by Annette Basile
Worth: $16.50
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
John Clarke, Lorin Clarke, Bryan Dawe, Sam Neill, Stephen Fry, David Wenham, Ben Elton, Jane Wendt, Andrew Denton
Intro:
... entertaining, touching and very, very funny.
When legendary British comic Peter Cook read John Clarke’s satire-soaked newspaper column, he told him, “You should perform that”.
Cook was the king of comedy as far as Clarke was concerned, and he took the Brit’s advice. And the column, John Clarke Interviews, transformed into a funny and famous regular TV segment, where Clarke and his partner in comic crime, Bryan Dawe (who played interviewer), staged mock political interviews on Channel 9 and then the ABC.
Clarke didn’t impersonate the politicians that he skewered. He simply answered Dawe’s questions in his normal manner of speaking, while channelling a satirical version of whoever he was portraying, be it Paul Keating or Alexander Downer.
It was all in the delivery – Clarke’s dry, almost deadpan style made his comedy so utterly unique. That delivery is on full display in a documentary about the life and humour of New Zealand-born Clarke (although Australians like to think of him as one of our own). Lovingly written and directed by his daughter Lorin, there are as many insights into Clarke’s process, character and background as there are laughs – and this documentary is absolutely full of laughs.
Clarke died in 2017 after suffering a heart attack while bushwalking, and Lorin’s grief is quietly woven into the fabric of this film, which is as much a tribute as it is a historical document. Clarke was obviously a wonderful father and husband, as the plentiful home movies attest. He was a generous soul who mentored and encouraged young comics and loved collaborating. He was also prolific: Along with Clarke and Dawe, there was Kiwi sheep farmer Fred Dagg (this film’s working title was Not Only Fred Dagg But Also John Clarke), Clarke’s first major outing. There was the satirical TV series, The Games, based around the Sydney Olympics. There was scriptwriting – Clarke co-wrote the magical Paul Cox film, Lonely Hearts. And there was acting, with Clarke appearing alongside his mate Sam Neill in Death in Brunswick.
Neill is one of many, many famous faces interviewed here. It’s quite a list: Stephen Fry, Ben Elton, Jane Wendt, David Wenham, Andrew Denton, Ernie Dingo, Wendy Harmer and many others. There are also plenty of interview snippets with the man himself. In one such snippet, Clarke explains that he made a conscious choice that his comedy would say something. Witness Fred Dagg interrogating sheep as he sends up cops cracking down on Pacific Islanders over visas. “What’s yer name?” he says to one of the flock. “Don’t you speak English?”
He was seen as “subversive and dangerous”, says Lorin of Clarke’s days in NZ before crossing the ditch in the late 1970s. If Lorin’s aim was to make the audience love her dad almost as much as she does, she has succeeded. But Also John Clarke is entertaining, touching and very, very funny.
