This week Chris Deacy is joined in the studio by Finn Macdiarmid to discuss the films; Baby Driver, A Silent Voice, Coach Carter, and Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.
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00:00Hello, and welcome to Kent Film Club. I'm Chris Deasey and each week I'll be joined
00:18by a guest from Kent to dive deep into the impact certain films have had on their life.
00:23Each guest will reflect on the films which have meant the most to them over the years.
00:27And every week there will be a Kent Film Trivia, where we quiz you at home about a
00:31film that has a connection to the county.
00:34And now, let me introduce you to my guest for this week. Not only will you recognise
00:38him as a video journalist here on KMTV, but he's also a striker for Hempstead Valley in
00:43the Medway area Sunday Football League. He is Finn McDermid. Great to have you on the
00:50programme Finn.
00:51Great to be here and I love the outfits we've chosen.
00:52We have chosen, well I was on KMTV with you before in pirate costume, so we had to do
00:58this. Now, I saw this at the cinema when it came out in 2017. Baby Driver.
01:02Yes, I absolutely love this film. I have, I think during lockdown it was my 17th or
01:0818th birthday and my mum unveiled a cinematic release poster of this film and I was absolutely
01:13thrilled. I love everything about this film. I don't really know where to start.
01:17Well, no, let me think this through because this has come up, certainly Edgar Wright has
01:22come up before, including Ollie from our own team here. He's chosen a film from the
01:26same director. But it's this really sort of very visceral film. Tell me about it because
01:32it's sort of mob based but you've got Baby Driver is this sort of person finding his
01:36way through this world and owning it.
01:40Yes, so the film is all about this central character of Baby and it's only until, not
01:44until the end of the film we learn his real name which I'll keep under my hat for now.
01:49It's all about him and we get only a very brief glimpse into who he is with a very well
01:53done kind of crash sequence where you see him as a kid listening to an iPod and then
01:59we introduce him as a sort of young man and he's got these scars all over his face and
02:02a ringing in his ears and he's constantly listening to music. And throughout the film
02:06you kind of learn about him, who he is. He's got tinnitus and he listens to music as a
02:10way to cope and he lost his parents at a very young age. Tried to steal a car from a mobster
02:17played by Kevin Spacey. Does so successfully and Kevin Spacey kind of brings him under
02:22his wing and sort of makes him the ultimate getaway driver. And the entire film, or I'm
02:27not sure of the entire film, but it was inspired by a song. I think it's Mint Royale. I can't
02:31remember who by but it's essentially, the music video is Noel Fielding who you would
02:36know from Bake Off sort of tapping. He's the getaway driver for a bank heist or something
02:41and he's just kind of listening to this song just tapping his way and putting up the windshield
02:44wipers and that's the intro to the film. We just see this guy in a car and all this
02:49kind of chaos is happening in the background to the tune of some very nice pop hits which
02:53is a lot of the film. It's kind of horrible bank scenes of people with guns and all this.
02:58All to some queen or something so it's very interesting the way it's done.
03:03And I'm just thinking as well because Scorsese in the 70s was like Mean Streets and Tarantino
03:07in the 90s with Pulp Fiction did something very similar where the music wasn't just going
03:11on in the background, it was instrumental to what's happening in the film itself.
03:14Yes, so I actually did media studies at A level and we actually studied this film to
03:19get the idea, are you familiar with diegetic and non-diegetic sound? So what that means
03:23is diegetic, this could be this way or the other, but diegetic sound I believe is sound
03:29that the characters in the film can hear and then non-diegetic sounds only the audience
03:34can hear so the backing track. A baby can hear all of the songs because they're all
03:40playing in his ears but some of the other characters can't and it creates this interesting
03:43dynamic where we're closer to Baby than we are to the rest of the cast and it's really
03:47interestingly done and only at certain points do these other characters who you can see
03:50here, some of these antagonists come into Baby's world and they listen and they react
03:54to it and it just creates a very interesting way and you mentioned Edgar Wright there.
03:59Edgar Wright I feel is known for his editing and he's known for the way he puts these
04:02films together and in most of them that's done for comedic effect or that's done to
04:06just show the passage of time and things like that like in obviously the Cornetto
04:09Trilogy, Scott Pilgrim vs The World. Here that editing is used so cleanly, it's so perfect
04:15from every beat there is something that happens with Baby. He can be slamming car doors, there's
04:20an extended chase sequence at one point through the film where he kind of has to abandon his
04:23car and starts running through the shopping mall and every pause in the song is a moment
04:28where he takes and catches his breath and it makes you feel like you're running with
04:30him and it's just really well done.
04:32Because you know sometimes when you're on say public transport and someone's got their
04:35earpiece in you don't always know what they're listening to or sometimes of course you do
04:38but they're in their own little space but this film in a way is a perfect exemplification
04:42of that sort of notion that we do it all the time and I can imagine, I've had conversations
04:47with people about how this film can work in the context of autism for example and it's
04:51sort of working that somebody has their own way into the world, they're listening to this
04:55track and then effectively they can own what's going on around them and I think that the
05:00way that music is that portal into a sense of identity, a sense of purpose but imagine
05:05now what would happen if Baby Driver didn't have the music as an ability, as a means then
05:09for him to be able to carry out his day to day activities.
05:14I think it would take away from the film entirely.
05:15It's like you're taking away almost a leg of the film.
05:20Without the music all you would see is this kind of stoic character sort of just sitting
05:23there and other people telling you what he is and how he operates because the whole point
05:28of the film is he's a complete fish out of water and no one knows it because he's in
05:32a world with gangsters and he's this kind of skinny kid just there for the money to
05:37I think it's his adoptive father he's trying to raise money for who's deaf and it's just
05:43this kind of stoic kid so without the music we really don't have any way into his head
05:46or to his heart and then when the romantic subplot comes in with Deborah then he kind
05:50of opens up and it's that slow change from he's nothing without the music and then it
05:55kind of changes and it becomes he kind of separates himself from that life and it's
06:00just I can't explain to you how much the music matters in this film.
06:04Yeah and okay well it's time now to move on to your second chosen film and you've gone
06:09Finn for A Silent Voice.
06:12Yes so I don't know if you do you know.
06:15This is one I don't know.
06:16Yes so I'm glad to show you so the basic premise of this film and it's been a while since I've
06:21seen this because it makes me cry every time I don't know the character's name so I will
06:25be referring to him as the tall one for instance or the main character so forgive me there.
06:30The film is essentially follows this young man here he and this young woman he they know
06:36each other through school I think it's elementary school and as a kid he has about everything
06:41a kid could want he's got friends he's got fun he doesn't pay attention much during school
06:44and this new girl comes in and she's deaf and this is a very small school the whole
06:49film is set in Japan it's a very small school in rural Japan and he kind of he kind of starts
06:54to bully her and it's it's the first 20 minutes of this film are very hard watch because you're
06:57seeing this young this kid who doesn't know any better he's being egged on by everyone
07:01in this school and he's really it's just kind of hard to see because she's struggling and
07:04it's all very the editing is done in a way where it's like it kind of glosses over everything
07:09it's like oh it's not so bad they're just kids oh it's just this is just what happens
07:12at school and then there's this crucial point in the film where he's bullying her and he
07:16takes her hearing aids out and she kind of hunches and starts bleeding out of her ears
07:21and it's really really a tough scene because this is the point where it's like the bullying
07:25has gone too far you've hurt her hearing potentially and then from this point he becomes a complete
07:30different character he's ousted by all of his friends and he becomes this sort of what
07:34was once the popular happy-go-lucky kid just becomes this complete loner and the rest of
07:38the film is him trying to redeem himself not only in the eyes of others but to himself
07:43it sounds that there are some significant parallels with the first film in terms of
07:47overcoming some kind of disability or adversity yes certainly the whole film as I say it is
07:54him really trying to redeem himself and for anyone who does want to watch this film there
07:59are topics of self-harm and suicide and there's a point within the film where he does attempt
08:04to attempt to take his own life and he recovers from that and I think his mother kind of helps
08:08him through that and it's really it's really a beautiful film and the way they visualize
08:11it is that he can't look anyone in the eye for most of the film and there's these giant
08:16ugly kind of crosses all over the faces of the people he's talking to and he's interacting
08:20with and one by one they kind of peel off like paper and he's able to talk to people
08:23again and he reunites with this deaf girl he knew and we discover he's learned sign
08:28language and he's beginning to kind of repair those bonds and who would you say this film
08:32is made for the demographic because in terms of the content it obviously sounds I mean
08:37not having seen it I would say that that probably is aimed at an older audience or is it is
08:42this something that actually can make something really difficult and traumatic accessible
08:46for younger audiences?
08:48I think it is certainly accessible for younger audiences like I say there are moments of
08:52mature themes but the way it's presented is this kind of bright brightly colored anime
08:58film it's certainly I would say visually at least it's appealing to children I wouldn't
09:02say it's marketed towards children at all though because the film in the film not a
09:06lot actually happens aside from very few key moments a lot of it is talking and relationships
09:11and discussion so I wouldn't say it's a child I'd say it's sort of a young adult film but
09:17it certainly gets mistaken that way because of the way it's presented.
09:20How did you see it and when did you see it?
09:22It was during Covid I think it was lockdown I've always been a fan of anime and manga
09:27and I've always been it sort of stemmed from my love of superheroes when I was a kid I
09:31loved superhero films but I sort of very quickly got bored of Marvel even though X-Men holds
09:35a special place in my heart so I started looking for like Japanese shows because they just
09:39went weird with it with all the superpowers and then I was like oh well I've watched all
09:42of these Japanese shows I'll watch this one maybe it'll be a light-hearted you know high
09:46school romance and then I was absolutely bawling by the end.
09:50And have you ever watched this with anybody else because when you're we've had a guest
09:54on the show before talking about anime but is this the sort of thing that you think has
09:57a good sort of crossover is this something that you've recommended to other people?
10:01Not really not outside of your tradition if I know someone likes anime I might watch it
10:04but I feel for someone who doesn't this isn't the first step I would say to an anime film
10:11but it is so well done and I think it's criminal that it hasn't won any kind of awards because
10:15it's so so moving and by the end the way all of the characters have developed and changed
10:20is just beautiful and it just it's just makes me cry every time.
10:24And how when you first saw this how many years old was the film?
10:29Oh it would have well it came out I believe 2016 I want to say it would have been a couple
10:36of years maybe two or three years because or four because I saw it during Covid four
10:40or five years I'd say.
10:42And is this the sort of thing that you can return to because when you got a film dealing
10:46with difficult issues like this and because you didn't know first time you saw it what
10:50was coming were you able to go back to it and re-experience it?
10:54I think so because like I say the film is punctuated by these large moments in the in
10:59I don't want to spoil the film I'm not going to spoil the ending but the ending is very
11:02good and very climactic and it's another one of these big moments in the film a lot of
11:06the film is very quiet there's large parts without dialogue where we just kind of see
11:10him going through his normal life but now things have changed and he's now this quite
11:14reserved character and there's a lot of times where just not a lot is happening but the
11:18storytelling is kind of moving along at its own pace so I think it definitely has that
11:21re-watchability because there's so while there's so many big moments that I feel do a lot of
11:26hits on YouTube like with Baby Driver with that car that scene where he's tapping along
11:30the car there's these quiet moments that I think you can really enjoy.
11:32Okay well that's about all the time we have for this first half of the show however before
11:36we go to the break we have a Kent film trivia question for you at home.
11:41Which Rowan Atkinson film featured Dover within it?
11:44Was it A. Johnny English B. Bean or was it C. Man vs. B?
11:51We'll reveal the answer right after this break don't go away.
11:56Hello and welcome back to Kent Film Club.
12:09Just before that ad break we asked you at home a Kent film trivia question.
12:13Which Rowan Atkinson film featured Dover within it?
12:17Was it A. Johnny English B. Bean or was it C. Man vs. B?
12:23Now I can reveal to you that the answer was in fact A. Johnny English.
12:28Kent's brief cameo contained a car driving down Marine Parade past the sign for the port
12:33of Dover.
12:34Did you get the answer right?
12:37Well it is time now Finn to move on to your next chosen film and you have gone for Coach
12:42Carter.
12:43Yes I've realised actually we're going back with all my films we've we started out in
12:482016 ish and now we're back this came out the year I was born 2003 so I hadn't I didn't
12:53see this one in theatres I sort of saw it again on Netflix.
12:57It's really an interesting film because it's not Samuel L. Jackson's typical performance.
13:03The premise of the film is that there's a very struggling basketball team I don't exactly
13:07remember where somewhere in America called the Oilers and they're pretty rubbish and
13:11they've got this kind of hapless coach doesn't really know what he's doing and he's given
13:14up and he's just said right I'm quitting and the rest of the team are full of delinquents
13:19people don't really care but they love basketball and Samuel L. Jackson gets scouted I think
13:23at the beginning of the film he owns a sports goods store and he comes in and the whole
13:27film is him kind of laying down the law on these teams very much it's a very interesting
13:31film because there's not apart from Samuel L. Jackson there's not really one central
13:35character it's just this group of young men and I think this is also interesting because
13:40it's Channing Tatum's sort of first big role in a film and the whole film is him kind of
13:46instructing these young men in an unconventional way but it's with class I had to put a sports
13:51film in here I love sports and it was between this and Moneyball but I feel this is far
13:55more human and Moneyball's far more well it's got its human moments but it's a bit more
13:58data driven.
13:59And as you were talking about that there were a lot of films over the last 20-30 years dealing
14:03with it might be a teacher like Mr. Holland's Opus who was inspiring a group of it may be
14:09sort of misfits or people who don't want to learn and then of course he changes their
14:13life and then you know maybe decades later the impact the influence is to be felt.
14:19So Coach Carter seems to be very much in that sort of long line of the hero who perhaps
14:25doesn't want to be there is that right?
14:29He wants to be there I think he wants to help these young men but it's certainly hard and
14:33he's not very forgiving throughout the film there's a kind of central plot line is one
14:36of the characters is somewhat involved in gang activity through his cousin and Samuel
14:40L. Jackson kind of is very harsh with them and gives them all this at the beginning of
14:43the film he hands out paper contracts to them that say you have to sit in the front of all
14:47your classes you have to wear a suit and tie on game days very specific things and
14:51there's one character this one involved in the gang who sort of says I'm not doing this
14:55throws it and leaves and then starts to go down a dark path and he kind of at one point
14:58the film comes back to Coach Carter and says please let me back on the team and Coach Carter
15:02is like no you made your choice and then the rest of the team are like kind of persuading
15:05him and it's a very interesting sequence where he then kind of has to almost beg to be let
15:10back on the team and there's a point where I think Coach Carter says fine if you do a
15:14ridiculous amount of exercises within a certain time I'll think about it and he fails and
15:20the rest of the team at this moment will say we'll join you we'll cover the rest of them
15:24because we want him back and it's really just a beautiful film.
15:27And in a way this is the sort of film that if I'd seen the premise I'd think oh I'm not
15:31really into sport it's not really for me but clearly it's not about that it's about endurance
15:35to human spirit it's about surviving or overcoming obstacles in your way.
15:41It's that classic like you were saying that you can put it's the spine of dead poet society
15:46with any other kind of veneer or orange colour that most of the film has from the gymnasiums
15:51to the exam halls and that kind of thing and it's really interesting because there's so
15:54many points throughout the film where you're thinking why don't you just give up like there's
15:58not a lot of hope here they're a pretty average team and there's just not there's not a lot
16:02for them I think a lot of the film is the it's not all contained within the gym you
16:07see a lot of their personal lives a lot of them don't have these very good lives it's
16:10a very poor area so it's almost like another film I considered putting here was The Blind
16:14Side it's that same vein of down on their luck and they need a mentor to come in and
16:20really lift them up.
16:21And do you find that you wish that you'd had or maybe you did have a coach like that a
16:27teacher like that who can inspire?
16:30In my personal life I wasn't much of a sporty kid I did I think I loved athletics I've always
16:37liked running so I did athletics for like five years and I didn't I loved my coach then
16:43she was very nice she I remember because I was so small at the time I've had I had a
16:48bit of a growth spurt after I quit which was quite bad timing she always used to say to
16:51me well you're slow now but I've seen your dad you'll grow and being a fool I didn't
16:55listen to her and ended up leaving but I don't know I suppose I have a you mentioned earlier
17:01in the program I play Sunday League football and I have a manager there called Steve who
17:06I really like and Steve Steve didn't know I didn't play much football before I joined
17:09his team he didn't really realize but he's given me a chance now where now I now I play
17:14consistently and I'm getting better so I suppose I kind of I do have my coach Carter in a way
17:18to be quite soppy.
17:19So was that the way in for you so you sort of looked at and thought yeah that was that
17:23was me or could have been me not not not as him but as one of as one of the the pupils?
17:28Maybe I joined I joined the football team with a bunch of friends who were much better
17:32at football than I was back in my third year of uni and then now that they've all moved
17:36on and graduated I stuck with it and it very much felt that way that we it was just fun
17:40because I was had my friends with me and that that is echoed throughout the film where there's
17:43characters maybe who aren't going to go on to be professional basketball players but
17:46the time spent with coach Carter means more to them than just that just the the confines
17:52of the court.
17:53Well it is time now to move on to your final chosen film and you've gone for well a Thanksgiving
17:58favourite Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
18:02Yes so it's not a Christmas film but I think it has the spirit doesn't it it's certainly
18:06most of the way there now this is like I said we're going back in time like this is the
18:11oldest film.
18:1287.
18:1387 yes and I absolutely love it it's just brilliant and but I'd absolutely love this
18:19film I didn't see the twist coming I think it's one of my dad's favourite films and he
18:23kind of sat me down and we watched it together which my dad's really into film as well so
18:27that's kind of where my love of film comes from as well and we sat down and watched it
18:31and I was just laughing the whole time and it's such a heartwarming that's why I think
18:35it should it deserves to be on that Christmas lineup because it's such a heart warmer.
18:39Because it's that whole thing about the two the misfits isn't it two people who shouldn't
18:43be together but are together and discover they have far more in common by the end of
18:47it than they did at the beginning.
18:49Absolutely I mean we're introduced to John Candy's character as the complete opposite
18:53of the person you'd want to be sat next to on a train a plane or an automobile he's loud
18:57he's annoying he's odd he comes he just comes out with things like that he's a shower curtain
19:01ring salesman complete opposite antithesis to Steve Martin's character who is the completely
19:09straight-laced do my office work get a cab go home see my family he kind of comes out
19:13of his shell throughout the whole film whether that's through anger or through quiet like
19:17oh I guess you're all right John Candy throughout the whole film and it's John Candy delivers
19:20such a hilarious performance here there's no point at the film that he is not moving
19:25talking or doing something that could slightly aggravate you right until the very end where
19:30he kind of reveals the truth and there's something about Steve Martin as well because he can
19:35do funny without being overtly should we say Zane he doesn't need you to do what Jim Carrey
19:40does for example and he's all the more funny because he can just do it almost by just doing
19:44it in a very straight kind of fashion so it's a little while since I saw this film obviously
19:50I'm familiar with it but is there a sense there that the Steve Martin character kind
19:56of do we expect him to Thor during this absolutely the whole film is yeah holding up a hairdryer
20:02to a block of ice really and it's brilliant the way that he uses his physical comedy in
20:08that way so John Candy like I said he's bouncing around the place all the time whether there's
20:12a scene when they're in the bed together he's shuffling he's trying to get comfy pushing
20:15Steve Martin to the edge of the bed and it is the physical comedy because he's probably
20:19pulling that face for most of the film I'd have to say but yeah it's the classic straight
20:24man Zaney duo where his reactions are so perfect to everything like the moment where their
20:30car explodes in a ball of flames and he's just abs like any person would be catatonically
20:37angry but also incensed at the ridiculousness of the situation and it's just perfectly done
20:42but what did you take from this well I'd say recently I saw I keep seeing posts on social
20:48media about the idea of letting yourself be open to new experiences and obviously that's
20:53not that's not a new idea but it's becoming more and more popular that we shouldn't be
20:56cynics to life we should lay down in the grass we should run home for no reason other than
21:02to feel the wind in your hair and throughout the whole film that's what it says it says
21:05well you could look at this and this could be a horrible situation if you're going through
21:09it like Steve Martin's character does or you can be a joyous thing it can be hilarious
21:13and fun to watch like it is for the audience and it's just about turning every silver cloud
21:19so I've butchered that turning every cloud into having a silver lining really I think
21:22is the message of the film and obviously making friends along the way and knowing how to keep
21:27them which he does in the end there's a life lesson there isn't it we're all trapped in
21:30our comfort zones we all sometimes think yes you know this is the way to do things and
21:34then something happens you know from memory they're both trying to get home for Thanksgiving
21:39but they end up why do they have to travel together how do they end up meeting so they
21:44I believe were on the same plane which then I think because the weather was so bad and
21:52so snowy from New York and that's where Steve Martin originally meets John Kelly because
21:56he's they're sitting together in the terminal and Steve Martin's doing the classic thing
21:59you do where you're like oh yeah lovely to meet you goes back to reading his newspaper
22:04but then he kind of is stuck with him because then they I think they have a replacement
22:07train train goes about halfway breaks down middle of nowhere there's a classic scene
22:11where now I think he's got a rental car that he's going to be able to get and it's a classic
22:16scene we're like oh we're out of cars and he kind of just almost in a Jim Carrey style
22:20lets that veneer of calm I'm in control just completely slip and he goes mad and then again
22:26he's stuck with John Candy and I'll explain the ending since it's a very old film they
22:31have now I believe gotten to the place they need to get to they now get along they've
22:36spent 48 hours or 24 hours or however long together and John Candy is left at the train
22:43station and he's just throughout the whole film John Candy's been referencing his wife
22:46and his children he's saying there's a classic scene where he goes I like me my wife loves
22:50me and he's just doing that kind of thing as because Steve Martin lost the plot basically
22:55and started insulting him he says I deserve to be liked I am liked you're the cynic I'm
23:00not the weird one you're the weird one and then there's this scene where he's kind of
23:04left he said oh this is my stop and John Candy gets on just sits and Steve Martin's
23:08okay well that was lovely that was a nice experience and he kind of looks off into the
23:11middle distance and you can see the gears turn and goes takes the train back around
23:14and see he's still sat there and then he says you don't have a home do you you know you
23:17don't have a wife he says no I'm all alone and then he invites him in and the last scene
23:21is him coming in having Thanksgiving dinner with Steve Martin's character's family so
23:24it's really really beautifully done Wow well I'm afraid that's all the time we have for
23:28today but before we go if you live in Kent and want the chance to share four films of
23:32your choice reach out to us at KMTV and you might be invited in to be my next guest but
23:38for now many thanks to Finn McDermid for joining us and being such a brilliant guest and many
23:43thanks to you all for tuning in until next time that's all from us goodbye