Rating - 15
Director - Lenny Abrahamson
Written by - Jon Ronson and Peter Straughan
Starring - Michael Fassbender, Domhnall Gleeson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Scoot McNairy
Run time - 95 minutes
Frank is a 2014 Irish independent black comedy-drama film, Domhnall Gleeson plays Jon, an ambitious songwriter who lives in an English coastal town. His life is changed forever when he sees an advert for a band called the Soronprfbs (whose name is unpronounceable, even by the band themselves.) Their music is avant-garde par experimental rock and is both bizarre and hilariously weird. Jon becomes their keyboardist after their previous one was sectioned before the gig when he tried to drown himself. The next day Jon is unexpectedly going to Ireland with the band to record an album in a cabin in the middle of the woods. The band is full of strange characters, the leader of which is their singer Frank (Michael Fassbender), an American musician who has worn a huge paper mache head constantly since the age of 14. He is revealed to have been in a mental hospital for a period of time, where he met their manager Don (Scoot McNairy). Clara, (Maggie Gyllenhaal) the band’s theremin player, is extremely passive-aggressive and overprotective over Frank; she takes a huge dislike to Jon when he becomes friendly with Frank.
The titular character is mainly based on Frank Sidebottom - English comedian and musician Chris Sievey’s alter ego - a cult character who is best known for his absurd brand of humour, so-bad-its-good music and large paper mache head. The co-writer of this film, Jon Ronson, was the keyboardist of Frank Sidebottom’s Oh Blimey Band (also after their former keyboardist failed to turn up to a gig). Chris Sievey died in 2010, and the film’s credits dedicate the movie to him, saying ‘his outsider spirit and big fake head inspired the film’. Even though they are major similarities, it’s been made clear that this movie is definitely not a Frank Sidebottom biopic. Influences for the character musically are supposed to be a mix of Daniel Johnson and Captain Beefheart, known for their strange and obscure music. If you’d like to see a film about the ‘real’ Frank, I’d recommend watching Being Frank: The Chris Sievey Story, a 2019 documentary that shows insight into the creation of a peculiar but unique comedy creation and the man behind the mask.
I love this movie, it’s so captivating; both hilarious and poignant. It standouts like a sore thumb, incomparable to any other movie i’ve ever come across. The indie style in this movie is perfect and would’ve been the same if made by a major film studio. Michael Fassbender - from movies such as 12 Years a Slave, Inglorious Basterds and the X-men franchise - is utterly compelling, and this has to be one of my favourite performances i’ve seen him in, even if he’s wearing a giant paper mache head.
Score - 9/10
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