The Dish

PART 1:

The Dish was released in the year 2000 to good reviews. The film is about NASA working with a team of Australian radio telescope technicians in order to relay images of the first steps on the moon in 1969. The Australian telescope was in the middle of a sheep paddock in the middle of Parkes, which is in the middle of nowhere. The film looks at US-Australian relations, among other things including Australian culture and what Australia means to the rest of the world.

--The film Premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September of 2000, and made its Australian debut in October of the same year. The film was in limited release in the United States by March of 2001. Specific box office figures are hard to find, but by July of 2001 the film grossed well over $2 million in the United States and I wouldn't be surprised if the film made its money back at least a few times over.

http://imdb.com/title/tt0205873/releaseinfo
Release dates for
The Dish (2000)

Country	Date
Canada	15 September 2000	(Toronto Film Festival) (premiere)
Australia	19 October 2000
USA	14 March 2001	(limited)
USA	27 April 2001
UK	11 May 2001
New Zealand	24 May 2001
Spain	15 June 2001
Germany	19 July 2001

Business Data for The Dish (2000)

http://imdb.com/title/tt0205873/business

Opening Weekend
$70,612 (USA) (18 March 2001) (6 Screens)
£218,114 (UK) (13 May 2001) (187 Screens)
AUD 2,995,500 (Australia)
€2,676 (Italy) (9 February 2003) (5 Screens)
Gross
$2,252,970 (USA) (8 July 2001)
$2,208,227 (USA) (1 July 2001)
$2,160,526 (USA) (24 June 2001)
$2,094,492 (USA) (17 June 2001)
$2,012,936 (USA) (10 June 2001)
$1,927,428 (USA) (3 June 2001)
Weekend Gross
$26,051 (USA) (8 July 2001) (22 Screens)
$26,797 (USA) (1 July 2001) (32 Screens)
$38,824 (USA) (24 June 2001) (39 Screens)
$55,733 (USA) (17 June 2001) (47 Screens)
$54,979 (USA) (10 June 2001) (53 Screens)
$78,175 (USA) (3 June 2001) (65 Screens)

--Critically, the film was a huge success. The film got rave reviews. For example:

“A lovely, original Australian take on a climactic moment usually thought of as All-American.” – Entertainment Weekly.

“…a smiling human comedy, treats the moon walk…as a small step taken by every single member of mankind…” – Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times.

“…a feel good movie, it doesn’t make you uncomfortable for being awed and getting misty-eyed…” New York Times.

http://imdb.com/title/tt0205873/externalreviews

External reviews for
The Dish (2000)

--The Dish did well on the awards circuit as well garnering nine nominations from the Film Critics Circle of Australia, while winning twice. It also received two nominations including Best Film from the Australian Film Institute, it won second place in the Peoples Choice Award category at the Toronto Film Festival. (http://imdb.com/title/tt0205873/awards)

--The Film didn’t do as well commercially as it should have, and, in an interview, Sam Neill attributes that to poor marketing by Warner Brothers studio. Neill felt the studio, “threw the film away,” but also thinks it will have a resurgence on video. (Sam Neill quotes courtesy of Entertainment Weekly)

The film can be characterized a comedy, and that is exactly the filmmakers were shooting for. Rob Sitch, the film's director wanted to make a comedy and simply base it on true events. He had originally planned on making much of the storyline up and simply using the true events as a guide, but upon finding out the facts of the story, he ended up using them. The truth of the story was so good he left much of it in. For instance, the mayor of Parkes real name was ‘Moon’, but Sitch and his colleagues felt it was too campy to use his real name, so they changed it for the film. (courtesy of PopMatters Film critics).

--Details of the films online presence in literature:

http://imdb.com/title/tt0205873/literature

Printed Media Reviews
Ehretsmann, Xavier. The Dish. In: L'Annuel du Cinéma 2003 (France), Les Nouvelles Fiches du Cinéma, 2003, Pg. 2-85056-637-3, (BK)
Hamacher, Rolf-Ruediger. "The Dish". In "film dienst" (Germany), Vol. 54, Iss. 15, 17 July 2001, Pg. 16
Kanthak, Dietmar. "Charmanter Rückblick auf die Frühzeit der Mondfahrt". In "epd Film" (Germany), Vol. 18, Iss. 7, 1 July 2001, Pg. 37
Nguyen, Ky N. "A Day That United the World.". In: The Washington Diplomat (USA). (NP), Vol. 7, Iss. 4, April 2001, Pg. B16
Schwarzbaum, Lisa. "Shoot The Moon (A-)". In: Entertainment Weekly (USA), Vol. 1, Iss. 588, 23 March 2001, Pg. 80, (MG)
Stevenson, William. "Video: The Dish (B+)". In: Entertainment Weekly (USA), Vol. 1, Iss. 612, 7 September 2001, Pg. 142, (MG)
Interviews
Nguyen, Ky N. "Moment. In: Time: 'Dish' Director Rob Sitch Tries to Capture History with Apollo 11 Mission.". In: The Washington Diplomat (USA). (May 2001. Pg. B8. NP), Vol. 7, Iss. 5

--The film was directed by Rob Sitch, who has also directed The Castle. Sitch was also credited with being one of the writers of The Dish, along with Santo Cilauro and Tom Gleisner. Cilauro and Gleisner also worked on The Castle with Sitch. Sam Neill and Patrick Warburton played two of the leads, and Billie Brown made an appearance.

Full Cast and Crew for
The Dish (2000)

http://imdb.com/title/tt0205873/fullcredits

Directed by
Rob Sitch

Writing credits
Santo Cilauro		(conceived and written by) &
Tom Gleisner		(conceived and written by) &
Jane Kennedy		(conceived and written by) and
Rob Sitch		(conceived and written by)

Cast (in credits order) verified as complete
Sam Neill	....	Cliff Buxton
Kevin Harrington	....	Ross 'Mitch' Mitchell
Tom Long	....	Glenn Latham
Patrick Warburton	....	Al Burnett
Genevieve Mooy	....	May McIntyre
Tayler Kane	....	Rudi Kellerman
Bille Brown	....	Prime Minister
Roy Billing	....	Mayor Robert 'Bob' McIntyre
Andrew S. Gilbert	....	Len Purvis
Lenka Kripac	....	Marie McIntyre
Matthew Moore	....	Keith Morrison
Eliza Szonert	....	Janine Kellerman
John McMartin	....	U.S. Ambassador Howard
Carl Snell	....	Billy McIntyre
Billy Mitchell	....	Cameron
Rosalind Hammond	....	Miss Nolan (as Roz Hammond)
Christopher-Robin Street	....	Damien
Luke Keltie	....	Graeme
Naomi Wright	....	Melanie
Ben Wright-Smith	....	Nicholas
Beverley Dunn	....	Secretary (voice)
Grant Thompson	....	Mr. Callen
Bernard Curry	....	Newspaper Reporter
Kerry Walker	....	Pearl
Denise Roberts	....	Bronwyn
Jeff Keogh	....	Ray
Jason Ritterman	....	Adrian Hobbs
Alexander Zent	....	Lead Guitarist
Rowan Macartney	....	Trumpet
Aidan Macartney	....	Trombone
Jarrod Factor	....	Drummer
Oliver McGill	....	Pianist
Marilyn O'Donnell	....	Melva
Jane Menelaus	....	Gwen
John Flaus	....	Ron
Neil Pigot	....	Journalist
Darren Davidson	....	Camera Person
Simon Donaldson	....	Sound Person
Frank Bennett	....	Barry Steele
Randall Berger	....	Ambassador's Aide
Charles 'Bud' Tingwell	....	Reverend Loftus
Mal Walden	....	ABC Journalist (voice)
Rod McNeil	....	Radio Newsreader (voice)
Alister Paterson	....	ABC TV Newsreader
Colette Mann	....	Betty the Bush Poet
Susan Ward	....	Female Print Journalist
Roger Crisp	....	Male Reporter
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Buzz Aldrin	....	Himself (archive footage)
Neil Armstrong	....	Himself (archive footage)
Michael Collins	....	Himself (archive footage)
John Glenn	....	Himself (archive footage)
Nicholas Bell	....	TV Scientist (uncredited)
Walter Cronkite	....	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Hubert H. Humphrey	....	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
John F. Kennedy	....	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Richard Nixon	....	Himself (archive footage) (voice) (uncredited)
Sir Eric Pearce	....	Himself (TV Newsreader) (archive footage) (uncredited)

Produced by
Debra Choate	....	line producer
Santo Cilauro	....	producer
Tom Gleisner	....	producer
Michael Hirsh	....	producer
Jane Kennedy	....	producer
Rob Sitch	....	producer

Cinematography by
Graeme Wood		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Jill Bilcock

Casting by
Jane Kennedy

PART 2:

What if porn star Ron Jeremy was impotent? What if porn star Ron Jeremy had no idea how to have sex? The fame and glory he sustains due to his penis would no longer exist. His pride would be shot and people would no longer take him seriously. The Dish seems to propose the same idea about Australia. In 1969, Australia had the largest radio telescope in the southern hemisphere. Australia's future, Australia's pride was on the line. If that dish failed to work or if the controllers failed in their operation of the dish, Australia would be the laughing stock of the world. Nations would no longer count of Australia to be there when the moment comes (no pun intended) and the controllers of the dish would be shunned. The film portrays the radio telescope as a phallic symbol meant to represent the dish and the moon landing as, “the greatest chauvinistic exercise in history.” The dish and the landing represent power in the form of achievement. This was 1969, a time when males had the power, males had the jobs, males made the money, and women stayed at home cooking and cleaning. There was a total lack of power for females. There weren’t any females walking on the moon and there weren’t any females travelling through space. The moon landing was a true exercise of male dominance, power, strength and achievement.
            The film takes us to Parkes, Australia to a sheep paddock, far from everything, where only a radio telescope sits. NASA was paranoid about losing contact with Apollo 11 and employed the help of a team of telescope operators in Australia to help. The Australians main job was to provide the capability to receive the images of the moon landing and the moon walk to hundreds of millions, if not billions, watching. The Dish was their story.
            Here are some aspects of the film and what I think it means, and just different facets of the film I think are meant to represent something or nothing at all. The Dish cheers for the underdog to win; Australia as the underdog, the characters as the underdog, mankind as the underdog, and so on. The film shows Australia as a vital, yet often overlooked country of the world. Australia is such a unique country with so much to offer, yet because of its isolation, often, the best parts of Australia are looked over. The film also seems to somewhat criticize the imperialistic greed of America. The film also points out the hypocrisy in this criticism by explaining that Australia has such close relations with the United States that those imperialistic bastards across the Pacific Ocean trust the blokes over here with one of the greatest, and purely American, exercises in human achievement. So, if Americans are imperialistic greed mongers, then so are Australians. The film also critiques America by pointing out the commercialism of American culture, how the media outshines the true America, and how true American history and identity is often lost. For example, when the Star Spangled Banner is meant to be played, the band doesn’t know it and a pop song goes instead. The film also plays on the many fears and desires of the audience. To name a few, the fear and desire of taking risks, the fear of being overlooked, the fear of failure, the desire to reach a point that hasn’t been reached, the desire to be a part of something bigger than can be imagined, and the pride of identity. These are all major themes and issues throughout the film. Oh, and another thing I noticed in the film. Now tell me if you noticed this as well, but about 59 minutes through, it was the scene where the guy finally asks out the girl and they are standing in front of her car, he is holding what looks like a sledgehammer, and the shot is reminiscent of the painting American Gothic, but in reverse. Maybe I was just seeing things, but if I am right that is another example of the filmmakers trying to tell the audience how Australian culture is basically American, just a little different, a little backwards.
            The film was received very well. I don’t think I read a single review that looked down on the film or thought the film to be garbage. Even after the films release, critics still looked upon it very highly. I don’t blame them either. I thought it was a very well made film that was enjoyable and had a fascinating, and entertaining story. What was also great about this film is how it is a light hearted comedy that everybody can enjoy. There isn’t gratuitous nudity, not that I have anything wrong with that, and there isn’t extreme and unnecessary violence. It’s great to see that a film like this can still be made and we don’t have to rely on multi-multi-million dollar budgets in order to get something we are told is quality but is essentially crap.
            The way I understand it, the film wasn’t that hard to make simply because there was so much documentation, the original dish was still in existence, Parkes is still a small town, and there wasn’t a million special effects needed to achieve the final look. The film did alright in its’ release and box-office receipts, but not as well as it probably should have done. The film was, by no means, marketed right. I think the American distributor didn’t give it enough credit because 1.) it’s Australian, 2.) there aren’t any huge names involved, and 3.) it’s Australian. For some reason, American distributors, I feel often see that a film is Australian and throw it out as trash. They don’t even attempt to make a bang and a buck out of it, which is sad. I think The Dish could have done very well in the American market and probably could have made a decent buck and a half.
            Patrick Warburton, of Seinfeld fame, plays the total opposite of what most people are used to seeing him as. But then again, what else has he done of any significance? He has a fantastic voice and can be heard on the classic animated television series Family Guy, but other than that, he is known mainly for Seinfeld. In comparison to Seinfeld though, he plays the total opposite. He is educated, and intelligent, and plays a serious and dry character in The Dish. Sam Neill is great, as always. Despite playing different characters, he brings himself into many of his roles. Now every time I see him, it’s like watching Jack Nicholson; he plays himself more than he plays the character. From what I have seen him in, he does the father figure, and educated character very well, and that is what he seems to play most of the time.
            What is great about this film is it seems to dictate where Australian film is in terms of value and quality and marketability. It, like Australia, was overlooked and dismissed without even a shot. I think once the world looks at Australia, and its films, much will be noticed, but right now, at this point in time, I think extreme success is far away. I think the problem is in marketing. I think many people see Australia as this kind of beach haven for surfers, slackers, and kangaroos, when in reality there is so much more. Finding the best things to market and to who, and then sticking with it I think will be the only way true success will be found.
            The film is a well made light hearted comedy about true events. I think this is one of, if not the best, Australian films I have seen and I think if this film is followed and replicated more then there is a bright future ahead for Australian films. I think this is one of the few Australian films that could have been marketed across all age groups and tastes and cultures, and still have seen success. The comedy isn’t purely Australian humour which I think, in order to see larger success, more Ozzie films have to get away from. The films comedy is cross-cultural and I think that is what makes it so good. The film was about a cross-cultural event, so it’s a good thing the humour was too.
            So, the film was good, but not marketed right. The acting was top-notch, but not recognized as it should have been. There is meaning and metaphor behind this simple little story of a momentous event. How do you feel about having the southern hemisphere’s largest radio telescope?