What’s Frank then? The new film that features Michael Fassbender wearing a giant paper mache head. Jon Ronson co-wrote the screenplay.
Right. I’ve seen the pictures. What the hell is going on there? Well, Frank is a guy who’s in this band called Soronprfbs (don’t try and pronounce it, no-one can) who find themselves in need of a new keyboard player while rolling through a small provincial town after their current keyboard player tries to drown himself in the sea.
Don’t you just hate it when that happens. Right? Luckily, Domhall Gleeson’s character Jon happens to be passing by. He’s been trying to write a song for ages although sadly, he’s not managed to write anything good yet. He can play keys though, so the band hire him and they head off to write an album.
What wonderful luck! But really though, what’s with Frank's head? Everyone keeps coming back to the head. Frank’s got a medical certificate that says he never has to take it off all right? He eats liquified meals through a straw and yes, he showers in it.
Jeez OK. So what happens? Jon gets more and more involved with the band, despite the fact that the rest of the guys hate him. Especially Clara, the theremin-playing, chain-smoking, argumentative, right hand lady of the band.But Jon gets them a gig at SXSW and the band look ready to hit the big time, until things all get a bit too much for everyone.
What’s a theremin? You know that sound effect that people use to make it sound like a UFO’s flying overhead? The instrument that makes that noise. Goldfrapp plays one. You know.
Right. OK. And what are people saying about Frank? For the most part? They’re loving it. ‘As Frank peels away the layers of its subject’s onion-like facade to reveal a piper at the gates of dawn beneath, so our own grinning expressions start to falter. And whereas a lesser director would have been content to leave us amused and amazed, Abrahamson ensures that we are also moved.’ – Mark Kermode – The Observer
Sounds good. And what are we saying? It’s a funny old film. For three quarters of it, it’s an eccentric comedic romp about a merry band of misfits who invite you, by way of the Jon character, to gently laugh at them as you fall in love with the bonkers and charming world they’ve made for themselves to live in. Then, towards the end of the film a gear shifts, and all of a sudden it stops being funny and becomes heartbreakingly poignant, giving you loads to think about after you leave the cinema. Michael Fassbender (and yes it IS him under the mask the whole time) is brilliant as the eternally enigmatic Frank. He does all his own singing and guitar playing on the excellent soundtrack that lies somewhere between Talking Heads and Frank Zappa by way of an intergalactic space adventure.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.