0:00:22 > 0:00:25Hello, and welcome to Best Film. We're live, and if you want to get
0:00:25 > 0:00:31in touch, the details are on the screen. Coming up on tonight's
0:00:31 > 0:00:35show: There's trouble in paradise as
0:00:35 > 0:00:41George Clooney struggles with family tragedy in The Descendants.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44Who is he? I would like to know who the guy is my wife was seeing.
0:00:44 > 0:00:49Worthington goes all out as Man On A Ledge as an escaped convict who
0:00:49 > 0:00:54will do anything to prove his innocence. Today is the day, and
0:00:54 > 0:00:59everything changes. And going the distance - Felicity
0:00:59 > 0:01:04Jones and Anton Yelchin play tragic lovers in Like Crazy. I am going to
0:01:04 > 0:01:14stay. You can't do that. Why? visa.
0:01:14 > 0:01:16
0:01:16 > 0:01:21We asked Danny to chat to David Cronenberg. Descendants stars
0:01:21 > 0:01:25George Clooney trying to raise two daughters after a father involved
0:01:25 > 0:01:29in a serious accident. 23 days ago my wife was launched from a power
0:01:29 > 0:01:34boat and hit her head. If this weren't enough... You might not be
0:01:34 > 0:01:40ready to hear this now, but she was lonely. Who is he? I would like to
0:01:40 > 0:01:46know who the guy is my wife was - seeing. What I liked about it is
0:01:46 > 0:01:49this man who has been cuckolded decides to go find his wife's lover
0:01:49 > 0:01:56and tell him she's going to die even though he wants to murder the
0:01:56 > 0:02:01guy. I liked that. Does he love him? Drop it, dad. You
0:02:01 > 0:02:06have way bigger fish to fry than confronting some guy. It's this
0:02:06 > 0:02:11awesome story of a family who is very dysfunctional and disconnected
0:02:11 > 0:02:15through very tragic circumstances are forced to become a family again
0:02:15 > 0:02:19and functional and open up communication in their household.
0:02:19 > 0:02:25Get out of my underwear, you freak. Back inside. Put on a swimsuit.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28Why? Now. A real good job you're doing. That's part of why I brought
0:02:29 > 0:02:33you here. You have to help me with her. I don't know what to do with
0:02:33 > 0:02:37her. He has been asked this question - what's it like for you,
0:02:37 > 0:02:41this bachelor, to play a father and all that? He says he's played a
0:02:41 > 0:02:44father before - in One Fine Day. I have never seen it. I can't say
0:02:44 > 0:02:49what he's done in this film is different than what he's done in
0:02:49 > 0:02:53his other films. I haven't seen all his other films. I know looking at
0:02:54 > 0:02:57him as an actor because I sense inside of him a full human being.
0:02:57 > 0:03:02My friends think just because I love in Hawaii I live in paradice.
0:03:02 > 0:03:12Are they insane? Our families are just as screwed up. Our heartaches
0:03:12 > 0:03:17are just as painful. You can make a good film -- you can't make a good
0:03:17 > 0:03:21film out of a bad script. The director I had wanted to work with
0:03:21 > 0:03:26a long time. I thought I was going to do it no matter what the script
0:03:26 > 0:03:31is because quite honestly I haven't seen him miss yet as a film-maker.
0:03:31 > 0:03:35One thing you feel in Hawaii is you feel your own punyness against the
0:03:35 > 0:03:41vividness and grandeur and force of nature. That's what I wanted to get
0:03:41 > 0:03:44across. I have really sort of tried to focus on the best screenplay as
0:03:44 > 0:03:49possible, and the second thing I tried to do is make sure the
0:03:49 > 0:03:54directors I am working with, we're on the same page and want to do the
0:03:54 > 0:03:58same kind of films. You can protect yourself as an actor if you work
0:03:58 > 0:04:03with really good people. It can hide a lot of flaws along the way.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07The film starts out with quite bannal shots of street life in
0:04:07 > 0:04:11Honolulu. By the end you have mountains and skies and more grand
0:04:11 > 0:04:16shots. Those are visual references to something going on inside of the
0:04:16 > 0:04:23man, inside of George Clooney's character. We're going to make it
0:04:23 > 0:04:29out OK - you and Scottie and me. Hello. Hello to you. What did you
0:04:29 > 0:04:32think? Alexander Payne has made a series of good films - that kind of
0:04:32 > 0:04:36crotchety middle-aged man. You would think it might be more of the
0:04:36 > 0:04:40same, but it springs a few surprises on you - it's more comfy
0:04:40 > 0:04:44and cuddly than that it's a snugly blanket of a film. I would say it's
0:04:44 > 0:04:47a chick flick in Y fronts. I don't mean that as a criticism. There is
0:04:47 > 0:04:51a lot I like about the film. It's often very funny. I think George
0:04:51 > 0:04:55Clooney is superb, you know? I think he's great as pinning down
0:04:55 > 0:05:00his character. He's flailing around, doesn't know what direction he's
0:05:00 > 0:05:05going in. He's even transformed himself physically, put on a few
0:05:05 > 0:05:08years. He doesn't look movie star handsome anymore. He's bland. That
0:05:08 > 0:05:13brings me to the problem I have with the film - the blandness. It's
0:05:13 > 0:05:16a little bit too neat, a little bit too pleased with itself. I think if
0:05:16 > 0:05:20you're after true emotional drama, you would be better off watching
0:05:20 > 0:05:26people go and shoe shop, to be honest. The film is being sold as
0:05:26 > 0:05:31it will make you laugh. It will make you cry. It will make you
0:05:31 > 0:05:35laugh,definitely, but if it makes you cry, a pregnancy test might be
0:05:35 > 0:05:39advisable - don't look at any puppies. Can't be pregnant again,
0:05:39 > 0:05:45can I? Fair enough. I'll tell you just this - you and I can say what
0:05:45 > 0:05:55you want, but my mum and her best friends - hello, girls, have
0:05:55 > 0:05:57already booked Man On A Ledge... Can I go? She'll eat you alive.
0:05:57 > 0:06:02George Clooney as a family man, they love it. There is a massive
0:06:02 > 0:06:08buzz about this film. We don't have a long time to talk about the Oscar
0:06:08 > 0:06:13nomination, but it was all about The Descendants against The Artists.
0:06:14 > 0:06:18It was about right. It was. George Clooney sat on the sofa talking
0:06:18 > 0:06:25about running - a brilliant shot of him running, then, of course, Tom
0:06:25 > 0:06:28Cruise, Mission Impossible, tiny, like a toddler - then there is a
0:06:28 > 0:06:32brilliant scene in this which George Clooney does brilliantly - I
0:06:32 > 0:06:37promise you Dr Shoals up a hill, a flapping, panting run - I don't
0:06:37 > 0:06:41know why I want to mention it, but it's a good scene. I think it's an
0:06:41 > 0:06:44adorable film. Sunday, 5.00pm, you're going to be delighted.
0:06:44 > 0:06:50a perfectly good feel-good movie. By the time he's thrown his
0:06:50 > 0:06:54daughters in the car and gone on a trip, you are thinking, it's Little
0:06:54 > 0:06:58Miss Sunshine. I just think that Alexander Payne thinks it's more
0:06:58 > 0:07:02high flat outing than that. The film is essentially Warhorse. I
0:07:02 > 0:07:08don't have a problem with that. loved that movie. What he's done
0:07:08 > 0:07:13with Sideways, with Election - he's made great films about really
0:07:13 > 0:07:17unpleasing characters who you get to know. Here, Matt King, George
0:07:17 > 0:07:22Clooney's character, he's such a nice guy to start with. I can't
0:07:22 > 0:07:31help but think that's cheating. It has a lot to recommend it. Next A
0:07:31 > 0:07:36Man On A Ledge, a thriller starring Sam Worthington and Jamie Bell.
0:07:36 > 0:07:42Breaking news - the eyes of the city are riveted - 20 storeys up on
0:07:42 > 0:07:47the man on the ledge. Any person who stands on a ledge 200 feet in
0:07:47 > 0:07:52the air, you think they're obviously going to commit suicide.
0:07:52 > 0:07:59It attracts so much attention. By doing that, he can bring attention
0:07:59 > 0:08:05to the real reason he's there. guy who stole the diamond? A $40
0:08:05 > 0:08:10million diamond I knew I recognised this mutt. What the hell is going
0:08:10 > 0:08:15on? What did his note say? I'll exit as I entered. He wants people
0:08:15 > 0:08:18to think he doesn't do it. Has he lost his mind? That twice of the
0:08:18 > 0:08:25set-up makes you second-guess his motivations in what he's actually
0:08:25 > 0:08:30doing. Is there a bomb? You asked for my trust - and then this.
0:08:30 > 0:08:34This is the moment you make your choice, remember? He steps out on a
0:08:34 > 0:08:38ledge and makes it feel real and shoot it in a way that's never been
0:08:38 > 0:08:43seen before - I think is a crazy ordeal, and the scope of that, the
0:08:43 > 0:08:47scope of how it's shot I think is sort of mind-blowing. You go out on
0:08:47 > 0:08:51a ledge, and for 200 feet up, for the first couple of days up there,
0:08:51 > 0:08:56your experiences are real. The fear doesn't go away, and I don't really
0:08:56 > 0:08:59like heights myself. You just kind of tap into it, and it helps the
0:08:59 > 0:09:03scenes roll. I don't know how Sam did as many hours as he did out
0:09:03 > 0:09:07there. I know after a certain point, you probably get a little bit more
0:09:07 > 0:09:11comfortable, but I don't think you can ever be totally comfortable,
0:09:11 > 0:09:18given that you're 262626 storeys up in the air - granted, you're
0:09:18 > 0:09:20strapped in, but leaning over - it - you know, it is still terrifying.
0:09:20 > 0:09:24He's probably someone who is not serious about going over. Now it's
0:09:24 > 0:09:30a question of, does he want attention? What's going on? We come
0:09:30 > 0:09:35to find out, he's on the ledge to cover up a massive heist he's
0:09:35 > 0:09:40running across the street. Nick, you see me? OK, Joey, you know what
0:09:40 > 0:09:43to do. Don't worry. Everyone is looking at me. I think this film
0:09:43 > 0:09:46falls into the realm of entertainment. I don't think it's
0:09:46 > 0:09:52about anything earth shattering. It's not trying to teach some big,
0:09:52 > 0:09:55huge moral lesson. Everybody is pulling for you, kid! It's about an
0:09:55 > 0:09:59exciting story that hopefully keeps people on the edge of their seat.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03The guy's on the edge of a building. Hopefully people stay on the edge
0:10:03 > 0:10:09of their seats. Today is the day everything changes - one way or
0:10:09 > 0:10:14another. MUSIC
0:10:14 > 0:10:18It's absolutely amazing - I wanted to use the word "masterpiece"...
0:10:18 > 0:10:21don't think you should use that word. No, no, no. It's obviously
0:10:21 > 0:10:26absolutely terrible, but in a brilliant way. I cannot recommend
0:10:26 > 0:10:31it enough. I just need to show you a still shot. This is Jennifer
0:10:31 > 0:10:37Lawrence -- genesis Rodriguez - there we go. She's gone to steal a
0:10:37 > 0:10:40diamond - who - she's wearing a pink push-up bra and a pink earring.
0:10:40 > 0:10:46The whole thing is breathtaking... I don't have any problem...
0:10:46 > 0:10:51course you don't have any problem - but what's going for it is it's a
0:10:51 > 0:10:55pleasurable watch. You and I watched it together. We hooted. We
0:10:55 > 0:10:58whooped. At one time somebody turned to us and said "He has very
0:10:58 > 0:11:05honest eyes". You sort of don't know which way it's going. If you
0:11:05 > 0:11:10know a 15-year-old boy and take them to see this, you'll be
0:11:10 > 0:11:15brilliant. I only whooped to make you feel better. Here, the opening
0:11:15 > 0:11:19scene, you've got a man. You have a ledge. The man looks at the ledge,
0:11:19 > 0:11:24climbs out the window, the man stands on the ledge - an overweight
0:11:24 > 0:11:27New York cop - what situation do we have here? We have a man on a ledge.
0:11:27 > 0:11:33He's not making this up. It's helpful, informative and useful
0:11:33 > 0:11:38because the script does take its time explaining why he's up there -
0:11:38 > 0:11:43I think it's supposed to be suspenseful. I found it confusing -
0:11:43 > 0:11:49Dog Day Afternoon - which is a piece of cheek - is it like that? I
0:11:49 > 0:11:57think it reminds me more of the Joel Schumacher film Phone Booth.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00Is it like that? No. OJ Simpson's scriptwriter - a touch of class. I
0:12:00 > 0:12:07think my favourite line is when a character is told, "You have to be
0:12:07 > 0:12:11careful, one of these days you're going to get your - BLEEP - stuck
0:12:11 > 0:12:15in a door." I think, that's not likely. Tell that to fas bender -
0:12:15 > 0:12:18no, it's an extraordinary film. haven't even talked about Sam
0:12:18 > 0:12:22Worthington. It's another great thing about the script because we
0:12:22 > 0:12:29have a male lead who can't deal with one syllable at a time. He
0:12:29 > 0:12:34cocks his ear the whole time like a little dog. Augie from The Artist
0:12:34 > 0:12:38is this year's big star. I think he may have some competition. You must
0:12:38 > 0:12:40see it, then call me. Man On a Ledge is on nationwide release from
0:12:40 > 0:12:48Friday, 3rd February. Now it's time for the top five. This week
0:12:48 > 0:12:53Catherine counts down her favourite Families - you can't live with them.
0:12:53 > 0:12:58You can't legally maroon them on an island somewhere, but they do make
0:12:58 > 0:13:05for some fantastic cinema as we're about to see in these top five.
0:13:05 > 0:13:10number five, they're creepy and they're kooky, it's The Adams
0:13:10 > 0:13:16family. More Tischia and Gomez fancy the pants off each other. The
0:13:16 > 0:13:22whole family attend charity events together, and the kids play
0:13:22 > 0:13:27contendedly on an electric chair. Children, what are you doing?
0:13:27 > 0:13:37going to electrocute him. But we're late for the charity auction.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40
0:13:40 > 0:13:45They are pretty sweet bunch. But we can only imagine how offended they
0:13:45 > 0:13:50would be that -- by that! The Texas chainsaw Massacre. Murderers
0:13:50 > 0:13:53cannibals they may be. But at least the horrific leather faced clan
0:13:53 > 0:13:58make the time to sit down together for a nice family meal. But even
0:13:58 > 0:14:02for a family of cannibals, their table manners leave a lot to be
0:14:02 > 0:14:06desired. He ties their dinner party guest to the chair anyway? At least
0:14:06 > 0:14:16the younger family members put fresh meat on the table for their
0:14:16 > 0:14:19
0:14:19 > 0:14:23At number three is The Royal Tenenbaums. The Royal Tenenbaums
0:14:23 > 0:14:28are one big messed-up brood. Coming from Wes Anderson, you probably
0:14:28 > 0:14:33wouldn't expect anything different. Now cough up. It is kind of hard to
0:14:33 > 0:14:38pick who is the most eccentric of this bunch. But it's probably
0:14:38 > 0:14:48patriarch Royal, and his shameless bid for the sympathy vote back-up.
0:14:48 > 0:14:58
0:14:58 > 0:15:07I'm dying. I'm sick as a dog. I'll What are you talking about? Where
0:15:07 > 0:15:17is the doctor? Wait a second. Listen, I'm not dying. But I need
0:15:17 > 0:15:22some time. A month or so, OK? I want us to... What wrong with you?!
0:15:22 > 0:15:26At number two, Chinatown. It is only after a long and tangled
0:15:26 > 0:15:31investigation that Private Eye, played by a rarely bettered Jack
0:15:31 > 0:15:37Nicholson, discovers the dark secret at the heart of Roman
0:15:37 > 0:15:47Polanski's contribution. I'll tell you the truth. Good, what's her
0:15:47 > 0:15:49
0:15:49 > 0:15:56name? Catherine. Catherine who? She's my daughter. I said I want
0:15:56 > 0:16:06the truth. For she's my sister. She's my daughter. My sister, my
0:16:06 > 0:16:13daughter. I said I want the truth! She's my sister and my daughter.
0:16:13 > 0:16:19doesn't get more dysfunctional than inter-generational incest. At
0:16:19 > 0:16:25number one, it is Psycho. She's just a stranger, or she's hungry
0:16:25 > 0:16:27and it's raining out. As if men don't desire strangers. And Alfred
0:16:28 > 0:16:33Hitchcock's all-time classic, neither Norman Bates nor his dear
0:16:33 > 0:16:38old mum are exactly pictures of sanity. But his mother's spiky
0:16:38 > 0:16:43speculation about Norman's sex like that really pushes his buttons. But
0:16:43 > 0:16:51in the end nothing gets in the way of a son's love for his mother.
0:16:51 > 0:16:55Don't you touch me, don't! The even if she's been dead for years! Put
0:16:55 > 0:17:02me down. Absolutely brilliant. We've had hundreds of tweets, I've
0:17:02 > 0:17:12got to read some out. The kids are all right. Somebody else says the
0:17:12 > 0:17:16Skywalkers in Star Wars. Home alone, we've had a lot for that. Joel says,
0:17:16 > 0:17:24if the family in we need to talk about Kevin isn't dysfunctional, I
0:17:24 > 0:17:34don't know who is. Next, Like Crazy. A story of first love story and
0:17:34 > 0:17:38
0:17:38 > 0:17:44Felicity Jones and Anton Yelchin. What are we going to do after we
0:17:44 > 0:17:49graduate? Don't think about it. Like Crazy is about two young
0:17:49 > 0:17:54people who meet when they are at college and on 19 years old. I play
0:17:54 > 0:18:01Anna. She is from England. She falls madly in love with a young
0:18:01 > 0:18:07American student called Jacob. Jacob, I've made a decision. I'm
0:18:07 > 0:18:11going to stay. I'm going to stay for the summer and then I'll just
0:18:11 > 0:18:18go back for the wedding and then I'll come back after that. As much
0:18:19 > 0:18:22as I'd like that, you can't do that? Why? They fall deeply, madly,
0:18:22 > 0:18:26passionately in love it. Then and I get deported and isn't allowed back
0:18:26 > 0:18:32in the country because she overstates her visa. The place you
0:18:32 > 0:18:35on the plane immediately and you return back to the UK. I think what
0:18:35 > 0:18:40makes it irresistible is everyone has been through it. Everyone has
0:18:40 > 0:18:43loved somebody. Everyone has made decisions about whether -- without
0:18:43 > 0:18:48knowing whether it was the right thing to do or not but they did it
0:18:48 > 0:18:56because they loved somebody. Hello? Do you want to come over? Come over
0:18:56 > 0:19:00now. I will just be here. Yeah. style and the way the film was shot,
0:19:00 > 0:19:04it's very documentary in its field. Drake said it was shot as though
0:19:04 > 0:19:07every scene was a sex scene because when you are shooting a more
0:19:07 > 0:19:12conventional film, when you do the sex scene everyone has taken off
0:19:12 > 0:19:17the set. It is with that intensity we made every film -- seen in this
0:19:17 > 0:19:22film. Don't be embarrassed... You are being grown-up, you are being
0:19:22 > 0:19:28adults? Yes. I think it is a story of fighting to get over somebody
0:19:28 > 0:19:33you can't get over. What it is like to go through the experience of
0:19:33 > 0:19:43debilitating your ability to move on. I thought I understood it but I
0:19:43 > 0:19:48
0:19:48 > 0:19:53didn't. Only the smudge of it. The If The Descendants is a chick lit
0:19:53 > 0:19:57for middle-aged men, Like Crazy is a week before hipsters. There's a
0:19:57 > 0:20:01lot I like here, the performances of the leaves are fantastic. When
0:20:01 > 0:20:05they are falling in love, it's a film about young love and falling
0:20:05 > 0:20:11in love, it's great, Swede and touching. It feels very real. It
0:20:11 > 0:20:14almost bears comparison to things like before sunrise and weekend.
0:20:14 > 0:20:19They captured perfectly those moments of falling for someone. But
0:20:19 > 0:20:22they very much are contained, those two movies, in that moment. The
0:20:22 > 0:20:28thing about Like Crazy is in the relationship they are forced to
0:20:28 > 0:20:31live apart. The film follows them over months and years. That is not
0:20:31 > 0:20:37great for the relationship. I also think it isn't that great for the
0:20:37 > 0:20:40film. One of the problems is the device which keeps them apart, the
0:20:40 > 0:20:43immigration and the visa, the mistake they make, and I know they
0:20:44 > 0:20:48are both supposed to be young but neither of them have sustained a
0:20:48 > 0:20:52recent head injury. You lose a lot of sympathy for them. When they are
0:20:52 > 0:20:56kept apart I understand that he is in a state and she is in London.
0:20:56 > 0:21:06But it's not like she is up a tree in Papua New Guinea. They could
0:21:06 > 0:21:08
0:21:08 > 0:21:13I thought it was a beautiful film. I think Felicity Jones is brilliant.
0:21:13 > 0:21:17You could watch her for hours. He is also fabulous. Their love is
0:21:17 > 0:21:21palpable. That scene when they are just touching each other, although
0:21:21 > 0:21:26not, through glass, I found it incredibly moving. I loved Jennifer
0:21:26 > 0:21:29Lawrence in it. She is not in it enough. What was interesting about
0:21:29 > 0:21:33her character, almost at the end you feel you don't know whether
0:21:33 > 0:21:37they should be together boast a maybe he is better suited to her. I
0:21:37 > 0:21:42think you think about whether love becomes a habit. I thought it was
0:21:42 > 0:21:47lovely. I'd quite like him to have made something other than just a
0:21:47 > 0:21:51chair. There are things I like about it but I disagree about
0:21:51 > 0:21:55Jennifer Lawrence. I think she should have been in it more. It is
0:21:56 > 0:21:59the director cheating. It is the same with Felicity Jones, this
0:21:59 > 0:22:03unsuitable British guy she cooks up with, you don't want them to be
0:22:03 > 0:22:08together. You want Felicite Jones and Anton to get together. You may
0:22:08 > 0:22:11be right, I may be better. The weird thing about this film is it
0:22:11 > 0:22:14is six months after they leave university. He's running this
0:22:14 > 0:22:19incredibly successful furniture design company, despite the fact
0:22:19 > 0:22:26that he can only design one chair. She is editing Vogue or something.
0:22:26 > 0:22:30Six months after university I was working in a video shop in Soho.
0:22:30 > 0:22:39David Cronenberg has been making feature films for over 40 years.
0:22:39 > 0:22:48This is his 19 feature, A Dangerous Method. Danny went to meet him.
0:22:48 > 0:22:53Male. Family. Child. Divorce. Professor Freud. I simply opened
0:22:53 > 0:22:57the door. It's for the young man like yourself to walk through it.
0:22:57 > 0:23:02Perhaps she's the one for experimental treatment. Tell me the
0:23:02 > 0:23:05first time you were beaten by your father. It excited me. Having made
0:23:05 > 0:23:08A Dangerous Method, I'm wondering what sort of relationship you think
0:23:08 > 0:23:12there might be between making films and being a psychoanalyst. There's
0:23:12 > 0:23:16a lot in common. There's an accepted version of an official
0:23:16 > 0:23:20reality that we are presented with. Then we have the desire to not
0:23:20 > 0:23:25accept that as the full reality, to dive underneath that and find out
0:23:25 > 0:23:31what is going on under it. I think there's quite a parallel in terms
0:23:31 > 0:23:35of what we feel our functions. should we put so much effort into
0:23:35 > 0:23:41suppressing our most basic natural instincts? Never repress anything.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45I want you to punish me. There seemed to be echoes of your earlier
0:23:45 > 0:23:50films scattered around. Are you conjures of those when you are
0:23:50 > 0:23:53making a film? I just address what the film was. It tells me what it
0:23:53 > 0:23:59once and I give it what it wants. That means not imposing some
0:23:59 > 0:24:04preconceived idea of what is Cronenberg or not. You have fans, I
0:24:04 > 0:24:09have fans of my early horror films who wish I would make those movies
0:24:09 > 0:24:15again. I can't give them that again. If they are really interested in my
0:24:15 > 0:24:18work there have to follow me where I go. If not, it's fine. People
0:24:18 > 0:24:24sometimes confuse all seemed to confuse the films with your
0:24:24 > 0:24:27personality. Is that something you still experience? Yet, even Martin
0:24:27 > 0:24:33Scorsese famously said to me that he was afraid to meet me after my
0:24:33 > 0:24:43first couple of films. I said, but you made taxi driver. I'm afraid to
0:24:43 > 0:24:43
0:24:43 > 0:24:51The flies seemed to be the movie which broke out and made you a very
0:24:51 > 0:24:54commercial prospect. -- the five. How was that? I thought it was
0:24:54 > 0:24:59possible that by accident what I do and what the mainstream once will
0:24:59 > 0:25:07converge. It will be by accident, though. It happened relatively
0:25:07 > 0:25:12early with The Fly in 1986. How are you doing? You tell me. Am I
0:25:12 > 0:25:22different somehow? It is still my most successful film. I've never
0:25:22 > 0:25:36
0:25:36 > 0:25:40And then moving into Dead Ringers, at that point there was such a
0:25:40 > 0:25:44degree of attention around you. Dead Ringers seemed like a
0:25:44 > 0:25:48deliciously perverse film to make. I've been around a bit and I
0:25:48 > 0:25:51thought I'd seen some creepy things go on in the movie business but I
0:25:51 > 0:25:55really have to say that this is the most disgusting thing that's ever
0:25:55 > 0:26:01happened to me. I doubt that. is it with you? You can't get it up
0:26:01 > 0:26:04unless your brother is watching? This was a bad idea. It was a movie
0:26:04 > 0:26:08which took me 10 years to make. All the classic Hollywood things
0:26:08 > 0:26:13happened. You'd be sitting in a room with an executive and he'd say,
0:26:13 > 0:26:17OK, you've got the story about twin gynaecologists. Couldn't they be
0:26:17 > 0:26:22lawyers? They both die at the end, could and one of them survive? The
0:26:23 > 0:26:27answer to that was no. Then there answer to you was, then no to you,
0:26:27 > 0:26:32too. We are not going to make this movie. I'm afraid I'm not familiar
0:26:32 > 0:26:42with these instruments, Dr. I've just had them made. They are brand
0:26:42 > 0:26:44
0:26:44 > 0:26:48new. No. Them one at a time. Give me the one that I asked for. Around
0:26:48 > 0:26:53that time when Hollywood was knocking on the door, there is a
0:26:53 > 0:26:57whole series of films that were almost David Cronenberg movies but
0:26:57 > 0:27:02didn't quite happen. Flashmanned is famously one of them. Top gun. Do
0:27:02 > 0:27:08you see any of those films as missed opportunities? Not at all. I
0:27:08 > 0:27:14just felt that I was not the Best Director for those movies. And
0:27:14 > 0:27:17probably abide done/dance it would not have been a success. We are
0:27:17 > 0:27:22sitting in Soho in London, I think that has a particular resonance
0:27:23 > 0:27:28because it was Westminster council who famously banned your film,
0:27:28 > 0:27:32Crash. That is correct. What was that like to experience at the
0:27:32 > 0:27:36time? The response to the film in England was amazing, amazingly
0:27:36 > 0:27:42horrible. But car crash is a fertilising rather than destructive
0:27:42 > 0:27:47event. A liberation of sexual energy. Mediating the sexuality of
0:27:47 > 0:27:57those who have died with an intensity that is impossible in any
0:27:57 > 0:27:57
0:27:57 > 0:28:02other form. To experience that, to live that. That is my project.
0:28:02 > 0:28:06have it banned, you feel that very ignorant people have too much power
0:28:06 > 0:28:09and really are doing it for absolutely the wrong reasons and
0:28:09 > 0:28:13don't understand your movie, in fact they probably haven't seen the
0:28:13 > 0:28:17movie. Therefore it brings home the hideousness of censorship. On the
0:28:17 > 0:28:24other hand, it kind of pleases you because it means that you have not
0:28:24 > 0:28:27yet achieved a status as a boring director. 36 years ago there were
0:28:27 > 0:28:32questions being asked in the Canadian Parliament about your
0:28:32 > 0:28:37moral fibre. Now you are travelling the world and almost being classed
0:28:37 > 0:28:42as an elder statesman. Does bat fruit you out? No, I'm amused. It's
0:28:42 > 0:28:47good to have a lot of medals and awards, so that when they come to
0:28:47 > 0:28:53arrest you you can show them to them and say you can't arrest me! I
0:28:53 > 0:28:57actually still think of it that way. Thank you very much.
0:28:57 > 0:29:01You can see more from that interview with David Cronenberg on
0:29:01 > 0:29:05the website. We will be reviewing A Dangerous Method in three weeks'
0:29:05 > 0:29:14time. Next is Bombay Beach, a documentary said in one of the
0:29:15 > 0:29:19poorest communities in southern You're fighting on the bus, and you
0:29:19 > 0:29:23threw a rock at another child. Remember that? You hit her in the
0:29:23 > 0:29:26head and made her bleed. Was it her? I thought it was William
0:29:26 > 0:29:36because his head was bleeding. There was more than one. There was
0:29:36 > 0:29:38
0:29:38 > 0:29:46three, actually. I know this one. This thing is
0:29:46 > 0:29:50for... Yeah. This one is Ritalin. What this one does is - you know
0:29:50 > 0:29:55when you run around a lot and you can't stop moving and you're very
0:29:55 > 0:29:59hyper? This is supposed to make you where you don't do that. It calms
0:29:59 > 0:30:09you down. Is that new, mom? that's not new. He has been taking
0:30:09 > 0:30:10
0:30:10 > 0:30:20that for almost two years. And this one is for... Am I crazy?
0:30:20 > 0:30:37
0:30:37 > 0:30:47you're not crazy. Don't ever think # I was thinking of a series of
0:30:47 > 0:30:48
0:30:48 > 0:30:56dreams # When nothing comes up to the town
0:30:56 > 0:31:00# Everything stays down where it's This is the most extraordinary
0:31:00 > 0:31:05documentary, and if you'd told me before - because all the films on
0:31:05 > 0:31:08different levels - are very strong this week. This absolutely blew me
0:31:09 > 0:31:14away. The creator of this extraordinary documentary, which
0:31:14 > 0:31:18has got a fantastic sound track from Bob Dylan and Beirut - it
0:31:18 > 0:31:23centres on these three characters in this very impoverished community
0:31:23 > 0:31:25- it's not condescending. There is no self-pity. They're all strong,
0:31:25 > 0:31:31brilliant characters. There is Bennie, the little boy, but Red,
0:31:31 > 0:31:35this older guy, is fantastic. And while you get a snapshot of their
0:31:35 > 0:31:39lives, you also get these choreographed imagination sequences
0:31:39 > 0:31:44like we saw with the boy and the fire engine. It is most powerful -
0:31:44 > 0:31:48you'll sit there and go ah, and it will just whack you in the face. It
0:31:48 > 0:31:53was extraordinary. I agree. The Salton Sea where Bombay Beach is
0:31:53 > 0:31:59set in is amazing. It's an inland sea in California during the '50s -
0:31:59 > 0:32:05it was a huge tourist resort. It died. Now it's a wasteland really.
0:32:05 > 0:32:08It's full of abandoned buildings and cars. You could make an hour-
0:32:08 > 0:32:11and-a-half full of just that footage. The director is much more
0:32:11 > 0:32:14interested in the community. There are 300 people in the community.
0:32:14 > 0:32:19She's picked three who live there. The story it tells is amazing. With
0:32:19 > 0:32:22a documentary, the best work is often done off camera because it's
0:32:22 > 0:32:25about building thees relationships with the people so they can go and
0:32:25 > 0:32:28be themselves if front of the camera. She does that brilliantly.
0:32:28 > 0:32:33You're right. The dance routines and dance sequences is such a brave
0:32:33 > 0:32:35thing to do. It sounds odd. sounds kind of crass and silly, but
0:32:35 > 0:32:41actually it works brilliantly because you hear the people
0:32:41 > 0:32:44speaking. You get inside their live, then you also get inside their
0:32:44 > 0:32:47imaginations. The dream sequences is how they want to present
0:32:47 > 0:32:53themselves. I would recommend this movie to anyone - it's so
0:32:53 > 0:32:59interesting. I know it's a small niche film, but your mum and Joyce,
0:32:59 > 0:33:03Bombay Beach, why not? Yeah, the Descendants and then Bombay Beach.
0:33:03 > 0:33:08What's your film of the week? Bombay Beach. That's my film of the
0:33:09 > 0:33:15week for the rest of the series taken care of. You? Bombay Beach I
0:33:15 > 0:33:18think, but you'll love Like Crazy, A Man On A Ledge - if you're 15,
0:33:18 > 0:33:22you'll love it. Now it's the Director of Four Weddings and a
0:33:22 > 0:33:29Funeral - the brilliant Richard Curtis.
0:33:29 > 0:33:34At the moment, I find I would watch 500 Days of Summer quite regularly.
0:33:34 > 0:33:39It's just so delightfully constructed. I find it very hard to
0:33:39 > 0:33:43watch a film again and again if it's just one narrative cut, but
0:33:43 > 0:33:47that film just has an extraordinary thing of flicking backwards and
0:33:47 > 0:33:52forwards through these events, and every single scene is fun and
0:33:52 > 0:34:00delightful. There is a fabulous completely unexpected dance number
0:34:00 > 0:34:03to a Hall and Oats track. # Twist and shout
0:34:03 > 0:34:07# Went out # And wrap yourself around me #
0:34:07 > 0:34:11And then there's a fantastic scene at the end of the movie where you
0:34:11 > 0:34:16see how he's hoping a night will go and how the night actually goes,
0:34:16 > 0:34:19and it's so like real life that we set up all of these expectations of
0:34:19 > 0:34:24the little flickers of a relationship, and many of the times
0:34:24 > 0:34:30the two are the same, and then suddenly they jog out of sync when
0:34:30 > 0:34:38he realises that she doesn't care about him at all. Nice.
0:34:38 > 0:34:44Your tie... Hi. How are you doing? Good. How are you? Good.
0:34:44 > 0:34:51# It's all right # It's all right #
0:34:51 > 0:34:56The sequence of Woody Allen films - sort of the fall from Annie Hall,
0:34:57 > 0:35:02Manhattan, Hannah and her Sisters, Crimes and Misdemeanors - that's
0:35:02 > 0:35:07the most perfect curve for me as a director, and I never stop finding
0:35:08 > 0:35:14Woody Allen funny. One crawled behind the refrigerator. The thing
0:35:14 > 0:35:17about Annie Hall is every sketch is either funny or funny and
0:35:17 > 0:35:22profoundly meaningful about human relationships. He found this way of
0:35:22 > 0:35:25telling big truths through jokes, so the famous scene in which what
0:35:25 > 0:35:28he's saying is interpreted by something completely different in
0:35:28 > 0:35:33subtitles is just all our lives. Did you do those photographs in
0:35:33 > 0:35:41there or what? Yeah. Yeah. I sort of dabble around, you know? They're
0:35:41 > 0:35:44wonderful, you know? They have a quality. Well, I would like to take
0:35:44 > 0:35:50a serious photography course. Photography is interesting because
0:35:50 > 0:35:57it's a new art form and a set of aesthetic criteria haven't emerged
0:35:57 > 0:35:59yet. Breaking Away is a really great cluster of incredibly well-
0:35:59 > 0:36:03characterised friends. There are four different friends, completely
0:36:03 > 0:36:07different, completely clear, and very funny together. It was
0:36:07 > 0:36:17somewhere right along here that I lost all interest in life. It's a
0:36:17 > 0:36:21real three-layered film and shot in a very kind of odd, relaxed, almost
0:36:21 > 0:36:24documentary way. Even if a bicycling film seems an odd thing
0:36:24 > 0:36:30to watch, this is the great bicycling film.
0:36:30 > 0:36:34MUSIC This talk of Guilty Pleasures,
0:36:34 > 0:36:38they're never really guilty, never things people are guilty about,
0:36:38 > 0:36:46whereas my guilty pleasure is genuinely guilty in that between
0:36:46 > 0:36:51the age of 18 and 22, my favourite films were definitely Emanuel 1, 2
0:36:51 > 0:36:55and 3. I have something to tell you. It's not easy to say. The second
0:36:55 > 0:37:01person I'd really fallen in love with in a hard-core way in the
0:37:01 > 0:37:05movies was Sylvia Crystal, in the first, then Julie Andrews some
0:37:05 > 0:37:08they're different levels of style and dress. I have never heard her
0:37:08 > 0:37:18voice. That's something that really worries me. All I have heard is
0:37:18 > 0:37:19
0:37:19 > 0:37:24this incredibly naff voice-over important thing - to have orgasms -
0:37:24 > 0:37:32frequently. The best guilty pleasure ever. Isn't it? That's
0:37:32 > 0:37:35brilliant. I couldn't believe it. That's all for tonight. In next
0:37:35 > 0:37:37week's show we'll be reviewing Carnage; Martha, Marcy, May,
0:37:37 > 0:37:40Marlene; Chronicle and Young Adult. Playing us out tonight, we
0:37:40 > 0:37:50celebrate the 21st Anniversary of Thelma and Lousie. Thank you for
0:37:50 > 0:37:51
0:37:51 > 0:37:56watching. Open the trunk. Want to step into the trunk, please?
0:37:56 > 0:38:01Please! I have a wife and kids. Please don't. You do? Well, you're
0:38:01 > 0:38:06lucky. You be sweet to them, especially your wife. My husband
0:38:06 > 0:38:11wasn't sweet to me. Look how I turned out. Go on. Get in there.
0:38:11 > 0:38:19Wait a sec. Excuse me. Wait a minute. Officer, could I have your
0:38:19 > 0:38:29belt, please? Extra ammo. Good idea. Could I trade that with you maybe?
0:38:29 > 0:38:31