In the lead up to Christmas Day, every family consults a particular range of Christmas films to heighten their anticipation of Santa Claus’s arrival. And these films are multipurpose; not only do they keep the little ones occupied, they remind us adults to practice some patience during what is invariably a stressful time. In my household, we consider John Hughes’s Home Alone (1990) the gold standard of Christmas films – watching actor Daniel Stern (who portrays one half of the Wet Bandits, Marv) scream like a woman after a tarantula is placed on his forehead makes spending three days with a maternal grandfather who calls your vegan dietary preferences ‘stupid’ bearable.
I think this is a fine tradition, but what about the days succeeding Saint Nick’s arrival? Those days when you need to remind yourself that it’s not OK to bitch-slap your twin sister across the face, even after she insists you and your boyfriend “kiss too much”. To this end, I think every family should have a cinematic staple they resurrect for the post-Christmas period: a film they watch to inform their behaviours and actions not just over Christmas, but throughout the upcoming year.
For my family, I think our post-Christmas film staple should be The Castle (Rob Sitch, 1997), an Australian comedy-drama that downplays the value of monetary wealth in favour of relatively unsung measures of success, such as humility and compassion. Despite its predilection for analogue televisions and landline telephones, The Castle is just as important today as it was in 1997. After a year wherein the fickleness of our employment was thrown into sharp relief, we need to be reminded that the support of our loved ones can provide a type of assurance that no paycheque ever will.
The Castle centres upon the Kerrigan family, a working-class unit from the Melbourne outer suburbs; specifically, a modest timber-clad property bound by powerlines and an airport. At the head of the Kerrigan family is Darryl (Michael Caton), a tow-truck driver whose favourite pastimes include scouting the trading post with his second eldest son, Steve (Anthony Simcoe); lamenting the ingenuity of his wife, Sal’s (Anne Tenney), ostensibly run-of-the-mill cooking (namely, rissoles and sponge cake), and; expanding his property with cheap and impractical extensions, such as a chimney that doesn’t lead anywhere. Though Darryl does not conform to traditional measures of success – such as a lavish property, a glamorous career, or children spearheading their respective fields – he lives a happy and gracious existence That is, until a major development company attempts to forcefully acquire Darryl’s veritable castle to expand the nearby airport. Darryl initially procures the services of Dennis Denuto (Tiriel Mora), a family acquaintance and small-town solicitor who missteps when faced with the might of the Federal Court. However, Darryl’s penchant for friendly chit-chat soon tempts the sophisticated talents of Lawrence Hammill (Charles ‘Bud’ Tingwell), a retired barrister and member of the Queen’s Counsel. Together, these three men journey to the High Court to question whether the compulsory acquisition of the Kerrigan home is indeed ‘on just terms’, as it is qualified in the Australian Constitution.
So, why is The Castle so good? And, more importantly, why should you watch it in preparation for the New Year? Firstly, it includes phrases and icons that form part of the Australian idiom – phrases and icons that your elders have uttered and invoked over the years, respectively. When you watch The Castle, I can guarantee there will be at least one scene that invokes a sense of déjà vu. My déjà vu moment is when Darryl is fishing on a lake at Bonnie Doon, and his reel begins to twitch with the promise of a carp. My dad reiterates Darryl’s keen observation – “got a nibble” – on every single one of our fishing trips. These moments encourage us to reflect on our own families’ idiosyncrasies as endearing rather than annoying, which is important when your family have spent the last few days trying to make ‘being annoying’ a professional sport.
But this is just surface-level stuff – when you get down to the thematics, The Castle teaches us to disregard conventional measures of success and instead focus on the people, places, and hobbies that bring us joy. Darryl’s career does not pay well, but he looks after his truck and takes pride in clearing utility pole crashes and head-on collisions. And though his home is replete with plastic lattice and a five-foot-tall aerial, he shows it off to a local land valuer as if it were the Taj Mahal.
Likewise, none of his children have achieved higher than a VET-level qualification, yet Darryl heralds them as the brightest minds to come out of Coolaroo. He even gives Dale (Stephen Curry), his youngest son, a veritable pat on the back for digging a hole. Darryl does not regard anyone, even those from different economic brackets (Lawrence) and different ethnic circles (his Arabic neighbour, Farouk (Costas Kilias)), as objects of jealousy or resentment. He removes jealousy and resentment from the equation so all that is left is compassion and sincerity, both towards his own self and the people he loves. This lends itself to an endless series of pats on the back, which – when coming from the right people – are true measures of success.
So, during these first few months of 2021, give The Castle a watch. And, while you’re at it, give yourself a pat on the back for getting through 2020.
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