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Multiplexity
FILMINK's Brian Duff talks to Aussie director Tim Boyle about his new film 'The Plex.'
TIM BOYLE's third crack at feature filmmaking is the sharp, indie comedy The Plex, which takes aim at that villain of villains - the cinema multiplex - while adding a slacker charm to Australia's comedic identity.
Unashamedly in the footsteps of Kevin Smith's beloved mid-‘90s flicks - Clerks, Mallrats and Chasing Amy - Aussie director Tim Boyle set out to make a dialogue-driven comedy on the cheap, and ended up with The Plex, which wears that description quite comfortably.
"After Kevin announced that Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back would be the final film in that style of comedy, I decided to start writing," he explains. "I just thought it would be a shame if that type of comedy came to an end. I gave it a go, trying not to just redo Clarks or Mallrats, but for the film to be well and truly within a ‘genre'. But then, after Kevin announced Clerks 2, I shelved my film and started concentrating on another, bigger budget project. After seeing Clerks 2, I felt comfortable that The Plex could stand alone."
Staging his comedy at the ubiquitous suburban cinema multiplex, Boyle opened up the floodgates to all manner of film-specific humour, and the result is finely tuned to the sensibilities of both movie buffs and fans of pithy, slacker comedies. "I've learnt to try and play comedy on different levels; first with the dialogue and then with the visuals," he explains. "But people will ultimately get what they want out of this film. I like that it doesn't take itself seriously and there are few films willing to go to that level."
"Going to that level" includes a local deviant who eats urinal cakes (no, really) and a number of knife-edge digs at a former producer, for whom Boyle has nothing but antipathy. "I like to call [my 2005 feature] Fink! ‘Two Years in Hell'," Boyle laughs. "I wrote a film, I raised some cash, I got the team together and - two weeks from shooting - a ‘White Knight' producer (who was a hairdresser by trade) flew into our lives. He talked the talk and promised the world but, ultimately, took the film, sold it to Channel 9, and never paid anyone. The version he sold was seriously different from the version I cut - a totally different story line, scenes structure, etc - which didn't even make sense to me."
That rather sad chapter of Boyle's life makes it very much into the film in the form of a devastated indie filmmaker (whose name, Allan Smithee, is a further joke) and his bastardly producer (all around baddie and cinema boss Angus), played by Andrew Caryofyllis and Johnny Boxer respectively. And while he didn't mind exacting a small dose of payback, Boyle's eyes remain on the prize.
"Balancing those kinds of ‘biz' jokes and more ‘wide appeal' comedy can be very tricky," he admits. "But I figure the more jokes you throw up on screen, the more will hopefully stick."
Learning lessons from Fink!, Boyle was careful to work with friends and "friends of friends" on The Plex in order to preserve a harmonious environment and to get through a tight shoot with no money or dramas. "If you're going to make a film with people over a number of months, you're going to want to be working with people you get along with," he shrugs. "My DOP, Caz Dickson, has been there for the last ten or so years, and so have [actors] Jason Crewes and John Schwarz."
He needed dedicated folks and selfless efforts so he turned to his mates. "I wrote the film to be made for virtually no money with one location and lots of dialogue," he says now. "It's, essentially, a DIY film, and we just never tried to be anything else, which is what's charming about making this type of film."
With a limited cinema release, and a bit of buzz, Boyle is excited if not expectant about The Plex's possibilities. "The film is playing nationally across Australia and will play on extra screens as part of the AFI screenings," he explains. "So we'll hopefully be on between twelve and twenty screens. And then we'll bring out post-Christmas DVD and Blu-ray releases packed full of extras, including 40 minutes of deleted scenes, two commentary tracks and an Easter Egg. And then there's serious talks of turning The Plex into a TV series and I've already started writing the screenplay, which is funny (if I do say so myself) and plays well as a 22 minute episode."
The Plex is in cinemas September 4.