Thursday 22 July 2010

Bunny and The Bull ****


From the director of The Mighty Boosh, this quirky view of the world seems to be a unique way of approaching cinematography on a low budget, with cameos from our favourite faces of the TV series adding to the originality of the ideas behind this feature. A heart warming, if not almost sad approach to a topic of a man who's trapped in his own home, this is a far step from the wonders of the crazy characters from Boosh... Almost.

If you see how Tim Burton started out, with short features including various little drawings he made up soon to become his trademark of films, you could see why people were a little dubious at first. But this is exactly what Paul King is doing. He's making most of his sets out of cartoons with some eccentric people to feature as the main focus of the film. Granted, this can become a little distancing as it doesn't look clean cut, fresh for our minds to absorb and become warped in. It's there to remind us this isn't a real setting, but an imagination gone wild on screen. People didn't understand Burton's work at first, but look at him now. King has created for himself a cult audience who adore his creations, and this is no different in terms of the way he's gone about creating the world the film lives in.

What is different about this film compared to his previous work is that it's a lot more serious. But when I say "serious", I don't mean 'Stepmother' serious, I mean we're actually following the tale of Stephen (Edward Hogg) who is an OCD mess tormented with his past, trying to find his way out of the prison he's created for himself, rather than being taken on an adventure with Naboo. But fear not, we're still offered that niche sense of humour Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt have created with bestiality based jokes and lots of odd accents. Plus, as we see Simon Farnaby (Bunny) at his side most of the way through this film, you know it's not totally going to be strict as he's a little weird and wonderful man himself.

It's very hard to feel a connection with the characters unfortunately. As much as you can get caught up with the whole journey they go on, by the end of the film you don't miss watching them or feel a sense of achievement, you're a little miffed about the whole thing and almost wonder what you just sat through. But that's the appeal of King's storytelling; you can go to a whole new world but never really understand why, but you know you enjoying it... Intriguing is the right word to use.

So, don't expect to watch a drawn out version of The Mighty Boosh because this is a huge step in sophistication and accomplishment. But you will still get a sense of that mystifying world you sometimes wish you were a part in.

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