Episode 17 Film 2012

Hello and welcome to Film 2012 with me, Claudia Winkleman. And me,

Danny Leigh. We're live and if you want to get

in touch, then please tweet or e- mail. The details are on the screen

now. On tonight's show: taming the tiger in Ang Lee's Life of Pi. Tom

Cruise is Jack Reacher. Do you think I'm a hero? I'm not a hero.

There is something magical about Salman Rushdie's Midnight's

Children. Saleem has the greatest gift of all. You can fly!

Plus Antonia, Catherine and Chris are here to reveal their films of

the year. Tonight, all the films we are

reviewing are big-screen adaptations of best-selling novels

and we start with Ang Lee's adaptation of Yann Martel's Life of

Pi. Where to begin. I was born and raised in one of the most beautiful

places on Earth. When my family chose to move us half-way around

the world, that was when my greatest journey began. It is a

story about a 16-year-old Indian boy. A storm hits. He ends up

across the Pacific on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger named Richard

Parker. It is a story of adventure, survival, hope, wonder. There is a

spirituality and faith. That is grand material. It gives you hope.

There are times in everybody's life when there is nothing you can do,

you feel helpless, alone, you feel there is nothing you can do that

can get you out of the situation. You have to believe. I would say it

was a great challenge. Some part of the book is great literature, but

unfriendly to cinema, water and tiger. Working on 3D can be

difficult. Everything - not everything - a lot of the things

seems to be uphill. I never thought a small piece of shade could bring

me so much happiness. We got lucky with the kids. I I love him so much

I want to torture him! I guess at some points you did feel like you

were in this Ang Lee bootcamp, but not torture. He is inspiro. Is that

a word?! We have been left orphaned. Without Richard Parker, I would

have died by now. My fear of him keeps me alert. I need to see it

again! Life of Pi could have been one big nightmare. It isn't. It's a

joy. It works. It works beautifully. I use "puefl" because it is a

beautiful fill -- "beautiful" because it is a beautiful film.

have had lots of communication and a couple of people are anti it. "It

takes too long in getting started." Would you like to reply? People are

hard to please(!) It is so visually stunning, the magic is that you

forget about the technical wizardry. Maybe it is me. I think this is a

film which makes you feel like a kid again. It is hugely original.

It is a one-off. Also, there is something deeply old-fashioned

about it. This is an old adventure yarn. It reminds me of Robinson

Crusoe. People are being mean- spirited. What do you think about

the 3D? You are totally immersed? think the 3D is an intrinsic part

of why this film works. I don't think Life of Pi would be the film

it is without the 3D. It is easy to be cynical. It is so open-hearted.

I'm not sure why you would do that. You can pick it apart because it is

flawed. Now and again one of the sunsets is a bit too pink, the odd

line of dialogue sounds like something from a self-help book.

I'm not a man that gets dewy-eyed about things. I think this film is

phenomenal. It is the film James Cameron would have made if he had a

soul. Oh my God! Next, Tom Cruise stars in the

thriller Jack Reacher. The film is adapted from the highly-successful

series of novels by Lee Child and is directed by Usual Suspects

screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie. Jack Reacher is a ghost, served in

the Military Police. A brilliant investigator. Troublemaker, too.

Then two years ago he disappears. You don't find this guy unless he

wants to be found. Excuse me, Sir? There is a Jack Reacher here to see

you. There's been a sniper attack in Pittsburgh and five people have

been killed. They quickly arrest a suspect. The evidence against this

guy is overwhelming. It is clear that he did it. Reacher takes one

look and realises something doesn't add up. He was framed. What does an

army cop do mostly? What you do with one minor difference. Every

suspect is a trained killer. He is a mythical character in the vain of

those western cowboys. Do you think I'm a hero? I'm not a hero.

philosophy is simple. Bad guys should be taken care of and

goodness should prevail. I will have to contend with one or two

enthusiastic wing men. Last two guys... Remember, you wanted this.

A lot of people have been talking about the differences between Tom

Cruise and Jack Reacher. The more that I watch the whole thing, the

more I ended up impressed by the similarities. Really? What appeared

to me about Reacher is his mind and the way he approaches the

situations. It is akin to who Tom is. I'm deeply grateful they have

an opinion. It is a mark of success if they care who plays the guy in

the movie. I predict most will come out and say, "What was I worried

about? This is the guy." I'm going to say it's never explained why

that man gives Tom Cruise the hat. That is a spoiler. What did you

think? Some fans of the Jack Reacher books are very angry. They

see a ten-inch problem. Jack Reacher is 6ft 5in and Tom Cruise

is a respectable 5ft 7in. A child would be better suited to playing

this role. I don't have a problem with that. The star of the film is

the dialogue, which stays true to the books. The plot is pulpy and

snappy. I think this is a sturdy, straightforward B-movie. Some of it

is genuinely hilarious. In that clip, there was, "You want me to be

a hero?" I swear he goes, "That's right, I'm a drifter." He only has

one top. "My top got wet, I washed it!" I will do whatever Tom wants

other than believe in lizards. I will follow him anywhere. This time

last year, I was saying Mission Impossible 4 was brilliant. I have

to read out one tweet. "Jack Reacher occasionally good, often

bad. Cruise, dyed hair, shirt off, a showgirl's cult in the making."

I'm happy to join that cult? secret weapon for the movie is

Werner Herzog. This is effective and efficient. People are being

weirdly picky. If the magic of cinema can take us out to sea with

a tiger in Life of Pi, it can take a funny actor sucking his cheeks

who have a valet to deliver his pants and socks every morning and

they can make us believe he is Jack Reacher. Yeah. Anything they say is

pointless because they are making the sequel to this film anyway!

sure they are. It's already happening! There is nothing you can

do about that. Next, Midnight's Children. Salman Rushdie adapts his

own book for the big screen. It tells the story of a group of

children all born on the cusp of Indian's independence from Britain

and who are endowed with magical powers. It is a story about the

generation that was born at the time of independence with India and

Pakistan. It is about two boys - one rich, one poor. They were

swapped at birth. They grew up having each other's lives. And how

their lives are shaped by the big events of their time. If you don't

have things, you fight! Saleem can bring us altogether. The life of

Saleem and India mirrors each other. We can show people a new way of

being. These magical children were special. You can fly. It was going

to be a world which was mixed in reality but rich in its imagination.

These strange children are a threat to the nation. You do have to take

a view about the kind of vision of the book that you are going to

offer in the film. I think it was very important to make a film that

had its own authority and that worked on its own terms. We all

have to stay together now. Everything else is breaking apart.

Religions, countries. It is about love. It is about tragedy. It's

about finding a home. In the end, I think it is just important not that

people think it is a good adaptation of the book, or bad, I

want people to come out thinking, "That was a good movie."

Conventional wisdom says no novelist should get involved with a

film doing their own book. Salman Rushdie produced the film, he

narrated it. This is a film which is overstuffed. You have every sub-

plot from Midnight's Children. By the end of it, it feels like you

have a read a 700-page novel. I found it exhausting. I wasn't

exhausted. I think the book is so beautiful. The book was one of my

favourites. I thought the film was good. I thought it was beautifully

directed. I loved the soundtrack. It was too long. Am I allowed to

say that? If they had just shaved something off? I didn't need all

that information. Midnight's Children is not a great adaptation.

I think it is a good book. There is terrific stuff happening in the

early part of this film. Yeah. There's vim and energy. It is the

further it goes on, the actors seem like they are drowning in the set-

dressing and you don't know whether you are watching a fairytale or a

deranged soap opera. Salman Rushdie is looming in the background the

whole time. The whole thing is overstuffed. It is jammed. Do you

think we were at a disadvantage, let me say this to you, if it is

not too long-winded, because we have read the book? Is it better -

I think arriving at a cinema and seeing this fresh might be a

wonderful thing to do? If you come to it without having seen the book,

you will wonder what is going on. Right. So by the time you get to

the end of the film and you are supposed to be having this rousing

crescendo - the pace is just dizzy. What is your film of the week?

is Life of Pi. It's the Christmas film this year. OK. For any kid,

with a sense of adventure, Life of Pi. All right.

Midnight's Children and Jack Reacher will both be released on

Boxing Day. Next, a look ahead to some of the films being released in

The Impossible chronicles how one family survived the 2004 tsunami.

When you watch these movies, you find yourself asking the questions,

"How would I deal with this?" I am sure I would never be able to keep

it together as well as Maria did and that's why I was always like

struck by her story and when I was talking to her.

You are always clear not to make this family's story, they didn't

survive because of their her owism, they survived because they were

lucky. Will you be all right? promise.

A man aims to lose his virginity in The Sessions.

When you are ready, we will start doing some body awareness exercises.

What are body awareness exercises? One of the unique things about the

movie, often when two come come together in a movie or real life,

they are looking out for themselves, whereas in this case, they come

together for one of them. They come together for him. You are going to

start to listen to signals from your body. That way you will be

able to have control. To find the humour was hugely

important to me and you know, Helene brings a bit of that, but

the scenes are out and out funny. I was in bed with a naked woman.

She complimented me on my my shirt and my hair and she complimented on

my penis. Am I sharing too much, Father? No, I am used to it.

Our lives are not our own. We are bound to others - past and present.

The thing that got me about the screenplay when I read it was this

idea of we are all connected and it doesn't matter when we are alive or

not. If you want to call it reincarnation or something. We are

connected by the things we create and the decision that we make.

They spent probably about two years thinking about this movie. By the

time we got involved, they had it very clear in their minds how this

all connected so where we didn't always understand it or we weren't

all aware of how we were connecting to one another, they always knew

that. There was a natural order to this

world and those who try to fe fend it -- offend it do not farewell.

-- fair well. 75 -year-old Dustin Hoffman makes

his debut with Quartet. It is about people who love their

art and love to perform and they have reached a stage in life where

their instrument is culpable to ageing, but their spirit has

actually enlarged. After doing this for 45 years, I

was humbled by the directors who you faced these problems that come

every day, that you don't share with the actors. The actor shows up

and you say, "Hey, how are you doing?" But you found out that you

lost the location and something is costing triple and an actor that

you wanted wasn't available. That's what I learned. That's the toughest

part. Django Unchained is a tale of

bounty hunting. It really is kind of ploughing

verging ground -- virgin ground a little bit. The movie will be

controversial because of the of the subjects it deals with and it is

risking a lot and it is chancy because it is violent and stuff.

What's your name? Jango.

Anthony Hopkins and Helen mirin play the Hitchcocks. There is a roe

ject out there - project out there waiting for you.

The story is the untold story about Hitchcock, all of us know the

brilliant genius film-maker, but what people don't know his greatest

collaborator was a lady he was married to.

Everyone said how important she was to him. How she was the only person

he would take advice from. Her opinion was the only opinion that

counted as far as he was concerned. Just think of the shock value

getting rid of your leading lady half-way through.

You shouldn't kill her half-way through, kill her after 30 minutes.

And Tom Hooper with his on screen adaptation of Les Miserables.

loved getting to take a long like I Dreamed A Dream and provoked so

much thought and emotion. I have been in many musicals and

many movies, one thing you have got got to be prepared to sign up to is

make a fool of yourself. It is easy to forget that we are

singing at all. I think what is key to this movie

that Tom took the bold decision to sing everything live.

The other wi which is making an album and making a long music video

which you lip sync. I think it added an element of

danger. When I saw the movie, I was blown away. I felt so grateful to

And there is an interview with Dustin Hoffman on the Film 2012

website. Look who is here, the Film... Let's not say the F word.

We are going it talk about your films of the year. You and I almost

had a tustle, but -- tussle, but we didn't. Yes, handbags at dawn.

Can you discuss what you are most looking forward to seeing. I can I

can only imagine that it isn't something made in the last 20 years,

but what are you look forward to seeing? These films are very old.

January at London's BFI Southbank is good and they have 21 comedies

from the 1930s and 1940s and some of them really familiar and others

that have have never been screened before and they are screening some

days that are three or four back- to-back. That's Way to spend New

Year's Day. These films are eccentric about love and they turn

the world up on its head and they are terrific and to see them on the

big screen would be a real treat. No, I'm in. I'm in! You didn't need

to say anymore. Three in one day! Let's do it. Let's do it. I will by

the popcornpm. What are you looking forward to? Mine has 2013 after its

brackets, it is The Impossible. It is a tsunami disaster drama which

is devastating and uplifting at the same time and features astonishing

performances, Ewan McGregor. They deserve Oscar nomination, it will

break your heart Docofthebay they deal with the CJI?

It is shot in a water tank. It is not long, long minutes of

grey, fake sea. You know how much I love that!

Catherine, what are you most looking forward to? Quentin

Tarantino. I will be going to see it again because I loved it. It is

just, it is his best one for a long time, I think. In Glorious which

lots of other people loved and now he is back to being his brilliant

self apparently? It has got a lot of the same themes, but it is a lot

more controlled and they go on this journey. It It rolls out, it it is

like a massive boulder going down a hill.

You loved Jango? Yes. I am not going to say too much more, but

Catherine Bigelow. I am going to say quickly, Lincoln.

That's all I have to say. Films of 2012, again I look to Antonio

hoping that maybe this was made in 20 2012, but I assume not? No, but

at least it is in colour. What is it? My film of 2012 is the most

poetic and literate, beautiful, exciting, action movie ever made

and it is the re-release of Laurence of Arabia. This particular

cut is David Liens -- Leans 1988 cut which has the intermission

music and the theatre of the thing is extraordinary and the most

beautiful performance by Peter owe I love it. Only an Antonia, the

film of 2012, Laurence of Arabia. Very, very good and yours? Mine is

a toss teen The -- between The Raid... And you brought to our

attention. I had to go something that connected with the public and

me and that's the Avengers. Comics don't always translate to the big

screen, but it was directed with style and wit and a fantastic

dialogue and fantastic moments with The Hulk. Let's have a look.

Enough. I am a God, you dull It is a good choice.

Moments like that. Tas good present if you are

wondering what to put in stockings, that.

Catherine, what is your film of 2012. We gof fought -- we could

have fought? It is a small film. It is a black British comedy and it is

from a director director called Ben Wheatley and it is a film about a

middle couple on a caravanning trip. It will put you off caravanning.

If you don't pick up this excrement, I am going to have to inform the

the National Trust. I don't think you are sorry.

Did he touch you? I don't know. I wasn't concentrating. Have a think.

Can you remember everything? Yes, yes, he did touch me.

This is preposterous. What else did he do? Details.

tried to put the puppy's balls in his mouth.

I am going to mention the kid with the bike and and The Master. Half

the people who see it hate it and you? I love la love Lamour. We are

off for Christmas, but we are back on the 9th January. Playing out is

Baz Luhrmann's, The Great Gatsby. I am certainly glad to see you

again. # I think about you day and night

# It's only right # I am certainly glad to see you as

well. # So happy together #