Features
‘It’s not a Hallmark, shiny, made-for-TV Christmas’: How To Make Gravy presents a true Australian holiday experience
When bringing Paul Kelly's classic Christmas song How To Make Gravy to the screen, the task was simple: don't mess with the original recipe.
“For us, it was the song,” explains Alison Hurbert-Burns, producer of the new BINGE original, How To Make Gravy, of the anchor point for the project: “It has to be true to what’s in the song.”
As with Paul Kelly’s 1996 Christmas classic, How To Make Gravy follows a family preparing to spend its first Christmas together without recently incarcerated father, Joe, played by Daniel Henshall.
The cast also features Brenton Thwaites as Joe’s visiting brother, Dan, Kate Mulvany as his sister, Stella, Agathe Rousselle as Joe’s wife, Rita, Jona Wren as their son, Angus, and Damon Herriman as Joe’s rival, Roger.
Kelly crams a lot of narrative into its five-minute running time, but even Australia’s unofficial poet laureate wasn’t able to paint enough lyrical depth in the 1996 original to maintain an entire film – hence the inclusion of Noel, a fellow prisoner played by Hugo Weaving.
But, the song’s central theme resonances strongly enough to inform the tone of the film – which isn’t the usual snow-white holiday fare usually seen on screens.
“It’s not a Hallmark, shiny, made-for-TV Christmas”, Hurbert-Burns tells Mumbrella. “It’s a family drama – and it’s a family who can’t be together at Christmas time. And that’s the universality of it. There’s people all around the world – prison’s almost the mechanism by which the separation is there – but it could be that your family members have died. It could be that you’ve got estrangement in your family, it could be that you’re living overseas.
“It’s when you can’t be with the people that you love, how do you choose to be?” Hurbert-Burns said.
“Christmas is a difficult time for people. We wanted to show something that was, for a lot of people, realistic, but very hopeful and joyous.”
Despite the prison theme, Hurbert-Burns said the film is ultimately uplifting.
“It’s a film about betterment and choosing how you live your life, really,” she explains. “And that, regardless of what situation you find yourself in, you have a choice, and you cast a big shadow on your family and those around you. And how you can almost be the best version of yourself, whether you’re in prison, whether you’re a father, whatever dynamics.”
Hurbert-Burns said that preview screenings have struck a chord with male audiences, which is unusual for a locally-produced drama.
“We’ve got a very real Australian man at the centre of the story,” she reasons, “and I think part of what we’re exploring here is how men present to the world and what they’re really feeling. There’s often a really big gap, and that leads to lots of implications from domestic violence to other components in life, that are complicated issues that I don’t think we always really understand or really talk to.”
While Hurbert-Burns shies away from specifics for fear of spoilers, she says the film isn’t trying to tell the audience what to think. “I think it’s just looking at things that aren’t always studied or shown in films and television,” she said. “So by putting a male Australian, a very real Australian dad at the centre of the story, I think it pushes you to think about choices.”
Local musician, Meg Washington, co-wrote the film with director Nick Waterman, and aside from the obvious inclusion of the titular track, a lot of original music was created for the film.
Washington didn’t shy away from the heavy use of music in the film, noting at the Sydney premiere, “It’s not a musical, but it’s not not a musical”.
Nick Waterman, Paul Kelly, and Megan Washington
The soundtrack was released online on Friday, and Hurbert-Burns expects curious viewers to check out the accompanying music. “It’s a real celebration of Australian talent across music and screen,” she explains.
Paul Kelly had already given the film the thumbs up, despite purposefully keeping at arm’s length during its creation.
“Dan and Joe and Rita and Angus and Dolly and all the others have been stuck inside that song so long, I’m glad they’re going to get a chance to live life a different way,” Kelly said last year when the film was announced.
The musician saw an early cut of the film at his house a few months ago, but was visibly moved when the movie received a warm reaction and a standing ovation at the Sydney premiere last week.
“I think he was quite emotional to see what his four-minute song had become,” Hurbert-Burns recalls. “He knows Meg Washington through the music world. He trusted them with his song. But he was also very clear in saying, ‘this is someone else’s creative interpretation of my song and I don’t want to control it.’ He wanted there to be creative freedom.
“And so, to see him trust that process and then to have such a positive response to it, I think is beautiful. And I think it means so much for all the people that have been on the film, because we’re all PK fans and to have a very special song that is beloved by so many Australians, we needed to make sure that it did right by that as well.”
Hurbert-Burns said the film is already being shopped overseas, with international distribution company Fifth Season taking it to market. Aside from containing the universal theme of longing for loved ones during the holiday season, Hurbert-Burns also expects How To Make Gravy to evoke emotion in lonely ex-pats around the globe.
“If you see this and you’re living in London, you want to get on a plane and come home,” she laughs. “It’s beautifully evocative of Australian Christmas. We wanted to evoke the sounds and the smells of Australia at Christmas time. There’s some beautiful early morning scenes and you’ve got the birds and the cicadas and that kind of hot haze that you get around Christmas, like we’re having now.
“We wanted it to feel what Australian Christmases feel like. You know, you’ve got the uncle walking in the door, carrying fresh prawns, while there’s still a hot turkey happening, like there’s pav, it’s not all Christmas pud.
“We just wanted to have things that were really reflective of Australian Christmases as well, versus all the stuff we always see – with the snow-covered hills.”
How To Make Gravy premieres on BINGE on Sunday, December 1.
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Nathan Jolly is the Features Editor at Mumbrella. He joined the team in July, 2023.
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Agathe RousselleAlison Hurbert-BurnsBingeBrenton ThwaitesDaniel Henshallhow to make gravityHugo WeavingKate Mulvany
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