Introduction

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okay we are recording so hello everyone

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good afternoon happy Monday to everyone

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who is sitting at home like most of us

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as you can see I’m in my home right now

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and I’m here with Hamilton filmmaker

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Terry Odette

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who’s also sitting in his his office

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from the looks of it I can see her

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blu-ray collection behind you which is

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pretty pretty great mine is elevated

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above my head and we’re here we’re gonna

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talk a little bit about Corpus Christi

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we’re gonna talk for a 10 or 15 minutes

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we’re gonna switch this into a live

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forum for our next film but just to get

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this conversation out and get the

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process started I thought we would so I

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guess I’ll quickly set up the film I

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hope that everyone who is out there

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watching has seen it if not I found out

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you can actually still click through and

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rent it through film movement in the art

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gallery of Hamilton so if you’re

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inspired to watch it this week please do

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it’s Janka Massa’s directory does the

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director it’s his third feature it was

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nominated for the Academy Award for Best

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International feature which is of course

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kora formerly known as the best foreign

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language category and I think quickly if

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you’re interested well we’ll talk about

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of this the or the end one of the

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interesting things is that this is

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actually based on a true story the film

1:27

is based it was inspired by a news

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article that the screenwriter wrote for

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his local paper and then he was he was

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approached by a producers to develop it

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into a script and thought well sure I’m

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gonna do it myself and and and see what

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we can do it so that’s how this whole

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thing started and yeah I don’t know

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Terry what did you think of the film

Corpus Christi Review

1:50

well I really liked the film I found I

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mean it’s right up my alley I kind of

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like these sort of most of my films have

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Catholicism locked in it somewhere

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so I even thought I was my first my

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reaction after watching it was like it

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it took no turn that I thought it was

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going to take I try I was guessing at

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the cliches that it would are the

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I guess that the turn said it would take

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and it actually didn’t and I was really

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really happy with that that makes me

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happy to be taking places young human

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human experience that that I’ve not you

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know that I’ve not experienced and that

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was certainly that way the character

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himself I found him really compelling

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visually he had just such a great look

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but also the opening scene I mean he’s

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he’s not an innocent guy and it’s brutal

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as hell and and then but yet he he’s got

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this incredible desire to be a part of

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to be able to be a part of a kind of the

2:54

community of a Catholic community which

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I found you know it’s totally against

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the way he acts okay

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you know but a number of instances and

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yet he turns out to be such a calm most

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like a christ-like character in the town

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which I thought was it just worked out

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really well yeah he’s definitely a very

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complex character and the you mentioned

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the the portrayal

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I think bartosz I’m gonna read his last

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name villainy Anna was pretty remarkable

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in that role for someone who I haven’t

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seen in a feature film before apparently

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he’s quite a renowned theatre actor and

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Pole in Poland yeah I just thought his

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performance was pretty remarkable for

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the amount of complexity within that

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character reminded me a lot of I don’t

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know if we haven’t discussed this

3:52

off-camera

3:53

Anders Danielson Lee who is starred in

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Yocum tears first two films reprise in

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Oslo August 31st reminded me a little

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bit about him oh yes those are fantastic

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films in their own right not that we’re

Polish Actors

4:10

here to talk about them but yeah

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something about the portrayal reminded

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me a lot of of Anders characterizations

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of those characters are pretty

4:19

complicated as well it’s wonderful and

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it’s a part of probably I’m so attracted

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to cinema

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not from North America is that it is

4:29

that most of the time I don’t unless I

4:31

unless you really get involved in like

4:32

French cinema and you get to know

4:33

various actors who are reprising roles

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and you see them all the time and then

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if they’re if they you know if they make

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any money they end up making some

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Hollywood stuff too and you know Isabel

4:45

who bear this thing you know the example

4:47

of panache

4:49

I wonder when I’m what I love about it

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is being introduced to these actors who

4:56

I I know nothing about them so I can be

4:58

easily taken in to their character but

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they’re also really good actors and they

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also don’t have any kind of pretty boy

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or pretty girl model look but they just

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they look like human beings he looks and

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and I’m impressed – no I wouldn’t have

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guessed he was a theatre actor I mean I

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can I can see that now but at the time

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when I’m watching it that I didn’t I

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didn’t qualify that I actually thought

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while they really found somebody who cuz

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cuz I think of that I think of that guy

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and I’m going if he moved to Hollywood

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he wouldn’t get a role except for thug

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in the back beating up guy you know so

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and I love I love that aspect of

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particularly like polish cinema and more

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of the Eastern European cinemas where

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you meet these incredibly looking people

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who have just a real look and the end it

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turns out there they’ve there are

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professional actors they were consider

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they work in film and we just never get

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to see them here in North America

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yeah it’s true it’s funny that you said

6:03

[Music]

6:04

that he wasn’t too pretty in fact when

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the cat when the director was casting

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the role and and like was thinking of

6:13

bartosh the producers thought initially

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he was too pretty for the role he did

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have long hair he was on a television

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show apparently in Poland where his

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character had a like like a certain look

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and the producers were really stuck on

6:27

that look and didn’t think he could

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actually have that raw kind of real look

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that he did it’s kind of funny that you

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mentioned that oh that’s interesting

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because it’s

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I’ll qualify the there’s there’s a very

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bland pretty look that we tend to go for

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in television and and and it just it

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there’s no pockmarks there’s no there’s

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no wounds there’s no interesting so he’s

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very compelling and good-looking but you

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know but not in that classical ya know

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sense that we’re necessarily accustomed

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to and yeah you see more mainstream art

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house yeah yeah you can see it more in

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French cinema I think but anyways that’s

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he perfectly portrayed it I love the how

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he got to be the priest it was you know

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it wasn’t overly contrived in it but it

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but it certainly I went with it yeah it

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it felt like it was like you know in

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layman’s Arab there’s that section where

7:32

Jean is hanging around you know we see

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he’s been taken in by the priest it’s

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kind of like at the beginning of it I

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felt like oh this is almost like they

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took that scenario and expanded it

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that’s fascinating yeah I didn’t think

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of that anyway so you know it it was

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because he becomes you know he very

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quickly I don’t think he becomes a good

7:55

human being or renounces his past I

7:57

think he just his other the other side

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of him

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the complexity of him is that he becomes

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is that he’s he finds his home he finds

8:05

his purpose his place I also think it’s

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maybe for someone who grows up as a

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troubled youth who’s gone through that

8:13

whole system through their whole life to

8:15

suddenly be in a position of authority I

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think one of the scenes for me that I

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loved was a it’s pretty small I guess

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it’s a small scene but the scene outside

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of the sawmill when they’re blind what

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he has to bless the sawmill and when he

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makes all the all the politicians and

8:30

the police and the leaders get down on

8:32

their knees in the muck and the mud but

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yeah I just saw that was such a

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beautiful scene where that kind of

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person who’s been under the system his

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whole life gets to kind of dictate what

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the people in power will do quite a bit

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about

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the church and state situation in Poland

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as well in that respect and met you know

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yeah which is you know what one of those

8:56

things are you know during the I mean

8:58

you know where we were John Paul the

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second was a Polish Pope and very much

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was against communism and and so during

9:09

the Communist era of course there’s no

9:11

there’s no you’re not allowed to go to

9:13

church the churches were discouraged and

9:17

then as soon as of course oppression of

9:20

the communist regime leaves everybody

9:21

flocks back to church again and so they

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they it’s very tied to the state and and

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and a problem I think like they

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definitely yeah it’s if there’s

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definitely subtext of that in the film

9:35

for sure yeah yeah I mentioned also that

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it was inspired by a true story so

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apparently the title comes from that

9:42

true story so it wasn’t I mean it’s it

9:45

was not the same situation at all it

9:47

wasn’t a JP from prison but just of

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someone being posing as a as a priest in

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a small small town in Poland and it was

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for four months dirt and it took place

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over the Corpus Christi holiday so

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that’s sort of where that ties into the

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story in the film another funny thing

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about the making of the film that I

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learned through this was the town where

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they shot the film actually it had a

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fake priest for almost two years and the

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residents were concerned that if their

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their sort of personal like their

10:21

situation was being exposed for

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ridiculed because they all fell for a

10:25

false priest yeah well look it happens a

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lot in Poland Wow

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I don’t think you can get away with that

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here in Canada no I don’t think so so as

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a film director yourself is there

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anything that you maybe picked up in the

10:41

direction of the film that you found

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interesting immensely competently

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directed like just a wonderfully

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directed film there’s nothing I thought

10:53

all the choices like for me I was

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watching it in that way too and it’s in

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I thought all the choices were great I I

10:58

got involved in the film and if I get

11:00

involved in the film

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I’m not watching the director and then

11:03

I’m really happy because I don’t really

11:04

want to be watching a director I’m in

11:08

comparison we’ve been watching Westworld

11:10

the third season and I’m finding it

11:12

immensely disappointing because I’m

11:14

seeing directors all over it and it’s

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kind of it pulls you out it takes you

11:20

out a story like this you have to have a

11:22

very competent and confident director

11:24

who knows when to when he or she needs

11:28

to know when to just when you’ve shot

11:31

enough when you have a scene and that

11:32

battle of course happens in the editing

11:34

afterwards but when you’re out shooting

11:36

it you have to make those choices – it’s

11:39

like I’m gonna spend about this amount

11:40

of time and this is all I need I thought

11:42

it was so competently done and

11:44

beautifully done

11:44

– and a music composition the score was

11:49

nicely placed I had like I really think

11:52

it’s a very good film you know in

11:54

speaking with my daughter Bridget we

11:56

watched it together and Bridget was she

11:59

said you know if parasite wouldn’t have

12:00

won that that she had heard that that

12:02

was the sort of the second film that

12:04

people were most impressed with and I

12:07

can see why I’m an unfortunately you

12:09

know hopefully we don’t see a remake in

12:11

the US starring Will Ferrell I mean it

12:14

seems perfectly set to have a remake

12:17

over here it’s the type of film that

12:18

would yeah could really be remade well

12:21

although I know what you were alluding

12:23

to and you said the relook will Ferrell

12:25

yeah and that’s that’s online at did you

12:27

did you see that remake it no no we’re

12:30

of course talking about the force the

12:32

force majeure remake that yeah yeah I

12:34

don’t know why I I find that almost

12:37

offensive I I can handle when David

12:40

Fincher does it oh yeah such a good

12:43

director it’s worth watching but I find

12:45

that offensive

12:46

I remember when Let The Right One In was

12:48

remade almost even weekly and as an

12:51

American film and it was like it was a

12:53

decent enough film that why you know

12:56

it’s it’s if you know if it’s all about

12:58

making money and not reading subtitles I

13:00

really like when the people like Michael

13:02

hanneke remake their own films

13:03

shot-for-shot and said screw fine I’ll

13:06

make up a good paycheck yeah you know

13:08

for the film I didn’t make a good

13:09

paycheck on and Cha so that’s I I I

13:12

really look I’m gonna try and look for

13:14

this director

13:15

for other works I’m not heard of this

13:18

director I do know he’s from that famous

13:21

polish you know school where everybody

13:25

who’s any polish director we’ve ever

13:27

heard of I’ve been so I really want to

13:31

see more Debbie are you have you seen

13:33

more of his work I haven’t but I did a

13:35

couple I did a quick search to see if

13:37

it’s possible to watch anything online

13:39

right now so his previous film to Corpus

13:42

Christi was called suicide room it’s on

13:44

iTunes right now so you can rent or buy

13:47

it off iTunes and his first feature

13:49

warsaw 44 is on amazon prime oh okay oh

13:53

look at that and he has a brand new film

13:55

that premiered March 5th in Poland

13:57

called the hater it was scheduled to

14:00

make its North American premiere at

14:01

Tribeca so who knows what’s what’s gonna

14:05

happen with that might be a clear yeah

14:07

there’s a there’s a very good chance we

14:09

could be a what’s up stuff coming out of

14:12

Poland right now – right like with the

14:14

with Cold War and and Ida a director and

14:18

absolutely magical Holland’s been I

14:20

appear her last I didn’t see in the last

14:21

film but I heard her last film is quite

14:23

good just it’s it’s it’s good to that

14:28

you know we’re seeing that that there’s

14:31

a bit of a surge there again they they

14:32

really have you know they’ve got their

14:35

kiss galovski and you know the the usual

14:39

sort of group but it’s but it’s it’s

14:42

good to see I’m they’re they’re a new

14:43

wave of almost of of us being able to

14:46

enjoy polish films here’s yeah it’s nice

14:49

watching successive sort of waves of

14:53

directors and that kind of stylistically

14:55

joined and obviously all those directors

14:57

came out of the same school so there’s

14:59

sort of that the new polish yeah like

15:01

the new wave of polish cinema I think

15:03

that’s so I guess I’m gonna ask you one

Dealing with sensitive subjects

15:08

more question and then we’ll we’ll set

15:10

up next or this come this current week’s

15:11

film what your last film fall which is

15:16

available on iTunes and Google Play to

15:18

rent you’re dealing with you know

15:23

sensitive subjects around the church

15:26

much like this film is different but

15:29

it’s

15:29

you know it’s a sensitive it’s a

15:30

sensitive issue for a lot of people so

15:33

when you’re working on a film that is

15:34

kind of tackling these difficult issues

15:37

that are sort of so deeply ingrained in

15:40

a culture that like the Catholic culture

15:43

itself that is such a like a huge

15:45

monolith like how do how do you approach

15:48

that material like how do you work as a

15:50

director within those types of difficult

15:53

stories and ones that no one wants to

15:56

hear well I think you have to have

15:59

confidence first of all going in and

16:00

saying I am gonna say this I am going to

16:02

tell this this is going to be seen I I

16:07

feel like I stand out eventually have to

16:11

stand outside of the story that if you

16:15

there’s any personal attachment to it or

16:16

anything like that and and and reconnect

16:20

with it enjoy and like like reconnect

16:22

back with a Catholic culture for me

16:24

being kind of a you know a

16:26

non-practicing Catholic having been

16:30

raised in it having been very very

16:31

engrained in it like I really was a big

16:35

part of my life for a long my youth my

16:37

youth I I think I just I know it I know

16:41

the flavors of it and I understand it

16:44

and I go back into it with respect the

16:48

fact that there are people who this is

16:51

important to them so I’m not trying to

16:54

you doing it not trying to make fun of

16:56

it but at the same time you do allow the

16:59

irony’s to to stand out the you know and

17:06

so I mean other than that I don’t really

17:09

think about it a lot I it’s just it was

17:13

such a part of my life that that it’s a

17:17

natural place for me to tell stories

17:19

from I mean if two of my four films are

17:21

set specifically within a Catholic

17:25

milieu so Roman Catholic and I think so

17:30

I so I really they stopped him the

17:34

writer of them so it started back when I

17:36

was writing it so by the time I’m

17:38

directing it I have a different

17:40

sensibility when I’m coming to it I have

17:41

the

17:43

I have the blueprint in front of me and

17:45

I am following that and you know and I

17:48

let other actors I let the actors bring

17:53

what they can I remember like st. Monica

17:54

teaching the little girl how to say they

17:58

hate our Father I mean she did she had

18:00

no idea and I was like well really okay

18:02

so you know but other than that like

18:04

Michael Murphy and fall he was an old

18:06

Catholic he he could bring that stuff

18:09

forward so it’s just more you know you

18:13

just that’s really how I approach it so

18:16

yeah I think so and I think it’s helpful

18:18

to people to hear from an artist how you

18:21

kind of work on that what your what your

18:23

process is and how you how you go about

18:25

that okay well why don’t I set up this

18:27

week’s film have you seen it yet oh yeah

18:30

now Wild Goose Lake is this week’s film

18:33

thanks to our friends at film movement

18:35

if anyone’s interested in checking it

18:38

out we’re gonna have a conversation

18:38

about that next week

18:40

it is art gallery of Hamilton calm aged

18:43

aged Film Fest calm you can find the

18:45

link we kind of talked about successive

18:48

waves scenes of filmmakers the new wave

18:50

of polish cinema the director Joe Yunnan

18:53

is a member of China’s eighth wave as

18:56

they’re calling the current current sort

19:00

of group of directors who are making

19:01

films his previous film black coals thin

19:05

ice won the Golden Bear at Venice in

19:07

2014 it’s a fantastic film I saw well

19:13

why don’t we talk about this film a

19:14

little bit next time we’ll show the

19:16

trailer and thanks to everyone for this

19:18

thing thanks teri for joining us and my

19:21

pleasure we’ll talk again soon yes

19:32

[Music]

19:40

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