[Being of a certain age made things clearer.] I'm 48, that's helped enormously, ... I have a much fuller understanding of relationships than I did when I was 20. A central thing about the relationship between Stanley and his wife Martha [played by Emily Watson] is that they don't have a kid. Arthur Burns, who they are trying to obliterate, has a family. I could never have written that relationship without an understanding of what it means to actually have a family, and the incredible emotional pull that that has on you. |
[That Cave has long been at the top of his game in another creative discipline clearly didn't hurt either.] Writing dialogue for me is always about rhythm and the musicality of what people are talking about, ... And I find it difficult to write [words that are] merely illustrative or that don't have an innate beauty in the actual line, and that comes from songwriting. And I always say the sentences out loud as I write them to see how they work rhythmically. |
[With a large Aboriginal contingent that proves central to the plot, The Proposition certainly takes an axe to some pieties about Australia's past.] That was the thing that the indigenous actors were really pleased about, ... To be in a film where they got an opportunity to fight back. |
An artist's duty is rather to stay open-minded and in a state where he can receive information and inspiration. You always have to be ready for that little artistic Epiphany. |
At some point you start seeing the difference between what you really want, and what is your priority order. I feel that today I know what I want. That's the problem with perspective, as well as focus and concentration. |
Aw, look, I don't know, ... I think I'd rather him do that than me. |
Aw, look, I don't know. I think I'd rather him do that than me. |
For me, what we didn't want was the American-style hero, |
Getting married, for me, was the best thing I ever did. I was suddenly beset with an immense sense of release, that we have something more important than our separate selves, and that is the marriage. There's immense happiness that can come from working towards that. |
I always heard it musically, and I guess it's written rhythmically as well ... It's very similar to the way my band operates. There are moments of intense violence and there are also moments of long, lyrical, quiet sadness. |
I always heard it musically, and I guess it's written rhythmically as well, |
I guess in all these films, ... there is a sense that morality is a luxury that we can afford in less fraught times, but in extreme situations and extreme environments, morality becomes a very grey issue. |
I just sat down and banged it out in the spirit of those old Hollywood guys. |
I love rock-n-roll. I think it's an exciting art form. It's revolutionary. Still revolutionary and it changed people. It changed their hearts. But yeah, even rock-n-roll has a lot of rubbish, really bad music. |
I think for Johnny, Australia had its western story as well, |