Every story has many facets, but often the big story hides some of the smaller facets. The Australian film The Dish is a perfect example of this. The big story? Apollo 11’s successful mission to the moon. The small story? The Australians working at Parkes Observatory – a radio telescope in the middle of a sheep paddock – that was critical to the success of the mission and was our link to the footage we’ve all seen of Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the surface of the moon.
Join us – Pete Wright and Andy Nelson – as we kick off our “It’s Real Life, Jack” series with Rob Sitch’s 2000 film The Dish. We talk about what a delightful film this is and how great it is learning about this small bit of history that neither of us knew. We talk about Working Dog, the creative production team behind the film, and have a brief interview with producer Tom Gleisner about how they came to tell this particular story, the nature of ‘telling the truth’ in a film based on a fact and more. We chat about the actors – notably Sam Neill, Patrick Warburton, Kevin Harrington, Tom Long and Roy Billing, among others – and how they all create unique and quirky characters that work perfectly in this world. And we touch on not only Edmund Choi’s beautiful, award-winning score but also the fantastic soundtrack full of great songs.
It’s a wonderful film that helps one expand upon and appreciate the Apollo 11 moon landing even more. So what are you waiting for? Check it out then tune in!
Film Sundries
- Watch this film: iTunes • Amazon
- Original theatrical trailer
- Original poster artwork
- About Parkes Observatory — Wikipedia.org
- Flickchart
- Letterboxd
- The Truth About the Dish
- On Eagle’s Wings: The Parkes Observatory’s Support of the Apollo 11 Mission
- Visiting The Dish
- And how much did Honeysuckle Creek really contribute?
