Kate CowlingPedantry and Dr Plonk
September 3rd 2007 01:40
In my last post, I promised to bring you reviews of new release films, ploughing through the back catalogue of those filmmakers to look at some of their earlier material. I was calling my little venture 'first and last', thinking that I would track down the first features of the director or writer I was interested in and comparing the two films. As it turns out, finding copies of the first films of some of these directors and writers is harder than I thought - or at least prohibitively expensive. And so, because, I'm something of a pedant, I've decided to rename my musings 'now and then.' Following this correction is a review of Dr Plonk, the latest offering from one of Australia's most interesting and prolific independent filmmakers, Rolf De Heer. Coming soon to Film Cipher will be a review of Dingo, Rolf De Heer's 1992 film starring Colin Friels as a jazz pilgrim journeying through the heart of Australia, which includes a rare cameo by Miles Davis. For now, here's my thoughts on De Heer's latest work...
DR PLONK(2007)
Written and Directed by Rolf De Heer
Starring Nigel Lunghi, Paul Blackwell and Magda Szubanski
In Dr Plonk, Rolf De Heer attempts to resuscitate a cinematic form that faded from popular view in the late 1920s: silent film. In a pedestrian homage we are taken on a lovingly crafted museum tour of all the features of silent cinema that contemporary audiences have come to view as camp and faintly ridiculous: exaggerated facial expressions, mad-cap physical comedy, chase scenes jammed full of hilarious hijinks, energetic pratfalls and a score surging in the forefront of the story-telling. Rolf De Heer's choice to make a film in the style of silent-era productions apparently began with a chance discovery: he opened a storage refrigerator to find a bunch of unused black and white film rolls, and thought not to make something with them would be a terrible waste. The practicalities and the spark of inspiration that Dr Plonk began with are admirable, but the resulting film is frustratingly dull and a perplexing choice for a director who's boldness and individual vision gave us, most recently, the brilliant Ten Canoes.
Dr Plonk, played by Nigel Lunghi - a street performer and first time actor that De Heer came across on Adelaide's Rundle St- is a scientist working in Australia in 1907. His rascal sidekick, the deaf-mute Paulus, (Paul Blackwell) and Plonk's doting but long-suffering wife (Magda Szubanski) are an endless distraction to Plonk's serious scientific investigations. When Paulus makes a mischievous exchange of materials in one of Plonk's experiments, the Doctor is spurred onto a flurry of complex calculations that lead him to a terrifying conclusion: the world is going to end exactly 100 years from now. When he's laughed out of the Parliament building by the assembled intelligentsia, Plonk determines to build a time machine and travel into the future to prove his terrible hypothesis. The charming earnestness of Plonk, countered well by the roguish Paulus - who's first impulse when he makes his initial journey to the future is to find a woman who'll accept his lusty advances- imbue this picture with an innocence that seems out of place (and time) in our culture.
There's no doubt that much thought and care has been put into making an artefact that is faithful to the conventions and feel of the films it is emulating - right down to the shimmering flicker and under-cranked shutter that accelerates the movements of the performers - and achieving this look and feel apparently took a fair amount of sophisticated and very modern tinkering, playing with the quality of the film stock to achieve the right degree of degradation for one.
There are some wonderfully choreographed chase sequences, slapstick comedy at its best, and the early moments of Paulus' continually repelled advances against women he encounters in the park are examples of the beautiful simplicity that silent-film story telling can achieve. All this would be something to get excited about, if it weren't for the fact that Dr Plonk plods along with such a repetitious rhythm that the novelty wears off very early into the piece. The constant back and forth shifting between 1907 and the present day, played for slapstick value, begins to grind into boredom, especially the repeated jokes played around Paulus' deafness and his inability to detect Plonk's warning system when he wants to be returned - a little bell that rings on the time machine operated remotely from the Doctor's time-shifted location. The commentary on the soullessness of modern living - a society ensconced in 'Macmansions', hypnotised by television and oblivious to the warnings of the coming apocalypse - are perfunctory, tacked onto the story in a clunky fashion. While I respect the boldness of the decision to make such an individual and unlikely film, Dr Plonk is an empty simulacrum, an exercise that in its making would have given boundless enjoyment to Rolf De Heer, the cast and crew, but - unlike the classic silent films it is emulating - will probably not stand the test of time with audiences.
*********************
DR PLONK(2007)
Written and Directed by Rolf De Heer
Starring Nigel Lunghi, Paul Blackwell and Magda Szubanski
In Dr Plonk, Rolf De Heer attempts to resuscitate a cinematic form that faded from popular view in the late 1920s: silent film. In a pedestrian homage we are taken on a lovingly crafted museum tour of all the features of silent cinema that contemporary audiences have come to view as camp and faintly ridiculous: exaggerated facial expressions, mad-cap physical comedy, chase scenes jammed full of hilarious hijinks, energetic pratfalls and a score surging in the forefront of the story-telling. Rolf De Heer's choice to make a film in the style of silent-era productions apparently began with a chance discovery: he opened a storage refrigerator to find a bunch of unused black and white film rolls, and thought not to make something with them would be a terrible waste. The practicalities and the spark of inspiration that Dr Plonk began with are admirable, but the resulting film is frustratingly dull and a perplexing choice for a director who's boldness and individual vision gave us, most recently, the brilliant Ten Canoes.
Dr Plonk, played by Nigel Lunghi - a street performer and first time actor that De Heer came across on Adelaide's Rundle St- is a scientist working in Australia in 1907. His rascal sidekick, the deaf-mute Paulus, (Paul Blackwell) and Plonk's doting but long-suffering wife (Magda Szubanski) are an endless distraction to Plonk's serious scientific investigations. When Paulus makes a mischievous exchange of materials in one of Plonk's experiments, the Doctor is spurred onto a flurry of complex calculations that lead him to a terrifying conclusion: the world is going to end exactly 100 years from now. When he's laughed out of the Parliament building by the assembled intelligentsia, Plonk determines to build a time machine and travel into the future to prove his terrible hypothesis. The charming earnestness of Plonk, countered well by the roguish Paulus - who's first impulse when he makes his initial journey to the future is to find a woman who'll accept his lusty advances- imbue this picture with an innocence that seems out of place (and time) in our culture.
There's no doubt that much thought and care has been put into making an artefact that is faithful to the conventions and feel of the films it is emulating - right down to the shimmering flicker and under-cranked shutter that accelerates the movements of the performers - and achieving this look and feel apparently took a fair amount of sophisticated and very modern tinkering, playing with the quality of the film stock to achieve the right degree of degradation for one.
There are some wonderfully choreographed chase sequences, slapstick comedy at its best, and the early moments of Paulus' continually repelled advances against women he encounters in the park are examples of the beautiful simplicity that silent-film story telling can achieve. All this would be something to get excited about, if it weren't for the fact that Dr Plonk plods along with such a repetitious rhythm that the novelty wears off very early into the piece. The constant back and forth shifting between 1907 and the present day, played for slapstick value, begins to grind into boredom, especially the repeated jokes played around Paulus' deafness and his inability to detect Plonk's warning system when he wants to be returned - a little bell that rings on the time machine operated remotely from the Doctor's time-shifted location. The commentary on the soullessness of modern living - a society ensconced in 'Macmansions', hypnotised by television and oblivious to the warnings of the coming apocalypse - are perfunctory, tacked onto the story in a clunky fashion. While I respect the boldness of the decision to make such an individual and unlikely film, Dr Plonk is an empty simulacrum, an exercise that in its making would have given boundless enjoyment to Rolf De Heer, the cast and crew, but - unlike the classic silent films it is emulating - will probably not stand the test of time with audiences.
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Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
I have Dr Plonk on my list already and you critique encourages me even more.
Top three films by Rolf de Heer IMO-
Bad Boy Bubby
Alexandra's Project
The Tracker.
Each new release seems to further diversify what came before it, a true artist.
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
This is an excellent review, I really enjoyed reading you. You really captured the intricacies of the film. I'm still undecided about whether to see it and it's been great to hear your opinion.
Byee
Comment by Cleon
Bad Boy bubby is an awesome film that every Australian (at the very least) should see. I just watched Alexandra's project and it was an intense experience. Certainly not one to watch with the family...
He's a very intersting filmmaker and he's had an interesting adventure to get to the point he's at. I remember I saw him give a talk where he observed that he was considered by his teachers and peers at film school to be a good potential 1st Assistant Director (a mostly non-creative role) and not much more. Now he's considered to be one of Australia's premiere 'Art' directors, because he struggled in the wilderness for many years with that dream alone in mind. Kinda like the plot to Dingo now that I think about it.
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
Oh yes, Bad Boy Bubby is a film that I never forgot. I've also seen Alexandra's Project and The Tracker, both excellent too. I haven't seen Ten Canoes though. Hope to soon,
Tracy