|
Frank
| Released |
9 May 2014 |
| Director |
Lenny Abrahamson |
Starring
|
Michael Fassbender, Domhnall Gleeson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Scoot McNairy, Tess Harper, Hayley Derryberry |
| Writer(s) |
Jon Ronson, Peter Straughan |
Producer(s)
|
David Barron, Ed Guiney, Steve Lee, Andrew Lowe |
| Origin |
United Kingdom, Ireland |
| Running Time |
95 minutes |
| Genre |
Comedy, drama, mystery |
| Rating |
15A |
|
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Mad in the head.
Director Lenny Abrahamson probably had a few options for the follow up to his most successful film to date, What Richard Did, but not many people could have suspected he’d make a movie like Frank.
Possibly because there haven’t been any movies like Frank, until now.
Based on a script by Jon Ronson, about his experiences playing in a band with the late British comedian Chris Sievey's iconic comedy character Frank Sidebottom, Frank is a weird mix of arthouse oddness and slapstick wackiness.
The film actually opens in a fairly typical social realist style that typified Abrahamson’s previous films. Struggling musician Jon (Gleeson) is introduced strolling on the beach trying to think up song lyrics. He returns home to his parents’ house and struggles to write. So far so typically angsty character study. But all of a sudden he finds himself filling in on keyboard for the abrasively avant-garde Soronprfbs – a band fronted by the titular papier-mâché headed Frank (Fassbender) whose members can’t even agree on the pronunciation of their name, let alone what type of music they are trying to make.
Things take a concentrated dive into the surreal as Jon finds himself dragged to a log cabin in rural Ireland to record an album with the band, slowly becoming drawn into a complex relationship with the enigmatic Frank.
The film’s inky black humour is however a front for a more serious examination on issues of metal illness. As Jon becomes drawn into the slightly demented mindscape of Frank and the Soronprfbs, the group similarly begin to unravel, torn apart by their own insecurities and driven over the brink by the actual glimpse of fame on the horizon. The fact that the film is so hilariously odd yet watchable means that most of this meaning only comes through later, as layers and layers of additional depth reveal themselves after a few hours and days to think about what it all means.
There’s a lot going on beneath that big silly mask –and not just for Frank the character either, but for the film (and hence for the viewer) as well.
- Bernard O’Rourke |
