THE CASTLE (1997)
“When I first came to Australia, I made friends with my neighbour, an Aussie. And when he found out that I was new to this country, he sat me down and told me to watch this movie called The Castle, because it was going to tell me everything that I needed to know about Aussies. I loved the movie, but I didn’t really understand it, so I just sat there and laughed whenever my Aussie neighbour did. “Hahaha, yes, charm! Hahaha, Dale dug a hole, hahaha, what a funny guy!”
BAMBI (1942)
“When I was in kindergarten, Friday was movie day, and I loved cartoons. I still do. They would always make me happy, until I saw Bambi. When Bambi’s mother died, I was an emotional wreck…I was 5-years-old. The worst part was that on Friday, if any of the kids forgot to bring a film, Bambi was the default movie to watch. I was 5-years-old and I saw Bambi’s mother die so many times! And every time, I still had hope that she would get away.”
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (1991)
“My parents took me to see this Disney classic at the movies when I was 7. Beauty And The Beast really helped me understand my parents’ marriage. Mum and Dad got married young and had an arranged marriage. So they didn’t really know each other before the wedding. Dad was from the city, and he smoked, drank, got into bar fights, and took illegal drugs. Mum was from the country. She’d never smoked, drank, and didn’t touch drugs.”
ALIENS (1986)
“Because Sigourney Weaver is awesome!”
TITANIC (1997)
“Titanic was the last movie that I saw before I came to Australia. I cut school all week and watched it three times. By the end, I was so glad that we were flying to Australia.”
Umit Bali will be appearing at The Downstairs Lounge at The Grand Mercure Hotel, 195 Swanston St, Melbourne, from March 24-April 3. For all ticketing information, head to Trybooking.com or Ticketmaster.com.au (1300 723 038).
