This week Chris Deacy is joined in the studio by Zeenia Naqvee to discuss the films; White Chicks, Clueless, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and Indiana Jones: The Temple of Doom.
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00:00Hello and welcome to Kent Film Club. I'm Chris DC and each week I'll be joined by a guest
00:18from Kent to dive deep into the impact certain films have had on their life. Each guest will
00:23reflect on the films which have meant the most to them over the years and every week
00:27there will be a Kent Film Trivia where we quiz you at home about a film that has a connection
00:32to the county. And now let me introduce you to my guest for this week. She is the newest
00:37video journalist on our KMTV news team. She is Xenia Nakvi. Great to have you on the programme
00:44Xenia. Thank you, it's great to be here. Absolute pleasure. Now I don't know your films in advance,
00:48White Chicks. Why have you chosen this? So it's just a movie I consistently keep on watching.
00:56I have ADHD and I have a really short attention span so even coming up with a list of films
01:01was quite taxing. I just think it really exemplifies I guess the 2000s. I think mid-naughties?
01:09I shouldn't know this. I think 2007 but correct me if I'm wrong. It's just quite a funny movie.
01:14It's not something we'd necessarily air anymore. It's just quite funny. I was looking at the
01:20screen there because there was a film a decade before that called Romeo and Michelle's High
01:25School Reunion and it looks a little bit like the actresses here. But tell me a bit
01:30about what this film is about for people like me who may not know it and then we'll unpack
01:38why you particularly enjoy it. So there are two police officers. I think they're brothers
01:45and I think in real life they're brothers as well which is quite cool. And they are
01:50assigned to work on this fraud case and they come across these two wealthy socialites from
01:57the Hamptons. Not from the Hamptons but they go there and basically part of their plan
02:02to enter the Hamptons where they're staying is to dress up as them. So they undergo these
02:07crazy prosthetics and I can imagine filming this would have taken much longer than an
02:12ordinary film. Yeah so they dress up as them and at the end they're eventually caught out
02:17but they do end up busting the fraudster who is their dad. So it all works out in the end
02:22and it's nice. It's really funny. One of the brothers has a wife and she sees a bill for
02:30a dress or something in the Hamptons like something that would indicate that he was
02:34with a woman or having an affair but actually he was dressing up as one. And her and her
02:38friend travel to the Hamptons to find her husband but they find a man dressed up as
02:46a woman and he tries to play it off and she just thinks he's having an affair the whole time.
02:52Is this the sort of thing that you can watch with an audience and everyone is like oh I
02:56can't believe this is happening. I mean have you watched this with either in the cinema
03:00or at home with family or friends? I've watched it with quite a lot of my friends, flatmates
03:06over the years and they think it's quite a silly movie. They always make fun of me for
03:08liking it but I think it's quite unique. But isn't that the point though because comedies
03:15can often really bite and they're disarming because you're watching them and you're thinking
03:19it's very funny but then there may be something in there that makes you think actually that
03:23really registers with something in our experience. And also you're a journalist. You mentioned
03:28about the whole pretending to be somebody else, a bit of a sting operation. There must
03:33be something, I'm guessing, that in some way it fits or does it with what you do as a journalist.
03:40Yeah, I think that's a really salient point. I think the whole thinking that you're super
03:46important and holding someone to account ideally. Yeah, I suppose you could say that is part
03:52of it. And I've always thought police are quite cool.
03:59But when things go wrong, because what you've said there, the hilarity, because I don't
04:02know the film and I'm definitely intrigued now because you're infectiously telling me
04:09why this has meant so much to you. But I guess it gets to the heart, doesn't it, of why we
04:14do things. We go out of our way to something. What's our goal? What's our objective? Why
04:19are we doing this? Why would you want to dress up as someone in order to, I don't know, without
04:24giving it away, does it all kind of work out in the right way? Or is the path there a little,
04:29shall we say, circuitous? Yeah, it is. It's definitely a bit of a turbulent
04:33path. I mean, you just have to watch it to find out. But it is really, really unique.
04:38Your flatmates, when they watched this, they obviously didn't get as much out of it as
04:43you did. I mean, how did you feel about that? Yeah, I didn't really understand it. I force
04:49anyone close to me in my life to watch this movie. It's like a rite of passage. They have
04:53to watch it with me. And I just want to see how they react.
04:55And I mean, I'm the same, that sometimes you want to evangelise about a film. You say this
05:00has been so amazing. And other people sometimes don't get it. But would you say that anybody
05:05who watches this kind of gets a little sense of who you are?
05:10Yeah, I definitely try to force it onto people, maybe a little bit too much. But yeah, I think
05:16it's just a bit of fun. I don't think movies always have to be so serious. And I think
05:22part of watching it as a 24-year-old, a lot of my friends and people around me are also
05:27early 20s, it's something that I guess people 10 years out, junior, would just never have
05:35never be able to see. I mean, it's on Netflix, but I mean, it was controversial. I remember
05:43during COVID, when everyone was out on Facebook with a bit too much free time, you know, people
05:49were sort of like, oh, this is offensive. But, you know, it's, there's more to it. It's
05:55like you said, a sting operation. And in the end, so the brother that was not thought to
06:00be having an affair, he actually ended up charming a journalist in the movie, he was
06:05investigating the fraudster. And he was pretending to be I think, a basketball player or something
06:10when he was out of his sort of costume. And then the girls in the end, the real socialites,
06:14they, yeah, they just weren't as popular. So they, it was amazing. These two lads essentially,
06:19dressed up as these women and befriended, you know, their elite, like high society,
06:25American social group. And they, you know, they claimed that they had their, they had
06:29surgery to extend their legs. Like it was just, you know, just to sort of, and they
06:33believed it, that it was really them. And they preferred them to the actual two, the
06:36girls at the end, which is just quite funny.
06:38Okay, well, it is time now to move on to your second chosen film. And I have seen this and
06:43I saw it at the cinema when it came out. And also in more recent years, Alicia Silverstone,
06:48Clueless.
06:49I'm so jealous. I wish I could have seen it. I think, I don't think I was born when it
06:54came out. Yeah, it's a classic movie. I always say it's Meeting Girls' better predecessor.
07:02Maybe that's controversial. I think it's great. I mean, you know, you're familiar with the
07:05premise. It's a great coming of age film. I think it's, I think it's good for, you know,
07:10family. It's good for, it's one of those. I think it's, it's, it's a good.
07:14And I have a confession because I studied Jane Austen at school and I think I even saw
07:18Clueless and maybe it was afterwards somebody said, you know, it is sort of based on, you
07:22know, Emma and I had no idea. And I was like, oh yeah, of course it was thinking, you know,
07:25maybe I didn't quite pick up on that beforehand. But, but I have seen this rather than White
07:31Chicks, but there is something in this about the way that some stories can be adapted,
07:37can last for many generations.
07:40For sure. It's fascinating. I mean, I did my undergrad in English and, you know, we
07:46covered a bit of Shakespeare and his adaptations. So this is just, you know, another fantastic
07:52example of a reworking that suits the modern audience. I think the fact that, you know,
07:56it's not necessarily obvious at first glance just shows that it's such a good movie within
08:01its own right as a concept. It works so well. It has a good soundtrack, good cast. I think,
08:06um, it's annoying me. There is one, oh, what's his name? Her stepbrother in this. He's quite
08:10well known now. Paul something. Oh, that's, that's going to annoy me.
08:14Roger.
08:15Yes, that's it. No, that's exactly him. He's her stepbrother and I think that was his sort
08:18of debut and now he's obviously been in quite a lot since. I'm sure you'll know better.
08:22When I saw this, it was in Swansea in South Wales. I remember, maybe I wasn't the demographic
08:27for it at the time, but I remember it being quite a noisy audience one Saturday afternoon.
08:32I saw this in Bluewater at the showcase two or three years ago and it was almost like
08:36I was transported back to that original screening because obviously a completely different generation,
08:40but they were engaging with it in the same kind of way. And I thought that was so clever
08:45because there was a Jane Austen kind of premise and yet totally adapted. I mean, of course,
08:50this looks dated now, you know, in terms of the technology of the nineties, but what,
08:55so as you said, you weren't born when this came out. So what is the hook for you?
08:59I think that's also a really great point. You know, everyone can relate to it. Things
09:03like, I guess, relationships, you know, everyone has probably similar experiences in terms
09:09of men and how annoying teenage men can be, you know, that relationship that Cher has
09:14with her dad, but like, oh, like, you know, every teenage girl has been told off by their
09:18dad for wearing a dress that's a bit too short. It's just a relatable movie and I think
09:22it just works.
09:23And I know that there are some cinemas where they show this with the whole, well, I'm not
09:26going to say sing-along, but certainly where there are particular lines and everybody has
09:30to sort of shout them out together. What for you is the most memorable scene or the most
09:34memorable line that you can recall?
09:35Oh, that is a very good question. Let me have a think.
09:38Because there's the whole, like, what is it? Does she say whatever? Is that one that comes
09:41to mind?
09:42Yeah, that is one. I think...
09:43Or that so last season, I think, is one that I remember.
09:47There's so many. Let me think. I quite like at the... I think during a party that they
09:54both go to, I think Cher is wearing the same dress as, like, her arch nemesis or something
09:59and there's a whole sort of, like, oh my God, how could you even, like, dare to wear the
10:04same thing as me? And that was quite interesting. There's so many, I can't think of...
10:10But you'd go back to this, I take it? You'd watch this again?
10:13Yeah, I would.
10:14Why?
10:16Yeah, I think it's a timeless movie and I think... I think it's just interesting. I
10:21think, you know, there's... Even with the fashion cycle, like, I'm 24, when I was younger,
10:29I think the 90s were sort of starting to... And now it's the 2000s for Gen Z and younger.
10:36I think even, like, for stylistic inspiration, I remember when I was at university in Liverpool,
10:42I remember there was a few Halloween parties with that exact outfit. Cher's iconic yellow
10:48blazer and suit combination. And I think that's also another interesting angle if you're not,
10:53you know, necessarily into the film aspect. The fashion is also pretty cool. I also think...
11:00I forgot the name of this actress.
11:03Alisa Silverstone?
11:04No, on the left.
11:05Not Brittany Murphy?
11:06No, I think she's the one that, unfortunately, like... But that's really annoying me. She...
11:11I think it might be Tracey. I'm not sure. Don't quote me on that. I think she's now
11:15a Republican politician. So, you know, it's interesting to sort of... It must be so weird
11:19for them to sort of look back and think, like, wow, this movie has really had a chokehold
11:22on a lot of people. It's really one of those, I think, that sort of transcends age groups.
11:26You could watch this with your parents, your kids, your kids' kids. I think it's just one
11:29of those relatable movies.
11:30Fantastic. Well, that's about all the time we have for this first half of the show. However,
11:35before we go to the break, we have a Kent Film trivia question for you at home.
11:40Which crime drama movie featured scenes shot in Grave's End?
11:44Was it A. King of Thieves, B. Big Boys Don't Cry, or C. The Back Job?
11:50We'll reveal the answer right after this break. Don't go away.
11:53Hello, and welcome back to Kent Film Club. Just before that ad break, we asked you at
12:10home a Kent Film trivia question. Which crime drama movie featured scenes shot in Grave's
12:16End? Was it A. King of Thieves, B. Big Boys Don't Cry, or was it C. The Back Job?
12:22And now I can reveal to you that the answer was, in fact, B. Big Boys Don't Cry. Hive
12:27Lane in Grave's End features in a brief night scene doubling for London. Did you get the
12:32answer right? Well, it is time now, Xenia, to move on to your next chosen film, and you've
12:38gone for Breakfast at Tiffany's. A classic.
12:44Yeah.
12:45Or a pre-Hepburn.
12:46A bit of a range of films here. Yeah, I think I was 21 when I sort of, you know, everyone's
12:54heard of Audrey Hepburn. Obviously not from my time or yours. I just thought, why don't
13:00I give this a go? I remember renting it on Amazon Prime a few years ago, and I was like,
13:06God, I've just paid like three quid for this. But it was worth it. It was really good. Yeah,
13:11I think she's a great actress. Really phenomenal story as well, her upbringing. Really fascinating.
13:17I think she grew up in, I think, a bit of poverty around the World War. So, yeah. Yeah,
13:26really good. Again, I think, I don't know if I would say it's relatable as such, but
13:34it's just really as relatable as something like Clueless is. But I think that it's just,
13:39you know, transformed back in time. It's amazing, like, seeing the fashion of the time
13:44and that lovely cat as well. They've got a really nice cat. I love cats.
13:49No, because she is, in this film, is it Holly Golightly?
13:51Golightly, I think.
13:53Now, and of course, the iconic when she's singing Moon River. But, and of course, if
13:59I didn't know, if I hadn't watched this, I would have thought Tiffany's must be a restaurant.
14:03Of course, it's the Jewelers, isn't it?
14:05Yes.
14:06But there's something in this here about, well, you can tell anybody who hasn't watched
14:10this classic. I did see it on the big screen, actually, in Cardiff at the Chapter Arts Centre,
14:14probably about 2001. But tell me why, you know, tell me what happens in Breakfast at
14:19Tiffany's.
14:20Yeah, I think it's just, she's just so cool, Audrey Hepburn. I think, so in terms of the
14:28premise, she is this sort of high, like this, I think it's fair to say she's a socialite,
14:35living in New York with her cat, whose name I always forget, lovely, huge, fat ginger
14:40cat, and sort of chronicles her life. She meets, it's just, she lives in this flat and
14:48she's got this neighbour, this, how do I describe this? He, and then there's this man, this
14:58pesky sort of man that tries to win her over. You know, you can definitely tell it's quite
15:02dated in a lot of ways, you know, especially with some things, again, they might not necessarily
15:09be able to run these days. But yeah, in terms of, yeah, premise, there's just, oh, there's
15:15just, there's so much, but also I'm struggling to even explain.
15:18But you get to the heart of it because, similar to Clueless, you have a very strong female
15:23character who's iconic, but who doesn't follow a path. I mean, in a way, I asked you an unfair
15:29question because I asked you about the plot, because in a way it's about a very distinctive
15:34character who follows a path that perhaps nobody else would sort of really follow, and
15:38yet she's then a trailblazer for doing that.
15:41For sure, and I think, you know, this image of Audrey Hepburn, I think that's sort of
15:45synonymous with Audrey Hepburn, everyone thinks of this. I think, I don't know if it's fair
15:49to say that it's put the Jewellers on the map, I'm sure Tiffany's has always been a
15:53huge, you know, deal, but, you know, it certainly was my introduction to the Jewellers. I mean,
15:59I'll probably never come into close contact with it, but it's, you know, I guess it's
16:03that sort of like, maybe like a young woman or girl watching this and you're like, wow,
16:07it's such a, maybe it's an aspirational thing. Just the glamour and something, it's not achievable
16:14and you know that, but you will never live like Holly, but it's really, there's just
16:18something sweet about Audrey Hepburn and her portrayal and just her, the vibe that she
16:22gives off.
16:23Because the vibe she gives off, and it is over 20 years since I saw it, but it's that
16:27she's naive, she's innocent, but is she? Is that fair? But is that also a way of managing,
16:33that she gets through all these men, these creeps, as you say, but she sort of finds
16:37her own way through all of that and succeeds?
16:40I think that's fair, yeah. I think she sort of puts on this, I think she knows more than
16:45she lets on and I think she sort of played with expectations of what it was, being a
16:51woman at that time, and I think, yeah, it's really interesting seeing that manifest because,
16:56I mean, I suppose the whole dumb woman trope, it still persists, unfortunately, but I think
17:02she really played it to her advantage and I don't think she does come across as dumb,
17:06but I think it really shows that women, I guess, always have been underestimated, but
17:13I think she sort of embraces that.
17:15And also, you mentioned the word aspiration, but what would you say, for you, is the aspiration
17:20here? What is it that she does that you think, yeah, there's a piece of that somewhere,
17:26that you want to sort of hold on to?
17:28I think, oh, yeah, that's a good question. I think just, she's just so, it's just the
17:34class and the elegance of it, I think. I think in, I sound like my grandparents, but I think,
17:42you know, in modern day life, you don't really have that sort of, that old Hollywood glamour.
17:46I think it's just so distant to, you know, most of our realities. I just think she's
17:51just so cool. And I think, for me, as a 24 year old, she is one of the old Hollywood
17:56icons that I do think of. I would say I find her more relatable than someone like Marilyn
18:00Monroe, who's also great. But I just find, for some, yeah, Audrey Hepburn just seems
18:04to resonate more. I think you do get a sense that she is, she's quite a humble, you know,
18:09young woman and, you know, even though she's got a lot in the film, where she sort of exemplifies
18:15the more, I don't know if it's fair to say, like, quiet old Hollywood. She's not as loud
18:19as someone like Marilyn Monroe.
18:21Great. Well, let's move on to your final chosen film now, Zinnia, and you've gone for Indiana
18:27Jones and the Temple of Doom. So, a strong male character, perhaps, in this film.
18:34Yeah, I know. All of these movies are really different, aren't they? Yeah, I think I was
18:39struggling because I love all of them. I did see the most recent one, the fifth one, I
18:45think last June, I think it came out.
18:48It came out last year.
18:49And I liked it far more than a lot of the critics did.
18:53Me too. Yeah, I think Harrison Ford, he's just great. Sean Connery, obviously, unfortunately,
18:59he's not with us anymore. But I think it's just a really cool movie. I love the premise.
19:03I love that, you know, they go to India and, I mean, I'm terrified of snakes, but just,
19:06it's such a vivid, you know, cinematography is insane. An 80s movie. I can't remember
19:10the exact date.
19:11Yeah, 84 this one came out.
19:13Yeah, so I just think it's really cool. You go on this journey. It's like this far away
19:17exotic land. The one scene I remember the most is when they're eating the snakes. It
19:21makes me feel sick because I'm really, really scared of snakes. But yeah, I just thought
19:25really cool movie.
19:26Now I've had this, well, I think it was Raiders of the Lost Ark, but I've had a female, a
19:32feminist author who was on, who chose this film, who was talking about how she identifies
19:36more with Harrison Ford than she does with many female characters. And I also know someone
19:42who worked with me in the university who saw Indiana Jones as the template, the sort of,
19:49you know, the anthropologist or archaeologist, the person who would go to another country
19:52and live their culture and have all these exotic adventures. So it's interesting that
19:56you've chosen quite a strong male lead, but it wouldn't surprise me at all that you find
20:01this particularly relatable from a female perspective.
20:04Yeah, he's always on a journey, always on a mission. And I think a lot of women always
20:08are on a journey, like, especially, you know, growing up with today's, how society is now,
20:14I think it's supported. And it's, yeah, I mean, it's a shame that he's a man. But I
20:19think, yeah, I think-
20:20Who could a woman have done this role?
20:21Yeah, I think so. Trying to imagine. I do think with the era, I mean, the 80s really
20:26isn't that long ago, but I think, I think at the time it would have been, you know,
20:30had those roles reversed, that his love interest in this movie, I'm just trying to think if
20:35we swap that around. I don't know. I think if we remade it these days, potentially, but
20:43I think the original does work as a man.
20:45Because I saw something two or so years ago with Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum, which,
20:51and also there's the Romance in the Stone films with a very strong female lead in Kathleen
20:55Turner, which were made in the mid 80s as well. But is there, I mean, we talked about
21:00aspiration in relation to your previous film choices. Is there a sense here that that whole
21:05sort of going to exotic lands, having a big adventure, but what is the aspiration here?
21:09Is that, is it the different world? Is it something that you learn something about
21:13yourself through this?
21:14Yeah. So, I mean, I watched this when I was really young. My dad was like into these movies,
21:19so he watched all of them. It was one of those dad films, I think. Were they great? I think
21:23I wasn't really thinking with my journalist hat on then, but I suppose it's just always,
21:27you know, at the risk of sounding a bit cringey, like every day in my job is an adventure,
21:32I suppose. Can't sit still. I have a short attention span. I think I'd love to be Indiana
21:35Jones, always out on a mission, doing something exciting. And I just think this genre, I just
21:40don't think, it's interesting because as you can see with my other movies, they're all
21:43quite different. I don't really watch many action or adventure movies, but I think Indiana
21:48Jones, I just think it's sort of, it has enough of other genres mixed in with it to make it
21:52sort of palatable to people like me who wouldn't, you know, I wouldn't necessarily watch something
21:56like Transformers or, so I think maybe it was something that was lost in the 80s. I'm
22:02not sure if it is, but just doing adventure or action or however you define this just
22:07so well that you can cater to people that wouldn't necessarily, you know, think I'm
22:12going to watch a movie like this one day. And with your journalist hat on, I suppose
22:16every time there's a story, it might not be on the same sort of scale as this, but I guess
22:21that is the thing that you're holding out for maybe, that you want that big story.
22:27There's always that goal, there's a reason why you entered the profession in the first
22:30place. And I'm quite sure that people who went into archaeology, studied archaeology
22:34because they wanted to be like Indiana Jones, may have found that actually it's not quite
22:37as glamorous as that. But you haven't lost that dream perhaps?
22:41No, I think, yeah, I can also attest to the fact that journalism is not necessarily as
22:47glamorous as you might, I might have first thought. But I think that's it, like, you
22:52know, he persists. And that's it, like, as a, I mean, in any job, but as a reporter,
22:57you know, you're out there on the ground, you're finding stories, especially in a local,
23:00on a local level, you need to go out and find those stories yourself. All across Kent, we
23:05work. So I think, you know, it's not necessarily the same scale as, as Indiana Jones. But yeah,
23:10it's that sort of sense of that adventure never leaves you, you know, whether you're
23:14going to Chatham or down to Folkestone, you know, it's, I mean, again, hardly going to
23:19India. But you know, he never gives up. And I think that's it, you need to, it's that
23:22sort of, he always has a glimmer of hope. Fantastic. Well, that's about all the time
23:25we have for today. But before we go, if you live in Kent, and want the chance to share
23:31four films of your choice, reach out to us at KMTV, and you might be invited in to be
23:36my next guest. But for now, many thanks to Zeenia Naqvi for joining us and being such
23:41a brilliant guest. And many thanks to you all for tuning in. Until next time, that's all from us.
23:47Goodbye.