From KCRW Santa Monica and KCRW.com, it's The Treatment.

Welcome to The Treatment. I'm Elvis Mitchell after their story career in stages all over the world.

And a feature film debut, only a few years

ago with True Story. He's back with his new film, Judy. Of course, I'm talking to the director

Rupert Gould Rupert. First of all, thanks so much for being here.

Lovely to be here. Thanks, Alex. And what's so fascinating about this, all the work for you,

as I've seen, basically deals with a kind of unreliable narrator, doesn't it?

Yeah, I suppose that was a big preoccupation of mine.

You know, and, you know, of course, Judy Gallant herself has many people narrating her own life.

And in some ways, my particular film, I think, treats the end of her life a little bit like a kind of passion play.

And just as with, this is rather grand, but just as with the Christ's story, I suppose you have a number of testimonies about what really went down, that sort of feels true of Garland's life as well, is that there are all these characters in her life, relatives, family members,

loyal fans, strangers even, one of whom was

involved in making the film with us, who sort of bear witness to this extraordinary life,

and that's the nature of an icon or a legend and a sort of, you know, in some ways I think

Garland is like a sort of secular saint. You know, she sort of defines ideas of love and

transcendence outside a sort of faith-based context.

And I think that's why her, you know, although there may be many narrators to her life, I think the consensus is that there's a kind of importance in that life.

And it's a great American life as well. I was bringing up this idea of unreliable and error because I was thinking about truth story,

and suddenly the Shakespeare plays you've done, where we're not quite sure where the truth is.

And what really these things seem to be about is finding or divining an emotional truth, don't they?

Yes. I mean, I suppose I think one of the themes that I've persistently returned to as well is loneliness,

I suppose, and unreliability or uncertainty about the story we are telling or being told about us precipitates a loneliness or a sense of isolation.

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