This week Chris Deacy is joined by Deirdre Wells to discuss the films; Skyfall, Nyad, The Commitments, and When Harry Met Sally.
Category
đź“ş
TVTranscript
00:00 [music]
00:12 Hello and welcome to Kent Film Club. I'm Chris DC and each week I'll be joined by a guest from Kent
00:18 to dive deep into the 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 has a connection to the county.
00:33 And now let me introduce you to my guest for this week.
00:36 Having worked for 25 years in government, including being private secretary for the Minister for Film,
00:41 before moving over to visit Kent, she is a keen moviegoer, choral singer, piano player and mad year-round sea swimmer.
00:49 She is, of course, Deidre Wells.
00:52 Welcome Deidre, lovely to have you on the programme. And you've started with a Bond film, Skyfall.
00:58 Yes, I did. Well, I slightly cheated in the sense that yes, it's Skyfall, but if I'm allowed, I'd like to put the whole Bond franchise in there.
01:07 All of the Bonds? All of them?
01:09 All of the Bonds, because they're one of those films that however many times you've seen them,
01:15 if you're flicking around and you think, "Oh, I'm halfway through a Bond film," I will always go, "Right, I want to watch it."
01:20 I love everything about them. I love the slight nonsense of them. I love the escapism of them.
01:25 I love the special effects, the music.
01:28 And I was so tickled, I think, when I started this job to realise how many Bond connections there are in Kent.
01:35 So I'm sure lots of your viewers will know some of these things, but one of the things that particularly,
01:40 apart from the fact, of course, that Ian Fleming lived in Kent and wrote a lot of the books in his house in St Margaret's,
01:47 that the reason 007 is called 007 is because of the 007 bus that goes from Dover to St Margaret's,
01:57 which is delightfully unglamorous for Mr Bond, but I just love it.
02:03 And of course, there's the lovely link to Goldfinger where they play the round of golf at Royal St George's.
02:11 So, yeah, just everything about them, I just love. They're huge escapism and a fantastic UK export, actually.
02:20 Yeah, and I have to ask the question. I mean, maybe the answer is in this, but which is your favourite Bond?
02:25 Is it Daniel Craig?
02:27 Well, I think it's a close tie between Daniel Craig and Sean Connery.
02:32 Although when I was private secretary to the Minister of Film, I did get to meet Pierce Brosnan on the Bond set.
02:41 And we were in, it was Brent Cross car park. And the scene was when he's driving his remote control car.
02:49 He's sitting in the back of the car.
02:50 Yeah. And I have to say, I was more than a little bit starstruck.
02:54 But Mr Brosnan is about as delightful as you would hope he was going to be.
02:59 What was entertaining to me was, you know, how long the scene was, you know, this very, very small scene of him in the backseat,
03:05 you know, using a little keypad to drive the car, how long that took to film.
03:12 And the other thing that was entertaining was the fact that there were downstairs not one, but 17, one, seven BMWs in various states of being smashed up.
03:23 And you just think that production values that go into some of these things.
03:27 And also just to see Brent Cross shopping centre transformed into this German car park. It was just, it was just fantastic.
03:34 Because I saw in 2022 quite a few of the Bond films.
03:38 They showed all of them because it was the year, the 60th anniversary at the O2 cinema in London.
03:44 And I watched that scene and it was hilarious, but I didn't know that it was filmed there.
03:48 Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I think that's, you know, it's just, I suppose in one way, I remember years and years ago,
03:53 I was always fascinated with how things, how films were made. And my mum used to say to me, oh, is yours ruining this thing?
03:58 And I said, no, the more I see the behind the scenes bit, almost the more admiring I am of the craft of filmmaking.
04:04 It's just, it's just fantastic. But yeah, that was, you know, a delight.
04:09 Actually, Skyfall, I think, was one of my, I think it's just so well written and so brilliantly acted.
04:14 And, you know, Javier Bardem is just phenomenal. But yeah, but Daniel Craig, I think,
04:19 what I love about Daniel Craig and Sean Connery is they actually look like they could kill you.
04:23 Whereas I always think with some of the other Bonds, there's a slight sense of, well, I might crumple my shirt.
04:27 So I probably won't, you know, but I think you need that slight terrifying edge in order for it to be convincing.
04:34 But well, Timothy Dalton is also from Wales and you mentioned crumple shirt.
04:38 So I'll leave the analogy there. But tell me a little bit about Skyfall as a choice,
04:43 because obviously it's one of the more recent Bond films.
04:45 Yes.
04:46 But the renaissance of Bond I found interesting because I grew up with Roger Moore.
04:50 He was the Bond when I, you know, in the 80s and it was always on those bank holiday Mondays on ITV.
04:55 They would always be showing a Bond film. But there was a gap, a hiatus for about six years.
04:59 But then it all came back. And of course, these are now the biggest exports on.
05:03 Yeah. And I think what has been fantastic about the franchise is how they've reinvented, let's face it,
05:09 a fairly macho sort of, you know, chauvinistic character without, you know,
05:14 I think the Roger Moore, you know, funny and lovely in many ways.
05:17 But when you look back, you know, at some of those films now, you do have to watch it behind your fingers.
05:22 And some of it's so cringe. But I thought what was brilliant about the particularly the Daniel Craig franchise
05:28 was that sense that the acting, you know, Judy Dench is just phenomenal as M and, you know,
05:34 the writing is brilliant. But also that I suppose you get those layers peeled back a little bit on him as a character
05:42 and his back story. And I think, you know, he plays it in quite a believable way of that sense of, you know,
05:49 his childhood story being quite traumatic, but also that how over the years,
05:55 the sort of emotional side of him was completely shut down, but sort of aligned to that sense of Judy.
06:00 And, you know, I suppose that's like almost Death Wish action hero.
06:04 But I think that it is as much about the interplay with the others and the reinvention of Q with Ben,
06:11 which is just genius. And I think, again, they sort of it enables them to knock out that sense of,
06:18 is he getting a bit old for this sort of role? You know, and a media and, you know,
06:22 and I think that interplay between him being the new kid on the block, but actually that the world is changing now
06:27 and how and warfare is changing now. I think it was just brilliant.
06:30 And I think what I love about them is the humor is this, you know, it's just brilliantly created culinary excellence.
06:38 You know, there's the right flavors and just enough of the action, just enough of the humor.
06:44 Yeah, fantastic. I think we could spend the whole break.
06:47 But maybe we will. Let's see what comes up. It's now time to move on to your second chosen film.
06:51 And OK, Annette Bening is my tip to win best actress Oscar for Nyad.
06:58 Now, I have to say I feel slightly embarrassed about this because I've realised I took up
07:04 sea swimming about a year and a bit ago and I am very, very, very quickly turning into the sort of vegan equivalent of
07:14 in any conversation of any description, I will drop in, you know, I swim in the sea around.
07:20 So it's sort of. But I think having done it and become completely addicted to it and came across this amazing film,
07:29 which I think it just encapsulates that sort of determination and slightly kind of crazy determination of this woman who,
07:38 Diana Nyad, who decides she's going to do this monumental swim, having, you know, in her 60s,
07:45 having failed to succeed in doing it in her 20s and the training and the relationship with Jodie Foster,
07:50 who plays her friend and her coach. And but I think it's a lot around determination.
07:55 It's, you know, a lot about, I suppose, expectations of women in sort of middle age.
08:01 And maybe that kind of resonated in one way, but also just the the the connection with the sea and the joy of,
08:08 you know, swimming and the challenge of it is, I suppose, it just I just I think it's brilliantly acted and really,
08:15 I suppose, you know, resonated with me as a very, very lame sea swimmer.
08:21 But it's that sense of that connection to nature and the water is just incredible.
08:25 Yeah, because we did a series called Generation Y in which I had to go into the sea and do wild swimming,
08:30 which is against my nature. But I watched this film and I'm guessing you saw it at the cinema as well fairly recently.
08:34 Yes, I saw it not not too long before Christmas.
08:37 And it works on many levels because, of course, she's swimming, isn't she, from Cuba to Florida.
08:41 Yes. And everyone says there's no way you can do it.
08:43 She'd even tried it before, as you say, but didn't succeed.
08:45 But also Annette Bening as well, who is yet to win an Academy Award.
08:48 But she puts everything into this role. Oh, totally.
08:51 And even in terms of her training, you know, and all the weight training she had to do.
08:55 And of course, when they I think there was three attempts and before they do it and and she gets horribly sunburnt and,
09:03 you know, dehydrated. And it's just the I suppose this is sheer determination.
09:09 And I think, you know, you know, as I say, it's a very, very minor comparison.
09:13 But one of the things that a lot of us in my swimming group talk about is that, you know, if you're doing like I did yesterday,
09:19 you get into the sea, you know, at seven o'clock in the morning and it's six degrees.
09:22 And there was or a couple of weeks ago where you're scraping the ice off the car before you drive down.
09:26 You're thinking this is nuts. This is crazy.
09:29 But and you have to breathe in a certain way when you do cold water swimming.
09:33 But the the adrenaline rush and that sense of being a bit brave and having done something a bit brave and a bit, you know, a bit out there.
09:42 And also the connection with nature, the fact that the taste of the water, the feel of the water,
09:47 that, you know, and the the fact that the sea changes every day and the power of the sea.
09:53 You get very quickly quite, you know, conscious of.
09:57 But I yeah, I just you say she puts everything into it.
10:00 She's fantastic. And the relationship between her and Jodie Foster is is just joyous to watch.
10:05 Also Oscar nominated. So you see yourself in her.
10:08 I mean, so you would go into the water in any condition. Yeah.
10:12 So, well, I mean, we're quite sensible about when it's stormy.
10:15 So and we've had quite a lot of storms, of course, recently.
10:18 So we don't go in if it's if if the waves are over a certain height and the Coast Guard are very good about giving, you know,
10:23 they've got an app that you can watch. But, you know, if it's not super crazy wavy, we go in every day all year round.
10:31 And I'm just thinking in the film, of course, as you say, she's scorched and she says, I'm fine.
10:34 I'm fine. All the medical professionals are saying we're getting you out the water.
10:37 She's saying no. But but then she cries again.
10:40 Yeah. Yeah. It's just that determination and that and I think that sense of which I think a lot of women in middle age talk about that sense of suddenly feeling like you've become invisible or that people have sort of written you off or that you're you're no longer sort of seen as a person.
10:56 And I think for her, having reached a certain level of notoriety and fame as a swimmer in that sense,
11:03 particularly I suppose a physical capability that people go, well, you can't possibly do that in your 60s.
11:08 And I think that she's the exception, but I think it was really that sort of reminder that actually maybe you can do something new, maybe you can do something crazy.
11:16 And but also but you can do it if you've got the support crew.
11:19 And one of the things I love about my group is there are, you know, 15 of us in total and any on any given day, maybe from five to 15.
11:27 The support that you have is a group of, you know, mad people. It's great.
11:31 It is hugely inspiring. All right. Well, that's about all the time we have for this first half of the show.
11:35 However, before we go to the break, we have a Kent film trivia question for you at home.
11:40 Which Kent airport was used for filming a scene in the James Bond film Die Another Day?
11:45 Was it A, Manston International, B, Headquarters Aerodrome or C, Rochester Airport?
11:51 We'll reveal the answer right after this break. Don't go away.
11:55 Hello and welcome back to Kent Film Club.
12:09 Just before the break, we asked you at home a Kent film trivia question.
12:13 Which Kent airport was used for filming a scene in the James Bond film Die Another Day?
12:19 I asked, was it A, Manston International, B, Headquarters Aerodrome or C, Rochester Airport?
12:26 And now I can reveal to you that the answer was in fact A, Manston Airport.
12:30 The now closed Manston International Airport, which is now Stonehill Park in Ramsgate,
12:35 was used to film the Antonov cargo plane scenes towards the end of the film.
12:41 Did you get the answer right?
12:43 Well, it is time now to move on to your next chosen film, Deidre, and you've gone for The Commitments.
12:51 So, I'm from Dublin originally, so born and bred, and this came out not long after I'd moved to England.
13:01 And just everything about this film is just so joyous.
13:06 Music, obviously, fantastic. Alan Parker's direction, incredible.
13:11 But the interplay between the characters is fantastic,
13:17 which was written by the amazing Roddy Doyle, who wrote a series of books,
13:21 which I have to say would be my desert island choice if I ever was surrounded.
13:25 Because I think there's a fantastic blend of huge humour, but also just joy, but poignancy.
13:36 This is set against the backdrop of a time in Ireland when I was growing up,
13:41 where Ireland seemed to be permanently in recession.
13:44 And I remember Bob Geldof once say, those who get up and go have got up and left, and a lot of us did.
13:53 But actually that sense of those who stayed, where was the ambition, where was the opportunity?
13:59 And I think it was just on the cusp of the Celtic Tiger,
14:02 and when Ireland suddenly became super cool, and there was a real celebration and joy of the humour, the music.
14:11 And I just love it.
14:14 And I saw that now, it came out in '91, so about two years later,
14:17 I think it was the Commodore Cinema in Aberystwyth, because I was in West Wales.
14:21 And the queue outside, it was a Saturday afternoon, and I think most people had already seen it.
14:25 This was my first screening, but everybody was singing along.
14:28 It just had that real vibe to it.
14:30 Completely, completely. And of course, if you've ever been to Dublin,
14:36 you will know that we have a particular brand of humour,
14:40 and there is teasing people or slagging them, as we call them at home.
14:46 Just that constant, constant take on the mickey is just perennial right the way through.
14:54 And the nicknames they have, and just loads of scenes are so well observed around the wedding.
14:59 It's just brilliant. It's just classic Dublin.
15:04 And I think still, notwithstanding that Dublin is a very changed city now,
15:09 still I think really stands the test of time.
15:11 And I just love the, and I think it's one of the things about Roddy Doyle's writing,
15:17 is that although it's very Dublin and very set in Dublin,
15:20 the universality of the themes that he explores, it could be anywhere.
15:25 And I think that's why it has such broad appeal.
15:27 And the other funny thing, it always makes me laugh when I think of X Factor,
15:30 when they do X Factor auditions in Dublin about people who think they can sing.
15:34 The whole of Dublin thinks they can sing.
15:36 So the queues are around the block, and I think again, the wonderful audition scenes in this.
15:41 And it's just, yeah, it's just fantastic.
15:45 And I'm just, Alan Parker, isn't it, who directed this?
15:47 Yes, yes.
15:48 And he was always very good at making American set films,
15:52 Mississippi Burning, or I'm thinking of this, and English, Ita de Vita as well.
15:56 But there's something here, there's a real, I used the word vibe earlier,
16:00 but there's just a sense that this is a time and a place which feels electrifying.
16:04 And it's interesting to hear what you said about the backdrop of Dublin at the time
16:07 may not have been going through in the best of places.
16:11 And yet, this is really, it's a celebration film.
16:15 Yes, and I think it's funny because I've lived over here a long time
16:21 and I've got children over here, and my sister also,
16:23 and her children are a bit older than mine and have a real sense of being, you know, Ireland's cool.
16:28 And you think, yes, it is.
16:29 But when we were growing up, it was a very, very different country.
16:33 It was very strict Catholic, very homogenous, not the sort of open society it is now.
16:39 And, you know, quite poor in lots of ways.
16:44 And there was that sense of, I mean, I left because I had a degree in languages
16:49 and had always wanted to live abroad anyway.
16:51 But lots and lots of people left at the same time I did because they hadn't got any choice.
16:56 All the opportunities were outside Ireland.
16:58 And when you look at Ireland now, it's such a different place.
17:01 But I think what he did was he captured very much that sense of the sort of burgeoning dreams
17:07 and aspirations and change in Dublin's, I suppose, vision of itself,
17:13 but still very steeped in where the place was at the time.
17:18 So, yeah, and just, as I say, that combination of poignancy and just hilarity is just brilliant.
17:24 So when The Commitments came out, were you in the UK at the time?
17:29 Yes, so I was probably about two, two, three years in.
17:33 Yeah, so.
17:34 So was there a lot of nostalgia for this?
17:36 I mean, what was your sense watching a film about the place that you, where you're from,
17:40 where you're from, but outside of that context?
17:43 You know, it was brilliant because it was, I suppose it was so real and it was so my Dublin in lots of ways.
17:51 But also I had such a pride sitting in this huge cinema, watching it when it came out,
17:56 with people guffawing and just and you think, wow, you know, we've really we're on the map.
18:03 You know, we you know, the humour, the music, the dialogue.
18:09 My Dublin is on the big screen in the UK and people are just lapping it up.
18:14 And I felt a huge sense of pride.
18:16 Yeah. And yes, I did cry quite a lot as well.
18:19 So you watched it with a large audience.
18:21 Yes. And did that. I mean, I'm guessing you've watched it many times since as well.
18:24 But are you recapturing the essence of that original viewing?
18:29 Oh, yes, totally. Yeah, absolutely.
18:31 That first viewing and the dialogue.
18:34 And there's a wonderful line where, you know, the main singer, Andrew Strong, the main singer, and they said,
18:42 he's Deco and they said, is that top Deco or bottom Deco?
18:46 As in the bus, you know, and I thought that is such a Dublin expression.
18:50 Everybody has a nickname that ends in an O.
18:54 Well, I have to revisit it.
18:56 Well, it's time now to move on to your final chosen film.
18:59 And this isn't the first time it's come upon Kent Film Club. When Harry Met Sally.
19:04 Tell me about this choice.
19:05 So this is a slightly soppy choice because I think this is one of the first films that my husband and I went to see on our date back in, I think, yeah, 1989.
19:14 So, so I arrived from Dublin straight from university, started work on the Monday.
19:21 And my lovely husband was sitting opposite me.
19:23 And we were friends before we were a couple.
19:28 And, you know, I think I love the story.
19:32 I think the dialogue is, again, phenomenal.
19:35 But again, I think the it's one of those films that I can watch over and over again and still laugh at.
19:43 And and actually, I think, does go to the heart of can we men and women be friends?
19:47 But, you know, there are some sort of, I suppose, interesting sort of existential issues there.
19:51 But also the the interplay with all of the the couples that they that they interview.
19:57 And it's just one of those things that even to this day, you know, 30 odd years later, there are still snippets of that dialogue that my husband and I will say to each other at random times that just make us laugh like drains.
20:09 You know, we just yeah, we just love it.
20:11 It feels like one of those zeitgeist films because, of course, it deals with the big universal question which which you've highlighted.
20:17 And and although there have been attempts, including by Meg Ryan, actually, her second directorial film was recently made, which which clearly plays on this kind of trope.
20:27 And they said in an airport meeting somebody a few decades later.
20:29 But Billy Crystal was asked this question.
20:31 You know, will you ever remake it?
20:32 And he said, absolutely not.
20:34 Because what are you going to call it?
20:35 You're going to call it when Harry, you know, loses Sally or leaves Sally or whatever.
20:41 But there's something in there that it's got all the different dimensions in it anyway.
20:45 Why would you want to replicate that?
20:47 It's already a very kind of circular film.
20:49 Yeah, it absolutely is.
20:51 And and it's funny.
20:52 I always feel the only thing that irritates me about not so much the film itself, but the sort of coverage is there's always that famous scene of Sally in the restaurant, which I think, yes, it was funny.
21:02 But, you know, for me, the one that makes me laugh every single time is when he is telling his friend about him and his wife splitting up.
21:11 And there's that famous line about don't with Mr. Zero.
21:14 And, you know, he says and his friend goes, Mr. Zero knew this, you know, so people who are watching, you need to watch the film together.
21:22 But there are so many. And, you know, and suddenly you're singing sorry with a fringe on top in front of Ira and, you know, or the wagon wheel coffee table.
21:32 There's so many things. And my husband and I will quite often say to each other, promise me you'll never I'll never be out there again.
21:38 You know, when you're talking about what dating is like nowadays and there are so many snippets where you think it's just brilliant.
21:46 And also, again, I think quite painful and how they both deal with their own breakup completely differently.
21:53 And even things like I am quite a positive person. And there's a whole thing about, yes, basically, I'm a happy person.
21:58 I don't think there's anything wrong with that. You know, and the juxtaposition between him being a bit more kind of hang dog and pessimistic and her that perennially happy thing until she crashes like a like a plane sort of later in the film.
22:13 So, yeah, I just love it.
22:16 But it's quite remarkable to have a film when you're watching it. And of course, you can watch it at different stages of your life, but get different bits in different ways at different times.
22:23 Yes, you can dip into it. And each time there'll be some nugget in there, some gem you could never have picked up first time round.
22:30 Well, I think it's all about the writing. It's all about the writing. It's one of the things when, you know, one of the hardest things about this coming to this interview was trying to pick your top four.
22:40 There's so many and I need to put Toy Story in. And I was again, another thing that irritates me about Toy Story or the conversation about Toy Story is like how amazing it was in terms of the graphics and stuff.
22:50 No, the reason Toy Story is brilliant is the dialogue. The writing is phenomenal. And all of these ones that I if there's a unifying theme, it's great, great scripts, great screenwriting, of course, great actors as well.
23:04 And that's a very good point because with Toy Story it works because there's something timeless about it. But when Harry met Sally, it made in 1989 and maybe it looks a little bit dated, but there's something so timeless.
23:16 Yes, and I suppose partly I suppose it's for me, it's that reminder of, you know, when we were at that age and that stage in life. So there's a kind of nostalgia for that. But absolutely, it's probably, yeah, it's not timeless. Absolutely not.
23:30 Timeless but not timeless. Yeah, brilliant. Well, thank you, Deidre. I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. So many thanks to Deidre Wells for joining us and being such a brilliant guest.
23:39 And many thanks to you all for tuning in. Be sure to come back and join us again at the same time next week. Until then, that's all from us. Goodbye.
23:49 (music)
23:58 [BLANK_AUDIO]