Movie reviews: Frank, Bad Neighbours, The Wind Rises
There is something perverse about the decision to cast the talented Michael Fassbender in your film and then ask him to spend the entire proceedings with his handsome features encased in a giant cartoon head, but that’s exactly what director Lenny Abrahamson has done in The story follows aspiring musician Jon (Domhnall Gleeson) as he joins a band of avant-garde noiseniks led by Frank, a charismatic figure, despite his insistence on wearing a fake head. Mind you, Frank is only the weirdest member of the band by a small margin: Clara (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and Don (Scott McNairy) are no one’s idea of well-adjusted contributors to society. Written by Jon Ronson, the movie is a fictionalised account of Ronson’s own experience in the 1980s, when he joined a band led by comedian Chris Sievey, who created the giant-headed alter-ego of Frank Sidebottom. It’s a whimsically funny and frequently bonkers tale, but it’s also profound and thought-provoking, given that Abrahamson and Ronson have interesting things to say about the possible link between mental illness and creativity, and how they question whether one exists at all. Gleeson again burnishes his growing CV with a superb turn as the mild-mannered, middle-class kid who grows up a little too quickly in the bear-pit of the band’s conflicting creative instincts. Fassbender, meanwhile, puts in an oddly affecting performance despite hiding in plain sight for most of the show, although to a certain extent his comically unsettling ‘invisibility’ is the whole point of the piece.
