The Films That Changed My Life: Ditch Davey

By Ditch Davey

ET: THE EXTRA TERRESTRIAL (1982)

“I remember watching this as a 6-year-old at the local drive-in on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. Anyone that remembers the days of the drive-in theatres knows how spectacular and special it felt to sit under the arm of your parents on the bench seat with popcorn spilling all over the floor of the car, or nestling in with all your siblings in the makeshift bed in the boot of the family station wagon. It felt naughty and fun. It was also the first film that I connected with, and it made me believe that the character could be me. Not in the sense of wanting to become an actor, but that wonder and excitement of me actually meeting an E.T of my own in my own backyard. I saw something that resonated with me on the screen, and felt completely consumed by its magic. It felt real to me, and I loved it. When I think about E.T, I think about Elliot flying through the sky on his trusty BMX, and I think about my family.”

THE BLUES BROTHERS (1980)

“This, I know, is an odd choice, but hear me out. It was fun, rude and exciting…and as a child, it also represented a certain safety to me. You see, my older sister and I have watched The Blues Brothers well over 100 times, I would think, when we visited our father’s place. His home was a place that I knew, but it wasn’t my home, and as a child, that confused me to a certain degree. It was also a place that our two younger brothers wouldn’t go to, and I wasn’t really sure why, but I never felt comfortable enough to question that. So, every time that my sister and I would go to visit our father, we would sit together on the big leather sofa, sipping on a Soda Stream and watching our favorite film, The Blues Brothers, almost every time that we arrived, and every morning of our visit. (I think the video tape broke at one point and needed replacing!) It was our routine, our comfort, and our escape. When I think about this film now, it’s like the smell of your birthday dinner as a child, or the feel of your favourite toy. It may not be the best toy on the shelf or a fine dining experience, but it gave my sister and I comfort when we needed it, and it was ours.”

PINK FLOYD THE WALL (1982)

“Growing up, music was important to our family. We didn’t have a big record collection, but it was very cool. Before we sat down to dinner every night, I took it upon myself to go through the records to find the night’s soundtrack. Naturally, as most kids do, I was taking my cues off my parents. I would some nights choose something that mum loved, and some nights it was for dad. If the music I chose got a lukewarm reaction, it was put at the back of the pile. There were two albums that always got a good reaction from my dad: Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here and The Wall! When the needle hit the record, I would wait….and every time I would hear my dad from the other room shout, ‘Yessss!’ It got a powerful and positive reaction that I naturally fed off. I didn’t even know what the band was called, but I knew that it was good! A few years later, I was lucky enough to see the Momentary Lapse Of Reason tour with my dad, which completely blew our minds! It was because of this relationship both to the music and my dad that I was drawn to see the film, The Wall. I had never seen anything like it! It gave me a language that I’d never had. It highlighted to me that there is beauty in the grotesque, absurdity in the normal, and sometimes you have to find your own language in order to get your message across. Mixing the mediums of music, animation, and live action was incredibly powerful and brave, and it was the defining moment in my idea of what storytelling is, or could be. I still own a copy of this film, and it’s one of my favourite films of all time, but I would never have been introduced to this if it hadn’t have been for the voice in the other room shouting, ‘Yessss!’”

A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971)

“My first introduction to this film really happened by accident. I was gaining an interest in more diverse films at the same time that I was given a little more freedom as a teenager, and discovered a midnight screening of this film in the George St cinemas in Sydney. I was only intrigued firstly by the poster image, and then by the fact that it was only playing once…at that time of night. That was enough to sell it to me! I caught multiple buses to get there, and found myself in a dark cinema with only a handful of others dotted around the auditorium. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but it was soon apparent that I was about to be taken on a wild Stanley Kubrick ride! The first thing that I was struck by was the language. It was heightened without being classical, and it was operatic without losing its sense of truth. It was like eating a new kind of food; I wasn’t sure if it was meant to taste like this or not, or in fact how to eat it …it was completely new to me and I loved it. Ultimately though, it was the performance of Malcom McDowell that completely engaged me. I was both terrified of him, and inspired by him. He was theatrical with an unwavering sense of truth. He was vile, but we cared for him through that unforgettable rehabilitation torture scene. What a performance! As actors, we strive for truth, but to witness the moment where the mask or bravado drops completely to reveal true terror is frightening and unforgettable. It made me want to act. This film deserves to be seen at the cinema, and I won’t watch it any other way!”

THREE COLORS: BLUE (1993)

“There are other films that I could’ve chosen, like On The Waterfront or The Indian Runner, for very different reasons than why I chose Blue, but Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Three Colors Trilogy was extraordinary, and Blue was the film that resonated with me the most and changed my life. I first saw Blue when I was studying acting at WAAPA. I was surrounded by great young artists, and I was being trained by the country’s best. At this time, I wasn’t a very confident reader. It was always a slow and frustrating process for me, and I would later learn that it may be a mild form of dyslexia, so the idea of watching a subtitled movie was insane and completely dislocating for me. I don’t speak French and couldn’t keep up with the subtitles, but the visual language of the film took me in and engulfed me like a good story should. More importantly, I was embraced by the film, and not repelled by it like I thought I would be. I felt like it was the first time that I gained a different understanding of a film by its use of the camera, the beautiful score, and the conviction of the performances. Even though I was in a sense excluded by the dialogue, the language of the filmmaker included me, and thus gave me the confidence to explore more films and plays regardless of what language they were written in. Foreign language films have been a huge part of my life ever since, and in a way, have helped me to learn to read with confidence, which absolutely changed my life.”

Hunter screens at The St. Kilda Film Festival on Tuesday, May 24. For all information on tickets, venues, and session times for Hunter, click here. For more on Hunter, head to the official site.

Photo of Ditch Davey by Alex Vaughan.