Geelong Advertiser - August 27, 2005
Leading man close at hand
Section: Big Weekend, pg. 044
AWARD-WINNING animator Sarah Watt didn't have to look too far when it came to locating a leading man for her first feature film, Look Both Ways, given that she's married to Blue Heelers and SeaChange star William McInnes.
The way McInnes tells it, though, "she basically wanted me out of the shed, so she wrote me a part I couldn't say no to''.
The role he's talking about is Nick, a newspaper photographer whose life is thrown into chaos when he learns that cancer is spreading through his body. At the same time he receives this unfortunate news, he meets Meryl (Justine Clarke), a young artist unwillingly fixated on the dangerous possibilities surrounding us all -- she can barely walk down the street without imagining a variety of horrible accidents befalling her.
The events that link these two characters make up just one strand of Look Both Ways's multi-faceted storyline, with a wide array of different people finding themselves connected by coincidence and circumstance.
According to McInnes, it all results in "a story about how people let themselves be managed by fear and why they shouldn't be''. And for the rangy, good-humoured actor, who travelled to Geelong earlier this week to promote the film, it's actually a very inspiring
and life-affirming piece of work.
"It's a story about being governed by fear, being inhibited by it, and how easy it is to be disconnected from life,'' he said. "I think Sarah's noticed that a lot in Australian society.
"To be completely honest, the best way to sell something these days is to use fear, as opposed to inspiration. No one tries to inspire any more -- there's the feeling that if you do try to inspire
people, you're either a demagogue or a madman.''
While Look Both Ways may seem a little fearful itself to begin with, McInnes believes that makes the film's pay-off all the greater in the end.
"Nick's just sort of mooching through life, he's quite content in a disconnected way,'' McInnes said. "When he gets the news about this medical situation, his world is turned upside-down. When something like that happens, the cobwebs get blown away and you start to straighten things out.
"In Nick's case -- and in the case of everyone in the film -- that's what happens. In that way, it's actually a very sweet film, life-affirming and all those good things.
"I think it's also an open and accessible film. But I think the reason people have liked it so much is that it's complex as well.
"From the beginning, you've got to accept the fact that we're all going to die. That's happy! But it also says you've got to throw your lot in with life. Otherwise you're just waiting to die."
Being married to the filmmaker offered McInnes the opportunity to be close to Look Both Ways during its development, and he admits "there were times when I read drafts and made a few suggestions, very minor suggestions. During the rehearsal process, everyone was really encouraged to come up with ideas but once that period was over that was it -- you knew what you were supposed to do and you did it. And everyone hooked into that because they liked the
script and they wanted to be part of it.''
Given the subject matter of Look Both Ways, it was a sadly ironic twist that Watt was diagnosed with breast cancer while editing the film.
"You just sort of roll your eyes and say 'I can't believe this!' It was like a really bad joke,'' McInnes said. "She went through chemotherapy while she was doing the final mix of the film.
"She's on another course of treatment now, but she's doing well, as well as can be expected.
"You just don't know with a disease like that, that's the awful thing. But she's living her life, and that's fantastic."
Look Both Ways is in cinemas now.
Copyright 2005 / Geelong Advertiser (Regional Daily)
Source: Geelong Advertiser, AUG 27, 2005Item: 200508271044212647
Section: Big Weekend, pg. 044
AWARD-WINNING animator Sarah Watt didn't have to look too far when it came to locating a leading man for her first feature film, Look Both Ways, given that she's married to Blue Heelers and SeaChange star William McInnes.
The way McInnes tells it, though, "she basically wanted me out of the shed, so she wrote me a part I couldn't say no to''.
The role he's talking about is Nick, a newspaper photographer whose life is thrown into chaos when he learns that cancer is spreading through his body. At the same time he receives this unfortunate news, he meets Meryl (Justine Clarke), a young artist unwillingly fixated on the dangerous possibilities surrounding us all -- she can barely walk down the street without imagining a variety of horrible accidents befalling her.
The events that link these two characters make up just one strand of Look Both Ways's multi-faceted storyline, with a wide array of different people finding themselves connected by coincidence and circumstance.
According to McInnes, it all results in "a story about how people let themselves be managed by fear and why they shouldn't be''. And for the rangy, good-humoured actor, who travelled to Geelong earlier this week to promote the film, it's actually a very inspiring
and life-affirming piece of work.
"It's a story about being governed by fear, being inhibited by it, and how easy it is to be disconnected from life,'' he said. "I think Sarah's noticed that a lot in Australian society.
"To be completely honest, the best way to sell something these days is to use fear, as opposed to inspiration. No one tries to inspire any more -- there's the feeling that if you do try to inspire
people, you're either a demagogue or a madman.''
While Look Both Ways may seem a little fearful itself to begin with, McInnes believes that makes the film's pay-off all the greater in the end.
"Nick's just sort of mooching through life, he's quite content in a disconnected way,'' McInnes said. "When he gets the news about this medical situation, his world is turned upside-down. When something like that happens, the cobwebs get blown away and you start to straighten things out.
"In Nick's case -- and in the case of everyone in the film -- that's what happens. In that way, it's actually a very sweet film, life-affirming and all those good things.
"I think it's also an open and accessible film. But I think the reason people have liked it so much is that it's complex as well.
"From the beginning, you've got to accept the fact that we're all going to die. That's happy! But it also says you've got to throw your lot in with life. Otherwise you're just waiting to die."
Being married to the filmmaker offered McInnes the opportunity to be close to Look Both Ways during its development, and he admits "there were times when I read drafts and made a few suggestions, very minor suggestions. During the rehearsal process, everyone was really encouraged to come up with ideas but once that period was over that was it -- you knew what you were supposed to do and you did it. And everyone hooked into that because they liked the
script and they wanted to be part of it.''
Given the subject matter of Look Both Ways, it was a sadly ironic twist that Watt was diagnosed with breast cancer while editing the film.
"You just sort of roll your eyes and say 'I can't believe this!' It was like a really bad joke,'' McInnes said. "She went through chemotherapy while she was doing the final mix of the film.
"She's on another course of treatment now, but she's doing well, as well as can be expected.
"You just don't know with a disease like that, that's the awful thing. But she's living her life, and that's fantastic."
Look Both Ways is in cinemas now.
Copyright 2005 / Geelong Advertiser (Regional Daily)
Source: Geelong Advertiser, AUG 27, 2005Item: 200508271044212647
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