Kriv with cast members Luke Hemsworth, Alice Braga and Simon Pegg
liked about the script, about the concept - that you had
all this beautiful turquoise water, blue sky, and then
you had red, blood-red, staining it all... and I love that
visual contrast. So I was really using the landscape as
a sort of stage or canvas to act out this story, and it's
just an interesting contrast. Using the Australian
landscape in a way that's universally interesting, not
just for an Australian audience, but for an
international audience. We have very powerful
landscape that takes all kinds of forms, and it's a great
template for the cinema.
Which leads me to my next question (which is a bit
of an old chestnut but I still think it's important)
do you think there are quintessential qualities to
Australian cinema, and if there are, are they
recognised overseas?
I think there are. I think we make all kinds of films,
for a small country we make a lot of movies and we
make a lot of really good ones. My favourite
Australian films are always ones that are inventive,
and use the Australian landscape and setting in a
universal way. They're not parochial, they use the
Australian setting as a springboard for great stories or
great images. The films that do that, Mad Max, Picnic
at Hanging Rock, even through to the Babadooks,
they take all the Australian qualities and enhance
them in a way that makes them universal.
This is a question without notice: I'm wondering,
just for fun - desert island scenario - which three
movies would you take with you?
Paris, Texas, Dr Strangelove and Lawrence of Arabia.
Brilliant, yes I approve of all of those! I know you
have certain projects lined up, but are there
specific genres, specific themes you want to
explore, as the years pass?
Oh yeah, I'd love to... I've made a western, and I've
made a family movie, I've made a thriller now now,
I've made art house dramas... I'd love to make a war
movie, I'd love to make an animated film, I'd like to
have a hand in all kinds of genres. So there's still a lot
more stories out there and a lot more genres to have a
crack at.
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