April 9, 2025 • 47 mins
LOOK OUT! It’s only Films To Be Buried With!
Join your host Brett Goldstein as he talks life, death, love and the universe with the award winning screenwriter, playwright and author PETER STRAUGHAN!
Fresh off Peter's Oscar win (and multi nominations) for Conclave, here's a rare chance to catch him in non-promo mode and in post-win glow mode. It's a really great one, a free and easy, breezy and fun catch up with these two, as you get to hear about all sorts of cinematic rocket fuel for Peter as well as a ton of awesome behind the scenes goodies. Expect gems involving his gravitation towards certain stories and themes, awards season chaos, to be on set or not to be, how the subconscious escapes through writing, wallpaper secrets and muddy elves. And of course so much more. Upper tier Patreon members get a chance to stare at this particular G.O.A.T. too in the video version so consider that option if it takes your fancy. I just wanted to crowbar that pun in. That's on me. Enjoy!
Video and extra audio available on Brett's Patreon!
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SUPERBOB (Brett's 2015 feature film)
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Look, it's only films to be buried with.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Hello, and welcome to films to be buried with. My
name is Brett Goldstein. I'm a comedian, an actor, a writer, director,
a bowling pin, and I love films. As Rokwon once said,
silence is its own kind of conversation, which is why
I still think A Quiet Place should have ended with
someone whispering fucking hell.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
That was stressful.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Every week I'm invite a special guest over. I tell
them they've died, and I get them to discuss their
life through the films. The men the most of them.
Previous guests include Barry Jenkins, Kevin Smith, Sharon Stone, and
even Bled Blambles. But this week we have the Oscar
winning playwright, screenwriter and author mister Peter Strawn. Head over
to the Patreon at patroon dot com forwards slash pret Goldsting,
where you get extra twenty minutes of chat with Peter.
(00:53):
We talk secrets, beginnings and endings, and you get the
whole episode uncut Adfrey, and there's a video. Check it
out over at patreon dot com. Forward last break. So
Peter Strawn, just one an Oscar for God's sakes, you
might know him from writing Tinker Taylor, soldiers By or
The Men Who Steric Goats or Frank or How to
Lose Friends and Alienate People, or even the Oscar winning Conclave.
(01:15):
I met Peter once before and then we recorded this
on Zoom. We had a very lovely time, and I
really think you're going to love this one. So that
is it for now. I very much hope you enjoy
episode three hundred and forty six of Films to be
Buried With. Hello, and welcome to Films to be Buried With.
(01:42):
It is I Berett Goldstein, and I am joined today
by a writer, a screen writer, a director, a Missus Raccless, revolutioner,
a man who loses friends and alienates people, a man
who stares at ghats. He's a tinker, he's a tailor.
He's a soldier, he's a spy, he's a snowman. He's
(02:04):
a goldfish. And he is now an Academy Award winning
screenwriter of Conclave, and he also has a brand in crisis.
He's here. I can't believe he's here, fresh from his oscar.
Will you please welcome to the show. It's the amazing writer.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
It's Peter Stroan, thank you.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Broh Hi, Peter, how are you very well?
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Thank you? How are you? I'm good, thank you.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
We met once before because there was a live reading
of your film Conclave, as part of the campaign to
win the Oscars. I performed in that live reading, and
then you won an Oscar. Coincidence, I don't think so.
I thought it was brilliant and I love that film,
and you are the first guest that I've had on
(02:55):
the show this soon after winning an Oscar, and I'm
very happy for you. It is very well deserved. But
the kind of record I thought you were excellent. Your
speech was excellent and very you know, subtle and funny
and sweet. And I wondered, as someone who is not
a performer, is there a part of you that dreads
a fuck I've got to go up on that stage?
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Or were you very excited about How did all that
actually feel? I was sick to my stomach, right, I
was absolutely sick to my stomach. There was a point
about two awards before mine where they helpfully announced and
now we're being watched by a billion people around the world,
and I just think, Oh, if you're an inter of
it and you're simply going to have to get in
a station of a billion people and a kind of
white noise sort of buzzed in my ears, and then
(03:39):
I was kind of on autopilot, you know, don't really
remember saying anything.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
You looked very confident. That was just shock right, yeah, Dane,
it was lovely. I was looking at your CV and
it's a very very impressive CV, and it surprises me
that it's always adaptations, right, You've always adapted other things.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Is that true. There's a couple of originals, but it's
mostly adaptations. And what is it?
Speaker 2 (04:05):
I mean, you're the best in the biz at it,
and I'd love to know. Is it different with every project?
Do you have a sort of system of working into
something and also what makes you choose that as the
thing you want to do?
Speaker 1 (04:18):
So there isn't really a system. It's quite instinctive. I'll
get some something, I read it, and you know, you'll
either kind of connect with it on an emotional level
or you want and sometimes well this is interesting. So
I always sort of feel like I don't necessarily know why.
I mean, sometimes it just seems obvious to me that
this is great. Sometimes it is just obvious it's great,
you know, it's obvious with Tinker Tallers or just By
(04:38):
that's just great book world fall, great book conclave, you know.
But I think it's not just that they have to
be good. It's that you have to find some sort
of connection, like emotional connection with them. And what I've discovered,
weirdly is I'm always really telling the same sort of story,
even when it's with someone else's story, and it's other
thing that I'm connecting with is a story that's about
(04:58):
betrayal and loyalty. And it took me ages to realize
that was what was going on. And I don't know
why that's the story that I'm drawn to again again.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
I really want to work this out in the next hour.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Yeah, so that's not well. The funny thing is I've
been discovered that about myself. It makes no difference. It
doesn't help me do them. It doesn't stop me from
connecting with those stories, you know what I mean, It's
going to happen anyway. But I sort of looked back
over them and thought, oh, yeah. The Meny Stereo Goads,
you know, which was a book by John Ronson about
(05:30):
some wacky sort of experiments carried out in the US
Army into the paranormal. But the sort of story we
ended up focusing on was one of those who were
loyal to this ideal of the sixties that had originally,
you know, been the heart of it, and those who
betrayed that ideal. And then obviously Tinker Taylor a spy
is really about a traitor and those who are loyal
to a cause. And then in wolf Hall, you know,
(05:52):
we sort of focused very much on the story of
him getting revenge on those who betrayed the Master that
he was loyal to. And even yeah, you know that
it's about those who are loyal to the pope who's
died and those who are kind of betraying that legacy.
So it's weird, isn't it. And I don't know why.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Well, those that now you're saying that, I'm like all
of your lead characters, not or maybe not all of them,
but certainly in Tinker Taylor and in Conclave, probably in Wilfall,
they're these kind of quiet, decent men who who have
believed in a system that they are trying to uphold
it with integrity whilst the world is infecting the system
(06:31):
around them.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Yeah, that's exactly right. Yes, exactly. I thought that Cordin, Lawrence,
and Smiley have got a lot in common. I think
Cromwell and Wolfall is slightly different because he's he goes
on a longer journey and I think he changes in
the course of the journey, but he would recognize and
respect the loyalty of people like Lawrence or Smiling you know.
So it's it's interesting and I don't know why. I
don't know. I mean, I was broad up Catholic, and
(06:54):
I don't know if the Judas thing, I don't know,
if that's in the mix somewhere, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
But is that how you feel about the world? Is
that how you feel as a human like you want
you're a man of decency surrounded by indecency?
Speaker 1 (07:08):
I don't know. I probably fear that I'd be one
of the Judases that would be to everyone, But I
definitely respond to kind of the quiet heroism as those
people who you know remain loyal no matter what. Yeah, fascinating,
you don't feel I've just wondered if I wondered how
common it was for that to be a kind of
core story that writers are telling different ships. Do you
(07:29):
feel that about your writing?
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (07:30):
I do.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
And also it's funny you tell me, I guess I'm curious,
but maybe you've already answered it because you do adaptations
rather than originals. But the other thing I find a
I do thematically. I'm think talking about a similar thing.
But it's also my point is sometimes it takes a while.
You can be halfway through making a thing, you could
(07:52):
even finish the thing where you go, Oh, that part
of it was me and I didn't even know it
whilst I was doing it, you know what I mean.
I was like, yeah, that was about this piece of
myself that I wasn't aware I was articulating.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Do you have that well? I mean I think in
a way this sort of story was definitely that that
it took me so long, because once I started looking back,
I thought it was kind of obvious that that was
a story that was drawn me again again, but I
didn't realize for a long long time. I mean I
think I was like, was like woll forward before suddenly,
So I find that kind of interesting how little we
know ourselves sometimes. Yeah, and what what's coming out is
(08:27):
coming out from a subconscious place, not always from the
conscious mind. Yeah, there's a little bit of yourself fractured
and sort of putting all of these other characters when
you're writing. Interesting. I like that. It's funny because you
sort of feel like one of the things that's nice
about writing is you get to become other people for
a little while when you're writing them. But I wouldn't
if actually it's closer to what you just said, which
is you kind of you get to put themselves to
(08:49):
other people here, like whole crocks from a reportter. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
So knowing that now having that away, is there any
part of you that like as a challenge or something
sort of what's to go or right, I'm going to
write something that is not about loyalty.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
And it's interesting. I don't think any of us really
unconscious control, you know. Yeah, it's like I can't make
myself write you know, a really good commercial blockbuster. If
I could, I would, you know, But the writing doesn't
respond to that sort of command, does it. You know,
there's only a certain areas it's going to work in,
and you know, you look, if you've got an area
(09:26):
it's going to work in, to be honest, most of
the time, so don't mess with it.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
That's true. Having done all the Awards season that you
just did. It's such a sort of mad world. How
did you find that whole? Because it's long as well?
Isn't it quite long?
Speaker 1 (09:40):
Yeah? I mean I guess it was. It was from
January on for me because I had to get a
easy to get in the States, so I wasn't doing
stuff in the old to my the winter. Some chances,
when I look back, I think it was only like
six eight weeks, you know, it felt like a lot longer. Yeah,
I felt like foret like years of my life. But
what was nice about it? I mean, there's lots of
(10:01):
things that are stressful and sort of frightening about it,
especially if you know, if you're a bit of an intervit.
What was nice about it was I was with a
lot of the Conclave team and they were all great,
and it sort of felt a bit like a little
you know, doing it with family. So that was really
that made it much more enjoyable. I take you to
be doing it, which I guess must happen quite often
if you're doing it on your own, or even if
you're doing it with you know, people from a project
(10:24):
that actually you don't like.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Can you tell me, because I know it's different in film.
Are you on set in Conclave? Were you there when
they were making it? How much you I was?
Speaker 1 (10:32):
I was, And I'm not normally, to be honest, normally
in the past, I've sort of just you know, you
go on for a day and say hello, like a
tourist and there's nothing really free to do. For some reason,
Edward invited me and so I did go on set,
and he kind of liked having me there and it
was kind of useful. I mean for me personally, I
really loved it. I really loved it. I've never been
on set for the whole shoot before, and you kind
(10:53):
of It's the first time I've properly felt like I
was part of the crew, you know, and it was
like when the way and enjoying the circus. Really loved
it and we were shicking, so it felt, you know,
in the cheat and stuff, so it felt very glamorous.
Because I was there. I think we could make little changes.
It'll sort of bespoke changes to scenes. You know, we'd
rehearse and run through and you know, the way actors
are really good. It just kind of instinctively feelings the
(11:14):
rhythm of the line is wrong or yeah, you could
just see when there were slightly you know, catching on
the line, so we just do some little nips and
took so we'd realized we could come into the scene
later or out earlier. So that was great. I mean,
it's great for me. I loved that.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Yeah, I wonder with the film that that you have
a book, you have the script, Like, I'm curious, it
feels so tightly made and plotted, and you know, all
the pieces fit very nicely, and I'm seeing the finished product.
I'm wondering, is the finished product close to the shooting
script that you started with or how much did it
change in the edit and all of that, Like how
(11:47):
far away from what you had done day one?
Speaker 1 (11:49):
I mean, you know, the whole thing. Obviously we inherited
from the book from Robert Harris, which was really well
put together and well built, you know, and we didn't
mess that much with that really, so I would say,
you know, like I don't know, seventy percent, it always
stayed the same. And then we played with some things
at the beginning, and we played with some things at
the end. We added a couple of scenes, and then
in the shoot we made some again smaller and smaller changes.
(12:13):
You know, it did feel like I don't know why
I'm saying this because I know nothing about Taylory, but
how I would imagine it's like building a suit bay.
You know, you kind of just you know that the
measurements are getting more more precise.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
Do you to talk to Robert Harris? That was you
and him part of the order to adapting adapting?
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Yeah? Yeah, I mean yeah, early on especially, I went
you know, to his house and we had lunch and
talk stuff through. And then you know, when I and
as I was working on if I had questions, I
would chat with him about it, or when we were
going to make some changes, run them past him. He
was great. I've really noticed that the really good experienced
writers like him, or the Carrey or Hillary Mantel, you
(12:53):
know he did, will fall. They're like the most relaxed
and the most kind of open about the stuff you
want to do. You know, I think often just because stick,
but it's possibly just because why do they need to worry?
Because the book's already great and no one's messing with
the book. And often they've been through the adaptation process
a lot, you know, so they kind of they know
that a slavish copy isn't necessarily going to be the
(13:14):
best film. So so he was one of those. He
was great. He was really open, generous.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
That's cool. And what's next? What are you doing next?
What are you doing next?
Speaker 1 (13:22):
To you? Man? The next thing shooting is a series
called Berlin Noir, which is a sort of detective thing
set in Berlin in nineteen twenty eight. Original or adapted
no adapted from books Yeah, about loyalty and betrayal, of
course it is. Yeah, it's a series of books by
to see the books by Philip Kerr. Are you so
running it? I am sure running it? Yeah? Oh wow, Okay, Yeah,
(13:45):
I'm not entirely sure what that means, which is probably
not a good sign in the showrunner. That means you
actually fucking everything. That's that's what I figured it. Yeah,
it reals actually fucking everything. Yeah, you're going to fuck
up everything, that's what I forget. It meant. I can
I give your calls I've been and then say I
(14:06):
don't know what I'm doing? What do I do? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (14:07):
No, man, I'll hand you over to someone more experience.
But yes, just sort of assume it's everything and you'll
be fine.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Okay, No, that's reassuring. Just do everything.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
It's just everything and then and never sleep and you'll
be fine. Oh there is one thing I forgot to
tell you though. Maybe I should have told you when
we did that reading, but I don't know if it happened. Well,
you've died, you're dead.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Yeah, that was during the reading, I think, Yeah, yeah,
I felt that happening. You were very good anyway. Yeah,
I'm sorry. How did you die? So? Have you seen
Death and Venice? Yes? I died. I died like bog
at the end of Death and Venice because I live
(14:56):
in I don't really know why I live in Brighton,
and I've often thought I'll die in a death chair
on the beach with this kind of sun in my eyes,
people all around me, and no one will notice for
quite a while that I've actually died. How long do
you think it will take them? A couple of weeks,
a few weeks, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't move
much anyway, so it would be a while. Are you
alone on this day here? Yeah? I am here, possibly
(15:19):
wearing the running mascara of Bogarde as well.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
How are you when you die? I'm going to go
eighties eighty seven. Okay, I'll go seven if I've got
the option.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
No, it's six. Yeah. Do you worry about death? I
think about death. So I've gone from being someone who
glibally did not think about death at all. And then
sort of in the last you know, fifteen years or so,
I've lost a lot of people. So I feel quite
well acquainted with death. Now. I don't think it makes
(15:53):
me fear my own death, but it's definitely there is
a presence in life for me.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
And I had to ask this, and I hope it's
like going to ask this in it having been acquainted,
As you say, does it change the way you feel
in your life? Do you feel a connection to it,
as in, do you think there's anything after death? Do
you feel anything that's that way?
Speaker 1 (16:16):
I don't. I don't know. I kind of wish I did.
I tell what I have got, which is strange because
it's comforting even though it's not a belief in the afterlife.
But so, you know, my wife died, I sorry, thank you.
And then and then sort of, you know, in the
last sort of ten years, my parents had died, and
in those lots, lot of in those died and stuff,
so there was just there was a lot of death.
(16:37):
And I remember when my mother died, I went for
a walk along the beach. I live in Brighton, and
I walked on the beach and the sun was was
indeed does in my eyes, and there were sort of
people in the water and on the beach, and I
don't know why, but it sort of felt like a
little image of an afterlife. You would go on to
the beach and your people would be there waiting for you.
(16:57):
And I still find that idea, almost like a Native American,
I will go to be with my people. I find
that kind of strangely comforting. I'm not strangely comforting. I
guess it just is comforting. And I suppose that must
come a point, you know, if you live long enough,
whether there or more people on on that side of
the line, as a word, and than on your side
of the line. And I wonder, then if you know,
death doesn't hold the fear, because there was a sense,
(17:18):
even if only metaphorically, that I'm going to go and
be with you know, my people.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
There's so many stories of people on the old older
people when they're dying in their last moments, saying, oh
there's there's thingy. There's thingy in the room with them. Yeah, well,
so listen, you're right, that is what happens. You die
and you guys heaven and it's the seaside and and
all your people there and it's fucking lovely and you
(17:43):
get to go and to see and you've got misca
or not miscars up.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
To you and.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
Yeah, everyone's very excited to see you, and they want
to talk about your life but through film, and there's
an oscar in it.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
They think, they think you'll probably have a lot to
say so and I'm still I've got the oscar. I
haven't know in heaven I can probably I can probably
hold it.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
You're not going anywhere about that, don't you. I'm assuming
it's in your other hand right now.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
So the first thing they ask is what is the
first film you remember seeing? Peter Stroyan?
Speaker 1 (18:15):
And can this be on TV? It is enough to
be at the cinema, it can be on TV if
it's if it's the truth. I think the first film
I remember seeing on TV and it would be either
Christmas Day or Easter, and it was Journey to the
Center of the Earth. Oh wow, do you remember that one?
James Mason. I think I think it was a Disney
film from the issue Mason. Yes, and that's all I remember.
(18:44):
I would have been about four something like that. I
think your brothers and sisters. I've got a brother and
three sisters. Yeah, all older that. Wow, are you are
you close to Sam? What was the first one at
the cinema? Then? If you remember that? And the first
film at the cinema was I'm pretty sure it was Beding,
Robs and booms. Well, in my mind, it's bed Ups
and Boomsticks, but I checked the date just before and
(19:06):
it's nineteen seventy one. I thought, well, I was born
in sixty eight, so unless it was a rerun later on,
maybe that happened. But that's the that's the one in
my head. Anyway, I'm watching bed Robs and Boomsticks and
Cinema and it's an ABC I think remember ABC, And
it was really kind of dusty and like half empty,
and it was that kind of seventies you know when
I think cinema is not going to survive, that kind
(19:28):
of that kind of feel to it. Pre pre Star Wars,
Lovely you were thinking as a three round, Yes, this
isn't gonna last I thought, don't, don't, don't take up
a career in film. This is not gonna survive.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Interesting that the first film you saw was an adaptation
of a classic book makes you think.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
Makes you think, doesn't it? And say, what's the film?
What's the film that made you cry? The mice? Do
you cryer Peterstown, I've been known to cry. Yeah, I've
had my crying moments. Well, i'll tell you there's a few.
I watched eight with my I went I went to
a patch of watching sort of eighties films with my
(20:07):
daughter who's he's just an early twenties who hadn't seen
the first time around, and we watched Et and unexpectedly
that made me cry. But I don't have to cry,
but I missed it up definitely. That's a bit where
it looks like Et is dying, he's on the operating table. Yeah, expectedly,
it's the saddest film. I sort of thought I was
made of tougher stuff in that, and I've seen it
(20:27):
a million times, but I think I went straight back
to you know, childhood as well with it. I guess,
so that that got to me. I'll tell you another then.
That always makes me grow a bit misty is and
I know, sorry, everyone must bring up this film, so
I do apologize. But Casablanca, when they start singing the
French national anthem, always brings it at lump to my film.
And there's a film called This is Loads, isn't it?
(20:48):
So yes I am, I love it. There's a film
called Random Harvest. I don't have seen a Random Harvests,
an old black and white movie with Ronald Coleman and
Bier Garson. And he's a firstful War soldier who has
amnisia and he's looked after by this woman in a
small town and they fall in love and they get married,
and then he loses his memory for a second time
(21:08):
and forgets about her and becomes it goes back to
who he was before he lost his memory. And then
when we's great sort of jump in the narrative where
you find him now a successful politician, and his secretary
comes in and it's the woman who he was in
love with in his previous life before he lost his
memory again and she knows it's him, and she's sort
of just there to be close to him, but he
(21:28):
doesn't realize he once was in love with this woman,
and that always gets me every timely and then, but
the last time I actually started to cry in the
cinema embarrassingly was Broke Back Man, And it was the
bit at the end with his share and it was
just that line, It's like Jack, I swear, I swear,
it's just when he's got the shirts every time. Yeah,
(21:49):
that's a great film.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
It's a great film. It is a great last line. Yeah,
it is good answers. All right, gave you ten points
for that.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
I do you know what? I'm gonna take another year
of your life for that? What is?
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Yeah, what is the film that's scared you the most?
Do you like being scared?
Speaker 1 (22:07):
I do? I like not written as scary. When have
you I haven't? You know, I would love to do
a horror film, and I think I've tried a couple
of times and I can't do them. That's what I
mean about not going to kind of just wish your
your ability into a certain genre, because I really like
horror films, like I can. I can enjoy a crap
horror film in a way that I can't enjoy a
crap you know, a thriller or a crap comedy I
(22:28):
would propily sit through, really mediocre horror films. I get that,
but because I watch a lot of them, I don't
get scared that often. You know, most of them, and
most horror fims aren't really that scary of it. They're right,
that's sort of just goryal or a bit predictable. But
there have been a couple of occasions. I'll tell you
what I think helps actually is if you're watching a
horror film in the cinema with an audience, I think
there's a much better chance of it's starting to feel
(22:49):
a bit of it because you play, start to pick
up on I remember this is not a film, but
as an example, do you remember Ghost Story, which is
to play Remember going to see that because I had
a friend The friend was in it, and I went
to see it. Wasn't next, I think very much. And
the audience, it was a great full audience. It's really
really good for a start, but also the audience, like
from the get go were like slightly hysterical and jittery.
(23:09):
You could feel like there was a lot of nervous laughter.
And then the minutes something scary happened on stage, they
screened their heads off and like whether you wanted you
or not, you started to get like whipped up into
this this terror yourself. So so a couple of times
when it has that has happened for me has been
in a cinema with an audience. And I remember going
to see obviously every run of The Exorcist, which isn't scary,
(23:30):
but the opening sequence, which is like in the Holy Land.
I just remember he's walking and there's dogs sort of
barking at him, and it's got this weird atmosphere, and
it was the same thing where you could feel the
audience getting sort of slightly jittery and lots of nervous laughter,
and it was an odd kind of bunnize came upon
us all which I really remember. And then you know
when by the time we got spinning heads, it wasn't
that scary anymore. But that beginning was that there was
(23:52):
something genuinely unerving. I like that and blair Witch. The
end in the blair Witch where the guys stand in
the corner, I remember the hair sort of going up
on the back of my neck. Yeah, and then it
wasn't so much scary, But I remember Audition. Do you
remember the Japanese film Audition?
Speaker 2 (24:07):
Yeah? I haven't watched audition. I imagine I wouldn't like that.
From what I've read, you probably probably wouldn't. It's not
only a sick person that would. I don't like, why
do people get hurt? No, but don't watch the end
of audition. That's that stayed with me in a not
altogether happy way.
Speaker 1 (24:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
Yeah, I love horror films, but I don't like torture stuff.
There was a kind and it's got this very quiet,
calm and cool feel, which makes it even worse.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
Yeah. I mean it's a great film, but it's yes,
deeply unsettling. Oh.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
Ghost Stories, by the way, I'm a huge fan of
I think I like the play and I think the
film was even better. I thought the film was more emotional,
Like I was sort of impressed with how kind of
moving the film was, Like, I think they added a
layer to it that made it.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
Yeah, agreed, they absolutely did have that was really good.
And I do like those stories in general. So, you know,
a lot of my favorite I mean, none of it
horror films are other things like the Orphanage, you know,
or yeah, yeah, I guess it is. Yeah, but ghost
ghost horror films rather than sort of go horror films.
I really like me too. Yeah, yeah, what is the
film that you love?
Speaker 2 (25:14):
It is not critically acclaimed, lots of people hate it,
but you love it unconditionally, so it can it.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Be a good film? Can it be a good film? Yeah?
Well not really?
Speaker 2 (25:24):
I mean to you, yes, so a bad film but
that you enjoyed, like, and I think this is the best,
you know, and the best one's ever made. But for
example of Greece too, lots of people seem to think
Greece two isn't good. But those people are very wrong.
You don't think that's the best film ever made? You big, like,
I notic it's the best film. I think it's in
the top fifty.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
Well, I'll tell you what it is, because I mean
there's loads there's loads of like mediocre kind of horror
like monster movies that I really love that I know
that that ship, you know, like Avian versus Predator or whatever.
I'm quite happy with that stuff. But I've got a
little film club with a friend Polly that sort of
once a week we watch a film and then just
text so that as we're watching it and we taken
turns to suggest what the film is. And she suggested
(26:04):
Roadhouse the original Eighties, which I hadn't seen and which
is a you know, it's a truly truly bad film,
but she loves it, and there's something about how much
she enjoyed it sort of infected me. So I ended
up being but it's a mad it's a mad little
of nonsense, really, But yeah, so I'll go with that.
That's a really good answer. That's exactly in the area.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
Yeah, what about a film that you used to love
that you have watched recently, You've rewatched it and you've
got no, I don't like this anymore, and probably because
you have changed rather than the film.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
Yeah, there is one. And I was really taken by surprise.
So I was when I was watching films with my
daughter that I had a lot of that you love
this film kind of, you know, I love this film,
you love this film kind And that didn't always work
out well. But we watched Blays and Saddles. She loved
it and I loved it. I thought, that's still really
still great. And then I said, oh, we should watch
it on Frankenstein because that's my favorite. I love Frankstang.
(26:57):
And you know what, I didn't enjoy it. I don't know.
I don't know what to change, but it felt a
lot didn't feel his light on his feet as Blazed
and Saddles, and there's a lot more out of sexist
humor in it. Yeah it was. I was really surprised
because I always remember that. Yeah, it was slower and
just not funny basically. I mean, there were still some
great moments in it or you know, Red like it. No,
(27:19):
no she didn't. So she was right and I was wrong.
But Based and Saddles were still great. I'm glad to
hear that. Yeah, what about what is the film that
means the most to you? Not necessarily the film itself
is any good, but the experience you had seeing the
film will always make it meaningful to you. Right, So
this is The Big Lebowski, which is one of my
favorite films. I'm a big con Butther's fan. I love
(27:41):
the Cone Butthers And when I first started writing films,
I think that was the biggest influence on me. So
some of the first sort of scripts, like spec scripts
that I wrote were very you know, there were just
terrible copies of Cone. But it's basically that kind of
you know, expect that kind of far go West black
comedy and they weren't the things that ended up writing
that got made. They ended up much more commercial. But
what I wanted to do was stuff like the Guns.
(28:03):
And I love The Big Lebowski. I think it's one
of the happiest of their comedies. And the reason it
means a lot to me is I've got a really
clear memory of Bridget, my my girlfriend then who then
became my wife. I just moved down to London to
be with her and we went to the Camden Odion
and there was a late night screening of The Big
Lebowski that just come out. I think it was like midnight,
you know, we used to do those midnight shows, and
(28:24):
it was packed and just we all loved it, you know,
just when it's when the whole audience is just loving
the film. And I just really remember that atmosphere and
it was like this, this is what's lovely about cinema,
when we're all together having the same experience of a
great film. Yeah. Really, Yeah, It's gonna really special place
in my heart. That's very nice. What's your second favorite
Time Brothers film? Fargo? What's your dad favorite? Miller's Crossing Great?
(28:50):
I love Millis what we're gonna say about fargu well,
Fargo for me, because I think I think Fargo might
be the first one that I saw and I and
I still think it's quite a particular tone even in
the filumber that's kind of I hadn't seen that mix
of darkness and comedy. And then I remember the bit
at the end when Marge's driving the captured criminal and
(29:11):
she says something like that, you know, there's a lot
more to life than just money, Like you can't understand
how he could have done this thing. It's the car
in the snow, and that music's a fantastic music swells
and it suddenly doesn't feel like a comedy at all.
It feels actually quite profound and tragic almost, you know.
And it's just there was something about that tone that
I thought, God, if you can capture that, you can
do anything, because you can do comedy with it, you
can do horror with it. You know, you can do
(29:33):
serious drama. It was just an incredible color that they
managed to capture him and Fargo. That's nice. What is
the filming most related to I find this quite tricky question.
So this is how I've interpreted it, Okay, And you
can just say no, that's not what it means it all.
So film was a big part of my childhood in
the sense that it was just on all the time.
There's every mountain there there was a movie on, like
a black and white movie or a western or a
(29:55):
war film, and sometimes in the evenings as well, and
we'd all watch things together as a family. So it
was very much like what I associated with my family,
and it was pretty It would have been you know,
like thirties, forties and fifties American cinema largely. And then
when I hit my teens, I remember kind of watching
things that were to do I was supposed to be fair.
There was like Star Wars and that kind of thing.
(30:15):
When I was like a kid, you know, and the
other kids at school we were into Star Wars and
HELLI and I guess as well. But I remember Gregory's
Girl and it wasn't This wasn't the sort of stuff
I was watching with my family, and it was just
what me and my friends got into. And you know,
like if you've been listening to your parents' records or
your older brother and sisters records, and then for the
first time you get your own music and you and
(30:37):
your friends are into and it's just yours. That was
what Gregory's Girl felt like, I've got like this is
just for us. It was a different kind of comedy
and it was you know, it felt kind of cool,
and I loved Claire. I was literally in love with
Claire Grogan like everyone else I knew, you know, So
that felt the first time whereas like all film can
actually be you know, connected to my life as a
young person rather than than kind of you know, the
(30:58):
family world. That's a nice way of playing another one.
Sorry I was a bit older, but it's definitely the
same thing because it was when I went to university
a little bit later, like I was twenty one or something,
twenty two, and I remember we all got into with
Neil Night and we like, we loved with Neil Light
and we quoted with Nail Night endlessly. And that was
another one where it was like, well, this is this
(31:18):
is our film. You know, this isn't anyone else's film,
This is ours. That one for sure, still love that, pet.
What's the sexiest film we've ever seen? Well, I was
quite young, but the one that I remember probably having
the biggest impact on me, strangely was What's Up Doc?
With Barbara streisand really yeah, and I didn't. I don't
(31:40):
think I knew what to do with the feelings that
this brought about in me in a bath. No, No,
I was more slightly more kind of innocent and romantic
than that. Like I really really felt like I was
in love with her. And I remember we were we
were decorating the living room and then scaped all the
wallpaper off and I wrote on the wall I love
Barbara streisand misspelled and then it got papered over. So
that's probably still there. Ah, But I was just mad
(32:03):
there from that film, but not in any other film,
just just that film. Did you ever meet her in
your in your travels? No, I never have a view. No,
I don't met her. Well, if you do meet her,
but if I do, I'm going to tell her, tell
her I love her, but only in What's Up? Dog.
Speaker 2 (32:20):
But listen, it's quite commic, it's quite specific, But I've
got the man wh is quite specific.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
You do need to be you're going to need to
wear this car again and talk exactly like this. But
other than that, what what what did? What's that term
now for a particular kind of female character that men
like manic MANI Pixy dream Girl. Yeah, I've got a
feeling to my shame, probably that the character was the
(32:45):
prototype for that. I'll just clear Grogan really and Gregory's girls.
So I'm obviously prone to these who are finding that
character attractive to a many pisure dream Girl well yeah,
but now I feel cheap and manipulated. I don't know
if that's true. And what's that we'd have to go
back and watching in It's so supossible. She's just a
very funny woman, is it. Yeah? And she is beautiful
as well. Yeah, what is O?
Speaker 2 (33:07):
There's a subcategory, Peter, and I know you make classy
things so obviously, but it's here is the question. It's
in every episode. The subcategory is traveling by and is
worrying why that's the film you found a rassing.
Speaker 1 (33:21):
I like, how incredibly embarrassed you look at You asked
me that? Almost ashamed of yourself? Do you ask me that?
Said every time?
Speaker 2 (33:27):
But it also the guests that there are some guess
where I'm like, yeah, fuck it, and some guys I've
known about it. And then there's people who make things
like ticket Teer just fe concour like talking like talking.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
Yeah, here we go. Fuck. You know. So I don't
know if quite discounts, but I think it should count
because it feels inappropriate. In Alien, but we used to
go to my friend's house at lunchtime from school and
watch Alien on video and freeze frame the moments when
to go on. Reba was in her underwear. Even though
there's I blowed everywhere, and it seems kind of wrong
(34:00):
to have found that arose in the midst of in
the midst of the horror, but we definitely did.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
I mean, that's absolutely Listen, given your classy this, I'm
going to allow that, even though no you get you're
going to get that, I'm going to allow that.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
Okay, I survived by classing the third, isn't I Yeah
you did, Thank God for that.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
What is objectively the greatest film ever made. It might
not be your favorite, but it is the ultimate pinnacle cinema.
Speaker 1 (34:30):
Okay. I mean, you know it's a nonsense question, don't
you know that? Yes, of course.
Speaker 2 (34:37):
That I would never answer any of these questions myself. Okay,
So the one I would toss in the ring for
this would be Barry Lindon. And that's partly because I
think it deserves to be a better and part because
I really love it personally, and partly because I think
it sort of hits a sweet spot between art house
and commercial cinema. I think, you know, in the way
(35:00):
the Kubrick kind of does. He's kind of he's not
like a full on artist. Nobody goes to see his
film's director, but he's he's way more artist than most
commercial directors. And why Barry Linden, of all his films,
I guess it's the one that it's a little bit
like Fargo.
Speaker 1 (35:15):
Actually, it's in the sense that it sort of starts
as a comedy and it's funny at the beginning, and
this seems full of life and a bit rumbunctious and
like it's going to be, you know, a sort of
picuresque series of adventures, and it just beautifully darkens and
darkens until it's heartbreaking by the end. And again it's
there's just a kind of tone that manages to carry
all of those things at once, like like Fargo does
(35:36):
it in a very different register, but Barrylnden has a
kind of real grandeur and tragedy to it by the end,
and it's beautifully made you know, in every level, just
beautifully made and just great, great cinema. All right, am
I right? Is it the best film ever made? Objectively?
Speaker 2 (35:51):
No, but I'm going to allow it because it's your episode.
Well your claise, you close, you're in. What is the film?
Speaker 1 (36:03):
You could or have watched the mized Iver and Iver again.
So there's loads and some of them are really I
bet everybody says them Casa blank. I've seen hundreds of times.
The Apartment. I've watched probably every year, at least once
a year. I love The Apartment. Quite a few of
the comfort films, I've got to say, farg I've seen
hundreds of times, bigger bout kissing under of times. But
(36:24):
then there's a thing that me and my daughter started doing,
which so it probably isn't there yet, but definitely if
I lived at eighty seven, it's definitely going to be there,
which is once a year. We watched a Lord of
the Rings trilogy. We've already done that for many years now,
so that's going to definitely get there. Okay. And that's
all of them, mind you, not just one oh the original,
not the Hobbits, the original three, not the Hobbits now,
(36:44):
but you're a fan of that sort of thing.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
I'm afraid to say that I'm not a fan of
that sort of thing, but I respect it and I
appreciate its existence.
Speaker 1 (36:53):
I can tell that your face you don't respect it.
I just do not.
Speaker 2 (36:58):
You could barely keep a straight faces said that it's
a computer game. Creatures walk along, have a fight, they
walk along, have a bigger fight. They walk along, they
fight the big boss.
Speaker 1 (37:08):
Yeah, are you talking about the TVC So are you
talking about I watched them all.
Speaker 2 (37:15):
I did see them all at the Imax every Christmas.
I went, and I admire the craft and the time
management that went into making it.
Speaker 1 (37:25):
Okay, well, we are going to have to agree to
different young men because I love them.
Speaker 2 (37:28):
Well, I do think, if I'm really genuinely, I don't.
In all seriousness, I respect them. I think I get
why people love them weirdly. I like science fiction. I
like horror, I like puppets, I like like, I like Labyrinth,
I like fantasy, but I don't I think I don't
like muddy elf stuff.
Speaker 1 (37:52):
I thought I understood. I thought I understood what the
distinction was going to be. But once you said you
like Labynes but not muddy elf stuff. I thought, this
is I think I loved the books when I was
a kid, right, No, yeah, and then Lord of the
Rings and I was a nerdy kind of fantasy reading kid,
you know, so I think it's that's why they work
for me if I've been a more robust child. Listen,
(38:12):
I'm very much in the minority.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
That's okay. I respect your decision, thank you, and I'm genuine, genuine,
genuinely know that it's good.
Speaker 1 (38:20):
It's just not for me. Is that fair? That's all right,
that's absolutely fair. Okay, Why were we talking about that again?
Speaker 2 (38:26):
Because yeah, but genuine question then necessarily really does love
those types of things? Well that specific thing. Is it
moving to you? Lord of the Rings? Is it like
what about it?
Speaker 1 (38:42):
Is it? Is it the camaraderie, is it the adventure?
What is it? Or is it all of it? The
whole thing? You know? What if you know? And I
have never ever thought of this until just now when
you ask the question, I suddenly thought, I wonder if
it's the same bloody thing about those who are loyal
and those because you know, they have to some GAMGI
has to stay loyal and get them all the way
to mortal and carry him on his back in the end,
(39:03):
and he's he's another one of those kind of quiet
but decent you know, same bloody story, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (39:08):
That's why? Okay, God, I like it. Well, now you
told me it's conclave with mad madils me.
Speaker 1 (39:15):
You know as well, l's on muddy. So I don't
know where you got that image from Hobbits. Hobbits there
you go, not even they're not that muny, but they
always in the mads. This lies of men in the mads.
I think it's wrestling that you've been watching by a
mistake and thinking it was the wings. Yeah, they keep going,
I am Lord of the ring, and then fuck, you're right.
Speaker 2 (39:39):
I've ever seen a simple mistake to make? What is
the worst film I've ever seen? Don't like to be
too negative. All films are very hard to make. It's
a tricky one.
Speaker 1 (39:49):
This isn't it? Yeah, for exactly that reason, Because I mean,
I've probably been involved in some of the worst things
I ever made, so I don't. I don't to pile
on other people. So I think that's I think there's
a big difference between and a missing a swing and
a miss I think that's okay. And you know, we
know there's a thousand ways for a film to go
wrong and there's only one way for the go right. So,
like I said, I don't want to, but I think
there's maybe an area where I feel much less sympathy
(40:12):
and tolerance. And that's where you feel there's a real
cynical money making, you know, just empty like you could
have done a good film, but you're just emptiy so
and you could pick any of those franchises where you
by the time you're on the fourth film, you think
there is nothing of worth here. For my one example,
just because it really stuck in my head, I remember
it was Joe's The Revenge, which to go from such
(40:36):
a perfect film as Joe's to this awful, empty, nonsense spy.
You know, I don't know if it was a three
or four. Do you know what it's interesting about?
Speaker 2 (40:44):
And I think this is the magic of film, because
I think there is a film for everyone, and even
the worst. Because Joe's the Revenge, which I know is
objectively a bad film, I think that might be the
first Jaws film I saw when I was like six
or eight, and I love I thought, you know what
I mean, so like, I know it's dreadful, but I
have like a software in my heart, so I'm like,
(41:06):
Jee's Wrende was so scary when I was like, I
think it was I'd heard about Jews and I think
that was the first one I saw.
Speaker 1 (41:11):
I'm going because you were only eight? Yeah, but did
you eventually watch the actual George though, and then go
oh no, this is great? No, I was like, god,
they really ripped off the revenge. Where's Michael Knee? But yes?
Speaker 2 (41:28):
Oh, also, Frank, You're right, Frank, I really loved Frank. Beautiful,
beautiful film. I love love the ending of that. I
love that song at the end. I really like that film.
Congratulations Anyway, there's a human that was the what's the
film that made you laugh?
Speaker 1 (41:44):
The vice? Well, sorry, this is really dulln't because I'm
just saying the same films again again. But if I'm
going to be honest and tell the truth, The Big
Labouts kid makes me laugh every time, even though I've
seen somebody often and with nil and it makes me
laugh every time. When they think Cole Monty's breaking into
the house. That makes me laugh every single time. That's great, Monty, you,
but for anyone who hasn't seen the film. He was
(42:09):
quoting and not calling me.
Speaker 2 (42:12):
Peter Straw, you have been an absolute delight, an Oscar winner,
if you will, you have been funny, fascinating, interesting, curious, deep. However,
when you were eighty five years old, you were on
a deck chair.
Speaker 1 (42:31):
I was I was only six.
Speaker 2 (42:34):
You lost year of result increased too. And because you
your dat, you know, like your stories.
Speaker 1 (42:44):
Betrayed.
Speaker 2 (42:47):
You're in a deck chair by a beach. Yeah, yeah,
I love your time. Put your scar on?
Speaker 1 (42:52):
Why not?
Speaker 2 (42:53):
And the son some's saying and in front of you
you saw your people, your people were and you lay
there and he attacking.
Speaker 1 (43:01):
He died. He didn't mention the ar attack.
Speaker 2 (43:03):
I'm telling you and everyone else in Brighton bee playing around,
playing around, sun goes down sometimes up everyone playing around,
Sun goys down. Sometimes everyone's about four weeks, five weeks.
Speaker 1 (43:17):
That's I mean, I'd be I'd be smelling quite badly
after For.
Speaker 2 (43:20):
I'm walking along Brighton Beach and I go always smells
of sewers down here and goes are you talking about
everything's so nice? I'm like, something's up anyway. There's a bird, absolutely,
there's birds all the seagulls just absolutely going at it
with this body, and I go, that's kind of be
a woin of.
Speaker 1 (43:36):
The show.
Speaker 2 (43:37):
Run there form they sucking out, and I go, come on,
get out of you guys, And I like, that's the
grimmest best scene you could possibly have painted for me?
And too forward in indianther Jones in the last persade
pumping away these birds get get away from him and
I go, come on, guys, how long has he been here?
(43:59):
And goes I was doing I was looking at my phone.
I got you got to look up for your phones
has been dead for five weeks. We get your limbs
and get your things. You have to put you in
the coffin. It's more of you than I was expecting.
There was a bird's nest in there. There's three birds
have made their home in you. Anyway, put you in
(44:19):
the coffin. There's no room in there. There's only enough
room to slip one DVD into the side for you
to take across to the other side. And on the
other side, it's movie night every night. What film are
you taking to show your people in heaven at the
seaside when it's your movie night?
Speaker 1 (44:34):
Peters st So this is a tricky one, but I
have gone for Las filmed the Last Detail because it's
stitches together lots of different things that we've been talking about.
And as much as it was one of those seventies
films I saw of my teens that made me think,
I didn't know sendemacabill like this, I mean probably it's
a It's a beautiful film. It's got that kind of
(44:54):
same thing that combers do with a strange tone of being.
It's quite sad, it's quite moving, it's funny, it's quite earthy,
you know, it's quite down to earth. Prak Nicholson's fantastic
in it. And also when I watched with my daughter
films that I've loved when I was young, and I
wanted her to love them, and I would thought she
wouldn't like The Lust Detail because it's quite blokey and
(45:15):
you know, foul mouths and it's got a bit of
a down ending. And she really loved it, and I
thought that's the power of a good film. It's sort
of you know, generation to generation still works. He still
speaks to us. So yeah, I'm going to go with
the Lust Detail. Peter's Johan, thank you so much. For
doing this.
Speaker 2 (45:31):
Would you like to tell anyone what to watch look
out for? Read coming from you in the coming months.
Speaker 1 (45:38):
It might be a while because which is this year?
But Berlin Noir?
Speaker 2 (45:41):
Okay, what would that be on? It'll be on Apple.
I've heard of it, Okay, because I told you about
it at the beginning. That's why you've heard of it.
I you have heard of Apple.
Speaker 1 (45:57):
That's true. Yeah, if you are Apple.
Speaker 2 (45:59):
If people haven't seen Conclave yet, I highly recommended you.
I also recommend you see Frank, which I really love.
Peter Joan, thank you for doing this. What a lovely time.
Good luck being a showrunner. It's really easy and you'll
love it.
Speaker 1 (46:13):
Thank you very much. I have a wonderful death. I
will stop the recording. Good day to you.
Speaker 2 (46:21):
So that was episode three hundred and forty six. Head
over to the Patreon at patreon dot com for his
last break Goal was Tamed. For the extra twenty minutes
a chat, secrets and video with Peter. Go to Apple Podcast,
give us a five star rating and rite about the film.
It means the most of you and why it's a
lovely thing to really really amas, we really appreciate it.
Thank you very much thanks to everyone for listening. Thanks
to Peter for giving me his time, thanks to his
Gruby's Pippins Distraction, Pieces of Network. Thanks to Buddy Peace
(46:42):
for producing it. Thanks to iHeartMedia and Wilfarwol's Big Money
Players Network for hosting it. Thanks to Adam Richardson for
the graphics and needs to lay them to the photography.
Speaker 1 (46:48):
Come and join me next week for another incredible episode.
Thank you for listening, but that's it for now.
Speaker 2 (46:54):
In the meantime, have a lovely week, and please, now
more than ever, be excellent to each others.
Speaker 1 (47:19):
Back back by backs as by a contact by bass.
Back back backs as by back back back
Look, it's only films to be buried with.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Hello, and welcome to films to be buried with. My
name is Brett Goldstein. I'm a comedian, an actor, a writer, director,
a bowling pin, and I love films. As Rokwon once said,
silence is its own kind of conversation, which is why
I still think A Quiet Place should have ended with
someone whispering fucking hell.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
That was stressful.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Every week I'm invite a special guest over. I tell
them they've died, and I get them to discuss their
life through the films. The men the most of them.
Previous guests include Barry Jenkins, Kevin Smith, Sharon Stone, and
even Bled Blambles. But this week we have the Oscar
winning playwright, screenwriter and author mister Peter Strawn. Head over
to the Patreon at patroon dot com forwards slash pret Goldsting,
where you get extra twenty minutes of chat with Peter.
(00:53):
We talk secrets, beginnings and endings, and you get the
whole episode uncut Adfrey, and there's a video. Check it
out over at patreon dot com. Forward last break. So
Peter Strawn, just one an Oscar for God's sakes, you
might know him from writing Tinker Taylor, soldiers By or
The Men Who Steric Goats or Frank or How to
Lose Friends and Alienate People, or even the Oscar winning Conclave.
(01:15):
I met Peter once before and then we recorded this
on Zoom. We had a very lovely time, and I
really think you're going to love this one. So that
is it for now. I very much hope you enjoy
episode three hundred and forty six of Films to be
Buried With. Hello, and welcome to Films to be Buried With.
(01:42):
It is I Berett Goldstein, and I am joined today
by a writer, a screen writer, a director, a Missus Raccless, revolutioner,
a man who loses friends and alienates people, a man
who stares at ghats. He's a tinker, he's a tailor.
He's a soldier, he's a spy, he's a snowman. He's
(02:04):
a goldfish. And he is now an Academy Award winning
screenwriter of Conclave, and he also has a brand in crisis.
He's here. I can't believe he's here, fresh from his oscar.
Will you please welcome to the show. It's the amazing writer.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
It's Peter Stroan, thank you.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Broh Hi, Peter, how are you very well?
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Thank you? How are you? I'm good, thank you.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
We met once before because there was a live reading
of your film Conclave, as part of the campaign to
win the Oscars. I performed in that live reading, and
then you won an Oscar. Coincidence, I don't think so.
I thought it was brilliant and I love that film,
and you are the first guest that I've had on
(02:55):
the show this soon after winning an Oscar, and I'm
very happy for you. It is very well deserved. But
the kind of record I thought you were excellent. Your
speech was excellent and very you know, subtle and funny
and sweet. And I wondered, as someone who is not
a performer, is there a part of you that dreads
a fuck I've got to go up on that stage?
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Or were you very excited about How did all that
actually feel? I was sick to my stomach, right, I
was absolutely sick to my stomach. There was a point
about two awards before mine where they helpfully announced and
now we're being watched by a billion people around the world,
and I just think, Oh, if you're an inter of
it and you're simply going to have to get in
a station of a billion people and a kind of
white noise sort of buzzed in my ears, and then
(03:39):
I was kind of on autopilot, you know, don't really
remember saying anything.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
You looked very confident. That was just shock right, yeah, Dane,
it was lovely. I was looking at your CV and
it's a very very impressive CV, and it surprises me
that it's always adaptations, right, You've always adapted other things.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Is that true. There's a couple of originals, but it's
mostly adaptations. And what is it?
Speaker 2 (04:05):
I mean, you're the best in the biz at it,
and I'd love to know. Is it different with every project?
Do you have a sort of system of working into
something and also what makes you choose that as the
thing you want to do?
Speaker 1 (04:18):
So there isn't really a system. It's quite instinctive. I'll
get some something, I read it, and you know, you'll
either kind of connect with it on an emotional level
or you want and sometimes well this is interesting. So
I always sort of feel like I don't necessarily know why.
I mean, sometimes it just seems obvious to me that
this is great. Sometimes it is just obvious it's great,
you know, it's obvious with Tinker Tallers or just By
(04:38):
that's just great book world fall, great book conclave, you know.
But I think it's not just that they have to
be good. It's that you have to find some sort
of connection, like emotional connection with them. And what I've discovered,
weirdly is I'm always really telling the same sort of story,
even when it's with someone else's story, and it's other
thing that I'm connecting with is a story that's about
(04:58):
betrayal and loyalty. And it took me ages to realize
that was what was going on. And I don't know
why that's the story that I'm drawn to again again.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
I really want to work this out in the next hour.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Yeah, so that's not well. The funny thing is I've
been discovered that about myself. It makes no difference. It
doesn't help me do them. It doesn't stop me from
connecting with those stories, you know what I mean, It's
going to happen anyway. But I sort of looked back
over them and thought, oh, yeah. The Meny Stereo Goads,
you know, which was a book by John Ronson about
(05:30):
some wacky sort of experiments carried out in the US
Army into the paranormal. But the sort of story we
ended up focusing on was one of those who were
loyal to this ideal of the sixties that had originally,
you know, been the heart of it, and those who
betrayed that ideal. And then obviously Tinker Taylor a spy
is really about a traitor and those who are loyal
to a cause. And then in wolf Hall, you know,
(05:52):
we sort of focused very much on the story of
him getting revenge on those who betrayed the Master that
he was loyal to. And even yeah, you know that
it's about those who are loyal to the pope who's
died and those who are kind of betraying that legacy.
So it's weird, isn't it. And I don't know why.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Well, those that now you're saying that, I'm like all
of your lead characters, not or maybe not all of them,
but certainly in Tinker Taylor and in Conclave, probably in Wilfall,
they're these kind of quiet, decent men who who have
believed in a system that they are trying to uphold
it with integrity whilst the world is infecting the system
(06:31):
around them.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Yeah, that's exactly right. Yes, exactly. I thought that Cordin, Lawrence,
and Smiley have got a lot in common. I think
Cromwell and Wolfall is slightly different because he's he goes
on a longer journey and I think he changes in
the course of the journey, but he would recognize and
respect the loyalty of people like Lawrence or Smiling you know.
So it's it's interesting and I don't know why. I
don't know. I mean, I was broad up Catholic, and
(06:54):
I don't know if the Judas thing, I don't know,
if that's in the mix somewhere, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
But is that how you feel about the world? Is
that how you feel as a human like you want
you're a man of decency surrounded by indecency?
Speaker 1 (07:08):
I don't know. I probably fear that I'd be one
of the Judases that would be to everyone, But I
definitely respond to kind of the quiet heroism as those
people who you know remain loyal no matter what. Yeah, fascinating,
you don't feel I've just wondered if I wondered how
common it was for that to be a kind of
core story that writers are telling different ships. Do you
(07:29):
feel that about your writing?
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (07:30):
I do.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
And also it's funny you tell me, I guess I'm curious,
but maybe you've already answered it because you do adaptations
rather than originals. But the other thing I find a
I do thematically. I'm think talking about a similar thing.
But it's also my point is sometimes it takes a while.
You can be halfway through making a thing, you could
(07:52):
even finish the thing where you go, Oh, that part
of it was me and I didn't even know it
whilst I was doing it, you know what I mean.
I was like, yeah, that was about this piece of
myself that I wasn't aware I was articulating.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Do you have that well? I mean I think in
a way this sort of story was definitely that that
it took me so long, because once I started looking back,
I thought it was kind of obvious that that was
a story that was drawn me again again, but I
didn't realize for a long long time. I mean I
think I was like, was like woll forward before suddenly,
So I find that kind of interesting how little we
know ourselves sometimes. Yeah, and what what's coming out is
(08:27):
coming out from a subconscious place, not always from the
conscious mind. Yeah, there's a little bit of yourself fractured
and sort of putting all of these other characters when
you're writing. Interesting. I like that. It's funny because you
sort of feel like one of the things that's nice
about writing is you get to become other people for
a little while when you're writing them. But I wouldn't
if actually it's closer to what you just said, which
is you kind of you get to put themselves to
(08:49):
other people here, like whole crocks from a reportter. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
So knowing that now having that away, is there any
part of you that like as a challenge or something
sort of what's to go or right, I'm going to
write something that is not about loyalty.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
And it's interesting. I don't think any of us really
unconscious control, you know. Yeah, it's like I can't make
myself write you know, a really good commercial blockbuster. If
I could, I would, you know, But the writing doesn't
respond to that sort of command, does it. You know,
there's only a certain areas it's going to work in,
and you know, you look, if you've got an area
(09:26):
it's going to work in, to be honest, most of
the time, so don't mess with it.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
That's true. Having done all the Awards season that you
just did. It's such a sort of mad world. How
did you find that whole? Because it's long as well?
Isn't it quite long?
Speaker 1 (09:40):
Yeah? I mean I guess it was. It was from
January on for me because I had to get a
easy to get in the States, so I wasn't doing
stuff in the old to my the winter. Some chances,
when I look back, I think it was only like
six eight weeks, you know, it felt like a lot longer. Yeah,
I felt like foret like years of my life. But
what was nice about it? I mean, there's lots of
(10:01):
things that are stressful and sort of frightening about it,
especially if you know, if you're a bit of an intervit.
What was nice about it was I was with a
lot of the Conclave team and they were all great,
and it sort of felt a bit like a little
you know, doing it with family. So that was really
that made it much more enjoyable. I take you to
be doing it, which I guess must happen quite often
if you're doing it on your own, or even if
you're doing it with you know, people from a project
(10:24):
that actually you don't like.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Can you tell me, because I know it's different in film.
Are you on set in Conclave? Were you there when
they were making it? How much you I was?
Speaker 1 (10:32):
I was, And I'm not normally, to be honest, normally
in the past, I've sort of just you know, you
go on for a day and say hello, like a
tourist and there's nothing really free to do. For some reason,
Edward invited me and so I did go on set,
and he kind of liked having me there and it
was kind of useful. I mean for me personally, I
really loved it. I really loved it. I've never been
on set for the whole shoot before, and you kind
(10:53):
of It's the first time I've properly felt like I
was part of the crew, you know, and it was
like when the way and enjoying the circus. Really loved
it and we were shicking, so it felt, you know,
in the cheat and stuff, so it felt very glamorous.
Because I was there. I think we could make little changes.
It'll sort of bespoke changes to scenes. You know, we'd
rehearse and run through and you know, the way actors
are really good. It just kind of instinctively feelings the
(11:14):
rhythm of the line is wrong or yeah, you could
just see when there were slightly you know, catching on
the line, so we just do some little nips and
took so we'd realized we could come into the scene
later or out earlier. So that was great. I mean,
it's great for me. I loved that.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Yeah, I wonder with the film that that you have
a book, you have the script, Like, I'm curious, it
feels so tightly made and plotted, and you know, all
the pieces fit very nicely, and I'm seeing the finished product.
I'm wondering, is the finished product close to the shooting
script that you started with or how much did it
change in the edit and all of that, Like how
(11:47):
far away from what you had done day one?
Speaker 1 (11:49):
I mean, you know, the whole thing. Obviously we inherited
from the book from Robert Harris, which was really well
put together and well built, you know, and we didn't
mess that much with that really, so I would say,
you know, like I don't know, seventy percent, it always
stayed the same. And then we played with some things
at the beginning, and we played with some things at
the end. We added a couple of scenes, and then
in the shoot we made some again smaller and smaller changes.
(12:13):
You know, it did feel like I don't know why
I'm saying this because I know nothing about Taylory, but
how I would imagine it's like building a suit bay.
You know, you kind of just you know that the
measurements are getting more more precise.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
Do you to talk to Robert Harris? That was you
and him part of the order to adapting adapting?
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Yeah? Yeah, I mean yeah, early on especially, I went
you know, to his house and we had lunch and
talk stuff through. And then you know, when I and
as I was working on if I had questions, I
would chat with him about it, or when we were
going to make some changes, run them past him. He
was great. I've really noticed that the really good experienced
writers like him, or the Carrey or Hillary Mantel, you
(12:53):
know he did, will fall. They're like the most relaxed
and the most kind of open about the stuff you
want to do. You know, I think often just because stick,
but it's possibly just because why do they need to worry?
Because the book's already great and no one's messing with
the book. And often they've been through the adaptation process
a lot, you know, so they kind of they know
that a slavish copy isn't necessarily going to be the
(13:14):
best film. So so he was one of those. He
was great. He was really open, generous.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
That's cool. And what's next? What are you doing next?
What are you doing next?
Speaker 1 (13:22):
To you? Man? The next thing shooting is a series
called Berlin Noir, which is a sort of detective thing
set in Berlin in nineteen twenty eight. Original or adapted
no adapted from books Yeah, about loyalty and betrayal, of
course it is. Yeah, it's a series of books by
to see the books by Philip Kerr. Are you so
running it? I am sure running it? Yeah? Oh wow, Okay, Yeah,
(13:45):
I'm not entirely sure what that means, which is probably
not a good sign in the showrunner. That means you
actually fucking everything. That's that's what I figured it. Yeah,
it reals actually fucking everything. Yeah, you're going to fuck
up everything, that's what I forget. It meant. I can
I give your calls I've been and then say I
(14:06):
don't know what I'm doing? What do I do? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (14:07):
No, man, I'll hand you over to someone more experience.
But yes, just sort of assume it's everything and you'll
be fine.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Okay, No, that's reassuring. Just do everything.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
It's just everything and then and never sleep and you'll
be fine. Oh there is one thing I forgot to
tell you though. Maybe I should have told you when
we did that reading, but I don't know if it happened. Well,
you've died, you're dead.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Yeah, that was during the reading, I think, Yeah, yeah,
I felt that happening. You were very good anyway. Yeah,
I'm sorry. How did you die? So? Have you seen
Death and Venice? Yes? I died. I died like bog
at the end of Death and Venice because I live
(14:56):
in I don't really know why I live in Brighton,
and I've often thought I'll die in a death chair
on the beach with this kind of sun in my eyes,
people all around me, and no one will notice for
quite a while that I've actually died. How long do
you think it will take them? A couple of weeks,
a few weeks, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't move
much anyway, so it would be a while. Are you
alone on this day here? Yeah? I am here, possibly
(15:19):
wearing the running mascara of Bogarde as well.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
How are you when you die? I'm going to go
eighties eighty seven. Okay, I'll go seven if I've got
the option.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
No, it's six. Yeah. Do you worry about death? I
think about death. So I've gone from being someone who
glibally did not think about death at all. And then
sort of in the last you know, fifteen years or so,
I've lost a lot of people. So I feel quite
well acquainted with death. Now. I don't think it makes
(15:53):
me fear my own death, but it's definitely there is
a presence in life for me.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
And I had to ask this, and I hope it's
like going to ask this in it having been acquainted,
As you say, does it change the way you feel
in your life? Do you feel a connection to it,
as in, do you think there's anything after death? Do
you feel anything that's that way?
Speaker 1 (16:16):
I don't. I don't know. I kind of wish I did.
I tell what I have got, which is strange because
it's comforting even though it's not a belief in the afterlife.
But so, you know, my wife died, I sorry, thank you.
And then and then sort of, you know, in the
last sort of ten years, my parents had died, and
in those lots, lot of in those died and stuff,
so there was just there was a lot of death.
(16:37):
And I remember when my mother died, I went for
a walk along the beach. I live in Brighton, and
I walked on the beach and the sun was was
indeed does in my eyes, and there were sort of
people in the water and on the beach, and I
don't know why, but it sort of felt like a
little image of an afterlife. You would go on to
the beach and your people would be there waiting for you.
(16:57):
And I still find that idea, almost like a Native American,
I will go to be with my people. I find
that kind of strangely comforting. I'm not strangely comforting. I
guess it just is comforting. And I suppose that must
come a point, you know, if you live long enough,
whether there or more people on on that side of
the line, as a word, and than on your side
of the line. And I wonder, then if you know,
death doesn't hold the fear, because there was a sense,
(17:18):
even if only metaphorically, that I'm going to go and
be with you know, my people.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
There's so many stories of people on the old older
people when they're dying in their last moments, saying, oh
there's there's thingy. There's thingy in the room with them. Yeah, well,
so listen, you're right, that is what happens. You die
and you guys heaven and it's the seaside and and
all your people there and it's fucking lovely and you
(17:43):
get to go and to see and you've got misca
or not miscars up.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
To you and.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
Yeah, everyone's very excited to see you, and they want
to talk about your life but through film, and there's
an oscar in it.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
They think, they think you'll probably have a lot to
say so and I'm still I've got the oscar. I
haven't know in heaven I can probably I can probably
hold it.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
You're not going anywhere about that, don't you. I'm assuming
it's in your other hand right now.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
So the first thing they ask is what is the
first film you remember seeing? Peter Stroyan?
Speaker 1 (18:15):
And can this be on TV? It is enough to
be at the cinema, it can be on TV if
it's if it's the truth. I think the first film
I remember seeing on TV and it would be either
Christmas Day or Easter, and it was Journey to the
Center of the Earth. Oh wow, do you remember that one?
James Mason. I think I think it was a Disney
film from the issue Mason. Yes, and that's all I remember.
(18:44):
I would have been about four something like that. I
think your brothers and sisters. I've got a brother and
three sisters. Yeah, all older that. Wow, are you are
you close to Sam? What was the first one at
the cinema? Then? If you remember that? And the first
film at the cinema was I'm pretty sure it was Beding,
Robs and booms. Well, in my mind, it's bed Ups
and Boomsticks, but I checked the date just before and
(19:06):
it's nineteen seventy one. I thought, well, I was born
in sixty eight, so unless it was a rerun later on,
maybe that happened. But that's the that's the one in
my head. Anyway, I'm watching bed Robs and Boomsticks and
Cinema and it's an ABC I think remember ABC, And
it was really kind of dusty and like half empty,
and it was that kind of seventies you know when
I think cinema is not going to survive, that kind
(19:28):
of that kind of feel to it. Pre pre Star Wars,
Lovely you were thinking as a three round, Yes, this
isn't gonna last I thought, don't, don't, don't take up
a career in film. This is not gonna survive.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Interesting that the first film you saw was an adaptation
of a classic book makes you think.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
Makes you think, doesn't it? And say, what's the film?
What's the film that made you cry? The mice? Do
you cryer Peterstown, I've been known to cry. Yeah, I've
had my crying moments. Well, i'll tell you there's a few.
I watched eight with my I went I went to
a patch of watching sort of eighties films with my
(20:07):
daughter who's he's just an early twenties who hadn't seen
the first time around, and we watched Et and unexpectedly
that made me cry. But I don't have to cry,
but I missed it up definitely. That's a bit where
it looks like Et is dying, he's on the operating table. Yeah, expectedly,
it's the saddest film. I sort of thought I was
made of tougher stuff in that, and I've seen it
(20:27):
a million times, but I think I went straight back
to you know, childhood as well with it. I guess,
so that that got to me. I'll tell you another then.
That always makes me grow a bit misty is and
I know, sorry, everyone must bring up this film, so
I do apologize. But Casablanca, when they start singing the
French national anthem, always brings it at lump to my film.
And there's a film called This is Loads, isn't it?
(20:48):
So yes I am, I love it. There's a film
called Random Harvest. I don't have seen a Random Harvests,
an old black and white movie with Ronald Coleman and
Bier Garson. And he's a firstful War soldier who has
amnisia and he's looked after by this woman in a
small town and they fall in love and they get married,
and then he loses his memory for a second time
(21:08):
and forgets about her and becomes it goes back to
who he was before he lost his memory. And then
when we's great sort of jump in the narrative where
you find him now a successful politician, and his secretary
comes in and it's the woman who he was in
love with in his previous life before he lost his
memory again and she knows it's him, and she's sort
of just there to be close to him, but he
(21:28):
doesn't realize he once was in love with this woman,
and that always gets me every timely and then, but
the last time I actually started to cry in the
cinema embarrassingly was Broke Back Man, And it was the
bit at the end with his share and it was
just that line, It's like Jack, I swear, I swear,
it's just when he's got the shirts every time. Yeah,
(21:49):
that's a great film.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
It's a great film. It is a great last line. Yeah,
it is good answers. All right, gave you ten points
for that.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
I do you know what? I'm gonna take another year
of your life for that? What is?
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Yeah, what is the film that's scared you the most?
Do you like being scared?
Speaker 1 (22:07):
I do? I like not written as scary. When have
you I haven't? You know, I would love to do
a horror film, and I think I've tried a couple
of times and I can't do them. That's what I
mean about not going to kind of just wish your
your ability into a certain genre, because I really like
horror films, like I can. I can enjoy a crap
horror film in a way that I can't enjoy a
crap you know, a thriller or a crap comedy I
(22:28):
would propily sit through, really mediocre horror films. I get that,
but because I watch a lot of them, I don't
get scared that often. You know, most of them, and
most horror fims aren't really that scary of it. They're right,
that's sort of just goryal or a bit predictable. But
there have been a couple of occasions. I'll tell you
what I think helps actually is if you're watching a
horror film in the cinema with an audience, I think
there's a much better chance of it's starting to feel
(22:49):
a bit of it because you play, start to pick
up on I remember this is not a film, but
as an example, do you remember Ghost Story, which is
to play Remember going to see that because I had
a friend The friend was in it, and I went
to see it. Wasn't next, I think very much. And
the audience, it was a great full audience. It's really
really good for a start, but also the audience, like
from the get go were like slightly hysterical and jittery.
(23:09):
You could feel like there was a lot of nervous laughter.
And then the minutes something scary happened on stage, they
screened their heads off and like whether you wanted you
or not, you started to get like whipped up into
this this terror yourself. So so a couple of times
when it has that has happened for me has been
in a cinema with an audience. And I remember going
to see obviously every run of The Exorcist, which isn't scary,
(23:30):
but the opening sequence, which is like in the Holy Land.
I just remember he's walking and there's dogs sort of
barking at him, and it's got this weird atmosphere, and
it was the same thing where you could feel the
audience getting sort of slightly jittery and lots of nervous laughter,
and it was an odd kind of bunnize came upon
us all which I really remember. And then you know
when by the time we got spinning heads, it wasn't
that scary anymore. But that beginning was that there was
(23:52):
something genuinely unerving. I like that and blair Witch. The
end in the blair Witch where the guys stand in
the corner, I remember the hair sort of going up
on the back of my neck. Yeah, and then it
wasn't so much scary, But I remember Audition. Do you
remember the Japanese film Audition?
Speaker 2 (24:07):
Yeah? I haven't watched audition. I imagine I wouldn't like that.
From what I've read, you probably probably wouldn't. It's not
only a sick person that would. I don't like, why
do people get hurt? No, but don't watch the end
of audition. That's that stayed with me in a not
altogether happy way.
Speaker 1 (24:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
Yeah, I love horror films, but I don't like torture stuff.
There was a kind and it's got this very quiet,
calm and cool feel, which makes it even worse.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
Yeah. I mean it's a great film, but it's yes,
deeply unsettling. Oh.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
Ghost Stories, by the way, I'm a huge fan of
I think I like the play and I think the
film was even better. I thought the film was more emotional,
Like I was sort of impressed with how kind of
moving the film was, Like, I think they added a
layer to it that made it.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
Yeah, agreed, they absolutely did have that was really good.
And I do like those stories in general. So, you know,
a lot of my favorite I mean, none of it
horror films are other things like the Orphanage, you know,
or yeah, yeah, I guess it is. Yeah, but ghost
ghost horror films rather than sort of go horror films.
I really like me too. Yeah, yeah, what is the
film that you love?
Speaker 2 (25:14):
It is not critically acclaimed, lots of people hate it,
but you love it unconditionally, so it can it.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Be a good film? Can it be a good film? Yeah?
Well not really?
Speaker 2 (25:24):
I mean to you, yes, so a bad film but
that you enjoyed, like, and I think this is the best,
you know, and the best one's ever made. But for
example of Greece too, lots of people seem to think
Greece two isn't good. But those people are very wrong.
You don't think that's the best film ever made? You big, like,
I notic it's the best film. I think it's in
the top fifty.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
Well, I'll tell you what it is, because I mean
there's loads there's loads of like mediocre kind of horror
like monster movies that I really love that I know
that that ship, you know, like Avian versus Predator or whatever.
I'm quite happy with that stuff. But I've got a
little film club with a friend Polly that sort of
once a week we watch a film and then just
text so that as we're watching it and we taken
turns to suggest what the film is. And she suggested
(26:04):
Roadhouse the original Eighties, which I hadn't seen and which
is a you know, it's a truly truly bad film,
but she loves it, and there's something about how much
she enjoyed it sort of infected me. So I ended
up being but it's a mad it's a mad little
of nonsense, really, But yeah, so I'll go with that.
That's a really good answer. That's exactly in the area.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
Yeah, what about a film that you used to love
that you have watched recently, You've rewatched it and you've
got no, I don't like this anymore, and probably because
you have changed rather than the film.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
Yeah, there is one. And I was really taken by surprise.
So I was when I was watching films with my
daughter that I had a lot of that you love
this film kind of, you know, I love this film,
you love this film kind And that didn't always work
out well. But we watched Blays and Saddles. She loved
it and I loved it. I thought, that's still really
still great. And then I said, oh, we should watch
it on Frankenstein because that's my favorite. I love Frankstang.
(26:57):
And you know what, I didn't enjoy it. I don't know.
I don't know what to change, but it felt a
lot didn't feel his light on his feet as Blazed
and Saddles, and there's a lot more out of sexist
humor in it. Yeah it was. I was really surprised
because I always remember that. Yeah, it was slower and
just not funny basically. I mean, there were still some
great moments in it or you know, Red like it. No,
(27:19):
no she didn't. So she was right and I was wrong.
But Based and Saddles were still great. I'm glad to
hear that. Yeah, what about what is the film that
means the most to you? Not necessarily the film itself
is any good, but the experience you had seeing the
film will always make it meaningful to you. Right, So
this is The Big Lebowski, which is one of my
favorite films. I'm a big con Butther's fan. I love
(27:41):
the Cone Butthers And when I first started writing films,
I think that was the biggest influence on me. So
some of the first sort of scripts, like spec scripts
that I wrote were very you know, there were just
terrible copies of Cone. But it's basically that kind of
you know, expect that kind of far go West black
comedy and they weren't the things that ended up writing
that got made. They ended up much more commercial. But
what I wanted to do was stuff like the Guns.
(28:03):
And I love The Big Lebowski. I think it's one
of the happiest of their comedies. And the reason it
means a lot to me is I've got a really
clear memory of Bridget, my my girlfriend then who then
became my wife. I just moved down to London to
be with her and we went to the Camden Odion
and there was a late night screening of The Big
Lebowski that just come out. I think it was like midnight,
you know, we used to do those midnight shows, and
(28:24):
it was packed and just we all loved it, you know,
just when it's when the whole audience is just loving
the film. And I just really remember that atmosphere and
it was like this, this is what's lovely about cinema,
when we're all together having the same experience of a
great film. Yeah. Really, Yeah, It's gonna really special place
in my heart. That's very nice. What's your second favorite
Time Brothers film? Fargo? What's your dad favorite? Miller's Crossing Great?
(28:50):
I love Millis what we're gonna say about fargu well,
Fargo for me, because I think I think Fargo might
be the first one that I saw and I and
I still think it's quite a particular tone even in
the filumber that's kind of I hadn't seen that mix
of darkness and comedy. And then I remember the bit
at the end when Marge's driving the captured criminal and
(29:11):
she says something like that, you know, there's a lot
more to life than just money, Like you can't understand
how he could have done this thing. It's the car
in the snow, and that music's a fantastic music swells
and it suddenly doesn't feel like a comedy at all.
It feels actually quite profound and tragic almost, you know.
And it's just there was something about that tone that
I thought, God, if you can capture that, you can
do anything, because you can do comedy with it, you
can do horror with it. You know, you can do
(29:33):
serious drama. It was just an incredible color that they
managed to capture him and Fargo. That's nice. What is
the filming most related to I find this quite tricky question.
So this is how I've interpreted it, Okay, And you
can just say no, that's not what it means it all.
So film was a big part of my childhood in
the sense that it was just on all the time.
There's every mountain there there was a movie on, like
a black and white movie or a western or a
(29:55):
war film, and sometimes in the evenings as well, and
we'd all watch things together as a family. So it
was very much like what I associated with my family,
and it was pretty It would have been you know,
like thirties, forties and fifties American cinema largely. And then
when I hit my teens, I remember kind of watching
things that were to do I was supposed to be fair.
There was like Star Wars and that kind of thing.
(30:15):
When I was like a kid, you know, and the
other kids at school we were into Star Wars and
HELLI and I guess as well. But I remember Gregory's
Girl and it wasn't This wasn't the sort of stuff
I was watching with my family, and it was just
what me and my friends got into. And you know,
like if you've been listening to your parents' records or
your older brother and sisters records, and then for the
first time you get your own music and you and
(30:37):
your friends are into and it's just yours. That was
what Gregory's Girl felt like, I've got like this is
just for us. It was a different kind of comedy
and it was you know, it felt kind of cool,
and I loved Claire. I was literally in love with
Claire Grogan like everyone else I knew, you know, So
that felt the first time whereas like all film can
actually be you know, connected to my life as a
young person rather than than kind of you know, the
(30:58):
family world. That's a nice way of playing another one.
Sorry I was a bit older, but it's definitely the
same thing because it was when I went to university
a little bit later, like I was twenty one or something,
twenty two, and I remember we all got into with
Neil Night and we like, we loved with Neil Light
and we quoted with Nail Night endlessly. And that was
another one where it was like, well, this is this
(31:18):
is our film. You know, this isn't anyone else's film,
This is ours. That one for sure, still love that, pet.
What's the sexiest film we've ever seen? Well, I was
quite young, but the one that I remember probably having
the biggest impact on me, strangely was What's Up Doc?
With Barbara streisand really yeah, and I didn't. I don't
(31:40):
think I knew what to do with the feelings that
this brought about in me in a bath. No, No,
I was more slightly more kind of innocent and romantic
than that. Like I really really felt like I was
in love with her. And I remember we were we
were decorating the living room and then scaped all the
wallpaper off and I wrote on the wall I love
Barbara streisand misspelled and then it got papered over. So
that's probably still there. Ah, But I was just mad
(32:03):
there from that film, but not in any other film,
just just that film. Did you ever meet her in
your in your travels? No, I never have a view. No,
I don't met her. Well, if you do meet her,
but if I do, I'm going to tell her, tell
her I love her, but only in What's Up? Dog.
Speaker 2 (32:20):
But listen, it's quite commic, it's quite specific, But I've
got the man wh is quite specific.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
You do need to be you're going to need to
wear this car again and talk exactly like this. But
other than that, what what what did? What's that term
now for a particular kind of female character that men
like manic MANI Pixy dream Girl. Yeah, I've got a
feeling to my shame, probably that the character was the
(32:45):
prototype for that. I'll just clear Grogan really and Gregory's girls.
So I'm obviously prone to these who are finding that
character attractive to a many pisure dream Girl well yeah,
but now I feel cheap and manipulated. I don't know
if that's true. And what's that we'd have to go
back and watching in It's so supossible. She's just a
very funny woman, is it. Yeah? And she is beautiful
as well. Yeah, what is O?
Speaker 2 (33:07):
There's a subcategory, Peter, and I know you make classy
things so obviously, but it's here is the question. It's
in every episode. The subcategory is traveling by and is
worrying why that's the film you found a rassing.
Speaker 1 (33:21):
I like, how incredibly embarrassed you look at You asked
me that? Almost ashamed of yourself? Do you ask me that?
Said every time?
Speaker 2 (33:27):
But it also the guests that there are some guess
where I'm like, yeah, fuck it, and some guys I've
known about it. And then there's people who make things
like ticket Teer just fe concour like talking like talking.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
Yeah, here we go. Fuck. You know. So I don't
know if quite discounts, but I think it should count
because it feels inappropriate. In Alien, but we used to
go to my friend's house at lunchtime from school and
watch Alien on video and freeze frame the moments when
to go on. Reba was in her underwear. Even though
there's I blowed everywhere, and it seems kind of wrong
(34:00):
to have found that arose in the midst of in
the midst of the horror, but we definitely did.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
I mean, that's absolutely Listen, given your classy this, I'm
going to allow that, even though no you get you're
going to get that, I'm going to allow that.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
Okay, I survived by classing the third, isn't I Yeah
you did, Thank God for that.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
What is objectively the greatest film ever made. It might
not be your favorite, but it is the ultimate pinnacle cinema.
Speaker 1 (34:30):
Okay. I mean, you know it's a nonsense question, don't
you know that? Yes, of course.
Speaker 2 (34:37):
That I would never answer any of these questions myself. Okay,
So the one I would toss in the ring for
this would be Barry Lindon. And that's partly because I
think it deserves to be a better and part because
I really love it personally, and partly because I think
it sort of hits a sweet spot between art house
and commercial cinema. I think, you know, in the way
(35:00):
the Kubrick kind of does. He's kind of he's not
like a full on artist. Nobody goes to see his
film's director, but he's he's way more artist than most
commercial directors. And why Barry Linden, of all his films,
I guess it's the one that it's a little bit
like Fargo.
Speaker 1 (35:15):
Actually, it's in the sense that it sort of starts
as a comedy and it's funny at the beginning, and
this seems full of life and a bit rumbunctious and
like it's going to be, you know, a sort of
picuresque series of adventures, and it just beautifully darkens and
darkens until it's heartbreaking by the end. And again it's
there's just a kind of tone that manages to carry
all of those things at once, like like Fargo does
(35:36):
it in a very different register, but Barrylnden has a
kind of real grandeur and tragedy to it by the end,
and it's beautifully made you know, in every level, just
beautifully made and just great, great cinema. All right, am
I right? Is it the best film ever made? Objectively?
Speaker 2 (35:51):
No, but I'm going to allow it because it's your episode.
Well your claise, you close, you're in. What is the film?
Speaker 1 (36:03):
You could or have watched the mized Iver and Iver again.
So there's loads and some of them are really I
bet everybody says them Casa blank. I've seen hundreds of times.
The Apartment. I've watched probably every year, at least once
a year. I love The Apartment. Quite a few of
the comfort films, I've got to say, farg I've seen
hundreds of times, bigger bout kissing under of times. But
(36:24):
then there's a thing that me and my daughter started doing,
which so it probably isn't there yet, but definitely if
I lived at eighty seven, it's definitely going to be there,
which is once a year. We watched a Lord of
the Rings trilogy. We've already done that for many years now,
so that's going to definitely get there. Okay. And that's
all of them, mind you, not just one oh the original,
not the Hobbits, the original three, not the Hobbits now,
(36:44):
but you're a fan of that sort of thing.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
I'm afraid to say that I'm not a fan of
that sort of thing, but I respect it and I
appreciate its existence.
Speaker 1 (36:53):
I can tell that your face you don't respect it.
I just do not.
Speaker 2 (36:58):
You could barely keep a straight faces said that it's
a computer game. Creatures walk along, have a fight, they
walk along, have a bigger fight. They walk along, they
fight the big boss.
Speaker 1 (37:08):
Yeah, are you talking about the TVC So are you
talking about I watched them all.
Speaker 2 (37:15):
I did see them all at the Imax every Christmas.
I went, and I admire the craft and the time
management that went into making it.
Speaker 1 (37:25):
Okay, well, we are going to have to agree to
different young men because I love them.
Speaker 2 (37:28):
Well, I do think, if I'm really genuinely, I don't.
In all seriousness, I respect them. I think I get
why people love them weirdly. I like science fiction. I
like horror, I like puppets, I like like, I like Labyrinth,
I like fantasy, but I don't I think I don't
like muddy elf stuff.
Speaker 1 (37:52):
I thought I understood. I thought I understood what the
distinction was going to be. But once you said you
like Labynes but not muddy elf stuff. I thought, this
is I think I loved the books when I was
a kid, right, No, yeah, and then Lord of the
Rings and I was a nerdy kind of fantasy reading kid,
you know, so I think it's that's why they work
for me if I've been a more robust child. Listen,
(38:12):
I'm very much in the minority.
Speaker 2 (38:14):
That's okay. I respect your decision, thank you, and I'm genuine, genuine,
genuinely know that it's good.
Speaker 1 (38:20):
It's just not for me. Is that fair? That's all right,
that's absolutely fair. Okay, Why were we talking about that again?
Speaker 2 (38:26):
Because yeah, but genuine question then necessarily really does love
those types of things? Well that specific thing. Is it
moving to you? Lord of the Rings? Is it like
what about it?
Speaker 1 (38:42):
Is it? Is it the camaraderie, is it the adventure?
What is it? Or is it all of it? The
whole thing? You know? What if you know? And I
have never ever thought of this until just now when
you ask the question, I suddenly thought, I wonder if
it's the same bloody thing about those who are loyal
and those because you know, they have to some GAMGI
has to stay loyal and get them all the way
to mortal and carry him on his back in the end,
(39:03):
and he's he's another one of those kind of quiet
but decent you know, same bloody story, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (39:08):
That's why? Okay, God, I like it. Well, now you
told me it's conclave with mad madils me.
Speaker 1 (39:15):
You know as well, l's on muddy. So I don't
know where you got that image from Hobbits. Hobbits there
you go, not even they're not that muny, but they
always in the mads. This lies of men in the mads.
I think it's wrestling that you've been watching by a
mistake and thinking it was the wings. Yeah, they keep going,
I am Lord of the ring, and then fuck, you're right.
Speaker 2 (39:39):
I've ever seen a simple mistake to make? What is
the worst film I've ever seen? Don't like to be
too negative. All films are very hard to make. It's
a tricky one.
Speaker 1 (39:49):
This isn't it? Yeah, for exactly that reason, Because I mean,
I've probably been involved in some of the worst things
I ever made, so I don't. I don't to pile
on other people. So I think that's I think there's
a big difference between and a missing a swing and
a miss I think that's okay. And you know, we
know there's a thousand ways for a film to go
wrong and there's only one way for the go right. So,
like I said, I don't want to, but I think
there's maybe an area where I feel much less sympathy
(40:12):
and tolerance. And that's where you feel there's a real
cynical money making, you know, just empty like you could
have done a good film, but you're just emptiy so
and you could pick any of those franchises where you
by the time you're on the fourth film, you think
there is nothing of worth here. For my one example,
just because it really stuck in my head, I remember
it was Joe's The Revenge, which to go from such
(40:36):
a perfect film as Joe's to this awful, empty, nonsense spy.
You know, I don't know if it was a three
or four. Do you know what it's interesting about?
Speaker 2 (40:44):
And I think this is the magic of film, because
I think there is a film for everyone, and even
the worst. Because Joe's the Revenge, which I know is
objectively a bad film, I think that might be the
first Jaws film I saw when I was like six
or eight, and I love I thought, you know what
I mean, so like, I know it's dreadful, but I
have like a software in my heart, so I'm like,
(41:06):
Jee's Wrende was so scary when I was like, I
think it was I'd heard about Jews and I think
that was the first one I saw.
Speaker 1 (41:11):
I'm going because you were only eight? Yeah, but did
you eventually watch the actual George though, and then go
oh no, this is great? No, I was like, god,
they really ripped off the revenge. Where's Michael Knee? But yes?
Speaker 2 (41:28):
Oh, also, Frank, You're right, Frank, I really loved Frank. Beautiful,
beautiful film. I love love the ending of that. I
love that song at the end. I really like that film.
Congratulations Anyway, there's a human that was the what's the
film that made you laugh?
Speaker 1 (41:44):
The vice? Well, sorry, this is really dulln't because I'm
just saying the same films again again. But if I'm
going to be honest and tell the truth, The Big
Labouts kid makes me laugh every time, even though I've
seen somebody often and with nil and it makes me
laugh every time. When they think Cole Monty's breaking into
the house. That makes me laugh every single time. That's great, Monty, you,
but for anyone who hasn't seen the film. He was
(42:09):
quoting and not calling me.
Speaker 2 (42:12):
Peter Straw, you have been an absolute delight, an Oscar winner,
if you will, you have been funny, fascinating, interesting, curious, deep. However,
when you were eighty five years old, you were on
a deck chair.
Speaker 1 (42:31):
I was I was only six.
Speaker 2 (42:34):
You lost year of result increased too. And because you
your dat, you know, like your stories.
Speaker 1 (42:44):
Betrayed.
Speaker 2 (42:47):
You're in a deck chair by a beach. Yeah, yeah,
I love your time. Put your scar on?
Speaker 1 (42:52):
Why not?
Speaker 2 (42:53):
And the son some's saying and in front of you
you saw your people, your people were and you lay
there and he attacking.
Speaker 1 (43:01):
He died. He didn't mention the ar attack.
Speaker 2 (43:03):
I'm telling you and everyone else in Brighton bee playing around,
playing around, sun goes down sometimes up everyone playing around,
Sun goys down. Sometimes everyone's about four weeks, five weeks.
Speaker 1 (43:17):
That's I mean, I'd be I'd be smelling quite badly
after For.
Speaker 2 (43:20):
I'm walking along Brighton Beach and I go always smells
of sewers down here and goes are you talking about
everything's so nice? I'm like, something's up anyway. There's a bird, absolutely,
there's birds all the seagulls just absolutely going at it
with this body, and I go, that's kind of be
a woin of.
Speaker 1 (43:36):
The show.
Speaker 2 (43:37):
Run there form they sucking out, and I go, come on,
get out of you guys, And I like, that's the
grimmest best scene you could possibly have painted for me?
And too forward in indianther Jones in the last persade
pumping away these birds get get away from him and
I go, come on, guys, how long has he been here?
(43:59):
And goes I was doing I was looking at my phone.
I got you got to look up for your phones
has been dead for five weeks. We get your limbs
and get your things. You have to put you in
the coffin. It's more of you than I was expecting.
There was a bird's nest in there. There's three birds
have made their home in you. Anyway, put you in
(44:19):
the coffin. There's no room in there. There's only enough
room to slip one DVD into the side for you
to take across to the other side. And on the
other side, it's movie night every night. What film are
you taking to show your people in heaven at the
seaside when it's your movie night?
Speaker 1 (44:34):
Peters st So this is a tricky one, but I
have gone for Las filmed the Last Detail because it's
stitches together lots of different things that we've been talking about.
And as much as it was one of those seventies
films I saw of my teens that made me think,
I didn't know sendemacabill like this, I mean probably it's
a It's a beautiful film. It's got that kind of
(44:54):
same thing that combers do with a strange tone of being.
It's quite sad, it's quite moving, it's funny, it's quite earthy,
you know, it's quite down to earth. Prak Nicholson's fantastic
in it. And also when I watched with my daughter
films that I've loved when I was young, and I
wanted her to love them, and I would thought she
wouldn't like The Lust Detail because it's quite blokey and
(45:15):
you know, foul mouths and it's got a bit of
a down ending. And she really loved it, and I
thought that's the power of a good film. It's sort
of you know, generation to generation still works. He still
speaks to us. So yeah, I'm going to go with
the Lust Detail. Peter's Johan, thank you so much. For
doing this.
Speaker 2 (45:31):
Would you like to tell anyone what to watch look
out for? Read coming from you in the coming months.
Speaker 1 (45:38):
It might be a while because which is this year?
But Berlin Noir?
Speaker 2 (45:41):
Okay, what would that be on? It'll be on Apple.
I've heard of it, Okay, because I told you about
it at the beginning. That's why you've heard of it.
I you have heard of Apple.
Speaker 1 (45:57):
That's true. Yeah, if you are Apple.
Speaker 2 (45:59):
If people haven't seen Conclave yet, I highly recommended you.
I also recommend you see Frank, which I really love.
Peter Joan, thank you for doing this. What a lovely time.
Good luck being a showrunner. It's really easy and you'll
love it.
Speaker 1 (46:13):
Thank you very much. I have a wonderful death. I
will stop the recording. Good day to you.
Speaker 2 (46:21):
So that was episode three hundred and forty six. Head
over to the Patreon at patreon dot com for his
last break Goal was Tamed. For the extra twenty minutes
a chat, secrets and video with Peter. Go to Apple Podcast,
give us a five star rating and rite about the film.
It means the most of you and why it's a
lovely thing to really really amas, we really appreciate it.
Thank you very much thanks to everyone for listening. Thanks
to Peter for giving me his time, thanks to his
Gruby's Pippins Distraction, Pieces of Network. Thanks to Buddy Peace
(46:42):
for producing it. Thanks to iHeartMedia and Wilfarwol's Big Money
Players Network for hosting it. Thanks to Adam Richardson for
the graphics and needs to lay them to the photography.
Speaker 1 (46:48):
Come and join me next week for another incredible episode.
Thank you for listening, but that's it for now.
Speaker 2 (46:54):
In the meantime, have a lovely week, and please, now
more than ever, be excellent to each others.
Speaker 1 (47:19):
Back back by backs as by a contact by bass.
Back back backs as by back back back
Host
Brett Goldstein
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