Miss Eagle was off to an early start this morning to fit everything into the day ahead. It was the 8am service at St Thom's here at Upper Gully instead of mooching around and doing the 9.30am. Then zooming along the Monash Freeway into Toorak and the Palace Como to preview Brenda Blethyn's movie, Clubland, with Brenda herself doing an interview and Qs&As afterwards.
Clubland is a tour de force for Brenda. If she was starting out on her career, Brenda Blethyn could use this film as a portfolio of her work in various genres - comedy, drama, pathos, sentiment. While Brenda carries this Australian movie, she has a wonderful cast of well-known and experienced Aussies supporting her: Frankie J Holden, Rebecca Gibney, and Phililp Quast. The movie is a showcase, though, for up and coming talents: the fair and beautiful Emma Booth, Katie Wall, the brilliant Khan Chittenden, and do character actors really come as young as Richard Wilson.This movie is both a passing of age and coming of age movie. Brenda's character, Jean, has seen better days and is trying to reclaim them. Her sons, Tim and Mark, are making their own individual ways to manhood: Tim battling his shyness and Mark grappling with his brain-damaged-at-birth hurdles.
The post-movie interview was conducted in expert fashion by Peter Krausz, Chair of the Australian Film Critics Association.
The director of this movie is Cherie Nowlan who also directed another brilliant rite of passage drama, the multi-award winning mini-series Marking Time, in which Katy Wall (Kelly) had a role. Marking Time is a great favourite of Miss E. 
4 comments:
Thanks for that post TP - I know Katie Wall from her primary schooldays with my own daughter - both her parents are highly creative people so her acting career is no surprise.
Ms Blethyn has always been a truly superlative actress and worth your early-start and journey.
If Sharon Stone had appeared at the Como,you wouldn't have bothered... or Gwynnie P, or Hilary Swank or Halle Berry (just thinking of actors who have Oscars that Ms Blethyn missed out on)
Thanks for dropping on by, bwca. Katie Wall was great in Clubland - her role was not large but her character had impact and Katie's vim and vigour provided that. I notice on her photos at imdb that she has blonde hair. In this movie she had dark hair. No, Sharon Stone definitely wouldn't get me out of bed and a doing early, perhaps Gwynnie - but I've seen her In the Actors Studio on Ovation - and maybe Hilary Swank, but then again maybe not because I don't make a point of seeing her movies like I do Brenda's. What's your favourite Brenda movie? I can just think about "Saving Grace" and it wreaths me in smiles and amusement. And not only Brenda - but that scene where Phyllida Law & (can't remember who the other actress was) have made a pot of tea out of...pot and are all a-giggly in the corner shop amuses me greatly, even in my memory. Blessings and bliss....
Phyllida Law is Emma Thompsons mother and gave a superb performance in an episode of Hamish Macbeth.
Is this Brenda Blethyn movie story about an actual comedienne?
I recall an Irish woman who used to be on the Mike Walsh show a lot decades ago, and she travelled around Australia with her husband doing her stand-up.
A very early Tom Hanks film is about stand-up by competing spouses and his wife is played by Sally Field. Being funny is serious business.
I've probably seen that Hamish episode - I think I've seen everyone (love Robert Carlyle) but can't quite recall that one. No but Brenda said the scriptwriter knew quite a bit about the club scene. Think the s/writer is English. I think the Irish comedian you mention is Geraldine Doyle. Was very well-known and popular. The Tom Hanks movie with Sally Field is "Punchline". It is my favourite Tom Hanks movie and yet when people talk about his work this one seldom rates a mention. I have never forgotten his final stand-up soliloquy.
Post a Comment