Review of Dish, The

Introduction

I missed the first manned mission to the moon, by simple fact of not yet having been born. In fact, when I came kicking and screaming into this world, the Apollo 17 astronauts had been back on Earth for over a month and there has been no manned mission since. I have always felt a little cheated of sharing in Mankind`s greatest achievement, but the Dish manages to evoke a sense of hope and wonder that gives a glimpse into events that united the world. A world united in a way that has never happened since. I always feel a great sadness at the opportunities missed following the Apollo missions. For one brief moment, humanity stood poised on the edge of a great adventure, we had sent a man to another world and in that heady optimism, anything seemed possible, no mountain insurmountable. Then in a collective shrug, the human race said "So what!" and returned its attention to the petty wars and hatreds that had driven the race since time immemorial. It`s as if Christopher Columbus had set foot once in America, then returned home to write his memoirs and put his feet up. It has been over 30 years and mankind ventures no further than Low Earth Orbit, in a glorified taxi.


40 years ago, John F Kennedy made a speech that galvanised a nation and caught the imagination of the world. He made a promise to put a man on the moon in 10 years and he didn`t lie about the immensity of the task, yet the nation rallied around him. 10 years ago, George Bush Senior made a similar speech where he promised to return to the moon, this time to stay and to put a man on Mars in 40 years. Congress nodded and politely agreed, then slashed NASA`s budget, again. Worse, the American people snickered in disbelief, then voted for the other guy in the next election. Hollywood is no better. Prior to the moon landings, cinema was explosive in its optimism, sci-fi films were churned out, speculating on other worlds and unlimited human exploration, this all culminated in the landmark Kubrick movie 2001, made two years before Neil Armstrong uttered those immortal words. Since then, Hollywood efforts have been devoted mostly to spoofs, conspiracy theories like Capricorn One and worst of all, space cock ups like Apollo 13. Why concentrate on the greatest human achievement in recorded history, when you can make a movie about a screw up? It falls to the Australian film industry to immortalise Apollo 11 in the touching and gentle comedy, The Dish, based on a true story.


The Parkes radio telescope in Australia has the singular honour and responsibility of receiving the television pictures of Neil Armstrong`s moonwalk and transmitting them throughout the world. As such, it has become a point of national pride for Australia and the focal point of the country. The town of Parkes host the Australian Prime Minister and the American ambassador as the town focuses on the Apollo 11 mission. At the dish itself, responsibility for the radio reception falls on the small team running the project. Cliff Buxton is the head of the team, who with his assistants, Mitch and Glenn and with the aid of NASA`s representative, Al Burnett, they must make sure that nothing goes wrong with the dish. It`s hard enough getting such a motley assemblage of abrasive characters to work together, but then things start to go wrong.

Video

The Dish is presented in a 1.85:1 anamorphic format. The picture is flawless, not surprising considering the age of the film. Rob Sitch directs and creates a nostalgic world that is lush and often naturally lit. The dish itself is the actual Parkes observatory and it is immense. The grandeur of the telescope comes across clearly on screen. The film is punctuated by the liberal use of archival footage, generously gifted by NASA and helps make the story more `real`.

Audio

The Dish comes with DD 5.1 sound. This is a dialogue heavy film, so the surround isn`t really that prominent. But generally the sound is clear and the dialogue is crisp. The music composed by Edmund Choi is wonderful in lifting the grandeur and majesty of the subject matter. His score is both gentle and touching, while uplifting and inspiring and does much to create the character of the dish itself. The soundtrack is also lifted by some period pop music, including of course Magic Carpet Ride by Steppenwolf.

Features

Now these are what you call extras. I can`t believe that they got this all onto one disc. You have the original theatrical trailer, the TV spots and the radio spot as well. There are the usual cast biographies. There is a feature called "The Hidden Dish", which is a white rabbit kind of thing that links to the archive montage at the beginning of the film. You get taken to some text that provides some background on the images selected for the montage. There is the "Apollo 11" diary which chronicles the famous mission in text and there are "Key dates in Early Human Spaceflight" which is a text chronology highlighting the key events from the launch of Sputnik to the last lunar mission, Apollo 17. There is a 16-minute interview with Sam Neill, providing insights into his character and the film. There is an 11-minute "The Dish on the Dish" featurette about the making of. It`s very interesting as the cast provide more insights into their characters. They have also crammed 1 hour and 10 minutes of archival footage, from John F Kennedy`s triumphant speech in 1961, to the return of the Apollo 11 astronauts after their historic mission. Some 20 clips are shown here with the original soundtrack, but unfortunately in a cropped 16:9 anamorphic ratio. I`m sure the original picture would have been 4:3. If you would so wish, you can watch this section with a commentary by Tom Gleisner and director Rob Sitch, describing their feelings and observations about the footage. Had enough yet? Well don`t relax just yet, because there is not one, but two separate commentaries to go with the film. Rob Sitch and Santa Cilauro provide the first commentary and they discuss directing the film. The commentary is very good and the two spark off each other well. Jane Kennedy and Tom Gleisner voice the second commentary and they discuss casting, music and the archival footage. In this way there is little overlap and both commentaries are detailed and entertaining.

Conclusion

Sam Neill stars as Cliff, and is excellent as the warm-hearted chief of the scientists. He portrays a man who was initially enthusiastic about the project, but through personal bereavement has become a little disillusioned and cavalier about the whole thing. Kevin Harrington is Mitch, an archetypal Aussie who is laid back and cracks jokes and generally rubs everyone up the wrong way. Tom Long is the shy Glenn, who is very enthusiastic about the moon landing and the science, but is more than socially inadequate, especially when it comes to Janine. Patrick Warburton is the American member of the team, Al and plays a by the book character who is micromanaging the situation but is terrified of screwing up. The whole cast is uniformly splendid and create a range of beautifully observed and quirky characters.


This is a charming film, with a tenderhearted story built around a pivotal event in human history. The sheer magnitude of the moon landing is only emphasised even more by looking at it through the eyes of the characters in this film. The small town sensibilities and quirky inhabitants show the sense of wonder that the world truly felt. This is a gentle comedy where the characters and there interactions are the cause of the hilarity as they try to fit into a suddenly large world. The Hawaii Five-o theme played instead of the American National anthem is a case in point. This film is also an education in the sense of wonder at our achievements that is so unfashionable nowadays. Cliff is initially detached and seems to delegate the project on his staff but Cliff`s disillusionment fades as he gets wrapped up in the events as they unfold and experiences how his co-workers feel about their position in the scheme of things and gradually his own sense of pride and awe returns. I was genuinely moved at the recounting of the Apollo 11 mission and if what I felt watching this was any indication, then July 20th 1969 must have been truly an epochal event where for once the world was one. The story is a mouth-watering flavoursome dish, pun intended, which everyone will enjoy and the disc is feature laden indeed. I can`t find any fault with it whatsoever. This is a perfectly formed gem of a film that is pure magic from beginning to end. I don`t normally do this but…