Scott Hicks Talks About Exploring The Musical Mind: A Portrait in Process in This Interview

11/17/23 • 25 min

Scott Hicks is an Academy Award nominated director, with his Best Picture nominated film Shine bringing his work to international attention, alongside the work of the films subject, pianist David Helfgott.

We're now some twenty-six years removed from the release of Shine, and the echoes of its impact continues to resonate within the creative minds of those who have become vessels for music. In Scott's latest film, The Musical Mind: A Portrait in Process, he explores just how that well of creativity is tapped into as he follows the lives and stories of four interconnected artists.

First is David Helfgott, the centrepoint for each figure and a vital creative force who encourages, inspires, and energises those around him. Moments with his wife, the late Gillian Helfgott, show a supportive, nurturing relationship at work; one where Gillian sees the brilliance of David's mind and the manner that it operates and navigates his path of musicality.

Then we meet the man who as a boy played the role of a young David Helfgott's hands in Shine: Simon Tedeschi. Simon is a genius in his own right, and with his story we hear how he navigated the complicated reality of being labeled a 'child prodigy', while also exploring the fractious state he was left in due to that level of reverence.

We then flow into the orbit of another youthful genius mind, Daniel Johns. For many, we came to know Daniel through Silverchair, the iconic Australian band that worked with David Helfgott on their magnificent opus 'Emotion Sickness'. Daniel's story is one full of deep complexity. Here is a man who daily tries to grapple with what it means to be a creative entity. Like Simon, it's a complicated state to be in, and not one that Daniel himself fully understands as he sees himself as a conduit for the music, rather than being a musician himself.

Finally, swirling into the orbit and feeling the tonal resonance of Shine play out in his own life, is Ben Folds. We see his Adelaide home and hear how his creativity moves forward in unexpected ways. In one awe-inspiring sequence, we see Folds train a captive audience in how to harmonise both together and separately, creating an aural experience that encompasses your heart as you hear it play out.

These four figures - David, Simon, Daniel, Ben - each create a layer of a symphony that is tied together by the conductor Scott Hicks. The Musical Mind is a powerful and fascinating exploration of creativity and how important it is for it to be nourished and nurtured by those who see it emerging within individuals.

In the following interview, recorded ahead of the films release on November 23, Scott talks about how his own creative mind works, how the sense of dreaming plays out when he's making a film, and what it means to be a filmmaker in Adelaide.

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undefined - Bromley: Light After Dark - David & Yuge Bromley and Director Sean McDonald Chat About Creating a Space for Open Vulnerability in This Interview

Bromley: Light After Dark - David & Yuge Bromley and Director Sean McDonald Chat About Creating a Space for Open Vulnerability in This Interview

Every so often a presence swirls into our lives in an unexpected manner and changes it just a little bit. For many Australians, whether they be wealthy or not-so-wealthy, that presence is David Bromley. Here is a celebrated artist whose work features on the walls of galleries and private art collectors, while the same artwork adorns cologne labels, reusable water bottles, and more.

As mentioned in Sean McDonald's raucous and energetic documentary Bromley: Light After Dark, in Australian cinemas from today, David's work gives people hope, and hope is not something that should be restrained for those who want to access it by how much money is in your bank account. What this means for Bromley as an artist is that his work is everywhere. His critics would say he's overproduced and mass marketed, while his supporters - myself being one of them - would say that he's making high art accessible to all.

Either way you look at it, a David Bromley art piece is a slice of his personality, and through Bromley: Light After Dark that we get to see that personality writ large on the cinema screen. Here is a person that's larger than life, full of energy, and supported by a loving family who champion his work and give his mind the space to be what it is: an ever roaming, occasionally anxious, place of darkness that, thanks to a wealth of soul-searching and self-realisation, has been splashed with enough bright paint that it has become a source of lightness and joy. It is, quite simply, the light after dark.

There's an openness and a frankness to David Bromley as a person that encourages people in his orbit - and that includes the audience watching this documentary - to feel ok about sharing who they are as people. Watching Bromley: Light After Dark made my partner and I feel seen in an way that precious few films have made us feel. In one sequence, David and his wife Yuge drive a roller over his artwork to create a weathered aesthetic. It's one of the many moments that show creativity let loose. It's bloody energetic and entertaining, and it's done by two people who love and support each other in their creative endeavours.

Thanks to the work that I do with The Curb, I get to chat or write about the plentiful creative minds that exist within Australia. I'm always in awe of their creative spirit, and how people manage to express themselves in a country that sometimes wilfully rejects creativity. For creative souls, there is a need to pour yourself into your work, and that need comes with a wealth of vulnerability. Allowing the melding of a creative mind like a documentarian to play with that vulernability amplifies that openness even more. It's that line of questioning which I put forward to Sean McDonald, David and Yuge Bromley in the following interview.

As you'll hear, giving David a brief questions opens up a well of ideas and possibly responses. There is a level of generosity that comes with his answers, and I'm grateful that I was able to discuss his work with him.

The following interview was recorded on the day of the Optus outage, so there are some occasional audio blips, but the essence of the discussion is still there. I begin by talking about the film with Sean, followed by the arrival of David who brings his own perspectives.

Bromley: Light After Dark is cinemas from today and deserves to be seen on the big screen. To listen to previous interviews, visit TheCurb.com.au.

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Cat Person Director Susanna Fogel Talks About Presenting the Grey Area of Modern Dating on Screen in This Interview

When the short story Cat Person by Kristen Roupenian was published in The New Yorker in 2017, it immediately went viral with readers resonating with the way modern day dating can quickly turn toxic. It's a compelling place for director Susanna Fogel to build from with her adaptation of the short story, scripted by Michelle Ashford.

Here, Cat Person follows Emilia Jones' Margot, a ticket person at a cinema in America. She awkwardly encounters Robert, played by Nicholas Braun, and eventually the two start dating. He tells her that he owns cats, and outwardly seems like a pleasant individual, but as the relationship continues and Margot visits his house, she realises: there are no cats.

Meanwhile, Margot's friend Taylor, played by Geraldine Viswanathan, is ringing verbal alarm bells over Robert. Is he the man he actually appears to be? Or, is there something nefarious at play?

This tension builds to a masterfully staged sex scene between Margot and Robert which presents the action of consent playing out.

In the following interview with Susanna Fogel, she talks about the grey area of tension that exists within Cat Person, as well as the journey of adapting the text to the screen.

Cat Person launches in Australian cinemas on November 23.

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