This week Chris Deacy is joined by Michelle Duncan to discuss the films; True Romance, An American Werewolf in London, The Princess Bride, and Shaun of the Dead.
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00:00 [Music]
00:12 Hello and welcome to Kent Film Club.
00:14 I'm Chris Deesey and each week I'll be joined by a guest from Kent to dive deep into the
00:19 impact certain films have had on their life.
00:22 Each guest will reflect on the films which have meant the most to them over the years.
00:26 And every week there will be a Kent Film Trivia where we quiz you at home about a film that
00:31 has a connection to the county.
00:34 And now let me introduce you to my guest for this week.
00:37 She is a volunteer and presenter at Deal Radio.
00:41 She also has a background with acting and voice work and her biggest claim to fame is
00:46 directing the Ash Village Panto for several years.
00:50 She is Michelle Duncan.
00:52 Hi.
00:53 Welcome Michelle, great to have you on the programme.
00:54 Thank you for having me.
00:56 And I have no idea what films you're going to be selecting so I'm going to turn and see
01:01 True Romance.
01:02 Yes.
01:03 Why have you chosen this film?
01:04 It is an ultra-violent love story.
01:06 It's just fantastic.
01:09 It just gives me all the feels.
01:10 And this is Tony Scott isn't it?
01:12 And Quentin Tarantino was involved in this film.
01:15 Yes, he was.
01:16 Like early days.
01:20 I love his stuff, controversial as he may be.
01:23 I just love Quentin Tarantino as well.
01:26 And there's a real edge, you can really see his creative input on this.
01:29 The whole film is just phenomenal.
01:32 Now I saw this on the small screen because this was the time when everyone was raving
01:36 about Tarantino.
01:37 So I would have seen it after Pulp Fiction.
01:38 I know it was made in '93.
01:40 Did you see this when it came out?
01:41 I didn't unfortunately.
01:43 It kind of flew under the radar a bit for me for quite a while.
01:47 And I can't even remember when I first saw it but I know the impact it had.
01:52 And I just thought this is everything.
01:56 The adrenaline is just kind of pumping all the way through because it's just constant,
02:01 constant, constant.
02:02 They must have been shattered filming the Blinkin' thing.
02:05 It was just full on.
02:06 Well I was just thinking as well because as I recall there are some, I think Dennis Hopper
02:09 is in it isn't he?
02:10 Yes he is.
02:11 And Christopher Walken.
02:12 And there are some moments that really showcase them.
02:15 That is what got me big time.
02:18 So yeah, sorry for interrupting.
02:19 I just get really excited.
02:20 Tell me what was significant about them because they were both very established stars when
02:25 they made this project.
02:26 Yes.
02:27 The dynamic between the two.
02:29 They're opposite ends of the spectrum in their lives if you like.
02:34 But they're very similar characters I think.
02:36 That's how I see them.
02:38 You've got Dennis Hopper who is a kind of washed up security guard just living his life
02:42 with his dog.
02:43 Just trying to keep his head down.
02:44 And Christopher Walken, his character, big mob boss.
02:47 He doesn't get his hands dirty either.
02:49 So his visit to Dennis Hopper's character is special.
02:53 And the dialogue between them just gave me goosebumps.
02:56 I can't even tell you what they said and justify how brilliant it all is.
03:03 Because there's a line in there isn't there where one of them said to the other "I have
03:05 no idea what you've just been talking about".
03:07 Because it coasts on, you've got that.
03:09 Tony Scott was great with the huge sets and marshalling a huge crew of actors.
03:15 But what also works here is the dialogue feels kind of like a bit too normal day to day.
03:22 It's very hyper.
03:23 But as with Pulp Fiction, talking about things that we all identify with.
03:26 But which we don't normally see in a film.
03:28 Because it's not so much that the dialogue is in service to the plot.
03:31 The dialogue kind of is a surrogate for the plot in some cases.
03:35 It's huge.
03:36 It's a huge part of what's happening around it.
03:40 These two characters have a massive impact on what happens to everything else that's
03:46 going on around them.
03:47 And that one scene is, I mean I cry every time because I just get very emotional.
03:52 Because you can, no spoilers, people have seen this film.
03:55 It has been out for a while.
03:57 But if you haven't seen it, it's wonderful.
03:59 Watch it.
04:00 I won't spoil it.
04:01 But you kind of get this inevitable feeling of where it's going to go.
04:05 And you can see just the acting is sublime.
04:09 You're just drawn in and you're there.
04:10 And is this something that you've watched on your own?
04:12 Is it the sort of film that you've evangelised to others?
04:15 Have you said, you must watch this film because...
04:17 Oh, I make people sit down and watch it with me.
04:19 And then pretty much run the dialogue with it.
04:22 And then it is a comfort movie, bizarrely for me.
04:25 I will sit and if I'm having a bit of a day, that goes on.
04:27 And do you remember the first time that you watched this?
04:30 Because I'm guessing that was the seminal moment.
04:32 Yeah, I was really young at the time.
04:34 So if it came out in '93, it would have been mid to late '90s that I actually watched it.
04:41 I've always been big into movies.
04:43 But then by that time, I had my own place.
04:46 I was kind of renting videos.
04:48 But we all know everyone had a video store in their town.
04:52 And you had to do it old school.
04:53 You had to buy stuff physically from stores.
04:56 So it was one of the first films that I actually added to my library as well.
05:01 So good old VHS.
05:03 Because I did that with 'Witches of Eastwick'.
05:05 But actually having that copy, actually making the pilgrimage down to the record shop or
05:09 the video shop or the cinema, it mattered in those days.
05:13 So actually, do you still have that hard copy film?
05:16 I don't.
05:17 In my many moves, lots of things have kind of disappeared along the way.
05:22 I do have a copy, but not that original, very worn out, rewound 100 million times tape.
05:31 So yeah.
05:32 But if I did have it, it would be one of my most prized possessions.
05:36 Fantastic.
05:37 Well, that's a good choice.
05:38 And you've encouraged me to go and rewatch that now.
05:40 OK, well, it's time now, Michelle, to move on to your second chosen film.
05:44 And you've gone for 'An American Werewolf in London'.
05:48 Yes.
05:49 Absolutely iconic.
05:50 I mean, this film was groundbreaking in every way.
05:54 But I love the combination of comedy and horror.
05:59 So yeah, that was a bit of a weird mixture of both words there.
06:04 It's just phenomenal.
06:06 It's cheesy.
06:07 It's B-movie.
06:08 It's 80s horror.
06:11 And it's everything.
06:12 The special effects are just crazy for the time.
06:16 You can forgive that now with our wonderful effects that we have.
06:21 And you think everything's real.
06:23 You know it's not real.
06:24 But the puppetry and just the proper analogue special effects and no CGI, it was just brilliant.
06:31 The acting's not the best, but it's just brilliant.
06:36 I love it.
06:37 Because that's what really worked in those days, isn't it?
06:39 That you'd watch these films.
06:40 We had nothing to compare it to in the way that now, of course, as you said, this film
06:44 was made before CGI.
06:46 But it's a cult classic.
06:48 It really is.
06:49 But I think the story's strong.
06:50 You know, it's two guys.
06:51 They're on holiday.
06:52 They've gone to Europe.
06:53 They're on the moors in the middle of nowhere.
06:56 Find a deserted pub.
06:57 Well, it's not deserted.
06:58 You've got the locals in there.
06:59 And they're like, "Talk straight off the path."
07:02 And I mean, it's so us.
07:05 And I think the American audience probably didn't quite know what to make of it.
07:08 I don't know.
07:09 But for us, it was like, "Yeah, this is familiar.
07:13 This is how we actually behave.
07:15 We don't like strangers generally.
07:20 We want you to get out of our space.
07:22 We're in our local pub.
07:23 We're invading our time."
07:25 But then you've got the slightly kind person that's like, "No, be careful out there."
07:30 And then there's your foreboding.
07:31 You know, "Okay, something quite horrible is going to happen."
07:35 And it really is quite horrible.
07:37 It's horror in its best form, I think, with all the special effects as they are.
07:43 Because this is one of those films that, of course, we always associate with Halloween.
07:47 Was that the time that you first saw it?
07:50 Do you associate it with that kind of series of spooky Halloween releases?
07:54 Not at all.
07:55 Horror's all year round for me.
07:58 Halloween is my favourite season.
08:01 I have a friend, Lisa, and we're very different.
08:04 I'm Halloween, she's Christmas.
08:06 So we complement each other really nicely.
08:08 But the horror genre for me, I love it.
08:13 I just love it.
08:14 And there's not much I can watch where I just can't cope with it.
08:18 It's just something, and I don't know why.
08:21 I mean...
08:22 But I'm wondering, because you mentioned Christmas there, and of course you write Pantos, or
08:27 direct Pantos, but does this kind of film impact on the way that you work with Pantos?
08:34 Do you sort of feel that film influences you in terms of how that all plays out?
08:40 Oh, definitely.
08:41 Especially if it's a well-loved or often revisited thing as well.
08:47 It influences you in a huge way.
08:51 I love the dark humour in these horror films.
08:55 The humour's so dark, but it's hilarious.
08:57 His friend visits him and tells him it's all going to end very badly.
09:02 And every time he visits, he's slightly more rotten.
09:05 You know, he's getting greener, bits are falling off, and I just die.
09:09 I think it's the funniest thing I've ever seen.
09:12 I think...
09:13 I mean, correct me if I'm wrong.
09:16 I think British people as a whole have a genuinely dark sense of humour.
09:21 It's gallows humour all along the way.
09:23 Some people won't admit to that, but you just know they're chuckling inside at something
09:27 that they really shouldn't be.
09:28 And this, I think, really touched on that.
09:31 And I think...
09:33 I don't know what the influences were.
09:35 I enjoy the film for the film, so I don't dig too deep.
09:38 Because I have to ask in that sense, then, whether you've watched this with a mass audience,
09:42 for example, at the cinema.
09:43 I haven't, no.
09:44 And I would love to.
09:46 And it's something I think something like Secret Cinema should get involved in.
09:52 Again, name dropping, sorry.
09:54 I've been to a couple of their things.
09:56 They're phenomenal.
09:57 And I think this would be, you know, the hallelujah moment, definitely.
10:02 But I would love to see it with a big audience.
10:05 People I don't know who love it as much as I do, and get that kind of feedback.
10:10 That would be great.
10:11 I remember watching Tootsie at the BFI, and suddenly people were laughing at the things
10:16 that I wouldn't have laughed at.
10:18 And I saw the film through the audience, through a completely different lens.
10:22 And it sounds like you feel the same way about an American werewolf.
10:25 Completely.
10:26 Yeah, I love it.
10:27 And have you had any luck persuading your family to watch this as well?
10:30 Oh, they love it too.
10:31 They have no choice.
10:32 It's like, we're watching this tonight, guys.
10:35 No, they each have their own individual tastes.
10:40 But I think horror definitely kind of runs through.
10:44 My girls are older now, so I obviously don't have to vet everything quite as harshly.
10:49 So they see the humor.
10:51 They can appreciate the work that's gone into it.
10:56 We've had conversations in the past where, wouldn't it be really cool to be part of the
11:00 people or the team that make the special effects happen?
11:03 Like, you know, someone loses an arm, buckets of blood are flying all over the place.
11:07 That must be so much fun.
11:09 Hard work to prep.
11:11 But when you get that moment, it's like, yes.
11:15 So yeah, they really do enjoy it.
11:17 They do enjoy it.
11:19 I don't make them.
11:20 I just get that in there.
11:21 Fantastic.
11:22 I believe you, Michelle.
11:23 Well, that's about all the time we have for this first half of the show.
11:28 However, before we go to the break, we have a Kent Film Trivia question for you at home.
11:35 Which of these Margate-based films features T.S. Eliot's 1922 poem The Wasteland, which
11:41 he wrote in Margate as well?
11:43 Is it A) King of Thieves, B)
11:47 Last Orders or C) Empire of Light?
11:51 We'll reveal the answer right after this break.
11:53 Don't go away.
12:05 Hello and welcome back to Kent Film Club.
12:08 Just before the ad break, we asked you at home a Kent Film Trivia question.
12:12 Which of these Margate-based films features T.S. Eliot's 1922 poem The Wasteland, which
12:18 he wrote in Margate as well?
12:20 I asked, is it A) King of Thieves, B)
12:24 Last Orders or C)
12:26 Empire of Light?
12:27 And now I can reveal to you that the answer was, in fact, C)
12:32 Empire of Light.
12:33 Near the start of the film, T.S. Eliot's The Wasteland is used.
12:38 And at the end of the film, a poet by Philip Larkin claims that May leaf growth shows the
12:43 year brings a fresh start.
12:45 Did you get the answer right?
12:47 Well it is time now, Michelle, to move on to your next chosen film.
12:51 And you've gone for The Princess Bride.
12:54 Yes.
12:55 Why have you chosen this?
12:56 It's perfect.
12:57 It's the perfect film.
12:59 If you're feeling blue, if you're feeling, well, whatever you're feeling, just it's wonderful.
13:05 I read the book, so it's really not very, obviously it's taken the major plot points
13:11 and whatnot.
13:12 So the book is very much more involved, if you like.
13:15 A lot more backstory.
13:17 You kind of know more about the characters.
13:19 This is such a good interpretation of the whole thing.
13:23 The whole feeling is there.
13:25 It's wonderful.
13:26 And it's a proper love story.
13:28 But it's got villains and pirates and baddies and true love and all of that.
13:34 But again, I think it's the cast makes it.
13:37 I don't think you could cast it as well as this has been done.
13:41 Every character is absolutely spot on, in my opinion.
13:44 And I don't think many people would disagree either.
13:47 And I just think how the characters interact in the film, it's just lovely.
13:53 And I mean, you can't feel sad watching it.
13:55 It's just, it's wonderful.
13:57 It's got myth, quest, love story.
13:59 It's also got Peter Falk in it, hasn't it?
14:01 It really has.
14:02 With an iconic scene.
14:07 He is Columbo in it.
14:09 There's no other way.
14:10 He is the grandpa, but he's Columbo.
14:12 And I just think he's just genius.
14:15 And I like how it starts as he's reading his grandson, even, a story time because he's
14:25 poorly and he needs distracting from feeling poorly and he doesn't want him on computer
14:30 games or, you know, so he decides he's going to go read him one of his favourite stories.
14:36 And the whole beginning is like, oh, is this a kissing book and all of this?
14:41 And then he really gets into it and it kind of cuts back every now and again to him getting
14:46 really into this story.
14:47 And I just think that that's quite nostalgic as well.
14:52 I loved story time with my girls.
14:55 They were quite late, 12 years old before they stopped having story time.
15:01 And we would just kind of pile into bed.
15:03 And obviously the stories grew up with them.
15:06 So I remember reading Terry Pratchett's We Free Men to Imogen when she turned nine because
15:12 that's the age of the main character, Tiffany Aking, in it.
15:15 So this has that kind of feeling about it.
15:18 So it's cosy.
15:19 And I have to ask then, is this a film that has travelled with you since childhood?
15:24 Yes, most definitely.
15:26 It's my dad's fault.
15:29 But he rented it.
15:32 We had a weekend.
15:33 It was like a really crappy weather, horrible weekend.
15:37 And like four of us kids, nowhere to go, nothing to do.
15:40 So he's like, right, we'll have a movie night.
15:42 And he rented The Princess Bride and it blew my mind.
15:46 And I loved it.
15:48 Because sometimes that can work the opposite way.
15:50 When I show films to my children, sometimes they're like, Daddy, why are you showing us
15:55 this?
15:56 We're not remotely interested.
15:57 And I think maybe when they're older, I hope.
15:58 But in this case, it really worked for you.
16:00 Yeah, definitely.
16:01 It is all of our go-to.
16:03 My husband, bless his heart, is like, oh no, not this film again.
16:07 But he'll watch it from beginning to end and he'll enjoy every second of it.
16:10 So even though he's moaning about it being on again, he still really enjoys it.
16:15 So it's the whole family gets behind this one.
16:18 I often think about what it is that a film has that bears those repeated viewings.
16:23 Not so much that you can tolerate the film again, but actually it's a necessity.
16:27 What is it, do you think, that makes The Princess Bride something that you can watch on repeat?
16:32 I think that's a really tricky question to ask.
16:40 It's the nostalgia.
16:41 It's how it makes us feel.
16:44 It's that true love wins in the end.
16:46 We all want that, don't we?
16:48 It's the comedy as well.
16:50 And again, the cast is just spot on with this one.
16:54 They're funny.
16:55 They make you feel things.
16:57 You get so wrapped up in what's going on.
16:59 There's some brilliant one-liners.
17:01 It's like, open up, it's the Brute Squad.
17:04 And then he's like, he's a member of the Brute Squad.
17:07 He's like, but you are the Brute Squad, you know, Andre the Giant.
17:10 I mean, what a character to have in a movie as well.
17:14 And the backstories that you read or hear about with how they interact with each other
17:20 behind the scenes, it's just fabulous.
17:24 This is the sort of film that does come up in a lot of people's list of favourite films.
17:29 And it both draws on all the elements from mythology.
17:32 There's a lot in this film that you'll recognise from other films like The Swashbuckling, Donna,
17:36 etc.
17:37 And it pokes at them as well.
17:39 Yeah, sorry.
17:40 No, no, but that's what I meant.
17:41 It's also been almost like a trendsetter because also that becomes the benchmark for a lot
17:45 of people in terms of the definitive rom-com or maybe a range of genres.
17:50 Would you say that it's a cross-hybrid kind of film?
17:53 Oh, absolutely.
17:54 It's adventure.
17:55 It's a love story.
17:56 I mean, it's everything in between.
18:00 Loads of action.
18:02 It's comedy.
18:03 There's tragedy in there as well.
18:06 Yeah, baddies, like really good baddies as well.
18:09 People that you really want to loathe.
18:11 And that is a real good mark of a really good film, I think.
18:15 And I think the love for it just grows.
18:18 And as people introduce their children to it, they see that as well.
18:24 And I just think it'll just be enduring.
18:26 I really do.
18:27 It'll be just one of those classics that just sits there forever.
18:29 Well, fantastic choice, Michelle.
18:31 It's time now to move on to your final chosen film.
18:35 And you've gone for Shaun of the Dead.
18:38 I have.
18:39 Because horror.
18:41 It's brilliant.
18:44 The whole Cornetto trilogy, we quote it backwards and forwards, left, right and centre.
18:52 I think my favourite genre is the zombie genre.
18:57 Some films are shockingly awful and some are absolutely brilliant.
19:01 Cockneys vs. Zombies.
19:02 I don't know if you've seen that.
19:04 Highly recommend.
19:05 It is British comedy at its absolute best.
19:09 This kind of led the way, I think.
19:12 It trailblazed on everything.
19:15 The scenes where you've got the normal milk run, if you like.
19:20 He's popped to the shop to get whatever it is he's getting.
19:24 I think.
19:25 And a Cornetto, obviously.
19:28 And then, you know, kind of halfway through the film, he's doing the same run.
19:32 But the town's overrun with zombies.
19:33 And he doesn't even notice.
19:35 It's because the humdrum daily routine is what he's focused on.
19:41 Everything seems the same, but it's not.
19:43 You've got this kind of sinister background thing going on.
19:47 And there are just genius comedy moments in there as well.
19:50 Like when they're flinging the record collection.
19:52 "No, not that one.
19:53 It's a classic."
19:54 You know, we've all been there.
19:55 It's just...
19:56 Not with zombies, but it's like, you can't wreck that.
20:00 No, I love it too much.
20:01 But it sounds like it fits really well.
20:03 What a great counterpart to the second choice of film that we were talking about earlier.
20:08 Absolutely.
20:09 This is horror on a completely different level.
20:12 The special effects are phenomenal.
20:15 Again, very analogue.
20:17 There's no digital manipulation whatsoever.
20:23 But it's convincing, really convincing.
20:26 And again, the cast, absolutely spot on.
20:29 I don't think they could have done that any better either, in my opinion.
20:32 And I'm just thinking, because I asked you in relation to the previous film, about that
20:36 being a film that's very much a hybrid.
20:39 But here, just looking at the poster on the screen, it's a romantic comedy with zombies.
20:43 Absolutely.
20:44 So is that kind of your go-to?
20:47 The human element has to be there, obviously.
20:49 There has to be a reason why they're fighting so hard, definitely.
20:54 And with serious horror movies as well.
20:59 That human element, that fight for being together, it's important.
21:04 Because I think ultimately that's what drives us, is connection.
21:09 And I say it could be the most horrific movie in the world, but that connection needs to
21:13 be there in order to make it convincing.
21:16 Otherwise it's just a gore fest.
21:18 There's no reason for it.
21:19 Because a very obvious thread that I can see in your four films is the very witty dialogue.
21:25 Absolutely.
21:26 Genre films, where the genre is appended, parodied, but also improved by having very,
21:34 very fresh and zany, admittedly, writing.
21:38 Yeah.
21:39 I think I'm quite cerebral anyway.
21:43 So when people can really explain something or get passionate about things as well, but
21:48 they can articulate it really well, that's just brilliant, I think.
21:54 And it scratches an itch, I guess, in my brain.
21:57 And I'm like, yeah, I get that.
21:58 I really understand.
21:59 And that's exactly how I would explain it.
22:02 And I think that the clever writing is so important.
22:09 And I think, again, with everything that's been going on with writing, and the recognition
22:15 that actually if there weren't excellent writers out there, we'd have nothing.
22:20 So we really do need to make a fuss of these people, because they're just so clever.
22:24 And they make these things possible, definitely.
22:29 So we know that panto is a big thing for you.
22:31 But would it be your dream to work on a project like this?
22:35 Would you like to direct a film?
22:37 I would love to.
22:39 That would be an absolute dream of mine.
22:41 I don't profess to have any professional know-how whatsoever.
22:46 All I know is-- so how I approach things is, what would I like to see on that stage?
22:52 What would I like to see on that screen?
22:55 And it's very selfish.
22:57 But I think there are plenty of people like me out there that would appreciate seeing
23:03 the same thing.
23:05 So it's all vanity projects for me.
23:09 So I'm like, right, I want to see this.
23:11 So that's what I'm going to make happen.
23:13 And either you kind of sweet-talk people, wag fingers at people, until it happens.
23:20 And I don't know if that's the right approach or the wrong approach.
23:22 But it's always worked for me, just to get everyone pointing in the same direction.
23:27 And it's like bribery, corruption, all of that.
23:29 Well, invite me to the premiere.
23:30 Yeah.
23:31 Well, I'm afraid that that's all the time we have for today.
23:34 Many thanks to Michelle Duncan for joining us and for being such a brilliant guest.
23:39 And many thanks to you all for tuning in.
23:41 Be sure to come back and join us again at the same time next week.
23:45 Until then, that's all from us.
23:46 Goodbye.
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