WARWICK THORNTON indigenous filmmaker in conversation

Wonderful director of Wolfram, Sweet Country, The New Boy, Samson and Delilah  festival darling Warwick Thornton, writer, accomplished cinematographer talks filmmaking, set stories and more with a focus on 1930s survival tale of children reuniting with their mum, Wolfram. 

WOLFRAM starring Deborah Mailman, Matt Nable, John Howard, Pedrea Jackson

Written by Steven McGregor, David Tranter

https://youtube.com/@movieanalystshaneadambassett?si=nZyw5fHIS4t_KgXj

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:05

Thank you very much for the fake applause. My name is Shane A. Bassett. Yes, the host here of Cine Critique. And thank you very much for tuning in to another edition, which I'll be really keen to uh find out what you think, because Warwick Thornton is my guest and he made a movie called Wolfram, among others. But Wolfram is connected to Sweet Country, which happens to be one of my personal favorites of uh Warwick's particularly interesting uh career so far. Uh it includes movies like Samson and Delilah as well. Do you remember that? Come on, you must have seen it. If you haven't, Google Warwick's name because uh The New Boy is also an interesting film uh that had Cake Blanchett in it. But it's Wolfram that we're gonna we're sort of gonna focus on today. But we we we we did talk about his career and it's an interesting one. In any way that you think that you might know Australian history, of course there are aspects that are told over and over again, and there are other other aspects of uh Australian culture and history that they're not. But Warwick brings uh a lot of these stories and heritage to the screen, including in Wolfram, uh set in the 1930s, uh, regarding some children who escaped the clutches of their boss and they're away from their family, they sent down mines to work. Uh not not great in any shape or form for children of any era. But these kids they escape and they're trekking across uh Central Australia to find their mum, and then in the meantime, they're in other sort of scenes that eventually connect and come together. Uh Deborah Mailman plays the mum, and you know it's inevitable in a way that you're gonna cry, which I did. And it's a movie that brings a big thought process into your brain while you're watching it, but then it leaves you at the end thinking more about the film, and also you're just taking it in as the end credits role, and uh the cinematography, the music, and the acting, Deborah Melman, Matt Nabel, John Howard, among others, are in this movie that make an impression. I hope that Warwick Thornton's movies have made an impression on you already. If they haven't, like I said, go and look him up and enjoy the conversation because uh he's a top bloke and we crossed the path that never. I thought we had it, you know, may have in the past at film festivals around Australia at least, but uh hasn't happened. In any case, got to have a chat to him over Zoom and to your benefit. It's an interesting one. I really hope you enjoy our thoughtful and enlightening conversation. Here's a little taste of Wolfram and then our chat.

SPEAKER_04 3:07

I promise you, we'll come back for them.

SPEAKER_00 3:13

No, please gentlemen looking for an adventure. Why are you with those what's gonna you play?

SPEAKER_01 3:40

Looking for a couple of hotbreaks.

SPEAKER_04 4:20

Do you think Mum will recognize us when she sees us?

SPEAKER_02 4:26

I'm Shane. Uh lovely to finally meet you, mate. Good day, mate. Hey, Shane. Uh have you gotten used to being called a festival darling now?

SPEAKER_03 4:37

Yeah. Yeah, I am a bit of a festival darling, I don't know. Um it's it's it it it works both ways. You know, the the festivals need content and they need good films. Oh, you know, I say it's quite good. And because of the the you know, the films I make are quite low budget. Um, I need the festival to help me get you know the film out, you know what I mean? With with people like you should. You know what I mean? It's that that whole idea of having these conversations and going to festivals is priceless as far as um you know prints and advertising budgets and trying to get people to actually know that you have a film.

SPEAKER_04 5:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:17

You know, and it's a it's quite it's it's become quite symbiotic, if that's the right word, you know, the festival and I and the movie. Yeah, yeah. And you know what? I've got a massive ego. I love the red carpet, I love festivals, you know, you know, the really the big ones, you know.

SPEAKER_02 5:38

So if you've got this ego, all I mean, Khan, Berlin, you know, have you got a favorite out of all the international ones?

SPEAKER_03 5:46

They all have their own they all have their own respect in my mind. You know, I I've you know I've been to Khan a couple of times, and you know, so it's very affluent and effluent, you know what I mean? Yeah, of course. But the power of Khan is just priceless, you know. You have a film there, the world knows, which is so so important, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 6:07

Oh, yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_03 6:08

But you know, they they all they all have a um I I was gonna write a book once a word now called how to how to how to survive a film festival if your film is shit. You know what I mean? And the first page would be blame the producers.

SPEAKER_02 6:25

Well, I was gonna say it it's hard because movies get accepted into film festivals, and you are hoping, because it's your baby, that everyone else will love it as much as you do, but that it doesn't always work out that way.

SPEAKER_03 6:38

No, you know, could you know the festival could be a weapon of mass destruction as far as your career or the the actual film if if it doesn't play well, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 6:49

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:50

Yeah, well, and it it's interesting because we have a saying as directors, there's no such thing as a bad actor, there's just bad directors, because you shouldn't have cast a person to play that role in the first place. It's not their fault, you know what I mean? They're they're they're not doing the right character or the right job, and that can be translated to the festivals. There's no such thing as a bad film, there's just a bad selector. Because they put the wrong film in the wrong festival at the wrong time. You know what I mean? But that that could be another version of that, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:19

Yeah, I'm looking forward to this book that you're gonna write then.

SPEAKER_03 7:24

Blame the producers, blame the actors. You know, it's all about blaming everybody but yourself for bad direction, you know.

SPEAKER_02 7:31

So Wolfram, uh, your latest that we're you know focusing on today, uh, it's been I mean, it kicked off uh in the Adelaide Film Festival. Has the movie changed, changed up at all since then? Because that was last year.

SPEAKER_03 7:46

Yeah, yeah. We we you know, we we were hard, hard, hard pitched to get to Adelaide. Not saying the film wasn't right, it was just it was a great opportunity for once for me. Americans do it all the time, you know, where they have test screenings. Of course, yeah. And just the energy in the room, watching it with you know for the first time with an audience was excuse me, was um priceless. It just feels where it was waning, where it was a bit long, and I was pushing, pushing a certain point of view or a narrative. Just a little bit too much in the audience, you can just feel them just dropping a bit, and you know, they they were they weren't in they weren't getting the third gear as yeah, so so we did we've recut it after Adelaide. Yeah, and it's a it's I think it's a better film, yeah. Okay, yeah, we'll we'll see when it hits cinemas.

SPEAKER_02 8:47

Well exactly. Uh is it a struggle to get movies into cinemas and bums on seats because you know the the variable uh chance that films take to go into a cinematic theatrical universe don't always produce crowds, and uh you know that's that's quite sad, but no, but what do you think?

SPEAKER_03 9:06

Yeah, absolutely. You know what I mean? The only place I have trouble with my films is in America, you know. My films hit every from from Italy to you know, a barger is a star or something. They're in cinemas there, but America is just this world of pain. Yeah, right. You know what I mean? And it's generally it's the the distributors, you know, who buy the my films are not interested in cinema. They're they're they're they purely want to make money, so they go straight. You know, the film contractually has to go to cinemas, but they'll put they'll put it on like two cinemas, one in New York, one in LA.

SPEAKER_04 9:45

Yeah, sure.

SPEAKER_03 9:46

And they they're they're they're only interested in video on demand and then to sell it onto a streamer. So um it's that's a hard one, but you know the rest of the world, they go into cinemas and they make they make money, which is fantastic, you know. Yeah, even the UK.

SPEAKER_02 10:04

Have you ever had any problems over in the UK?

SPEAKER_03 10:06

Yeah, no, I have actually. You're right. Um, I had I had problems with New Boy there. Um, and it's it's it's it with new UK, it wasn't it wasn't the the distributors' fault. They wanted to put it in 100 cinemas, but it's the actual cinemas, those big blockchain, you know, multiplexes that just go mount, we're not gonna make money, it's not coming anywhere near us, you know, that kind of thing.

SPEAKER_02 10:32

Right.

SPEAKER_03 10:33

Um even with Kate Blanchett on the poster. You know what I mean? It's it's no, it's it's tough, you don't get much better than that, right? No, you don't, you know what I mean? But you know, it it it did all right, but it's just it's just not they don't they don't bloom, they don't um you know we had that we had the cinema um you know cinema average where all the cinemas watch how much it's making at other cinemas, and if it's making good money, screen average, sorry it's called it's making good money, they'll um they'll go, oh well we'll we'll take it because we can make a quick you know 50,000 out of it just over a weekend or something. And then so they but they kind of just go, no, we still don't want it, even though it's got really good screen averages, you know, for what cinemas it's actually playing in. So, you know, but and here in Australia, I have, you know, there's such a such an incredible, you know, the the the rand bricks with the ran brick rips and you know the the Luna and Perth are just these stable places. They've got this incredible they've built these incredible, you know, there's lots of them, the Dendi, um, Newtown, they've built this amazing audience. They've they've they've created this world of with they treat their audiences incredibly intelligently. Exactly. They put incredibly intelligent films on and different films, and they've created their own audiences and and followers of Warwick Thornton or whoever it may be, I have Sen, or you know. So it's so there's this safe places that we know we're gonna get we're gonna actually gonna be okay with because of that that and it's it's the cinema, they've created their these audiences and they've they're they're respected, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 12:18

Yeah, and that's oh cinema's my second home. I mean, I couldn't live without it, it's my lifeblood.

SPEAKER_03 12:24

Yeah, and you know, you know, you know the difference between the multiplex and what they want as they need to screen, and then uh um you know a a Rand with Wix, which will play the same stuff with the multiplexes, but they'll actually have a bigger uh selection of um great stuff.

SPEAKER_02 12:41

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 12:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:43

Uh what brought you to Wolfram? Uh I mean, uh you're very selective with what you what you do.

SPEAKER_03 12:48

I I find I've got to get it where I can. I'm always broke. No, what brought me to Wolfram? Well, it was written the you know, it's a it's a sequel to Sweet Country, yeah, yeah. Written by David Traner and Stephen McGregor, who, you know, wrote Sweet Country. And I I actually didn't want to read it because Sweet Country is such a brutal film. I just didn't want to go down that path again. It was tough. Yeah, it was a tough watch. Tough film, and you know, no, and no real redemption or light at the end of the tunnel. Hope, you know what I mean? You know what I mean? It's like you know, bang, he's dead. You know what I mean? Even though you know the the the law, the common law of the land proved him innocent, he's they just killed him anyway. You know what I mean? And that's pretty hard, hard, hard-hitting cinema and story. And we had to do that because it's based on a true story, you know. Of course. So I didn't want to read, I was going, oh, here we go. These two mongrels, these two writers are gonna write another horrific, doom, and gloomy thing. And not so much this one. I mean it has its dark darkness, but it's well, there is hope because you know, the the children. Oh, we won't talk about that, but you know what I mean? There is there there is hope at the end of this one. And after reading it, I went, okay, this is this is kind of the antidote to sweet country. Sweet country is the poison, and this one's the antidote, you know. And um, so I that's how I got to get to direct it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:19

Uh did you were you dictated by the location? I mean, it looked pretty harsh in its own self, and I know you're used to outdoor locations and yeah, one billion flies. Isolation, but it how how did this one go? Were there no incidents on set, no injuries?

SPEAKER_03 14:36

No, not really. Um, you know, I'm someone nearly lost an eye running running with lenses. Um shouldn't laugh, sorry. You know, but but you know, it was it was more just that sort of um it was more the the day-in, day out hardship of a billion flies. Yeah, people, you know, just just struggling, you know, struggling with heat and wind and flies and bullshit, and just yeah, it was just tough old film. But we we shot it all, you know, at a place called Uramina, just out of Alice Springs, about 30k out of Alice Springs, and we kept it really tight, you know, the location. Alice Springs is full of amazing locations, but we tried to just financially we just couldn't go, you know, because I'm taking an hour, you know, take one day just to go out to some amazing spot, but you can only do one scene there, whereas we needed to do, you know, six scenes a day. So sure. So we had to keep it really lean and tight and in this sort of perimeter around Aura Mina, but Oramina's really beautiful in its own right. So I was I was happy. There was only one the ending of the film I shot somewhere way out, way past you know, about about two hours out of Alice Springs because I it looks so vast that finale. Yeah, yeah, place called Bird Bird Plane, which I've always loved. And um, I said I said to them, I'll I'll shoot the film to the producers, I'll shoot the film in this like 10 square kilometer radius, but the ending, I I um we're gonna have to go somewhere very special. And so I told them about bird playing and they they agreed to it, which is lovely.

SPEAKER_02 16:15

But I mean, for the uninitiated, to anyone who might not have seen a Warwick Thornton film or television or whatever it might be, you've worked on cinematography, uh, even Fast Charlie. I mean, Fast Charlie was an incredible, uh, just was so well shot. And when I spoke to Phil about that, he talked so highly of you and bringing Florida to the screen. But the flies in in Wolfram, uh some people uninitiated might think they're CGI, but they are really uh we had a fly plague.

SPEAKER_03 16:44

We had some rain in while we're in pre-production, and it was just as massive fly, and you know, we're right next to a cattle station, but we're at a fly plague, and it's not like we're gonna get rid of them. You know, that they're actually they're they're cast members who who we didn't have to pay. And literally every day you would you would snort it just every time you spoke, at least one fly would go down your throat. And the first week you're kind of coughing them up, and then by by the you know, the second week you're just swallowing them because you just can't be bothered coughing them up. You know, it's too much energy. This is so many.

SPEAKER_02 17:20

But they were for free, and you know, it's part of the brutalist landscape and how hard it is, but you know, it's not often you get extras for free that don't want to eat or drink craft services, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:32

Exactly, exactly. Yeah, well, yeah, though they they became part of the meal, you know, whenever you ate they were on your food, and then sort of they get stuck on your food, especially if you had gravy on something. Nice, you kind of flicked them away or you ate them, you know.

SPEAKER_02 17:49

Uh you worked with Deb Melman before. I love Deb, I think she's wonderful. Uh and Matt Nabel is one of my favorite actors in general, but he's really been in the last decade on fire. Yeah. Um how did you hand pick the cast for this, you know, this latest movie?

SPEAKER_03 18:08

Oh well, you know, Deb, I I know that I don't want to say that Deb's my go-to because the character, the character, the character in the script will dictate who you think the actor should be. You know what I mean? And yeah, you don't want to, as I said, there's no such thing as bad actors as well. You don't want to force an actor onto a onto a character if if you're you know what I mean, if you're not really prepared to go all the way. So but when reading this, I needed I just I just knew I needed Deb to play that role. The sort of the mourning mother. You know what I mean? The lament, the fear, and the you know what I mean? Yeah. Less words, more internal monologue that she has with herself, you know what I mean? That's what I needed. And she's just a genius at that. Matt Matt Matt's a brutalist, ex-NRL player, you know what I mean? Oh yeah. You don't want to get a hug out of him, they'll take the air out of you, and you have a brute back.

SPEAKER_02 19:10

I've shaken his hand plenty of times, I know.

SPEAKER_03 19:12

It's a it's a it's a muggle of a handshake, isn't it? It's hardcore. And you know, I needed someone to go down that path of being just a nasty piece of work. Um despicable. Yeah, and but you know, I you know, it wasn't, you know, that sort of it there's a lot Matt gave that was just internal, you know what I mean? This kind of there's there was something in that head, you know, that that was working so hard for that character, and I don't know what it was. I never asked him what it was, but it was there and I just loved it.

SPEAKER_02 19:46

I'll have to ask him for it. Yeah, yeah. And what about the kids? I mean, they were naturals, and you have a habit of really just discovering them or finding kids that work on screen.

SPEAKER_03 19:58

Well, and you know, the the Stephen McGregor and the David Trammer are absolute mongrels and writers, because I was reading it going, oh, here we go. Two, you know, two children and a donkey. You know what I mean? You know, the the the whole idea of member work with children or animals was right there. And donkeys, donkeys are you know unreliable? Or Jim Willoughby the the the um the horse wrangler who said Laura, you need to understand that one day donkey will wake up and he'll be a movie star, and then the next day he'll wake up and he'll just be donkey. You know what I mean? You just can't, you know what I mean? You don't train donkeys, you know what I mean? You just work, you work with what they what how they how they're feeling on the at that point. Yeah. So you know, I do like first-time actors, a lot of first-time actors I've actually noticed over the years that children because of the social media world, are much better prepared for the the limelight, yeah, you know what I mean, to act, to be to act and they've been practicing in a strange way. Whereas, you know, when back in Samsung and Delilah day, you know, that was pre social media, really. I think you know, I think Facebook would would have been around then. But you know, these kids, you know, it's like working to get the shyness out of them. The kids I work with today that have never been on a film are just like, I'm ready for my close-up. It's interesting.

SPEAKER_02 21:30

Yeah, well, it works. I mean, you have a knack, uh, and you're right. I think social media and just being in their own little limelight on camera in their phones works, it works works for the roles.

SPEAKER_03 21:41

Yeah, well, they're posting stuff and they're performing already, you know. I mean, it's bizarre.

SPEAKER_02 21:45

And young Mr. Jackson is just amazing as well. He was a discovery to me. I'm not sure I'd seen his work before. Pet Pedro.

SPEAKER_03 21:53

He he um I I I I I posted him of my son because he um he's the young. Boy in Bal uh not Belt much still. Robbie Hood, the TV series that Dylan did. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_04 22:07

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_03 22:07

Yeah, so Dylan Dylan Dylan built built him up, teaching him how to become a really strong actor.

unknown 22:15

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 22:16

And I got I reap the rewards, you know, so that was fantastic.

SPEAKER_02 22:21

Yeah, well, well done and all the casting as as normal. Uh have you is there a reason why you haven't gone overseas and done more work? You know, I know you want to tell Australian indigenous stories and solid ones at that, but you went over and worked with Phil uh for Fast Charlie, but have you just read your own films elsewhere?

SPEAKER_03 22:39

I just finished shooting another film with um with Philip in Saudi Arabia.

SPEAKER_02 22:44

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 22:45

With you know, just before the bomb struck, so as a cinematographer. Um yeah, I I don't know, I haven't been asked, and I don't want that, you know what I mean? That sort of like you're that great leap forward for actors and fill and filmmakers to LA. I've never been interested in that.

SPEAKER_02 23:02

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 23:03

Uh but if they ask me, I'll have I'll I I might say yes. But I mean, yeah, so like you know, I I I do need a new house. Um that's the only way that'll work. Yeah, it's sort of it's never been pressure to me. You know what I mean? It's it's quality, quality over quantity, uh, you know, all of that sort of stuff is very important to me.

SPEAKER_02 23:24

Now, what about uh staying in Australia and and something non-indigenous, maybe? Uh uh, you know, just swaying a little bit different genre? Is that something you'd like to do to keep it fresh, or is it always going to be what do you indigenous stories?

SPEAKER_03 23:39

Yeah, it'll always be indigenous characters in in my films. Of course, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:43

No, I just mean like a different style, like a horror.

SPEAKER_03 23:46

Oh, um, I'm actually I'm actually working on an American script at the moment. That's a horror film, but it's a Native American horror film. Um, I don't know whether Still indigenous. Yeah, still indigenous. And you know, my next movie I'm about to start is First Warrior about Pemoloi. Um yeah, so that's I don't know. It's kind of you know, it's it's it's a strange moment. It's sort of like I grew up watching Westerns. I live in, you know, in the northern territory in Atlas Springs, where we still you still see a bloke ride ride down, ride to the pub on horse. Yeah, you know what I mean? That's so it's kind of it's kind of what I know. I I I always say that if I if I always say to my wife, if I ever if I ever agree to make a romantic comedy, take me out the back and shoot me.

SPEAKER_02 24:34

You know, it wouldn't be that harsh.

SPEAKER_03 24:37

Oh no, you know, it's it's a great genre genre. Yeah, you could do it. I could do it, but I just don't want to. Yeah, okay. Yeah, I just feel you know whatever makes you happy. Yeah, exactly. You know, and I'm not the kind of person to make a of you know a film about you know seven different people sharing a you know a terrace in Newtown, you know what I mean? And they're all from different um countries. You know what I mean? It's just not me. It's just not me. And I'm uh you know, it's in in us as indigenous storytellers, we've got a lot to say and we've got a lot to fix because of you know the our our worlds and our stories were written, not words.

SPEAKER_02 25:20

I really like the Moogai, uh Sherry Sevens film from last year.

SPEAKER_03 25:24

Yeah, that was terrific. Yeah, yeah, it's a good film. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 25:27

Yeah, yeah. Uh I'll I'm gonna go through a couple of my classic Australian indigenous movies. I want to know what you think of them. Uh I mean obviously Dead Heart from 1996.

SPEAKER_03 25:38

Aaron Peterson and bloody Brian Brown.

SPEAKER_02 25:40

Yeah, yeah. My mate Brian, which you've worked with obviously before for a long time, that thing.

SPEAKER_03 25:48

I think.

SPEAKER_02 25:49

Yeah, yeah. Um such a good movie, and they're hard to find, it's one of those rarities.

SPEAKER_03 25:53

Yeah, and Aaron Patterson with no clothes on, there you go.

SPEAKER_02 25:57

Uh ten canoes, of course. Rolf's amazing. Yeah, absolutely. Wonderful. And when I was a kid, I saw a movie called Deadly, like in 1990, 1991, and there's an indigenous detective, and I think it was filmed in Sydney. Um I saw it in Sydney, so there's there's another one I like.

SPEAKER_03 26:14

I don't know that one, but that that's not the one Boney based on the Boney book with Cameron Dano playing black villain.

SPEAKER_02 26:21

No, no, I'll uh find out more details and maybe send the details to you or something, but it's Deadly from 1990 or 91. I remember seeing it theatrically at Holmes in George Street in Sydney. Oh, awesome as a kid. And a rubber-proof fence, of course. Uh yeah, Uncle Phil. Yeah, yeah. Buddy Uncle Phil. There you go. Those movies really stuck with me when I was watching films and growing up before I became an entertainment journalist. What movies do you like? Uh, have you got a couple of favourites Australian stories? Uh Indigenous or yeah, yeah, or anything.

SPEAKER_03 26:55

Anything that I haven't made always buys me away. You know what I mean? Yep. Obviously, you know what I mean? Yeah, of course. Um, you know, my ex-wife, Beck Cole, made an amazing film called Here I Am. So it just came and went, but it's just so such a powerful film about much more in an indigenous urban perspective rather than the you know, this classic stuff that I do, which is sort of desert, desert breed, kind of a you know, cultural uh cusp.

SPEAKER_02 27:26

Historical. You're more of a historical story.

SPEAKER_03 27:29

Yeah, I'm stuck in the periods, you know what I mean? Yeah, no, that's good. And I I love I love period films. I love period films when they're they're actually when they're period, period, you know what I mean, 1800s, turn of the century, 30s, 40s. I get real, I'm really, really afraid of ever making a period film in the 80s because you kind of I think it'll be a lot harder because you you have to use the streetscape and everything that you're given. You know what I mean? Whereas period film, you build a town, you have horses, and it's just really clear and it's easy. Whereas if you try and do something, you know, it's like, oh, the perfect street, oh that house is wrong. That's the wrong brick, that's the wrong light pole. We can flood it full of 80s cars and and and shoulder pads, but just never feels right, you know what I mean? Never fits.

SPEAKER_02 28:17

That Australian film, Deadly uh, you know, was released in 1991. It might have been filmed, you know, in the late 80s, so you could use that as reference.

SPEAKER_03 28:25

Well, well, true. Uh um and I'm sure it was filmed around Sydney in memory. What was the wrong with Aaron and and Brian? Um Dead Heart. Well, Dead Hart was actually shot at Jack Creek, where I shot Samson and Delilah.

SPEAKER_02 28:40

Yeah, I I remember that when Samson came out. Samson and Delilah came out. Yeah, a hill.

SPEAKER_03 28:46

Everyone recognises that hill behind that little town. Yeah. Oh, sorry, mate. It was, you know, there's it's so difficult to get your films up, and I'm a kind of a sh it's a bit sad that because I'm a bit of a sure thing, you know what I mean? Yeah. AKA the festival, darling. There's so many young people, filmmakers who just can't get that indigenous, let alone uh non non-indigenous, who just can't get that film up, you know what I mean? Sometimes I'm unsafe bet, and that's that's a bit dangerous and a bit sad because there's other voices out there and and it's just different generation. You know, I'm 55, you know, so I'm generation X or something, I think. And you know, grew up in the 70s and the 80s, so it's kind of my perspective on indigenous life is very, very different in in ways to a 21-year-old filmmaker today. And they have a totally different point of view, and we're not hearing that, we're not seeing it, you know what I mean? Which is I think this should be a big push to to get those younger generation lawyers. I sound like an elder now.

SPEAKER_02 29:56

Well, again, the younger generation in reality, you are a bit of a an elder, and let's say you're a film elder as well, because you can people are inspired by you, Warwick.

SPEAKER_03 30:07

No, yeah, well, thank you. But yeah, still still surviving and stuff.

SPEAKER_02 30:12

Uh, before we wrap it up, I know I've got to go. Um, what's something on a Warwick Thornton set that you always have to have? Is there something that you have to have traditionally or superstitious or anything?

SPEAKER_03 30:24

I have a set of vintage. This is it sounds completely wacky. I have a set of vintage bows headphones. Oh, yeah. And they, you know, because all the headphones nowadays are Bluetooth, and you can't plug like a just a mini jack into it so you can get a feed from the yeah. I have to have them. They're they're they're my comfort blanket. And but I people say, what do you actually do on on set? And I I say I walk around looking for a chair to sit on. Never a chair for the director, and it's you know what I mean? It's bizarre. Anyway, it's uh I need a chair. I'm sitting here, yeah. Well, no, it doesn't matter. Well, if it had my name, it should have dictator, not Warwick Horton. It should just say dictator, you know what I mean? But yeah, a chair and and and a set and and my beautiful headphones, that's what I need, and then I'm comfortable and I can direct.

SPEAKER_02 31:16

Well, see, see, you've got this sense of humor, Warwick. You know, you could do a romantic comedy, you never know, right? Okay, so the QA's is QA's around Australia. Your movie will be showing. Well, for a I hope that you have fun traveling. I know people are gonna get affected. I've seen the movie, obviously, so I enjoyed it. And I'm gonna say before we go, Lisa and Philippa, they did a great job on costumes. Yeah, yeah. And maintenance and everything, you know, maintenance of the details.

SPEAKER_03 31:45

Yeah, yeah, the breaking down. You you don't realize that that um, you know, and have a heather have a wallows was a bit of costume. Um, you don't understand how much work goes into because that's brand new clothing that they've actually stitched. And then they have to break it down, and they break it down with like pots of tea and and you know, angle grinders and sanders, and it takes weeks and weeks and weeks, and they have to make multiples of them. The amount of work that goes into costumes, especially period, is insane, and yeah, and you have to respect it, you have to give them the time and the money to do it properly.

SPEAKER_02 32:23

Oh, that's why I wanted to shout them out because yeah, they're they're so good.

SPEAKER_03 32:27

Yeah, they are the actor feels good, even if it is, you know, they look like they're covered in snot and grease. And flies. And flies. If the actor feels good in those clothes, because it's right for the character, you you have such an easier time with the actor.

SPEAKER_02 32:45

Well, thank you very much, uh Warwick Thornton. I hope you enjoyed our conversation. I certainly did, and I learned many, many things about his style and about his personality and about everything that makes him tick. You can find me at movie underscore analyst across social media, you can see me on TV occasionally, you can hear me across the radio waves. But until next time, thanks again for tuning in to another edition of Cine Critique. I'm Shane A. Bassett. See you at the movies.