Mark Kermode interview: his new book, Mary Poppins, Film 2010, Exorcist and facing up to Helen Mirren

Film critic Mark Kermode, as his latest book is published, sits down to talk about the movies.

So much so that hes put his story in a book.

Although its not quite an autobiography.

Its described only part-jokingly as a cinematic autobiography inspired by real events.

Because Ive been watching all these movies that are based on true stories which arent.

And I love that phrase inspired by real events because its, as opposed towhat,exactly?

But other than that, fine.

You side with the Coen Brothers?

Well theFargothing is great.

The whole thing that this is all true, and its not!

Thats fantastic, I love all that.

Because it became apparent that Id lived, or remember, most of my life through films.

Hence the whole its only a movie gag, which is only partly a gag.

it kind of continued from there.

It became like writing about films, it just happened to be about films that I was in occasionally.

So thats how it happened.

Because, obviously, everything Ive written before has been much more academic.

The BFI books were designed to be that, the BFI is a journal of record.

That was what I was aiming for, and I think I got close to it.

I hope I did, anyway.

[Laughs] It was disastrous!

Listen, I do think thats true.

There have been key moments where Ive been really lucky with the way things have worked out.

She went, Well, youve got the address wrong, but other than that, thats essentially it!

And I said, What do you think?

And she said, I just cant believe that I was that unhelpful about it.

I said, Mum, you werent unhelpful, I was terrible.

She went, Yeah, but I could have said something nice to you at the time.

And I went, No, you couldnt, because I was terrible.

And there was a pause and she went, I was really excruciating to listen to!

And you are saying exactly the thing that comes into your head.

And its not an act.

Everything thats worked with radio since then has been the situations where that has been the case.

Whats brilliant about what he does is he enables people to speak as they would speak.

Its more than that, though, isnt it?

Its listening to the answers too.

But when people have conversations, peopledolisten to answers.

The only time people dont listen to answers is in interviews.

You dont do that.

But there are times in interviews, particularly, where that will happen.

And him just giving them enough room and intelligent questions to be able to do it.

Now, Ive been really lucky twice.

The LBC thing, discovering that there was some merit in sounding like youre just making it up.

Yeah, thats exactly it, and I wish Id put it that succinctly in the book.

That is exactly it.

The preparation is everything.

You really do have to prepare.

Its like cramming for an exam.

And heres the funny thing.

When Im doing the radio, for example, I have notes in front of me.

I dont read them.

Its the writing of the notes thats the thing that organises your thoughts.

But its the physical act of writing stuff out thats like revising.

Before the Mayo show, thats what I do.

I revise, but then I go in, Im not working from the notes.

And that was the key thing for me.

But youve got kids now, and the film world that theyre coming into is changing.

The revelation for us was when BBC Two used to show something interesting late at night…

So, there wasnt a late night reps theatre?

[Laughs] Sorry!

London, though, just seemed to offer a lot more.

You look at your son and you talk about taking him to see things likeTransformers.

Heres what I think.

Firstly, your kids opinions of films will always differ from yours.

Everyone has got an opinion.

All you could do is encourage people to have an opinion and to be able to discuss it.

My daughter lovesBride Wars, my son lovesTransformers…

Are they doing it to wind you up?!

And that was it!

Im not sure whether it was sarcasm, but it was very well delivered!

The difference is that theyre growing up with access to a DVD catalogue.

And televisions are different now.

There is an argument now that you’re able to see a film projected better at home.

There was a very expensive way of producing the prints, and only some of them were right.

And David Fincher was saying on the DVD commentary that on the DVD Ive fixed it!

This is how the films meant to be seen.

Silver retention, thats what it was.

It was to do with the blacks being really black.

That idea that you were looking at the frame through a hole in the world.

And I remember thinking blimey, the film director is saying its better to see this at home.

They are both very well versed.

Its not just modern stuff.

My daughter, what she couldnt tell you about Esther Williams is not worth knowing.

Its great, and Im very proud of that.

And now, everything is available at HMV.

What it removes is the sense of urgency.

The sense that you have to see it now because there isnt going to be another chance.

What I wonder is at the moment its brilliant that all that stuff is available.

Theres something else too, though.

I think its interesting for someone else to slam two films together for you.

You have to understand that, for me, the late night double bill was a ritual.

That was where I learned everything.

And its an evenings entertainment.

It was a real education.

That has, obviously, been replaced, although there are still places that still do double bills.

There are few things more exciting than going in to see a late night double bill.

But I had to sit through that first, and I really enjoyed it.

That was the great thing.

And I agree with you, the idea of somebody actually programming those things together was great.

The Scala used to do this double bills thing in which theyd get people to programme double bills.

And I programmed a couple.

AndOnibabais clearly the thing that inspires the demonic face inThe Exorcist.

When you see those two films together, it is a very interesting double bill.

That, funnily enough, is what everyone says about Linda Blair: that shes really nice.

But you never get the sense from her that shes not giving it her all.

I mean, really, everything.

And then they were really here.

Really, right now.

And then they were just incredibly down to earth and incredibly nice.

But not only did she, but she was intelligent, she was engaged, she was friendly.

It is, and its interesting that you picked that up.

But it seems to me that what works about cinema for me is passion.

That youre interested in the art form, and youre really passionate about it.

Id done it for a few years.

Id done it with Terry Gilliam beforehand.

Katzenberg was introducing this list of things, and two things struck me.

Firstly, what he didnt seem to be was passionate about anything but the actual success of the movies.

I dont mean success artistically.

He knew how theydperformed.

And then there was that weird moment where in his top ten list of films wasMary Poppins.

And I feel very passionately aboutMary Poppins.

The whole film not just the animated sequence, but he chose that sequence.

Rather than engage as a businessman, to engage emotionally with it.

Its just clever, its not CGI, its just clever.

Firstly, its not a story about kids anyway, its a story about the father.

And he just looked at me and went, Youve just made a total fool of yourself.

Did he say that, or was it in the look he gave you?

No, no he said.

He either said, Youre an idiot….

… did you ring him to check?

No, I didnt!

I figured with the famous people theyre on their own!

Then the rest of the thing we continued, it was a joke.

And I was hahaha, yes, Im such a fool.

But part of me thought, hang on a minute!

Youre the one whos meant to think that this is one of the ten greatest animations of all time!

Did you even choose this list?

And thats why I mentioned it.

When I met him, he was not cuddly.

Look at what were doing now.

We understand the thing.

It was like being in a room with an accountant.

And anyone who doesnt getMary Poppins… well, what are you going to say?

You dont thinkMary Poppinsis a work of genius, even though its in your list of top ten animations?

Everything right and wrong with Katzenberg is in theShrekfranchise.

And he can tell you exactly how much money it took!

[Laughs] Well the Mirren thing was strange because it was get yourself together now.

It is Helen Mirren, and she is incredibly impressive.

I think shes great and Ive watched loads of films with her in.

Its like that whole thing when my back finally pinged in Russia.

I was talking to Mum about it just yesterday, because Ive told that story before.

But the funny thing was, it didnt seem dangerous at the time.

It just seemed fantastically depressing and grim.

Flying on that mad aeroplane and being driven across Ukraine by Mister Nyeh, and his bonkers girlfriend.

So oddly enough, Helen Mirren was scarier because she was there and saying it.

There was no physical danger, but she was so impressive.

The Russia thing never seemed dangerous at the time.

It was funny because Nige and I have told that story so many times.

It became like a dinner party routine.

I really do have the scars!

… Sir Anthony Hopkins…!

Very good, very good.

This is actually a story thats ages and ages old.

It was for TV, but American TV can be quite edgy.

But I dont think its ever going to happen with Friedkin at the helm.

At one point Nic Roeg was vaguely in the frame.

And then they wanted to get involved in casting.

And, at that point, Blatty went, lets not take this any further…!

Not as a joke.

They thought it was a good idea.

Finally, the inevitableFilm 2010question, about whether theres interest from you, if youve heard anything?

The answer to it is rather boring, Im afraid.

I dont have any idea whats happening withFilm 2010.

The only thing Id say is dont trust anything you read in the press.

The problem is this.

When Jonathan Ross said he was leaving, thats a paragraph on an article.

Whats the second paragraph?

The second is er, what do we do now?

But it also turned out to be not only not true, but not based on anything.

Its nothing other than that.

I honestly dont know whats happening with that.

It was the strangest thing.

And I had no comment because there wasnt any comment to make.

But it was a really interesting thing because, for the first time ever, I understood something.

And you always think yeah, right.

Of course they are.

For the first time ever, I had that experience.

Somebody actually wrote that this has been sewn up for ages and nobody knew about it!

And I think theres a future in that, in what we do.

But thats my ideal thing: him and me, doing what we do.

So that makes sense to me.

But seriously, I genuinely have no idea what is happening.

Were operating over here in radio, theyre over there in television, and our paths havent really crossed!

And with that, our time was up!

Mark Kermode, thank you very much!