David Wenham and M*A*S*H

Acting royalty David Wenham - who’s fought orcs, vampires, and Gerard Butler’s abs - is now starring in his latest film, Spit. But there’s one battle he’s never had to face until now… watching M*A*S*H the movie.

For the first time ever, David shares his unfiltered thoughts on the film, drops a behind the scenes confession about his favourite movies, and breaks down how he kept his Spit character from becoming a SNL comedy sketch. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Get a Pete Helly here, welcome to you Ain't Seen
Nothing Yet? The movie podcast where I chat to a
movie lover about a classic or beloved movie they haven't
quite got around to watching until now. And today's guest
acting Royalty David Wenham all below.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
I want to stay here with you.

Speaker 3 (00:30):
To the jobble, why hate snake Shocked whil they couldn't
happening right now?

Speaker 4 (00:44):
You ain't seen nothing yet?

Speaker 5 (00:54):
What a huge David. You ain't seen nothing yet, the
great David.

Speaker 1 (00:58):
I have been a massive as all cinematic fans are
of David Wenham all the way back to see Change
of course on the smaller screen, but he's certainly graduated
not long after that to the big screen in great
films such as.

Speaker 5 (01:11):
The Boys Getting Square, which a film will.

Speaker 1 (01:14):
Come up today because he's got to follow up to
that called Spit, which is in cinemas now as this
goes out. It is a fantastic follow up and one
that I wasn't expecting. I was David was on the
project a few years ago.

Speaker 5 (01:26):
We got chatting.

Speaker 1 (01:27):
I told him how much I love Getting Square and
he said, funnily enough, we've just confirmed that we're doing
a sequel based on his great character Johnny spitz Fortiri,
who I think is one of the great comedic creations
on screen. To be honest, he's such a funny character
and the movie is great. We're going to talk to
David about that. Your name from Lord of the Rings,

(01:48):
Mullan Rouge, Elvis Parraz to the Caribbee and younger or
folks with kids will know him from Peter Rabbit three
hundred and he's always made the big films. He's always
made films in Australia as well, such as Line three Dollars,
The Proposition, one of my all time favorites, Goldstone, so

(02:08):
many he is literally can I say literally?

Speaker 5 (02:12):
Well, he's acting royalty, He really is.

Speaker 1 (02:14):
He's up there at the top astelong of ossie actors
of all time and I'm bloody stoked to be hanging
with him today.

Speaker 6 (02:26):
Hi. I'm David Wynham and my three favorite films today
are Wake and Fright Now.

Speaker 4 (02:33):
Vanity is spawned by fear.

Speaker 6 (02:36):
Here are the dogs and rats in the Rats.

Speaker 5 (02:46):
And she wants to run, but she's being stymied by mcinda.
He reckons he would be better than her. And I
just happened to leak it.

Speaker 6 (02:53):
To the Herald, and up until yesterday, I had never
seen the movie Mash.

Speaker 7 (03:02):
Through the horny.

Speaker 6 (03:05):
Fog, see visions of the things to be, the pains
that are with.

Speaker 5 (03:13):
Held for me, I realizon.

Speaker 8 (03:17):
I can't see.

Speaker 7 (03:22):
That suitside is painless.

Speaker 4 (03:26):
It brings on many changes, and I can take.

Speaker 1 (03:32):
On it if I please, Yes, And we'll get to
that song certainly throughout the chat.

Speaker 5 (03:38):
Today.

Speaker 1 (03:39):
There are very few films that have a legacy quite
like Robert Otman's nineteen seventy war comedy Mash. Set in
a field hospital during the Korean War, we follow surgeons
Hawkeye Donald Sutherland and trapper Elliott Gould, who navigate the
horrors of their day to day by boozing and cracking wise.
When Major Margaret haul of Hann arrives siding with air

(04:00):
nemesis Robert Deval's major Frank Burns, Hawkeye and Troda decided one,
if not both must go.

Speaker 5 (04:07):
Based on a book by Richard.

Speaker 1 (04:08):
Trotter from a screenplay by Ring Lardner Junior, for which
he won the film's only oscar. More on that later,
it was nominated for Best Film, losing to another war film,
Patton Oltman lost to Pattern's Franklin Shaffner for Best Director,
Sally Callaman nominated for her portrayal of lips hulahand lost
to Helen Hayes. In Airport, it also lost Danford B.
Green the director Sorry the Editor also missing out. But

(04:32):
of course, the movie's legacy comes in the form of
the TV sitcom it created, much to the chagrin of
the late Robert Oltman. Mash is considered one of the
great American sitcoms and also one of the longest lasting
TV series, compiling of two hundred and fifty one episodes
runn fromnineteen seventy two to nineteen eighty three, with the
Mash finale remaining the single most watched episode of a

(04:53):
broadcast TV show ever.

Speaker 5 (04:55):
David Wennan, did you grow up in a Mash diet
in your house?

Speaker 6 (04:58):
Uh? No, No, but strange enough that the song suicide
is painless? It seemed to be everywhere when I was
growing up, and the only time I did see Mash,
I think I'm the last of seven kids. Maybe one
of my sisters used to watch it and I'd hear
the song. The only thing I remember are the helicopters,

(05:19):
which I was obsessed by as a kid because they
looked like I love the shape of them, the fact
that there was this glass bubble that looked like the
eye of a fly that only the pilot and one
other person could sit in, and then this very thin
skeletal structure that was like a praying mantis that could
just hover and twist on a dime and then fly off.

(05:40):
That I was obsessed with. But the show itself I
didn't really come across until later on.

Speaker 1 (05:45):
Actually, yeah, it wasn't really in my house by the
time I was born in seventy five. It was around yeah,
but it was always almost like cricket during summer. It
was always a round in the background somewhere, you know,
and I a millie my house could It's usually in
the foreground during summer. But I was more at that stage,
probably UK comedies, Young.

Speaker 5 (06:05):
Ones and that stuff, and America.

Speaker 1 (06:07):
It was family ties and cheers by the time I
was really starting to get into into watching TV. But
it is like there's so many people don't even know
there's a movie. When I discussed or mentioned that you're
coming on, oh my films, he hasn't seen. That's a
mash And a few people went to the TV series.

Speaker 6 (06:24):
It's going to take it forever.

Speaker 1 (06:28):
So I it's and I hadn't seen it, so I'm
really glad I can tick this one off from myself.
Robert Otins nineteen seventy mash. We've got a lot to
talk about, including the film that you have out now speak.
We're going to get to that very soon, which I loved. Well,
let's talk about your three favorite films, three Aussie films,
as it were, Wake in Fright.

Speaker 5 (06:47):
Of course you were part of the TV series the remake.

Speaker 6 (06:50):
Yeah, you don't bring that up. We can just park that,
I think and move on.

Speaker 1 (06:53):
I enjoyed that, but I mean it is a tough
thing to follow the original. The original film we covered
on this podcast with Ross and Noble and him being
from Newcastle in England, he got quite a shock of
the film and also but he also said that it
rung true for him, like he could. He's a non drinker,
so he's been around comedy, you know, and backstage and

(07:16):
around festivals, around a bit of a drinking culture in
comedy surprise, and he could understand, he said, he could
actually quite understand. You can understand it. He knows what
it's like to be around people drinking and that point
of the evening where things feel like they're about to
tip out of control.

Speaker 6 (07:33):
Yeah. Terrifying, Yeah, absolutely terrifying.

Speaker 5 (07:36):
It really is.

Speaker 6 (07:37):
I remember the first time I saw it was Anthony
Buckley who produced one of the very first things I did.
Years and years and years ago. I did a television
series called The Heroes, which was based on a true
story of a fishing boat called the christ and a
bunch of Australian soldiers dressed up as Indonesian fishermen, got
on a boat, went into Singapore Harbor and attached limpid

(08:00):
minds to the naval vessels in there and blew up
all these vessels and then came back and they survived
the first mission. They did it again. So Anthony Buckley
produced this thing called The Heroes. It was one of
the first things I did with He goes really a
collected cast. Cameron Dado, Jason Donovan who was going out
with Kylie at the time. Wow, and Kylie would come
up and she'd stay with us up you know, in

(08:20):
northern Queensland, and one day I saw her washing Jason's clothes.
So there we go.

Speaker 5 (08:25):
The anecdotes have started here.

Speaker 3 (08:26):
We go we had you.

Speaker 6 (08:27):
Yeah try now I'm going to Yeah. I think I'm
going to be canceled very quickly if I go. And
then one of my favorite actors of all time, a
great Australian actor called John Hargraves, was in it. Yes,
so I mind him for information. But Anthony Buckley, who
produced that, found a copy. Because Waken Fright disappeared for years,
there was never a print. Somebody found it and Anthony

(08:49):
Buckley took it upon himself to get that sort of
fixed up on whatever and he got it eventually re released.
I was at the first screening of that in at
the not the Valhalla, the chaven Well in Paddington for
the very first screening of that re release. I remember
when I saw it, I just blew my mind. I
just thought, that is the greatest Australian film I have
ever seen. It was it was shocking, It was like

(09:12):
it was visceral. I felt that film on so many
different levels. The performances were just yeah, brilliant. From Chip's
Rafferty playing Jock this nightmarish policeman.

Speaker 1 (09:27):
Drink filming or not long after filming, and the drinking
because he was drinking for real.

Speaker 6 (09:32):
Yeah, he's very thirsty man. He held it very well. Yeah,
and you could see it in his eyes. It was like, yeah,
that guy, Yeah, there was power within his eyes. Who
else who jack one.

Speaker 5 (09:44):
Of his first jack first?

Speaker 6 (09:47):
And that incredible sequence on the back of the truck
when they go reshooting at night and it's like, you'd
never be able to do that now, there's no you know,
O H and S would just never allow you to
do it in a million years. It was so dangerous,
but you felt that danger. You thought, oh my god,
these guys they're on the back of this truck in
the middle of the night, only with a spotlight going
I don't know, maybe eighty kilometers one hundred kilometers over

(10:09):
these things with rifles shooting real ammunition, and you just thought,
oh my god, any bump, any turn of that wheel
and they're going to go yeahs over.

Speaker 1 (10:18):
So you hear about those nineteen seventies Australian filmmaking George
Miller Man Max and the outlaw nature of it, and
it's great to hear about it. Is there part of
you that would would have loved to have experienced that
or you've got quite happy to go No, I like
that sets as safe in that.

Speaker 7 (10:33):
No.

Speaker 6 (10:33):
Look, I've been been around for a little while now,
so yeah, I began when it was relatively unsafe, and
I've got to be honest, I quite liked the Maverick approach.
A little bit. A little bit of danger, I think
is not a bad thing, just a little bit.

Speaker 1 (10:46):
Well, the thing we're talking about today acertainly has that,
I think in spades. A Year of the Dogs, Tipic,
this is the AFL it is, then Footscray Fretty Club documentary,
it is.

Speaker 6 (10:57):
And the only reason, well the reason I picked out
it was like, you know, you've I didn't do my homework.
I've got to be honest, Pete. I know you asked
me a while ago to pick my three best and
I concentrated just on the film that I had to watch,
and then I received this email only about half an
hour agoing.

Speaker 1 (11:11):
Oh shit, you have the rewatched these with But by
the way, you said something to me which blew my
mind before we started recording. You said that you were
very rarely seen a film twice.

Speaker 6 (11:21):
Yeah, there's not too many I can think off the
top of my head. Don't look now is one that
I definitely have, only because I happened to have been
in places where I was playing. So I did watch
it again. No, very really, I often I can't think
of any others off the top of my head, and
there's no red.

Speaker 5 (11:36):
You had those comfort films because people off the top
I no.

Speaker 7 (11:39):
I do.

Speaker 6 (11:40):
The only things that I have seen more than once
is you know, I've got two daughters. One there's now
twenty one sixteen, and Princess Bride is one that they
would have seen like dozens of times. So I just
pop in every now and again and catch catch scenes there.
But otherwise, no, I don't seek out films that I've seen.

Speaker 5 (11:56):
So a Year of the Dogs?

Speaker 1 (11:57):
Why why?

Speaker 4 (11:57):
Why?

Speaker 6 (11:58):
Okay, I was thinking that there's there's a whole heap
of films that I love, but I can't honestly just pick. Okay,
these my top three. Difficult. But what I do know,
and what I can tell you is that the films
that I gravitate towards are documentaries. I find it really,
really difficult to watch narrative feature films or television because

(12:18):
it's nearly impossible for me to turn off my critical
faculty and it and it's very frustrating. So I watched
the films and it's not just performance, as I see
the mechanics behind it, and I just wish I could
switch that off so I could just have it as
a piece of entertainment, but I can't. So yeah, frustrating.
So that's why documentaries, for me, they're surprising and they

(12:42):
can affect me and move me and humor me like
a feature film. Can't like that one that I picked,
And as I say, yeah, I've only seen that film once.
Year of the Dogs when it was released in I
think nineteen ninety seven, the year after that year that
it was filmed in, but I remember it being it
just drew me in. I love AFL, you know, an
ambassador for the Swans. But that year was incredible for

(13:05):
Footscray and the draft. You couldn't script that any better.
And then the change of the coach. Within the season,
one of the young players got cancer. One of their
great players, you know, was forced to retire. The two
fans that they followed through that year. The passion and
the distress that had caused these two ladies who you know,
the dogs were their life. It's like it was it's

(13:28):
Shakespearean and then as well, I remembered so clearly because
Terry Wallace halfway through the season took over the Dogs
famously and that brilliant line that he said at the
time berating the players, and he said, you know, if
you do that again, I'm going to spew up. And
then he was a possibility to take over as coach

(13:50):
from Rodney Eid at the Swan's. And I remember, not
long after I saw that film, somebody painted this banner
that they took to the to the Swans. Collis was reached.
Collis was the chairman of this ons and it said Collis,
if you choose Wallace, I'll spew you up.

Speaker 1 (14:08):
I was chatting with just this week actually, Bob Murphy,
Bulldog's Legend and they're now doing Bricky Radio came on
this podcast to do Butchercasid in the Sundance Kid.

Speaker 5 (14:19):
We both love that.

Speaker 1 (14:21):
And there's a there's a kind of a feeling that's
gone viral online about Rocketed in the commentary box and
he's going crazy, he's going mentally, he's get.

Speaker 5 (14:29):
Him half and then or the other coach. You go, okay,
settle down, mate, we can't think, we can't think.

Speaker 1 (14:34):
He goes, oh sorry, sorry, fucking get him off and
he Bob said to me, he has a crazy thing
is that wasn't a final?

Speaker 5 (14:41):
That would that be round six practice match?

Speaker 6 (14:46):
Appreciate I actually within within the club. It's relatively well
known fact. And I wasn't an ambassador of the Swans
at that stage, but i'd followed them pretty much since
they'd moved up from South Melbourne. And it was Michael
O locke very first match and I was a little
bit after actually after his first match, and he berated

(15:06):
him at a during a postmatch press conference and Rodney,
if you're listening, I know that you know this story.
And I apologize, but he berated him and I wrote,
I'd never done this before in my life. It's like
it just got me because I could see the potential
of this guy, that Michael Lochlin, who did go on
to be a champion of the club. And I wrote
this letter to him and I said, you know, miss
bah bah Baha. I said, look, I'm an actor and

(15:31):
I know what I do. It relies on confidence, and
you need to have confidence in order I need to
have confidence in order to deliver my best. The same
thing I'm sure would happen with a football player if
you instill confidence in that person, they're going to be
able to realize their best. But if you tell somebody
they're bad enough for long enough, it becomes a self
fulfilling prophecy. And I went through all the different moments.

(15:53):
Bah bah bah it hit a chord. Rodney, to his
great credit, typed a letter back which I subse quantly framed,
and every now and again it was taken into the club.
But he addressed every one of my points, to his
great credit, and he said, you know, I take it
on board, blah blah blah, and I make sure that
I do. You know, positive reinforcement in future.

Speaker 5 (16:11):
That is great to hear, because you know, you hate.

Speaker 6 (16:13):
I know we're not talking about film here.

Speaker 5 (16:17):
You know we love that.

Speaker 1 (16:18):
But we'll move on because we will move on the
politics in a second, because rockety yeah, you hate for
these things to go violin. And the only thing you
people remember from a coach is him ranting in the
coach's box because obviously he coached for a very long
time and it was bloody good. He's a bloody good coach. Yeah,
rats in the rank. Another Ossie documentary, Yeah.

Speaker 6 (16:36):
Another one. I was just thinking through them all and
I just off the top of my head and I
thought I'll just go Aussie. Yeah, you know, waking from
the two ossy ones. I remember when I saw that,
and I grew up. I didn't grow up in For
those who don't know, it's about like art council. It's
about the events leading up to an election for local
council election. And it's called rats in the Rank for
very good reason or rat's in the rank because people are,

(16:57):
you know, undermining each other left right center, and it's
extraordinary that these people, I suppose it was before the
ubiquity of reality television. The fact that there's cameras on
them at all time and they're allowing these phone calls
to be filmed whereby they're basically dissing each other. Yeah,

(17:18):
it was extraordinary, extraordinary. In fact, I looked at a
little just before I came to the studio. Though. Oh
I tried to find a trailer for it. There's not
a I couldn't find a trailer, but I saw a
thirty second clip from it, so that's I don't know
what year it was, but bizarrely, Larry Hand who was
the mayor at the time, and basically the clip is
talking about Elbow at the time. That's a long time ago.

(17:41):
Say yeah, yeah, Well, Alba says, well, don't tell him.
I'm not going to tell him that, you know. Albert said,
don't tell Albow. Don't tell Alba. It's extraordinary. He's now
the Prime minister.

Speaker 5 (17:49):
There you go. That is that is fascinating.

Speaker 6 (17:50):
It's a great piece. It's like and then I just
thought of documentaries as well. It's there. Yeah. They moved me,
and they fascinate me, and they intrigued me. And then
I thought that there's a couple actually I thought, oh,
they're left of field ones that in a way have
had an effect on me. One of them is an
American documentary called Waiting for Superman. I don't know if

(18:11):
you know it. It's about the American schooling system. It's
quite old now, but when I saw that, I was
a horrified but also to me then everything made sense,
especially about where America is at the moment. It's about
the public schooling system in America and how it essentially
is completely broken, not slightly completely broken. Unless you unless

(18:33):
you have money, like big money to be able to
send your kid to a private school, well good luck,
because you're not going to get an education. It's terrifying.
So what I used to do years ago, when I'd
spend quite a lot of time in Los Angeles friends
of mine who would consider moving to Los Angeles, I
had a little batch of DVDs of that film, and
I would give it to them and just say, hey, look,

(18:53):
if you're having kids and whatever, have a look at
that before you think you're settling down here.

Speaker 5 (18:57):
Wow.

Speaker 6 (18:58):
It was really powerful struck me, and then I thought,
and then here we go. Another one that I thought
that would be a good one is Megan Washington, who's
a maid of mine. She was talking about this doco
that she'd seen that she's thinking of turning into an opera,
and it's called if you heard of find As Keepers. No,
it's like it's out there. It's set in I can't

(19:19):
remember exactly which stated to the Southern State of America.
It's about this guy. His father is a pilot. They
have a really sort of fraught relationship. The father's flying
one day and the plane crashes and the father dies
and the son is sort of maimed and has to
have his leg amputated, and in order for him to

(19:40):
after the amputation, he asks the hospital for his foot.
But they don't just give me his foot. They give
him the whole leg. And he wants to keep it
as like a part of him and his link to
his to his father and whatever. He's got a bit
of a drug habit, and so he keeps the leg.
Here we go. This is very slight. He keeps the
leg in like a barbecue, in a webber type barbecue

(20:03):
in a storage facility with other stuff. But he runs
out of because of his habit. He can't keep up
with the rental payments of the storage unit. So the
storage unit gets all the contents of his storage unit
gets sold. This yeah, yeah, and this guy buys all
the stuff in that unit, opens the barbecue and finds

(20:25):
this mummified leg. Now where does this guy's head go?
He thinks, it's like, this is really quite an interesting thing.
He sees that as his way of sort of defining himself.
So he starts to advertise for people to come and
see this mummified leg. And he charged people to come
and see this mummified leg. And then he becomes a
local celebrity, you know, the footman they call him. And

(20:48):
he goes on programs in a wrestling program and his
life becomes he's living his fantasy life because suddenly he
is someone because of this guy's leg. The guy whose
leg it is finds out about him and then wants
his leg back. That's when it gets interesting who owns
the leg? And ultimately ultimately it's like sounds really funny
and weird than it is. And then right at the

(21:10):
end it becomes quite tragic, and you actually feel for
both of them, like really feel for both of them,
because they have just what defines them. It's tragic, it's
really really tragic.

Speaker 5 (21:24):
You know, when this was released roughly.

Speaker 6 (21:27):
Handfully good handful of years ago. If I had a guess,
maybe six years half a dozen years ago, I'm guessing
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (21:32):
I have not heard of that film, but that sounds
as cheap as there we go American film. Yeah, okay,
when I think a documentary you mentioned the Year of
the Dogs and that the like art kind of you
know that year likehart Or and you wonder about the
Year of the Dogs like that that crew followed them
around exactly the right season, didn't they? And you kind
of think many how many camera crews have followed somebody

(21:56):
for nothing and then got there's no story here exactly.

Speaker 6 (21:59):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, and that there's no this buggle or
money and making documentaries as well. That's like I take
my hat off to those people who do it, because yeah,
they're out in the field for a very long time,
just hoping, hoping, hoping for something.

Speaker 1 (22:12):
Let's talk about the movie that before we get to
mash you have followed up with this, this, this you
being on this podcast, I feel like has its origin
a couple of years ago because you came on the
project and I told you how much I love Getting Square.
I remember, and and I'm trying you just found out
that you were you were.

Speaker 5 (22:30):
Doing the sequel, because it's a couple of years ago now, yeah,
and you.

Speaker 6 (22:33):
Said, oh, I've got something for you.

Speaker 5 (22:34):
Yeah, we're doing a sequel, and I was.

Speaker 1 (22:36):
Like, wow, I was so excited, and so to see
it now about two weeks ago. It is because I
wasn't I admit, I wasn't holding out for a Getting
Square sequel, like I just I just didn't, you know,
just I thought it's a great film. I think it's
one of the most underrated comedies ever. And I think
Johnny Spitzbateria is one of the purest comedic creations that

(23:00):
I've seen, you know, on screen, certainly from in Australia.
I think it's it's genius and I watched it. It
is really funny, but it's also it packs a punch
emotionally and it there's a reason for it that it existing.
You know, Let's have let's have a listen to the

(23:22):
trailer and we'll chat more about Spit.

Speaker 8 (23:26):
International future money linder, criminal mastermind. John Francis Spettier.

Speaker 6 (23:41):
Lock him up. This is Australia. It's still a free country,
isn't it.

Speaker 5 (23:48):
Wynes is blessed.

Speaker 6 (23:49):
Oh mate, there's used a tragic case. Mistaken identity.

Speaker 9 (23:56):
This is your driver's license.

Speaker 6 (23:58):
No, he's gone screen your eyes. I don't have squinty eyes.

Speaker 8 (24:02):
You run for a restaurant.

Speaker 3 (24:04):
Why are you in jail.

Speaker 6 (24:06):
I'm going to get out of you, win I do.
I'm going to look over here and the little one
John Francis Ptiri has been located alive. Disaster to spit.

Speaker 8 (24:16):
John Spyteria opens his mouth.

Speaker 6 (24:17):
You and I are but fuck suck suck are resonable
doubt at a reasonable price. All refuse refused.

Speaker 8 (24:30):
We want to know where the money got to a
week one names.

Speaker 6 (24:33):
You've got a little kid to look it up for.

Speaker 8 (24:36):
You'll see this little boy.

Speaker 6 (24:37):
I'm his uncle.

Speaker 2 (24:39):
You had your hair like me, biscuit.

Speaker 6 (24:42):
They used to call ginger nut a ginger nut.

Speaker 7 (24:48):
Johnny Spirit, I'm gonna grass you love?

Speaker 4 (24:50):
Is he?

Speaker 7 (24:51):
Johnny was a clock.

Speaker 8 (24:52):
You wouldn't even tell her the time.

Speaker 6 (24:59):
I'm not gonna no more. You are, in fact, John
Francis BATTERI are you not excuse me? I know I'm
currently suffering from a very bad case of amnus caesia.

Speaker 5 (25:22):
It's so it's so good.

Speaker 1 (25:23):
Great here Bob Franklin by the way, yeah, in there
and the Sema on the big screen. You obviously love
this character. So what what was it about revisiting you know, spit.

Speaker 6 (25:35):
Well, it came about just by through a conversation I
had probably about ten, ten eleven years ago with a
filmmaker down here, actually, one of my closest friends, Robert Connolly,
and we were talking.

Speaker 5 (25:44):
About the fact that my boys Robert, yeah, boyd.

Speaker 6 (25:47):
Number of film, three dollars the bank, paper planes. Yeah.
We're talking about the fact that comedy I think is
probably my strongest suit. But I don't really ever get
an opportunity to play with it. And it's the reason
that you know, years ago that I began acting. I
was a very naughty boy in school and I used

(26:07):
to make you know, the rest of the kids laugh
so much so that I spent most of my schooling
outside the classroom because the teachers couldn't bear to have
me in there because the classroom would just go totally wild.
So I don't get to play and to be funny
very often. And so Rob brought up the characters Spetiri,
and we just started a riff and I said, oh, yeah,

(26:29):
you could put him in just you know, all these
different situations and you know, potential mayhem may ensue. And
he said, there's something in that you should pursue it.
And so I rang Chris Nice, who wrote Getting Square,
and he said, well, it's interesting you rang, because myself
and Jonathan Ttoplitzki, the director, have actually been writing something.
Oh wow on spit send it around speed. He said,

(26:49):
you want me to send you something. I said sure,
and he sent it and it was the first draft
of this movie. And the very first time I read
it, it was like, oh my god, it was inspired because
as you said, there had to be a reason for
its existence. It couldn't just be getting square too. We
weren't interested in doing that. And it was. It was
a solid character piece that was very very funny on
the page, but it was also it also had levels

(27:11):
to it and layers to it, which made it a
really really rich piece of material. And for me as
an actor, something that it was like it was a
gift and a gift to be able to play with
and especially with Jonathan as well. It was the third
film that I've done with Jonathan and we've got a
great relationship and he allows me literally to play, which

(27:31):
is yeah, you know that's what acting is playing.

Speaker 1 (27:33):
Yeah, and it's I mean, it's a character that could
be a version of this could exist on SNL, you know,
you know what I mean.

Speaker 5 (27:41):
So it's a big comedy character.

Speaker 1 (27:43):
How do you make sure it isn't just a comedy
character and it has that heart?

Speaker 5 (27:49):
How do you find how do you find all that?

Speaker 6 (27:52):
I think the key to it and it's something that
Jonathan I would always talk about. It had to be
based in a reality. Every the whole world, even though
it's you know, the materia, yesque world, everything within it
has to be believable. The audience has to believe it now.
The creation of Spateria for me came from the fact
that I'd known I can't tell you how many Johnny's
Paterias in my time. I lived down the road from

(28:13):
King's Cross more than thirty years my life, so I
have encountered Johnny many, many, many, many times. And I'm
a very proud ambassador of Wayside in the Cross, where
characters like Spateri and their friends go to Wayside to
basically be listened to and to be heard. And I've
spent time with these people, listening to their to their stories,

(28:37):
finding out why they are the way they what they are,
and they're you know, obviously very moving, very funny, and
they're you know, great real people that you know, I
have a huge affection for. And I think that's one
of the reasons, you know, I love the characters so much,
is because I have, Yeah, I feel for the characters.

Speaker 5 (28:56):
So you do.

Speaker 1 (28:57):
You're watching him and you have empathy for him, even
though he's done some bad things and he's you know,
he's gone down the wrong path a few times, but
you feel like he's trying to get back on the
right path and yeah, you just you feel for him.

Speaker 6 (29:11):
Yeah. The key is I think he's a good man. Yeah,
for all his little quirks, idiosyncrasies and flaws, and he's
got a lot of them, but in this film at
least you know he's off the gear, but he is,
you know, an exit. He's a small time crim as well,
but at his heart he is a good man. And
the thing that we see through this film is that
he is the least judgmental person that you will ever
hope to come across. And the film ultimately it's a

(29:32):
celebration of us. Really, it's a celebration of us as
Australian and Australians and something that we cherish and that's
made ship. This is what it's about to be a
true mate. And at the end of the film, I
think you walk away thinking, gee, you know, wouldn't mind
being a mate Johnny's Patios.

Speaker 5 (29:47):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely right.

Speaker 1 (29:48):
And then companies are hard to make and get made
and had to make work and you've smashed this one absolutely.
But as an actor, I love speaking to you know,
I say proper actors about as opposed to my comedy
mates about acting as far as drama and comedy and
how do you just go it's not about thinking of

(30:09):
it as a comedy or a drama.

Speaker 5 (30:11):
It's actually just committing to the character.

Speaker 6 (30:13):
Yeah, just spot on, that's right. Yeah, And as you know,
this film it's quite unique. I honestly can't think of
another film like it whereby we're really pushing the extremes here,
the extremes of comedy that you know still exist in
the realms of reality, and the levels of pathos and
drama in it. It's like, it's pretty it's like it's

(30:33):
a really delicate balance. But you're spot on. It's literally
it's it's believing in the character. Yeah, the minute that
you're you know, you're just playing the character for laughs.
It ain't that sort of film.

Speaker 5 (30:47):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (30:48):
Absolutely, let's have a little ware. I've listened of John
Francis Spateri as he finds himself in one of the
detension centers that I'm sure when the guys were writing
this was a front page use and or at least
in the shadows of it, this is a spit So.

Speaker 6 (31:04):
What what what's your name?

Speaker 5 (31:05):
Buddy? My name?

Speaker 6 (31:07):
Yeah, what's your name? Lemma?

Speaker 5 (31:09):
They you?

Speaker 6 (31:13):
Uh, do you want to write it up on the
blackball format.

Speaker 7 (31:18):
To the citizen. Listen, it's fine, it's good.

Speaker 6 (31:35):
No, No, that's that's a. That's a good name, man,
that's a. That's a good name. I just I just
think it might be a little bit too long for
the visa forms. Like in Australia, we we we have
short names.

Speaker 7 (31:45):
Forget visa is better. I have a short name.

Speaker 6 (31:52):
Yeah, yeah, you could be mate, have a have a
short one you have for me? Oh yeah. In Australia
got heaps and we've got our steveo uh to Trevor.

Speaker 3 (32:01):
Trev Yeah, I write it.

Speaker 10 (32:04):
I'll write it down for you. Shut up, Trevor, Trevor spelling.

Speaker 5 (32:17):
Trevor. Yeah, my name is forever.

Speaker 7 (32:20):
This good name, good name.

Speaker 5 (32:22):
For his It's so funny to listen to it.

Speaker 1 (32:25):
But also what you're missing when you watch it is
the blackboards actually a whiteboard, which is lovely, and there's
a lovely miss spelling of Trevor at the end there
as well. But the noise, the little noises that he
makes when he's reacting, it's not dialogue. That's just that's
playing and yeah that's I'll chatting to somebody again. Bob
movie is going to be have we listened to this

(32:46):
and getting a bit of a kick out of it.
But I play an ah L character who can't get
a game called Strawnie, and I've done it for years
less so recently, and he Bob's a fan of the character.
And we're kind of saying, it's it's what the understand
straw any or the sea kind of the vulnerability in
Sandus Storny. It's what happens when he's not talking in
between bits. Yeah, and I'm certainly not comparing the story. Yeah,

(33:10):
it is in between bits that are so good.

Speaker 6 (33:12):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (33:12):
Yeah, it's a fantastic film. And also I would say
to people go see it in the cinema. You've been
watching it with the audiences, what's it like watching a
comedy like with a big.

Speaker 6 (33:25):
It's been incredible. I've been touring the country screening it
at night and then having you know, question and answer
sessions afterwards. Before the film was released shortly, it's been remarkable.
The reaction, actually, the levels of laughter in the cinema
has been pretty incredible. But that that ride of absolute
bursts of hilarity from the audience and then absolute pin

(33:47):
drop silence has been yeah, really quite fulfilling. Actually, yeah,
it's been great.

Speaker 1 (33:54):
And when you're making a comedy, what's that do you?
As far as you know, because we forget when when
actors are making films, they're living.

Speaker 5 (34:02):
You know, they've got stuff.

Speaker 1 (34:03):
They need to do, they need to you know, do
life stuff in between rocking up a set. But do
you feel lighter or are you pretty even tempered to
feel making you know the boys? And that's going back
a bit or you know, haws that eight weeks three
months for you making comedy compared to like making a That's.

Speaker 6 (34:22):
A fascinating question. I've never actually thought of the difference
between the making, whether it be comedy or drama. All
I can say is, I suppose is as I've got older,
when I was younger, I would be classified. I suppose
in furted commas as much more method, I would actually
go through sort of a form of, you know, psyching
myself into the character so much so that I would

(34:43):
believe that I was that person and enter the scene.
But now I've got to an age whereby I feel
I can sort of short circuit it a little bit
and get in and out much quicker. But I like
existing in that character and being that character when I'm
king not not you know, not lunchtime or anything, not
at all, but on set, so Sbateria, for example, as

(35:07):
a character that I feel as though I've formed it
so fully that I could put him in any situation
at any moment and I'd be able to act instantaneously, spontaneously,
organically and completely real in the moment. It's like, yep,
I know that character just so well, and it's yeah,

(35:29):
as a as an actor, it's it's it's good to
know that. Yeah, Okay, I got one.

Speaker 1 (35:35):
Yeah, I've got one, So you certainly have make congratulations.
And I remind p'ple go seat in the cinemas. It's
in cinemas now as this podcast gets released, or the
day after actually, and go see it with people and
check out Getting Square. If you haven't seen Getting Squat,
go back and check it out. I will say, though,
if you haven't seen Getting Squaed, this he works.

Speaker 6 (35:54):
Yeah, no need to see it at all, but you know,
added moments you can see it either before or after.
But you're right, we did make this specifically for the
cinema and especially for a comedy as well, that there
is nothing better than sitting in a cinema that's full
as a communal experience and laughing together as a group
of people. It is so done good. Yeah, it's like
going to the football. It's so far better to go

(36:16):
to the MCG than sit at home, you know, with
with one or two mates and whatever. It's a communal
it's a communal thing.

Speaker 1 (36:21):
It's a release and I completely agree, and it'd be
void of distractions and light.

Speaker 5 (36:28):
I still love going to the movies, Okay, I can
do it each week.

Speaker 1 (36:31):
All right, let's talk about the movie that you watch
for the first time this week.

Speaker 4 (36:36):
And you're a beer drinker, Serrea, would you like to
share a martini with me?

Speaker 5 (36:40):
Martini?

Speaker 6 (36:40):
I love a Martinez.

Speaker 7 (36:43):
Oh John, the gentlemen and Martini.

Speaker 4 (36:45):
I think you will attle find that these accommodating are
quite drying.

Speaker 5 (36:51):
Don't you use olives? Olives? Weather?

Speaker 4 (36:54):
Hell?

Speaker 6 (36:54):
Do you think?

Speaker 5 (36:55):
Yeah? Man, we do have to make certain concessions to
the war. We're three miles from the front line.

Speaker 1 (37:00):
Yes, but a man can't really savored his marke kinney
without an you know, otherwise, you see, it just.

Speaker 6 (37:10):
Doesn't quite make it.

Speaker 1 (37:13):
Attention From nineteen seventy Robert Oltman, it's mash. Of course,
we spoke about the legacy early Donald Sutherland, Elliott Good,
Tom Scarett, Robert Deval, Sally Callum and nominated for the
Oscar and Gary Berghoff is the only cast member who
goes on from the movie with right playing radar into
the TV series and a pre Harry and Maud bud
Court also in there.

Speaker 6 (37:35):
Who looks a bit little bit like Harry Potter.

Speaker 1 (37:38):
Harry Potter about Budd Court, I think you're absolutely right, David,
whennon did you enjoy mash?

Speaker 6 (37:45):
This is all I can say. Peters, I sort of
wish that would pick something else.

Speaker 1 (37:50):
I was almost gonna email you and say you want
to change I hadn't seen it, and I watched it
and wow.

Speaker 6 (37:58):
Yeah, I'm with you. It's it hasn't stood the test
of time. Well, I don't think it's really difficult to
talk about this film without first of all, you know,
addressing the elephant in the room whereby it. Yeah, it's
got severe problems where we are now, Like it's it's

(38:18):
extremely misogynistic that the only women in it are literally
just there for as objects sex objects. There's got some
racial issues as well, Yeah, it's yeah, not to mention homophobia. Yeah,
it's got all those boxes, so it's very, very difficult
to sort of put those aside and then talk about

(38:40):
the film. There's some amazing stuff in the film which
might definitely we should talk about, but it's yeah, it
hasn't stood the test of time.

Speaker 7 (38:47):
No.

Speaker 1 (38:48):
I was watching it, and even from the opening song
Suicide Is Painless, I found myself because I heard those
opening cards and those helicopters that I also you spoke
about earlier, and I had this kind of without being
a massive out of mass, you know that it's it's
intrinsically kind of linked to into my brain because of
my pop cultural diet and I and I go okay,

(39:09):
and then I started in the lyrics Suicide is Painless,
and I'm like, it was, it's got shocking because I've
friends have you know, we've lost I'm like, I don't
like this song. And then go back this play the
music because the TV series just plays the.

Speaker 6 (39:24):
Completely I've never I'd never heard the lyrics before, and
it was it was exactly the same thing as soon
as it started, you know, the first a couple of notes, yeah,
and then and then the lyrics come in and but
then you know, I've got my helicopters and like that.
The cinematography in that opening scene, I've got to say
I really loved because all I could think of was,
and we'll just talk technically about it for a second,

(39:45):
is it wouldn't be shot like that these days that
you'd be using drones and it would actually look very different.
You actually felt that so much more because you know,
you knew that there was a cinematographer or a cameraman
literally hanging out the of a hell copter very very
close to another helicopter. It wasn't it was like the
lens was you know that it wasn't on a zoom there.

(40:06):
So it was the level of danger with the guy
who was shooting that was pretty high. And I don't
know if he was pulling focus himself or he had
a focus puller, but it was hard and he had
that camera is like massively heavy, so I was like,
I'm looking at it, going, man, hats off. That's incredible.
And also the image of like on that scaletial helicopter,
the body the like sort of slashed injured, blood pouring

(40:30):
out and it looked and that was obviously a stuntman
because it's not a you know, hanging on that helicopter
was like, wow, but you're right the lyrics is I thought, oh,
I didn't realize this song had this piece of musical lyrics.
And then I'm listening to him and going, yes, because
the music is quite it's sentimental, but the lyrics are like,
it's like quite bizarre. And then did you did you

(40:50):
find out about it afterwards? Oh, do you want to
tell the story? Well, well, it's just like, as I
listened to it, I thought, oh, yeah, there's obviously some
sort of sense to the these lyrics, and then I
couldn't really quite make sense of them. And so yeah,
after I saw Watch the Thing, and it did take
me three different times to get through it all people,

(41:11):
I looked it up, just just just the song. And
then apparently Robert Altman he knew that he wanted a
song called Suicide as Painless and it had to be
like the most stupid song, most stupid song, but he
couldn't write it. He couldn't write it stupidly enough. So
he gave it to his fourteen year old son, Yeah, Mike,
who wrote it at the age of fourteen. And then
the great, the great clean as the fact that he

(41:33):
ended up making more money from it. The fourteen year
old son more more than a million dollars in royalties
when his dad only got seventy thousand bucks to do
the film.

Speaker 1 (41:41):
Yeah, I think it was two million. That It's incredible.
It's incredible. It does like it did. Kind of before
I even looked up that that fact, which I kind
of did after I watched it, I kind of go, Okay,
it's put to me in the space at least, which
is a bit of an emotional roller coasar the music
and then the lyrics like, Okay, I guess they're setting
a scene that this is this doesn't really we're in
a place where nothing really makes sense, perhaps, you know.

(42:02):
And then and there's a it's a it's a it's
a grittier, dirtier camp than what we see in the
TV show. Like the TV shows very kind of obviously
shot in the you know, in Hollywood. I'm exactly sure where.

Speaker 6 (42:12):
They shot this, but I think they shot it in
pretty much the same location. Yeah, Malibu, Malibu State it
was something Malibu State Park.

Speaker 1 (42:20):
Because it is it is, it is certainly muddy, but yeah,
it was.

Speaker 5 (42:24):
It was quite quite an opening. And the I've heard Robert.

Speaker 1 (42:29):
Upman talk about because this this does this is almost
like the first It's basically a sex comedy really, and
a bit of it.

Speaker 6 (42:36):
Did remind me of carry a carry on movie. Ye yeah, yeah,
an American carry on movie.

Speaker 1 (42:41):
Well then you have I think Animal House eight years later,
I think I wrote them back, Yeah, eight years later,
Talkies and Stripes in eighty one, Revenge of the Nerds
eighty four, and then years later American Pie. So he
does kind of open the door and kind of create
a genre. I'm sure it's a genre that quite a
few people happy if it didn't exist, but but you know,

(43:02):
it is. It is a movie genre that has been
enjoyed and midtally. I watched Porky's when I was younger.
I watch Stripes when I was younger. I watched Revenge
of the Nerds when I was younger and enjoyed them.
You know, Like, so maybe if I watched mash before
I you know, and all that stuff, maybe wouldn't bother me.
But watching it now, you go, wow, it's it's really tough.

(43:22):
There's a scene where hot lips hauler hands have a
shower and they're all basically watching, you know, mostly men.
There might be two or three women in there, and.

Speaker 6 (43:34):
They're trying to determine what color her hair is.

Speaker 1 (43:36):
Yes, yes, they've they've hooked it all up, kind of
a pulley system. They pull the rope up, goes a
tent and she's naked in the shower, and then and
they're cheering and they're making their comments, and then Hot
Lips hauler hand goes, which they've they've worked out her
names hot Lips because they recorded her having sex with

(43:58):
Robert Deaval.

Speaker 6 (43:59):
And saying, don't know where that comes from now, because
she was saying, oh, yeah, yeah, God, my lips are hot.
Made whose lips were he's or hers? I don't remember.
I think hers, And I don't want to give you
my hot lips. I want to give you my hot lips.

Speaker 1 (44:09):
And I'm not sure if they were talking about her
lips on her head.

Speaker 5 (44:12):
I think the difference is so I hope they're not his.

Speaker 1 (44:21):
Yeah, but so, And this is all the way through
this this movie, and then Hot List goes into.

Speaker 5 (44:30):
The Majors tend to complain, And when.

Speaker 1 (44:34):
I was watching it, I was going, I wonder how
much this is just the character or is there frustration
from the actress.

Speaker 5 (44:42):
Is she aware how.

Speaker 1 (44:46):
What this is like to even act out to be
honest or I don't know. Let's have a listen and
you can. I just felt like I could hear a
desperation and a frustration and almost a pleaing and a
begging in this performance that is kind of inconsistent with
most of the other performances it if.

Speaker 6 (45:04):
You're playing it. I think it's the best line in
the in the in the film because it actually sums
up with the films about I think this line.

Speaker 9 (45:25):
Wist colonel a second, you can't go shut up your work,
that it in our hospital, and said, Sid, I has
your fault.

Speaker 2 (45:42):
They got your own doing anything that's cried out?

Speaker 3 (45:46):
What do you want me to put them under her wrist?
Say what?

Speaker 2 (45:49):
I can't Marsel take to that first they called me,
and you let them get away with that, and you
let them get away with everything. You don't I'm not
really empy, that's matter.

Speaker 9 (46:11):
I'm gonna reside my godness.

Speaker 3 (46:15):
God, damn, let's resign a goddamn commission, my.

Speaker 2 (46:23):
God, mession, my godessione.

Speaker 7 (46:31):
A little more wine, use please, And.

Speaker 5 (46:35):
Then they get back to drinking.

Speaker 6 (46:37):
Yeah, to paint the picture. Yeah, he's in bed with
with a woman and a bottle of wine.

Speaker 1 (46:41):
Yeah, and the line, which I think you'd say is
very appropriate for watching in twenty twenty five, is you
was happening and you didn't do anything to discourage them.
So that's that's true in so many you know, businesses
and workplaces and households you across the world.

Speaker 6 (47:01):
Yeah, it was. It was humiliation that scene. It was
very difficult to watch. I didn't realize she was up
for an acting nomination for that extual. It's so wow,
because yeah, she's certainly got that. That's the media scene
she's got. Otherwise it's just like the character is ridiculous.
And then after that scene she's only ever seen, she
obviously is completely cracked then and she turns into this
sort of ditzy idiot who was a cheerleader at the

(47:23):
football games. It seems to be a completely different character, Well.

Speaker 1 (47:27):
The different Tom Skarett's character Duke ends up sleeping with her. Yeah,
and we've seen we see no evidence of how that happened.

Speaker 6 (47:33):
No, it just happened.

Speaker 1 (47:35):
And you're right, she just becomes after that pretty powerful scene.
That was a scene where I thought, Okay, this is
something the movie is address. Yeah, there's some substance, no,
forget about it. Yeah, it's it is a hard watch.
I mean Robert Otman's his first film. I think fourteen
directors passed on this movie before. Wow, Wow, his first film.
You know, for those who don't know, Robert Oltman is

(47:56):
considered one of the all time greats Ashville. Shortcuts in
the player were my entry points into Robert Oltman. Gosford
Park was one of his later films. But McKay and
Missus Miller and Popeye, Doctor t and the Women. He's
one of the great and known for his improvisation. The
Tom Skerris at eighty percent of the film was improvised. Interesting,

(48:20):
the screenwriter who won the Oscar on the Red Power,
on the Red Carpets. He said, there's barely a word
that I wrote.

Speaker 5 (48:28):
On that screen. He wins the Oscar. Wow, mixed emotions.

Speaker 6 (48:33):
Yeah, where do you take it?

Speaker 1 (48:35):
Where do you stand on improvide? You know you said
there's you had space to play?

Speaker 6 (48:40):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. On spit, Well, okay, we'll just specifically
talk about spit in that regard. The screenplay that Chris
wrote is fantastic, Like Chris is a his day job.
He's a very successful criminal lawyer, and so he's the
genesis for the character Johnny SPATII. Came from him seeing
a guy in the dock one day whereby he was

(49:01):
just watching going he couldn't go work out if this
guy was doing this consciously or by happenstance. He was thinking,
is he the dumbest guy I've ever met or the
smartest guy I've ever seen? In the dock? So he knew.
Chris knows how to write those characters, got a great
ear for dialogue. So the script was good. There was
great stuff there. However, Jonathan, as I say, does allow

(49:22):
allow play, and so yeah, there's stuff that as Batteriri,
there's yeah, there's there's improvisation without a doubt, but you
don't improvise us for the sake of it, and you
smell it. You smell when it's not good. It's funny.
Actually in this in mash I'd be curious to know
if they shot sequentially because I have a feeling that

(49:42):
because it was all pretty much shot in the same place,
and they obviously go to the same location every day
to shoot this movie, it felt to me as though
they possibly did a lot of it, because the earlier
scenes where they were all, you know, the actors were
talking over each other, I felt were actually quite clunky
and I didn't believe it they were doing it. They
were doing it just for the effect of talking over
each other. It wasn't that they had an intent they

(50:03):
actually was saying something, and I could see the mechanics
of it, and it just it rang falls. As it
progressed through the movie, though, it started to change and
people it felt as though people had confidence in what
they were doing, and it, yeah, I felt that obviously
then they could they owned their characters potentially, and they
were more confident in substantive stuff that will come out

(50:26):
of their mouth as opposed to just filler, which was
happening early on. And the timing was off early on
with some of their stuff.

Speaker 5 (50:33):
Because Alvin's also famous for overlapping dialogue, which what.

Speaker 6 (50:36):
I'm talying about it, and it was just very clear
very early on that it was just it was a gimmick.
It was an effect and it wasn't nobody was listening
to each other in terms of they were just told
to overlap, and that's what came across. As the movie progressed,
it got better and better, and oh it sort of
it sort of worked in and became became organic and real.

Speaker 1 (50:55):
He also loves ensembles. There's actually I think sixteen thirteen
out of twenty five actors in the credits.

Speaker 5 (51:01):
I'm not sure if you noticed, was introducing which their
first film.

Speaker 1 (51:06):
I think Eltman kind of scoured comedy clubs as to
find new people.

Speaker 6 (51:11):
There were some good There were some great performances in there.
Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould both fantastic. Robert du Val
great as well. I really lovely performances.

Speaker 1 (51:22):
There was an incident on set well, which Robert only
found out after the movie was released. I believe Elliott
Gould and Donald Sutherland went to the studio behind his
back because they were confused and I guess upset that
he was spending so much time shooting secondary characters.

Speaker 5 (51:37):
They thought that.

Speaker 1 (51:39):
They went to the studio and complained about it. The
studio then backed Robert Oltman. They would have some runnings
with Oltman later on. I think Oltmann said the film
was never released. It actually escapes his words, but they
the studio backed them, said they went back to the
set and gone on with the job. But afterwards Elliot

(51:59):
Good let Robert up wand know, and they saw the film.
They couldn't understand. They liked it, and they said, okay,
we understand Ali Good in the moment, just let Robert know.

Speaker 5 (52:09):
He was pretty pissed off.

Speaker 1 (52:11):
But because Eli Good told him, he actually, I think
cast Ali Good in almost every movie he made, but
he never cast Donald Sutherland again.

Speaker 5 (52:19):
Oh wow, yeah, yeah? Have you ever? Have you ever?

Speaker 1 (52:22):
You don't need to name Nameelo if you want to,
please do when something when you're not gelling with a director,
do you just have to put.

Speaker 5 (52:29):
Up with it?

Speaker 6 (52:30):
Or Look, it's a Filmmaking is a team sport. You
really have to work together. Thankfully, it's never it hasn't
happened too often in my career. The only two instances
where I haven't got on with either the director and
there's one instance where the only time that I the

(52:53):
relationship with the leading lady was not good. Both of
those people it was their first job and they were
really they had no experience, but the level of over
confidence in Hubris was just extraordinary, extraordinary, and it was
made both projects very very difficult. And both of them

(53:15):
I won't tell you what they were or who they were,
but they were in both of them any extreme locations,
which made it very very difficult, not unbearable, but close.

Speaker 1 (53:24):
All people go through your filmography, work it out. I
remember when we did Rogue Live, we have like I
remember one night in particular, Big Brother was massive when
we you know, we would always have to have the
housemates come in and do that, and we tolerated it.
But I do remember a couple of times they were
the ones acting like they owned the joint. And there

(53:44):
was one nighte in we had Matt Damon in. Matt
Damon just you know, barely requested anything I had. I
had a couple of people with him, obviously, but the housemates.
I just was walking around talking to people and there
was the housemates who were making it all about them.
It is incredible. Donald suddenly you know he is a
brilliant act. They never nominated for an Oscar, which I surprising.

Speaker 6 (54:04):
Next moment I playing one sectually, I was amazed. Very
tall man for that that that period. Very tall man.

Speaker 1 (54:11):
Well he's seen. I remember watching JFK. Oliverstone's JFK. You
We're on holidays in Queensland and I was a bit
obsessed with the JFK Sassination and I just wanted to
see it, So my mum dropped me off at the
cinema just by myself and we're on holiday. Three three
and a half hour film, just watched it and I
came out and she said later on, she goes, you
were shaking when you came out, like you were just
like had this visceral kind of reaction to it. But

(54:32):
one of the things I love the most was Donald Sutherland.
I'm sure if you remember it, just playing like a
you know, a spy or somebody man in the hat
with that of information, with treanscoat in a park park
bench and just going through various scenarios the JFK Sassin nation.
And I just thought that guy, what a guy. I'd
seen him before. I seen him before, and I knew
his son obviously, you know, Keifer, and but.

Speaker 6 (54:55):
That he was, and he he command on the screen
by doing so little, so little, both him and nearly
a girl as well. They both yeah, yeah, less is more.

Speaker 5 (55:08):
There are there are a couple of scenes in this way.

Speaker 1 (55:11):
It's you know, the the gay conversion is weird.

Speaker 6 (55:14):
Oh my god, it's weird.

Speaker 5 (55:16):
It's it feels like a sketch.

Speaker 1 (55:20):
Us a gross, So they basically try to fuck the
gay out of him, and and it's just.

Speaker 6 (55:24):
It's I didn't and I didn't see that coming, because
then I don't know if anybody else has seen this film.
The bit that leads up to that is the guy
what's he called, I'm painless, And that's where suicide is
Painless comes from the painter's poll the dentist. He's yeah,
he says that he's going to commit suicide. So they

(55:46):
stage this is like a last supper scene. Obviously, it's
with biblical references and whatever. They have painless in this coffin,
and then all the apostles parade by and you know,
give him something, and I thought, oh, this is really interesting.
This is going into an interesting territory. And I thought
that he'd really popped the cyanide pill and I was
actually expecting him to die, which I thought, that's actually

(56:07):
really really brave, And then it cuts to the next bit,
but no, it's not that. It's then he gets, you know,
he's resurrected by putting it be putting in bed next
door with you know, lovely fluffy curtains and whatever. And
then he's you know, a lady's been brought into him
to slip under the sheets to convert him.

Speaker 1 (56:27):
And flying away in a helicopter, and like she looks
and this shell look is like one of like what
just happened? And then she smiles to the camera and
it's like I kind off to make it feel real.
I wish they hadn't put that smile in because I
think she had been taken advantage of completely. I wish
that he just died. Yeah, yeah, that would have been

(56:50):
way more interesting. Do you have a rub it up
on film that you that you like? He said, you're
not one guy at all.

Speaker 6 (56:58):
I remember when I saw the player.

Speaker 5 (57:00):
Yeah, it's great.

Speaker 1 (57:01):
Tim Robbins in great form. He's he's excellent.

Speaker 5 (57:05):
Well, I think I'm glad we had spit to talk
about today, because.

Speaker 6 (57:11):
Yeah, it was like, and you bugging the sense of
all these movies and I'm looking them like, incredible list
and the seventies are my that's my favorite hero of
American cinema, Australian cinema. And there's all these movies. I go, oh, yeah,
I'd love to talk about any one of those and so,
but you're not allowed to talk about any if you've
seen them, so.

Speaker 5 (57:32):
I did like the The one thing I did like
was the ending.

Speaker 6 (57:36):
This the ending is fantastic. The ending is fantastic.

Speaker 1 (57:39):
Yeah, this idea that this announcing the credits of the
that was pretty subversive. I like Coltman. I'm glad he
you know, I'm glad he we have the films of
his shortcuts is another one I really like before we
Go News this week of a sad passing in the
Gene Hackman pass Away.

Speaker 5 (57:57):
He's one of the one of.

Speaker 6 (57:58):
The greats without a doubt. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Another
one like Donald Sutherland Man that that guy on screen
was like, yeah, talk about effortless and the power of
that man on screen. Yeah, brilliant, brilliant, brilliant performances.

Speaker 1 (58:10):
Remember it's true you try minded with Missisippi Burning was
the one that I still just that film and it's
the first time saw Francis McDormand as well. I think
William Dafoe love that film so much. But I mean, yeah, yeah,
the French connection.

Speaker 6 (58:24):
Connection is absolutely yeah. Conversation, oh my god.

Speaker 4 (58:27):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (58:28):
En Balms yea later in his career was was great
for Anderson David Wenham.

Speaker 5 (58:33):
I made you watch a movie.

Speaker 6 (58:37):
A bit of a smelly one. But anyway, but you know,
people love it though some people love it.

Speaker 5 (58:42):
That's the thing.

Speaker 1 (58:42):
And there might be people listening going and the movie
might mean loud to you and and you watched it
whenever you watch and we're not trying to take anything
away from you. It's like when we discussed love. Actually,
there's love. Actually, there's lots of problems with love. Actually,
but if you love it, you love you completely. That's
and that's the way this and this was like you know,
this way forty one million in nineteen seventy. It was

(59:04):
the second highest grossing comedy of all time at that
at that point, after A Graduate, which was released four
years earlier in sixty seven, and the last Little A
fun note sevesistone is an extra in the movie, but
spotting but I didn't spot it.

Speaker 5 (59:18):
I didn't go back, which is.

Speaker 1 (59:20):
Ten minutes in, is in the background eating lunch. So
if you're watching it for fast time, if you want
to check it out slides slice sliceloan and also the
loudspeaker shots had the moon in the background, and this
was shot in nineteen sixty nine.

Speaker 5 (59:32):
Now, if you put the sums together, oh, Wow.

Speaker 1 (59:34):
If you look really close, really close, you can see
Neil and Buzz.

Speaker 6 (59:38):
You can see in the in the studio next.

Speaker 5 (59:40):
Door, on that hot potato, on that can of worms.
By the way, where did that football field coming at
the end? Where was oh my god?

Speaker 6 (59:49):
Yeah in Korea it turned in the Wildcats or Yeah.
The thing about that is is I've never been a
fan of American football. I don't really you know, I've
been to a game, whatever, it doesn't really do it
for me. I love AFL and whatever. Having said that,
some of the little bitch in that in that sequence
at the end, even though it's extremely hopy the way
chin not a bad sport, there's something in it.

Speaker 1 (01:00:07):
Yeah, right, so you've got something out of shing Yeah yeah,
watching mash mate, congratulations on spit. I really urge people
to go see it, not just to support Austraine cinema
and as we like people do, but just because it's
a fun movie that packs a punch emotionally. You get it.
It's gonna be a great night out with you mates.
Check it out in cinemas. Congresslations Stave, got on your peak.

Speaker 4 (01:00:26):
Great beam with you mate, follow Hawkeye Trapper, Duke Dango, Red, Painless, Radar,
Hot Lips, Dish and staff Sergeant Volmer as they put
Our Boys Back Together Again, starring Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould,
Tom Skerritt, Sally Kellerman, Robert Duval, Joanne Flug, Rene Overs
and Wir, Roger Bowen, Gary bergo Of, David arg And,

(01:00:48):
John Chuck Bred Williams and Indus, Arthur, Tim Brown, Corey Fisher,
Bud Cord, Carl gottlieb Don, Damon Tamara, Horrocks, Ken, Primus,
Danny Goldman, Kim At with Michael Murphy, Gee Wood, Rick
Feeland and Bob Glad jam Mrmi. That is all.

Speaker 5 (01:01:03):
That was a thrill.

Speaker 1 (01:01:04):
They have an hour just talking about movies with the
great David when sincerely go see Spit and don't do
it just just to you know, support Ouzsie Cinema and
all of that ghost see because it's a bloody great film.

Speaker 5 (01:01:15):
It is.

Speaker 1 (01:01:16):
It is funny, it's got a heart and it's got
a purpose. Great cast alongside David Wenham, David Field, who's
also one of the all time greats, Gary Sweet doing
great work, so many people doing great work on speak.
Congratulations to all involved.

Speaker 5 (01:01:32):
It is. I love it.

Speaker 1 (01:01:34):
It's going to be I think feature in my best
films of the year when we round that out at
the end of twenty twenty five. Thank you to everybody
who listens to the show. I really do appreciate it.
Yasny podcast at gmail dot com is where you can
find us. Also get onto our speak Pipe. I will
try to endeavor to play more of them as they
come in, but speak Pipe. Have any feedback that you

(01:01:58):
have or questions or thoughts on movies that we cover
or movies that you would like us to cover next
week on the show. It's a returning guest. I love
a returning guest. I love that people want to come back.
My good mate from Across the Ditch. It's Josh Thompson,
great Aussie comedian actor. You see him in Young Rock.
New Zealand fans would have set down from Seven Days

(01:02:19):
and the Project, the early New Zealand project. The first
couple of years he's done a whole lot. I did
in an episode of House They Married with him. It
was one of the funniest days I've had on set
with him and Tom Budge. He's in the new Disney
Pixar series. First time they've done a TV series. Called
win or Lose, and we're going to chat a bit
about that. But he's back, funny enough, and this is

(01:02:40):
just a coincidence to continue the trilogy that is Toy Story.
He did Toy Story one, he's coming back to do
Toy Story two. Is Toy Story two better than Toy
Story one? There's three trumpets, all will be discussed next
week with my good mate Josh Thompson Toy Story two.
Until then, bye for now. And so we leave old

(01:03:08):
Pete safe and soult and to our friends of the
radio audience, we've been a pleasant good night.