Latest / The Front / A plagiarism drama hits Australian horror flick Together

Transcript

A plagiarism drama hits Australian horror flick Together · The Front

• 0:08
  Speaker 1: From The Australian. This is the weekend edition of The Front.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: I'm Claire Harvey. Together, which hits cinemas this week. Sounds
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: like a rom com Quti's Dave Franco and Alison Bree
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: play a couple. He's a musician, she's a teacher who's
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: recently been offered a job in the countryside.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: It explores themes.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: Common in long term relationships, love, codependency and well you
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: guessed it togetherness. Only Together has been given the body
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: horror treatment and explores the idea of a couple being
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: united not just in souls, but in literally joined bodies.
• 0:48
  Speaker 3: I think you should sleep on the spare underneath. I agree, we.
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: Need to keep for a distance.
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: Together was shot at Dockland Studios in Melbourne and is
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: Melbourne based director Michael Shanks' debut feature. Joining us on
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: the Front today is Stephen Romee, The Australian's film critic,
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: Stephen How many stars did you give?
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: Together?
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: I gave Together three and a half stars, close to four,
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: but I went with three and a half. In the end.
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: It's something called body horror. What is that?
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: Well, body horror, as the name suggests, is when the
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: horror of the film is connected to the body, but
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: not necessarily in the slasher film way, where the body
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: is chopped up by Freddy Krueger's sharp hands or something
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: like that. It's more about the change to the body
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: of the characters. So in Together, for example, the two
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: main characters Tim and Millie, who were played by the
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: married couple Dave Franco and Allison Bree, head off to
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: somewhere in the nowhere of a men. One thing leads
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: to another, and suddenly their bodies start sticking together. It
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: very first happens in a cave after they go on
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: a high can get lost, and they wake up in
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: the morning and their legs are stuck to each other.
• 2:15
  Speaker 3: He thinks it's mildew and they pull apart. From there,
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: the story develops and they're a couple, so you can
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: imagine that other bits of their bodies are going to
• 2:27
  Speaker 3: get stuck together. There's a scene where they kiss, and
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: remember this is a real life husband and wife kissing
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: and their lips stick together. So the question is what's
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: happening here. Is it just the change of atmosphere they're
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: in the country and they're a bit more sticky, or
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: is it something supernatural or is it something to do
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: with one of the characters. The male character has a
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: long history of family mental illness, for example, So I
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: wouldn't say much more about how much which they get stark,
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: except to repeat that they are a married couple, and
• 3:05
  Speaker 3: there is a scene where I had to cross my
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: legs as I watch.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: It feels like it might be slightly metaphorical. Anyone who's
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: traveled with their partner has had that feeling of needing
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: to get away.
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: It is completely metaphorical. That's a good point. What this
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: film does so well is it takes common relationship issues
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: such as the anxiety you have over commitment, codependency, and
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: morphs them into a horror film. I love You. That's
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: what I like about the film. It's not an alien
• 3:52
  Speaker 3: from out of space coming and killing people. It's not
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: a serial killer wandering around. It's a married couple who
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: have lots of issues, as a lot of married couples do,
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: and as you say, it metaphorically uses them to make
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: a horror film. This is based on the director's life,
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: Michael Shanks. I don't know have his exact daye. I'd
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: say'd be mid thirties. He's been with the same partner
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: since they met during schoolies. Romantic, very romantic. Indeed, so
• 4:26
  Speaker 3: each of them have never had an adult relationship with
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: anyone else but each other, and so he's based this
• 4:36
  Speaker 3: film on his own experience as someone who more or
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: less has lived with another adult in a romantic way
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: from the time he was old enough to do so.
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: Alison Brian Dave Francol have both been in quite big productions,
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: but perhaps not Billboard superstars. How did you find their performances?
• 4:58
  Speaker 3: They were good. Franco brings much needed humor to the film.
• 5:03
  Speaker 3: He can find the humor of the moment. So when,
• 5:06
  Speaker 3: for example, they stick together in another part of their
• 5:09
  Speaker 3: body and his wife says, well, it's not mildew this time,
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: the character says, I don't know anything about mildew. I
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: just said that and it sort of makes you laugh.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: Do you feel like horror is going to be a
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: genre that Michael Shanks keeps working on? Is that somewhere
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: where Australian film is going as well?
• 5:30
  Speaker 3: Absolutely? This is the latest film in a fairly recent
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: growth in Australian filmmakers leaving their bloodied fingerprints over the
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: horror genre. We all know now of the Philipoo Brothers
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: from Adelaide, Danny and Michael, who have had two films
• 5:49
  Speaker 3: so far talk to me and bring her back, both
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: horror films. The first film was so good it got
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: noticed overseas. Are still set in Australia, but the success
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: of the first film meant the second film stars the
• 6:06
  Speaker 3: English Academy Award nominee Sally Hawkins. She noticed the film
• 6:10
  Speaker 3: and said yes when they came and asked her to
• 6:12
  Speaker 3: be in the second film. There's the Philippine Brothers. Michael
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: Shanks is there now and of course this traces back
• 6:20
  Speaker 3: to James One and the Soar franchise. He is considered
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: one of the masters of the horror genre now and
• 6:28
  Speaker 3: a lot of young filmmakers are following in his footsteps.
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: Australia's got a great heritage of I don't know if
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: you would call this horror, but certainly scary films. I've
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: never recovered from Wake in Fright? Is it something we
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: do particularly well?
• 6:43
  Speaker 3: Do you think Wake in Fright is, in my opinion,
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: the best Australian film yet made. What do you have
• 6:54
  Speaker 3: a drink? No, I'm doing with this one's things. I'll
• 6:57
  Speaker 3: drink it an no by another broken a Canifford to drink.
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: What's that going to do with that? Man?
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: I said to buy you a drink, you don't have
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: to buy me one. Now I drink it down.
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: Now. Is it a horror film? No, it's a film
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: about a city school teacher going and having to live
• 7:17
  Speaker 3: in the country for a while. There is a horror story.
• 7:22
  Speaker 3: When I think of Australian horror films, I would go
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: more towards say Wolf Creek, because it's not a supernatural
• 7:30
  Speaker 3: horror film. But it is about someone mad killing people.
• 7:35
  Speaker 3: And yes, we're very good at that, and I think
• 7:37
  Speaker 3: it's good that our filmmakers sort of have their own
• 7:40
  Speaker 3: way of doing it. This film Together, for example, I
• 7:43
  Speaker 3: wouldn't call it a horror film. I would call it
• 7:46
  Speaker 3: a psychological thriller, although towards the end perhaps there are
• 7:52
  Speaker 3: horror elements, but that's for viewers to find out when
• 7:54
  Speaker 3: they go and see it. We spend lives in search
• 8:02
  Speaker 3: of the other half. If you think you've found that,
• 8:06
  Speaker 3: don't be so quick to let you go.
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: One of the stars of Together is Damon Harryman, who
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: must be one of Australia's most versatile actors. He's in
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: the TV production of The Artful Dodger. He became internationally
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: famous for his portrayal of troubled Hillbilly in Justified.
• 8:26
  Speaker 3: He's also played Charles Manson twice. By the way, in
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: this film, he is a teacher at the remote school
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: that Millie gets posted to, and they meet and he's
• 8:38
  Speaker 3: very charming, very sweet, welcoming, which, of course, in a
• 8:43
  Speaker 3: horror film, makes you start to worry. I'm scared already
• 8:47
  Speaker 3: now as this is a different horror film. Maybe he
• 8:51
  Speaker 3: is just a charming, sweet, pleasant man, or maybe he isn't.
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: Coming up.
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: How Together found itself in the middle of a plagiarism drama.
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: Together is the latest film to be embroiled in a
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: plagiarism drama.
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: In May, the creators of a movie called Better.
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: Half, which came out in twenty twenty three, took aim
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: at the team behind Together, saying the movie was a
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: blatant ripoff of Better Half. Although the movie genres differ
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: Better Half is a romantic comedy, both films hinge on
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: the same concept lover's bodies fusing together via a supernatural force.
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: The creators of.
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: Together have pushed back. They say their work is not
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: remotely similar. Lawyer Nicholas Jampol, acting on Behalf of the
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: Together team, also added that Together director Michael Shanks registered
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: a draft scriptive Together with the Writers Guild of America
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: in twenty nineteen, two years before production started on Better Half.
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: How much the draft script mirrors what ended up in
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: the final scriptive Together is unclear. The plaintiffs say there
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: are other similarities too. They claim both films featured the
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: song to Become One by the Spice Girls, and reference
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: a work by ancient Greek philosopher Plato called the Symposium.
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: The tricky bit here is that Better Half was offered
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: to Dave Franco and Alison Bree and they said no.
• 10:33
  Speaker 3: Their lawyers have gone quite hard in response. They've said
• 10:37
  Speaker 3: that the people behind Better Half are quote drumming up
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: fifteen minutes of fame for a failed project. But look,
• 10:44
  Speaker 3: I haven't seen Better Half, so I think it's one
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: of those. We will just have to let the lawyers
• 10:49
  Speaker 3: sort it out. But this idea of plagiarism in filmmaking
• 10:52
  Speaker 3: is not new by any means. James Cameron, for example,
• 10:56
  Speaker 3: he was accused of plagiarism for Avatar more or less
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: saying he ripped off some Russian sci fi novels that
• 11:03
  Speaker 3: never really went anywhere. He was accused of plagiarism for
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: the very first Terminator, An American science fiction writer, Harlan Ellison,
• 11:13
  Speaker 3: said that he'd stolen his ideas. Now that one was
• 11:16
  Speaker 3: settled out of court in Ellison's favor, and he was
• 11:20
  Speaker 3: subsequently credited in the film credits. Mostly when these allegations raised,
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: the studios simply settled them out of court.
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: And that isn't necessarily an admission of wrongdoing, is it.
• 11:33
  Speaker 3: No, it's not. It's simply making the complainant go away
• 11:36
  Speaker 3: with money. A few others I could mention. Ridley Scott's
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: Alien was accused of plagiarizing a short story by a
• 11:44
  Speaker 3: Canadian science fiction writer, and that was settled out of
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: court Home Alone. John Hughes's film was accused of being
• 11:54
  Speaker 3: an exact copy of a French film that came out
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: only a year earlier.
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: We see accusations of plagiarism across the arts. Ed Sheeran
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: is someone who's mean to court to argue about his
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: work is original. What about in film as a form
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: of art. What's your view of the way ideas make
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: their way to screen. It's not about outlandish that two
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: people might have a similar idea at the same time.
• 12:15
  Speaker 3: Just on music, I saw a funny story a few
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: days ago where Billy Joel was talking about how he
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: thought the Beatles' White Album was terrible, and all of
• 12:23
  Speaker 3: the comments that I saw online following said, Billy Joel,
• 12:27
  Speaker 3: every single song you've written was inspired by the Beatles,
• 12:30
  Speaker 3: and you're terrible. I don't know whether that's plagiarism or not.
• 12:34
  Speaker 3: In films, it is probably a trickier terrain, because, say,
• 12:39
  Speaker 3: in literature, if you plagiarize somebody else's writing, the words
• 12:44
  Speaker 3: are on the page, it's quite clear that you've lifted
• 12:47
  Speaker 3: them from somebody else's work. With film, there is the
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: debate over can two people have the same idea at
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: the same time. With Home Alone, for example, the French
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: film is about a kid stuck at home in trouble,
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: burglars and all that sort of stuff, it is the
• 13:02
  Speaker 3: same film in a sense. But John Hughes just said,
• 13:06
  Speaker 3: but I had the idea too. Yeah, he said he
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: hadn't seen the French film. I don't know the truth
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: of that, but it's entirely possible of course that two
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: different filmmakers can have the idea of a kid stuck
• 13:19
  Speaker 3: at home and having to deal with unexpected circumstances.
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: Stephen Rome is the Australian's film critic. You can read
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: his review of Together right now at the Australian dot
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: com dot a u slash review.
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: This episode of the Front was hosted.
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: By me Claire Harvey and produced by Jasper League, who
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: edited the episode and also wrote our theme.
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: Thanks for joining us on the Front this week.
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: Our team includes Kristin amiot Lea, Sam mcglue, Tiffany Dimak,
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: Joshua Burton and Stephanie Kombs.