Man To Man
A father and son return to their local pub after the game to celebrate the win over a few beers.
“A beautifully quiet look into the unspoken laws of modern masculinity. Man To Man makes you want to reach out to the person next to you and connect”
In Depth with the Director -
James Breen
Hi James, tell us a little about yourself and your background in filmmaking
I was 12 years old when my best friend at the time said, “let’s make a movie!” It kind of just went from there.
How did Man To Man first come together as a project?
I’d been working on a documentary about alcohol-related violence and the thing that kept coming up in our interviews was how different the violence is today. It’s more aggressive and unrelenting than it used to be and even though drinking laws have changed over the last century, the culture and politics in play have not. Most of this violence was instigated by young men, so I wanted to explore where that came from. Man To Man sort of sprung out of that.
The film tackles the idea of masculinity and what being 'a real man' means. What appealed to you about these themes?
I grew up in pubs and boxing gyms and then went to an all boys school, all male dominated environments, places where you have to be physically strong and can’t show your emotions otherwise you’re perceived as being weak. I really wanted to explore where these ideas came from rather than trying to challenge these notions. I think these ideas about masculinity have been passed down from generation to generation, from father to son so I wanted to show that in the most Australian way possible - two blokes having a beer in a pub.
The things left unsaid between the two characters are almost as important as what is being said. How do you balance this restraint with wanting to communicate your message to the audience?
We approached it like music, where the silences are just as important as the notes. When we shot the film most of my direction to the actors was “slower” or “take a pause before that line” so that we had these great spaces to play with. Our editor Sara Edwards did a fantastic job finding all the nuances within those spaces so it really felt like two people who were trying to communicate but weren’t sure how to go about it.
The relationship between Alan Dukes and Josh Anderson in the film felt like a genuine Australian father-son relationship. Did you have any particular direction for your cast to capture this?
It wasn’t really one thing specifically. In rehearsal the three of us just sat around and shared stories about our own fathers. Al has children so he brought that into it as well. We all had quite similar things to say which was interesting and so we just played with that. I wasn’t precious about any of the words that I wrote, I wanted it to feel quite natural.
What were the major challenges in putting this film together?
Short films can take just as much work and just as many people as longer projects but often you have to call in a lot of favours to get them made which means you are constantly working around other people’s schedules.
What projects are coming up for you in the future?
I’m almost finished my third feature screenplay and have a long form documentary in post-production. So 2021 and beyond is looking pretty exciting.
Do you have any message for our Melbourne audience?
Melbournians have showed an incredible resilience over the last few months and should be commended for that. Enjoy the sunshine!