Summer Coda
Interview with Richard Gray
“I just find it incredibly sexy, chicks playing cellos and violins!” Director/writer, Richard Gray, jokes.
In film language, the term is mis-en-scene. The well balanced cocktail of all filmic elements - performance, sound, score, production design etc. And like a finely rehearsed ensemble in the hands of the right conductor, ‘Summer Coda’, is very sleek and sexy. It is not often a story can be told through limited dialogue in modern cinema, but through an eye for detail, Gray unfolds a tale of subtleties across the big screen, both powerful, moving, and worthy of your ticket coinage!
“It’s so hard to get people to even go and see an Australian film. So, I was really wary of wanting a film worth the price of the ticket. The score, the songs, I want people to see it in the cinema.” Gray said.
With leads Rachel Taylor (‘Transformers’) and Alex Dimitriades, and with sound track contributions by Liam Finn, Glenn Richards (Augie March), The Stems, and Dan Sultan (the list goes on), the film is as Aussie star-studded onscreen, as it is off!
“I feel music is highly significant. My dad was a DJ, which meant I grew up listening to these great records, making music a very big part of my childhood.” Gray said.
“I wrote the film to Bruce Springsteen, but then found out there are many Australian artists that could give us a similar style, and it would also give a more legitimate feel if they were Australian. Liam Finn got involved, then once you have a couple, it must be cool, and then they all just joined in!”
Not just one for your mum, sister, and girlfriend, ‘Summer Coda’ is not just ‘orange grove romance’ for the girls.
“Obviously, the romantic dramas hit harder with the female demographic, but lots of dudes like them as well, they just might not tell you.” Gray said.
“Angus Sampson was a great device for me to inject some humour and light into the film alongside Nathan Phillips. The ‘pickers’ went into picking training two weeks before shooting at a place called ‘orange world’…aka Citrus Disneyland. They’d rock up in the back of a Ute, boom box blasting, tanned up, ready to pick. It really brought life to the screen.”
‘Summer Coda’ has unleashed a heatwave of fresh Australian talent into world cinema. Well written, beautifully shot, and composed, this crop of debut filmmakers is ripe for the picking.
By Benjamin