Director: Lenny Abrahamson

The film begins with a gingered British fella named Jon singing about everything he sees in front of him, attempting poorly to come up with lyrics for a new song. In one of his attempts he comes across a band and accidentally joins them as the new keyboard player. The lead singer, Frank, is an ambiguous character who wears a giant head which never comes off. Inspired by Frank and accustomed to strange demeanor by his new friends, Jon realizes a thing or two about himself.

I wish to focus on the musical aspect of the film, as this blog is also about music and soundtracks. I appreciated the unique view on song writing, and the odd perspective of what’s considered to be a shitty/good song. I am a sucker for experimental music, and combined with nonsense for lyrics and wacky body moves, it’s totally up my alley. For this fact I’m raising points (or adding a lollipop) to the film. Frank’s deep radiophonic voice kicks ass under that giant unexpressive head of his. It defiantly builds up the curiosity of who’s hiding underneath it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maggie Gyllenhaal and her agitated character, Clara, is by far the shining point of this film. It takes a while to figure out its Miss Gyllenhaal who’s aggressively playing the Theremin. I love the scene of her singing at the end, hymning unusual lyrics. I am kinda hooked to Gyllenhaal ever since watching Secretary for the first time. She holds a great continuity for unconventional Indie flicks.             I was surprised to find actor Michael Fassbender under Frank’s papier-mâché head, and I was highly curious throughout the entire film, as I’m sure everyone was. As to my opinion he did a great job at playing the eccentric band leader, and apparently felt very comfortable wearing the head, and even said he enjoyed acting in it. Domhnall Gleeson who played Jon, the gingered British fella, has a strong appearance in the film as the wanna-be musician. Gleeson’s British accent spices things up a bit, no doubt, and his skeptic look is a comic addition to the film.

I don’t really know if I have a one sided opinion of Frank. I can’t say for sure if I thought it was good or not… Unusual would be a great word to define it. As I am your usual fan for unusual films, I can say for sure the film’s oddity was distinctive. I don’t know if I would necessarily watch it again, but I did take some aspects into consideration for the future. I would love to try and build a giant  papier-mâché head just for the sake of it. I think the overall idea Frank is innovatively different, and will even agree with critics opinions of it.  May I dare to say, though, it was a little weird even for me? The plot developed in a way I felt was somewhat monotone and slightly boring, and at some point I considered shutting off my computer. I decided it’s worth a shot and continued watching, only to find out my instincts were correct. I mentioned the cast before. As magnificent as each of them was, I believe they are deserving of a better plot sequence and ending. The film just is, it’s there. It doesn’t have a shape or form and no lesson’s learnt here. It’s watching for the sake of watching’s how I see it.

 

My score:

/5