Enjoying a strange headspace in Frank

Domhnall Gleeson and Lenny Abrahamson tell Pádraic Killeen about the wonders of Frank.

FRANK, the new film from Lenny Abrahamson (Adam & Paul, Garage, What Richard Did), is difficult to get your head around. And not just because it features Michael Fassbender, in an enormous fibreglass head, ruling the roost over a contingent of oddball musicians. The film’s zany comedy and wonderful weirdness far eclipse the slender narrative arc. So trying to figure out what it’s about is not really the point. Nevertheless, there’s no harm in asking the film’s director, is there?

“That’s a hard question,” says Abrahamson. “I think the ‘what’s it about’ question can be a double-edged sword. With some films it’s easy to answer. They’ve got a very definite theme or idea. I would say that with Frank the film is as much about the start and the journey as it is about the end of it. Among other things, it’s a celebration of creative freedom. It’s also a celebration of a certain kind of comedy — that freewheeling slapstick vaudeville stuff that I love. It’s about creativity versus conventionality.”