"The scene we're shooting today involves father and son," explains Neill, "who've seen me, a Dean of the Anglican church, at the back of an audience of a talk about the transmigration of souls. The O'Toole character is a crotchety old bastard who's taken offense at something I've said and wants to reacquaint himself with me. He takes a great dislike to me on principle, which is obviously fair enough! We're also introduced to the wine in question, the Tokay, which is the lubricant that keeps this story on the rails."

Inviting RT into his plastic hut, which we soon learn is warmed by several electric heaters to keep him toasty in the chilly hall, O'Toole explains the themes of the story. "Dunsany took the whole notion of the transmigration of souls, which is the foundation of belief for billions of people, and made it into a comical whimsy about a father and son who are separated by the inability of the father to accept the tragic loss of his other son and his wife. He's treating his surviving son with indifference."


For O'Toole, the film's use of comedy to explore the relationship between a father and son was part of the attraction. "All of us have had these difficult familial relationships," he told RT, "and I think it's a film for all of us who understand the relationship between a father and son. It's been interesting watching how various members of the crew have been looking at the monitors during scenes, because they come up to me and say, 'I had the same thing with my father.'"

"For me it's a story about what it takes to bring a family together," explains Fraser, "and that was what my last film was about too. The connection between Peter O'Toole's character and Jeremy Northam's character is fascinating to me, because they start with this real icy relationship and they learn to break through that through their relationship with this guy Dean Spanley."

Sam Neill agrees. "I think that's the bit that we understand most profoundly; the ties that bind," he says, "But I have to say I'm at a loss at this point as to whether this film is about something much more profound and beyond my understanding or whether it's just completely hilarious tosh! I don't know, I haven't a clue!"

We're sure we'll have a better idea of that when Dean Spanley opens in cinemas later this year.