:00:24. > :00:29.Hello and welcome to Film 2016. I'm Edith Bowman.
:00:30. > :00:33.It's way past all our bed times, but we're live and raring to go -
:00:34. > :00:39.Tonight we're talking festive favourites -
:00:40. > :00:47.what gets you in a Christmassy mood when it comes to movies?
:00:48. > :00:56.Me personally, OK, people. 10am, Santa is coming. Santer, I know him!
:00:57. > :01:00.The details are on the screen right now.
:01:01. > :01:03.Right, coming up on tonight's show: Big Brother is watching you.
:01:04. > :01:05.Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars in Oliver Stone's real
:01:06. > :01:14.Race and revolution - Nate Parker directs and stars
:01:15. > :01:16.in slavery drama The Birth of a Nation.
:01:17. > :01:18.Fire up the photocopier and decant the eggnog -
:01:19. > :01:28.Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman star in Office Christmas Party.
:01:29. > :01:30.Plus, we ask High-Rise director Ben Wheatley for his tips
:01:31. > :01:33.for the top when it comes to movie making.
:01:34. > :01:38.Joining me tonight are top dog Peter Bradshaw and pedigree
:01:39. > :01:51.Happy with those? Very much so. Very happy. It's gold.
:01:52. > :01:53.Right, let's kick off proceedings with director Oliver Stone's latest.
:01:54. > :01:55.Hero, dissident, patriot and traitor - Edward Snowden's
:01:56. > :01:58.The former CIA computer analyst leaked thousands of classified
:01:59. > :02:01.documents to the press, all in a bid to reveal illegal
:02:02. > :02:14.Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars in Snowden.
:02:15. > :02:22.You wanted to be special forces. Why did you want to join the CIA? I'd
:02:23. > :02:29.like to help my country make a difference. The average test time,
:02:30. > :02:43.five hours. What should I do now? Whenever you want. Edward Snowden
:02:44. > :02:52.work for GCHQ in the United States. Think of it as a Google search.
:02:53. > :02:57.E-mails, chats, whatever. The whole kingdom is Snow White.
:02:58. > :03:02.He took classified information and to give it to journalists. That
:03:03. > :03:07.information revealed that the American government had a global
:03:08. > :03:14.mass surveillance system going on. They were spying on us and doing so
:03:15. > :03:23.illegally. Most Americans don't want freedom, they want security. Are
:03:24. > :03:30.there watching us? I went to meet him in Moscow. That's where he is
:03:31. > :03:36.sort of trapped with asylum. We sat and talked for about four ours. I
:03:37. > :03:42.personally believe he did make the world a better place. Every kid
:03:43. > :03:46.would grow up in a better world because of Edward. It's not often I
:03:47. > :03:49.get to meet someone like that. You're there is something going on
:03:50. > :04:02.that is really wrong and I can't ignore it. I just want to get this
:04:03. > :04:06.data to the world. Did you access an unauthorised programme? The
:04:07. > :04:11.government knows we have these documents now.
:04:12. > :04:15.There were voices in my professional life who said this is a
:04:16. > :04:18.controversial figure, he is polarising, you have to worry about
:04:19. > :04:23.the commercial liability of your career as an actor. I don't think
:04:24. > :04:31.those folks are wrong. I just couldn't really make my decision
:04:32. > :04:39.based on that kind of thinking. Watch yourself.
:04:40. > :04:47.Oliver Stone historically never shies away from important issues and
:04:48. > :04:51.characters. How did he fare? It is tricky to make because so much of
:04:52. > :04:57.the story is unknown. Edward Snowden hasn't told anyone an awful lot of
:04:58. > :05:02.what has gone on. Edward Snowden is a strange kind of movie hero. He is
:05:03. > :05:11.a dude of 30 in a polo shirt sitting behind a computer. What he does is
:05:12. > :05:15.he whips up this very brisk spy thriller. You have a scooter riding
:05:16. > :05:19.in Geneva. I think it is a very can he way of approaching the film. It
:05:20. > :05:27.is a little bit cartoonish in places. But I admire it. I was
:05:28. > :05:31.obsessed with the documentary. All we got from Laura's documentary was
:05:32. > :05:35.the point at which she started recording. This was about who he
:05:36. > :05:39.was, where he came from and why he made those decisions. I wasn't
:05:40. > :05:43.expecting to like it but I think that Oliver Stone socked it over
:05:44. > :05:48.with this incredible storytelling gusto. If he didn't know it was a
:05:49. > :05:52.true story, if you took it as a fictional spy thriller, you would
:05:53. > :05:56.think, what a great story. It is absolutely great. It doesn't have
:05:57. > :05:59.the pure shock and tension of the original documentary, which was a
:06:00. > :06:05.remarkable piece of work. I think this is his best work since Nixon
:06:06. > :06:10.and JFK. It is great from Oliver Stone. Is he the only person who
:06:11. > :06:15.could have made this film? We need characters like Oliver Stone, don't
:06:16. > :06:22.we? He is part of a generation, part of a culture, where computers are
:06:23. > :06:28.still a foreign language. The idea of a USB memory stick is thrilling
:06:29. > :06:32.to him for this --! You could do it the errant Sorkin where were you
:06:33. > :06:37.bypass the technology altogether. If people are waiting for the scene
:06:38. > :06:44.where the status bar loads of, it feels very slowly. It stores at 96%.
:06:45. > :06:48.That scene is there just like in every computer film gone back to
:06:49. > :06:54.1995. Oliver Stone commits to it. He makes a broad Hollywood version of
:06:55. > :06:59.the story. Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Snowden. I gasped when I heard him
:07:00. > :07:04.speak for the first time. He nails his voice. He is absolutely great.
:07:05. > :07:14.You can compare with Jesse Eisenberg and Mark Zuckerberg. Interesting
:07:15. > :07:17.bookends of this debate. The idea of the computer, Oliver Stone is still
:07:18. > :07:22.a little bit uneasy with it. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, such a good actor,
:07:23. > :07:27.really inhabits that role. He does his level best to show you what this
:07:28. > :07:30.guy was like. The point about Snowden of courses that he was so
:07:31. > :07:35.blank and that is how he got through it. He is an opaque character in
:07:36. > :07:40.many ways. You just have to wonder what it was like for him, what it is
:07:41. > :07:45.like for him living in this exile in Moscow. What an extraordinary thing.
:07:46. > :07:49.What can it be like for him to abandon his whole life in the United
:07:50. > :07:54.States? This film does a really good job of trying to imagine that. He
:07:55. > :08:01.has that going on and he also brings in the colour. It is Nicolas Cage as
:08:02. > :08:07.well. You get Nicolas Cage and you flip the dial on the back of his
:08:08. > :08:15.head not all the way to ten. You bring it up to about six. Nicolas
:08:16. > :08:20.Cage is about seven, which is about the right degree. Rhys Ifans takes
:08:21. > :08:24.it as a challenge. He rises. The entire screen is filled with rice
:08:25. > :08:32.evens at one moment. That's my greasy items. Where have I seen this
:08:33. > :08:36.before? The Wizard of Oz. Snowden's girlfriend, portrayed in one whereby
:08:37. > :08:46.the media at the time, is given more of a dimension. Shailene Woodley is
:08:47. > :08:49.an amazing actress. It is the one area of the film which felt a little
:08:50. > :08:52.bit old-fashioned. Oliver Stone has never been great with female
:08:53. > :08:57.characters. There is a sense that Lindsay starts as an independent
:08:58. > :09:01.minded young woman and ends up as a plus one. The arguments about where
:09:02. > :09:07.we're going to live, how we reconcile our careers, I think
:09:08. > :09:10.that's actually rather plausible. I can imagine those conversations
:09:11. > :09:16.actually happening. It is not all bad. That is the stuff that Oliver
:09:17. > :09:17.Stone can verify. The one thing Edward Snowden can talk about are
:09:18. > :09:19.the argument is with his girlfriend. Next is The Birth of a Nation -
:09:20. > :09:23.bought for a record $17.5 million Writer/producer/director Nate Parker
:09:24. > :09:27.also stars as an enslaved man in 19th century Virginia who leads
:09:28. > :09:47.a rebellion. You a child of God. You've got
:09:48. > :09:51.purpose. Nobody can take it away. These books are from white folks.
:09:52. > :09:56.They are full of things you people would not understand. You are
:09:57. > :10:03.special boy, Nathaniel. Study hard. Your slaves to know how to behave.
:10:04. > :10:13.People might pay good money to have them calm down a bit. Submit
:10:14. > :10:23.yourselves to your masters, not only to those were good and considered
:10:24. > :10:31.but also to those who are harsh. What you think you're doing, boy? I
:10:32. > :10:38.asked you a question. Learned your lesson, boy? Or, yes. I've learned.
:10:39. > :11:00.-- or yes. The story of Nat Turner. A story I
:11:01. > :11:05.had no idea about. What did you think? I felt it was a very fervent,
:11:06. > :11:10.heartfelt movie with conviction and some great moments. I have to say
:11:11. > :11:12.though that in terms of its writing and acting and directing, there is
:11:13. > :11:19.something very conventional about it. Almost kind of average. It took
:11:20. > :11:23.me by surprise. I would say the one moment of real audacity, rhetorical
:11:24. > :11:32.and satirical. Audacity in the film, is the title. Everyone knows that's
:11:33. > :11:41.it. It alludes to DW Griffith Spas -- DW Griffiths' film which sought
:11:42. > :11:44.to laud the Ku Klux Klan. There is nothing else in terms of
:11:45. > :11:50.sophistication, provocation or baldness. The director has compared
:11:51. > :11:56.his characters -- character to Braveheart. It is like the Passion
:11:57. > :11:59.of the Christ. The martyrdom scene, the hanging scene, is obviously
:12:00. > :12:06.influenced by the Passion of the Christ. If I didn't know, I would
:12:07. > :12:11.say that Mel Gibson directed this. It is his first film. Do you think
:12:12. > :12:14.in terms of a directorial debut... There are so many problems and
:12:15. > :12:18.summary flaws with the film. It has huge power. You will leave the
:12:19. > :12:25.cinema stunned into silence. What stays with you at the fact that when
:12:26. > :12:29.it is at its most brutal and horrific is the black characters are
:12:30. > :12:34.also stunned into silence. They are not allowed to speak. It is played
:12:35. > :12:39.out in the eyes. That stays with you. There are problems. I would go
:12:40. > :12:44.beyond that. I think the problem is that Nate Parker isn't interested in
:12:45. > :12:48.the nation. I think he's interested in Nat Turner and Nat Turner alone.
:12:49. > :12:56.That is the problem. Because Nate Parker is playing Nat Turner. Every
:12:57. > :13:00.close-up falls on him. No matter how much weight and gravity and horror
:13:01. > :13:04.there is to the story, it ends up being like a showcase for Nate
:13:05. > :13:06.Parker. I have a question about how the women are portrayed in terms of
:13:07. > :13:16.the points of view, the camera and how he deals with that as well. Yes.
:13:17. > :13:20.This is a film about rape. It is an old-fashioned revenge movie. That
:13:21. > :13:25.can't help but interlink with what we know about the director's Private
:13:26. > :13:30.life, the court case in which he was acquitted. This sees red purely from
:13:31. > :13:35.the male perspective. It sees rape in terms of male humiliation. And
:13:36. > :13:40.that is what is most troubling about this movie, I think. I don't think
:13:41. > :13:46.you even need to know about the court case. That has been derailed
:13:47. > :13:51.the film. Peter is right. The whole narrative pivots on the rape of two
:13:52. > :13:56.black women. They are the victims of the red. The film presents the
:13:57. > :14:00.husband as the victim. That is unforgivable. That is a line you
:14:01. > :14:04.don't cross. Where you point the camera, the faces and the stories
:14:05. > :14:11.you follow, that is what a film is. Nate Parker is putting the film in
:14:12. > :14:20.the wrong place. This came out after Sundance. He was acquitted for rape
:14:21. > :14:24.in 1999. Can you remove those headlines to watch this film purely
:14:25. > :14:30.as a film? I think you can to some extent. Weirdly it comes alive
:14:31. > :14:35.mostly when it's quoting scripture. You get this weird sense of
:14:36. > :14:39.impending righteous violence. The film achieves a dark, sinuous
:14:40. > :14:43.poetry. It also gestures towards the bizarre visions that the real Nat
:14:44. > :14:51.Turner genuinely had the corn becoming suffused with blood. Let's
:14:52. > :14:56.not mention the Angel! A very male Gibson scene. Those are strong
:14:57. > :15:00.moments. Ice think the film is almost frightened by its own
:15:01. > :15:04.revolutionary violence. It is almost bidding for mainstream status all
:15:05. > :15:09.the way through. It hems itself in. The most par-4 moment comes with
:15:10. > :15:15.Nina Simone's strange fruit. I don't know if that was Nate Parker's
:15:16. > :15:16.decision. She steals the film. A black woman's voices the strongest
:15:17. > :15:20.in the film. In just five films, director
:15:21. > :15:22.Ben Wheatley has made a name for himself as one of this country's
:15:23. > :15:25.most innovative and He's done horror, comedy,
:15:26. > :15:27.kitchen sink drama, and next year he'll tackle
:15:28. > :15:29.the all-guns-a-blazing-shoot-em-up So who better to talk
:15:30. > :15:52.tricks of the trade. Dear mum. I am not coming home.
:15:53. > :16:01.Yorkshire is lovely. Not like you said at all. I like writing. I am
:16:02. > :16:06.not the best in the world, but I often have to do it. There is a film
:16:07. > :16:13.I want to see and I am the only person who can do that first draft.
:16:14. > :16:18.Cannot keep a good man down. When you get a bad performance from an
:16:19. > :16:22.actor, it is not that they are bad at acting, but the lines are
:16:23. > :16:28.virtually impossible to say without finding bad. Would you like some
:16:29. > :16:38.tea? We could see in this script there were bits in it that would be
:16:39. > :16:45.hard to say. Jesus Christ, it's like a fucking mousse. One take on the
:16:46. > :16:53.script, of the script, things like that. Things like the problems of
:16:54. > :17:02.improvisation. They work for well that about ten seconds.
:17:03. > :17:07.I have got this thing, I like movies that are surprising or challenge me.
:17:08. > :17:20.Turnround. Thank you. It is marrying those things
:17:21. > :17:30.together, it is where the films I have been making live. Hill List Is
:17:31. > :17:51.Designed To Upset You. . Sightseers is binary. Either people
:17:52. > :17:59.are laughing or they are not laughing. Excuse me, you are going
:18:00. > :18:03.to pick that up? This is a site of natural beauty and geographical
:18:04. > :18:10.interest. I think you need to sort that out. People in general have a
:18:11. > :18:18.sense of humour, it is rare to meet somebody who is totally humourless.
:18:19. > :18:26.I hope you are going to pick that up. You can't pick it up with your
:18:27. > :18:37.fingers. Did you go to a private school? That is totally irrelevant,
:18:38. > :18:44.but yes. I thought, it is their entitlement. The entitlement to walk
:18:45. > :18:52.in the countryside without walking in dog excrement. There is no
:18:53. > :19:01.difference in directing movie actors, there is no hiding from the
:19:02. > :19:05.camera. We are not like wizards, they don't come on in cloaks and
:19:06. > :19:13.suddenly appear on set. It is just men and women doing their jobs. You
:19:14. > :19:22.are an excellent specimen. High-rise was a difficult challenge because
:19:23. > :19:27.different actors and different scenes and one actor will be in one
:19:28. > :19:35.scene, and another one will be in another scene, but they will never
:19:36. > :19:45.meet. I had to monitor that stuff to make sure. I can only go on my own
:19:46. > :19:50.experience on how I read the reviews for each film, which I don't. I will
:19:51. > :19:56.read the last sentence because the rest of it is all flannel. I read
:19:57. > :20:01.everything, look at Twitter and stuff and it is just noise. Some
:20:02. > :20:08.people like it, some people don't. It is a bit like a pub, everyone is
:20:09. > :20:18.talking. Did you like it? No. Did you? Yes. That is good news.
:20:19. > :20:22.Collaboration is good, but don't do everything people tell you.
:20:23. > :20:33.Directing is a kind of dictatorship, it is not fair, but that is just
:20:34. > :20:38.tough. You seem like a nice girl. We can't all be nice girls. It is out
:20:39. > :20:40.in March and it is brilliant. Right I've got some
:20:41. > :20:42.of your tweets here. We were asking what film puts
:20:43. > :21:03.you in a Christmassy mood? Linda says Scrooge. Mark says
:21:04. > :21:07.Trading Places, nothing gets me more Christmassy than seeing a man eating
:21:08. > :21:09.smoked salmon to a dishevelled Father Christmas period.
:21:10. > :21:15.Peter, Danny - what's the film that makes your bells jingle?
:21:16. > :21:21.Could we have this one. Cocktail sausages, photocopying body parts
:21:22. > :21:24.and moral hangovers. It's Office Christmas Party season
:21:25. > :21:26.again, but this is the Hollywood version starring Jennifer Aniston,
:21:27. > :21:28.Jason Bateman, but alas, And like the best parties,
:21:29. > :21:47.there's some shocking Somebody is getting fired. It is my
:21:48. > :21:52.sister. You are having a Christmas party tonight. It is a
:21:53. > :22:01.nondenominational mixer. Whatever you call it, it is not happening. It
:22:02. > :22:08.is cancelled. Idiot, I am looking right at you. We will still do you.
:22:09. > :22:16.The company is wanting to bring joy back into the company. This branch
:22:17. > :22:23.is failing, I am shutting you down. You have got to give us time to turn
:22:24. > :22:33.it around. If you can land this $14 million account, your jobs are safe.
:22:34. > :22:39.Walter, do you party? I used to. Officers have become safe in HR and
:22:40. > :22:44.lawsuits and what you capture on your phone, give them a wide berth
:22:45. > :23:01.the next morning. This is a call back to a wild time. Let's get
:23:02. > :23:07.mother F word drunk. 360 extras, so it was challenging at times. There
:23:08. > :23:13.was a lot of naked people committed to their background performing.
:23:14. > :23:16.Tonight, the decisions you make will have consequences that will haunt
:23:17. > :23:21.you for the rest of your professional lives. The only night
:23:22. > :23:29.of the year people live honestly, so that fascinated us. I love this
:23:30. > :23:42.company. What did you just do to him? I feel alive. Go and see this
:23:43. > :23:49.movie, so you know what not to do. Have either of you photocopied your
:23:50. > :23:57.bits at an office party? I sold them on eBay. I once left the document
:23:58. > :24:02.behind on a photocopier. If anyone has that, please send it into us.
:24:03. > :24:08.What did make of Office Christmas Party? I was rooting for it. When
:24:09. > :24:13.the executives commissioned it, it is like it's a wonderful life meets
:24:14. > :24:18.the hangover. It is simple. What is Frank Capra going to do with the
:24:19. > :24:24.cocaine in the snow machine and the Venus on the photocopier. He makes a
:24:25. > :24:36.different fist of it, if that is not a terrible choice of words. I think
:24:37. > :24:40.there is too much plot. Six writers. It is unnecessary because you are
:24:41. > :24:46.over estimating. You always see the little bit each writer has written.
:24:47. > :24:54.There really isn't an idea, this borderline, meaningless premise of
:24:55. > :24:57.we will save our firm by having a kick as Christmas party to which we
:24:58. > :25:04.will invite a high spending client and that will save us and we will be
:25:05. > :25:10.OK. Now, but. Let's get on with it and we have a single party movie. A
:25:11. > :25:15.bit like Sisters. It is all about the Koke, the prostitutes and the
:25:16. > :25:22.drinking. These movies, comedies like this, they are the repository
:25:23. > :25:29.for Hollywood. They gather together all their wildness and put it into
:25:30. > :25:33.these parties. When I mentioned the plot, which I think is
:25:34. > :25:39.overestimated, a lot of stuff about the future of the company. The
:25:40. > :25:45.brother and sister. The ups and downs of this stuff, you don't need
:25:46. > :25:52.that. As the party escalates into a full copper licks, you want to get
:25:53. > :25:56.back to that. There is chair wrestling, and it is a guy wrestling
:25:57. > :26:03.a chair and you want to see what happens with that. There is an
:26:04. > :26:11.amazing selection of comedy actors in this film and they have their
:26:12. > :26:18.moment. Kate McKinnon is a bit wasted. If I can use that? She is
:26:19. > :26:23.brilliant. Feature films, even Ghostbusters, never worked out
:26:24. > :26:27.properly the way to use her brilliance. They need to give her a
:26:28. > :26:34.leading lady role. This is still good. Jennifer Aniston. She rolls
:26:35. > :26:40.out the horrible boss routine. I struggled with Jason Bateman. I was
:26:41. > :26:47.watching and thinking, what is Jason Bateman. He is the result of a
:26:48. > :26:57.captive breeding programme between Ben Stiller and Tom Hanks. That
:26:58. > :26:58.would Jason Bateman. Let's leave Jason by now.
:26:59. > :27:00.Right, Peter, Danny, I've got my tenner here.
:27:01. > :27:14.I would say Snowdon. I would say the imaginary film with Kate McKinnon
:27:15. > :27:16.and Nicholas Cage which I will go and see this week with my imaginary
:27:17. > :27:17.friend. Sitting right here next week,
:27:18. > :27:22.for our Christmas show, is filmic, Happy Birthday Kirk Douglas,
:27:23. > :27:30.100 years old on Friday. Playing us out is a celebratory
:27:31. > :27:33.scene from Howard Hawks' 1952 Let's raise a glass to Kirk,
:27:34. > :27:39.a true Hollywood great. Thanks for watching
:27:40. > :28:07.and night, night. # W leave me.
:28:08. > :28:12.# W leave me alone. # I must go home.
:28:13. > :28:25.# My glass look so very empty. # My heart feels empty too.
:28:26. > :28:43.# Would a glass that is fall... # Make me think she is true.
:28:44. > :28:54.# Oh W leave me alone. # W leave me alone.
:28:55. > :29:07.# Remember, I must go... # Go home.
:29:08. > :29:09.I went up to her at the end of the class -
:29:10. > :29:13.she said, "Where did you copy this essay?"