Share
Clip description
In flashback, little Harvey (Nicholas O’Brien) listens to his grandfather (Graham Dow) spin a tale about where babies come from. Back in the present day, Harvey’s grandfather has been incapacitated by a stroke. Harvey’s mother,Monica McHugh (Monica Maughan), chats to him as she tries to re-assemble a torn-up chain letter she believes is responsible for her new, unexpected pregnancy. Meanwhile The Minister (Philip Quast) films a commercial for his new political campaign – but the shoot is cut short by his sudden collapse. He wakes to find himself in the office of Dr Voysner (Ronald Falk).
Curator’s notes
This clip uses flashbacks to draw playful parallels between the lies that parents (and grandparents) tell to children and that politicians tell to their constituents. Meanwhile, Harvey’s mother superstitiously believes her failure to pass on a chain letter is responsible for her ‘bad luck’ in falling pregnant. Intercutting these scenes sets up parallels between belief systems and the ‘spin’ that can exist in all of them.
Philip Quast is deliciously oily as The Minister, oozing fake sincerity from every pore as he gives his self-serving speech. His delivery is so controlled that it comes as a genuine surprise when he collapses just as he is asking for the audience’s – what? The way the Minister’s aide rushes forward to clear the room suggests there is more to the Minister’s collapse than simple exhaustion, in keeping with the theme of lies and deception in the other scenes in this clip.
