Latest / The Downing Arts Podcast / ET25.5 A medic's take on Paddington

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ET25.5 A medic's take on Paddington · The Downing Arts Podcast

• 0:00
  Welcome to the Downing Arts Podcast.
• 0:07
  Creative arts activities have slowed down a little bit as we get closer to exams,
• 0:12
  but the chapel choir were on fine form on Sunday at the commemoration of Benefactors
• 0:16
  Service, singing music by Bird, Walton and Parry. Many thanks to
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  all who supported them. If photography is your thing and you're a
• 0:24
  current Downing student, the Alumni association photographic competition is open
• 0:28
  until the 15th of June. This year's theme is what makes Downing
• 0:32
  special. For details, please see the show notes. If you'd like to get
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  in touch with your arts news and events, please email artspodcastdao.cam.ac.uk
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  here with me in the studio now is Bede Doe, who is a first year
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  medic. Welcome, Bede. Hello. I very much looking forward
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  to talking about the Paddington film trilogy. So your first year medic.
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  Have you outside medicine, like, what have you been up to this year? I've done
• 1:03
  a bit of drama. I did the freshest play in Downing recently.
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  That's been fun. Great. And do you sort of have ambitions to
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  venture over to the ADC at some point? I mean, would you like to take
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  things a bit further? I'd like to do some more drama in
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  the future. Yeah. Get involved in something else. Great. So talking
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  about the Paddington films, how did you get into them in the first place?
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  Well, I think I'd watched them a few times. I think the
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  first one came out when I was nine. I'd watched them a few times as
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  a kid, but it was only really re watching them that I started to
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  get more and more from them as I've got older
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  and appreciating them a lot more because there's a lot of things like books
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  from my childhood that I've reread and been disappointed by and
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  found that what I thought was great actually isn't as good. Looking back on it
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  now. But the Paddington films have never been like that. When I rewatch them,
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  there's always something else that I appreciate in them. Yeah, I think it's
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  one of those rare things. I mean, I haven't seen the third film, but it's.
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  Yeah, one of those rare things. When I think the second film is actually as
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  good, if not better than the first film, which doesn't often happen.
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  Yeah, I'd agree. So, I mean, did you read Paddington as a child? Did you
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  kind of get into him that way? I think I did, but not.
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  Not obsessively. I wouldn't have. I wouldn't have said that. I was a big Paddington
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  fan as a child particularly. It's more the films that I've really got into,
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  yeah, I mean, they've. They've got a fantastic array of actors. I mean, there's Hugh
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  Bonneville and Jim Broadbent and Nicole Kidman and Julie
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  Walters, all those sorts of people. It's really, really fantastic cast.
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  So, Jonce, just tell us a little bit about what you think is
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  so fantastic about. About the films without giving away any spoilers for anyone
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  who's not. Not yet watched them. Yes, well,
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  there's. There's lots of different bits I like about them. Firstly, just that they're really
• 2:53
  well made. There's lots of different clever visual details
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  and transitions. An obvious one from the beginning would be when they use the Doll's
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  House to show all the family members. And they repeat
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  that throughout the trilogy as well, which means there's a consistent look to the.
• 3:10
  To the films and a nice cozy world that you can return to,
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  which makes them really satisfying for rewatching.
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  And then I also. I like the social commentary
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  that they have about Paddington being an immigrant into the
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  country and trying to fit into a society that's not
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  really designed for him, and that's sometimes not so welcoming.
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  And then they have that in the first film, largely through the
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  character of Mr. Brown, as a nice way to get you into it. But then
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  in the second film, once he's more established, they can explore a
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  darker side of that as well, with getting on the wrong side
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  of the law, etc. And there's just lots of little details
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  that reinforce that. That I'm a big fan of. Like with the music,
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  with certain scenes that very deliberately
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  speak to certain themes, like all the scenes with Mr. Gruber,
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  for example. I love the music. I think it's.
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  It's great. And I love the sort of carefree.
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  The carefree vibe that the guys in the band have. It's just.
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  And they play in some really, really bizarre places, don't they? I think. Do I
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  remember rightly? They play on a windowsill or something. At one point when Paddington's washing
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  windows, I call cleaning windows. I can't remember which film it is.
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  Yeah. So again, without giving away any spoilers,
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  would you say the third film is better or as good
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  as the first two? I don't think it's a spoiler to say they go to
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  Peru in the third film. And I'd say that
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  it's definitely a very good film and I'm a big fan of it. And it
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  does things that the other films haven't managed to do yet and takes it in
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  New Directions, which I really enjoyed, but I'd say I probably prefer the first two
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  still. I just think because a lot of the humor in the first
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  two films came from one of my favorite scenes in the first film,
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  for example, as Paddington trying to use the tube and getting mixed
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  up there. And I feel like they didn't fully. They didn't fully use
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  the opportunities in the third film like they didn't really make too much of the
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  airport. And I always think that's a missed opportunity to have Paddington
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  going through an airport. There's a lot of opportunity
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  for comedy there. I remember the. What was it when he's on the underground when
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  it says dogs must be carries so he disappears off camera and then comes back
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  clutching a dog. And it's just. It's all very silly, isn't it?
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  But it's just great.
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  And the bath incident as well in the Brown's house.
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  I don't know. I think Hugh Bonneville is great as Mr. Brown. I think he's
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  the perfect Mr. Brown. And the fact that he's a health and safety officer
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  or something or. No, what is it? A risk manager
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  or something. Anyway, it's just. Yeah, it just
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  adds an extra layer of opportunity and comedy and so on.
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  Yeah. So do you rewatch these films a lot? I mean,
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  is it your kind of go to comfort blanket, as it were?
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  Yeah, I say I try and have to tell myself not to
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  watch them as much as I want to because I don't want to. I don't
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  want to ruin them for myself by just knowing every, every little thing that's going
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  to come up. But I do watch them a lot. Yeah. I think the cgi,
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  if that's the right phrase of Paddington is because I
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  don't know when I first heard that know in 2014 when the film was first
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  coming out, when I heard that it was going to be a kind of live
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  action film but with obviously without a real bear.
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  I don't know, I was a bit. I was a bit kind of worried that
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  it wouldn't. That I wouldn't like it or it wouldn't be. Wouldn't be good.
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  But I think they. It's done so well and as you say, all the sort
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  of transitions and things that they use, it's just. Yeah, it's just
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  really effective. So when did you see the third film? Because it came out,
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  what, last year last. The end of last year? Yes, I saw it on my
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  birthday actually. It came out. Oh, fantastic. Oh, that's very handy. That was a
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  nice treat. Yeah, yeah. Gosh, I remember going to the cinema with some friends from
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  Downey actually to see the second film and the bit
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  on the train when the flamingos heads get chopped off that I
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  literally. I'm a bit obsessed with flamingos, as anyone who knows me will know.
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  And yeah, that bit I literally like leapt out of my
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  seat in the cinema and everyone just, everyone just laughed. But I think
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  the second film is. I think it's such a good.
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  You were saying about little details. It's just so good the way that they.
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  When sort of at the beginning when they're talking about what the Browns have been
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  up to since the first film and saying that Mrs. Brown's been doing sort
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  of long distance swimming and Mr. Brown's been doing,
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  what is it, yoga or martial arts or something like that anyway, and then it
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  sort of. When they're on the train, the train again,
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  without giving too much away, but the sort of train chase as it
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  were, where Mr. Brown gets stuck between the two trains and you
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  just kind of. Yeah, it just all ties together. It's just.
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  I think it's very clever. Yeah, I do. I love whenever
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  there's a set up at the start of a film, you know it's going to
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  come back and pay off later. That's a guarantee in a Paddington film.
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  I love that as well. Yeah. So in the third film, so you said they
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  go to Peru. I mean, when I, When I saw the trailers come out
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  and saw that, you know, it was they were going to Peru, I sort of,
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  a little bit worried that. I don't know, I suppose a bit worried that it
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  wouldn't be as good because I personally really love the, the street.
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  What is it? Windsor Walk or Windsor Gardens where they live and all the different
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  characters in the street and so on. It's just, I think it's really well done.
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  So I mean, is there much of that kind of vibrant,
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  colorful activity in the third film? Obviously the
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  characters that are in London don't get to feature as much, but they're
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  still the opportunity for them to feature a bit at the start and then equally
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  they introduce a lot of new characters in the film once they get to Peru,
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  that they all have their own thing going on.
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  One of the things that I think all the films do really well is every
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  side character has something that makes them stand out and
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  they continue that into the, into the third film as
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  well. Great. So you say they start off in London. I suppose
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  you mentioned Paddington going through the airport. So who goes to Peru?
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  Is it. Is it Paddington. Is it just the Browns and Paddington? Browns and Paddington,
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  yes. And why do they go to Peru? They go
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  because Aunt Lucy's gone missing. It's what they discover when
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  they get there. That's the premise. But it's also a
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  good opportunity to explore Paddington's identity
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  because in a very early scene he gets his
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  British citizenship and then he speaks
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  with Mr. Gruber about how that's quite difficult for him to wrap
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  his head around because he's British and he's also Peruvian.
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  And then he goes home. And I think one of the Browns at
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  one point says something in quite a harsh way where they're like, we don't fit
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  in here. But neither does Paddington because he's now part of London and
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  it's good at exploring that balance. Now that Paddington's grown
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  in London and become something different, he doesn't fit in as
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  much at home either. But it's good for him to connect to his roots there
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  as well. Yeah, I mean, it's 10 years, isn't it, between the first film
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  and the third film. So is it the same actors playing Jonathan and,
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  oh, what's the daughter's name? Judy.
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  Yeah. Is it the same actors? I mean, presumably they're 10 years older.
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  Yes, it is. It's the same actors. And they
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  again have their own storyline set up at the start and
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  then kind of pay off later on, which. Is it still involve trains?
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  Not. Not trains. No trains in this one. No trains. Oh, no.
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  It's one of my favorite sequences in the second film with the
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  train. It's just so funny when Paddington
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  is trying to escape and is, you know, uses the toffee apples
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  to walk on the ceiling and stuff. And, and then playing
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  the, the pop up book, you know, with the clues leading to
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  the fair organ type thing and pressing the different buttons.
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  And I think, I think Hugh Grant is. Is just so good.
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  Yeah. In that role. I'm a big fan of Hugh Grant in
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  that role. And also I think it's a really interesting choice because, I mean,
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  I don't know if this is a spoiler or not, but I think it's kind
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  of in the advertising that Paddington goes to prison in the second film.
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  Yeah, yeah. He's the main part of it, isn't it?
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  He's sent down for a crime he didn't commit that Hugh
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  Grant committed and that they've chosen Hugh Grant as
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  this kind of an actor known for playing the typical
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  charming English gentleman. And even within the film,
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  his character is still an actor with an established fan base and Then they have
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  him pitted against Paddington, who's seen as different by everyone,
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  and some people fear him for that. And he's othered to an extent.
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  And then he's sent down by a corrupt legal system in
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  the fact that the judge is biased against him because Paddington's given him a
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  bad haircut, which he's only done because he didn't understand how to
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  use a hair clipper because they didn't have them in the jungle where he grew
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  up. I think it's really good at not shying away from
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  making those points as well. Even though it is a funny story about Paddington
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  goes to prison and he turns all the outfits pink, it's still making a point
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  about how it's sad that society he's trying to fit into and
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  he's giving a lot back to, isn't always accepting
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  of him. I mean, the first film was brilliant,
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  and it had its sort of scary moments, if you like, or moments
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  where you sort of think, you know, things were quite close to the line in
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  terms of working out okay. But I think the second film
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  takes that to a whole new level with. With. Well, the train chase is one
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  of those things. And, yeah, it's just. Yeah, I really want to watch
• 13:09
  it again. It's just. Yeah. Such a good film.
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  So how old are the children in the third film? I guess they're not children
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  anymore. They must be. I can't remember their late teens,
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  exact ages. But, yeah, there's a theme at the start
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  when they have the bit where they introduce what all the Browns. What's been going
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  on with them since the last film. Mrs. Brown is kind of saying how
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  she misses them all, being able to fit on one sofa and watch telly
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  together and how now they're growing up and they're leaving.
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  And that's one of the themes throughout the film. They're at that sort of age.
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  I mean, just going back to Hugh Grant's character when
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  you were saying that he's seen as this typically, or he's typically seen as
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  this sort of English gentleman. I think there's one scene in
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  his attic or wherever he's keeping all his costumes, and when
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  he's sort of talking or pretending to be each character and he's just switching between
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  characters just so quickly. It's very clever.
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  It's very cleverly done. And it's also an
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  interesting moment when the family break into his
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  house when they're sort of beginning to suspect him and they find the
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  secret trap door or whatever up to the attic.
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  And, of course, there's all these mannequins, the right word, you know,
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  the sort of almost statues, I guess, anyway.
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  And when Mr. Brown pokes his head in and sort of goes, oh, my God,
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  he's a weirdo. And it's just on one hand it's really funny,
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  but on the other hand, well, I suppose in this climate of being
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  politically correct or so on, it strikes me as a
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  very politically incorrect statement. But I guess
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  it sort of highlights the fact that even though we are doing
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  better in terms of inclusivity and that sort of thing, that there's still residual
• 15:00
  attitudes that are kind of. And the fact that
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  it's Mr. Brown that says that as well is really interesting because throughout
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  the first film, he has the most significant arc
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  about needing to accept Paddington. The others accept
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  him almost immediately, or Judy accepts him relatively
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  early on. But Mr. Brown is the first example we see of Paddington's
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  come. Come to the country with the idea of how English
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  people are. And he believes he's got quite an outdated view of.
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  And a very idealistic view of this very
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  polite society that will ask him about the weather and then they'll
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  take anyone in who needs help. And Mr. Brown is the first person we see
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  who doesn't live up to this view by telling his children, stay away from
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  the strange bear. I think he's probably trying to sell you something, I think is
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  the first thing he says. And I think he's a really good character to start
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  to introduce us to those sort of attitudes, because his
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  motivations are very clear and forgivable, because we can see
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  he's scared for his children. He's worried that his children might
• 16:09
  come to harm. And the film tells you that explicitly.
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  It has the whole scene where they talk about how he changed once he had
• 16:16
  children. Immediately after leaving the hospital, he was a completely different person.
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  And so it's good to really explore that.
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  The lack of tolerance towards difference, it can come
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  from a place of fear initially. And even though by
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  the end of that film, Mr. Brown appreciates the good indifference
• 16:37
  and the good in Paddington being different and how he actually helps the family,
• 16:40
  he still has some of those residual biases within
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  him that he then exhibits in the second film when he
• 16:48
  says, oh, he's a weirdo, like you mentioned.
• 16:52
  Well, I suppose Hugh Grant's character is a little bit. Is a
• 16:56
  little bit odd in that he becomes obsessed with finding the treasure and the
• 17:01
  sort of. I suppose it's sort of desperation, isn't it? He's sort of failed.
• 17:05
  Not failed actor, but a kind of jobless actor, perhaps?
• 17:08
  Yeah, yeah. I don't know. Anyway,
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  so I haven't seen the third film. I'm really looking forward to seeing the third
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  film. Is there anything that you would say to someone who is about to go
• 17:20
  and see the third film that, you know, what should I look out for?
• 17:23
  Or are there any scary scenes that I
• 17:27
  might need to hide behind a cushion? Firstly, I'd say bring some
• 17:31
  tissues because it had. I don't know if I was
• 17:35
  crying at the end of the second film and the third film, I think they
• 17:38
  do a really good job of. Despite having very bizarre
• 17:43
  characters and it's a bit unrealistic that
• 17:47
  there's a talking bear of the main character, but then it does just. It seems
• 17:51
  very realistic and it incorporates so many relatable elements that you
• 17:56
  do naturally related to your own life.
• 17:59
  And as I said, some of the themes that they tell you about right at
• 18:03
  the start that, you know, moving away from the home and
• 18:07
  the family is a bit of a theme they explore and that's quite emotional,
• 18:11
  I'd say. In terms of what to look out for,
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  it's just another. Not so much any scary moments,
• 18:19
  but there's definitely some twists along the way, so it's fun to see if you
• 18:22
  can spot them early. Okay, cool. Well, thank you very much. Yes,
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  I shall go and see the film and report back. Thank you for talking to
• 18:30
  us today. Thank you.
• 18:37
  This week in college, just a reminder that tonight at five
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  in the Huon Gallery there is a film screening, two films in fact, giving a
• 18:44
  glimpse of Venice in Cambridge In On Sunday at Evensong, the choir will
• 18:49
  sing Bird's second service and a beautiful anthem by contemporary Cambridge based composer
• 18:53
  Lucy Walker. On Monday, the Take A Break choir will be taking a break.
• 18:56
  See what I did there. But don't worry, we'll be back with a vengeance on
• 19:00
  2 June. On Thursday next week there is another film screening,
• 19:04
  this time in the Howard Theatre. History of the Present is an experimental
• 19:08
  feminist opera film about class and conflict made collaboratively between Maria
• 19:13
  Fosco and Margaret Salmon. For more details, please see the show notes.
• 19:17
  Beyond the College Gates, guitarist and alumnus Declan Hickey has
• 19:21
  two concerts coming up, 28 May in Lincoln and 30 May in Saltaire.
• 19:26
  Check out the show notes to find out more. Next week I'll be
• 19:29
  catching up with Tomas Davies, who is currently on his year abroad in Peru and
• 19:33
  enjoying the opportunity to take his photography to the next level. Thanks for listening.