Politics
of soul searching
COURIER-MAIL
By
PARTRIDGE D
If
writer-director Peter Duncan could make Stalin amusing, who knows what he can
do with Australian politics?
Des
Partridge reports LOSING his leading actor for a week in the middle of shooting
A Little Bit of Soul caused little aggravation for
Not
when the actor was Geoffrey Rush and the reason for his absence was a quick trip
to
History
now records that Rush's trip was worthwhile. He came home with a Golden Globe
and then, two months later, returned to
Duncan,
who first came to the attention of Australian and international movie audiences
with his 1996 satirical comedy Children of the Revolution (with Rush in a
featured role opposite Judy Davis), recalled the Shine juggernaut was really
starting to roll when he was preparing to film A Little Bit of Soul around Glen
Innes in the northern New South Wales highlands in
late January last year.
``It
was of behemoth proportions, really,'' he said, ``but all the actors involved
in the shoot at Glen Innes were friends and we all
wanted the best for Geoffrey.
``Besides,
we knew that having him in the film would be good for our movie, too.''
Imagine
an Australian federal treasurer _ who eventually becomes prime minister _ who
worships the Devil and gets up to all sorts of hijinks
during weekend retreats at his country property!
``Inevitably
I know the jodhpurs and the squatter's hat will mean someone is going to draw
comparisons between Geoffrey's character of Godfrey Usher and Malcolm Fraser
but I was trying to be reasonably politically generic,'' said 33-year-old
Duncan, a former para-legal who admits to being
fascinated by Australian politics and history.
In
the film, AFI Award-winner Wenham and the busy O'Connor are rival scientists
and former sweethearts studying the human ageing process. They spend a weekend
in the country in their quest for research funds from a trust administered by
the federal treasurer's wife (played by Heather Mitchell).
``I
wanted to examine the way that people's lives become distorted _ the way people
sell their souls to achieve power, whatever they're involved in _ science,
politics, even the arts. I wanted to remind people `to thine
own self be true','' said
Duncan,
who works from an office in his
His
interest in film began when he was 16, and a 30-minute film he wrote and
directed won a United Nations junior media peace prize.
``You'd
think I would have been aware from then that film was what I really wanted to
do instead of going into law studies. But I am embarrassed to look at a tape of
the film now _ it's really so bad. I should destroy it but I haven't been able
to do that yet,'' he says.
When
the opportunity to play a bit part in the movie as a lawyer came up,
``It
was the fulfilment of a legal dream, I guess, to be
able to stand up in court in a wig and gown cross-examining the Australian
prime minister in a big murder trial,'' Duncan admitted.
To
find out what murder has to do with the prime minister, you'll have to see his
film.
Film
major Columbia-TriStar are distributing A Little Bit
of Soul in Australia and overseas after a deal was made at last year's Cannes
film festival, where Duncan found himself rubbing shoulders with Martin
Scorsese, Gerard Depardieu, Roman Polanski _ and the Spice Girls.
``I
couldn't believe
A
Little Bit of Soul was made for a modest $1.5 million, which Duncan and his
associates raised themselves.
``I've
nothing against working with state film bodies but their processes can be a
little slow.
A
Little Bit of Soul opens on March 19.