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Secret Mad Max prequel - Stone (1974) (Ft. Mitch's Dad)
23 Plays20 days ago
A special guest, Mitch's Dad, comes in to talk to us about the almost Mad Max biker prequel (with returning cast members no less) Stone!
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Transcript
Spoiler Alert for 'Stone'
00:00:00
Speaker
Hi everyone, this is a spoiler warning for 1974's action crime film R18 Plus Stone. I just looked up the Google for it, but yeah, we're spoiling this plot. It's a really great movie, 20th episode of USS with a very special guest. So ah tune in and strap on.
00:00:23
Speaker
Let's go for it.
00:00:28
Speaker
I am the Night Ray. You're terrible Muriel. Talk to me. You gonna do that Pogger Pogger? You've been talking to the cop. Today is a brand new day. No, that's it. It's the vibe.
Meet the Hosts - Mitch and Matthew
00:00:41
Speaker
G'day fellow Aussie film lovers and welcome to another episode of Under Southern Screens, the most buried standing up Australian cinema podcast. I'm Mitch. And I'm Matthew. And what a day. What a fun-filled day. It's our 20th episode. How crazy is this? Very exciting. Much applause. And to celebrate 20th episode ah that we totally knew was the case before we started recording... It's not like we've lost count or anything, but... Well, we're doing ah Stone and we have a special guest to do Stone with us. We wanted someone who's really special for this episode. Really special. Knows a lot about film. Some might say if he wasn't here, this podcast might not exist.
Special Guest: Clinton, the Influencer
00:01:25
Speaker
Some would say that. He could be considered the grandfather of the pod.
00:01:29
Speaker
It is my dad, Clinton. Welcome to the pod, Clinton. How are you? Thank you, Mitch. Thank you, Matthew. That's a lovely greeting. Oh, absolutely. we had to get you on. We did. We have to. forget After you recommended, what was the film you recommended? Ten Canoes. Ten Canoes. ah yeah Yeah, it was like a must. Yeah. Dad, I know by trade you're not a filmmaker, but you've shot a few home videos and stuff like that. That's it. so my question is, is this is a two-part question. Number one. Yes. What is the best thing you've ever shot? And part two to that, why is it the multi-part docuseries of me chasing pigeons around Europe? Oh my gosh. that You mean you're talking still photography, of course. No, you took video as well. when we were That was only for a short thats just for a short period of time. as we He dabbled. You realize you were too good though and you're going to put George Miller out of the job.
00:02:20
Speaker
I don't know, I just like cameras. I've always had still cameras that take lots of photography. So i thought this is back in 2003, 2002. And so for the holiday, we decided to take a a video camera with us instead of taking still photos. Was that in the era of um mini DV or like? No, little tapes, little mini tapes. Yeah. you go, what an era. We've got 22 of them.
00:02:42
Speaker
Well, Clinton, if you can get me some footage of Mitch chasing pigeons, I would really appreciate it. Not for any blackmail or anything, but, you know. course not. I'm proud of it. There's nothing to blackmail me with. I think I showed those pigeons what's up, who's boss, all the above. You know, if Mitch makes it big as like a filmmaker, that footage is going to be used in like the early days section of the documentary of his life. Mitchell is always bound for film. And there has to be that feather burden there somewhere. Yeah, exactly. Always. This movie, this is one that you picked Clinton,
Why 'Stone'? Clinton Explains
00:03:13
Speaker
right? Stone. Yes. Why did you pick this film? Because it is such a, I'd never heard of it before. It is such a unique pick and one that was so rewarding. I loved it. personally but yeah tell me about how you first came across this film and why you brought it to us today well it was shot in sydney in 73 released in 74 yes right yeah so i was about 14 years of age it's rated r nice so i didn't get a chance to see it and that's for violence nudity one sex scene which you don't see it's under a blanket and drugs so that's what's got the r rating and so as a 14 year old that you're like this movie ticks all the boxes i want to see this movie it's It's not fair.
00:03:49
Speaker
So getting to my mid-20s, early 80s, 82, 83, or maybe 84, I saw it first with ah off a VHS tape in an old Sony Triniton 21-inch cathode ray tube TV. That's awesome. That was my introduction and I thought, this is so gritty and it's just unbelievable. the stunts. You go, they did what? It's in that era, absolutely. Like, what a surprise for me for this film. But yeah, did you have an introduction for this film that you wanted to give ah the viewers a little peek behind the
Plot Overview of 'Stone'
00:04:20
Speaker
curtain? Sure. Yeah, let's get into it. Stone, released June 28, 1974. This Australian film follows an undercover cop, Stone, investigating a series of murders of a motorcycle club, the Gravediggers MC, members made up of Vietnam returned soldiers. Strata released 15 films in that year, including The Cars That Ate Paris. You've already done one of these movies, so here's another one from 1974. There's our linkage. It stars Sandy Harbert as The Undertaker. He also wrote the script, directed, produced, and even did production design. It was his baby. Other cast members include Ken Shorter, who played Stone, Vincent Gill,
00:04:56
Speaker
Dr. Death. Where else do we find him? He's in Mad Max. A bunch of these guys are in Mad Max. Yeah. There's a lot Mad Max alum. Or guess in Mad Max, there's a bunch of Stone alum. Yeah. as as As we saw, at the Helen Morse, Bill Hunter. He's he's the iconic Australian actor. Of course. Rebecca Gilling, another one. Bindi Williams, First Nations actor. right Oh, yes. Right. Okay. And Norman Gunston.
00:05:17
Speaker
Gary McDonald. He played the mechanic.
Casting Choices and Film Connections
00:05:20
Speaker
Oh, geez. There's all these people pop up. um Hugh Key Burns, who also. He's a toe cutter and then he becomes Immortan Joe in Fury Road. That's right. And another one, which is Roger Ward. He played one of the policemen in Stone. He also plays the captain in charge in Mad Max. Wow. Okay. Geez. guy who's trying to um get Max to come back with the Interceptor. yeah Do you reckon George Miller just swiped the casting list of Stone and just started going down the Rolodex? I reckon it's a mixture of A, these people already had experience with a motorbike, but B, also there's just that little actors in Australia that you didn't have much of a pool to pick from. Remember you picked up one thing too, the the connection to when Mad Max and Stone, the name of one of the characters. Oh, there's a character called Bad Max. Yeah. Yeah. I didn't even pick that. So we watched this together last night with with my mom, who definitely did not fall asleep during this movie. Fun-filled family viewing of stone. Exactly. i mean, we've watched worse, I think, together. Fair enough. We both...
00:06:21
Speaker
Looked to each other when we heard Max. we were just talking about Hugh Heesburn being in Mad Max. And then we heard Bad Max, but as Mad Max. And it wasn't until the final credits where it said Bad Max. We went, oh, it's it wasn't bad. it was It's this close. It was very close. have curiosity. that What month did this come out again? What you mentioned earlier. June. june That's the same month that... um Cars at 8 Paris premiere. Jeez, right. At the Sydney Film Festival. Maybe this was the same thing, same time. Maybe the Sydney Film Festival again, yeah. The slate of Aussie films. Yeah, right. Obviously, there's comparisons to be made between the two films, but I think that this is where Cars at 8 Paris feels like taking the perspective of the hippie stoner generation. Yes. I think this film comes into it from that outsider perspective of, look at this crazed group or whatever. Let's have a little introspection as to what they're really like. It feels like a 60 minutes interview. you know what I mean? Like he goes into it and it's this subculture that we don't know much about, but let's get a little bit deeper. Is that, I don't know.
00:07:23
Speaker
Sandy Harbert himself, I looked up his filmography after the film was done and he yeah directed one movie and it was this movie. Yeah, right. I saw that as well. And I'm just curious, and I wonder if you know this, Dad. He was a biker, right? Like, he himself was part of that culture, or? Remember we started watching the documentary, the 1999 documentary. Yeah,
Behind-the-Scenes Stories
00:07:42
Speaker
that's true. Oh, there was a doctor behind it. Yeah, there is a doctor. So Dad has the lovely Umbrella Blu-ray. Nice. Ausploitation collection. And with that comes a few different behind-the-scenes stuff, including actually the full album of soundtrack. That's I don't know if want to call this as a good soundtrack, but it's definitely a noticeable one. I would call it eclectic. I think it took every form of music and stuck it in the vitamin went... That is very true. It's odd. Someone got a Moog synthesizer and just went like absolutely nuts with it. Absolutely. yeah There was two makings of... One was the actual original making of they made in 1973 when they were filming it. yes And then there's another one that's 25 years later in 1999. Yeah. They basically, they came together to reenact the funeral scene from the start of the film where they drive along the, uh, the Gosford expressway, which is North of Sydney. I want to, before we move on, cause I'll forget to mention this. Matt, did you notice the cameraman standing in amongst the ah highway when they did a panning shot? I didn't know. I ah i caught it.
00:08:44
Speaker
And I went, wait, what was that? And I quickly was like, I'm sorry, mom and dad, please, don't know, have to scroll back, I must see this. You stopped the film, you were like, let's rewind. I stopped the film to go back. When they're doing a panning shot where they're following a bunch of the motorbikes driving down the highway, standing in on the rocks that divides the left and right lanes, there was just a cameraman, and you can see the camera, the guy who's the camera you're currently looking through, he catches him, and you can see him kind of rush, that little section of pan to get off him as quick as possible. He's just standing there directly in the way. Hey man, film is expensive back in those days. You couldn't retake this. This is the type of stuff. There's a lot of stuff in this where you they had one shot to do this. It's so Mad Max in that way. very scrappy. lot of it was just one shot. Yeah, they had one go at it and they didn't do it again because they couldn't afford to or they didn't have the time to or any of the above. Even in that last scene where Stone's confronting the gang in the cemetery... The reverse shot over Stone's shoulder. The guy's just like out of focus. Yeah. It's like, oh, exploitation. No, it's fine. It's just so scrappy and like, yeah. And also when they were doing the initiation, I reckon that would have been ad-lib. Oh, yeah, yeah. When they were sticking the needle through his ear and stuff like that. Were you aware, Matthew, of the Hell's Angels involvement in this film? I was not. Dad, do you want to explain that? No.
00:10:08
Speaker
It sounds very on the nose. Yeah. Don't forget this is a long time. This is 1973. I mean, it's it's then the Hells Angels was not a major corporation as it is now. And so it were bikers who were got together and they were antisocial. They made their own laws, their own rules. Yeah, when Sandy actually put out the call in the newspaper saying, I want for ah yeah anybody on the motorbike who want to go up the expressway, we'd like you to come in as extras. And the Hells Angels were there too, but they also apparently helped out in other places as well. Like protection. Yeah, that and other things which they're very good at at selling and passing on as well, I would Oh, indeed, right, yes. Well, I mean, the back of the box says Hells Angels were paid in dope and beer. Yes. So Aussie. So Aussie. I feel like every single time I hear about how these ausploitation films were made, Yeah, of course that's how it was done. There's no Screen Australia production funding initiative here. This is all just like, can you do it on the weekend? Yeah, right, let's go for it then. That type of... Matt, what's interesting is they did get some funding from the then film corporation. $154,000, I think it was. I've got it written here somewhere. But it made a pretty good profit, made $1.5 million dollars a yes in Australia. Stone did pretty well, yeah. That's a very, very good return. Apparently, of the investors received all the money back and extra in six months. How times have changed.
00:11:27
Speaker
Yeah. For Australian films. Going back to the performances, I think the person that stands out for me in particular is Hugh Keysburn. He's just such a presence in this film. I think he's better in this film than in Mad Max, quite personally. That's at my take. I recently had a conversation with someone who had just recently seen Mad Max, the first one. And their takeaway from the film was, A, they didn't like it, which I was... i had to hold my time. Yeah. The second thing they said was they did not enjoy Hugh Keysburn's performance in Mad Max 1, to which I said a lot of expletives. Let's just say you're not on speaking terms anymore and they haven't been seen for many weeks. Let's just say I told them you're making me very unhappy right now. and What makes you enjoy this performance more, Matthew? I don't know. I just feel like, firstly, he's given more to do in terms of dialogue and sort of, like, things. There is more character here. Because Torikata is a caricature of just a crazy person who drives a motorbike. Whereas this is actually a guy who drives a motorbike. Yeah. Especially the scene in the bar when he's yeah threatening wannabe George Harrison looking guy. Give me a kiss. I feel intimidated in that moment watching him do that. The broodingness of the Australian character is epitomized in that scene, I think. that He's not being explicitly hostile, aggressive in the way, but it could reach a boiling point. And I think he plays it with such a pensiveness. Yeah. That is just so, so enthralling to watch. And then like when he dies in the graveyard and he's just so sort of casual about it up until the moment when he eventually kicks the bucket. It's very Australian, the whole Australian macho thing with that inner insecurity and inner emotion. I don't know. It really spoke to me personally. You guys can disagree. I think I like both performances for different reasons. They're the opposite of each other, 100%. I can see why someone would have a preference with this one over the other one. I think I just enjoy the Torquata performance so much that I don't mind that it's quite shallow in quotation mark. But I do quite enjoy this. I quite like, and I think Dad and I, we commented on it when we were watching this. There's that part in the middle where they're all smoking dope or something. And sometimes their mouths are moving and sometimes they aren't when they're explaining the freedom of yeah driving a motorbike. I was a bit ah hooked out during a bit of quite a bit of that. it was just a bit hard to relate to. I think Hugh Key's Burns part, he really sold that kind of monologue, that kind of style with the way he was describing things. What about you, Deb?
00:13:52
Speaker
What do you think? I agree. But it's interesting. I looked into his background. He is actually from the Royal Shakespeare Company. Yes. He is. Yeah. Yeah. You can kind of tell how he announced he has. has that classically trained vibe about it. And he came out here in, what was it, 72 for a production of Midsummer's Night Dream, loved the place, and he stayed. So he's British by birth? He's British and Royal Shakespeare Company. Wow. I would have loved to have seen him in Henry IV Part I. He would have been the perfect full staff. Yeah, he would have been great. I do see that 100%. On top of that, like Bill Hunter, I mean, this is maybe his third film or something, like early Bill Hunter. yeah Australian film, great. He was in Strictly Ballroom, Death in Brunswick, the later film resurgence in Australia. But like here, it's like Jackie Weaver in Picnic at Hanging Rock. It's like very unassuming that this person will become a legend. Of course, in Helen Morse, she was in Picnic at Hanging Rock. Yes, absolutely.
00:14:47
Speaker
Of course. Clinton, when you watch this contemporarily, how did it compare to back in the day? I'm not sure how regularly you know you've watched this film, but had your opinion on it changed or some standout thoughts? It's like it's been thrown together and it's just haphazard. But that adds to the atmosphere, yeah especially like the stunts, especially when the motorcycle dries off the cliff into the ocean. But at the same time, there's some really dagging bits. Mitchell were talking about the blood. So...
00:15:13
Speaker
so artificial. Not only was the blood artificial, but the pattern on his chin changed from shot to shot. I love the guy that got blown through the chest and now he's just got like a little volcano coming out of the back of his body. And only that, he has the strength to stand up and spit on a statue of an angel.
00:15:33
Speaker
through the je I loved that guy. That was where my second favorite character behind Toad. yeah Just the guy with the insane hat. He was crazy. Vincent Gill. Oh, Dr. Death. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, of course. Yeah, yeah. No, I loved him. You could see he was having so much fun playing that part. They're just having so much fun doing it. Oh shit, Vincent Gill is the Knight Rider in Mad Max. That's right. They had just five people and Mel Gibson. Mel Gibson came onto that set. Everyone was like best buds. He was like the new kid at school. wonder why he turned mean, dude. He just felt bullied and left out. But it's rough.
00:16:06
Speaker
But that adds to the character. It does. No, I think that's something I'm starting to really love about Ausploitation. It's just kind of in the nicest way possible how garbage it is. yeah It's so endearing to watch these people who don't have the backing of Hollywood. They don't have the funding. They don't have the the ability to do what Hollywood's doing, you know, across the world at this point in time. They're just like, you know what? We want to make movies. Yeah, we got a camera. We don't really know how to do it. It feels like I could do this. And not in the sense that like there's skill in here that don't have, but it just feels like yeah this is something that's possible for anyone to do. it Feels within reach. Yeah, it feels within reach in comparison to in the 1970s, you had Star Wars, which I guess is like kind of doable, but still, that's kind of insane and still backed by the Hollywood... um system yeah You know, and all that. So it's just, I'm loving it and I'm growing to find ausploitation is kind of my favorite genre. There's definitely drawbacks in certain things that I find a bit unpalatable. um Certain levels of nudity. And sexism. And sexism. Oh yeah, yeah, 100%. Those aren't parts I enjoy, but I think as a person who wants to make film, I find these...
00:17:12
Speaker
very enjoyable and very i think beautiful is probably the word i'd use just they're so gorgeous yeah i see that 100 it is the scrappiness of it that is part and parcel with the the character of it i think what really draws me into this film and then also aus exploitation is just how overt it is with its political messaging i mean like the whole divide between police authority and this carefree flower power group that really has a violent underbelly.
Political Themes in 'Stone'
00:17:42
Speaker
It's just so explicit. Whereas in modern cinema, it would be done through it like an allegory or like, like it would be only like hinted at all. They'd spend 20 minutes talking about it and never bring it up again. Here it's an ongoing theme throughout the film. And I like how they toy with the idea that relations can be built, but then it just comes crashing down in that, that final moment where Stone gets absolutely wrecked. Because the choice he makes. Yeah. It's not funny, but I did laugh during that last bit just because of how shocking it is. It's not because I found it actually funny. It's just, yeah whoa. I mean, dad, when you saw this movie and that ending happened, is there stuff like that?
00:18:21
Speaker
Or was that kind like a shock? It was a shock. I mean, again, Again, they just spilled all the whatever unofficial blood they left over. They just poured it all over. Yeah, this is the final scene. We've got some leftover. Just dump it on him. A couple of leaders. Let's dump it on But also, like, you faintly see it, but on his left cheek, you can see it's damaged. There was, like, actual makeup on there, done properly.
00:18:41
Speaker
yeah Yeah. And I'm thinking, they beat the crap out of him just for this one. quite horrific it's not like it comes completely out of nowhere because you get these scenes where his wife or girlfriend partner is like talking about them while playing tennis you know what i mean he's gallivanting with those little hippie people and it's just like obviously this relationship that he's making with these people it can't last because at the end of the day he has his binary objective It's shocking, but it's set up
Comparisons to Classic Biker Films
00:19:11
Speaker
well, I think. I was interested in thinking of other bikey movies. Absolutely. The classic one everybody knows Easy Rider from 1969. Have you seen that movie? I have. It's definitely some influence on Stone, I reckon. Yeah, the idea of the loners and what they do. But the other the earliest one, of course, is the wild one, 1953 with Marlon Brando. That was the first bikey movie where you've got these antisocial groups of people and they will not conform to them. But I think there's just something interesting about how in this year we got two different exploitation films that kind of directly tie into the Vietnam War. One with them. There's possibly even more that we just don't know of. This would tie in with 1972 when the Labor Party came in because the first thing they did was they got all the army out of Vietnam.
00:19:53
Speaker
They got all military out. They canceled. Abolished conscription and all that. yeah Correct. It was a massive social change at all levels. I mean – They made University Free. Then back and then Bob Hawke in 1999 put Hex into it. so but yeah And so I think, again, that affects what we're what you're seeing here. You're seeing a total change of freedom. What do you think the film's stance is on these characters? Because it's a little bit ambiguous, I think. They're humanised, but they're sort of the anti-hero. That's at least my perspective. Yeah. What do you guys reckon the stance is? Matt, I totally agree with you. It's about... The Hebrew group who's organized, they're a societal by themselves, but it's completely divergent from their normal society. They have rules, they follow the rules, you break the rules, you're punished.
00:20:38
Speaker
That's society. yeah I feel as if the movie in a way condemns them, but not in the sense that it condemns them for their actions or for anything like that, but more in the literal sense, condemns them to a violent end. It doesn't really give an opinion on whether these people are correct or not. It just kind of says these are people. But it does say if you choose this lifestyle, you're likely to end up dying horribly and violently because you're living a life of violence and a life outside the natural protection of the law. So I think the film more just expressing the conclusion of living a life like this rather than saying whether or not this is ah the correct way to live or not. Yeah, right. It doesn't really pick a side. It just shows, I guess. I'd be interested in that since you've lived through this era, maybe you'll know a bit more about it. Was that kind of the perceived notion of how these people kind of like very violent lives, very violent ends? We got Hell's Angels just down the road from us. They're major headquarters down in Elfington. I used to drive past it very often and every now and then would be surrounded by cop cars and they're doing another raid.
00:21:39
Speaker
One of my aunties used to live up in the bush. The bikies used to go all to the local pubs all the time so you'd see them out there and they group together and they're outsiders. They want to be outsiders and they don't want to be interfered with. We have our society, bugger off.
00:21:52
Speaker
We don't want to know you. They don't want to talk to you. They don't to anything. That actually reminds me of that section in the middle when ah Stone's talking to different establishments and there's the burger joint and the nightclub and they're very positive towards the the Gravediggers because they bring in more people to look at them at the burger joint. And then the other one, they've actually, it's the only nightclub now that doesn't pay protection money because the Gravediggers beat the crap out of the um protection racket. But then also, obviously, there's just the fact that they do a lot of crappy stuff throughout the film. They they do a lot of like, they're violent and they're intimidating and they they ultimately beat the crap out of our audience stand-in. Who, by the way, looks like he's about to cry in every single scene he's in. Maybe it's his upper lip or something. He's so sad. There's another actor that does that and i can't remember who it is. I guess he's kind it's got like the Elijah Wood face. I see that. I do see that. It's just interesting that the film, it shows the positives and negatives of having such a facet of society. And I think it ultimately just portrays them as complex people. The reason why I ask about that is because like the film itself starts with a political assassination. yeah I think he's like a pro-environmentalist individual. yeah I understand like if it was going for pro-flower power, pro-hippie movement, why would it start with this moment? Maybe I missed something. What are you, like that opening? I totally agree with you, Matt, because i feel that was lost. to me there was just an opening scene
00:23:16
Speaker
for the rest of the story and they just basically forgot about it from that point. There's an assassin out there who's knocking them off one by one because they saw the the actual assassin. Or Hugh Key's burn saw him. Yeah. Yeah. But that's lost in it.
00:23:28
Speaker
That becomes unimportant. I think they should have spent more time about that, about the actual environmental thing because Sydney's very interesting for its development time because a lot of buildings were knocked down. Mm-hmm. until the BLF, think it was the BLF, got involved and they said, no, we're not knocking down any more buildings. And that's why in Melbourne you get lot of old buildings still in the city, whereas Sydney you don't because there were just literally any old building which was obliterated for the sake of progress. As far as I'm aware, we watched the director's cut, um yes which is actually 30 minutes shorter yeah than the theatrical cut. I'm wondering if something was more prevalent in the theatrical cut because we're missing 30 minutes. i and i don't I think we said we going to watch the theatrical cut maybe at the end of the last episode, but just what was available was the director's cut instead. Yeah, I watched it on Broly and that had the 99-minute cut. And Broly's the umbrella ah streaming service streaming service. So it'd probably the same. Talk Umbrella. You got the Blu-ray. I watched Umbrella. We're all shills. Love Umbrella, they're great. Love those guys. I agree with you guys. I think the film doesn't do a good enough job implementing that opening assassination slash the opening kills on those bikers into the rest of the plot. Obviously, like, nothing happens without that, but but it doesn't feel like it continues throughout. It very feels like it's dropped, and then about 20 minutes towards the end, you get a random board meeting with um the assassin appears again, and... it's a bit up in the air what's kind of really going on but what my read on that was the hippie flower person who got shot the politician he wasn't actually a hippie he was just a politician but he was very green forward yeah politician yeah yeah there's a bunch of
Counterculture and Violence in 'Stone'
00:25:00
Speaker
signs saying less highways more parks stuff like that adam band vibes he gets shot and i think he is kind of the flip side of the bikers so i think they're the same coin It's both counterculture, but I think the film is saying one counterculture is not tough enough to hold it against society. Yeah, risece right, right. Whereas the other counterculture, since its basis is in violence, it can combat the violence that comes at it. Because ultimately they win against the assassins that tried to kill the guy that's Again, if you look at the beginning when the bikies all turn up, they're also anti the environment. That's that's it. Yes, exactly. They're calling out to him. They're calling him names and stuff. They're saying, you're i don't know if they said you're a pussy, but they basically call him a pussy. Yeah, and throwing cans and everything. They're disruptive. They disrupt society. They're missing on the fact that these are actually allies to them in a way. Yeah, it's very nuanced. like it's like because obviously Am I giving this movie too much? I i think you are. A Rosploitation movie? Yeah. That's what we're here for. We're here to dig deep when there's no substance. Just digging even if there's no diamonds. Exactly. It's for fool's gold. Look, man, I loved Stone. I'd never heard of it before. I act like I know more about Osvoitation than I actually do. So I think this was like a really great sort of, i wouldn't even say it's a hidden gem because it did really well, but like it's a film that doesn't really even get talked about.
00:26:20
Speaker
I don't think it's in this discourse that much. Yeah, I feel like it's got lost to time a bit. Yeah, is there any other quick facts you to throw out, Dad, before we go? The only is it was never released in America. Pretty on brand for an Ausploitation film. But it still made 1.8 mil in Australia. That's fantastic. It went to England, Japan and Germany. Throwback to when Australians went and saw Australian films. let's go to japan oh god if we can see we can see stone in japan that was really cool actually um the umbrella blu-ray has on the cover different posters uh so the front cover is the australian poster i think and in the cover of the actual case the front cover is the german one and the back cover is the japanese one it's very fun love umbrella does some fun stuff they do some very fun things they really It's like the Film and Sound Archive in Canberra. On the walls, they have posters for all these different Australian films, but they're the international posters. That's very fun. Different languages, like Russian, Kazakh, all different languages. I think it's really fun to look at the posters that are put out for different countries. You actually get a sense of different political instances and stuff like that. I think a very interesting case study, go take a gander at the American poster for Force Awakens. And then take a look at the Chinese poster for Force Awakens. Let's see what races are omitted from the poster. You'll notice what specific person gets removed or taken out of that poster. It's John Boyega. It's Finn. It's the black actor. The black man gets removed. Really? I didn't know that. haven't seen it. Wow. quite blatant. I think the final one as well where they have the same-sex kiss, that was removed from the film in China. Yeah, well that's pretty classic. A lot of Disney woke LGBTQ stuff is two second clips that are easily taken out of the film without ruining the rest of the cut. Therefore they can sell it to countries in the Middle East and countries in Asia that don't like same-sex stuff. It's so woke and progressive of them. They're so cool.
00:28:15
Speaker
They're definitely here for you LGBTQ people. disney love you you're not just money to them you're just a brick in the disney lego set that is exactly what you are a colorful brick in the disney lego set but it's the wrong color that's not the color they like well not in the specific uh cultures at least anyway dad would you mind telling us what you believe is the number one australian thing about stone Oh, it has to
Exploitation Elements in Australian Cinema
00:28:40
Speaker
be the nudity. Absolutely. I see that. I see that. Name an Australian movie when there's no nudity. It's not an Australian movie. That's why Apex didn't do well. Not enough nudity. We didn't see Taron Hedgerton's hog. Oh, we saw his butt though. We saw his butt. Yeah, but we didn't see hog, did we? Not that I'm looking or anything. was looking. That's it. But yes, there is a lot of parts in this movie, if you know I'm saying. A lot of moving parts. lot of moving parts, yes. That's it. Of the above. I'm here for it. It's not specific to a gender. Go for it, mate. It's the Under Southern Screens Equal Nudity Award. Yes.
00:29:14
Speaker
No, Equal Exploitation Award. Equal Exploitation Award. Yeah, that's it. I see that. I like that. That's good stuff. We exploit anyone and everyone. Well, ah you can tell us more about the penises and boobs you want to see on TikTok, Instagram and threads at UndersouthernScreensPod. They might not be able to. They might breach the terms of service. Only if they post it. If you send us a DM, it's fine. Don't send us a DM. but yeah Don't send us dicks or boobs, please. No, thank you. That's a business account. right if Also, you can send us anything you kind of really want at undersoathenscreenspod at gmail.com. However, we would prefer either reviews of films or just general recommendations for films you'd like to see in the future. Rate the podcast as well. Give it a good old five stars. Five stars. Do what you like. I mean, this episode has been a solid five stars because we have Clint and Mitch's dad in here in the flesh. Once again, the guest has upstaged us, proven how clever they are. it shows what brilliant hosts you are. you You let people shine. Oh, you can come back. Oh, yeah. No, Clinton, sincerely, thank you so much for coming onto the pod. You've been a ray of sunshine as always. you know just yeah It's been so fun to talk about Stone with you. Thank you very much for both of you inviting us. It's been an absolute ball and you're both fantastic people, great people. Thank you. I wasn't expecting that at all. Thank you. it was very sweet. I'm tearing Like father, like son. Which is like, I feel so seen. It's like, thanks, dad.
00:30:43
Speaker
Thanks, You're embarrassing me. Gosh. No.
Next Episode Preview: 'Brand New Day'
00:30:47
Speaker
Matthew, what film are we watching next We are watching the 2009 musical Brand New Day. It is an Indigenous Australian film that is pretty cool, pretty crazy and fun and wild. Matthew loves torturing me with musicals. He enjoys it. You just gotta, you gotta get into it, man. You gotta get into it. You're on a quest to make me enjoy musicals. And I respect that. This will be our third musical. Are we counting Strictly Ballroom? No. It's not really a musical. That's a dancing film. There's no singing in that though. I'm looking forward to either way. think anything else. Besides that. you want to see our outro? Okay. You ready?
00:31:23
Speaker
Okay. Grave diggers. Keep an eye out for the under the Southern screens. coming to a bike shed near you. Oi, give me my beer.
00:31:34
Speaker
That's awesome. Incredible. Thank you so much, Dad. That was incredible. I loved it. See ya. Thanks for listening to another episode of Under Southern Screens. We'll be back next week to talk more films down under.
00:31:45
Speaker
we just want to attribute that our opening title is Heavy Duty by Zoo and our closing title is Heavy Weight by Fell Creek. Thanks so much for listening and Mitch and I will see you in the next episode. See you next time.
00:32:00
Speaker
Under Southern Screens would like to acknowledge the stolen lands on which this podcast is recorded and produced and pay tribute to the Wurundjeri and Woiwurrung people of the Kulin Nation and Kamaragal people of the Eora Nation.
00:32:13
Speaker
Sovereignty was never ceded and we pay respect to all Indigenous Elders past, present and emerging. Always was, always will be Aboriginal land.