Kermode & Mayo’s Take - Penelope Wilton, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Little Richard: I Am Everything, Polite Society & Top 10 including Pope's Exorcist

Episode Date: April 28, 2023

Penelope Wilton talks about the logistics of filming The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, and what it was like working alongside Jim Broadbent. Following their Easter break, Mark reviews ‘The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry’ - an upcoming British drama film directed by Hettie Macdonald about the lengths one man will go to, to see his dying friend; ‘Little Richard: I Am Everything’ which depicts the life of Rock n Roll legend; ‘Polite Society’ which covers one sister’s attempt at the most ambitious of all wedding heists in the name of independence and sisterhood. Time Codes (relevant only when you are part of the Vanguard): 11:58 Polite Society Review 19:07 Box Office Top 10 (including Pope’s Exorcist review) 28:34 Penelope Wilton interview 42:20 The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry Review 50:06 Laughter Lift 56:26 Little Richard: I Am Everything Review 01:08:22 What’s On You can contact the show by emailing [e-mail] or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/take Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hi, esteemed podcast listeners, Simon Mayer. A Mark Kermode here. I'm excited to let you know that the new season of the Crown and the Crown, the official podcast, returns on 16th of November to accompany the sixth and final season of the Netflix epic Royal Drama Series. Very exciting, especially because Superstar and friend of the show Edith Bowman hosts this one.

Indeed, Edith will take you behind the scenes. You can also catch up with the story so far by searching the Crown, the official podcast, wherever you get your podcast. Subscribe now and get the new series of The Crown, the official podcast first on November the 16th. But you're right, Mark, in general. Yes. Anyone who thought that the government alert message was a way of getting inside your brain and infecting you with the government stuff.

At one minute to three on Sunday afternoon, anyone who thought that was in any way suspicious is an idiot. Is by definition an idiot. Absolute, incontrovertible idiots. Because anyone who knows anything knows that in many countries it's used very wisely and very usefully to tell you, by the way, there's a flood coming or there's a, like in Iceland, for example, that everyone has it for volcanoes and earthquakes. In general, it's quite a good idea.

Have you been vaccinated? Were you only believed that because they put rope or Android bots into your arm and now you're owned by whoever he's? Bill, Bill, was he Bill Gates? Bill Sykes. Now you're owned by Bill Sykes. Anyway, what an incredible parade of elunacy that was. Anyway, we're back. of elunacy that was.

Anyway, we're back. Did yours? When your phone went off, did it, because I knew it was coming all day. I was quite excited about it. And then, of course, four minutes beforehand, I forgot. I didn't feel we were driving down the A12 and all the news had been saying, in two hours time this is going to happen. One hour's time this is going to happen.

And then when it happened, I was kind of thrilled that my phone was making noise, it had never made. Yeah, that's right, because it was a new noise, wasn't it? Who knew that it could do that? And I thought that was good. But actually, when it went off, I thought, because Tottenham had conceded five goals in 21 minutes. I thought it was like the government alert saying, your team are crap.

That's what I thought it was. It was like an official, by the way, this has happened and it's a disaster. Forgive me for not knowing this. Yes. Did something happen with a manager or something? Anyway, on with the show. No, no, just tell me because I would like to be up to speed.

Yes. So did they lose badly to somebody? No, they got rid of the manager before they lost badly. Oh, right. They put an interim guy in charge, then they lost badly. They got rid of the interim and now there's another interim. Okay. So the interim interim help How badly did they lose a few? There's a few to not many Six what six one but on the Two new castle who are okay who are basically who are run by Saudi Arabia? Okay, but on the plus five goals in 21

Millions of just anybody but on the but on the plus side. Five goals in 21 minutes, so I've just said it might. But on the plus side, in the second half, it was one all. So in a way, that's a half a point. Isn't it? I mean, that has to be worth having. But that's rather like the thing about the guy jumping out of the plane, he was doing really, really well until the minute before the ground.

You know? That's a fair point. Just to say, three tickets left at Union Chapel, I find that slightly disconcerting. There are still three tickets left. Well, yes, but also there'll be the three seats behind pillars. Don't you think? Partially visible.

Is it out? It's unreserved seating. So if you bought one of those tickets now and you just turn up a bit early, it could be a seat in the front row. You could, you know, you could be within by the time, feeling distance of our special guests. So it's 20 to 10 on Wednesday morning. By the time this goes out, to be honest, it'll be sold out. So let's just say that it's sold out. It's sold. I mean check on the website, but it's sold out. What is the website, Simon? It's a thing which has got all our information on it online. Yes, what's the address I'm asking? I'm feeding you a line.

Mayon.com is not that. You know that that's what it is. It's a comode and mayon.com and just check out whether any of those three tickets are sold out. They almost certainly won't be, but it's just worth saying. Touts might be outside, flogging them for like a thousand pounds. Do you think there'll be some bloke with a cigarette all in gold? What a ticket to work, you're one of my own. That's the one. I've got a front row seat.

Because they're unallocated seating. Okay, so that's very good looking forward to that. What is the word, Tout? Come from. I don't know, but somewhat one of our top production team. Was it always a thing? Were there always ticket taunts? Is that because there's been a lot of free market in it? If something is sold out, someone will have bought a bunch of tickets and then be standing outside

flogging them for a profit. But was was that the case when we were children in a previous century? If I like when I went to see David Bowie at Ells Court in 1978, I mentioned it only in passing. There would have been town sounds. Would there? Yeah. So it's always been a thing.

I bought a ticket of a town to see Tottenham Arsenal, a white heart lane, back in the 70s, because it was all sold out. And I bought a ticket, didn't realize, till I got in the ground, that it was in the art world. So that was enormous fun. So it then spurs one, two nil, by the way. So does it start with sporting matches rather than rock concerts? I would think if something is sold out, someone will be making some money.

Right. Okay. Because people are wicked. Well, yeah, nothing wrong with the profit motive, as I'm sure. Look at us. It's our shills. We've been around for centuries. So Simon Pull, who's obviously on wikkiing tap.

Why does the word come from Simon? What's been around for centuries? Greed. The touting. Oh, touting. Where does the word come from? He's obviously not. I don't, I don't look to that myself,

but I have to turn my phone off and put it on an airplane. As far back as the 18th century, people complained, what? What does tout mean though? Where's it come from? He's just reading. Yes, do further investigation of bringing it to us written on a piece of paper rather than talking in my head

or parchment with a quilt. Yeah. What we're doing later by the way. We'll be doing some films. We're going to be reviewing Pallite Society, Little Richard I'm Everything, which is a biography,

a documentary about Fred Astaire. Fred Astaire, well done. And the unlikely pilgrimage of Harold Fry with our very special guest, Penelope Wilton. That's Dame Penelope Wilton, who is coming into the studio.

Yeah. Who will be speaking to you on this very program, who co-stars opposite Jim Broadbent. Also, extra takes reviews of Big George Foreman, which is a biopic of Little Richard. Well, I wonder what you're gonna get there. I rodeo, which is a really interesting film. And potentially some while, currently Mark Kermod 13

versus Mark Kermod 10 and a half. Can I just ask? Hannah, please check. Has Hannah checked? Just checking the score on that one. and pretentious more. Currently Mark Cummins 13 versus Mark Cummins 10 and a half. Can I just check? Hannah, please check. Has Hannah checked? Just checking the score on that one. When we last week did Robbie get his or not? They don't know.

They can't remember. They're not keeping score for anybody other than me. He didn't get it. Take it. I'll leave it. You decide I would have math on a podcast feature this week. Is shit's creak? One frame back is shitscreet. One frame back is looking at walking movies, what with Jim Broadbent walking an awful lot

of mileage. There is a brilliant film and indie feature from I think it's the 90s called Walking and Talking in which they walk and talk. In brackets and parentheses, shrink the box with Ben Baby Smith and Sasha Bates is ad free on Tuesdays alongside all your other extra content on the take that channel. Sorry, on the take channel. But it's almost the same. And you can also find shrink the box wherever you get your

podcast, you can spot us via Apple Podcasts or you can just give us money if you see us in the street. You're gonna head to extratakes.com for non-fruit related devices. If you're already a van Goddaster, as always, we salute you. Can I just tell you that yesterday I was sitting in an establishment doing some work and having a cup of coffee and somebody came up to me

and they came up in that way as if they're about to say something and, you know, which is often something about the podcast. They said, they said, are you Mark Hermod? And I went, yes. I went, can I ask you something? And I said, yes. What's Simon Mayo like?

Really? At the point. The first time that's happened. What a disappointing thing to be said. Because really what you wanted to be said is, can I ask you a question? How come you're so fantastic? So fantastic, yeah, that's right.

When was the last time you wore those leather jeans? It's usually, well, it used to be, my dad's a big fan, although recently it's become my grandfather's a big fan. No, but they want you to know what you were like. What did you, uh, trouble is, I don't know what you said. What do you think, I said? He's a total ass. That's what I think you probably said.

Close. There you go. What did you say? What did you say? I'm not going to say anything now because that no answer could have been better than he's a total. Now, I've got an email here. How long do you need for polite society, by the way? I'd like four and a half because it's a big thing.

Well, I can do this email here, but I'm just not sure who it's from. If our production team could break away from their tout research, just tell me who this Scandinavian email is from. I can't see it anywhere on the list. So, here is a very helpful email which actually makes things far more complicated, in my opinion. Dear inflamed nerve and scintillating scotoma. Oh, here you go. It's Mr. T of the Scandinavian Parish here.

So let's just say it's Mr. T. Very good. I would state my full name, but last time Simon almost swallowed his tongue trying to pronounce it. That's why we can't find it. So it's Mr. T. I was hoping we could quickly address and maybe put to rest the pronunciation of the Scandinavian special letters, seeing as how they keep appearing on this.

Oh, yeah. Okay, fine. Firstly, there's the A with a dot on top, right? Yes. Which is like a little circle, which is pronounced. Ah! This is pronounced as a short O, like in hot or not, or the first letter of October. Okay. Okay. If in doubt, replace the A with a circle with an O,

and you should be all right. Okay, fine. So, in the reason A with a circle on the top, so it's like, okay, fine, good. So the next time you interview Stellan or Alexander, you could pronounce their last name with confidence. Alexander. Then there's the O with a line through it,

yes, or in Swedish, an O with an Umlount. This is pronounced as what the linguist would call an open mid-central unrounded vowel, which is utterly unhelpful, like the I in bird or Sir. True. True, I'm so. But the problem with that is that then Mr. T says, so now Simon can impress his Danish relatives and pronounce the name of Mierhansen Lever. Well, I already know that it's Mierhansen Lever because I asked the Danish bird. That's right. So you're saying it's pronounced like the I in bird, but Mier Hanson Louver is not pronounced like that. So that's not very helpful.

Finally, there is the combined A and E or the umlauted A for Swedish. This one is a little trickier. Oh great. But the main rule for Norwegian and Swedish at least is to pronounce it as the A in cat or sat. Luckily this letter usually appears less frequently except for the Danish language where the use of this letter makes no sense. And they seem to just put it in all kinds of words where it's actually pronounced as a normal E just as a warning to Simon. E, I've enclosed a handy chart. So basically at the end of this letter I just give up. I completely give up, Mr. T, I appreciate you trying to educate us, but I'm afraid. We are just going to be going booty studi fi ni ni duhooni fu. But also because Mia Hansen Louvert is pronounced like that and not like that.

But is that because she's French? Is she mispronunciating her own name? Well, the loop the Hansen Lever comes from a Danish grandfather. Yes, but did the Danish grandfather pronounce it differently? No, I didn't know. Did he pronounce it? Oh, but I ran it past the Danish family and they said me a Hansen Lever. And you are a new man's life. And you ran it past me a Hansen Lever and that's what she said. I've even got a voice note. Yes, me a Hansen Lever. And you are really, and you ran it past me, Hanson Louver, and that's what she said. I've even got a voice note. Yes, me and Hanson Louver said so. Oh, you were the first person to pronounce my name correct.

Very good. Plights aside. You got six minutes. Oh, thank you very much. So, this is a comedy drama, YA, coming of age, martial arts, fantasy, action, hybrid. If you've seen the post, a lot of genres. It is, the poster, you've seen the post, a lot of genres.

The poster, I suppose, unsurprisingly, kind of evokes everything everywhere all at once. Although this also has a touch of Catherine called Birdie about it, which is a film that both you and I absolutely loved, in that it's liberatingly frank about subjects like periods and young female empowerment. It's written and directed by Nida Manzua, whose CV includes Dr. Who and also

a famously We Are Lady parts. Our young heroine, I should've said, the director loves Jackie Chan, Edgar Wright and the coming brothers. And when you look at the film, you go, that's absolutely made by somebody who loves Jackie Chan, Edgar Wright and the coming brothers. So two sisters, Rhea, played by Priya Kansara and Lena played by Rita Ruhr.

The former is a schoolgirl who dreams of becoming a martial arts stunt person that's all she wants to do. She's got her martial arts idol on the wall and she sends her messages. The latter is an art school dropout who has lost her mojo. When this smarmy rich suitor sets his sights on the older sister, the younger sister sees it as her job to scupper what she believes is an arranged marriage that will destroy her sister's creativity. Here is a clip. Mom, please, it's just a casual hangout. You need to stop with all this. This is unsafe, you know. It's a trap.

Oh my god, Rhea, chill out. It's just a bit of fun. Yeah, Rhea, chill out. He's looking for a wife, like actively seeking. Sweet. No, not sweet, evil. He's got an enormous wedding. Oh, I... Cool, I'll take the piss out of him for a break. No, no, you cannot. I forbid you.

Okay, guys, we need to take a breather here. I'm a dropout. I'm hardly prime wedding material. True. That is true. No! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no Why are you wearing a cardigan? You don't wear a cardigan. They shut up! They do look lovely. Fine. Him, then cut him loose, clean and simple. What is wrong with you? That's a very racy clip. Are we allowed to have all those?

Yes, it's now one of it, because now all the gloves are off. All the gloves are off, apparently, yes. Yeah. What's wrong with wearing a cardigan anyway? Because she's not the kind of person that wears a cardigan. Don't take it personally. I want to. Just wrong with wearing a cardigan anyway, because she's not the kind of person that wears a cardigan. Don't take it personally. I want to. Just because you wear a cardigan. But you said, do you see what I mean about the Catherine Colberti vibe? It's definitely got that kind of, you know, to empower young women think. So what she does is she, she doesn't trust

this suit her and she sets out to do whatever she can do to prevent this romance from happening. And the more she thinks about it, the more and more elaborate her fantasies about it become. Or are they fantasies, or are they actually happening? It's a very odd, often very enjoyable, very, very chaotic film. At times you find yourself going, I'm sorry, which, what genre are we in at the moment?

The strongest of for me is when it has its feet on the ground and its head in the air, it kind of, it's got all those, you know, if you remember far enough back, when you're a teenager and everything seems larger than life and more important, every pop record sounds better than it ever will before and every angsty moment is more angsty than you will ever feel ever again in your life. And it's got a very good

sense of the way that that can be heightened. I mean, generically, it kind of, it's blending British satire and sort of Bollywood influences. So that kind of hyper stylized, you go from realism into fantasy without ever kind of quite knowing where the change point happens. I think that it kind of falls apart a little in the third act and when it just kind of it throws its hand in with the more outlandish threads and goes frankly, completely bonkers. But that said, you know, I've always said this thing about it's always great to see somebody going, I'm just going to go for this and I'm not, you know, okay, it might not all work, but I'll see what plays out. There was never a moment in it when I was bored.

The cast are really, really terrific. I mean, they're really enjoying themselves and they play the roles really well. There is something refreshingly anarchic about the film's refusal to behave itself, which in a way kind of fits rather nicely with the sort of central protagonist. What does it mean if a film isn't behaving itself?

It means like, sorry, where are we going now? Oh, it's now it's a science fiction film, you know, it means exactly that. And that's why, as I said, I think it's not accidental that the poster looks, not dissimilar to the poster for everything everywhere. And that's not just to do with the martial arts element. There is something in the design that is saying, you remember the kind of pinballing chaos of that film? Well, this isn't a million miles away from it. They're very, very different films, and it is very much its own beast. But I can, I saw it in a small screening with a small number of

people. I can imagine in a big filled cinema, it would be a real crowd pleaser. So, well, we're checking out polite society. Excellent. That sounds like a contender for movie of the week. Stay tuned for it. And you don't stay tuned on a podcast. But anyway, keep your internet signal going. That's the one. Still to come on this year podcast, we're going to be reviewing another film, which I come up with. A little rich and I like everything. That's right. That's how I'm everything. I'm everything. I'm everything. That's right. Somebody's got a copy of this script.

That means Dame Penelope Wilton will be here to talk to us about that said movie. We'll be back before you can say La Pressación, Aeon shows Marvelleurs, Céarfe, Cussequille, Excellonce, Chélez, Ultron, Nuz Apation OC. Or before you can say 6-1. Voltaire again, appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others, belong to us as well. Oh, what an education.

That's good. Thank you. Happy Nord Christmas. Protect yourself whilst Christmas shopping online and access all the Christmas films from around the globe. Plus, when you shop online, you'll have to give websites your card details and other sensitive data like your personal addresses. Those websites should already have their own encryption built into their payment systems, but to be on the safe side, you can use a VPN to ensure that all data coming to and from your device is encrypted. Even if you're using an unsafe Wi-Fi, you'll still be able to shop securely with a VPN. And you can access Christmas films only available overseas by using streaming services not available in the UK. To take our huge discount of your NordVPN plan, go to NordVPN.com slash take.

Our link will also give you four extra months for free on the two-year plan. There's no risk with Nord's 30-day money bank guarantee. The link is in the podcast episode description box. Hi, esteemed podcast listeners, Simon Mayow. I'm Mark Kermot here. I'm excited to let you know that the new season of the Crown and the Crown, the official podcast, returns on 16th of November to accompany the sixth and final season of the Netflix Epic Royal Drama series.

Very exciting, especially because SuperSub and Friend of the Show, Edith Bowman hosts this one. Indeed, Edith will take you behind the scenes, dive into conversation with the talented cast and crew, from writer and creator Peter Morgan to the crowns Queen Elizabeth, Emelda Staunton. Other guests on the new series include the Crowns research team, the directors, executive producers Suzanne Mackie and specialists such as Voice Coach William Connaker and props master Owen Harrison. Cast members including Jonathan Price, Selene Daw, Khalid Abdullah, Dominic West and Elizabeth Elizabeth the Bikki. You can also catch up with the story so far

by searching the Crown, the official podcast, wherever you get your podcast. Subscribe now and get the new series of the Crown, the official podcast first on November 16th. Available wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is brought to you by Mooby, a curated streaming service dedicated to elevating great cinema from around the globe. From my Coddic directors to emerging otters, there's always

something new to discover, for example. Well, for example, the new Aki Karri's Mackey film Fallen Leaves, which won the jury prize at CAN, that's in cinemas at the moment. And if you see that and think I want to know more about Aki Karri's Mackey, you can go to Mooby the streaming service and there is a retrospective of his films called How to Be a Human. They are also going to be theatrically releasing In January Priscilla, which is a new Sophia couple of film, which I am really looking forward to since I have an Elvis obsession. You can try Mooby free for 30 days at Mooby.com slash Kermit and Mayo. That's M-U-B-I dot com slash Kermod and Mayo for a whole month of great cinema for free.

So tout, yes, from a dialectical form of tut, to stick out, project or peep, itself from middle English totem, toation, from old English to peep out, to look, to pry, to spectate, merged with middle English tout and to jut out from old English related to older, but I'll compare the Icelandic tuta, a teet-like prominence. So there you go. So being a tout is a dialect, English dialect from Toot. The Icelandic will have it as Toot, but it probably pronounced completely differently. A teat-like prominence.

You know what? I'll buy your ticket, but you are a teat-like prominence on the backside of humanity. Thank you, top research. Box office, top 10, disturbingly, once again, starting at number 10. The three musketeers, Dartanian, you entry. Let me start by being clear at one thing. I've been off for two weeks and I have not seen any new releases.

This is not right. This is not right. With the exception of the Pope's Exorcist. Which is next. So I haven't seen it, but I know that Robby reviewed three musketeers last week. Fine. Number nine, seven in America. The Pope's Exorcist. Exorcist, which looked from its trail, ludicrous nonsense. Yeah.

I mean, here's the thing. The whole idea of Russell Crowe playing Father and Mort is completely daft anyway. I mean, as I said before, William Friedkin made a documentary about Father and Mort, called the Devil and Father and Mort, in which he asked me if I would just do a couple of polishes on his commentary. I think he asked me kind of just out of politeness

to be honest, and I did very, very little. He sent me the thing. I shifted a few things around, and then he was kind enough to give me a credit. And the whole thing about the Devil and Father and Mort was it was after William Friedon made the Exorcist, which has levitation, head spinning, projectile vomit, you know, all that stuff happening.

He had filmed an exorcism performed by Father and Mord in which none of the above happened. And the whole point about it was he had started out writing this as an article for a magazine because he thought as the person who had filmed perhaps the most famous exorcism in the history of cinema, shouldn't he actually go and see what one actually looks like? And the exorcism that you see in the devil and father and mother, there's very little, it's, I mean, it's disturbing, it's very distressing,

it's somebody who is in a state of, you know, clear anxiety and upset. And, you know, how one interprets it, I don't believe in demonic possession, but there we are. But it's the whole, the whole thrust of the documentary was, you know, I made the exorcist, but this is what actual possession, exorcism looks like. And believe it became very, very fascinated by Father and Morton, believe that he was, you know, a very, very fascinated by Father and Morton. Big believed that he was a very, very serious character. Quite funny, quite rye. And it is true that in the Pope's exorcist, the character played by Russell Crowe

is quite funny, quite rye. But the film is, it's showgirls with demons. It is that level of bonkers. The final act of Exorcist III, which is the stuff that they put in after Blatti had originally made the film, and they said, well, this is no good, it hasn't got an exorcism, we have to have explosive special effects. So the final act of Exorcist III, in which there's lightning in the cell and this huge, you know, all crucifix comes up through the floor and it's

got farther karus on it with the weird head, and George C Scott is stuck to the wall. That's what the Pope's exorcist is like. I mean, I would be lying if I told you I didn't enjoy it. It is absolutely mad. And I think that at least Russell Crowe probably understood his Italian accent incidentally. You remember when he was talking about the Robin Hood accent? Mm-hmm. Yeah, you don't want to be challenging him on his accent ever. It's one of the very few films that does come into that so bad. It's actually quite fun category. New entry at number eight, Kissy Carbai, Kissy Kijian.

Again, that wasn't reviewed last week because it wasn't press screen, but if anybody has seen it, please do send us an email. Number seven, Renfield. Again, was off for the last two weeks, but there's an interview with Nicholas Holt, I think two weeks ago about the film.

Number six in this country is a new entry, which is missing. Again, off for two weeks, haven't seen the film. Will you catch up? Well, I'll catch up with some, yes. Air is at five. Well, it was interesting, because I was listening in our absence

to the critics having their say on it. And my feeling about it is still the same as it was when I was watching it, I kind of enjoyed it. I liked, I kind of liked the interplay between the characters and, you know, there's no question that Ben Affleck knows how the director's, he did, I'll go in all the rest of it, but it is in the end. There's no way of getting around this. It is in the end.

And then they signed the deal to license the shoe. So it's a film which is, I mean, I know other people have said, well, you don't understand the cultural significance of it. No, I do understand the cultural significance of it. And it is still a film about signing a shoe deal. All the fours... OK. UK number four, US number four, John Wick chapter four.

It's the best and surely the last, there is no way this can help big up for me. Not that I realized that at the time. I thought it was terrific and you commented on the irony of one fine day having a scene in which they walk up the same steps that John Wick had killed everybody on twice. Yes, one fine morning, isn't it? One fine morning, what did I say? One fine day. Oh, I'm. Yes, one fine morning, is it?

One fine morning, what did I say? One fine day. Oh, I'm so sorry, one fine, an unbonata. One fine morning, yes, morning, my mistake, sorry. We, separate. Number three here, number five in the state's dungeons

and dragons honor among thieves. Based on the board game, look at me, the board game, child three me, the board game. Yes, child three. Yes. I don't believe I said otherwise, but if I did, there it is. It didn't correct me last night.

I thought it was good fun, so much more fun than we had any right to expect and really entertaining. Evil Dead Rise is a new entry at number two. Listening to Robby last week talking about this has made me think this is the one that I will catch up with because of the way Robbie described it He said he said there are things going on that are so disgusting that you can't believe they're on screen and yet it's a really sounded like okay Sign me up. So I am going to see that this weekend Nick Ord long-term LTE and a heritage van Goddester dear dead deadites and dead deers, evil dead rise.

As a longstanding lover of the franchise, I loved this latest one, which combines the the 1981 original and the 2013 reboot. Quotes from a good doctor. For a full splat sequel to both, that is to say, I feel the original trilogy skews a little to three stooge silly for modern audiences, whereas the 2013 film is too self-serious to appeal to hardcore reime fans. This new film walks the cheese-greater's edge as perfect connective tissue between the two. With this in mind, wouldn't it be great to see Ashmeer and Beth team up slash square off in the

next one? Also, I mean, just left the cinema. I must congratulate the film for achieving something we rarely see. And I haven't seen in years a full cinema, plus something I don't think I have ever seen. The whole of the front row stood up at once and walked out after five minutes. So they obviously come together, they're in the wrong thing. But did somebody say evil dead rise and they all got up and walked out? So the title thing. Well done to leak Ronin and team for putting the saw back in chainsaw as well as for the naliest woodchipper scene since Tucker and Dale. I'd just like to remind everybody that when the first evil dead came out and it was distributed

by Palace who put it simultaneously on video and into cinemas, and it was prosecuted under the Obscene Publications Act at the SNES, Crown Court, where it won the case. But one of the BBC examiners, James Firman, saw it and thought that it was the three stooges with blood for custard pies. But one of the BBC examiners who saw it said that they felt like watching the film had left them physically assaulted. Okay, another good thing. No, I think I put that on the post.

I won't be catching up with that one. Number one here, number one in the States is the Super Mario Brothers movie, staggering amounts of money. I mean, just absolutely staggering amounts of money. So the current total is 41 million. It's approaching the billion mark worldwide. And for a film which is as average as it is, and it is, you know, it's not terrible. It's not great. It's just, it does prove that

the vacuum theory that we are not satisfying the younger audience because the reason Super Mario Brothers movie is doing as well as it is doing is because of the absence of other material for that young audience. I think if you looked at a cinema chart from the previous decades you'd be surprised at how little of this chart is actually for young audiences. And that is, I think that is a major issue. We would love to hear your thoughts on all and any of these, you can email us, Kevinamere.com. Is that right? Have I got that email address? Correct. Okay, that'll do. So, guest time, this week we have a star from Downton Abbey,

after life, Dr Who's well as films like Calendar Girls, Sean of the Dead, Best Exotic, Marigold Hotel, and now stars alongside Jim Broadbent in the unlikely pilgrimage of Harold Frye, adapted from the book of the same name of finalist for the 2012 Man Booker Prize. You will hear our interview with Penelope Wilton after this clip.

Where did you sleep last night? In a field. Don't smell. Yeah. I washed in a stream. I don't have soap. I don't have a razor, either. Well, I guessed about the razor.

I could get you some soap. I think I've asked a body shop. Well, I guessed about the razor. Huh. I could get you some soap. I think I've asked a body shop. Thank you. I don't want to travel with too much stuff. Of course. Oh. I'm sorry. It's just seeing you again and you look so well. You look well too, Maureen. No, I don't, Harold. You look well, too, Maury.

No, I don't, Harold. I look like someone is left behind. That is a clip from the unlikely pilgrimage of Harold Fry, delighted to say that Dame Penelope, Wilton, is with us Penelope. Hello, good morning, good afternoon. How are you? Very well, thank you. And very nice to be with you both. Do we refer to you as Dame Penelope? No, you definitely don't. You call me Penelope. Have you never had any truck with up? Do you mean... I mean, if I was Dame, I would insist that everybody referred to me as Dame.

Well, if you were a Dame, they probably should. Yes, they did come out quite the way I intended it to. No, if you were a Dame, they probably would. No, I think it was extremely nice to be made a Dame, but I don't use it professionally. I don't think anyone does, really. I think it's... Well, so Ben Kingsley does. Or yes.

I always think it's very polite and respectful to do it. The first first thing. Yes. Dame Judy, nice to have you and then Judy. Yes, that I think so. I think on the whole that's best. We've doffed our caps is what I'm saying. Yes. Anyway, Penelope, you're very welcome. Thank you. Into our into our humble abode introduces to to this story. To the unlikely pilgrimage of Harold Fry. Well, it's a story of a couple who are in their later years. And Harold and Maury in their called, and Harold one day gets a letter from an old colleague who he worked with in a brewery. He was the sort of manager of the brewery,

saying that she is in a hospice in Bericon, Tweed, and that she has got cancer she is in a hospice in Berrican tweed and that she has got cancer and is in a hospice, so she's not got long to live. So this letter arrives, well they're having breakfast one day and you notice there's a sort of tension in the room really between them and he decides to write to her after and then he decides to go and post the letter and leaves. And there's not an awful lot of warmth you feel between the two of them. They sort of, they're existing together, really.

And he goes out to post the letter and he hesitates and he meets people on the way, he goes into a garage and meets a young girl who says, oh, you've got to tell her that he's written to his old colleague and she says, oh, you've got to have faith and it happened to my granny and so he's sort of on an impulse, keeps going, keeps passing post offices and post boxes and then suddenly decides he'll walk to Berric on tweed, and he'll save her. So he rings the heart of the hospice and says that he's coming. Meanwhile, Maureen is left at home not knowing what the hell's been going on, and thinks he's lost it, really. And she's anxious, but she's also cross, and she's discombobulated. She doesn't know. And then he starts his journey

at which he meets lots of people and things happen to him. And he has the kindness of strangers on his way because he's left with nothing. He's just got his old raincoat on and a pair of normal shoes. He hasn't got his phone with him. He hasn't, he's got his wallet with him

and that's about it. And she, meanwhile, is stuck at home, wondering what, and she gets these phone calls from him. And first of all, she's really, really cross and upset and angry and says, well, it gives him a good ticking off. And then slowly, gives him a good ticking off. And then slowly she comes to realise that it's a journey that he's making where he's, that he has to do. And then through, through flashbacks, you see their life together and they had a son. And the son was very clever. And obviously the mother and the son had a closer relationship than the father and the son. And he was a clever boy and he got into Cambridge and he couldn't manage. So I don't know whether I should give the spoiler.

No, I think where do you can leave it there? Yeah, I think. Because there's a lot that is then unveiled and explained, going, spoolsing back to the, to that opening scene, where I think we see you, first of all, hoovering in a silent house. And then, as you said, then the poster arrives, and you say, be careful opening the post, okay? Then he opens the post and he gets that letter from, from Queenie that you've talked about. And he says he wants to write to us something. And you say you don't save people with cancer unless you're a surgeon because he wants to save her. And well, I think it's very interesting about the way those sort of exchanges go is that we can't even though you're in conflict, you and Jim Braubind, we have sympathy with both of you.

And right from those early exchanges, we kind of on both of your sides, do you think is that fair? I think that is fair, but I think you do have sympathy for both of them because they both eventually go on a journey, one a physical journey, which is also an emotional journey.

And she goes on an emotional journey, and she goes on an emotional journey in her own house because she is so, what has happened to her and the grief that has happened to them, the great sadness has, has made the world outside hostile, so she has decided that it's better just to stay in and have lots of net curtains and make a life completely without anybody else. So she's cut herself off, out of purely, of grief, out of bitterness, and grief is a very complex thing. It's not always polite, it's jagged, it's unkind, it's blaming, it's it's sorrowful, it's deep, deep sadness. And for all those reasons, a lot of emotions and she hasn't been able to leave those emotions behind. And she has decided the world is a hostile place.

Can I ask you something about the way the film looks? I, my, the scene that I found most moving in it is a scene in which you and Harold are talking and he says, I saw our son and he's describing something and he's speaking but the camera is looking at you and the whole of that scene plays out in your reaction. And it's a beautiful performance. It looks fantastic and I noticed afterwards that the cinematographer is Kate McCollock who was the DP on the Quiet Girl, which is one of the most beautiful films. Obviously, when you're acting in a film, how much are you aware of what the film may look like of the technical side of it? I mean,

were you aware of she's a fine director, great cinematographer? Do you think about that stuff when you're performing? And when you're doing that scene, do you think, I wonder what that scene looks like from the DP'sP.'s point of view? I noticed certain things like camera angles and things as I've got better. You know, I came to filming rather late in my career. So. But you've done very well this.

Perhaps. Because I'm interested, I'm aware of things like a color palette that they use. I'm also particularly aware of the correctness of the place I'm in. So that scene you're specifically talking about was in a little cafe in a market town. That's where we were. All that is very important to me.

But I can't say that I'm aware of anything other than playing the scene when I'm actually playing the scene. I have to be that person, so I can't be worried about the external things. I'm inhabiting that woman at that time. And then when you watch it back with the music by El Nescarir, those songs by Sam Lee, is it very different to the film that you were making at the time, or does it look like the film that you thought you were making? When you first look at a film, you, well, certainly I do. You look at all the things that you could have done that were wrong.

And why did you decide to say that, like that, or whatever? You know, there are choices, and then you make the choices, and you go with what is immediate at the time. And then you recognize after a bit that actually that's what your choice was at the time. So I thought that all the music and the lighting and everything certainly enhanced what Jim and I were trying to do with the script. Because my involvement is with the words and the script and the person opposite me, the other actor. Can I ask you about acting with Jim Brawbent?

You're both sort of fantastic complimentary pairing. You've worked together before, 20 years ago, kind of in Iris. What is he like to act with alongside opposite? Extremely easy. I mean, I don't analyze it too much. I don't think Jim does either. When I say that, I've done all the analysis.

When I come to actually do the scene, I'm not going to talk about it forever because you can talk yourself out of something. It's much better that you plunge in and have a go, and if it doesn't work, you have another go. But on the whole, that's how we both work. So we found it a very, very easy relationship. Can I just, when you say plunge in and have a go, can you just explain a little bit what that means, what that looks? Well, you don't talk about

it too much. And when you come and they say action, you play the scene and see if it works, that's what I mean by having a go. The script by Rachel Joyce is based on her own novel. I'll either review Red the novel. Jim had read the novel and he'd read it three times because he did the audio book of the novel about ten years previously when the novel first came out. I hadn't read the novel and I didn't read the novel because I've done adaptations from novels before and you're always annoyed of what they've left out. So it's much better that you don't read it, and you deal with what you've got.

Can you tell us something about Earl Cave and what it's like working with him? Oh, he's a lovely boy. Should say he plays your son. Yes, Earl Cave, he's a lovely boy, and a very brave, for a young man, to play that part, because it wasn't an easy, it's not an easy role. He also had to shave all his hair off,

which if you're 23, it can't be the best thing to have to do. But he was lovely, a lovely young man. Jim Broadman did a lot of walking for this film. Obviously, he's, the story is, he's walking hundreds of miles, but that Jim actually did do a lot of walking for this film. Obviously he's the story is he's walking hundreds of miles, but the gym actually did do a lot of walking. And that it's kind of filmed chronologically. Does that mean that your pieces were filmed chronologically as well? No, none of mine were filmed chronologically. I did all my scenes mostly in the three weeks at the end of the filming, which wasn't the easiest actually, because quite a lot of my scenes are by myself in the house because that's where she is.

And actually quite static within the house. Very. They weren't the easiest of scenes, and they were all scenes where she was in some sort of emotional state, and not a happy one most of the time. So there were varying degrees of of difficulties that she was facing and getting used to being by herself and wondering if he'd ever come home and dealing with her thoughts as to why she had driven him away and was Queenie the person in his life and why is he becoming so popular and why is he becoming a celebrity and why am I sitting here and what is going to happen to me, all those thoughts were continually going through her mind by herself.

Can you just briefly tell us something about Hetty McDonald and your relationship with her and what it's like to be directed by her? Oh, Hetty's a very, very good director. Yeah. She's worked on the screenplay with Rachel over the time when we had the pandemic. And so she was very in tune with the script. She worked extremely well with tune with the script. She worked extremely well with Kate, the DP, and she insisted, which was quite right, that

every time there was a phone call, I was somewhere at home and got a call to say, they'd let me know on the call sheet that Jim would be calling. And I would call from my bedroom, which was the quietest room in the house, and turn into Maureen to answer the phone. And he similarly had to do the same with me, so they were real phone calls between the two of us. There is going to be more with Penelope Wilton in Take 2. The movie is the unlikely pilgrimage of Harold Fry and we'll talk more with Penelope Wilton in Take 2. The movie is the unlikely pilgrimage of Harold Frye,

and we'll talk more with Penelope very shortly, but for the moment Penelope, thank you very much. BELL RINGS I should just mention more with Penelope in Take 2. Thank you very much for the questions which have come in. We will put some of those to her later. We have talked around the film. Well, actually, Penelope, I wondered if she was going to talk about the whole film.

Yes, she did, there's no need to do a plot synopsis because she did a brilliant accounting of the plot. I have to say she stopped short of Tom Courtney only talking about the final scene of 45 years, literally leaping in by saying, well, of course, at the end, that happens. He did, he yes, that was one of those moments where I said, don't think you're right. Do you not know that there is a whole other film before the end?

He did, yes. Anyway, but I thought it was that sort of stopped in exactly the right place. So it's the first thing that I thought of when I started watching Harold Frye, it was two things. Firstly was the Verner Herzog story. You do know this story. So Werner Herzog walked from Munich to Paris three weeks through Ison Rain

because he had heard that his mentor, Lottie Eisner was ill. And he had said he was going to do the walk with the sole belief that as long as he was walking, then death would not come calling. And it's a very, very famous Herzog story. And I wondered whether that was somewhere in the background of this story because it is a very well-known and well-rehearsed story. And that's certainly what Jim Brawbent's Harold Reyes, precisely, while he keeps walking, he keeps walking. And as he walks, he says, I will not die, or she will not die, you will not

die. He repeats this to himself as a kind of mantra because he's not somebody who walks regularly and he's kind of walking through the pain. It's shoes are falling apart. His feet are in terrible condition. I was thinking of the thing with Eddie Isard doing her marathons, you know, day after day after day. And by the time it got to the 30th, one or 24th, one at feet, we're in pieces. But so on the one hand, I had Herzog in my mind. And on the other hand, I had that Tim Spool film, The Last Bus. If you remember the way The Last Bus works is that it's somebody who has lost their wife and is traveling the length of the country on local buses. And during the course of that,

they are picked up by social media and they become a kind of local hero, although, you know, out of the way. So there are those two kind of weird connections. There's also, and again, this was an odd connection, I started thinking about life of Brian, because the central character of Harold Fry and the unlikely pilgrimage of Harold Fry is an atheist. He does not appear to believe in. He says, you know, very specifically, he doesn't have those beliefs. And yet he picks

up these followers who start wearing t-shirts that say pilgrims. And there is a kind of element because Life of Brian is a serious film as well as being one of the funniest films ever made. He's a serious one, but don't follow me. I'm not the Messiah. And I thought there was a little bit of that going on in the background, which I think is a particularly, well, to my sensibility that feels like a particularly kind of British isn't the right word,

but there is a particular kind of sensibility about the slightly befuddled character, suddenly picking up followers and going, why are you coming? Because what happens is a young man comes along who sort of starts to function as a surrogate son, because he thinks, maybe I can help this young man in a way that I couldn't help my own son. And then I was thinking, what's really interesting is, I'm thinking about all these things while I'm watching the film. So therefore it's touching a number of different nerves because I love it when things kind of, you know, because it is on the one level of a fairly straightforward, small, you know,

British film about somebody walking the, you know, the country we have the songs by Sam Lee, which are absolutely beautiful, really, really beautiful and they, you know, the country we have the songs by Sam Lee, which are absolutely beautiful, really, really beautiful, and they're, you know, an hickory score. And those songs are used, I mean, actually when I was at your house last night, we played one of them, and it was, you know, I think they work really well. And then of course, you know, we have the sight to ring the tear you have, yes, the, the,

some of the greenery, but there's a lot of motorways, there's a lot of rain, there's a lot of drizzle, and then when you finally, the moment of walking past the angel of the North, which I don't care which film it's in, whether it's purely Belter or whatever it is, every time I see the angel of the North on screen, a little part of me cries, because I think it's one of the most beautiful statues.

And I thought it was quite clever, the way in which the film lets you imagine a backstory that you fill in the blanks. And it doesn't reveal its hand until fairly late. And I haven't read the book. And I'm not sure whether the book does a similar thing about you're quite a long way in the story before you actually realize what the story with the sun is, what the story with Queenie is, what the story with his wife is, because there's a key moment in which his wife says it hasn't been a marriage for 20 years but you're not entirely sure what that means

and so I was kind of impressed by how it gets snuck under the you know it got under my skin without me really realizing that it was doing it and that made me think okay well this is a well-crafted drama obviously the source material source material is very, very solid in the fact that the script is written by Rachel Joyce, working from her own book and adapting herself. But I think it works because it looks beautiful. I do think the cinematography is great. I think the cinematography does that thing about the grimness and the splendor of real life at the same time that you can be walking along a pavement with your shoes in pieces and it's miserable, but there is something else going on.

And at the very end of the film, it goes a little bit magical, magical realist. But I thought it was well done and I thought the point that Pidelope Walton made about it, never overplays it. There's never, people don't get to do big stand-up speeches. People don't get to do big, you know, sermon on the mount things. I thought that worked. Well, and a lot of it, as she said, she said it's about the kindness of strangers, and I know for a lot of it is. Yes. And the healing power that that has. Yeah. Yeah. But I think the more I think about it, the more it has a kind of, it has depth that I didn't really realize at the time. As I said, the fact that it reminded me of Werner Herzog, the last bus and life of Brian, and none of those in a bad way, all of those in a good way, was kind of interesting.

And I think the spirit of the book, you know, if there are millions of people who've been read it, you've read it, yes, and will feel as though the spirit of the book is absolutely in this movie. And which is not a surprise, as you mentioned, because Rachel Joyce did the screenplay. But the casting is perfect here. I sometimes wanted more, the kind strangers I could have done more with, I think. And I wasn't quite convinced that, I mean,

LK puts in an incredible performance, as Penelope says, wasn't quite convinced that he was their son at any stage. But a recommendation from both of us. Interesting thing as well with the director who did six episodes of normal people. I mentioned that the DP did quite a good. And then way, way back in the Radio One Days of 1996, Hetie Wittdonald directed Beautiful Thing,

which is a really lovely British film, and actually very radical at the time. And that's a film which is well worth checking out. If you enjoyed this, go back and seek out Beautiful Thing from 1996. So that's the unlikely pilgrimage of Harold Frye, as we mentioned before, more with Penelope, we'll to your questions coming up in Take Two.

And it's the ads in a moment, Mark. But first, it's time to, once again, step into our much loved laughter left. I've missed it. Hey, after they have tightened that gap up, you know. Yeah, that's very nice. Do you have an ice Easter? I did thank you. How about you? I'm finding this music a little loud. Can we lose the coming? Can we dip the music just a little bit there? Okay. I don't I won't want anything to get in the way of the top comedy

I've got anyway because I've got an Easter joke for you. An Easter joke. Okay. It's a little bit late. Okay But it's an Easter joke. Right. Okay. Okay. What did the Amba Vicar say to his Amba Congregation in his Amba Church at Easter? I don't know. What did the Amba Vicar say to his Amba Congregation in the Amba Church at Easter? He is resin. To which the Congregation said he is resin indeed. It's a little easier. And also with you. Yes, I thought, because anyone that gets it, it's going to be you. Oh, I got it.

Because of the little bit. I got it. I just didn't think it was funny. That's very, very disappointing. That's very, very, because I used that to replace the joke that I've been given. Is that the one that you wrote? Yeah. That was the one that you told me last night.

Yes. This is a joke in the I've written. Yes. That was it. That's my joke. He is resin. Now, listen, there'll be a lot of people laughing out loud. Suddenly, I'm more appreciative of Simon Pulls' joke writing skills.

Anyway, did you have a nice time off? I did have a nice time off, thank you. It was going to Rome, thanks for asking. I didn't go to Rome, but to cheer myself up, I went along to my local Maccadise and treated myself to a child's happy meal. His mother was not happy. I can tell you. So Mark, the big supernatural news from the Kermit and May has taken us is that one member of the team has been possessed by the spirit of an

owl. Okay. One member of the team has been possessed by the spirit of an owl. To wit, to who? Well, now we know. Is that it? Okay, well, if you say who, it's a lot more straightforward. Okay, who? Well, now we know.

Oh, I see. Fine, okay, fine, fine. The ambivica is in the ambature. The ambivica? He is resin. He is resin indeed. The clergy corner are beside themselves. They always say that in more common wise people underestimate how hard it is to be the only wise straight man and I am demonstrating just how hard that is. Do do do do the

exorcism one again. Go on quickly. The exorcism. Do do the do theism one again? Go on, quickly. The exorcism. Do the possessed one again? The big supernatural news from the Kermit and Maze take-off is that one member of the team has been possessed by the spirit of an owl. Who? Well, now we know. Right.

What have we got still to come? Do you say Super Mario Brothers? No, we're not doing Super Mario Brothers. That's what it says here. Well, it's not what we're doing. We're going to do it Brothers. No, we're not doing Super Mario Brothers. That's what it says here. Well, it's not what we're doing. What we're going to do again. No, I'm going to do Little Richard. I am everything.

Well, it's almost. It's so much what he wants, but that's not what I've done. It's almost as if someone hasn't been paying attention. Really? But then it also said that we were going to do rock and roll movies, and we're not doing that. And now I have an updated the script. Then literally just cut and paste from two weeks ago and just put it in and thought we

wouldn't notice. We'll be back after this, unless you're a van god Easter in which case you're a Mensch and your service will not be interrupted. Metro links and cross links are reminding everyone to be careful, as Eglinton Cross Town LRT train testing is in progress. Please be alert, this trains can pass at any time on the tracks. Remember to follow all traffic signals. Be careful along our tracks and only make left turns where it's safe to do so.

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You can email correspondence at carbonamo.com. Simon and Mark says Paul Scraton, living in Berlin. Most summers we take a long road trip to different parts of Europe with my partner Catherine doing the driving. It's become a running joke across more than a decade of these trips that those red license plates should serve as a warning thanks to a number of examples of erratic, unpredictable and sometimes downright dangerous driving by our Belgian friends. This is back on the section of the worst drivers in the world are Belgium. Yeah.

In fact, the only time the stereotype did not seem to hold true was during a two-week trip to Belgium itself. So that's it's something that Belgians save up for their holidays. Anyway, thanks for the great show. And down with those who seek to divide us, gentle nationality-based driving prejudices notwithstanding. So I think the spirit is, the jury is still out as to whether the Belgians are, in fact, the worst.

Well, the jury seems to be leaning towards that. They may be on a split verdict, but at the moment, the evidence seems to be... I don't want to direct the jury. Obviously, Dr Andrew Griffiths, M-N-G-P-H-D, 50-metre swimming badge. On the subject of driving, I've been lucky enough to have had jobs that have taken me to far-flung places,

whilst maybe not the worst drivers, the scariest for passengers were in China. In order to drive in China, you have to pass a test, which makes complete sense, because the rules of the highway seem to make no sense, zero sense. Lots of beeping, taking a three-lane road into a five or six-lane road, everyone pointing in different directions, the priority is apparently given to the person in front. So people just pull out. I thought we were going to crash every single day, which for trips that lasted several months was rather stressful. So priority is given to the person in front. So yeah, so if anyone can do anything and it's for everyone behind them to just, in France, it

was always priority adwa. So if you were coming from the right, you always had, which was to UK, it's still the case, I think they might have changed that, because obviously if you're on an A road, you don't give way to someone who's on a B road, they give way to you. But in France, it was, you give way to someone who's on a B-road, they give way to you. But in France, it was you give way to the right always. We went to a Greece once where our friend Pete lives, and he lives up the top of a mountain. And he said, you want to be a bit careful with the roads

because the Greek drivers can be a bit racey. And I said, okay, which side of the road do they drive on? He said, they're driving the shade. So, and in fact, Andrew Griffith's final point, in Europe, I'd say that the French are aggressive, but have the talent to back it up. But the Greeks have the same aggression, but lack a comparative ability. So, there we go. So, maybe the Greeks are the worst. Well, I mean, I have been more scared

on a Greek mountain road than any other time in my life. Correspondence at www.co.domain.com. So let's review something else. Little Richard, I am everything, which is a documentary by Lisa Cortez, which is not to be confused with the BBC documentary, Little Richard, King and Queen of Rock and Roll, which played just last week and is now on I Player.

The fact that there are two Little Richard documentaries pretty much back to back is perhaps not surprising that Richard died a couple of years ago and I think the documentaries were then thought, you know, let's look back at his career because for a lot of his career he was criminally underappreciated, you know, because he was extraordinary pioneer and yet wasn't lavished with the awards and had to fight for his financial legacy certainly. So anyway, so the two documentaries, now I've seen both of them and obviously there is a crossover between them to some extent, certainly in terms of the archive footage, perhaps in terms of the interviews and that's fine. They are, however, separate beasts. The Lise Kote's documentary

leans very much into kind of queer theory in its analysis of Little Richard's life. It talks very much about how we hear Zodiac Robinson saying, the south is the home of all things queer. And by queer, what the meaning is different. And Little Richard was absolutely different, you know, from a family of 12.

His father was a church-deacon and a night club owner and a bootleg moonshiner. Okay. Exactly. Interesting member of Cleggie Corner. Precisely, who at some point threw Richard out of the house, but then accepted him back in when his record started playing at his clubs. And of course, Little Richard's career was defined by this kind of, this wrestling match between

the Bible and rock and roll, you know, very, very early on. He achieved, you know, hit success. And then he walked away from it and he went to, you know, to, to, to, to study for the church. And then he ran out of money and then he went back on stage, and then suddenly he was a little richer again, but he kept going between being a preacher, and he's raised on gospel, sister, as a thought, being a huge influence. But what this documentary focuses on is how, from a very, very early stage, what he was part of

was this kind of outsider movement. It talks about how, after having to leave his home, he was given refuge in Anttiktock Club, he met drag queens and blues singers. He himself had a drag act, which I didn't know Princess LeVonia. I didn't know that before. Apparently, this was a fairly common thing. It talks about how, as a black queer performer, that somehow the femininity of the way he presented himself weirdly seemed to make him less threatening to the white mainstream audience, because somehow it made him like a less threatening present. They actually talk about the fact that isn't this ironic, that somehow this incredible sort of twisting of all these ideas

seemed to make him less threatening, when actually what he was doing was incredibly radical, that rock and roll was one point somebody actually says, imagine if you suddenly have to go, oh hold on, rock and roll was basically invented by a black gay performer who worked in drag. What does that tell you about the way in which the history of rock and roll has been rewritten? We have a clip for us.

Here we go. It really didn't have a thing. The Ritzel was who he wanted to be, when he wanted to be, how he wanted to be on what day he wanted to be at. Well, I haven't been involved in sex in 14 years. It's been 14 years now. That's not my main thing in life period anymore. My main thing in life now is to be a messenger,

whether you're homosexual, whatever, walk a life of a person, maybe God loves them. He existed in contradiction. He could be openly gay in some way, probably, to his circles. This happened for decades. As a queer person myself, I think that queerness is often misunderstood as an individual identity, right? The truth of one person, right?

As if we have a single truth that we can never change. He was flamboyant at all times, but it was all in Jesus' name. Everything was in Jesus' name. Everything. I mean, what's terrific about that clip is, you know, those are sort of quite academic, scholarly talking heads, and then you get a whole bunch of little Richard, you know, on stage, foot up in the piano, you know, playing the keys under his legs. I mean, like an extraordinary screen presence. I mean, little Richard, I remember talking

to Tim Polkat when the Polkats were, you know, the big rock-a-billy thing was happening. And Tim Polkat saying that actually what what the poll cats were basically were David Bowie and Little Richard being a glam rock band with a double bass. And what I think this documentary does, and interestingly enough, it serves as a kind of, you can watch this documentary and the BBC documentary. I said there is a crossover, you will see certain things twice, but they are different dogs. But I thought this was thrilling. I thought it was great to firstly to just to relive the story of Little Richard because it is such an extraordinary story. And certainly the way later on in life when he had to fight for the royalties that were taken away from him

because he walked away from a record contract. There's a very famous speech when he's on the Grammys, he's presenting a Grammy and it's for best new performer. And he does this thing, he says, and the war for the best new performer is me. And then he does this whole thing about you never give a me an award. I've been doing this for years. And the crowd is just like, first they kind of slightly shocked, but then by the end of it, they're up and, you know, applauding because yeah, you're right. You know, how was it that this was taken away? And it keeps coming back to this central idea

that somehow what he was doing was so out there and so kind of against the mainstream white bread, you know, homogenous pop, even if the fact that Pat Boone had a bigger hit with 2D fruity than Little Richard did. We were, do you think Pat Boone knew what 2D fruity was about? Well, the original 2D fruity, the original lyrics for 2D fruity is is Tutti Frutti Good Booty.

And they talk about this in the documentary, about what that actually meant, what that was actually about, and how that song had to be rewritten so that it came, it's like, a nice cream pop song. And Pat Boon could, so it was rewriting for that. It was a little rigid couldn't do,

Tutti Frutti Good Booty. But I thought it was really terrific. Is that rewriting good? You even need it for that. It's a little rigid, couldn't do, you know, 2, 3, 2, good booty. But I thought it was really terrific. And I'm a big fan of, you know, rock documentaries when done well anyway. And I've often said this thing about, if a great rock documentary will get you interested in something you're not interested in, I am interested in a little rigid. I think that little Richard was, I mean, he says himself, I am the originator. I am the, you know, he takes full credit for what he's done. But partly that was because nobody was giving him the credit that he deserved,

or having been this absolutely groundbreaking. Anyway, it's called Little Richard, I am everything. And I think you heard from that clip, the thing, you know, he was a preacher, he was a roller, he was a, you know, he was a drag act. He was a rock star. He was all preacher, he was a roller, he was a drag act, he was a rock star, he was all these different things. And the songs are just brilliant. And you know also, I think Little Richard Ampat Boone would have laughed at my resin joke.

I do. I do. I think they'd have seen the originality in having a joke about liturgy. And they'd have thought, no respect. I do think they would have said a respect. Yeah. There is one subject which came up a few weeks ago, which has been rumbling along consistently, which is a phantasia.

Oh, wow, yeah. And the lack of people without, I mean, it's quite clear that this is, people have different degrees of this. And when you first read out the email, neither you nor I had heard of it because we had to ask how it was pronounced and we were kind of confused by what it was. Don says, and there's some, we're going to come back to this in take two, but just mention this one from Don. Van Gardese, that long-term, this is the second time email, a cycling proficiency test holder since 1982. I was interested to

hear the thoughts from the email on a phantasia. So this is when you can't imagine, originally this came about because someone got in touch to say, they have aphantasia and they can't imagine, someone says imagine an apple, they can't do that. But it affected them as far as movies were concerned because horror movies just didn't affect them at all. They watched the most gory thing and the next second, it was all fun. Yeah.

So Don says, I've heard it described as having a blind mind's eye. When having something described to you, most people picture it clearly, but those affected by a fan-tasia don't have this ability. People severely affected by this cannot even picture their partner's face and could not conjure their home that they live in for memory alone. I have an element of this where I struggle with details. I will read an entire book and be unable to tell you what any single character looks like. If there is a pivotal building or country in the piece, I will

literally have no idea what it looked like, how many stories it had, what roads led to where, listening to descriptions of things is like sitting down with a pencil and paper and realizing after the first sentence that there's no lead in the pencil, as nothing has stayed in your brain. In film adaptations of books people often struggle with the fact that the actors look nothing like how they imagine, but in my case, I didn't imagine what they looked like in the first place. As an outsider, genuinely never imagined that Jack Reacher looked like, but I knew he wasn't Tom Cruise, which is an entirely different point, which is a point about casting and finance,

I suspect. Also, on the subject of Jack Reacher, the Leachard is one of those many authors who doesn't do a lot of description, but he might give you a couple of lines. Even Jack Reacher is not really interesting. Although he does say that that Jack Reacher is six foot six and the eel of muscle, right? That's right. But you know how some people do like the equivalent of a pen drawing, you're describing every detail, but Lee Child is one of the...

It gives you a couple of facts, and you can... You describe characters. Well, it depends how it... It depends how important. When you're bloodstaring, you are very, very descriptive about... Yeah. Well, you have to say... About King Deer. Yes.

Which every time I find myself not wanting to say out loud because I know it isn't, but it sounds like I shouldn't be able to say it. Yes, exactly. You certainly shouldn't look it up. Although I think it's probably, anyway, Don concludes. I only heard of a Fantasia recently. And as in many things, I found myself

comforted that I'm not alone. It's not a nice affliction and people can get frustrated with you when they're trying to describe something to you and they can see that you haven't understood any of it. Anyhow, keep up the good work and competent but needy affirmation, hungry production team. That is so true. They are competent and needy. Then needy. Thank you. Anyway, don't thank very much. We're going to return to that subject later. Can I just add one thing on that subject, which is that the facial recognition thing is

slightly tangential to this, but because I forget people's faces, I mean, I don't, I had done a very fantastic, I can imagine things, but I forget people's faces just the other week. I blanked my next door neighbor because I, I saw him out of contact. I didn't, I literally looked at him. I see his next door neighbor and I didn't know who he was. But that is a very particular thing, isn't it? The facial, yeah.

I think, well, when we were discussing this last night, child three said, it's not binary, it is a spectrum. And I think, you know, that, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's not you've either got it, you have it, but there might be elements. Elements, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Which is fascinating.

We'll do more, correspondence use the elements. Which is fascinating. We'll do more CorrespondenceCovina.com. What's on? This is where you email us a voice note about your festival or special screening from wherever you are in the world. Here come this week's Correspondence. Hi Simon and Mark. Lost Reels is launching a new 16-millimeter film series of classic curiers of forgotten gems

all shown from vintage 16-millimeter film prints, classic curiers of forgotten gems, all shown from vintage 16-millimeter film prints. With inspired double bills and two-for-one pricing, a first event monster's attack features sci-fi horror on May the 13th at the Cinemomuseum in London, details at lustreels.co.uk. Hi, Simon and Mark, this is Anna from the London Comedy Film Festival, Loco.

Tickets have just gone on sale at Picture House Hackney for our next festival, 11-14 May. We're screening the UK premiere of Basil Calil's a Gaza Weekend, Neil Maskell's directorial debut clock and mooder, films by Hackney born 20th Century film director Wendy Toey, Paul Merton will be answering your questions following the lavender hill mob, and we also present the best short comedy films

from hundreds of incredible submissions on the Sunday 14th May. See you there. such as the inner UK. The event is taking place on the 19th of May at Photo Gallery in Cardiff. It is free to attend for more information contact me at jionyp.co.uk. So we heard Geoffrey M. Badger, which is a splendid name at Lost Reels, which is on at the cinema museum, which is a wonderful venue. That's where we shot all the secrets of cinema. Millimeter film prints there. It's made the 13th followed by Anna at Loco London Comedy Film Festival, which is happening 11th to the 14th of May, Pictures Hackney. And then John Phillips was telling us about his film, Oncistic Fibrosis, funded by the

CF Trust. Great. That's on the 19th of May, and Cardiff, you're a little audio trailer about your event, please, correspondence at kermetermayo.com. That is the end of take one production, management and general all-round stuff, Lily Hamley. She also provided coffee and pastries for which, thank you very much. And when we said, have you missed us? She went, yes, in such an unbelievable way. Anyway, Lily did cameras as well. Videos by Ryan O'Meara and Sancho Panzer, studio engineer Jay Beale. Guest research was by Sophie Ivan.

Basek Erten was the assistant producer and guest booker, Johnny Socials, was on the socials. Hannah Tulba was the producer and Infinity Pool was the red actor. Mark, what is your film of the week? Well, it's a very personal thing, but I'm going to go for a little rich at I.M. everything. Thank you for listening.

Our extra takes with a bonus review's a very personal thing, but I'm going to go for a little rich at I am everything. Thank you for listening. Our extra takes with a bonus review bunch of recommendations, even more stuff about the movies and cinema or adjacent television is available right now. Take three will arrive in your devices inbox, that little pigeonhole next Wednesday. you