Saying goodbye to someone you love is never easy.
Or in the case of Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton, a legendary movie reviewing duo who presented their last show on Australia’s public national broadcaster ABC last night, well nigh impossible.
These two impressively articulate, cinema-literate movie lovers were an accidental pairing, only coming together onscreen in 1986 following what the ABC’s announcement of the retirement of the much-loved and highly-regarded pair referred to as “a string of disappointing screen tests with female presenters”.
As different as chalk and cheese – a dissection of Margaret and David’s tastes in movies revealed markedly different tastes in film; it will come as no surprise that they rarely agreed with each other – the self-admitted “film enthusiast” Margaret and “the great walking encyclopedia of film” David were an entertaining pairing, always bringing divergent viewpoints to the discussion of every film they reviewed, and giving devoted viewers, of which I am most assuredly one, the chance to contrast and compare and make up their minds about whether that particular film would suit them or not.
Different though they might be, the show they presented remarkably survived through 18 years at SBS and 10 years at ABC, something Margaret noted was remarkable given how “fragile” their show was at the start of its life.
That it did survive, thrive and continued to remain culturally relevant 28 years is testament to their passionate enduring love of cinema and the way the two presenters worked so well together.
Margaret, with her dislike of animation, her throaty laugh, exasperated cries of “Oh David!” cries of and pomposity-pricking every person approach to watching movies neatly complemented David’s far more rarefied though astoundingly well-informed love of cinema and his hatred of jarring handycams, granting them the ability to effectively be all things to all people.
For the learned cinephiles among us, David was there with his detailed comparisons of how a new film by a revered director such as Robert Altman compared to his previous work, or how Nuri Bilge Ceylan fit into the wider pantheon of Turkish film directors; while for the more generalist moviegoers, Margaret provided a more grounded perspective that allowed people who may not know their French new wave cinema from their film noir to appreciate what the look and feel of a film, the myriad ways in which it could affect you.
There has never been now will there ever likely be a film reviewing partnership like them in this country which is why their hour-long final show, which was marked by an outpouring of grief on social media as their last show went to air and unanswered questions about any of us will figure out which of the 600+ films released a year to go and see and how small film distributors with limited marketing budgets will ever get filmgoers to know their creations exist, was such a landmark event.
It was the coming together of a nation, many of us clustered around TV sets with good friends, popcorn, choc-tops (chocolate covered ice cream cones) and teary eyes, to say goodbye to two people who love their movies, knew how to talk about them in a way that was both deeply informative and instantly accessible, and were eager to impart that enduring love affair with cinema to the eager masses who followed their every affectionately fractious pronouncement.
Their last far longer than normal show was no different, with the exceptions being that they managed to come with a 1/2 star on the many films they reviewed, shared heartfelt appreciation of one another, and ended with the finest of sign-offs, “That’s all folks! C’mon” with David gently taking Margaret’s hand and the two of them walking off, fittingly, into the darkness of the backstage.
Margaret and David, thank you for everything – you will be profoundly missed and let’s hope we see you at the movies sometime.
It was grim day indeed back on 15 September this year when Margaret and David announced that the traditional year-ending show on 9 December (Australian TV closes down for about 6-8 weeks over the southern hemisphere summer) would be their last EVER …
Here’s a look back at how Margaret and David’s movie show has changed throughout the 28 years they were presenting together …
And Margaret’s thoughts about working David and the very last At the Movies show …
If you ever wanted proof that Margaret and David are held in high regard not just in Australia but filmmakers and actors around the world, here is a tribute to them by Academy Award-winning actors Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush …
Like many people last night, I tweeted out how much Margaret and David meant to me and how sad I was to see them go and I was thrilled to be retweeted by their official Twitter feed and make it into an article the ABC did on the social media farewell to these beloved icons of the Australian cultural landscape …
