Brothers Of The Head (DVD-Video + CD Soundtrack)
Picture:
B- Sound: C+/B- (CD) Extras: C Film: B- Music: C-
Brothers of the Head, directed by Keith Fulton and
Louis Pepe, written by Tony Grisoni is a film that poses as a documentary film
made during the making of a film (confusing yet?) about two Siamese-twin
brothers who fronted a band that was as exciting and strange as it was brief.
The story
goes that the two brothers, played by Harry and Luke Threadaway, are discovered
at their out of the way home by a promoter looking for fresh act to capitalize
on. After the boys’ father signs them
over, the two are taken away, played a Kinks’ record, and groomed into a rock
band. For a time, everything seems to be
going smoothly; the boys learn to play and write songs, their image is
remarkable to say the least, and their shows are smash hits. However, drugs, drinks, beatings, and
intangible love affairs soon hit the boys’ frail psyches hard and bring
everything to an end.
The music
the twins’ band, The Bang Bang, makes falls somewhere between the Kinks, early
Who and the Sex Pistols with a dash of Iggy Pop thrown in. Ultimately, the songs aren’t bad, especially
when considering they were written for the film (probably by professional
writers, not rock bands). This is not to
say you’ll be taking your Bowie albums out of the CD player for this one, but
within the context of the film they’re actually quite catchy.
Overall,
the film is pretty darn neat. I don’t
know that the whole documentary film made during making a film thing works too
well, though; for instance, the supposed “archival” footage from which the film
draws most of its content isn’t convincing in the least. But if you can get past all that, the film is
still enjoyable and nowhere near as corny as the plot (conjoined twins fronting
a rock band) might lead one to imagine. Definitely
for fans of The Velvet Goldmine and
way cooler than Eddie and the Cruisers
(for which I must admit I still have an awkward, soft spot, though…)
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.85 x 1 image is not bad, but has some detail limits
and some of the stylizing tones down color.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is dialogue-centered until the music kicks in,
but cannot match the music on the PCM 2.0 16/44.1 CD. Extras include deleted scenes and the CD is
sold separately.
- Jarrod DeArmitt
