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 TIM MILFULL sits down with UNFINISHED SKY star WILLIAM MCINNES.
Not many people will argue that 9am is the most civilised time for an interview, but when the lanky Queenslander William McInnes eventually ambles into the cocktail bar at the Emporium Hotel, orders a long black, and plonks down next to me, he’s looking quite chipper. Yes, that cotton shirt looks impressively rumpled, but it’s nothing compared to our first glimpses of his bedraggled farmer John Woldring in the new local film Unfinished Sky. The publicist and I are a little worried when another journo barges in unexpectedly and the pair launch into a conversation like they’re old friends – well, actually they are – they shared a house together … The journo eventually back-pedals after she realises it’s actually my interview, and McInnes offers an embarrassed apology. It’s impossible to hold a grudge, though – this feller is just such a nice guy – charming, self-effacing, and something of an everyman, a quality that shines through in many of his films.
McInnes explains that Unfinished Sky – set mostly around Boonah, west of Brisbane – is a “good little film … a gothic romance, really, set in a beautiful residence that reflects the condition of its owner.” The owner in question is McInnes’s sheep farmer John Woldring, whose deliberate, isolated misanthropy is, “put into some sort of flux by a stranger coming into this town.” Director Peter Duncan’s film is essentially about, “what otherness can do when you accept it.” In the case of others in the film, including the disingenuous local constable played by David Field, McInnes says Unfinished Sky is also about what happens when you can’t or won’t accept otherness or change.
McInnes admits that Woldring’s damaged persona had some tempting possibilities, “It would have been fun to push things a bit more … damaged people can be really dangerous.” But playing the role to director Peter Duncan’s brief meant a more understated performances, and this is one of the strengths of a story in which dialogue plays a subdued role. “You like to play with the audience, but you don’t want to muck them around … even so, a couple of people have come up to me and said it’s quite a creepy film – it’s a bit disturbing.”
Less disturbing perhaps, but just as accessible for us and satisfying on the author’s part, are a succession of books that McInnes has written over the past few years, “I enjoy acting more since I’ve written a couple of books.” He explains that the collaborative process of making a film or participating in a play is completely different to the mostly solitary performance of a writer. But his writing has offered a chance to explore himself and the world around him. His latest book That’d Be Right, is a personal journey over four decades, offering, “a trip through public and private moments,” filtered through sport and politics, from Whitlam to Rudd. McInnes’s sometimes bucolic self-reflection often aims to “take the foot off the pedal,” and remind us that life is brief. Ironically, at that point, my time is up – the next interview is due to start.
As I walk out, his former flatmate squeals out another hello; McInnes stands with one hand in his jeans, and the other offering a wave; his mouth twists into a sheepish grin – everyman, indeed.
UNFINISHED SKY [M] is in cinemas now. THAT’D BE RIGHT will be released in August by Hachette Australia.
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