Snowden, The Birth of a Nation, Office Christmas Party Film 2016

Hello and welcome to Film 2016. I'm Edith Bowman.

It's way past all our bed times, but we're live and raring to go -

Tonight we're talking festive favourites -

what gets you in a Christmassy mood when it comes to movies?

Me personally, OK, people. 10am, Santa is coming. Santer, I know him!

The details are on the screen right now.

Right, coming up on tonight's show: Big Brother is watching you.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars in Oliver Stone's real

Race and revolution - Nate Parker directs and stars

in slavery drama The Birth of a Nation.

Fire up the photocopier and decant the eggnog -

Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman star in Office Christmas Party.

Plus, we ask High-Rise director Ben Wheatley for his tips

for the top when it comes to movie making.

Joining me tonight are top dog Peter Bradshaw and pedigree

Happy with those? Very much so. Very happy. It's gold.

Right, let's kick off proceedings with director Oliver Stone's latest.

Hero, dissident, patriot and traitor - Edward Snowden's

The former CIA computer analyst leaked thousands of classified

documents to the press, all in a bid to reveal illegal

Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars in Snowden.

You wanted to be special forces. Why did you want to join the CIA? I'd

like to help my country make a difference. The average test time,

five hours. What should I do now? Whenever you want. Edward Snowden

work for GCHQ in the United States. Think of it as a Google search.

E-mails, chats, whatever. The whole kingdom is Snow White.

He took classified information and to give it to journalists. That

information revealed that the American government had a global

mass surveillance system going on. They were spying on us and doing so

illegally. Most Americans don't want freedom, they want security. Are

there watching us? I went to meet him in Moscow. That's where he is

sort of trapped with asylum. We sat and talked for about four ours. I

personally believe he did make the world a better place. Every kid

would grow up in a better world because of Edward. It's not often I

get to meet someone like that. You're there is something going on

that is really wrong and I can't ignore it. I just want to get this

data to the world. Did you access an unauthorised programme? The

government knows we have these documents now.

There were voices in my professional life who said this is a

controversial figure, he is polarising, you have to worry about

the commercial liability of your career as an actor. I don't think

those folks are wrong. I just couldn't really make my decision

based on that kind of thinking. Watch yourself.

Oliver Stone historically never shies away from important issues and

characters. How did he fare? It is tricky to make because so much of

the story is unknown. Edward Snowden hasn't told anyone an awful lot of

what has gone on. Edward Snowden is a strange kind of movie hero. He is

a dude of 30 in a polo shirt sitting behind a computer. What he does is

he whips up this very brisk spy thriller. You have a scooter riding

in Geneva. I think it is a very can he way of approaching the film. It

is a little bit cartoonish in places. But I admire it. I was

obsessed with the documentary. All we got from Laura's documentary was

the point at which she started recording. This was about who he

was, where he came from and why he made those decisions. I wasn't

expecting to like it but I think that Oliver Stone socked it over

with this incredible storytelling gusto. If he didn't know it was a

true story, if you took it as a fictional spy thriller, you would

think, what a great story. It is absolutely great. It doesn't have

the pure shock and tension of the original documentary, which was a

remarkable piece of work. I think this is his best work since Nixon

and JFK. It is great from Oliver Stone. Is he the only person who

could have made this film? We need characters like Oliver Stone, don't

we? He is part of a generation, part of a culture, where computers are

still a foreign language. The idea of a USB memory stick is thrilling

to him for this --! You could do it the errant Sorkin where were you

bypass the technology altogether. If people are waiting for the scene

where the status bar loads of, it feels very slowly. It stores at 96%.

That scene is there just like in every computer film gone back to

1995. Oliver Stone commits to it. He makes a broad Hollywood version of

the story. Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Snowden. I gasped when I heard him

speak for the first time. He nails his voice. He is absolutely great.

You can compare with Jesse Eisenberg and Mark Zuckerberg. Interesting

bookends of this debate. The idea of the computer, Oliver Stone is still

a little bit uneasy with it. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, such a good actor,

really inhabits that role. He does his level best to show you what this

guy was like. The point about Snowden of courses that he was so

blank and that is how he got through it. He is an opaque character in

many ways. You just have to wonder what it was like for him, what it is

like for him living in this exile in Moscow. What an extraordinary thing.

What can it be like for him to abandon his whole life in the United

States? This film does a really good job of trying to imagine that. He

has that going on and he also brings in the colour. It is Nicolas Cage as

well. You get Nicolas Cage and you flip the dial on the back of his

head not all the way to ten. You bring it up to about six. Nicolas

Cage is about seven, which is about the right degree. Rhys Ifans takes

it as a challenge. He rises. The entire screen is filled with rice

evens at one moment. That's my greasy items. Where have I seen this

before? The Wizard of Oz. Snowden's girlfriend, portrayed in one whereby

the media at the time, is given more of a dimension. Shailene Woodley is

an amazing actress. It is the one area of the film which felt a little

bit old-fashioned. Oliver Stone has never been great with female

characters. There is a sense that Lindsay starts as an independent

minded young woman and ends up as a plus one. The arguments about where

we're going to live, how we reconcile our careers, I think

that's actually rather plausible. I can imagine those conversations

actually happening. It is not all bad. That is the stuff that Oliver

Stone can verify. The one thing Edward Snowden can talk about are

the argument is with his girlfriend. Next is The Birth of a Nation -

bought for a record $17.5 million Writer/producer/director Nate Parker

also stars as an enslaved man in 19th century Virginia who leads

a rebellion. You a child of God. You've got

purpose. Nobody can take it away. These books are from white folks.

They are full of things you people would not understand. You are

special boy, Nathaniel. Study hard. Your slaves to know how to behave.

People might pay good money to have them calm down a bit. Submit

yourselves to your masters, not only to those were good and considered

but also to those who are harsh. What you think you're doing, boy? I

asked you a question. Learned your lesson, boy? Or, yes. I've learned.

-- or yes. The story of Nat Turner. A story I

had no idea about. What did you think? I felt it was a very fervent,

heartfelt movie with conviction and some great moments. I have to say

though that in terms of its writing and acting and directing, there is

something very conventional about it. Almost kind of average. It took

me by surprise. I would say the one moment of real audacity, rhetorical

and satirical. Audacity in the film, is the title. Everyone knows that's

it. It alludes to DW Griffith Spas -- DW Griffiths' film which sought

to laud the Ku Klux Klan. There is nothing else in terms of

sophistication, provocation or baldness. The director has compared

his characters -- character to Braveheart. It is like the Passion

of the Christ. The martyrdom scene, the hanging scene, is obviously

influenced by the Passion of the Christ. If I didn't know, I would

say that Mel Gibson directed this. It is his first film. Do you think

in terms of a directorial debut... There are so many problems and

summary flaws with the film. It has huge power. You will leave the

cinema stunned into silence. What stays with you at the fact that when

it is at its most brutal and horrific is the black characters are

also stunned into silence. They are not allowed to speak. It is played

out in the eyes. That stays with you. There are problems. I would go

beyond that. I think the problem is that Nate Parker isn't interested in

the nation. I think he's interested in Nat Turner and Nat Turner alone.

That is the problem. Because Nate Parker is playing Nat Turner. Every

close-up falls on him. No matter how much weight and gravity and horror

there is to the story, it ends up being like a showcase for Nate

Parker. I have a question about how the women are portrayed in terms of

the points of view, the camera and how he deals with that as well. Yes.

This is a film about rape. It is an old-fashioned revenge movie. That

can't help but interlink with what we know about the director's Private

life, the court case in which he was acquitted. This sees red purely from

the male perspective. It sees rape in terms of male humiliation. And

that is what is most troubling about this movie, I think. I don't think

you even need to know about the court case. That has been derailed

the film. Peter is right. The whole narrative pivots on the rape of two

black women. They are the victims of the red. The film presents the

husband as the victim. That is unforgivable. That is a line you

don't cross. Where you point the camera, the faces and the stories

you follow, that is what a film is. Nate Parker is putting the film in

the wrong place. This came out after Sundance. He was acquitted for rape

in 1999. Can you remove those headlines to watch this film purely

as a film? I think you can to some extent. Weirdly it comes alive

mostly when it's quoting scripture. You get this weird sense of

impending righteous violence. The film achieves a dark, sinuous

poetry. It also gestures towards the bizarre visions that the real Nat

Turner genuinely had the corn becoming suffused with blood. Let's

not mention the Angel! A very male Gibson scene. Those are strong

moments. Ice think the film is almost frightened by its own

revolutionary violence. It is almost bidding for mainstream status all

the way through. It hems itself in. The most par-4 moment comes with

Nina Simone's strange fruit. I don't know if that was Nate Parker's

decision. She steals the film. A black woman's voices the strongest

in the film. In just five films, director

Ben Wheatley has made a name for himself as one of this country's

most innovative and He's done horror, comedy,

kitchen sink drama, and next year he'll tackle

the all-guns-a-blazing-shoot-em-up So who better to talk

tricks of the trade. Dear mum. I am not coming home.

Yorkshire is lovely. Not like you said at all. I like writing. I am

not the best in the world, but I often have to do it. There is a film

I want to see and I am the only person who can do that first draft.

Cannot keep a good man down. When you get a bad performance from an

actor, it is not that they are bad at acting, but the lines are

virtually impossible to say without finding bad. Would you like some

tea? We could see in this script there were bits in it that would be

hard to say. Jesus Christ, it's like a fucking mousse. One take on the

script, of the script, things like that. Things like the problems of

improvisation. They work for well that about ten seconds.

I have got this thing, I like movies that are surprising or challenge me.

Turnround. Thank you. It is marrying those things

together, it is where the films I have been making live. Hill List Is

Designed To Upset You. . Sightseers is binary. Either people

are laughing or they are not laughing. Excuse me, you are going

to pick that up? This is a site of natural beauty and geographical

interest. I think you need to sort that out. People in general have a

sense of humour, it is rare to meet somebody who is totally humourless.

I hope you are going to pick that up. You can't pick it up with your

fingers. Did you go to a private school? That is totally irrelevant,

but yes. I thought, it is their entitlement. The entitlement to walk

in the countryside without walking in dog excrement. There is no

difference in directing movie actors, there is no hiding from the

camera. We are not like wizards, they don't come on in cloaks and

suddenly appear on set. It is just men and women doing their jobs. You

are an excellent specimen. High-rise was a difficult challenge because

different actors and different scenes and one actor will be in one

scene, and another one will be in another scene, but they will never

meet. I had to monitor that stuff to make sure. I can only go on my own

experience on how I read the reviews for each film, which I don't. I will

read the last sentence because the rest of it is all flannel. I read

everything, look at Twitter and stuff and it is just noise. Some

people like it, some people don't. It is a bit like a pub, everyone is

talking. Did you like it? No. Did you? Yes. That is good news.

Collaboration is good, but don't do everything people tell you.

Directing is a kind of dictatorship, it is not fair, but that is just

tough. You seem like a nice girl. We can't all be nice girls. It is out

in March and it is brilliant. Right I've got some

of your tweets here. We were asking what film puts

you in a Christmassy mood? Linda says Scrooge. Mark says

Trading Places, nothing gets me more Christmassy than seeing a man eating

smoked salmon to a dishevelled Father Christmas period.

Peter, Danny - what's the film that makes your bells jingle?

Could we have this one. Cocktail sausages, photocopying body parts

and moral hangovers. It's Office Christmas Party season

again, but this is the Hollywood version starring Jennifer Aniston,

Jason Bateman, but alas, And like the best parties,

there's some shocking Somebody is getting fired. It is my

sister. You are having a Christmas party tonight. It is a

nondenominational mixer. Whatever you call it, it is not happening. It

is cancelled. Idiot, I am looking right at you. We will still do you.

The company is wanting to bring joy back into the company. This branch

is failing, I am shutting you down. You have got to give us time to turn

it around. If you can land this $14 million account, your jobs are safe.

Walter, do you party? I used to. Officers have become safe in HR and

lawsuits and what you capture on your phone, give them a wide berth

the next morning. This is a call back to a wild time. Let's get

mother F word drunk. 360 extras, so it was challenging at times. There

was a lot of naked people committed to their background performing.

Tonight, the decisions you make will have consequences that will haunt

you for the rest of your professional lives. The only night

of the year people live honestly, so that fascinated us. I love this

company. What did you just do to him? I feel alive. Go and see this

movie, so you know what not to do. Have either of you photocopied your

bits at an office party? I sold them on eBay. I once left the document

behind on a photocopier. If anyone has that, please send it into us.

What did make of Office Christmas Party? I was rooting for it. When

the executives commissioned it, it is like it's a wonderful life meets

the hangover. It is simple. What is Frank Capra going to do with the

cocaine in the snow machine and the Venus on the photocopier. He makes a

different fist of it, if that is not a terrible choice of words. I think

there is too much plot. Six writers. It is unnecessary because you are

over estimating. You always see the little bit each writer has written.

There really isn't an idea, this borderline, meaningless premise of

we will save our firm by having a kick as Christmas party to which we

will invite a high spending client and that will save us and we will be

OK. Now, but. Let's get on with it and we have a single party movie. A

bit like Sisters. It is all about the Koke, the prostitutes and the

drinking. These movies, comedies like this, they are the repository

for Hollywood. They gather together all their wildness and put it into

these parties. When I mentioned the plot, which I think is

overestimated, a lot of stuff about the future of the company. The

brother and sister. The ups and downs of this stuff, you don't need

that. As the party escalates into a full copper licks, you want to get

back to that. There is chair wrestling, and it is a guy wrestling

a chair and you want to see what happens with that. There is an

amazing selection of comedy actors in this film and they have their

moment. Kate McKinnon is a bit wasted. If I can use that? She is

brilliant. Feature films, even Ghostbusters, never worked out

properly the way to use her brilliance. They need to give her a

leading lady role. This is still good. Jennifer Aniston. She rolls

out the horrible boss routine. I struggled with Jason Bateman. I was

watching and thinking, what is Jason Bateman. He is the result of a

captive breeding programme between Ben Stiller and Tom Hanks. That

would Jason Bateman. Let's leave Jason by now.

Right, Peter, Danny, I've got my tenner here.

I would say Snowdon. I would say the imaginary film with Kate McKinnon

and Nicholas Cage which I will go and see this week with my imaginary

friend. Sitting right here next week,

for our Christmas show, is filmic, Happy Birthday Kirk Douglas,

100 years old on Friday. Playing us out is a celebratory

scene from Howard Hawks' 1952 Let's raise a glass to Kirk,

a true Hollywood great. Thanks for watching

and night, night. # W leave me.

# W leave me alone. # I must go home.

# My glass look so very empty. # My heart feels empty too.

# Would a glass that is fall... # Make me think she is true.

# Oh W leave me alone. # W leave me alone.

# Remember, I must go... # Go home.

I went up to her at the end of the class -

she said, "Where did you copy this essay?"