Reviews
"The Spike Milligan documentary feature 'I told you
I was ill' runs like a homely down to earth family reminiscence
about one of its deceased members over jam and scones after
a hearty lunch. Spike Milligan's family, mates and admirers
gently and adroitly piece together the real goon - tea stains
and all!" Read
the full review by Simon Tonkin, Woy Woy Librarian
"Writer-director Cathy Henkel’s amazement with
the comic genius drove her to make a documentary about Milligan,
revered by his friends as the godfather of alternative comedy.
'I was fascinated by a man who suffered such depression
but was so prolific and inspiring,' Henkel said. The documentary
will be showing in Darwin tonight as part of Popcorn Taxi
– a film event where high profile filmmakers and enthusiasts
meet and discuss the filmmaking process."
Flora Liveras, Northern Territory News,
10 November 2005
"The world is a poorer place without Spike Milligan. Regarded
as the father of modern British comedy, he wrote most of
the scripts for the brilliantly anarchic and surreal 1950’s
radio program The Goon Show….This is a warts and all
portrait of Milligan who died in 2002, constructed mostly
by his youngest daughter Jane."
Marc McEvoy (who gives it a thumbs up), The
Guide, Sydney Morning Herald, 10 October 2005
"Crucially, Jane agreed to be the documentary’s central
narrator, providing an intimate link to her father and access
to people such as Joanna Lumley, Michael Palin, Eddie Izzard
and Peter Sellers' son, Michael. 'I thought the interviews
she got were far more interesting than I would have got
because they were talking to her about her dad.' Henkel’s
interviews, however, are no less telling, with some of Spike’s
lovers and third wife Shelagh, whose only contact with Spike’s
children since his death has been through lawyers. Henkel
admits it was hard not to take sides. 'The skill is to maintain
a non judgemental approach,' she says. 'I didn’t judge
her, nor do I understand her.'"
Jacqui Taffel, The Guide, 10 – 16 October
2005
"A striking element of the documentary is that it almost
seems as though Milligan is telling his own story. Henkel
achieves this effect through a clever montage of interview
footage, family photographs, clips from films, skits and
live recordings and quotes from his books. Most remarkable
is the documentary’s use of home movies, many of which
were filmed by Milligan himself and discovered almost by
accident….Spike also contributed to the soundtrack
– jazz music taken from a collection of audio tapes
found with the film."
The Age, 6 October 2005
"Patrons at the Yamba Bowling Club would have been forgiven
for thinking they had seen a ghost yesterday, because sitting
just to the right of the entry was Spike Milligan. Well
not quite. With the Spike is Back: Pick up a Pen tour hitting
the Yamba Bowling Club next week, the show’s number
one fan, a life size Spike Milligan dummy was on hand to
greet patrons and drum up an audience for the show. Not
that the show needs help to promote itself after playing
to sold-out sessions in Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne,
as well as packed houses throughout the NSW North Coast
since it premiered in February this year. The show will
bring back memories and shed new light on this extraordinary
man by including radio broadcasts, a live show featuring
Spike’s daughter Laura and a showing of the new documentary
about his life."
Adrian Miller, The Daily Examiner (Grafton),
20-21 August 2005
"Because its Father’s Day and because he is one of
the great comic geniuses of all time, I thought you should
know Laura Milligan will host a tribute to her late dad
Spike and his paternal skills at Rooty Hill RSL tonight.
'It was a very different but magical childhood; very imaginative,
very creative but it also had part of his manic depression
in there as well,' Laura told me. The Goon Show legend was
well known for his illness, but what is less known is how
much he adored his children and the way he raised them for
years as a single father, a parenting anomaly back in the
1960’s and ‘70s."
Sandra Lee, The Sunday Telegraph, 4 September
2005
"Clunes filmmakers Cathy Henkel and Jeff Canin, the dynamic
duo behind Hatchling Productions, have brought one of the
world’s best loved comedians back to life. The biopic
was rapturously received in Adelaide and was the only film
sold out before the festival even began. Spike’s eldest
daughter Laura, will be appearing at the local screenings.
According to Cathy Henkel, the production of the film followed
a very simple working plan; 'We don’t have a plan,
so nothing can go wrong'".
Willow Aliento, The Northern Star, 26 March
2005
"Jane, a tall, confident woman with her mother’s
– Milligan’s second wife Patricia, a former
West End Star – singing voice, is one of the keys
to the fascination of a new film I told you I was ill that
looks at the bipolar life of the great comedian, a flawed
diamond who brought great love and happiness to those around
him but who suffered throughout his life from black depression.
When it hit, this devoted father who, at other times left
tiny notes from the pixies and fairies around the family
home, retreated to his bedroom for weeks, putting a sign
on the door saying 'F--- Off'."
Penelope Debelle, The Age, 25 February 2005
"I told you I was ill is the first Australian documentary
on Milligan and the first time that his children have collaborated
with a film-maker allowing complete access to the family
archive, including photographs, reel-to-reel audio recordings
and home movies. The 90 minute film is a deeply personal
portrait of an often troubled man through the eyes of his
brother, his daughters and third wife. Henkel hopes the
film will raise awareness of mental illness and help shake
off some of the stigma associated with manic depression.
She also hopes that Gosford Council will one day acquire
the Milligan family home on Orange Grove Road and turn it
into a museum. 'If there is going to be a place in the world
that is going to house the Milligan legacy, it is going
to be that house in Woy Woy,' she said."
Jodie Minus, The Weekend Australian, February
2005
"Australian director Cathy Henkel's wonderful I Told
You I Was Ill: the Life and Legacy of Spike Milligan was
a treat."
Gerard O'Donovan, The Daily Telegraph
"Revealing, personal and every bit as interesting
as the man's work, I Told you I was Ill reminds us that
[Spike] Milligan was a very big deal.
"Home movies from Christmas with his kids and early
rare footage of him playing around with Peter Sellers are
jewels. What would British comedy - any comedy - have been
without them?"
Ruth Ritchie, Sydney Morning Herald
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