April 23, 2023
S02E12: Exciting Times at the International Comedy Festival: Challenges and Opportunities in the Entertainment Industry
This podcast episode discusses the busy and exciting times in the film and entertainment industry due to the ongoing International Comedy Festival. Alex First (the host) talks about the challenge of attending every single performance of every show and...
This podcast episode discusses the busy and exciting times in the film and entertainment industry due to the ongoing International Comedy Festival. Alex First (the host) talks about the challenge of attending every single performance of every show and the importance of fresh talent, especially graduates from institutions like the VCA Victorian College of the Arts. Alex acknowledges the difficulty of getting regular gigs in the industry and emphasizes the hard work required for actors, producers, directors, and scriptwriters to succeed. Join Alex First and his team of movie critic friends as they discuss the latest entertainment and movie news…what should you see, what should to avoid… Stream podcast episodes on-demand: https://www.bitesz.com/show/first-on-film-entertainment/ (mobile friendly). For more First on Films & Entertainment: https://www.bitesz.com/show/first-on-film-entertainment/ Subscribe, rate and review First on Film & Entertainment at all good podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, CastBox.FM, Podbean, Spreaker, etc. If you're enjoying First on Film & Entertainment, please share and tell your friends. Your support would be appreciated...thank you. #movies #cinema #entertainment #podcast #reviews #moviesfirst
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First on film and entertainment. Busy, busy times because the International Comedy Festival
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has been in full swing for a
couple of weeks or more in number of
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invitations. It is so nice that
people want us to go along to their
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shows. It's virtually impossible there as
one human being, to be at every
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single performance of every show. It's
kind of fascinating because you've got the people
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who are the repeats, and then
you've got those who come along. You
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know, fresh talent is always terrific, and I want to encourage people,
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for example, who are graduates from
the VCA Victorian College of the Arts or
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from Whopper. I mean, I've
seen quite a bit of their material and
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I've been particularly impressed. Very very
hard to even, once you've gone to
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one of these institutions to get a
regular gig, because being an actor,
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being a producer, being a director, being a scriptwriter ah hard, hard
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hard work. Talk about scriptwriters,
Peter Krause, you've written the script to
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your life? Have you not?
I'm sure I have. I'm just waiting
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for the movie to come out.
Well, I was going to say,
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I reckon, we need to make
a movie about you, because I think
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you see more film than anybody that
I know, And your whole life is
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dedicated to cinema. So that's that's
you know, somebody somewhere we'll get a
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camera out of the attic and shoot
a feature film about you. Wouldn't that
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be nice? If it would be
incredible? Out I could see the Oscar
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nominations. Now, well, who's
going to play Peter Krause? Though?
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Who's that want to play Peter Krause? Maybe that's the question. M David
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Wenham, who knows Greg Keen?
What do you reckon Peter Krause? As
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as channeled by David Wenham? Would
it work? I don't know. Probably
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a bit of makeup there, wouldn't
he? I think Russell Crowe. I
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think the New Zealander Russell Crowe,
your death very good? And Hamilton An
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you are hearing from Yes, indeed, we'll never let you live that down.
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Peter. He is part keywee part
Australian, now is he not?
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It depends which part you're looking at. Oh please, this is a g
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rated program. We'retralia. Australian asks
when he's showing phones Clark, Oh very
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good. Okay, we are going
to talk about both cinema and theater because
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that Jackie's had the good fortune to
go along and see a couple of shows
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that I have seen. But we're
going to start with a movie that is
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particularly long. And as those of
you who do listen to the program more
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regularly will know, I usually find
anything over nineteen minutes challenges me. When
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this is double that amount, while
it's older than seventy nine minutes, this
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was always going to be an enormous
challenge. I speak of Bow is afraid.
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I was afraid before I actually walked
into the cinema. It is our
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ray, but it is starring one
of the finest actors of the generation,
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our generation Wuck in Phoenix, very
very impressive. He really is. Plays
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Bo Wasserman has issues, having a
very very bad few days. He's anxiety
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riddled, and he's got a therapist
played by Stephen McKinley Anderson who prescribes new
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medication ahead of a planned visit that
dear Bow is making to his wealthy and
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successful seventy year old mother, Mota, which we see her later in the
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film, played by Patty Lapone.
She has been a massive controlling influence in
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Bo's life because he never knew his
dad, all is now in readiness for
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the trip that he's about to take
the following day. In fact, then
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everything goes pear shaped. In fact, anything that possibly could go wrong does.
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A large contributing factor is that Bow
lives in a neighborhood from l That's
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the only way you can think of
describing it. It's where the world's flotsam
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and jetsam appeared to have descended on
mass. And obviously, as a result
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of all of this, the intended
break goes awry and Bow ends up in
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the company of va benevolent strangers.
I speak of Grace, Amy, Ryan
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and Roger Nathan Lane. We haven't
seen Nathan Lane seemingly forever in film,
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so it was great. I thought
of the birdcage immediately. He's got that
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smog on his face as well.
Anyway, they that two of them,
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Grayson Roger put up Bow, and
they put him up in their troubled teenage
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daughter Tony's room, Tony played by
Kylie Rogers, and that merely serves to
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further ostracizer. You know, she's
got ten ajangst and all sorts of things
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going on there. These are rather
unusual parents, we shall say that,
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and they've actually memorialized their dead war
hero's son. The couple that I'm speaking
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of, Grace and Roger, have
also taken in the Fellows Soldier to their
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dead son, Fellows soldier called Jeeves
played by Dennis Menochet, and he's got
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major mental health issues. So as
this story unfolds, we get to see
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a young bow Wasserman his awkward interaction
with his first and early girlfriend, Elaine.
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And Elaine is played as a younger
person by Julia Antonelli and as an
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older person by Parker Posey. And
this is a really convoluted plot. But
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with the introduction that I've given you, now I reckon, I've just brushed
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the surface. It's an increasingly zany
piece of work. Bow as Afraid,
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which I reckon, starts with a
heck of a lot of promise. I
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thought the first actor was an absolute
beauty, highly creative, intense, off
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the wall and dangerously funny. And
it's helped a great deal by the fine
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actor that work in Phoenix is his
sort of nonplust expressions served to heighten the
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impact, and I think they're they're
actually helped by the close up cinematography favored
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by Pavel pager round, how do
you pronounce his name? Peter pagor Zelski
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who did the movie Fresh, which
was quite different in its own way.
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So I really appreciated the cinematography.
But and there's a big butt ari Astor,
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who'd admits Summer is the one who's
behind this, and he has crafted
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a challenging, decidedly confrontational, increasingly
abcused script which well, unfortunately loses its
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way, does it not, Gregory
King, Well, it does lose its
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way a little bit. This is
a completely bonkers, surreal, bloated pitch
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service is comedy. It's not really
a horror film, though, which assert
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is more known for it. Who
Beds Were in Midsummer? But some more
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we're disturbing keV karesque nightmare, full
of fraudyan overtones, and it remind me
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a little bit of Jaron Aronovski's equally
bizarre film Mother We she might remember from
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a few years ago, and Almoso
a bit of David Leach weirdness thrown in
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there as well. And the film
chaps into our contemporary fears at modern city
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is a dangerous places to live.
I agreed that the place where Bow lives
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a city apartment above a porn theater. It's not the most salubrious environment there,
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And greet, you live in a
city, mate, could you imagine
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living in a place like that?
Honestly, No, My place is a
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lot more cleaner and a bit safer, Alice, But the area he's living
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in is populated by dead peaks,
rugadd its bookers, and there's even a
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naked serial killer running around stabbing people
there. Look, I'd enjoyed the first
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hour or so it is from that, the first couple of acts here,
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But I thought the home that went
on the sillier and more in proper ends
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or became. But like Malcolm,
Phoenix does a superb job there. He
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conveys all his anxiety, his mental
rubles there um. And he's obviously got
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a troubled relationship with his mother there
um. A lot of unresolved issues there,
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which seon give me a source of
most of his anxieties and phobias.
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He's got more phobias and neuroses.
He didn't pay to stick out there um.
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I thought Nathan Lane was slightly creepy
as the doctor there um. There
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is an extended animation sequence from Chilean
animatorscom Casina and CHRISA. Bell Lean that
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showed body Bow on an odyssey to
reconnect with his family, which was interesting,
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but I don't know um with that
Greek. I know it was interesting.
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It was an interesting way they put
together there, and I agree with
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you is beautifully shot there by his
regular scene result for Powell public Zelski,
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and I like the production design from
Gionah Crombie um that created a bunget the
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grungey look of both city apartment building
there. Um. Look, this is
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a film that Walcome found. We
knew disturbed audiences. They found it polarized
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audiences, Alex. But the first
hour or so is really interesting and um
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for pitchback humor and I enjoyed that
part of it. But after he left
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the Nation Lane's family, that sort
of lost me a little bit. YEA,
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yeah, I mean, I look
like I agree, and I don't
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think it needed to be three hours
Greek did it? No? No?
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So yeah, But Peter, you're
the sort of person who is going to
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say to me, this is a
piece of magnificence of art to stay in
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one hundred and seventy nine minutes.
Are you not, Oh, you've just
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read my review? Well, sorry. Let me let me also say to
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you that this is also what a
Jacqueline Hamilton would say? Is that correct?
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Jacqueline? That'd be correct, Alex. There you go, greg What
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do we do with these racalcent reviewers
out? Do we take them out?
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People gonna respond to this film in
different ways, Alix, I'm understanding.
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Some people are gonna love it,
some people are gonna low, and some
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people are going to go. But
yeah, I just didn't think it needs
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to be three hours. There was
interesting, a lot of interesting ideas in
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there. As throws everything that at
the screen, not all of its sticks.
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Um. But yeah, so look, I know I'm trying to polarize
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audience. I know something would really
appreciate it. Yeah, I mean,
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look, it's it's a small audience
film. Let's be honest. There wasn't
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working, Phoenix. What's wrong would
being about three forty six? Sorry?
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Because there's going to be a small
audience room? What's wrong being about three
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forty six? Oh my golly,
and she's dead joke? It's a it's
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a yeah, it's very very sad. Gregory. All right, Tweeter,
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I'm I'm your horse mate. You
can go for it. Why should we
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see three hours of this movie,
because this is a film that I have
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retitled bo is going through a Freudian
existential mental health journey. Everything that we
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see on screen, and the way
I interpret this film is through his eyes,
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which means he is going through a
mental health breakdown, and so everything
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that we see is not realistic.
It is through his perspective. And that's
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what I found so interesting about this
journey is that he goes through hell,
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he goes through all sorts of difficult
experiences, and he has clearly mother complex
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issues that are well developed, but
he also has issues with women in general,
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and a lot of women treat him
badly or he perceives them to treat
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him badly. There is an extended
sequence which I found very Shakespearean in many
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respects where he is part of a
theater presentation, a theater performance which I
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thought was a brilliant bit of staging
and mimicked his own particular mental journey.
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Look, there is so much to
admire about this film. Yes, it
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is long, but it is very
involving and just like Homer's Odyssey and all
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sorts of Greek tragedies and other sort
of journeys that people with mental health breakdowns
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have. This film is quite a
revelation, and Ariasta, who is very
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good at depicting horror in terms of
Midsummer and Hereditary, has done an excellent
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job with looking at the horror of
the mind and how it can play terrible
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tricks on you. So I was
very impressed by Boers Afraid, and yes,
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you have to go into this film
very carefully and be prepared. It
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is not a film for everyone,
but I think it is quite a terrific
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exploration of someone's inner demons. Would
you agreed is a very small audience film?
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Note well yes, but so what
so? In a sense? So
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is everything everywhere, all at once? But that took off as a cult
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film? Well I wouldn't. I
wouldn't you think this is going to take
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off as a cult film. I
don't think it will. I don't think
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it's got a snowballs open now taking
off as a cult as as a large
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audience cult film small audience, Yeah
maybe maybe, But I mean, are
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you equating this to everything everywhere or
at once? To some extent, yes,
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because it has a similarly convoluted a
sort of plotline, and we don't
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necessarily understand what we're seeing on screen
and why we're seeing it. So yes,
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I think there is some correlations there. Okay, well Jackie, do
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you let's start there. Do you
think this is a cult film? Yes,
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I'm going to absolutely applaud everything Peter
said. I totally saw it the
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same way as he saw it.
Winn or not it's cult film, will
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find out gone down the track.
But all the things that Peter has mentioned
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I endorse and I would add.
But I mean, I don't think there's
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a minute to get bored in this
film. So I don't understand how you
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could say the first third or whatever
was fine and from there it just went
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on Because there it just keeps revelation
after revelation, and it builds and it
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builds, and it's It's one of
the few films of this type that I've
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seen the packs so much in and
then ends so memorably. I mean,
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it doesn't just fizzle out memorably.
Does it end memorably? I didn't think
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it was absolutely at it just comes
together killers it became. I mean,
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the whole idea to scramble your mind
just grew with your head. Is that
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is that reason enough to make a
movie? Well, they're not necessarily No,
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that's not the reason for the movie, don't silly. It's it's it's
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us insight into his scrambled mind,
into his permanently dazed and confused condition,
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into his nightmare, which is kind
of a comedy to us, and the
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complexities and what he faces and what
he's come from and perhaps what you know,
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maybe some is mental health and some
is caused by parental cruelty verging on
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abuse and stories he's been told,
and therefore what you know, what he's
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taken into and forms the kind of
person he becomes, which just becomes more
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and more entrenched with the life that
he lives. UM and I just I
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just found and visually there is so
much his film. You've mentioned a few
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scenes, the animation. I thought
the animation was a brilliant kind of UM
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subplottered satellite to kind of fell with
it, as was the theater performance where
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he sees what his life perhaps could
have been, and you can you can
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feel the ache within him for what
he what he could have had, and
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he can see it, but he
never just did have that. And I
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think there's there are just so many
stories and so many different ways to tell
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it. Within this film that I
couldn't see a minute in which you could
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possibly be bored. Yeah. Well, I did find that there were periods
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which were just elongated unnecessarily, and
I thought they could have trimmed or cut
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out all together. But okay,
given all of that, well let's start
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with the good Peter score out of
ten for a movie that will appeal to
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some people. A superb film,
Jackie. I agree with your comments as
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well, and the animation also fitted
in beautifully. Nine out of ten from
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me, Wow, okay, nine
out of ten. She was all right,
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Jackie, where do you go with
this? I'm very close to that.
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I'm on an eight and a half
out of a ten. Bo is
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afraid eight and a half out of
ten. It's afraid. I was afraid.
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Yea. And might I also say
I what you said first, Alex
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working Phoenix. I mean, just
an absolutely outstanding performance. He is so
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credible in this really very odd personality
role. I just thought he was absolutely
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brilliant. I think it's his career
best really from what I've seen. Well,
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I think he's a magnificent actor,
and he inhabits the character and you
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believe that he is Bo, which
is exactly what you want. Okay,
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Gregory King, you and I are
going to be much more aligned on scores
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here. What do you reckon?
Yeah, well I agree with what jack
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he said, as the film relies
a lot on working Phoenix's performance. He
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seems to be drawn towards these ives, your characters, and he's on screen
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for much at a time, and
he's really committed to a performance here.
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It's really changed and emotionally draining there. But as I said, I found
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some of it's just a little bit
off putting here. I'm going to give
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it six out of ten. I'm
giving it six six and a half.
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So there we go. It really
splits us. And I was so excited
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about the first forty five minutes and
then maybe even an hour, and it
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then started to lose me, and
then it by the end, it totally
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lost me. So there we go. All right, J eighty eight FM,
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we've had an R rated movie we're
just spoken about. Let's talk about
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a good person. I'm not just
talking about you, Jackie. I'm talking
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about the name of a movie which
is m A rated and it's one hundred
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and twenty eight minutes long, broken, bruised, beaten, I'm not talking
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about this and killed a football club, Grek. I speak of this is
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in previous years. I speak of
a person called Allison played by Florence Pugh,
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who's this beautiful, talented, intelligent
woman in her mid twenties after a
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catastrophic incident. And there's this before
and after Allison. Before well, person
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Wisua davive, confidence, whole life
in front of it, engaged to be
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married to a soul mate, Nathan
played by chennais Uchi. Then a moment
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of distraction changes all of that.
Allison is addicted to oxycodon. Her life's
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spiraled out of control. She falls
deeper and deeper into the Meyer. Self
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loathing in her middle name, overtures
from her mother, Diane played by Molly
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Shannon, summarily dismissed. The man
who helps rescue her has his own bucket
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full of pain. Tired cop Vietnam
war Vet Daniel played by Morgan Freeman was
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a physically abusive father, an alcoholic, estranged from his son. Now he's
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all at sea trying to single handedly
bring up his out of control sixteen year
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old granddaughter Ryan played by Celeste O'Connor, who has lost her parents so Allison
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and Daniel's lives intersect and collide.
Their anguish and that of their nearest and
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dearest are palpable. Now, Okay, I could, and I've deliberately been
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careful about what parts of the narrative
are let loose, because I want you
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to see it and be surprised when
you go along and see a good person.
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But look, I could see myself
being pulled one way and then the
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other while I was watching A Good
Person. I was cognizant of that,
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but I was nevertheless heavily invested in
the journey that the writer and director Zach
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Braff created. Didn't he do a
Garden State all those years ago? Yes,
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it was two decades ago. Good
golic Anyway, I really, I
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enormously appreciate the stellar talents. Every
time I see Florence Pew, she just
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gets better and better. And Morgan
Freeman, I mean, wow, the
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two of them on screen together superb. Their talents are on display again here.
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Their ability to be in the moment, to capitalize on emotional intensity is
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what elevates this pair to the highest
echelons of echelon of actors, you know,
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the pantheon of actors. Shall we
say, and you've got pe Being
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as Allison, being vulnerable, lost, fearful. She just wants to find
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a way for her pain to go
away and it simply will not. And
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then you've got Freeman as Daniel,
a man with profound regrets and frustration,
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someone who, like Allison, has
to learn to live with the pain that
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he has inflicted. So it's a
film that asks the question how can one
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move on? And it's a tailor. It resonates because it's slice of life
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material. A split second can change
everything. Many flounder, some survive,
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others do not. So I mean
I said to you, it's a film
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that is manipulative, and you could
argue every film is, but you can
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see it here, and you can
see it in a lot of movies,
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and that really puts me off.
It didn't this time. I found it
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deeply affecting, and I was quite
emotionally invest in this movie, Jackie you
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Oh yes, yes, I agree
with you, Alex. As well as
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being emotionally invested, I was able
to sit back and say, oh,
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they're really, you know, really
pulling on the heart strings here and pushing
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that a bit far. So I
did like that. It was it was
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there were a lot of times of
really raw emotion coming out that you could
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imagine would be quite real, and
it did actually make me wonder whether it
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might be based on truth, on
a true episode, or whether they had
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done a lot of research with people
who had been in that situation. You
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know, there were a lot of
times where it got quite ugly in its
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honesty and that rawness, pretty brutal
in the home truths, but there again
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it would swing around again and sort
of be quite heartwarming. The relationships were
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interesting, and I agree with you
that together Florence Pew is just stunning and
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Morgan Freeman was just magnificently expressive and
understated through most of this in in his
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very expert ability, prescription pills addiction
is a horrible thing, and it's so
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it gives the film a kind of
a sense of being worthwhile, if you
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like, And maybe a worth while
film might lose a point for trying a
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bit hard, but it was well
done. Yeah, it really is interesting
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because when they make slice of life
movies, you sort of wonder, well,
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why do you want to see this? To hear it on the news
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all the time, but you just
see, do you agree with me?
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Peter that Florence Pure as an actor. It's just it is astounding for somebody
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so young to be so invested in
the roles I want to see. I'm
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longing to see the next Florence Pew
movie that I walk out of this and
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think I've got to see the next
one. How do you feel about her
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as an actor? Oh, she's
very impressive, an Irish actress who has
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really transcended into international roles and she
has a brilliant job. It's interesting how
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this film, a little bit like
Boa Is Afraid, also deals with psychological
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breakdown and mental health issues related to
an incident and the idea of possible redemption.
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Zach Braff has dealt in his films
I Wish I Was Here and Garden
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State, as he mentioned, and
this one a good Person in issues related
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to damaged people and how these damaged
people can still find ways to move forward
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possibly. This film is very impressive
in some respects and also a little bit
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melodramatic and emotional in other respects.
I like the storyline. I like the
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metaphor that has created in the film
with the model trains that Morgan Freeman run
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in his basement and the whole idea
that the film starts and ends with the
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idea that a train that has a
community that moves forward is a way of
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resolving any sort of personal issues,
potentially for people who are undergoing all sorts
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of difficulties and problems. It's interesting
too that a good person is a line
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that is referred to by Morgan Freeman's
character. He says, I am a
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good person, and then the inference
is I hope that you can be one
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as well. So I think there
is a lot to admire about this film
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about the metaphors that abound in the
film, and a little bit less so
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in terms of some of the melodrama
that does. Perhaps perhaps zach Brath could
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have restrained a little bit, But
overall, I think this is quite a
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good film dealing with grief, responsibility, and redemption from a tragic circumstance.
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And Greg, I haven't don this
one yet, Alice, Okay, no
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problems at all. Well, look, let's get I suspect that, given
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what we've all said about it,
our schools are likely to be reasonably similar.
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But let's start off with you,
Peter. Look, I liked it.
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I gave it seven out of ten. Jackie. I liked it.
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I gave it six out of ten, and I liked it and I gave
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it a seven out of ten.
So there we go. A good person.
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M A rated our movie that's been
around for a few weeks that I
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only got to see about eight days
ago. I think, now we didn't
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get to it last week, and
we were going to called broke Up.
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Now it's M rated. And this
is also a long film at one hundred
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and twenty nine minutes. A baby
box in South Korea where women can leave
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newborns to be picked up and cared
for by people who care. Right,
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that's the starting point for what is
a really powerful journey involving a mother that
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00:27:00.079 --> 00:27:06.200
abandoned her bub, the men who
took her, and the police who are
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following the case. The woman is
so young, that's the character's name,
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played by Lee ji yun, and
as the movie unfolds week hear more about
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her back story. The men who
took the infant named the infant is named
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Wu Sung, intending to sell her
to the highest bidder. Sang Hiang played
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by Song Kang ho, and Dong
Sue played by Gang Dong wan. Now
336
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the former the first of these guys
runs a laundry business, saying Heyon,
337
00:27:37.359 --> 00:27:44.759
but is constantly saddled with debt.
The latter, Dong Su, grew up
338
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in an orphanage works in this facility
that houses the baby box. The day
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after this young lady so Young leaves
her child, she returns to collect the
340
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tiny tipe and when she realizes that
this baby has been taken, she's about
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to call the police when the two
men who did the deed tell her everything
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Now unlikely as this seems, So
Young ends up joining the pair in their
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pursuit to find new parents for the
Litteraly and all the while telling them are
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police detectives, one played by Dona
Bay and a younger colleague, Lee jew
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Young, and they hope to catch
the perpetrators in the act of selling the
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child and basically with that wrap up
their half here investigated into these men.
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There is a lot more in Broker
than it first meets the eye. I
348
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really appreciated the way the movie was
written and performed. Quite revelatory actually,
349
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and we're drip fed information about all
the main players as the narrative developed.
350
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Initial harsh judgment is tempered by the
circumstances and the fact that notwithstanding their intent,
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the perpetrators are not viewed as traditional
villains now. The man behind it,
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behind the film as a writer and
director is Corey Edda. Herakazu won
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the Palm Door at Kahn back in
twenty eighteen for the movie Shoplifters, which
354
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was really really strong, and there's
a lot of nuance and surprises in Broker.
355
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I really like the older baby Broker
with a sense of benevolence. His
356
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partner makes it clear there's nothing worse
than abandonment because of his own circumstances,
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and there's a really tough resilience about
the characterization of the mother, the so
358
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young character by Lee g and a
determination about the work that the detectives are
359
00:29:47.160 --> 00:29:51.519
also doing. So I thought that
Broker was quite a mature, quite an
360
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accomplished piece of work from a writer
and director who really is at the top
361
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of his game. That's the way
that I viewed Broker. What about You,
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Peter oh I was very impressed by
this film, sequencing how this Japanese
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filmmaker, this is his second foreign
language film after making the French film The
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Truth with Catherine Deneuve, and what
he likes exploring in his films is the
365
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idea of dysfunctional families that can actually
come together and have some sort of cohesion,
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and that's certainly the case in Broker. This whole idea of there being
367
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no villains really in this film,
I mean, the woman giving up her
368
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child at birth and then perhaps reconsidering
but really understanding that her child would not
369
00:30:41.759 --> 00:30:47.839
have a good life unless it was
adopted by a good family, etc.
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Is very impressive. And I like
the idea of this group of Brokers who
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came together as a sort of Zach's
family, which is what the director likes
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to put together in his films,
a Zett's families that can function well.
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Really strong story, really well directed, and I love the way the story
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developed into something that was very affirming
and positive, so that children who are
375
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in a situational babies who are put
in this circumstance are not given up to
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the state and possibly put into dire
circumstances at times, but are adopted by
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00:31:30.680 --> 00:31:37.799
families that can truly look after this
baby that the mother no longer is capable
378
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of looking after herself. So I
really like this film because of its character
379
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study, because of its connection with
family and the way it resolves all the
380
00:31:49.039 --> 00:31:53.440
issues so beautifully in the film.
Jackie, do you think that Broker is
381
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a movie that everybody will relate to
or again, it's going to be a
382
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limited appeal to movie. I would
like to think that people would listen to
383
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and read positive reviews of this film
and step out of you know, step
384
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out of what might be their comfort
zone in film watching and see this because
385
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it looks to not be, you
know, your mainstream kind of film,
386
00:32:24.279 --> 00:32:29.720
but once you see it, it
has a lot to say to the average
387
00:32:29.759 --> 00:32:36.039
person. And I've got nothing but
love for Broker. I thought it was
388
00:32:36.119 --> 00:32:40.599
beautifully put together, beautifully filmed,
beautiful characters, a great story, a
389
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great depth. As Peter said,
obvious sorry positive, and it has a
390
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very night touch. There's a lot
of comedy in this film. There's a
391
00:32:52.200 --> 00:33:00.920
lot to enjoy and actually laugh out
loud at and all those gaps that one
392
00:33:00.079 --> 00:33:05.880
wonders about through the film all come
through and it's all it all rounds out
393
00:33:05.920 --> 00:33:09.599
in the end. So it's just
beautifully constructed film Broker. Yep, there
394
00:33:09.640 --> 00:33:13.680
are surprises, there aren't there,
I mean, at every turn, and
395
00:33:14.440 --> 00:33:17.480
this is what makes the film.
You don't want predictability, you want something
396
00:33:17.519 --> 00:33:22.079
that's a little bit different, and
this is decidedly so, which is really
397
00:33:22.119 --> 00:33:28.160
commendable. Is it not great?
Yeah? An interesting film gives you some
398
00:33:28.279 --> 00:33:32.160
insight into something way of life in
career that we didn't know about, especially
399
00:33:32.240 --> 00:33:37.680
the baby adoptions and no baby boxes, which I hadn't heard of. But
400
00:33:37.720 --> 00:33:42.319
this is similar to our hero's as
of films which fire carefulis on the outside,
401
00:33:43.480 --> 00:33:46.279
on the outside or the figures of
society, but it focus is on
402
00:33:46.319 --> 00:33:51.920
family values. As Peter and Jeff
you said, there an the importance of
403
00:33:52.000 --> 00:33:57.079
connection there and as a slow moving
but for provoting drama, and it's also
404
00:33:57.279 --> 00:34:00.799
some of the shapes of the road
movie genre here, as the terraces come
405
00:34:00.880 --> 00:34:06.720
together and sort of form an unofficial
family there. I sound hurried and allow
406
00:34:06.759 --> 00:34:12.079
our audiences trying to get to know
these flowed characters and the director its cause.
407
00:34:12.119 --> 00:34:16.000
The internal struggles are conflicted emotional journeys, but he's not judgmental in his
408
00:34:16.039 --> 00:34:23.360
approach to the carriages, as observational
at times and handles the films complex issues
409
00:34:23.360 --> 00:34:28.559
and theme with empathy compassion, And
as the any point out, there are
410
00:34:28.599 --> 00:34:31.840
some generous joss of humor here and
solid performances all around, and it's been
411
00:34:31.840 --> 00:34:38.840
beautifully shot. But I think by
cinem Feldval Hong Young Hong Hoe who sang
412
00:34:38.920 --> 00:34:44.440
film for Bob Junhoe like Parasites and
Snowbies that so yeah, we are.
413
00:34:45.039 --> 00:34:51.400
But again it's one of those slow
burned films that allows you gets to understand
414
00:34:51.400 --> 00:34:53.280
the characters and what's going on.
Yeah, I agree with that. I
415
00:34:53.320 --> 00:34:58.360
think you really, once you become
invested, you really are heavily invested in
416
00:34:58.360 --> 00:35:00.880
it. So let's let's stub you
then, Gregor score out of ten for
417
00:35:01.320 --> 00:35:06.159
this particular thought, I'll do it
seven out of ten, seven out of
418
00:35:06.159 --> 00:35:08.519
ten, okay, And I think
Jackie, you'll go high out. Oh
419
00:35:08.599 --> 00:35:14.440
yes, I'll go a lot higher. And I remember Shoplifters very well.
420
00:35:14.480 --> 00:35:19.760
I love that, And I love
the family connection in that film where you
421
00:35:19.800 --> 00:35:23.559
don't have to be family by blood, it's by being together and fitting in
422
00:35:23.599 --> 00:35:29.360
together. So Broker has the same
kind of thing I've given Broker and nine
423
00:35:29.360 --> 00:35:34.039
out of ten. Wow, okay. Meet And similarly, I just like
424
00:35:34.119 --> 00:35:37.320
bow Is Afraid an incredible film nine
out of ten from me. Yeah,
425
00:35:37.360 --> 00:35:43.239
I'm giving it an eight out of
ten. So coming between you and Gregory,
426
00:35:44.000 --> 00:35:46.960
but very very worthwhile no question about
that at all. Now we are
427
00:35:47.039 --> 00:35:53.360
moving on J eighty eight FM from
film to theater, and Jackie, you
428
00:35:53.400 --> 00:35:59.400
went along with me to see firstly
a which we don't say this a lot
429
00:35:59.679 --> 00:36:08.360
and original musical made in Australia.
And we start here by looking back at
430
00:36:08.360 --> 00:36:15.079
a movie that was OSCAR nominated.
In fact it was but me nominated for
431
00:36:15.280 --> 00:36:22.239
eight Academy Awards. And I speak
of David Lynch's nineteen eighty dramatic biographical film
432
00:36:22.280 --> 00:36:27.239
The Elephant Man. So from recollection
that was Anthony Hopkins and John Burt was
433
00:36:27.280 --> 00:36:32.719
it not so that movie remains seething
in the buy consciousness. It really had
434
00:36:32.719 --> 00:36:37.559
a huge impact and Bancroft was there, John Gielgood as well. And now
435
00:36:37.599 --> 00:36:44.599
this clever and created group of writers
and composers Mark Luke, Chessie, Sarah
436
00:36:44.719 --> 00:36:52.639
Nanda Koppen and husband Jay and Nander
Coppen have taken the essence of the story
437
00:36:52.719 --> 00:36:57.639
and twisted it and turned it into
well, I think highly at attaining an
438
00:36:57.639 --> 00:37:02.000
engaging musical dramedy. I'm talking about
The Marvelous Elephant Man, the Musical.
439
00:37:02.079 --> 00:37:07.559
That's how it's been retitled The Marvelous
Elephant Man The musical. It is on
440
00:37:07.639 --> 00:37:12.079
at chapelof Chapel, and I think
there's a great deal of genius about the
441
00:37:12.119 --> 00:37:16.199
show, Jaggie. The story remains
moving and meaningful, but it's also risque
442
00:37:16.159 --> 00:37:21.320
any reverent the way that they've put
it together. And you've got John Merrick
443
00:37:21.360 --> 00:37:24.639
played by Ben Clark, who's a
human freak and I use the word freak
444
00:37:24.760 --> 00:37:30.639
in Inverted Commas, abandoned by his
mother, a prostitute and exploited for his
445
00:37:30.719 --> 00:37:37.000
physical deformity. He's actually like a
circus show oddity pointed to and laughed at.
446
00:37:37.960 --> 00:37:44.199
He's rescued again in Inverted Commas by
an eminent surgeon called doctor Treeves played
447
00:37:44.239 --> 00:37:50.920
by Canon Breen. His intention,
though, or intentions plural, are anything
448
00:37:51.079 --> 00:37:55.880
but laudable. Hope for John Merrick
comes by way of a nurse of that
449
00:37:57.000 --> 00:38:01.239
name, Nurse Hope played by Annaly's
Hall, who's sees behind the physical and
450
00:38:01.400 --> 00:38:07.280
enables Merrick's in a self to bloom. So that's the marvelous elephant man.
451
00:38:07.480 --> 00:38:12.599
Before I give my thoughts, I'm
interested in yours, Jackie. We sat
452
00:38:12.880 --> 00:38:16.440
near the top of Chapel of Chapel
in the theater there, and what did
453
00:38:16.440 --> 00:38:22.400
you think of the show. Um, well, your reference there to sitting
454
00:38:22.400 --> 00:38:25.559
in the near the top, I
was actually in the back row, and
455
00:38:25.920 --> 00:38:32.679
that gave me the opportunity to to
see what it was like from way up
456
00:38:32.679 --> 00:38:37.800
there in the nose bleeds. And
the big problem with seeing the play was
457
00:38:37.920 --> 00:38:45.480
that it was it was. The
problem was the staging. The most of
458
00:38:45.480 --> 00:38:51.320
the action took place in the front
half of the stage. Well, it's
459
00:38:51.320 --> 00:38:55.199
not a stage, it's floor level, and there's a raised two sections of
460
00:38:55.280 --> 00:39:00.440
race stage towards the back. And
if the action had been on those raised
461
00:39:00.519 --> 00:39:05.519
platforms, I would have been able
to sit, But as it was being
462
00:39:05.599 --> 00:39:09.159
on the floor, I could only
ever see the actors from the chest up,
463
00:39:09.760 --> 00:39:14.800
so that didn't work when there were
incidents where, for example, they
464
00:39:14.880 --> 00:39:19.320
fell to the ground and things were
going on on the floor and were out
465
00:39:19.360 --> 00:39:29.079
of you, so I couldn't couldn't
see Hay could started your play where half
466
00:39:29.119 --> 00:39:34.800
the audience couldn't see the actors and
yet we saw the orchestra in full glory
467
00:39:34.920 --> 00:39:39.199
for the entire duration. But have
really commented on what you did see,
468
00:39:39.199 --> 00:39:46.320
because look, I sat literally about
twenty meters from you, twenty feet from
469
00:39:46.320 --> 00:39:51.960
you actually, and I managed to
see most of it without any problem.
470
00:39:52.519 --> 00:39:54.119
I just I couldn't see their feet. In fact, somebody said to me
471
00:39:54.159 --> 00:39:58.840
afterwards, did you see those really
shiny red shoes? And I said no.
472
00:39:59.559 --> 00:40:04.280
But apart from that, I really
think that the musical works on so
473
00:40:04.320 --> 00:40:07.320
many levels. Do you, I
mean, forget about it, I thought,
474
00:40:07.679 --> 00:40:10.480
Alex. The first half was great, fun, great lyrics, some
475
00:40:10.679 --> 00:40:17.320
really great vocal range in by the
singers, good fun, as you said,
476
00:40:17.400 --> 00:40:23.719
irreverence and cheeky and clever, really
clever. And I when I heard
477
00:40:23.760 --> 00:40:29.800
the title of the Marvelous Elephant Man
the musical, I thought, how are
478
00:40:29.800 --> 00:40:32.840
they going to do this? I
really couldn't imagine how this could come together?
479
00:40:34.159 --> 00:40:37.239
And it was terrific. And then
the second half went to the second
480
00:40:37.280 --> 00:40:40.519
half after interval, I felt that
it was a complete loss. It didn't
481
00:40:40.559 --> 00:40:44.920
take the story any further. I
didn't even really understand, and it dranned
482
00:40:44.960 --> 00:40:47.920
and it sort of became this romance
just kind of kept limping and limping and
483
00:40:47.960 --> 00:40:52.000
limping along. And if they'd left
it it up to interval, I would
484
00:40:52.000 --> 00:40:55.280
have been much more impressed. Yeah, okay, well I know I didn't
485
00:40:55.320 --> 00:41:00.480
feel that way. I really think
that it needed to I thought it did
486
00:41:00.480 --> 00:41:02.840
develop, but I mean I found
it engaging. It's a bullion to it's
487
00:41:02.920 --> 00:41:08.559
dramatic, it's dastardly, and it's
also body and belligerent. So all of
488
00:41:08.599 --> 00:41:15.519
those ingredients sort of came together musically, really melodic and lyrical. It ticked
489
00:41:15.519 --> 00:41:19.239
all the right boxes as far as
that's concerned, and I found myself heavily
490
00:41:19.320 --> 00:41:23.039
drawn to and invested in the in
the tunings a sure fire of my involvement.
491
00:41:23.199 --> 00:41:28.559
I actually wanted by an album featuring
all the songs, A number of
492
00:41:28.559 --> 00:41:31.639
those would have become earworms, so
that they've done a really good job there.
493
00:41:31.800 --> 00:41:37.079
The stagecraft, the vocal strength,
the sex soften as credentials of Mark
494
00:41:37.199 --> 00:41:42.679
Lachesi, who plays the ringmaster among
several divert characters, make him an instant
495
00:41:42.719 --> 00:41:46.360
hit. Wasn't he fantastic major guy? It's terrific, absolutely truely realized.
496
00:41:46.400 --> 00:41:51.239
This his first This is the first
attempt at a musical. I think that's
497
00:41:51.880 --> 00:41:54.480
I mean, like I was blown
away by that, and he had terrific
498
00:41:54.559 --> 00:41:58.960
voice. Yeah, yeah, much
to do with the success of this particular
499
00:41:59.000 --> 00:42:04.440
piece. Mark Chessi lu double c
H E s I that's his surname,
500
00:42:04.599 --> 00:42:09.920
and Cannon Breen. Well, didn't
he drip with this super silly as ability.
501
00:42:10.559 --> 00:42:15.239
That's exactly what you want. Oh, there were great characterizations in it,
502
00:42:15.320 --> 00:42:17.079
for sure. Yeah, and milked
his stage persona for all it was
503
00:42:17.119 --> 00:42:22.039
worth. And as doctor Treves,
there's sort of arrogance and entitlement for his
504
00:42:22.119 --> 00:42:23.960
middle names. You know what I
thought of, Jackie. He brings back
505
00:42:24.000 --> 00:42:28.840
a bygone era when patrons used to
boo and hiss and throw rock and fluid
506
00:42:28.840 --> 00:42:31.760
and actors. That's what you know, it's it's it's you know, Dudley
507
00:42:31.840 --> 00:42:37.119
do Right in the That was one
of the our cartoons that we grew up
508
00:42:37.159 --> 00:42:40.440
with, wasn't it great? Dudley
do Right? No Wrong Year? And
509
00:42:40.559 --> 00:42:45.239
I was who was who was the
cartoon character? It used to sort of
510
00:42:45.719 --> 00:42:51.679
play with his mustache. It was
a bad guy. I don't even remember
511
00:42:51.719 --> 00:42:54.559
who that was anyway. That's what
he reminded me of, did it not?
512
00:42:54.880 --> 00:42:58.840
Did that not sort of set you
off a little bit, Jackie?
513
00:42:58.920 --> 00:43:04.320
In terms of the the Cannon Breen
character, Oh, I agree, great
514
00:43:04.400 --> 00:43:07.239
characters. I enjoyed the characters,
the lyrics. That was very good writing.
515
00:43:07.719 --> 00:43:13.559
Yeah, that was the second half
that I just felt, perhaps I
516
00:43:13.679 --> 00:43:16.280
felt the first half was very clever, and then second half just kind of
517
00:43:16.280 --> 00:43:22.639
went slapstick silly. Well, Analy's
Hall as this really sweet mallifluous boys channeling
518
00:43:22.639 --> 00:43:30.599
this wholesome, angelly temperamentally sound character
and she really did persodify beauty and love
519
00:43:30.599 --> 00:43:32.519
in their purest forms. That was
her role and she did it very well.
520
00:43:32.559 --> 00:43:37.920
And finally we talk about the elephant
man, Ben Clark. He didn't
521
00:43:37.920 --> 00:43:43.360
need prosthetics to win his way to
our hearts. Vocally, artistically, I
522
00:43:43.400 --> 00:43:47.519
thought he excelled from the opening number. He really readily projected vulnerability, fear,
523
00:43:47.639 --> 00:43:52.800
and substance, and again he played
that beautifully. So they, together
524
00:43:52.840 --> 00:43:57.559
with a really talented ensemble, an
accomplished band, they sort of breathed life
525
00:43:57.559 --> 00:44:00.960
and You into a story of oppression
and exile, life and love. And
526
00:44:01.119 --> 00:44:07.960
the dramaturgis by Guy Masterson, strong
direction from Christopher Mitchell and Masterson, and
527
00:44:07.079 --> 00:44:12.320
the choreography. There were some dance
sequences that Eden Reid was responsible for that
528
00:44:12.360 --> 00:44:15.480
I thought that was a treat.
And the spotlighting was really good a feature
529
00:44:15.480 --> 00:44:20.800
of the production. But the staging, I agree Jackie could certainly have been
530
00:44:20.840 --> 00:44:24.079
improved because the band was slightly elevated, and then that was on a stage
531
00:44:24.159 --> 00:44:29.920
left and then stage right at the
same height. You had this level that
532
00:44:30.000 --> 00:44:32.840
was used by actors in certain scenes. But yeah, you're right, much
533
00:44:32.840 --> 00:44:37.440
of the action took place at ground
level. Wouldn't have been a problem in
534
00:44:37.440 --> 00:44:42.239
another theater. And I've got to
be fair here because we saw it on
535
00:44:42.320 --> 00:44:51.000
opening night and I spoke to the
producer and he was really grateful and said
536
00:44:51.000 --> 00:44:53.800
that he would do something about it. So I hope that that. I
537
00:44:53.920 --> 00:45:00.239
don't doubt that if you've put an
elevated platform in that entire area, that
538
00:45:00.239 --> 00:45:04.599
would address that problem. And so
to me, it was a really easy
539
00:45:04.639 --> 00:45:07.480
fix. So, I mean,
it's just I would call it a it's
540
00:45:07.559 --> 00:45:13.039
noteworthy. Obviously we both saw the
same thing, but in the sum total
541
00:45:13.079 --> 00:45:16.920
of it, it's a small,
if somewhat frustrating gripe that could readily be
542
00:45:16.960 --> 00:45:21.000
addressed. Would you agree with that
or not? Well, for me,
543
00:45:21.079 --> 00:45:23.719
it was a big problem because I
didn't see the performance as it should have
544
00:45:23.760 --> 00:45:28.920
been seen. Okay, fair enough, and it was almost it wasn't as
545
00:45:29.239 --> 00:45:34.320
as much visual as verbal, if
you like, because I thought the lyrics
546
00:45:34.360 --> 00:45:38.159
were the strongest part of it.
But I should have been able to see
547
00:45:38.480 --> 00:45:44.719
the cast. Well, it is
a fresh Australian work about which we should
548
00:45:44.719 --> 00:45:47.639
be mighty proud and it deserves a
bigger stage in a worldwide audience. I
549
00:45:47.639 --> 00:45:53.119
can see this going elsewhere. I
can really see this transposing because The Elephant
550
00:45:53.119 --> 00:45:58.760
Man is such a heart stringing,
dipe story and they've really twisted it.
551
00:45:59.440 --> 00:46:01.519
Whether or they'd get the sense of
human maybe they would, maybe they wouldn't.
552
00:46:01.519 --> 00:46:06.280
I think it does. He does
want and need a national audience.
553
00:46:06.320 --> 00:46:10.880
Do you not agree with that?
Not willing to make a judgment on that
554
00:46:10.920 --> 00:46:15.679
one, but why not? I
think so? All right, So look
555
00:46:15.840 --> 00:46:21.000
that that's the marvelous Elephant Man the
musical out. So before you move on,
556
00:46:21.880 --> 00:46:25.519
you in w right with Caul snydery
whipwash, Thank you so much.
557
00:46:25.639 --> 00:46:30.199
Greg. That's yes, I used
to watch that. I loved it.
558
00:46:30.239 --> 00:46:32.360
I really did you enjoy it?
Oh? Yeah, some of them were
559
00:46:32.400 --> 00:46:37.320
quite funny and entertaining. Yeah,
exactly exactly. And Jackie, you're just
560
00:46:37.400 --> 00:46:42.079
about old enough. Did you watch
that or not? Not? No?
561
00:46:43.239 --> 00:46:45.920
No, I watched Gilligan's Island.
Yes, but this is a card too.
562
00:46:46.239 --> 00:46:51.280
Did you have it? Did you
have a disrupted childhood where you weren't
563
00:46:51.280 --> 00:46:57.960
allowed to watch cartoons. That's absolutely
correct. Not earn the Flintstones Zappers around
564
00:46:58.000 --> 00:47:01.360
that time. Yes, I'd watched
the flint Stones, but that must have
565
00:47:01.440 --> 00:47:07.079
been just on the old occasion because
we were allowed to watch one half hour
566
00:47:07.119 --> 00:47:10.599
program before the news went on at
seven o'clock. Yeah, this see news?
567
00:47:10.639 --> 00:47:14.800
That was it? TV was evil? Is that? Is that?
568
00:47:15.119 --> 00:47:19.119
Wow? Okay? And what about
you, Peter the evil one? What
569
00:47:19.199 --> 00:47:22.960
did you want? Why? I
remember? O? Thank you Malad.
570
00:47:23.760 --> 00:47:28.159
I liked a lot of the animations. I especially like projections. Actually,
571
00:47:28.199 --> 00:47:30.880
I think that was a lot of
fun. I agree, I agree,
572
00:47:30.880 --> 00:47:34.199
But my favorite was the was the
flint Stones as well, Greg, I
573
00:47:34.239 --> 00:47:37.280
thought they were fantastic, but I
mean, it's funny. I enjoyed them
574
00:47:37.320 --> 00:47:39.599
at the time. I remember seeing
these shows and I thought, wow,
575
00:47:39.639 --> 00:47:45.599
these are really good. But as
years go by, the fondness is,
576
00:47:45.760 --> 00:47:47.840
if anything, even grown. And
maybe that's just the way it is.
577
00:47:47.840 --> 00:47:52.920
As you get older, you you
you memorialize things that may not have been
578
00:47:52.960 --> 00:47:55.320
quite as good as as you remember
them to be. But anyway, I
579
00:47:55.440 --> 00:48:00.280
like the Looney Tunes, you know, the right running with the nas Well
580
00:48:00.039 --> 00:48:07.199
absolutely. Now let's talk about Berlin. Jackie MC Showroom, which is round
581
00:48:07.239 --> 00:48:12.320
the corner from chapelof Chapel, literally
less than that half a kilometer away anyway.
582
00:48:12.639 --> 00:48:17.039
Joe and and Murray Smith's remarkable insight
or attention to detail, writing prowess
583
00:48:17.159 --> 00:48:23.199
front and center captivating production of Berlin
at this venue. At the MC Showroom,
584
00:48:23.239 --> 00:48:28.000
an Australian called Tom played by Lachlan
Hammel, was just landed in the
585
00:48:28.039 --> 00:48:31.519
German capital. Keen to get to
know the real city rather than just the
586
00:48:31.559 --> 00:48:37.199
tourist offering. He's directed to this
small watering hole where he meets and is
587
00:48:37.239 --> 00:48:43.440
immediately drawn to a local bar worker
called Charlotte played by Georgia Latchford. We're
588
00:48:43.440 --> 00:48:46.199
talking one o'clock in the morning now
and the place has closed. The establishment
589
00:48:46.599 --> 00:48:51.000
just the two of them had her
plays when she's offered him her couch for
590
00:48:51.039 --> 00:48:55.599
the night, so their chat becomes
playful and vigorous. They dance around each
591
00:48:55.599 --> 00:49:00.480
other in an attempt to get to
know each other better. The spark between
592
00:49:00.480 --> 00:49:05.400
them as tangible as they reveal snippets
about themselves. She's a student and writer,
593
00:49:05.800 --> 00:49:09.599
she's keen to become a poet.
He says, he's into industrial espionage
594
00:49:10.199 --> 00:49:14.199
and as Tom tries to get her
into bed. They appear to have similar
595
00:49:14.280 --> 00:49:17.960
musical tastes. She matches him stride
for stride in conversation, she's very very
596
00:49:17.960 --> 00:49:22.920
good at that, and they talk
about their recent dating history. We learned
597
00:49:22.960 --> 00:49:25.960
that her parents separated when she was
only seven years of age. Her father
598
00:49:27.400 --> 00:49:32.159
is a hedge fund guy living in
London. Her mother is a narcissistic sculptor
599
00:49:32.519 --> 00:49:37.840
in bern Now. She was six
when her four year old brother was killed
600
00:49:37.079 --> 00:49:44.519
in a tragic accident after he chased
a ball onto the street. He received
601
00:49:44.639 --> 00:49:49.000
a little windfall after he was involved
in a fatal car grage. I speak
602
00:49:49.039 --> 00:49:54.119
about Tom now we find out that
he is in fact Jewish on his mother's
603
00:49:54.199 --> 00:49:59.280
side, and that he decided to
visit Germany because his great grandfather used to
604
00:49:59.320 --> 00:50:04.440
live there. Then the inevitable happens. But it's once the deed is done
605
00:50:04.440 --> 00:50:07.639
that things change considerably, and that
happens when she catches him out on his
606
00:50:07.719 --> 00:50:14.760
mobile phone, and thereafter the truth
outs. The ugly pasted very much brought
607
00:50:14.840 --> 00:50:21.280
into the present. So you've got
tragedy, exploitation and morality as the resounding
608
00:50:21.360 --> 00:50:24.960
themes. And this, by the
way, was inspired by a family trip
609
00:50:25.039 --> 00:50:30.920
that Murray's with Karen and Murray Smith
did or took an extraordinary piece of writing.
610
00:50:30.960 --> 00:50:37.400
I thought, sizzling tale of morass
and morality, resplendent with intellectual rigor
611
00:50:37.360 --> 00:50:42.119
that really eats into one's soul.
It causes one to reflect, to think
612
00:50:42.119 --> 00:50:46.119
and feel as the two protagonistscote to
toefort seventy five minutes. It's a lot
613
00:50:46.159 --> 00:50:51.679
of words, a lot of verbiage. Nuance's expressions and pauses that the actors
614
00:50:51.920 --> 00:50:55.000
bring to the production are really important. And what am mat sure top notch
615
00:50:55.079 --> 00:51:00.719
performance by Georgia Latchford. She's got
that down pat word perfect. We saw
616
00:51:00.280 --> 00:51:07.000
you and I both saw the preview
performance. I thought she was outstanding Jackie.
617
00:51:07.320 --> 00:51:13.280
She absolutely is very assured, very
assured, and to the point where
618
00:51:14.199 --> 00:51:21.639
her intonation and accent German intonation and
accent were I couldn't tell if she actually
619
00:51:22.199 --> 00:51:28.880
was German or no. I saw
you and I both thought the same thing.
620
00:51:28.880 --> 00:51:30.440
After we've got to seek her out
to sit, you know, she
621
00:51:30.519 --> 00:51:34.440
was having conversation. We would try
to listen in as to whether she was
622
00:51:34.480 --> 00:51:37.599
an Aussi or a native born German. And that's that's the sign of it.
623
00:51:37.719 --> 00:51:42.960
She's a young woman, I probably
what meant to late twenties, I
624
00:51:42.960 --> 00:51:45.320
would imagine. And what a brilliant
career she's got in front of her,
625
00:51:45.360 --> 00:51:51.679
if if this is any guide,
and she and yet even with all the
626
00:51:51.760 --> 00:51:55.880
German accent, we we didn't miss
a word of what she was saying,
627
00:51:57.079 --> 00:52:01.519
clear as a bell, and beautifully
project voice she had, which which was
628
00:52:01.599 --> 00:52:07.800
really important because as you say,
verbal base, Gosh, it was only
629
00:52:07.880 --> 00:52:12.840
about the talking. There was really
not much actually physically happens part for a
630
00:52:12.840 --> 00:52:17.119
bit of alcohol drinking and putting on
her putting on an LP to play.
631
00:52:17.239 --> 00:52:22.280
Well, there's not there's an't little
little little love and romance, but there
632
00:52:22.960 --> 00:52:24.719
most of the time. You're quite
right. I mean she really inhabited her
633
00:52:24.840 --> 00:52:28.920
character with poise and polish. But
Lochlan Hamill, I mean, there's no
634
00:52:28.960 --> 00:52:32.199
doubt he's got boyish charm, which
is what he's carried to is infused with
635
00:52:32.519 --> 00:52:37.400
and he brings Tom's yin to Charlotte's
yang, and that there's much more in
636
00:52:37.440 --> 00:52:39.360
this again than at first meets the
eye. As a piece of work,
637
00:52:40.000 --> 00:52:46.559
hamil Is readily channels the mood swings
that that sort of changing countenance that's essential
638
00:52:46.599 --> 00:52:50.800
to this wire work. When we
saw it, I thought he could slowed
639
00:52:50.840 --> 00:52:53.519
down a tad and led his words
an intonation breathe that. That was my
640
00:52:53.840 --> 00:52:59.559
take on it. What would you
have said? Yes, he could have,
641
00:52:59.719 --> 00:53:05.039
But there again, he was very
genuinely inhabiting the character of a young
642
00:53:05.119 --> 00:53:09.000
guy who was a little bit nervous. He just made her he was.
643
00:53:09.119 --> 00:53:12.719
We know, he was a fish, bit of a fish out of water,
644
00:53:13.280 --> 00:53:16.880
and when you're nervous you do talk
more quickly, and so it was
645
00:53:16.960 --> 00:53:22.559
quite quite fair that he did well. No, I thought he did a
646
00:53:22.599 --> 00:53:25.840
good job. He brought out our
character to Tom very well. Yeah,
647
00:53:25.960 --> 00:53:30.320
I mean both he and Latchford particularly
strong in the game of seduction. I
648
00:53:30.320 --> 00:53:35.239
thought that was terrific and in stating
their respective positions in character when it counts.
649
00:53:35.239 --> 00:53:38.880
So the director's Eric at Chestnut crafted
a really fine adaptation of Berlin.
650
00:53:39.280 --> 00:53:44.280
Great little venue, isn't it the
MC show Room. It's ultimate place,
651
00:53:44.960 --> 00:53:49.039
very vic on there till the thirty
of of April, So folks please go
652
00:53:49.079 --> 00:53:52.639
along and see this. It is
a really, really worthwhile show. Just
653
00:53:52.679 --> 00:53:54.199
out of interest. If you were
to score out out of ten, Jackie,
654
00:53:54.199 --> 00:53:58.079
what would you have given Berlin.
I'd give it a good seven and
655
00:53:58.119 --> 00:54:00.840
a half. I reckon it's higher
than that. I really do. I
656
00:54:00.840 --> 00:54:06.360
think it's well worth seeing, folks, and please young people on the go.
657
00:54:06.599 --> 00:54:12.159
You can really see where they're the
future of Australian theater and entertainment is
658
00:54:12.480 --> 00:54:15.000
with a show like Berlin. So
go and see Berlin, go and see
659
00:54:15.000 --> 00:54:19.599
the Marvelous Elephant Man, and consider
some of the films that we're spoken about.
660
00:54:19.920 --> 00:54:22.280
We've got to go, folks,
So thank you very much, Peter,
661
00:54:22.440 --> 00:54:25.760
Greg and Jackie, or Jackie,
Greg and Peter, in whichever order
662
00:54:25.800 --> 00:54:29.960
you wish. We'll do it all
again next week, first on Film and
663
00:54:30.320 --> 00:54:30.800
Entertainment. Signing off,
1
00:00:00.680 --> 00:00:07.000
First on film and entertainment. Busy, busy times because the International Comedy Festival
2
00:00:07.080 --> 00:00:11.359
has been in full swing for a
couple of weeks or more in number of
3
00:00:11.400 --> 00:00:15.560
invitations. It is so nice that
people want us to go along to their
4
00:00:15.599 --> 00:00:20.239
shows. It's virtually impossible there as
one human being, to be at every
5
00:00:20.320 --> 00:00:25.719
single performance of every show. It's
kind of fascinating because you've got the people
6
00:00:25.760 --> 00:00:28.960
who are the repeats, and then
you've got those who come along. You
7
00:00:29.039 --> 00:00:32.439
know, fresh talent is always terrific, and I want to encourage people,
8
00:00:32.479 --> 00:00:36.920
for example, who are graduates from
the VCA Victorian College of the Arts or
9
00:00:37.280 --> 00:00:40.679
from Whopper. I mean, I've
seen quite a bit of their material and
10
00:00:40.880 --> 00:00:45.679
I've been particularly impressed. Very very
hard to even, once you've gone to
11
00:00:45.719 --> 00:00:50.399
one of these institutions to get a
regular gig, because being an actor,
12
00:00:50.439 --> 00:00:56.520
being a producer, being a director, being a scriptwriter ah hard, hard
13
00:00:56.560 --> 00:01:00.280
hard work. Talk about scriptwriters,
Peter Krause, you've written the script to
14
00:01:00.359 --> 00:01:04.159
your life? Have you not?
I'm sure I have. I'm just waiting
15
00:01:04.200 --> 00:01:07.239
for the movie to come out.
Well, I was going to say,
16
00:01:07.239 --> 00:01:10.640
I reckon, we need to make
a movie about you, because I think
17
00:01:10.640 --> 00:01:14.840
you see more film than anybody that
I know, And your whole life is
18
00:01:14.920 --> 00:01:19.439
dedicated to cinema. So that's that's
you know, somebody somewhere we'll get a
19
00:01:19.480 --> 00:01:25.079
camera out of the attic and shoot
a feature film about you. Wouldn't that
20
00:01:25.120 --> 00:01:27.760
be nice? If it would be
incredible? Out I could see the Oscar
21
00:01:27.799 --> 00:01:30.799
nominations. Now, well, who's
going to play Peter Krause? Though?
22
00:01:33.920 --> 00:01:38.159
Who's that want to play Peter Krause? Maybe that's the question. M David
23
00:01:38.200 --> 00:01:45.159
Wenham, who knows Greg Keen?
What do you reckon Peter Krause? As
24
00:01:45.159 --> 00:01:49.599
as channeled by David Wenham? Would
it work? I don't know. Probably
25
00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:56.680
a bit of makeup there, wouldn't
he? I think Russell Crowe. I
26
00:01:56.680 --> 00:02:00.760
think the New Zealander Russell Crowe,
your death very good? And Hamilton An
27
00:02:00.760 --> 00:02:02.840
you are hearing from Yes, indeed, we'll never let you live that down.
28
00:02:02.959 --> 00:02:07.000
Peter. He is part keywee part
Australian, now is he not?
29
00:02:08.319 --> 00:02:14.080
It depends which part you're looking at. Oh please, this is a g
30
00:02:14.360 --> 00:02:22.319
rated program. We'retralia. Australian asks
when he's showing phones Clark, Oh very
31
00:02:22.319 --> 00:02:28.919
good. Okay, we are going
to talk about both cinema and theater because
32
00:02:28.960 --> 00:02:31.039
that Jackie's had the good fortune to
go along and see a couple of shows
33
00:02:31.080 --> 00:02:35.400
that I have seen. But we're
going to start with a movie that is
34
00:02:35.439 --> 00:02:39.039
particularly long. And as those of
you who do listen to the program more
35
00:02:39.080 --> 00:02:46.919
regularly will know, I usually find
anything over nineteen minutes challenges me. When
36
00:02:47.000 --> 00:02:51.280
this is double that amount, while
it's older than seventy nine minutes, this
37
00:02:51.360 --> 00:02:54.960
was always going to be an enormous
challenge. I speak of Bow is afraid.
38
00:02:55.360 --> 00:02:59.520
I was afraid before I actually walked
into the cinema. It is our
39
00:02:59.759 --> 00:03:04.039
ray, but it is starring one
of the finest actors of the generation,
40
00:03:04.159 --> 00:03:07.960
our generation Wuck in Phoenix, very
very impressive. He really is. Plays
41
00:03:08.120 --> 00:03:15.639
Bo Wasserman has issues, having a
very very bad few days. He's anxiety
42
00:03:15.759 --> 00:03:21.599
riddled, and he's got a therapist
played by Stephen McKinley Anderson who prescribes new
43
00:03:21.599 --> 00:03:27.080
medication ahead of a planned visit that
dear Bow is making to his wealthy and
44
00:03:27.280 --> 00:03:31.879
successful seventy year old mother, Mota, which we see her later in the
45
00:03:31.919 --> 00:03:38.319
film, played by Patty Lapone.
She has been a massive controlling influence in
46
00:03:38.360 --> 00:03:44.479
Bo's life because he never knew his
dad, all is now in readiness for
47
00:03:44.520 --> 00:03:46.599
the trip that he's about to take
the following day. In fact, then
48
00:03:46.719 --> 00:03:53.919
everything goes pear shaped. In fact, anything that possibly could go wrong does.
49
00:03:54.120 --> 00:03:58.599
A large contributing factor is that Bow
lives in a neighborhood from l That's
50
00:03:58.639 --> 00:04:01.560
the only way you can think of
describing it. It's where the world's flotsam
51
00:04:01.560 --> 00:04:08.520
and jetsam appeared to have descended on
mass. And obviously, as a result
52
00:04:08.520 --> 00:04:12.840
of all of this, the intended
break goes awry and Bow ends up in
53
00:04:12.879 --> 00:04:17.720
the company of va benevolent strangers.
I speak of Grace, Amy, Ryan
54
00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:24.800
and Roger Nathan Lane. We haven't
seen Nathan Lane seemingly forever in film,
55
00:04:24.920 --> 00:04:28.480
so it was great. I thought
of the birdcage immediately. He's got that
56
00:04:28.560 --> 00:04:31.720
smog on his face as well.
Anyway, they that two of them,
57
00:04:31.759 --> 00:04:39.319
Grayson Roger put up Bow, and
they put him up in their troubled teenage
58
00:04:39.399 --> 00:04:45.120
daughter Tony's room, Tony played by
Kylie Rogers, and that merely serves to
59
00:04:45.279 --> 00:04:48.560
further ostracizer. You know, she's
got ten ajangst and all sorts of things
60
00:04:48.600 --> 00:04:53.600
going on there. These are rather
unusual parents, we shall say that,
61
00:04:54.360 --> 00:05:01.800
and they've actually memorialized their dead war
hero's son. The couple that I'm speaking
62
00:05:01.800 --> 00:05:09.279
of, Grace and Roger, have
also taken in the Fellows Soldier to their
63
00:05:09.319 --> 00:05:15.920
dead son, Fellows soldier called Jeeves
played by Dennis Menochet, and he's got
64
00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:19.480
major mental health issues. So as
this story unfolds, we get to see
65
00:05:19.600 --> 00:05:27.439
a young bow Wasserman his awkward interaction
with his first and early girlfriend, Elaine.
66
00:05:27.839 --> 00:05:32.199
And Elaine is played as a younger
person by Julia Antonelli and as an
67
00:05:32.240 --> 00:05:39.279
older person by Parker Posey. And
this is a really convoluted plot. But
68
00:05:39.639 --> 00:05:44.279
with the introduction that I've given you, now I reckon, I've just brushed
69
00:05:44.360 --> 00:05:47.240
the surface. It's an increasingly zany
piece of work. Bow as Afraid,
70
00:05:47.800 --> 00:05:51.319
which I reckon, starts with a
heck of a lot of promise. I
71
00:05:51.360 --> 00:05:56.920
thought the first actor was an absolute
beauty, highly creative, intense, off
72
00:05:56.959 --> 00:06:02.319
the wall and dangerously funny. And
it's helped a great deal by the fine
73
00:06:02.360 --> 00:06:09.079
actor that work in Phoenix is his
sort of nonplust expressions served to heighten the
74
00:06:09.279 --> 00:06:15.560
impact, and I think they're they're
actually helped by the close up cinematography favored
75
00:06:15.600 --> 00:06:24.079
by Pavel pager round, how do
you pronounce his name? Peter pagor Zelski
76
00:06:24.319 --> 00:06:28.279
who did the movie Fresh, which
was quite different in its own way.
77
00:06:28.560 --> 00:06:33.279
So I really appreciated the cinematography.
But and there's a big butt ari Astor,
78
00:06:33.319 --> 00:06:39.240
who'd admits Summer is the one who's
behind this, and he has crafted
79
00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:47.839
a challenging, decidedly confrontational, increasingly
abcused script which well, unfortunately loses its
80
00:06:47.879 --> 00:06:54.319
way, does it not, Gregory
King, Well, it does lose its
81
00:06:54.319 --> 00:06:58.639
way a little bit. This is
a completely bonkers, surreal, bloated pitch
82
00:06:59.160 --> 00:07:02.920
service is comedy. It's not really
a horror film, though, which assert
83
00:07:03.040 --> 00:07:06.759
is more known for it. Who
Beds Were in Midsummer? But some more
84
00:07:06.800 --> 00:07:12.600
we're disturbing keV karesque nightmare, full
of fraudyan overtones, and it remind me
85
00:07:12.600 --> 00:07:16.319
a little bit of Jaron Aronovski's equally
bizarre film Mother We she might remember from
86
00:07:16.319 --> 00:07:20.439
a few years ago, and Almoso
a bit of David Leach weirdness thrown in
87
00:07:20.480 --> 00:07:24.959
there as well. And the film
chaps into our contemporary fears at modern city
88
00:07:25.000 --> 00:07:28.839
is a dangerous places to live.
I agreed that the place where Bow lives
89
00:07:29.040 --> 00:07:32.639
a city apartment above a porn theater. It's not the most salubrious environment there,
90
00:07:32.839 --> 00:07:36.759
And greet, you live in a
city, mate, could you imagine
91
00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:41.120
living in a place like that?
Honestly, No, My place is a
92
00:07:41.160 --> 00:07:44.600
lot more cleaner and a bit safer, Alice, But the area he's living
93
00:07:44.600 --> 00:07:47.160
in is populated by dead peaks,
rugadd its bookers, and there's even a
94
00:07:47.240 --> 00:07:51.879
naked serial killer running around stabbing people
there. Look, I'd enjoyed the first
95
00:07:51.920 --> 00:07:56.000
hour or so it is from that, the first couple of acts here,
96
00:07:56.040 --> 00:07:58.639
But I thought the home that went
on the sillier and more in proper ends
97
00:07:58.720 --> 00:08:03.560
or became. But like Malcolm,
Phoenix does a superb job there. He
98
00:08:03.680 --> 00:08:07.560
conveys all his anxiety, his mental
rubles there um. And he's obviously got
99
00:08:07.560 --> 00:08:11.560
a troubled relationship with his mother there
um. A lot of unresolved issues there,
100
00:08:11.560 --> 00:08:15.839
which seon give me a source of
most of his anxieties and phobias.
101
00:08:15.959 --> 00:08:18.959
He's got more phobias and neuroses.
He didn't pay to stick out there um.
102
00:08:20.839 --> 00:08:24.040
I thought Nathan Lane was slightly creepy
as the doctor there um. There
103
00:08:24.079 --> 00:08:31.120
is an extended animation sequence from Chilean
animatorscom Casina and CHRISA. Bell Lean that
104
00:08:31.279 --> 00:08:35.399
showed body Bow on an odyssey to
reconnect with his family, which was interesting,
105
00:08:35.480 --> 00:08:39.639
but I don't know um with that
Greek. I know it was interesting.
106
00:08:39.679 --> 00:08:41.960
It was an interesting way they put
together there, and I agree with
107
00:08:43.000 --> 00:08:48.080
you is beautifully shot there by his
regular scene result for Powell public Zelski,
108
00:08:48.519 --> 00:08:52.200
and I like the production design from
Gionah Crombie um that created a bunget the
109
00:08:52.240 --> 00:08:58.039
grungey look of both city apartment building
there. Um. Look, this is
110
00:08:58.080 --> 00:09:01.559
a film that Walcome found. We
knew disturbed audiences. They found it polarized
111
00:09:01.600 --> 00:09:07.799
audiences, Alex. But the first
hour or so is really interesting and um
112
00:09:07.919 --> 00:09:11.240
for pitchback humor and I enjoyed that
part of it. But after he left
113
00:09:11.240 --> 00:09:16.000
the Nation Lane's family, that sort
of lost me a little bit. YEA,
114
00:09:16.360 --> 00:09:18.919
yeah, I mean, I look
like I agree, and I don't
115
00:09:18.960 --> 00:09:24.440
think it needed to be three hours
Greek did it? No? No?
116
00:09:24.759 --> 00:09:28.200
So yeah, But Peter, you're
the sort of person who is going to
117
00:09:28.279 --> 00:09:33.320
say to me, this is a
piece of magnificence of art to stay in
118
00:09:33.399 --> 00:09:35.360
one hundred and seventy nine minutes.
Are you not, Oh, you've just
119
00:09:35.519 --> 00:09:41.200
read my review? Well, sorry. Let me let me also say to
120
00:09:41.240 --> 00:09:43.799
you that this is also what a
Jacqueline Hamilton would say? Is that correct?
121
00:09:43.879 --> 00:09:48.600
Jacqueline? That'd be correct, Alex. There you go, greg What
122
00:09:48.639 --> 00:09:54.399
do we do with these racalcent reviewers
out? Do we take them out?
123
00:09:54.440 --> 00:09:56.559
People gonna respond to this film in
different ways, Alix, I'm understanding.
124
00:09:56.720 --> 00:10:00.279
Some people are gonna love it,
some people are gonna low, and some
125
00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:03.559
people are going to go. But
yeah, I just didn't think it needs
126
00:10:03.600 --> 00:10:07.399
to be three hours. There was
interesting, a lot of interesting ideas in
127
00:10:07.440 --> 00:10:09.639
there. As throws everything that at
the screen, not all of its sticks.
128
00:10:11.080 --> 00:10:13.320
Um. But yeah, so look, I know I'm trying to polarize
129
00:10:13.320 --> 00:10:16.120
audience. I know something would really
appreciate it. Yeah, I mean,
130
00:10:16.120 --> 00:10:18.960
look, it's it's a small audience
film. Let's be honest. There wasn't
131
00:10:18.960 --> 00:10:24.759
working, Phoenix. What's wrong would
being about three forty six? Sorry?
132
00:10:24.279 --> 00:10:26.919
Because there's going to be a small
audience room? What's wrong being about three
133
00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:31.519
forty six? Oh my golly,
and she's dead joke? It's a it's
134
00:10:31.559 --> 00:10:37.440
a yeah, it's very very sad. Gregory. All right, Tweeter,
135
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I'm I'm your horse mate. You
can go for it. Why should we
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see three hours of this movie,
because this is a film that I have
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retitled bo is going through a Freudian
existential mental health journey. Everything that we
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see on screen, and the way
I interpret this film is through his eyes,
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which means he is going through a
mental health breakdown, and so everything
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that we see is not realistic.
It is through his perspective. And that's
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what I found so interesting about this
journey is that he goes through hell,
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he goes through all sorts of difficult
experiences, and he has clearly mother complex
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issues that are well developed, but
he also has issues with women in general,
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and a lot of women treat him
badly or he perceives them to treat
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him badly. There is an extended
sequence which I found very Shakespearean in many
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respects where he is part of a
theater presentation, a theater performance which I
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thought was a brilliant bit of staging
and mimicked his own particular mental journey.
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Look, there is so much to
admire about this film. Yes, it
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is long, but it is very
involving and just like Homer's Odyssey and all
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sorts of Greek tragedies and other sort
of journeys that people with mental health breakdowns
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have. This film is quite a
revelation, and Ariasta, who is very
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good at depicting horror in terms of
Midsummer and Hereditary, has done an excellent
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job with looking at the horror of
the mind and how it can play terrible
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tricks on you. So I was
very impressed by Boers Afraid, and yes,
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you have to go into this film
very carefully and be prepared. It
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is not a film for everyone,
but I think it is quite a terrific
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exploration of someone's inner demons. Would
you agreed is a very small audience film?
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Note well yes, but so what
so? In a sense? So
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is everything everywhere, all at once? But that took off as a cult
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film? Well I wouldn't. I
wouldn't you think this is going to take
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off as a cult film. I
don't think it will. I don't think
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it's got a snowballs open now taking
off as a cult as as a large
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audience cult film small audience, Yeah
maybe maybe, But I mean, are
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you equating this to everything everywhere or
at once? To some extent, yes,
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because it has a similarly convoluted a
sort of plotline, and we don't
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necessarily understand what we're seeing on screen
and why we're seeing it. So yes,
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I think there is some correlations there. Okay, well Jackie, do
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you let's start there. Do you
think this is a cult film? Yes,
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I'm going to absolutely applaud everything Peter
said. I totally saw it the
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same way as he saw it.
Winn or not it's cult film, will
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find out gone down the track.
But all the things that Peter has mentioned
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I endorse and I would add.
But I mean, I don't think there's
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a minute to get bored in this
film. So I don't understand how you
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could say the first third or whatever
was fine and from there it just went
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on Because there it just keeps revelation
after revelation, and it builds and it
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builds, and it's It's one of
the few films of this type that I've
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seen the packs so much in and
then ends so memorably. I mean,
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it doesn't just fizzle out memorably.
Does it end memorably? I didn't think
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it was absolutely at it just comes
together killers it became. I mean,
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the whole idea to scramble your mind
just grew with your head. Is that
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is that reason enough to make a
movie? Well, they're not necessarily No,
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that's not the reason for the movie, don't silly. It's it's it's
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us insight into his scrambled mind,
into his permanently dazed and confused condition,
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into his nightmare, which is kind
of a comedy to us, and the
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complexities and what he faces and what
he's come from and perhaps what you know,
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maybe some is mental health and some
is caused by parental cruelty verging on
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abuse and stories he's been told,
and therefore what you know, what he's
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taken into and forms the kind of
person he becomes, which just becomes more
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and more entrenched with the life that
he lives. UM and I just I
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just found and visually there is so
much his film. You've mentioned a few
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scenes, the animation. I thought
the animation was a brilliant kind of UM
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subplottered satellite to kind of fell with
it, as was the theater performance where
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he sees what his life perhaps could
have been, and you can you can
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feel the ache within him for what
he what he could have had, and
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he can see it, but he
never just did have that. And I
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think there's there are just so many
stories and so many different ways to tell
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it. Within this film that I
couldn't see a minute in which you could
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possibly be bored. Yeah. Well, I did find that there were periods
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which were just elongated unnecessarily, and
I thought they could have trimmed or cut
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out all together. But okay,
given all of that, well let's start
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with the good Peter score out of
ten for a movie that will appeal to
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some people. A superb film,
Jackie. I agree with your comments as
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well, and the animation also fitted
in beautifully. Nine out of ten from
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me, Wow, okay, nine
out of ten. She was all right,
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Jackie, where do you go with
this? I'm very close to that.
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I'm on an eight and a half
out of a ten. Bo is
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afraid eight and a half out of
ten. It's afraid. I was afraid.
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Yea. And might I also say
I what you said first, Alex
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working Phoenix. I mean, just
an absolutely outstanding performance. He is so
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credible in this really very odd personality
role. I just thought he was absolutely
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brilliant. I think it's his career
best really from what I've seen. Well,
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I think he's a magnificent actor,
and he inhabits the character and you
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believe that he is Bo, which
is exactly what you want. Okay,
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Gregory King, you and I are
going to be much more aligned on scores
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here. What do you reckon?
Yeah, well I agree with what jack
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he said, as the film relies
a lot on working Phoenix's performance. He
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seems to be drawn towards these ives, your characters, and he's on screen
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for much at a time, and
he's really committed to a performance here.
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It's really changed and emotionally draining there. But as I said, I found
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some of it's just a little bit
off putting here. I'm going to give
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it six out of ten. I'm
giving it six six and a half.
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So there we go. It really
splits us. And I was so excited
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about the first forty five minutes and
then maybe even an hour, and it
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then started to lose me, and
then it by the end, it totally
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lost me. So there we go. All right, J eighty eight FM,
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we've had an R rated movie we're
just spoken about. Let's talk about
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a good person. I'm not just
talking about you, Jackie. I'm talking
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about the name of a movie which
is m A rated and it's one hundred
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and twenty eight minutes long, broken, bruised, beaten, I'm not talking
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about this and killed a football club, Grek. I speak of this is
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in previous years. I speak of
a person called Allison played by Florence Pugh,
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who's this beautiful, talented, intelligent
woman in her mid twenties after a
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catastrophic incident. And there's this before
and after Allison. Before well, person
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Wisua davive, confidence, whole life
in front of it, engaged to be
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married to a soul mate, Nathan
played by chennais Uchi. Then a moment
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of distraction changes all of that.
Allison is addicted to oxycodon. Her life's
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spiraled out of control. She falls
deeper and deeper into the Meyer. Self
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loathing in her middle name, overtures
from her mother, Diane played by Molly
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Shannon, summarily dismissed. The man
who helps rescue her has his own bucket
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full of pain. Tired cop Vietnam
war Vet Daniel played by Morgan Freeman was
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a physically abusive father, an alcoholic, estranged from his son. Now he's
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all at sea trying to single handedly
bring up his out of control sixteen year
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old granddaughter Ryan played by Celeste O'Connor, who has lost her parents so Allison
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and Daniel's lives intersect and collide.
Their anguish and that of their nearest and
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dearest are palpable. Now, Okay, I could, and I've deliberately been
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careful about what parts of the narrative
are let loose, because I want you
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to see it and be surprised when
you go along and see a good person.
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But look, I could see myself
being pulled one way and then the
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other while I was watching A Good
Person. I was cognizant of that,
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but I was nevertheless heavily invested in
the journey that the writer and director Zach
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Braff created. Didn't he do a
Garden State all those years ago? Yes,
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it was two decades ago. Good
golic Anyway, I really, I
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enormously appreciate the stellar talents. Every
time I see Florence Pew, she just
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gets better and better. And Morgan
Freeman, I mean, wow, the
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two of them on screen together superb. Their talents are on display again here.
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Their ability to be in the moment, to capitalize on emotional intensity is
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what elevates this pair to the highest
echelons of echelon of actors, you know,
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the pantheon of actors. Shall we
say, and you've got pe Being
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as Allison, being vulnerable, lost, fearful. She just wants to find
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a way for her pain to go
away and it simply will not. And
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then you've got Freeman as Daniel,
a man with profound regrets and frustration,
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someone who, like Allison, has
to learn to live with the pain that
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he has inflicted. So it's a
film that asks the question how can one
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move on? And it's a tailor. It resonates because it's slice of life
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material. A split second can change
everything. Many flounder, some survive,
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others do not. So I mean
I said to you, it's a film
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that is manipulative, and you could
argue every film is, but you can
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see it here, and you can
see it in a lot of movies,
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and that really puts me off.
It didn't this time. I found it
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deeply affecting, and I was quite
emotionally invest in this movie, Jackie you
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Oh yes, yes, I agree
with you, Alex. As well as
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being emotionally invested, I was able
to sit back and say, oh,
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they're really, you know, really
pulling on the heart strings here and pushing
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that a bit far. So I
did like that. It was it was
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there were a lot of times of
really raw emotion coming out that you could
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imagine would be quite real, and
it did actually make me wonder whether it
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might be based on truth, on
a true episode, or whether they had
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done a lot of research with people
who had been in that situation. You
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know, there were a lot of
times where it got quite ugly in its
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honesty and that rawness, pretty brutal
in the home truths, but there again
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it would swing around again and sort
of be quite heartwarming. The relationships were
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interesting, and I agree with you
that together Florence Pew is just stunning and
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Morgan Freeman was just magnificently expressive and
understated through most of this in in his
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very expert ability, prescription pills addiction
is a horrible thing, and it's so
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it gives the film a kind of
a sense of being worthwhile, if you
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like, And maybe a worth while
film might lose a point for trying a
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bit hard, but it was well
done. Yeah, it really is interesting
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because when they make slice of life
movies, you sort of wonder, well,
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why do you want to see this? To hear it on the news
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all the time, but you just
see, do you agree with me?
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Peter that Florence Pure as an actor. It's just it is astounding for somebody
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so young to be so invested in
the roles I want to see. I'm
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longing to see the next Florence Pew
movie that I walk out of this and
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think I've got to see the next
one. How do you feel about her
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as an actor? Oh, she's
very impressive, an Irish actress who has
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really transcended into international roles and she
has a brilliant job. It's interesting how
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this film, a little bit like
Boa Is Afraid, also deals with psychological
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breakdown and mental health issues related to
an incident and the idea of possible redemption.
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Zach Braff has dealt in his films
I Wish I Was Here and Garden
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State, as he mentioned, and
this one a good Person in issues related
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to damaged people and how these damaged
people can still find ways to move forward
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possibly. This film is very impressive
in some respects and also a little bit
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melodramatic and emotional in other respects.
I like the storyline. I like the
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metaphor that has created in the film
with the model trains that Morgan Freeman run
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in his basement and the whole idea
that the film starts and ends with the
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idea that a train that has a
community that moves forward is a way of
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resolving any sort of personal issues,
potentially for people who are undergoing all sorts
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of difficulties and problems. It's interesting
too that a good person is a line
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that is referred to by Morgan Freeman's
character. He says, I am a
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good person, and then the inference
is I hope that you can be one
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as well. So I think there
is a lot to admire about this film
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about the metaphors that abound in the
film, and a little bit less so
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in terms of some of the melodrama
that does. Perhaps perhaps zach Brath could
314
00:25:48.119 --> 00:25:52.640
have restrained a little bit, But
overall, I think this is quite a
315
00:25:52.640 --> 00:26:00.920
good film dealing with grief, responsibility, and redemption from a tragic circumstance.
316
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And Greg, I haven't don this
one yet, Alice, Okay, no
317
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problems at all. Well, look, let's get I suspect that, given
318
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what we've all said about it,
our schools are likely to be reasonably similar.
319
00:26:15.680 --> 00:26:18.880
But let's start off with you,
Peter. Look, I liked it.
320
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I gave it seven out of ten. Jackie. I liked it.
321
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I gave it six out of ten, and I liked it and I gave
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it a seven out of ten.
So there we go. A good person.
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M A rated our movie that's been
around for a few weeks that I
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only got to see about eight days
ago. I think, now we didn't
325
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get to it last week, and
we were going to called broke Up.
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Now it's M rated. And this
is also a long film at one hundred
327
00:26:44.960 --> 00:26:49.279
and twenty nine minutes. A baby
box in South Korea where women can leave
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00:26:49.400 --> 00:26:56.160
newborns to be picked up and cared
for by people who care. Right,
329
00:26:56.240 --> 00:27:00.680
that's the starting point for what is
a really powerful journey involving a mother that
330
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abandoned her bub, the men who
took her, and the police who are
331
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following the case. The woman is
so young, that's the character's name,
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played by Lee ji yun, and
as the movie unfolds week hear more about
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her back story. The men who
took the infant named the infant is named
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Wu Sung, intending to sell her
to the highest bidder. Sang Hiang played
335
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by Song Kang ho, and Dong
Sue played by Gang Dong wan. Now
336
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the former the first of these guys
runs a laundry business, saying Heyon,
337
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but is constantly saddled with debt.
The latter, Dong Su, grew up
338
00:27:44.759 --> 00:27:51.519
in an orphanage works in this facility
that houses the baby box. The day
339
00:27:51.640 --> 00:27:56.400
after this young lady so Young leaves
her child, she returns to collect the
340
00:27:56.480 --> 00:28:02.960
tiny tipe and when she realizes that
this baby has been taken, she's about
341
00:28:03.000 --> 00:28:07.400
to call the police when the two
men who did the deed tell her everything
342
00:28:07.200 --> 00:28:12.680
Now unlikely as this seems, So
Young ends up joining the pair in their
343
00:28:12.680 --> 00:28:18.680
pursuit to find new parents for the
Litteraly and all the while telling them are
344
00:28:18.920 --> 00:28:25.119
police detectives, one played by Dona
Bay and a younger colleague, Lee jew
345
00:28:25.480 --> 00:28:29.839
Young, and they hope to catch
the perpetrators in the act of selling the
346
00:28:29.960 --> 00:28:36.279
child and basically with that wrap up
their half here investigated into these men.
347
00:28:37.519 --> 00:28:40.839
There is a lot more in Broker
than it first meets the eye. I
348
00:28:41.039 --> 00:28:45.680
really appreciated the way the movie was
written and performed. Quite revelatory actually,
349
00:28:45.119 --> 00:28:52.079
and we're drip fed information about all
the main players as the narrative developed.
350
00:28:52.920 --> 00:29:00.440
Initial harsh judgment is tempered by the
circumstances and the fact that notwithstanding their intent,
351
00:29:00.200 --> 00:29:07.079
the perpetrators are not viewed as traditional
villains now. The man behind it,
352
00:29:07.920 --> 00:29:12.759
behind the film as a writer and
director is Corey Edda. Herakazu won
353
00:29:12.799 --> 00:29:19.079
the Palm Door at Kahn back in
twenty eighteen for the movie Shoplifters, which
354
00:29:19.160 --> 00:29:25.240
was really really strong, and there's
a lot of nuance and surprises in Broker.
355
00:29:26.160 --> 00:29:30.920
I really like the older baby Broker
with a sense of benevolence. His
356
00:29:30.079 --> 00:29:36.319
partner makes it clear there's nothing worse
than abandonment because of his own circumstances,
357
00:29:36.440 --> 00:29:41.680
and there's a really tough resilience about
the characterization of the mother, the so
358
00:29:41.880 --> 00:29:47.119
young character by Lee g and a
determination about the work that the detectives are
359
00:29:47.160 --> 00:29:51.519
also doing. So I thought that
Broker was quite a mature, quite an
360
00:29:51.519 --> 00:29:55.359
accomplished piece of work from a writer
and director who really is at the top
361
00:29:55.400 --> 00:29:59.359
of his game. That's the way
that I viewed Broker. What about You,
362
00:29:59.440 --> 00:30:03.119
Peter oh I was very impressed by
this film, sequencing how this Japanese
363
00:30:03.359 --> 00:30:10.000
filmmaker, this is his second foreign
language film after making the French film The
364
00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:15.880
Truth with Catherine Deneuve, and what
he likes exploring in his films is the
365
00:30:15.960 --> 00:30:22.279
idea of dysfunctional families that can actually
come together and have some sort of cohesion,
366
00:30:23.119 --> 00:30:29.240
and that's certainly the case in Broker. This whole idea of there being
367
00:30:29.440 --> 00:30:33.720
no villains really in this film,
I mean, the woman giving up her
368
00:30:33.839 --> 00:30:41.680
child at birth and then perhaps reconsidering
but really understanding that her child would not
369
00:30:41.759 --> 00:30:47.839
have a good life unless it was
adopted by a good family, etc.
370
00:30:48.599 --> 00:30:55.519
Is very impressive. And I like
the idea of this group of Brokers who
371
00:30:55.599 --> 00:31:02.279
came together as a sort of Zach's
family, which is what the director likes
372
00:31:02.359 --> 00:31:07.119
to put together in his films,
a Zett's families that can function well.
373
00:31:07.160 --> 00:31:12.039
Really strong story, really well directed, and I love the way the story
374
00:31:12.160 --> 00:31:19.000
developed into something that was very affirming
and positive, so that children who are
375
00:31:19.119 --> 00:31:23.680
in a situational babies who are put
in this circumstance are not given up to
376
00:31:23.720 --> 00:31:30.519
the state and possibly put into dire
circumstances at times, but are adopted by
377
00:31:30.680 --> 00:31:37.799
families that can truly look after this
baby that the mother no longer is capable
378
00:31:37.039 --> 00:31:42.240
of looking after herself. So I
really like this film because of its character
379
00:31:42.319 --> 00:31:48.960
study, because of its connection with
family and the way it resolves all the
380
00:31:49.039 --> 00:31:53.440
issues so beautifully in the film.
Jackie, do you think that Broker is
381
00:31:53.480 --> 00:31:57.519
a movie that everybody will relate to
or again, it's going to be a
382
00:31:57.680 --> 00:32:05.839
limited appeal to movie. I would
like to think that people would listen to
383
00:32:06.160 --> 00:32:13.599
and read positive reviews of this film
and step out of you know, step
384
00:32:13.640 --> 00:32:17.839
out of what might be their comfort
zone in film watching and see this because
385
00:32:19.240 --> 00:32:23.519
it looks to not be, you
know, your mainstream kind of film,
386
00:32:24.279 --> 00:32:29.720
but once you see it, it
has a lot to say to the average
387
00:32:29.759 --> 00:32:36.039
person. And I've got nothing but
love for Broker. I thought it was
388
00:32:36.119 --> 00:32:40.599
beautifully put together, beautifully filmed,
beautiful characters, a great story, a
389
00:32:40.720 --> 00:32:49.119
great depth. As Peter said,
obvious sorry positive, and it has a
390
00:32:49.240 --> 00:32:52.160
very night touch. There's a lot
of comedy in this film. There's a
391
00:32:52.200 --> 00:33:00.920
lot to enjoy and actually laugh out
loud at and all those gaps that one
392
00:33:00.079 --> 00:33:05.880
wonders about through the film all come
through and it's all it all rounds out
393
00:33:05.920 --> 00:33:09.599
in the end. So it's just
beautifully constructed film Broker. Yep, there
394
00:33:09.640 --> 00:33:13.680
are surprises, there aren't there,
I mean, at every turn, and
395
00:33:14.440 --> 00:33:17.480
this is what makes the film.
You don't want predictability, you want something
396
00:33:17.519 --> 00:33:22.079
that's a little bit different, and
this is decidedly so, which is really
397
00:33:22.119 --> 00:33:28.160
commendable. Is it not great?
Yeah? An interesting film gives you some
398
00:33:28.279 --> 00:33:32.160
insight into something way of life in
career that we didn't know about, especially
399
00:33:32.240 --> 00:33:37.680
the baby adoptions and no baby boxes, which I hadn't heard of. But
400
00:33:37.720 --> 00:33:42.319
this is similar to our hero's as
of films which fire carefulis on the outside,
401
00:33:43.480 --> 00:33:46.279
on the outside or the figures of
society, but it focus is on
402
00:33:46.319 --> 00:33:51.920
family values. As Peter and Jeff
you said, there an the importance of
403
00:33:52.000 --> 00:33:57.079
connection there and as a slow moving
but for provoting drama, and it's also
404
00:33:57.279 --> 00:34:00.799
some of the shapes of the road
movie genre here, as the terraces come
405
00:34:00.880 --> 00:34:06.720
together and sort of form an unofficial
family there. I sound hurried and allow
406
00:34:06.759 --> 00:34:12.079
our audiences trying to get to know
these flowed characters and the director its cause.
407
00:34:12.119 --> 00:34:16.000
The internal struggles are conflicted emotional journeys, but he's not judgmental in his
408
00:34:16.039 --> 00:34:23.360
approach to the carriages, as observational
at times and handles the films complex issues
409
00:34:23.360 --> 00:34:28.559
and theme with empathy compassion, And
as the any point out, there are
410
00:34:28.599 --> 00:34:31.840
some generous joss of humor here and
solid performances all around, and it's been
411
00:34:31.840 --> 00:34:38.840
beautifully shot. But I think by
cinem Feldval Hong Young Hong Hoe who sang
412
00:34:38.920 --> 00:34:44.440
film for Bob Junhoe like Parasites and
Snowbies that so yeah, we are.
413
00:34:45.039 --> 00:34:51.400
But again it's one of those slow
burned films that allows you gets to understand
414
00:34:51.400 --> 00:34:53.280
the characters and what's going on.
Yeah, I agree with that. I
415
00:34:53.320 --> 00:34:58.360
think you really, once you become
invested, you really are heavily invested in
416
00:34:58.360 --> 00:35:00.880
it. So let's let's stub you
then, Gregor score out of ten for
417
00:35:01.320 --> 00:35:06.159
this particular thought, I'll do it
seven out of ten, seven out of
418
00:35:06.159 --> 00:35:08.519
ten, okay, And I think
Jackie, you'll go high out. Oh
419
00:35:08.599 --> 00:35:14.440
yes, I'll go a lot higher. And I remember Shoplifters very well.
420
00:35:14.480 --> 00:35:19.760
I love that, And I love
the family connection in that film where you
421
00:35:19.800 --> 00:35:23.559
don't have to be family by blood, it's by being together and fitting in
422
00:35:23.599 --> 00:35:29.360
together. So Broker has the same
kind of thing I've given Broker and nine
423
00:35:29.360 --> 00:35:34.039
out of ten. Wow, okay. Meet And similarly, I just like
424
00:35:34.119 --> 00:35:37.320
bow Is Afraid an incredible film nine
out of ten from me. Yeah,
425
00:35:37.360 --> 00:35:43.239
I'm giving it an eight out of
ten. So coming between you and Gregory,
426
00:35:44.000 --> 00:35:46.960
but very very worthwhile no question about
that at all. Now we are
427
00:35:47.039 --> 00:35:53.360
moving on J eighty eight FM from
film to theater, and Jackie, you
428
00:35:53.400 --> 00:35:59.400
went along with me to see firstly
a which we don't say this a lot
429
00:35:59.679 --> 00:36:08.360
and original musical made in Australia.
And we start here by looking back at
430
00:36:08.360 --> 00:36:15.079
a movie that was OSCAR nominated.
In fact it was but me nominated for
431
00:36:15.280 --> 00:36:22.239
eight Academy Awards. And I speak
of David Lynch's nineteen eighty dramatic biographical film
432
00:36:22.280 --> 00:36:27.239
The Elephant Man. So from recollection
that was Anthony Hopkins and John Burt was
433
00:36:27.280 --> 00:36:32.719
it not so that movie remains seething
in the buy consciousness. It really had
434
00:36:32.719 --> 00:36:37.559
a huge impact and Bancroft was there, John Gielgood as well. And now
435
00:36:37.599 --> 00:36:44.599
this clever and created group of writers
and composers Mark Luke, Chessie, Sarah
436
00:36:44.719 --> 00:36:52.639
Nanda Koppen and husband Jay and Nander
Coppen have taken the essence of the story
437
00:36:52.719 --> 00:36:57.639
and twisted it and turned it into
well, I think highly at attaining an
438
00:36:57.639 --> 00:37:02.000
engaging musical dramedy. I'm talking about
The Marvelous Elephant Man, the Musical.
439
00:37:02.079 --> 00:37:07.559
That's how it's been retitled The Marvelous
Elephant Man The musical. It is on
440
00:37:07.639 --> 00:37:12.079
at chapelof Chapel, and I think
there's a great deal of genius about the
441
00:37:12.119 --> 00:37:16.199
show, Jaggie. The story remains
moving and meaningful, but it's also risque
442
00:37:16.159 --> 00:37:21.320
any reverent the way that they've put
it together. And you've got John Merrick
443
00:37:21.360 --> 00:37:24.639
played by Ben Clark, who's a
human freak and I use the word freak
444
00:37:24.760 --> 00:37:30.639
in Inverted Commas, abandoned by his
mother, a prostitute and exploited for his
445
00:37:30.719 --> 00:37:37.000
physical deformity. He's actually like a
circus show oddity pointed to and laughed at.
446
00:37:37.960 --> 00:37:44.199
He's rescued again in Inverted Commas by
an eminent surgeon called doctor Treeves played
447
00:37:44.239 --> 00:37:50.920
by Canon Breen. His intention,
though, or intentions plural, are anything
448
00:37:51.079 --> 00:37:55.880
but laudable. Hope for John Merrick
comes by way of a nurse of that
449
00:37:57.000 --> 00:38:01.239
name, Nurse Hope played by Annaly's
Hall, who's sees behind the physical and
450
00:38:01.400 --> 00:38:07.280
enables Merrick's in a self to bloom. So that's the marvelous elephant man.
451
00:38:07.480 --> 00:38:12.599
Before I give my thoughts, I'm
interested in yours, Jackie. We sat
452
00:38:12.880 --> 00:38:16.440
near the top of Chapel of Chapel
in the theater there, and what did
453
00:38:16.440 --> 00:38:22.400
you think of the show. Um, well, your reference there to sitting
454
00:38:22.400 --> 00:38:25.559
in the near the top, I
was actually in the back row, and
455
00:38:25.920 --> 00:38:32.679
that gave me the opportunity to to
see what it was like from way up
456
00:38:32.679 --> 00:38:37.800
there in the nose bleeds. And
the big problem with seeing the play was
457
00:38:37.920 --> 00:38:45.480
that it was it was. The
problem was the staging. The most of
458
00:38:45.480 --> 00:38:51.320
the action took place in the front
half of the stage. Well, it's
459
00:38:51.320 --> 00:38:55.199
not a stage, it's floor level, and there's a raised two sections of
460
00:38:55.280 --> 00:39:00.440
race stage towards the back. And
if the action had been on those raised
461
00:39:00.519 --> 00:39:05.519
platforms, I would have been able
to sit, But as it was being
462
00:39:05.599 --> 00:39:09.159
on the floor, I could only
ever see the actors from the chest up,
463
00:39:09.760 --> 00:39:14.800
so that didn't work when there were
incidents where, for example, they
464
00:39:14.880 --> 00:39:19.320
fell to the ground and things were
going on on the floor and were out
465
00:39:19.360 --> 00:39:29.079
of you, so I couldn't couldn't
see Hay could started your play where half
466
00:39:29.119 --> 00:39:34.800
the audience couldn't see the actors and
yet we saw the orchestra in full glory
467
00:39:34.920 --> 00:39:39.199
for the entire duration. But have
really commented on what you did see,
468
00:39:39.199 --> 00:39:46.320
because look, I sat literally about
twenty meters from you, twenty feet from
469
00:39:46.320 --> 00:39:51.960
you actually, and I managed to
see most of it without any problem.
470
00:39:52.519 --> 00:39:54.119
I just I couldn't see their feet. In fact, somebody said to me
471
00:39:54.159 --> 00:39:58.840
afterwards, did you see those really
shiny red shoes? And I said no.
472
00:39:59.559 --> 00:40:04.280
But apart from that, I really
think that the musical works on so
473
00:40:04.320 --> 00:40:07.320
many levels. Do you, I
mean, forget about it, I thought,
474
00:40:07.679 --> 00:40:10.480
Alex. The first half was great, fun, great lyrics, some
475
00:40:10.679 --> 00:40:17.320
really great vocal range in by the
singers, good fun, as you said,
476
00:40:17.400 --> 00:40:23.719
irreverence and cheeky and clever, really
clever. And I when I heard
477
00:40:23.760 --> 00:40:29.800
the title of the Marvelous Elephant Man
the musical, I thought, how are
478
00:40:29.800 --> 00:40:32.840
they going to do this? I
really couldn't imagine how this could come together?
479
00:40:34.159 --> 00:40:37.239
And it was terrific. And then
the second half went to the second
480
00:40:37.280 --> 00:40:40.519
half after interval, I felt that
it was a complete loss. It didn't
481
00:40:40.559 --> 00:40:44.920
take the story any further. I
didn't even really understand, and it dranned
482
00:40:44.960 --> 00:40:47.920
and it sort of became this romance
just kind of kept limping and limping and
483
00:40:47.960 --> 00:40:52.000
limping along. And if they'd left
it it up to interval, I would
484
00:40:52.000 --> 00:40:55.280
have been much more impressed. Yeah, okay, well I know I didn't
485
00:40:55.320 --> 00:41:00.480
feel that way. I really think
that it needed to I thought it did
486
00:41:00.480 --> 00:41:02.840
develop, but I mean I found
it engaging. It's a bullion to it's
487
00:41:02.920 --> 00:41:08.559
dramatic, it's dastardly, and it's
also body and belligerent. So all of
488
00:41:08.599 --> 00:41:15.519
those ingredients sort of came together musically, really melodic and lyrical. It ticked
489
00:41:15.519 --> 00:41:19.239
all the right boxes as far as
that's concerned, and I found myself heavily
490
00:41:19.320 --> 00:41:23.039
drawn to and invested in the in
the tunings a sure fire of my involvement.
491
00:41:23.199 --> 00:41:28.559
I actually wanted by an album featuring
all the songs, A number of
492
00:41:28.559 --> 00:41:31.639
those would have become earworms, so
that they've done a really good job there.
493
00:41:31.800 --> 00:41:37.079
The stagecraft, the vocal strength,
the sex soften as credentials of Mark
494
00:41:37.199 --> 00:41:42.679
Lachesi, who plays the ringmaster among
several divert characters, make him an instant
495
00:41:42.719 --> 00:41:46.360
hit. Wasn't he fantastic major guy? It's terrific, absolutely truely realized.
496
00:41:46.400 --> 00:41:51.239
This his first This is the first
attempt at a musical. I think that's
497
00:41:51.880 --> 00:41:54.480
I mean, like I was blown
away by that, and he had terrific
498
00:41:54.559 --> 00:41:58.960
voice. Yeah, yeah, much
to do with the success of this particular
499
00:41:59.000 --> 00:42:04.440
piece. Mark Chessi lu double c
H E s I that's his surname,
500
00:42:04.599 --> 00:42:09.920
and Cannon Breen. Well, didn't
he drip with this super silly as ability.
501
00:42:10.559 --> 00:42:15.239
That's exactly what you want. Oh, there were great characterizations in it,
502
00:42:15.320 --> 00:42:17.079
for sure. Yeah, and milked
his stage persona for all it was
503
00:42:17.119 --> 00:42:22.039
worth. And as doctor Treves,
there's sort of arrogance and entitlement for his
504
00:42:22.119 --> 00:42:23.960
middle names. You know what I
thought of, Jackie. He brings back
505
00:42:24.000 --> 00:42:28.840
a bygone era when patrons used to
boo and hiss and throw rock and fluid
506
00:42:28.840 --> 00:42:31.760
and actors. That's what you know, it's it's it's you know, Dudley
507
00:42:31.840 --> 00:42:37.119
do Right in the That was one
of the our cartoons that we grew up
508
00:42:37.159 --> 00:42:40.440
with, wasn't it great? Dudley
do Right? No Wrong Year? And
509
00:42:40.559 --> 00:42:45.239
I was who was who was the
cartoon character? It used to sort of
510
00:42:45.719 --> 00:42:51.679
play with his mustache. It was
a bad guy. I don't even remember
511
00:42:51.719 --> 00:42:54.559
who that was anyway. That's what
he reminded me of, did it not?
512
00:42:54.880 --> 00:42:58.840
Did that not sort of set you
off a little bit, Jackie?
513
00:42:58.920 --> 00:43:04.320
In terms of the the Cannon Breen
character, Oh, I agree, great
514
00:43:04.400 --> 00:43:07.239
characters. I enjoyed the characters,
the lyrics. That was very good writing.
515
00:43:07.719 --> 00:43:13.559
Yeah, that was the second half
that I just felt, perhaps I
516
00:43:13.679 --> 00:43:16.280
felt the first half was very clever, and then second half just kind of
517
00:43:16.280 --> 00:43:22.639
went slapstick silly. Well, Analy's
Hall as this really sweet mallifluous boys channeling
518
00:43:22.639 --> 00:43:30.599
this wholesome, angelly temperamentally sound character
and she really did persodify beauty and love
519
00:43:30.599 --> 00:43:32.519
in their purest forms. That was
her role and she did it very well.
520
00:43:32.559 --> 00:43:37.920
And finally we talk about the elephant
man, Ben Clark. He didn't
521
00:43:37.920 --> 00:43:43.360
need prosthetics to win his way to
our hearts. Vocally, artistically, I
522
00:43:43.400 --> 00:43:47.519
thought he excelled from the opening number. He really readily projected vulnerability, fear,
523
00:43:47.639 --> 00:43:52.800
and substance, and again he played
that beautifully. So they, together
524
00:43:52.840 --> 00:43:57.559
with a really talented ensemble, an
accomplished band, they sort of breathed life
525
00:43:57.559 --> 00:44:00.960
and You into a story of oppression
and exile, life and love. And
526
00:44:01.119 --> 00:44:07.960
the dramaturgis by Guy Masterson, strong
direction from Christopher Mitchell and Masterson, and
527
00:44:07.079 --> 00:44:12.320
the choreography. There were some dance
sequences that Eden Reid was responsible for that
528
00:44:12.360 --> 00:44:15.480
I thought that was a treat.
And the spotlighting was really good a feature
529
00:44:15.480 --> 00:44:20.800
of the production. But the staging, I agree Jackie could certainly have been
530
00:44:20.840 --> 00:44:24.079
improved because the band was slightly elevated, and then that was on a stage
531
00:44:24.159 --> 00:44:29.920
left and then stage right at the
same height. You had this level that
532
00:44:30.000 --> 00:44:32.840
was used by actors in certain scenes. But yeah, you're right, much
533
00:44:32.840 --> 00:44:37.440
of the action took place at ground
level. Wouldn't have been a problem in
534
00:44:37.440 --> 00:44:42.239
another theater. And I've got to
be fair here because we saw it on
535
00:44:42.320 --> 00:44:51.000
opening night and I spoke to the
producer and he was really grateful and said
536
00:44:51.000 --> 00:44:53.800
that he would do something about it. So I hope that that. I
537
00:44:53.920 --> 00:45:00.239
don't doubt that if you've put an
elevated platform in that entire area, that
538
00:45:00.239 --> 00:45:04.599
would address that problem. And so
to me, it was a really easy
539
00:45:04.639 --> 00:45:07.480
fix. So, I mean,
it's just I would call it a it's
540
00:45:07.559 --> 00:45:13.039
noteworthy. Obviously we both saw the
same thing, but in the sum total
541
00:45:13.079 --> 00:45:16.920
of it, it's a small,
if somewhat frustrating gripe that could readily be
542
00:45:16.960 --> 00:45:21.000
addressed. Would you agree with that
or not? Well, for me,
543
00:45:21.079 --> 00:45:23.719
it was a big problem because I
didn't see the performance as it should have
544
00:45:23.760 --> 00:45:28.920
been seen. Okay, fair enough, and it was almost it wasn't as
545
00:45:29.239 --> 00:45:34.320
as much visual as verbal, if
you like, because I thought the lyrics
546
00:45:34.360 --> 00:45:38.159
were the strongest part of it.
But I should have been able to see
547
00:45:38.480 --> 00:45:44.719
the cast. Well, it is
a fresh Australian work about which we should
548
00:45:44.719 --> 00:45:47.639
be mighty proud and it deserves a
bigger stage in a worldwide audience. I
549
00:45:47.639 --> 00:45:53.119
can see this going elsewhere. I
can really see this transposing because The Elephant
550
00:45:53.119 --> 00:45:58.760
Man is such a heart stringing,
dipe story and they've really twisted it.
551
00:45:59.440 --> 00:46:01.519
Whether or they'd get the sense of
human maybe they would, maybe they wouldn't.
552
00:46:01.519 --> 00:46:06.280
I think it does. He does
want and need a national audience.
553
00:46:06.320 --> 00:46:10.880
Do you not agree with that?
Not willing to make a judgment on that
554
00:46:10.920 --> 00:46:15.679
one, but why not? I
think so? All right, So look
555
00:46:15.840 --> 00:46:21.000
that that's the marvelous Elephant Man the
musical out. So before you move on,
556
00:46:21.880 --> 00:46:25.519
you in w right with Caul snydery
whipwash, Thank you so much.
557
00:46:25.639 --> 00:46:30.199
Greg. That's yes, I used
to watch that. I loved it.
558
00:46:30.239 --> 00:46:32.360
I really did you enjoy it?
Oh? Yeah, some of them were
559
00:46:32.400 --> 00:46:37.320
quite funny and entertaining. Yeah,
exactly exactly. And Jackie, you're just
560
00:46:37.400 --> 00:46:42.079
about old enough. Did you watch
that or not? Not? No?
561
00:46:43.239 --> 00:46:45.920
No, I watched Gilligan's Island.
Yes, but this is a card too.
562
00:46:46.239 --> 00:46:51.280
Did you have it? Did you
have a disrupted childhood where you weren't
563
00:46:51.280 --> 00:46:57.960
allowed to watch cartoons. That's absolutely
correct. Not earn the Flintstones Zappers around
564
00:46:58.000 --> 00:47:01.360
that time. Yes, I'd watched
the flint Stones, but that must have
565
00:47:01.440 --> 00:47:07.079
been just on the old occasion because
we were allowed to watch one half hour
566
00:47:07.119 --> 00:47:10.599
program before the news went on at
seven o'clock. Yeah, this see news?
567
00:47:10.639 --> 00:47:14.800
That was it? TV was evil? Is that? Is that?
568
00:47:15.119 --> 00:47:19.119
Wow? Okay? And what about
you, Peter the evil one? What
569
00:47:19.199 --> 00:47:22.960
did you want? Why? I
remember? O? Thank you Malad.
570
00:47:23.760 --> 00:47:28.159
I liked a lot of the animations. I especially like projections. Actually,
571
00:47:28.199 --> 00:47:30.880
I think that was a lot of
fun. I agree, I agree,
572
00:47:30.880 --> 00:47:34.199
But my favorite was the was the
flint Stones as well, Greg, I
573
00:47:34.239 --> 00:47:37.280
thought they were fantastic, but I
mean, it's funny. I enjoyed them
574
00:47:37.320 --> 00:47:39.599
at the time. I remember seeing
these shows and I thought, wow,
575
00:47:39.639 --> 00:47:45.599
these are really good. But as
years go by, the fondness is,
576
00:47:45.760 --> 00:47:47.840
if anything, even grown. And
maybe that's just the way it is.
577
00:47:47.840 --> 00:47:52.920
As you get older, you you
you memorialize things that may not have been
578
00:47:52.960 --> 00:47:55.320
quite as good as as you remember
them to be. But anyway, I
579
00:47:55.440 --> 00:48:00.280
like the Looney Tunes, you know, the right running with the nas Well
580
00:48:00.039 --> 00:48:07.199
absolutely. Now let's talk about Berlin. Jackie MC Showroom, which is round
581
00:48:07.239 --> 00:48:12.320
the corner from chapelof Chapel, literally
less than that half a kilometer away anyway.
582
00:48:12.639 --> 00:48:17.039
Joe and and Murray Smith's remarkable insight
or attention to detail, writing prowess
583
00:48:17.159 --> 00:48:23.199
front and center captivating production of Berlin
at this venue. At the MC Showroom,
584
00:48:23.239 --> 00:48:28.000
an Australian called Tom played by Lachlan
Hammel, was just landed in the
585
00:48:28.039 --> 00:48:31.519
German capital. Keen to get to
know the real city rather than just the
586
00:48:31.559 --> 00:48:37.199
tourist offering. He's directed to this
small watering hole where he meets and is
587
00:48:37.239 --> 00:48:43.440
immediately drawn to a local bar worker
called Charlotte played by Georgia Latchford. We're
588
00:48:43.440 --> 00:48:46.199
talking one o'clock in the morning now
and the place has closed. The establishment
589
00:48:46.599 --> 00:48:51.000
just the two of them had her
plays when she's offered him her couch for
590
00:48:51.039 --> 00:48:55.599
the night, so their chat becomes
playful and vigorous. They dance around each
591
00:48:55.599 --> 00:49:00.480
other in an attempt to get to
know each other better. The spark between
592
00:49:00.480 --> 00:49:05.400
them as tangible as they reveal snippets
about themselves. She's a student and writer,
593
00:49:05.800 --> 00:49:09.599
she's keen to become a poet.
He says, he's into industrial espionage
594
00:49:10.199 --> 00:49:14.199
and as Tom tries to get her
into bed. They appear to have similar
595
00:49:14.280 --> 00:49:17.960
musical tastes. She matches him stride
for stride in conversation, she's very very
596
00:49:17.960 --> 00:49:22.920
good at that, and they talk
about their recent dating history. We learned
597
00:49:22.960 --> 00:49:25.960
that her parents separated when she was
only seven years of age. Her father
598
00:49:27.400 --> 00:49:32.159
is a hedge fund guy living in
London. Her mother is a narcissistic sculptor
599
00:49:32.519 --> 00:49:37.840
in bern Now. She was six
when her four year old brother was killed
600
00:49:37.079 --> 00:49:44.519
in a tragic accident after he chased
a ball onto the street. He received
601
00:49:44.639 --> 00:49:49.000
a little windfall after he was involved
in a fatal car grage. I speak
602
00:49:49.039 --> 00:49:54.119
about Tom now we find out that
he is in fact Jewish on his mother's
603
00:49:54.199 --> 00:49:59.280
side, and that he decided to
visit Germany because his great grandfather used to
604
00:49:59.320 --> 00:50:04.440
live there. Then the inevitable happens. But it's once the deed is done
605
00:50:04.440 --> 00:50:07.639
that things change considerably, and that
happens when she catches him out on his
606
00:50:07.719 --> 00:50:14.760
mobile phone, and thereafter the truth
outs. The ugly pasted very much brought
607
00:50:14.840 --> 00:50:21.280
into the present. So you've got
tragedy, exploitation and morality as the resounding
608
00:50:21.360 --> 00:50:24.960
themes. And this, by the
way, was inspired by a family trip
609
00:50:25.039 --> 00:50:30.920
that Murray's with Karen and Murray Smith
did or took an extraordinary piece of writing.
610
00:50:30.960 --> 00:50:37.400
I thought, sizzling tale of morass
and morality, resplendent with intellectual rigor
611
00:50:37.360 --> 00:50:42.119
that really eats into one's soul.
It causes one to reflect, to think
612
00:50:42.119 --> 00:50:46.119
and feel as the two protagonistscote to
toefort seventy five minutes. It's a lot
613
00:50:46.159 --> 00:50:51.679
of words, a lot of verbiage. Nuance's expressions and pauses that the actors
614
00:50:51.920 --> 00:50:55.000
bring to the production are really important. And what am mat sure top notch
615
00:50:55.079 --> 00:51:00.719
performance by Georgia Latchford. She's got
that down pat word perfect. We saw
616
00:51:00.280 --> 00:51:07.000
you and I both saw the preview
performance. I thought she was outstanding Jackie.
617
00:51:07.320 --> 00:51:13.280
She absolutely is very assured, very
assured, and to the point where
618
00:51:14.199 --> 00:51:21.639
her intonation and accent German intonation and
accent were I couldn't tell if she actually
619
00:51:22.199 --> 00:51:28.880
was German or no. I saw
you and I both thought the same thing.
620
00:51:28.880 --> 00:51:30.440
After we've got to seek her out
to sit, you know, she
621
00:51:30.519 --> 00:51:34.440
was having conversation. We would try
to listen in as to whether she was
622
00:51:34.480 --> 00:51:37.599
an Aussi or a native born German. And that's that's the sign of it.
623
00:51:37.719 --> 00:51:42.960
She's a young woman, I probably
what meant to late twenties, I
624
00:51:42.960 --> 00:51:45.320
would imagine. And what a brilliant
career she's got in front of her,
625
00:51:45.360 --> 00:51:51.679
if if this is any guide,
and she and yet even with all the
626
00:51:51.760 --> 00:51:55.880
German accent, we we didn't miss
a word of what she was saying,
627
00:51:57.079 --> 00:52:01.519
clear as a bell, and beautifully
project voice she had, which which was
628
00:52:01.599 --> 00:52:07.800
really important because as you say,
verbal base, Gosh, it was only
629
00:52:07.880 --> 00:52:12.840
about the talking. There was really
not much actually physically happens part for a
630
00:52:12.840 --> 00:52:17.119
bit of alcohol drinking and putting on
her putting on an LP to play.
631
00:52:17.239 --> 00:52:22.280
Well, there's not there's an't little
little little love and romance, but there
632
00:52:22.960 --> 00:52:24.719
most of the time. You're quite
right. I mean she really inhabited her
633
00:52:24.840 --> 00:52:28.920
character with poise and polish. But
Lochlan Hamill, I mean, there's no
634
00:52:28.960 --> 00:52:32.199
doubt he's got boyish charm, which
is what he's carried to is infused with
635
00:52:32.519 --> 00:52:37.400
and he brings Tom's yin to Charlotte's
yang, and that there's much more in
636
00:52:37.440 --> 00:52:39.360
this again than at first meets the
eye. As a piece of work,
637
00:52:40.000 --> 00:52:46.559
hamil Is readily channels the mood swings
that that sort of changing countenance that's essential
638
00:52:46.599 --> 00:52:50.800
to this wire work. When we
saw it, I thought he could slowed
639
00:52:50.840 --> 00:52:53.519
down a tad and led his words
an intonation breathe that. That was my
640
00:52:53.840 --> 00:52:59.559
take on it. What would you
have said? Yes, he could have,
641
00:52:59.719 --> 00:53:05.039
But there again, he was very
genuinely inhabiting the character of a young
642
00:53:05.119 --> 00:53:09.000
guy who was a little bit nervous. He just made her he was.
643
00:53:09.119 --> 00:53:12.719
We know, he was a fish, bit of a fish out of water,
644
00:53:13.280 --> 00:53:16.880
and when you're nervous you do talk
more quickly, and so it was
645
00:53:16.960 --> 00:53:22.559
quite quite fair that he did well. No, I thought he did a
646
00:53:22.599 --> 00:53:25.840
good job. He brought out our
character to Tom very well. Yeah,
647
00:53:25.960 --> 00:53:30.320
I mean both he and Latchford particularly
strong in the game of seduction. I
648
00:53:30.320 --> 00:53:35.239
thought that was terrific and in stating
their respective positions in character when it counts.
649
00:53:35.239 --> 00:53:38.880
So the director's Eric at Chestnut crafted
a really fine adaptation of Berlin.
650
00:53:39.280 --> 00:53:44.280
Great little venue, isn't it the
MC show Room. It's ultimate place,
651
00:53:44.960 --> 00:53:49.039
very vic on there till the thirty
of of April, So folks please go
652
00:53:49.079 --> 00:53:52.639
along and see this. It is
a really, really worthwhile show. Just
653
00:53:52.679 --> 00:53:54.199
out of interest. If you were
to score out out of ten, Jackie,
654
00:53:54.199 --> 00:53:58.079
what would you have given Berlin.
I'd give it a good seven and
655
00:53:58.119 --> 00:54:00.840
a half. I reckon it's higher
than that. I really do. I
656
00:54:00.840 --> 00:54:06.360
think it's well worth seeing, folks, and please young people on the go.
657
00:54:06.599 --> 00:54:12.159
You can really see where they're the
future of Australian theater and entertainment is
658
00:54:12.480 --> 00:54:15.000
with a show like Berlin. So
go and see Berlin, go and see
659
00:54:15.000 --> 00:54:19.599
the Marvelous Elephant Man, and consider
some of the films that we're spoken about.
660
00:54:19.920 --> 00:54:22.280
We've got to go, folks,
So thank you very much, Peter,
661
00:54:22.440 --> 00:54:25.760
Greg and Jackie, or Jackie,
Greg and Peter, in whichever order
662
00:54:25.800 --> 00:54:29.960
you wish. We'll do it all
again next week, first on Film and
663
00:54:30.320 --> 00:54:30.800
Entertainment. Signing off,
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