
specializing in nuclear power. So a
change of leadership at the firm ahead of

406
00:31:55.279 --> 00:32:00.880
the twenty twelve French election brought with
it extra pressure on this on Kerni,

407
00:32:00.400 --> 00:32:06.400
and she vowed to stay on.
And she was duly elected to represent Arreva's

408
00:32:06.480 --> 00:32:12.240
then fifty thousand workers for a sixth
term, which is no mean feat.

409
00:32:12.319 --> 00:32:16.039
And unfortunately she didn't trust the new
Arriva head, Luke Wi was sell played

410
00:32:16.079 --> 00:32:23.160
by Vane Attal. Vindication of her
suspicions came quickly when she was presented with

411
00:32:23.240 --> 00:32:28.920
a damning document that pointed to this
French conglomerate selling out to the Chinese,

412
00:32:29.920 --> 00:32:32.839
so tens of thousands of Arriva jobs
were on the line. When but when

413
00:32:32.880 --> 00:32:37.319
she tried to raise this matter with
political heavyweights, and I'm talking about heavyweights

414
00:32:37.319 --> 00:32:45.720
and politics in France, her overtures
weren't welcomed and the Arriva head also also

415
00:32:45.759 --> 00:32:52.160
made it clear that she should back
off. Whilst she was repeatedly threatened and

416
00:32:52.200 --> 00:32:55.880
intimidated, and then came this physical
attack that I referenced at the start,

417
00:32:57.279 --> 00:33:00.079
towards the end of twenty twelve,
in which, among them other depravities,

418
00:33:00.480 --> 00:33:07.200
she had the letter A carved into
her stomach, suggestive of Arriva. Now,

419
00:33:07.279 --> 00:33:10.799
in a shocking turn of events,
the upshot was that with no evidence,

420
00:33:12.160 --> 00:33:16.359
no witnesses, no DNA, this
woman, Maureen Kearney, went from

421
00:33:16.400 --> 00:33:22.839
being a victim to a suspect,
and her personal history was trailed over and

422
00:33:22.480 --> 00:33:28.240
she took hit after hit nevertheless,
over the ensuing six years. With her

423
00:33:28.319 --> 00:33:34.960
husband Giles Hugo played by Gregory Gadabay
behind her, she fought an often difficult

424
00:33:34.960 --> 00:33:39.960
campaign for justice so Ursy's and was
a most unusual case and it was ripe

425
00:33:39.960 --> 00:33:44.640
to be made into a movie.
When you hear that backstory sitting there watching

426
00:33:44.680 --> 00:33:49.839
events unfold, I was incredulous.
And it's been adapted from a twenty nineteen

427
00:33:49.920 --> 00:33:54.160
book of the same name, The
Sitting Duck, by an investigative journalist called

428
00:33:54.240 --> 00:34:00.920
Caroline Michelle Igueri. It's directed by
Jean Paul Sali and he wrote the screenplay

429
00:34:00.960 --> 00:34:07.039
along side for Debt Druard. It
really is a film about power and control,

430
00:34:07.079 --> 00:34:12.519
and at its core is skullduggery and
misogyny and sexual assault. I thought

431
00:34:12.760 --> 00:34:17.239
Isabelle Hoper was a standout as Kenny, a woman of fierce determination and also

432
00:34:17.360 --> 00:34:22.320
vulnerability. It's an interesting combination,
and we learn more about that vulnerable side

433
00:34:22.639 --> 00:34:29.360
as the movie progresses. Suffice to
say that Hoper carries herself with a lot

434
00:34:29.400 --> 00:34:34.400
of dignity and poise, and Gatibe
brings stoicism and warmth and good humor to

435
00:34:34.480 --> 00:34:39.960
his representation of Kearney's husband now more
Attaquin or Mara Attaquin rather chip off the

436
00:34:39.960 --> 00:34:46.199
old block paying Kenney's demonstrative and argumentative
daughter Fiona and He's a pair often don't

437
00:34:46.239 --> 00:34:51.639
see eye to eye, but they
clearly care about each other. Ivanne tale

438
00:34:51.639 --> 00:34:57.320
as fiery as the Arriva boss fed
up with Kenne's meddling, and Pierre Della

439
00:34:58.199 --> 00:35:01.960
I'll try to get this right.
Dell champ portrays the policeman heading up the

440
00:35:02.000 --> 00:35:07.559
investigation as a man copying pressure from
his higher ups, pressure to get a

441
00:35:07.599 --> 00:35:10.800
conviction. So that there are many
threads to this script, and the movie

442
00:35:10.920 --> 00:35:16.239
does require concentration to take it all
in. But if you do there is

443
00:35:16.320 --> 00:35:21.119
payoff and there is satisfaction. I
really appreciated the twist speed I was gripped

444
00:35:21.440 --> 00:35:25.519
along to find out more what was
being revealed had impact and I felt my

445
00:35:25.599 --> 00:35:30.159
outrage growing. So the fact that
it's drawn from reality, as I say,

446
00:35:30.519 --> 00:35:34.559
gives it extra bite. I thought
it was a strong movie. What

447
00:35:34.639 --> 00:35:37.679
did you think of The Sitting Dug
Yes, I was very impressed by this

448
00:35:37.760 --> 00:35:43.639
film. It reminded me a lot
of the film's silk Wood. Yes,

449
00:35:44.440 --> 00:35:47.599
yeah, that sort of background.
It's interesting the title of the film,

450
00:35:47.719 --> 00:35:57.039
Las Syndica Liste actually translates as the
trade Unionist, and I think to some

451
00:35:57.119 --> 00:36:01.280
extent that might have been a better
title than The Sitting Duck. But nevertheless,

452
00:36:02.400 --> 00:36:07.519
I like the thriller aspects of the
film. She was a sitting duck

453
00:36:07.559 --> 00:36:09.360
in terms of, you know,
the position that she was in, and

454
00:36:09.559 --> 00:36:14.039
you know she was she was in
the firing line. Yes, yeah,

455
00:36:14.119 --> 00:36:17.280
but but yeah, I take your
point. Yeah. So look, it's

456
00:36:17.320 --> 00:36:23.119
a really well developed thriller, and
it's interesting. The original character, Maureen

457
00:36:23.320 --> 00:36:31.480
Kearney, who is represented here,
was Irish and and then lived in France

458
00:36:31.599 --> 00:36:37.039
for many years and became a trade
unionist. But was there an Irish.

459
00:36:37.079 --> 00:36:40.760
Am I wrong in thinking there was
one one character order that was Irish or

460
00:36:42.199 --> 00:36:45.880
I can't remember now that I've seen
it a while ago now, but I

461
00:36:46.239 --> 00:36:51.920
for some reason that Irish stands out
in my head. Was Yeah, I

462
00:36:51.960 --> 00:36:57.400
think you're right. I think there
was an Irish character related to her background,

463
00:36:57.480 --> 00:37:00.480
and yeah, hereticage and so on. So yes, absolutely, so

464
00:37:00.719 --> 00:37:07.199
yes. This is a finely developed
thriller with some twists and turns in the

465
00:37:07.599 --> 00:37:14.559
story, and the question always is
whether to believe the central character and the

466
00:37:14.599 --> 00:37:20.960
assault that was permeated on her.
And I think it's because of that that

467
00:37:21.719 --> 00:37:28.159
it's a quite uncompelling film. And
Isabelle who pair is as always superb in

468
00:37:27.320 --> 00:37:32.519
the central role. Although I must
say that whoever was behind her makeup made

469
00:37:32.519 --> 00:37:37.960
her look very white and pasty,
which I thought was about god. He

470
00:37:38.119 --> 00:37:43.360
was flawless. Her skin was flawless. So I mean, I really noticed

471
00:37:43.480 --> 00:37:47.880
she looked really young, So makeup
can do that. That's a nice thing.

472
00:37:51.559 --> 00:37:52.920
Honestly, she like, I looked
at her skin and I'm thinking,

473
00:37:53.039 --> 00:37:59.480
my golly, at a porcelain doll. So yes, yeah, yeah,

474
00:38:00.119 --> 00:38:04.280
really did strike me. She is
a wonderful actor. No, yes,

475
00:38:04.320 --> 00:38:08.159
A question about it. I mean, it's such an amazing situation where you

476
00:38:08.239 --> 00:38:15.119
don't leave DNA where you know from
being somebody who know this is you know,

477
00:38:15.159 --> 00:38:17.559
it's funny. Funny is the wrong
word. It's very sad. I

478
00:38:19.920 --> 00:38:24.679
spoke to an extended family member who
happens to be a policewoman in Victoria and

479
00:38:25.280 --> 00:38:29.000
this is going back a couple of
years, and it really stood out in

480
00:38:29.039 --> 00:38:34.599
my mind, especially given what we're
talking about here about a woman who's sort

481
00:38:34.599 --> 00:38:39.559
of hat a sexual assault and is
not believed. How few people actually go

482
00:38:39.719 --> 00:38:45.199
through and we're talking specifically women here, but how few women actually want to

483
00:38:45.199 --> 00:38:52.000
go through the process because they are
seen as the accused rather than the person

484
00:38:52.079 --> 00:38:55.239
who has had a crime perpetrated upon
them. And how difficult it is to

485
00:38:55.960 --> 00:39:00.880
not in a circumstance like this,
but generally to to get a conviction in

486
00:39:01.599 --> 00:39:06.920
a sexual assault charge. I mean, this is something that we talked about

487
00:39:07.599 --> 00:39:12.719
I remember at a particular event and
it really stayed with me. And I

488
00:39:12.800 --> 00:39:15.679
mean, obviously the burden of proof
needs to be there. I'm not suggesting

489
00:39:15.719 --> 00:39:22.840
otherwise, but there are many people
who choose not to report it because if

490
00:39:22.840 --> 00:39:25.519
you like, they have to relive
the trauma, and you know, it's

491
00:39:25.559 --> 00:39:29.719
a question of what the lesser of
two evils is. So all of those

492
00:39:29.719 --> 00:39:32.440
things are brought up for me,
Peter, and you can imagine how would

493
00:39:32.480 --> 00:39:37.719
you feel. You know, you'd
be outraged and at some point you'd feel

494
00:39:37.719 --> 00:39:40.840
battered and beaten down because the world
seems to be against you. I mean,

495
00:39:40.840 --> 00:39:45.360
that's the whole point of the premise. Look, you're absolutely right the

496
00:39:45.480 --> 00:39:53.400
victim as being accused of perpetrating evidence
that may or may not be true.

497
00:39:53.519 --> 00:40:00.000
And yes, absolutely, and I
think this film demonstrates that very well indeed,

498
00:40:00.199 --> 00:40:06.400
And it's interesting. I think the
real life character in it was probably

499
00:40:06.440 --> 00:40:13.199
around about seventy at the time that
all of this happened to her as the

500
00:40:13.199 --> 00:40:19.559
trade unionist. And we mustn't forget
that there is a big political conspiracy that

501
00:40:19.719 --> 00:40:25.159
is behind this film, as she
was a whistleblower, and the whole aspect

502
00:40:25.199 --> 00:40:30.960
of nuclear power and losing so many
jobs which she was trying to defend,

503
00:40:32.639 --> 00:40:37.920
and of being sold out to China. Look, there are so many aspects

504
00:40:37.960 --> 00:40:43.440
to the filler arch I thought were
very impressive. Greg. Off the top

505
00:40:43.559 --> 00:40:47.320
and I haven't given you any sort
of notice about this at all. There

506
00:40:47.320 --> 00:40:52.480
are a couple of things that Peter
have spoke about that films about whistleblowers and

507
00:40:52.599 --> 00:40:58.320
films about sexual assault where victims are
not believed. I'm just thinking over the

508
00:40:58.400 --> 00:41:02.800
years, we've seen quite a few
movies about whistleblowers. Inside the Insider with

509
00:41:04.440 --> 00:41:07.559
Russ Ruppel crow As. That's the
one I was thinking of when I mentioned

510
00:41:07.559 --> 00:41:12.559
that. So, yeah, that's
that's one. I mean, I suppose

511
00:41:12.840 --> 00:41:15.360
that there must have been quite a
few others, and then others about sexual

512
00:41:15.400 --> 00:41:21.280
assault, any others that either of
any of us can think of that that

513
00:41:21.400 --> 00:41:25.079
spring to mind, not necessarily parallels
with this just Australia one with Geberally Furnace

514
00:41:25.159 --> 00:41:31.440
from the eighties. I don't recall
what that was, but yeah, I

515
00:41:31.519 --> 00:41:35.320
mean it's Peter Re probably know it
off. That's what we said, Peter,

516
00:41:35.519 --> 00:41:37.440
do you, Yeah, I remember
it from the late eighties. I'm

517
00:41:37.440 --> 00:41:42.920
trying to think of the title,
and I'm quickly googling you as we speak.

518
00:41:43.199 --> 00:41:45.880
No, that's right, we'll talk
about amongst ourselves while we do that.

519
00:41:46.000 --> 00:41:52.280
But obviously these are topics that are
ripe and to be made into movies,

520
00:41:52.400 --> 00:41:58.400
and it's because of the If you're
like almost the world needs whistleblowers because

521
00:41:58.920 --> 00:42:02.360
otherwise things are sweat under the carpet. But if you don't film sorry,

522
00:42:02.920 --> 00:42:07.719
shame, which the film Shame that
was a brilliant movie. Brilliant film.

523
00:42:07.800 --> 00:42:12.360
Yeah, exactly, But I mean, the world needs whistleblowers. And yet

524
00:42:12.760 --> 00:42:17.440
the risk that a whistleblower takes is
enormous, absolutely enormous, because you know

525
00:42:17.559 --> 00:42:22.719
that again believed, you know,
whether there's there's a reputation there. You

526
00:42:22.800 --> 00:42:28.199
know, it's interesting when somebody is
sacked from a job or leaves under bad

527
00:42:28.239 --> 00:42:32.119
circumstances or whatever, and then they
reveal all about their employment. It's seen

528
00:42:32.159 --> 00:42:37.239
as sour grapes. And yet there
may be a lot behind. Not everybody

529
00:42:37.320 --> 00:42:43.159
leaves, you know, they may
leave under sort of tenuous circumstances. But

530
00:42:44.079 --> 00:42:49.559
it's fascinating that most of the time, many of many companies and so forth,

531
00:42:50.440 --> 00:42:53.360
you're almost signing an agreement that you
can't speak to the media, you

532
00:42:53.400 --> 00:42:59.840
can't speak badly about a company or
whatever. And yet bad practice is a

533
00:43:00.360 --> 00:43:04.599
still rife in a large number of
organizations. Clearly, otherwise we wouldn't need

534
00:43:04.639 --> 00:43:09.000
whistleblowers, and you know, the
work practices and so forth. I want

535
00:43:09.000 --> 00:43:13.880
to see more movies like that,
Peter. Quite frankly, absolutely. There

536
00:43:13.920 --> 00:43:17.679
is a film called The Whistleblower I
remember with Michael Caine, which dealt with

537
00:43:17.719 --> 00:43:24.760
that. And there's another Isabelle Hohopair
film called El where she was a victim

538
00:43:25.039 --> 00:43:30.239
of an assault and not believed.
Wow. Okay, well, look,

539
00:43:30.320 --> 00:43:35.920
let's go to the scores for The
Sitting Duck. I'm going to give it

540
00:43:36.000 --> 00:43:39.119
a seven and a half out of
ten. Peter, Yeah, I really

541
00:43:39.199 --> 00:43:44.159
liked it seven out of ten for
me. Fantastic and greek. Hopefully you

542
00:43:44.159 --> 00:43:49.360
can catch up on it in time. Now let's talk about the Spanish Film

543
00:43:49.440 --> 00:43:52.280
Festival. Have you seen any films
in it? Greg or not yet?

544
00:43:52.039 --> 00:43:57.519
Yeah? Not yet? Okay,
So again one of the mini film festivals

545
00:43:57.559 --> 00:44:00.239
that are out and about, and
virtually each week we have another one.

546
00:44:00.360 --> 00:44:05.880
But you know, this is one
of the more dominant and common ones we

547
00:44:06.000 --> 00:44:10.400
saw, Peter. The central film
in the festival, The Teacher who Promised

548
00:44:10.480 --> 00:44:15.760
the Sea, and it turns back
the clock to the horrors of the murderous

549
00:44:15.760 --> 00:44:21.840
Fraco regime. A highly personal search
involved in this one conducted in twenty ten,

550
00:44:22.119 --> 00:44:29.119
again based on facts, so that
search involves a dying man's granddaughter who's

551
00:44:29.280 --> 00:44:35.199
desperately looking for her granddad's father,
so that's her great grandfather, and the

552
00:44:35.320 --> 00:44:39.639
hunt will see the single mother played
by Leiah Costa, travel to a site

553
00:44:39.960 --> 00:44:46.440
where mass graves have been uncovered,
and there she meets in liaises with subsequently

554
00:44:46.719 --> 00:44:52.760
an elderly man who knew her grandfather. So the movie The Teacher Who Promised

555
00:44:52.800 --> 00:45:00.199
the Seat juxtaposes revelations from twenty ten
with a dramatization of events that occurred between

556
00:45:00.280 --> 00:45:07.199
nineteen thirty five and nineteen thirty nine, right so World War two type territory.

557
00:45:07.440 --> 00:45:13.320
Now the major focus is on a
gentle and caring teacher who dared to

558
00:45:13.360 --> 00:45:17.960
defy the establishment. And his name
is Antony, and he's hired to teach

559
00:45:19.000 --> 00:45:24.320
in a small isolated village in Spain, and it's there that he establishes a

560
00:45:24.440 --> 00:45:30.119
delightful, intense and honorable relationship and
I stress the word honorable with his students.

561
00:45:30.159 --> 00:45:35.719
These are boys and girls aged from
six to twelve. So he's an

562
00:45:35.719 --> 00:45:39.840
atheist, and his first order of
business is to remove the cross from the

563
00:45:39.880 --> 00:45:45.719
wall of the schoolroom, which immediately
puts him offside with the surly local parish

564
00:45:45.719 --> 00:45:53.480
priest parents well, they are suspicious
of his unorthodox teaching methods which he has

565
00:45:53.519 --> 00:46:00.599
brought with him from France, and
he creates magic with his students through the

566
00:46:00.719 --> 00:46:06.639
use of a small printing press which
enables them to create and craft their own

567
00:46:06.840 --> 00:46:12.280
little books, and to the children's
wonderment and excitement, he promises to take

568
00:46:12.320 --> 00:46:19.199
them on an end of year trip
to quote C the C S SA C

569
00:46:19.400 --> 00:46:22.159
the C for the first time in
their lives. So with the best will

570
00:46:22.159 --> 00:46:28.800
in the world, expectation will turn
to tragedy. So this one the audience

571
00:46:28.840 --> 00:46:34.320
awarded this year's Goudy Awards, which
are celebrated annually in Barcelona, and it's

572
00:46:34.360 --> 00:46:39.039
quite an emotionally drama. There is
an archaeological dig where bones are uncovered and

573
00:46:39.079 --> 00:46:45.199
that starts the film. It's the
cut and me flesh and bones manifestation of

574
00:46:45.239 --> 00:46:50.920
that which takes one back much later
in the movie, and its impact is

575
00:46:51.280 --> 00:46:54.840
very strong. It's immense. In
fact, the political undertones of the film

576
00:46:54.840 --> 00:47:00.280
are apparent throughout, but the arrival
of Franco's forces in this sleepy village reveals

577
00:47:00.320 --> 00:47:07.119
the depth of fear and hatred felt
at the time. And I wonder that

578
00:47:07.280 --> 00:47:10.599
my mind actually wandered back to the
extraordinary Academy Wood winning film Life Is Beautiful

579
00:47:10.599 --> 00:47:15.519
back in nineteen ninety seven, and
so much promise is taken away with us

580
00:47:15.159 --> 00:47:21.239
a brutality, which was the essence
of that movie as well. I reckon.

581
00:47:21.480 --> 00:47:27.320
The actor Enrik Ulgier does a really
fine job as the idealistic teacher who

582
00:47:27.400 --> 00:47:31.440
offers so much. He brings the
sympathetic edge to his portrayal, and a

583
00:47:31.639 --> 00:47:38.239
paul hangs over Laia Costa's role as
the granddaughter as she uncovers clues to a

584
00:47:38.400 --> 00:47:45.599
dastardly family story. The director Patricia
Font brings into sharp focus the shocking history

585
00:47:45.800 --> 00:47:49.840
of a nation that lost so many
in appalling circumstances. I'm talking about the

586
00:47:50.039 --> 00:47:54.840
Freco regime, one still dealing with
its traumatic past. So the setupiece film

587
00:47:54.840 --> 00:47:59.639
at the Spanish Film Festival. It
requires a bit of concentration to follow,

588
00:48:00.079 --> 00:48:02.679
but it's well worth a look,
patter, isn't it. I was very

589
00:48:02.679 --> 00:48:07.679
impressed by this film because it looked
at the issue that a lot of Spanish

590
00:48:07.679 --> 00:48:13.880
filmmakers are still dealing with, which
is of course, the Spanish Civil War

591
00:48:14.119 --> 00:48:21.719
and the anti communist approach that was
taken in the thirties to weed out the

592
00:48:21.760 --> 00:48:29.559
Communists, which suffered so significantly,
dislike German filmmakers are still dealing in many

593
00:48:29.599 --> 00:48:34.960
of their films with the Nazi period. So yes, this one is a

594
00:48:35.159 --> 00:48:44.760
really well framed story about the search
for the past and for evidence of the

595
00:48:44.760 --> 00:48:53.000
brutality and the deaths that occurred during
the thirties under Franco. Really well developed

596
00:48:53.039 --> 00:49:00.719
story. And I loved the father
son relationship in the thirties where the father

597
00:49:01.159 --> 00:49:08.199
didn't see any value in education at
all for his son and blocked a lot

598
00:49:08.239 --> 00:49:14.800
of that for the teacher, and
the teacher having to try to work around

599
00:49:14.840 --> 00:49:21.719
that, and yet other children,
other students were very keen to have this

600
00:49:21.840 --> 00:49:27.719
opportunity to write their own stories,
which of course would be anathema to the

601
00:49:28.159 --> 00:49:35.519
Franco era because you have to submit
to what was appropriate at the time,

602
00:49:35.639 --> 00:49:40.880
and anyone who's tinged with the idea
of being a communist or questioning the regime

603
00:49:42.719 --> 00:49:49.239
would come into a great deal of
trouble and eventually death in many respects.

604
00:49:49.599 --> 00:49:53.159
So yes, very impressive film,
certainly one of the highlights of this year's

605
00:49:53.159 --> 00:49:58.360
Spanish Film Festival. Seven out of
ten for Mine Better and You, I

606
00:49:58.480 --> 00:50:00.119
actually gave it eight out of ten. Ah, very good. Indeed,

607
00:50:00.239 --> 00:50:04.159
now look before we go, I
wanted to mention now this You'll only have

608
00:50:04.280 --> 00:50:07.639
one more opportunity to see this.
But I saw this was because of so

609
00:50:07.679 --> 00:50:12.039
many other things on I wish I'd
seen it earlier. It's Shrapnel, that's

610
00:50:12.079 --> 00:50:15.639
the name of it. It's a
show at forty five downstairs, forty five

611
00:50:15.679 --> 00:50:20.199
Flinder's Lane, and it's put on
by Kadema Yiddish Theater. And fewer is

612
00:50:20.239 --> 00:50:24.440
fearless in opening up their lives warts
and all, as is Namibian born Natalie

613
00:50:24.559 --> 00:50:30.559
Gamsu who lives here in Melbourne,
and she's a singer, she's an actor,

614
00:50:30.639 --> 00:50:35.599
she's a cabaret performer. She moved
to Australia in two thousand and three,

615
00:50:36.960 --> 00:50:39.679
studied drama at the University of Cape
Town and she's worked all over the

616
00:50:39.679 --> 00:50:44.559
world. She lifts the lid on
her experiences. She gives us her thoughts

617
00:50:44.559 --> 00:50:51.880
and feelings in this particular one woman
show with a pianist in addition who fires

618
00:50:51.960 --> 00:50:55.079
more than the old angry shot.
And she's delightfully engaging. She's a really

619
00:50:55.239 --> 00:50:59.920
entertaining artist who can do it all. She can sing beautifully with perfect diction.

620
00:51:00.480 --> 00:51:04.800
She's got heart, she's got conviction. She can deliver evocative stories and

621
00:51:04.840 --> 00:51:07.880
there's many of those, and she
has a seating out the palms of her

622
00:51:07.920 --> 00:51:12.079
hands hanging on to her every word. And the opening number that she sings

623
00:51:12.119 --> 00:51:15.440
actually highlights this litany of place names, many of which she's performed in and

624
00:51:15.480 --> 00:51:22.199
the latter includes Chicago and La London, Berlin, Amsterdam and Johannesburg. For

625
00:51:22.239 --> 00:51:25.360
more than a decade actually, before
making Australia home, she lived and worked

626
00:51:25.360 --> 00:51:30.679
in New York City. This time, her stage is forty five downstairs,

627
00:51:30.679 --> 00:51:35.760
which I mentioned at the outset,
arranged cabaret style with patron seated at small

628
00:51:35.800 --> 00:51:39.679
tables up front and on teared seating
behind, and she's accompanied by the penist

629
00:51:39.719 --> 00:51:44.800
and musical director Mark Jones. She
wrote the show with Ash Flanders. Direction

630
00:51:44.920 --> 00:51:49.880
is from Stephen Nicolazo and Ash Flanders. So she regards us with her love

631
00:51:49.880 --> 00:51:53.159
of all things Spanish, including the
fire and passion in Flamenco dancing, and

632
00:51:53.199 --> 00:51:59.000
that starts with her ugly crying as
she calls it alongside her husband Julia in

633
00:51:59.079 --> 00:52:02.679
Barcelona, and she talks about her
Jewish roots, her immediate family, who

634
00:52:02.719 --> 00:52:08.159
lived in a constant state at souris
and being forever fat shame by her mother.

635
00:52:08.360 --> 00:52:10.880
For those who don't note, surus
is sort of a word, a

636
00:52:10.960 --> 00:52:15.679
Yiddish word for distress. That's one
definition anyway. Now, among her most

637
00:52:15.719 --> 00:52:22.280
memorable anecdotes is when she downed a
whole plate of fudge, complete with red

638
00:52:22.320 --> 00:52:24.039
syrup that she found in the fridge. Of course, there is a sting

639
00:52:24.039 --> 00:52:28.880
in the tail, which I'm not
about to spoil. But humor and pathos

640
00:52:28.880 --> 00:52:35.199
the comfortable bedfellows for gamsu her lively
offerings pouring out at pace, and she

641
00:52:35.320 --> 00:52:39.480
worked at a intimate apparel in Manhattan, and she met celebrities like Patti Smith

642
00:52:39.480 --> 00:52:44.440
and Jennifer Lopez and Britney Spears.
And she also became acutely aware of the

643
00:52:44.440 --> 00:52:50.360
feel good factor in sizing and the
roles she was expected to play in terms

644
00:52:50.440 --> 00:52:57.360
of fitting out her patrons in that
particular role. And she earlier had attended

645
00:52:57.360 --> 00:53:01.440
boarding school where there was a waste
not want attitude and her weight in inevitably

646
00:53:01.480 --> 00:53:05.519
ballooned. And her mother, Judy, who like her father David, she

647
00:53:05.639 --> 00:53:12.480
called by her first name, addressed
that addressed that each time she returned home

648
00:53:13.079 --> 00:53:19.440
which she found exhausting because basically,
you know, she was yo yelling in

649
00:53:19.519 --> 00:53:23.559
terms of weight, and her mother
was constantly sort of telling her that less

650
00:53:23.599 --> 00:53:29.880
is best. So looks she snubs
plastic surgery, a trait that was adopted

651
00:53:30.000 --> 00:53:32.199
by some of her nearest and dearest, while lunch with Granny was a bit

652
00:53:32.199 --> 00:53:37.800
of an ordeal that left her with
bad stomach aches. It's an amazing production.

653
00:53:37.920 --> 00:53:42.639
It really is something mighty special.
I just I thought it was fabulous,

654
00:53:42.639 --> 00:53:45.400
absolutely fabulous, and I mean,
you know, even dark thoughts that

655
00:53:45.519 --> 00:53:49.719
were in her life, and she'd
known a number of people who had committed

656
00:53:49.760 --> 00:53:52.000
suicide, one who even told her
where to stab herself if she were to

657
00:53:52.159 --> 00:53:57.719
follow suit. So she got married
so she could stay in Australia her honeymoon.

658
00:53:57.760 --> 00:54:01.159
They left her less than impressed.
So working in customer cares so a

659
00:54:01.320 --> 00:54:05.519
very full and diverse life thus far. She's not one to hold back,

660
00:54:05.639 --> 00:54:09.039
nor would we ever want her to. And lots of mood changing lighting and

661
00:54:09.280 --> 00:54:15.159
great sound design showcases what a supreme
talent we have in our midst in Natalie

662
00:54:15.239 --> 00:54:19.719
Gamsu. Really strong handful of songs
in Yiddish, Spanish, in English,

663
00:54:19.760 --> 00:54:23.960
and the show's a rare and fulfilling
treat, and tonight is your last opportunity

664
00:54:24.000 --> 00:54:29.800
to see shrapnel, so please,
folks, don't hesitate to do so.

665
00:54:30.199 --> 00:54:32.280
Really really enjoyed it, Peter,
thank you so much for your time.

666
00:54:32.519 --> 00:54:38.000
Gregory King likewise, and I wish
you well and we will do it all

667
00:54:38.039 --> 00:54:43.960
again very soon. You've been listening
to First On Film and Entertainment.