Big Mamma’s Boy’s Matteo Bruno and Franco Di Chiera had the challenge of marketing a rom-com set in Melbourne’s Italian community two ways, to the cultural minority and the mass majority. Colin Delaney reports.
“For me it’s a romantic comedy and that’s it,” says Franco Di Chiera, director of Big Mamma’s Boy about an Italian-Australian career man by day, jazz singer by night who falls for a non-Italian girl, while still living with his mother.
Yet, despite the fact the film is a rom-com at heart, Di Chiera, producer Matteo Bruno and lead actor/writer Frank Lotito are well aware Big Mamma’s Boy could easily be passed off as another Australian ‘wog story’.
And what would be wrong with that? Comedies about the ‘wog’, be them Italian, Greek or any other wonderful ethnicity slapped with that all-encompassing title have been widely successful across...
“For me it’s a romantic comedy and that’s it,” says Franco Di Chiera, director of Big Mamma’s Boy about an Italian-Australian career man by day, jazz singer by night who falls for a non-Italian girl, while still living with his mother.
Yet, despite the fact the film is a rom-com at heart, Di Chiera, producer Matteo Bruno and lead actor/writer Frank Lotito are well aware Big Mamma’s Boy could easily be passed off as another Australian ‘wog story’.
And what would be wrong with that? Comedies about the ‘wog’, be them Italian, Greek or any other wonderful ethnicity slapped with that all-encompassing title have been widely successful across...
- 7/29/2011
- by Colin Delaney
- Encore Magazine
When you have an $11.4m comedy in your hands, a sequel is a no-brainer, even if it takes 10 years to make it happen. Miguel Gonzalez met with the creators of The Kings of Mykonos and discussed why ‘ethnic’ content is the secret to domestic and international success.
Five years ago actor/writer/producer Nick Giannopoulos started developing a story about a couple of Australians with a Mediterranean background going back to their ancestral homeland for the first time, only to discover that it is no longer the same place their parents left, and that they are, in fact, more Australian than they ever thought they were.
“It’s an Australian fish-out-of-the-water comedy, shot in Greece yet uniquely Australian. That’s why Crocodile Dundee worked; these are western suburbs Melbourne boys plonked into the middle of one of the most cosmopolitan islands in the world, with their thongs and broad Australian accents,...
Five years ago actor/writer/producer Nick Giannopoulos started developing a story about a couple of Australians with a Mediterranean background going back to their ancestral homeland for the first time, only to discover that it is no longer the same place their parents left, and that they are, in fact, more Australian than they ever thought they were.
“It’s an Australian fish-out-of-the-water comedy, shot in Greece yet uniquely Australian. That’s why Crocodile Dundee worked; these are western suburbs Melbourne boys plonked into the middle of one of the most cosmopolitan islands in the world, with their thongs and broad Australian accents,...
- 5/18/2010
- by Miguel Gonzalez
- Encore Magazine
To Darryl Kerrigan, a man's home truly is his castle, even if said domicile happens to be a little close to the airport - OK, right beside the airport - was built on toxic landfill and has inspirational views of power lines.
A sweet Australian comedy cut from the same gently farcical cloth as "Crocodile Dundee" and "Muriel's Wedding", "The Castle" is a keeper.
While additional comparisons to "The Full Monty" are inevitable, the underdog story - which set boxoffice records Down Under - doesn't quite have that English sensation's crowd-rousing sweep but should nevertheless charm select-site North American audiences.
Created by the team responsible for "Frontline", a hit Aussie satirical political affairs show, "The Castle" concerns itself with the efforts of noble tow-truck driver Kerrigan (Michael Caton) to stand his ground when he receives notice that his beloved family dwelling in Cooloroo is being "compulsorily acquired" to make room for airport expansion.
With the loving support of his wife, Sal (Anne Tenney), and his grown-up children Dale (Stephen Curry), Steve (Anthony Simcoe), married Tracey (Sophie Lee) and incarcerated Wayne (Wayne Hope), Darryl fights the good fight all the way to the Supreme Court. He gets a little extra help from a retired Queen's Counsel and constitutional specialist (Charles Bud Tingwell) who is taken with his cause and offers his services free of charge.
Written in two weeks and shot in 11 days, "The Castle" certainly doesn't feel like a rush job. Making his feature debut, director Rob Sitch allows the quirky, character-specific humor to languidly cascade over the proceedings like one of Cooloroo's diesel-tinged breezes.
The screenplay, penned by Sitch along with Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner and Jane Kennedy, nimbly flirts with parody while never taking broad shots at the eminently lovable Kerrigan family.
Credit the adept cast with bringing the richly written characters to warmly vivid life. As the principled family patriarch, Caton combines a winning comic innocence and everyman determination that sets the tone for the other performances, which also include humorous contributions from Tiriel Mora as Kerrigan's sad-sack discount lawyer and Costas Kilias as his gung-ho Lebanese neighbor.
THE CASTLE
Miramax Films
A Miramax Films presentation
in association with Village Roadshow Pictures
and Working Dog
Director:Rob Sitch
Screenwriters:Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner, Jane Kennedy, Rob Sitch
Producer:Debra Choate
Executive producer:Michael Hirsh
Director of photography:Miriana Marusic
Production designer:Carrie Kennedy
Editor:Wayne Hyett
Costume designer:Kitty Stuckey
Music:Craig Harnath
Music supervisor:Jane Kennedy
Color/stereo
Cast:
Darryl Kerrigan:Michael Caton
Sal Kerrigan:Anne Tenney
Dale Kerrigan:Stephen Curry
Steve Kerrigan:Anthony Simcoe
Tracey Kerrigan:Sophie Lee
Wayne Kerrigan:Wayne Hope
Farouk:Costas Kilias
Dennis Denuto:Tiriel Mora
Lawrence Hammill:Charles Bud Tingwell
Running time - 89 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
A sweet Australian comedy cut from the same gently farcical cloth as "Crocodile Dundee" and "Muriel's Wedding", "The Castle" is a keeper.
While additional comparisons to "The Full Monty" are inevitable, the underdog story - which set boxoffice records Down Under - doesn't quite have that English sensation's crowd-rousing sweep but should nevertheless charm select-site North American audiences.
Created by the team responsible for "Frontline", a hit Aussie satirical political affairs show, "The Castle" concerns itself with the efforts of noble tow-truck driver Kerrigan (Michael Caton) to stand his ground when he receives notice that his beloved family dwelling in Cooloroo is being "compulsorily acquired" to make room for airport expansion.
With the loving support of his wife, Sal (Anne Tenney), and his grown-up children Dale (Stephen Curry), Steve (Anthony Simcoe), married Tracey (Sophie Lee) and incarcerated Wayne (Wayne Hope), Darryl fights the good fight all the way to the Supreme Court. He gets a little extra help from a retired Queen's Counsel and constitutional specialist (Charles Bud Tingwell) who is taken with his cause and offers his services free of charge.
Written in two weeks and shot in 11 days, "The Castle" certainly doesn't feel like a rush job. Making his feature debut, director Rob Sitch allows the quirky, character-specific humor to languidly cascade over the proceedings like one of Cooloroo's diesel-tinged breezes.
The screenplay, penned by Sitch along with Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner and Jane Kennedy, nimbly flirts with parody while never taking broad shots at the eminently lovable Kerrigan family.
Credit the adept cast with bringing the richly written characters to warmly vivid life. As the principled family patriarch, Caton combines a winning comic innocence and everyman determination that sets the tone for the other performances, which also include humorous contributions from Tiriel Mora as Kerrigan's sad-sack discount lawyer and Costas Kilias as his gung-ho Lebanese neighbor.
THE CASTLE
Miramax Films
A Miramax Films presentation
in association with Village Roadshow Pictures
and Working Dog
Director:Rob Sitch
Screenwriters:Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner, Jane Kennedy, Rob Sitch
Producer:Debra Choate
Executive producer:Michael Hirsh
Director of photography:Miriana Marusic
Production designer:Carrie Kennedy
Editor:Wayne Hyett
Costume designer:Kitty Stuckey
Music:Craig Harnath
Music supervisor:Jane Kennedy
Color/stereo
Cast:
Darryl Kerrigan:Michael Caton
Sal Kerrigan:Anne Tenney
Dale Kerrigan:Stephen Curry
Steve Kerrigan:Anthony Simcoe
Tracey Kerrigan:Sophie Lee
Wayne Kerrigan:Wayne Hope
Farouk:Costas Kilias
Dennis Denuto:Tiriel Mora
Lawrence Hammill:Charles Bud Tingwell
Running time - 89 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
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