|
|
 |
'Josh Jarman'.
Principal actor Marcus Graham and writer/director Pip Mushin
were recently in town to promote their new Australian romantic-comedy
with a difference, 'Josh Jarman'.
It's a film that is critically acclaimed -not least by their industry peers and contemporaries - but due to its slightly offbeat and wry portrayal of behind the scenes funding for stage productions, it could also be a bit alienating.
"Yeah, I guess so," concedes Mushin when I suggest certain sectors of the business might not be best pleased. "I'd never really thought about that at the time because when you're making something you just do what you're passionate about. But you're right; it's giving a bit of a kick in the guts to some people in the industry, in that the commercial people with money can absolutely stuff up a product. So if that's true I might never get anything funded again," he vows, and feigns a nervous laugh.
"But I was never really consciously thinking about that at the time. I don't know, it will interesting to see when the film comes out but I think anyone who's been around for a while, be they a writer or an actor, director or whatever, will understand the theme and principles of the film regarding that area. As soon as you want to put on a decent sized production on stage or make a film, someone has to cough up the money and they want a return. They know it's risky, but they still don't do it to throw their money away. I mean, it would be lovely if it ran side by side with the artistic dream of the creators, but it rarely ever does."
'Josh Jarman' deals with a struggling playwright of the same name (played by Graham) who authors an extremely painful account of ill-fated love and deep-seeded hurt, only to have it turned into a virtual circus by the high powered producer controlling the purse strings, Stan Billows (Kym Gyngell).
"Not with this film," says Mushin when I ask if there was any of that here, "But I have in the past. Considering the film's premise, the irony is because I raised the money privately there weren't any funding bodies so we did have a lot of freedom with its making."
"Have you seen the 'The Producers'?" asks Marcus Graham, who is better known in television and live theatre circles rather than film. "That's set in the entertainment industry where there's a couple of dodgy producers and I feel that 'Josh Jarman' is like that, in that it has fun with the environment, but it's not actually serious and saying that this is what's happening out there and you need to know this. It's not that type of film; it's more tongue in cheek and taking liberties with the environment."
Initially, I was sceptical of Gyngell's ability to play Billows, only to be fittingly surprised by his performance. "Yeah, well initially I was looking to cast a more businessman type in the mould of Alan Bond," claims Mushin, "and I couldn't find the right sort of actor for that and then the casting agents suggested Kym. I'd seen a lot of Kym's acting work on stage, and we all know that he can do Col'n Carpenter and those wacky comic roles, but he's actually also a brilliant actor when it comes to the serious stuff. I then thought this was a really good idea because I wanted someone who can play comedy but in a three-dimensional way, and Kym was into that too.
"It surprised me that that part ended up the least like I'd imagined it to how I wrote it, but I was so happy to how it turned out."
You could loosely tag this as a 'Rom-Com' (romantic comedy), as one has to consider the intricate roles of the three very different, extremely problematic women that have suddenly entered and complicated the life of the shy Josh.
"Well you can call it a maturation film," proffers Graham. "Like 'Sideways' is a coming of age movie, but they're also middle-aged and one of them comes of age and matures, and I think that's the same with Josh. He learns and he grows and he's definitely more mature by the end of the film."
Steve Jones
 |
'Josh Jarman' is now screening at
Academy Cinemas. |
|
|
The latest issue
available now!
|
