STACK #183 Jan 2020

FILM FEATURE

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that we would do the right thing by her, we would do the right thing by her family, and most importantly we would do the right thing by her story.” Griffiths was also determined that Michelle’s story be accessible to all ages and genders. “It’s quite a rare thing to do in Australia right now,” she explains. “It’s very Man from Snowy River , Phar Lap . We wanted a family film that would play as well for older audiences as it might if you brought your children or your grandchildren. So we were always determined to make it a PG film and our writers understood that, to explore the more challenging aspects of being a woman in a man’s world and yet have that sit comfortably in a really gorgeous PG film. “That was a balance, to not shy away from sexism, the family tragedies, but to sit that somehow in a greater form that was comfortable delivering the tears, delivering the laughs and delivering that amazing kind of chill up the spine you get when she comes around the bend and makes it up the final straight.” A celebration of one woman’s sporting triumph in a male-dominated field, Ride Like a Girl is as much a story about family ties. “At the heart of Ride Like a Girl is a father/daughter story,” notes Griffiths. “Paddy Payne’s final chance to have one of his kids put the Payne name in the history books.” Paddy (played in the film by Sam Neill) and his multitudinous clan anchor Michelle through the highs and lows of following her dream. Indeed, Michelle’s real-life brother Stevie – who has Down Syndrome – plays himself in the film, and manages to upstage the professional cast. “The dangerous thing about Stevie is that he steals the film,” Griffiths agrees. “And he had this beautiful effect on everybody that somehow made everyone do their best work with him. Sam and Stevie are like a spin-off movie and get the biggest laughs.” Griffiths concludes by revealing that Ride Like a Girl is a movie that will make grown men cry, and has even coined a new genre for the JB Hi-Fi shelves. “I call it a ‘Merker’ – a male tearjerker,” she smiles, “for films in the tradition of The Shawshank Redemption , the Rocky movies, and now this one. I think it’s my favourite genre.”

Rachel Griffiths makes her feature film directing debut with Ride Like a Girl – the inspiring true story of jockey Michelle Payne, who followed her dream to one day win the Melbourne Cup all the way to the finish line at Flemington in 2015. Words Scott Hocking

H aving returned home from America with a desire to step behind the camera and tell Australian stories, Rachel Griffiths was offered some advice from producer Joel Pearlman. “He said, ‘Look Rach, if you want to make a film in Australia with a female lead, you’ve got to have a heroine that people are going to root for,’” she recalls. When Michelle Payne crossed the finish line at the 2015

Melbourne Cup – and famously told those that frowned upon female jockeys riding in elite races to “get stuffed” – Griffiths, watching at a barbecue with friends, realised she had found her movie’s heroine. “The race started and I wasn’t particularly interested – I didn’t know a girl was racing or that girls were jockeys. It was when Michelle hit the 400 that you heard her name and I was like, ‘Is there a girl riding?’ And then all the girls at the barbecue were shouting ‘Go Michelle!’ [Her brother] Stevie came out and put the sash on the horse and I started googling, and by the time Michelle said ‘get stuffed’ I knew that she’d lost her mother at six months, which officially makes her a Disney princess – you have to have no

Teresa Palmer as Michelle Payne with Sam Neill as father Paddy

mother and a dream that’s unconventional for the environment you’re growing up in. “I was pitching this as a Disney princess movie meets Hacksaw Ridge ,” she laughs. “As soon as you’re in the gate, it becomes a war.” A very private person, Payne was initially wary about becoming the subject of a biopic. “With me it was the female passion,” says Griffiths. “My vision for delivering a kind of feminist coming-of-age sports film – I love sports

DID YOU KNOW? From the age of five, Michelle Payne was determined to win the Melbourne Cup. She and brother Stevie watched the movie Phar Lap more than 300 times, planning their win. Michelle entered racing aged 15,the eighth of the Payne children to do so.

• Ride Like a Girl is out on Jan 8

films – and I think when we finally got the opportunity to pitch it, we were able to convince Michelle and her team

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JANUARY 2020

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