Brothers of The Headhttp://bside.phillyfests.com/?_view=_filmdetails&_template=phillyfests&filmId=310765&Great Britain | Run time: 90 min. | Director: Keith Fulton, Louis PepeTemple University alumni Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe (Lost in La Mancha) deliver their first fiction film, a mock-rock-documentary about conjoined-twin rock stars in 1960s and 70s London.After directing two acclaimed feature documentaries on the films of Terry Gilliam (the Philadelphia-lensed 12 Monkeys production chronicle The Hamster Factor, and the widely acclaimed Lost in La Mancha), former Temple University grads Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe have crafted their first fiction feature –- and it’s an astute parody of the media documentaries with which they began their careers. In this case, Brothers of the Head, adapted from the novel by renowned science-fiction writer Brian Aldiss, is a mock-rock-documentary about a fictional pair of conjoined twins who become unlikely rock stars in the London music scene of the 1960s and 70s. Talented, introspective Tom (Harry Treadaway) is joined at the lower torso with his more aggressive, bad-boy twin Barry (Luke Treadaway), and the two are signed in the mid-60s as a novelty rock act by unscrupulous promoters. Initially beginning their careers with Small Faces/Kinks-inspired Brit-rock of the period, the twins eventually begin to channel their anger at their exploitation by embracing the punk scene of the 70s. Their increasingly hostile behavior –- and drug and alcohol abuse—combines with their betrayal at the hands of unscrupulous managers, agents and music journalists to cement their downfall. Fulton and Pepe structure their mock-rock-doc as a collage of contemporary interviews with surviving participants in the phenomenon of “Bang Bang” (the twins’ band name), and effectively recreated “archival” footage of the twins’ performances and behind-the-scenes documentary footage (much of which seems to consciously parody several Rolling Stones documentaries of the era).—Travis Crawford
After directing two acclaimed feature documentaries on the films of Terry Gilliam (the Philadelphia-lensed 12 Monkeys production chronicle The Hamster Factor, and the widely acclaimed Lost in La Mancha), former Temple University grads Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe have crafted their first fiction feature –- and it’s an astute parody of the media documentaries with which they began their careers. In this case, Brothers of the Head, adapted from the novel by renowned science-fiction writer Brian Aldiss, is a mock-rock-documentary about a fictional pair of conjoined twins who become unlikely rock stars in the London music scene of the 1960s and 70s. Talented, introspective Tom (Harry Treadaway) is joined at the lower torso with his more aggressive, bad-boy twin Barry (Luke Treadaway), and the two are signed in the mid-60s as a novelty rock act by unscrupulous promoters. Initially beginning their careers with Small Faces/Kinks-inspired Brit-rock of the period, the twins eventually begin to channel their anger at their exploitation by embracing the punk scene of the 70s. Their increasingly hostile behavior –- and drug and alcohol abuse—combines with their betrayal at the hands of unscrupulous managers, agents and music journalists to cement their downfall. Fulton and Pepe structure their mock-rock-doc as a collage of contemporary interviews with surviving participants in the phenomenon of “Bang Bang” (the twins’ band name), and effectively recreated “archival” footage of the twins’ performances and behind-the-scenes documentary footage (much of which seems to consciously parody several Rolling Stones documentaries of the era).—Travis Crawford
comes out in the US on 7/28. i liked this a lot -- has anyone else seen it?
― mts (theoreticalgirl), Saturday, 1 April 2006 18:37 (nineteen years ago)
(sorry, I feel like I should be able to do better than that)
― Abbadavid Berman (Hurting), Saturday, 1 April 2006 18:42 (nineteen years ago)
― mts (theoreticalgirl), Saturday, 1 April 2006 18:45 (nineteen years ago)
Does the song I Am A Sock feature prominently? Man, that track is awesome.
Haven't got to see the whole thing yet (and no, I don't expect to see myself in it, sadly). Is there a UK release date for it around?
― emil.y (emil.y), Sunday, 2 April 2006 23:15 (nineteen years ago)
― mts (theoreticalgirl), Sunday, 2 April 2006 23:31 (nineteen years ago)
It was pretty great, though. The scenes I was in basically involved watching a couple of gigs, and only getting into it slightly more than you would otherwise have done. The guy who played Ian Curtis in 24 Hour Party People (the manager in this film) almost got me and my friends in trouble for encouraging us to drink on set, mind you.
― emil.y (emil.y), Sunday, 2 April 2006 23:45 (nineteen years ago)
"The festival is also delighted to welcome Tony Grisoni, whose screenplaywriting credits include Michael Winterbottom's In This World, and his TerryGilliam collaborations Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas and Tideland. In hisScript To Screen masterclass (Tue 2 May, 6:15pm, Rio Cinema), he'll discusshis most recent project, Brothers of The Head, a dark tale of a musicpromoter who turns a pair of Siamese Twins into a freakish rock'n'roll act."
www.eastendfilmfestival.com is supposed to be going live today so check it out...
― reclusive hero (reclusive hero), Monday, 3 April 2006 10:29 (nineteen years ago)
― reclusive hero (reclusive hero), Tuesday, 2 May 2006 10:14 (nineteen years ago)
― milo z (mlp), Saturday, 12 August 2006 23:41 (nineteen years ago)
― cousin larry bundgee (bundgee), Sunday, 13 August 2006 00:05 (nineteen years ago)
― The Yellow Kid (The Yellow Kid), Sunday, 13 August 2006 06:44 (nineteen years ago)
― electric sound of jim [and why not] (electricsound), Sunday, 13 August 2006 09:06 (nineteen years ago)
Oh man, this movie ws painfully bad. this film was great
If the distinction between good and bad cinema lies in the terminology you use to describe it, well, I'd have to say that this movie tries so hard to be interesting that it's incredibly boring.
― Richard Wood Johnson, Monday, 13 August 2007 12:29 (eighteen years ago)
haha emil.y in my <a href="http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/review/3500/";>s&s review</a> i took exactly the opposite line re anachronism, and got into a FITE w.the editor (who is much the same age as me) over the particularities of proto-punk style in the audience in 1975 (he let me go with my claim, he just said i was WRONG WRONG WRONG) (i wasn't, though)
(if you can't be bothered to click, my review is a fancypantsy long version of what milo said in two sentences)
― mark s, Monday, 13 August 2007 12:51 (eighteen years ago)
yuk sorry it is HERE
― mark s, Monday, 13 August 2007 12:58 (eighteen years ago)