A Shakespearean tragedy with an Aussie twist

BENGALURU: Australian director Paul Ireland could have picked any of William Shakespeare’s popular classics for his last movie, but it was Measure for Measure by the English playwright that caught his fancy. The movie, which was screened at the ongoing 12th edition of Bengaluru International Film Festival, revolves around the plot of this Shakespearean classic but is based on the dark underbellies of Melbourne underworld scene.

“Classics like Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Hamlet, and King Lear have been done quite a lot of times and some beautiful works have come out of them. But I wanted to work on some lesser-known Shakespearean work like Measure for Measure,” says Ireland, who was in the city to be part of the film festival.

Ireland started off as a theatre artiste in London, eventually venturing into movies. Till now, he has directed two movies, the first one being the  2016 Australian romantic comedy drama film, Pawno. His latest movie, Measure for Measure, which had premiered at the Melbourne Film festival 2019, has been travelling across the world and is being screened at various international film festivals. It is expected to see a theatrical release in May 2020.  

Ireland feels that the Indian film industry has given some incredible movies to the world. “I had watched an Indian movie called Parched. The movie was beautifully shot and the storytelling in the movie was quite gripping,” says Ireland, who made a special mention about actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui. “I had presented him an award at one of the Indian film festivals in Melbourne, where I was one of the judges for three years. He is so natural that he can make you believe that he actually is insane in real,” laughs the 63-year-old director. 

Though he was born in Scotland and lived in London for 10 years, Ireland considers himself more of an Australian, as he is now based there. Indian summer is something that Ireland is really fond of, because it reminds him of home. “I have been living in Australia for the last 10 years, and thus, I am loving the summer here,” he says. Speaking to CE, he mentions that there is something else about the Indians that he is really fond of. “People here are so chatty and they just love to talk, which, I feel, is a dying art. I stepped out to get an auto-rickshaw ride for myself and I observed that people here are never in a rush,” he says, adding, “But it’s nice to see people enjoying their time rather than just being a part of the rat race.”