The Movies That Made Me...

The Movies That Made Me… Episode 3: LOVE

Luke Sorba wrote and directed his first movie on Super 8 when he was 18 years old. "The Mirror Within" won in the Novice Category at Streatham and Norwood Amateur Film Club's Annual Awards. He only made one more (apart from some YouTube sketches) but he has since watched 6000 movies made by other people and owns 1600 on DVD. He spent more teenage hours at the National Film Theatre and the Electric Cinema than anywhere else, and is currently on first name terms with staff at Peckhamplex.

Over two hundred books on cinema fill his shelves and he has a complete collection of Monthly Film Bulletin magazines (incorporated in Sight and Sound since 1990) going back to 1964. As an actor and writer, as well as a teacher of story telling Luke brings professional experience to his observations but it his status as a super-fan that sets him apart.

He is rare among enthusiasts in that there is no period nor genre nor country whose movies he is not curious about. From Intolerance to Inception, The St Valentine's Day Massacre to The Belles of St Trinian's, Do the Right Thing to Dr Dolittle, Zombieland to Nomadland, Superfly to Superman, Tod Browning to Todd Haynes, Federico Fellini to The Fast and Furious, Monika Treut to Monica Bellucci, there is a place for everyone in The Movies That Made Me.

Luke Sorba and Andrew Paine previously collaborated on the online improvised comedy show "Unmute". Together they make up Picard Productions.

Episode 3 Features...

Martha Julier is a film graduate, and a Script Editor working in TV Drama. Despite this, she has somehow retained her love of Film & TV.

As a freelance script editor, Martha’s worked on projects for BBC, ITV and FX/Disney+.

Dan O’Connor is one of the world's foremost innovators in unscripted theatre. He is a multifaceted actor, improviser, writer, and director performing on television and stage around the world. His training includes the American Conservatory Theater and extensive work with Keith Johnstone (Author of Impro) since 1986. He is a graduate of the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Dan is the founder of the critically acclaimed Impro Theatre and is a co-founder of BATS Improv in San Francisco and LA Theatresports. Dan has been teaching internationally for 30 years training writers, actors and directors about narrative storytelling and exploring the future of theatre. In that time he has also worked with corporate clients using improvisation as tool for adaptation and change.

He has been guest performer with everyone from Second City to Groundlings. Most recently he has developed the "LIVING STORY BOARD" with Stephen Kearin an ongoing development process for animators, storyboard artists and writers at Disney and Dreamworks Animation. He co-wrote Life UnScripted: Using Improv Principles to Get Unstuck, Boost Confidence, and Transform Your Life published by North Atlantic Books.

You can watch Dan’s TED Talk titled “Improvising a Better World” by clicking here.

Love Is In The Air...

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE 1946 (Frank Capra)

Post-war America in need of healing finds family man and community leader, Jimmy Stewart on the precipice of self-destruction. Can love pull him back? The movie that most defines Capra-esque. Contrast: A Christmas Carol (1951)

MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE 1985 (Stephen Frears)

Race, Class, Sexuality and Toxic Masculinity all explored with candour and passion decades before “woke” meant anything more than what you did before eating breakfast. Hanif Kureishi’s best screenplay, the launch of Daniel Day-Lewis as a movie star. Against a backdrop of heartless Thatcherite Britain. Contrast: Loving (2016)

STRICTLY BALLROOM 1992 (Baz Luhrmann)

The movie that gave the BBC the title (well, half) of its most popular TV show of the last twenty years. Outsiders from different worlds come together in the Australian auteur’s first film. The sequence using Cindy Lauper’s True Colours is sublime. Contrast: Romeo + Juliet (1996)

LA BELLE E LA BETE 1946 (Jean Cocteau)

Poet, playwright, artist, novelist, Cocteau’s live action telling of the classic tale ask the eternal question: can true love redeem? Magical. Contrast: Beauty and the Beast (1991)

BEFORE SUNRISE 1995 (Richard Linklater)

The most romantic film inspired by a railway station since Brief Encounter. Semi-improvised dialogue between Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy as lovers thrown together by chance adds authenticity and intelligence to a film that launched the most unlikely movie franchise. Right person, wrong time, wrong place…. can love survive? Contrast: The Lady Vanishes (1936)

CASABLANCA 1942 (Michael Curtiz)

When love of justice and romantic love collide, one must be sacrificed? Bogart. Bergman. And a world of talent on and off-camera. Luke’s favourite film. Film’s most romantic song. Contrast: There is none. It’s a non-pareil.