bunny and the bull

I have a weakness for journey films. They are a tried and tested narrative formula, stretching far back to fairy tales, fables and myths. Something about watching a character’s emotional journey, mirrored by a physical one, has always worked for me. Towards the end of my own recent journey back to the U.K., I was invited to a preview screening of the film bunny and the bull. It is a road movie in a way, but also not at all, as the main character, Stephen (Ed Hogg) spends the majority of the film, unable to leave his house. The magical mystery tour that led to this self imprisonment, is revealed in a series of hallucinatory flashbacks, bringing us closer to understanding why he cannot leave, and if he will ever find the courage to face the outside world again.

Stephen is quiet, reserved, kind and afraid of... just about everything, He lives in an enormous flat, crammed with boxes and boxes and boxes of carefully catalogued collections of mundane objects most would discard: straws, plastic bags, aging ready made meals. But it wasn’t always this way. A year ago, Stephen went on a cross european trip with his best mate Bunny (Simon Farnaby) . The two are a likeable pair of polar opposites, all of Stephen’s awkwardness matched by Bunny’s charismatic careless ways. And nothing about this european trip is ordnary in a touristic sense, as Stephens’s incredibly strange guide book takes them through places most tourists would never take any interest in going. for example, poland’s museum of cobblery, where one can eat in the cafe after and have the “authentic meal of an 18th century cobbler*” ("why would anyone want to do that?" questions Bunny. Stephen isn’t given much of a chance to reply as Bunny drags them off elsewhere)

but not only is this a road movie that never leaves the flat. its a movie with scenes all over europe, that is shot almost entirely... in Yorkshire. this is achieved by wondrous production design, mixing everything from stop motion animation, to studio sets that look so charmingly hand made, they are unlike any you’ll soon see again. this a low budget film that works its budget well , not by trying to seem bigger than it is, but rather by exploiting its apparent limits. and like the best british indie films, its idiosyncratic and sure of itself. the characters are real and likeable and human and different. they are so well drawn , that they are easily warmed to (especiallly Eloisa (Veronica Echuegui) an adorably eccentric spanish girl, who accidentaly creates a love triangle by crossing their path)and anyone who is a fan of the mighty boosh, I.t. crowd, nathan barley will be delighted with the casting, and well down with the humour.



so whats wrong with it then?

It does feel ever so slightly long. After a pacey start , there becomes a point just past the midway mark, where it begins to feel like there are one too many obstacles, and zany characters that they must come across, before they reach the strange and painful climax. its almost as if the writers and cast had so much fun going throuh strange scenarios, that they kept adding to them, unsure of when to say when. i found the climax of the story wayyyy over the top. Then again somehow that kind of suits the mad journey that is the film.

So in short, see it. maybe even make an effort to see it while its out in the cinema, it does look and sound very pretty. (the soundtrack is as easy on the ears as it is haunting) and will keep you entertained and amused for the ride. bunny and the bull hits cinemas in the uk november 27th, and with any luck after not too long, it may come and hit other places, like germany hopefully....

5oo days of summer...

Last week I saw a premiere of the film The 500 days of summer. It is a charming little film. It feels very much like a first film, or film school film, in all its breathless desires to pack as many quirky effects and styles as it can into ninety some minutes. This was the kind of film that me and all of my film school friends wanted to make in college. *(those of us that weren’t hell bent on being the next tarantino that is) and what makes it the kind of film we wanted to make? Well…
It has (in no particular order)

• An anonymous narrator unconnected to the plot
• Split screens
• Rotoscoping
• Disney-esque animation mixed with live action
• Black and white silent film sequences
• Choreographed dance sequences
• Flashbacks and flashforwards
• Gorgeous animated titles
• a moody brit pop soundtrack (which for American audiences gives it yet more indie cred. Cue the smiths, belle and sebastien which in the plot are given supreme character relevance)
• very now hipster styling which makes all the characters dress in a kind of modern day version of retro (a neutral classy mash up of forties, fifties, sixties)

For me, and anyone like me, who has this crazy idea that we are totally completely individual in all of our quirky ironic indie interests, after about twenty minutes one is glumly forced to face the fact that yes, i/we belong to a demographic. And that did get in the way of the film for me sometimes. It was like the film was in the corner of a house party, giving me drink after drink, while saying like me like me like me, I’m cool too! we have soooo much in common. But some of those people at parties irritate, and then there are others that you clock and think, yes, you’re a bit young and keen and overexcited, but you are cool. So you let them ramble on and give you more drinks and as soon as they stop trying to prove themselves, the real coolness shines through. So while I can’t say I loved the film, i liked it enough to give it a chance. And this is the coolness I saw shining through.

It does very well to tell a different kind of love story, that isn’t so much about love necessarily but postmodern relationships in general. It plays with gender roles very nicely as well. other than films/tv about polyamoury, this is the first time I have EVER seen a film that deals with the matter of a “non=conventional” relationship. Especially, where it is the female character who is uninterested in commitment or labels. The writers definitely speak with experience, the story and characters involved are presented with sensitivity and bittersweet poignance.

The best part of the film however, is the casting of the two leads. Indie film it girl Zooey Deschanel and the impossibly adorable Joseph Gordon-Levitt are an utter joy to watch. the film is worth seeing for them alone. the way they relate and fail to relate to one another is genuine and real. There are many head noddingly accurate truths that are said and portrayed about relationships. (personal favourite sequence: after the morning they first have sex, and a split screen sequence about date expectation versus how events really play out) annnnd The art direction is fantastic. One of the cleverest ideas of the script, is making the pair work colleagues, in a greeting card company. This allows for some great visual jokes in shots, and a cheeky juxtoposition of the commercial representation of love and sentiment, versus the actual one.

So cast aside all the over the top style stuff, the heavy handedness about them LOVING british pop music (maybe this would bother me less if I was more American) and that matter of all of the characters bar the main two, being fairly two dimensional. (the best being the little sister of the male main character, she only exists to give her older brother advice, but it’s an adorable idea to have this totally together thirteen year old, coaching her moody heartbreak junkie brother). There are a few films that I love to see every time I come out of a relationship, or think about entering one. This could well be a film I add to the list. And though it may not be a date movie, date movies are kind of of over for our times aren’t they? when the concept of dating itself is overrated, maybe its time for more films like this where the equation is far more complicated than boy + girl = love.