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DIRECTED BY: Keith Fulton, Louis Pepe
FEATURING: Harry Treadaway, Luke Treadaway, Tania Emery, Jane Horrocks
PLOT: Conjoined twins Tom and Barry are conscripted into show business by an unscrupulous promoter who plans to make them into gimmicky pop stars, but they follow their own path, becoming punk rock pioneers.
COMMENTS: The original Siamese twins, Chang and Eng Bunker (who were, in fact, born in Siam, present-day Thailand), were a sensation from the moment they arrived on American shores. For a decade, they toured the country shocking audiences with the horrifying wonder of their physical connection. Their private lives were the subject of public fascination: they married a pair of sisters and fathered 19 children between them, fueling speculation about the physical and moral gymnastics required to accomplish such a feat. They kept slaves until the Civil War, returned to touring to rebuild their fortunes after the war, quarreled with P. T. Barnum, and eventually died within hours of each other.
I was starting to think about how much the plot of Brothers of the Head paralleled the tale of the Bunkers, when the film came right out and made the comparison itself. The Howe boys hold up a picture of their predecessors in conjoined fame, noting the similarity of their situations, and when they did, my heart sank a little. Far from pre-empting any protests, it solidified my fear that this story of shocking originality—conjoined twins become rock stars—was only going to walk down well-tread paths.
Brothers of the Head takes the form of pseudo-documentary, unspooling the short but eventful professional lives of the twins through a series of I-was-there talking head interviews and a remarkably deep treasure trove of archival footage. It’s delivered with a high degree of authenticity, which is not surprising considering the nonfiction pedigree of directors Fulton and Pepe, who helmed two different Terry Gilliam making-of documentaries, including Lost in La Mancha. But it also puts the central characters at a level of remove, ensuring that we can never know them except through the interpretations of others. And that choice ends up causing the most damage to the film’s credibility, because it means that any point the filmmakers want to make must be delivered with skull-crushing obviousness. Suggestions of impropriety by the boys’ handlers are conveyed through nervous tics and unsubtle hints. The arrival of a pretty girl to drive a (metaphorical) wedge between the brothers is endlessly dissected by present-day commentators with 20/20 hindsight. And were you wondering if Tom and Barry were working through their troubles via their songs? If the glaring transparency of the lyrics doesn’t tip you off, then the latter-day interviewee observing “Now what do you think that was all about?” with a cockeyed glare should drive the point home.
It’s a shame that screenwriter Tony Grisoni feels the need to gild the lily, because actual identical (if physically separate) twins Harry and Luke Treadway work hard to develop their individual personalities and conflicts without any assistance. The forced intimacy of their forever bond shows them to be strong, protective allies, but also leaves room to reveal their diverging needs and interests. Tom may be the go-along-to-get-along good boy while Barry is a rebel with a broken heart, but they share a mischievous spirit and a desire for self-actualization, as when they take over a photo shoot through sheer force of will. But the film feels the need to underline these moments, both with modern-day commentary that verbalizes everything we’ve witnessed and through plot developments that shine a spotlight on the brothers’ probable fate. I mean, they’re curiously absent from the parade of interview subjects. Gee, wonder why?
Since music is the basis of the twins’ exploitation and their hope of deliverance, it must be noted that the songs are not especially good. This is forgivable as a reflection of their unformed talent and as a nod to punk’s middle-finger attitude toward polish. However, it’s harder to reconcile the witlessness of their sex and anger-filled catalog with the rapturous reception of their audiences. If we’re to believe that fans were converted from a naughty fascination with Tom and Barry’s affliction to a passionate embrace of their musical message, these tunes don’t sell it. This dichotomy becomes more pronounced as the boys inject more of themselves into the on-the-nose lyrics, although this does result in a very funny moment when Tom’s gooey ballad “My Friend” is punkified by Barry as the prosaic “My Friend (You C***)”. We can understand what’s compelling about the boys themselves. Their band, The Bang Bang, is more elusive.
Perhaps the most inspired decision is the incorporation of a film-within-the-film, an aborted biopic directed by none other than Ken Russell. The director shares a few memories of the twins, and we’re treated to a few clips from the unfinished film. However, the scenes we see (one of which is a flat-out lift from Citizen Kane featuring Jonathan Pryce) feel a little sedate for a Ken Russell film, and it honestly makes one long for what the auteur’s actual take would have been. Russell was certainly not afraid of being blatant, but he was also never concerned with making sure that everyone got the point; while you’re deciphering, he’s already on to the next spectacular set piece. Brothers of the Head needed more of the real Russell’s spirit, a willingness to look at an extraordinary story and present it in all its shocking glory. It’s not that courageous, though. When the time comes to look the freakishness in the eye, it turns away.
WHAT THE CRITICS SAY:
(This movie was nominated for review by Sonja Vermeulen. Suggest a weird movie of your own here.)
Brothers of the Head
- Temple University alumni Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe (Lost in La Mancha) deliver their first fiction film, a mock-rock documentary about conjoined-twin rock stars in 1960s and 70s London. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR Age: 796019796620 UPC: 796019796620 Manufacturer No: 79662
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