When “Brothers of the Head” came up in the Seattle International Film Festival schedule earlier this year, all I knew was that it was a mock documentary about conjoined twin rock stars. So maybe I can be forgiven for approaching the movie in a completely wrong way.
It sounded like a good “Spinal Tap”-style romp through an absurd subject. It took me half the movie to finally realize that the makers of “Brothers of the Head” wanted to play it straight.
Hmm. Well, that explained the absence of jokes. It doesn’t quite explain why this movie exists, although apparently somebody liked Brian Aldiss’ mid-’70s novel of the same title.
The film purports to be a documentary about British conjoined twins Tom and Barry Howe (played by twin actors Luke and Harry Treadway, who are not joined at the hip), who are sold by their father to a sleazy show biz entrepreneur. It’s the 1970s, and someone smells a gold mine in the possibility of glam rock meeting the novelty of conjoined sex symbols. Well, who wouldn’t?
This faux documentary is filled out by footage (beautifully shot) of a fictional version of the Howes’ story, supposedly directed by Ken Russell. He plays himself. And wouldn’t a 1970s film about conjoined twin rock stars directed by Ken Russell be worth seeing? Of course it would.
More so than this ponderous mess, which goes on endlessly about the British rock scene of the era and the price of fame and the sexualization of stardom and probably lots of other things. All told in non-linear order, thank you very much.
The film is directed by Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe, who made the documentary “Lost in La Mancha,” about Terry Gilliam’s failed “Don Quixote” movie. They get the look and sound of the era right, and decent work out of the two acting brothers. But storytelling is not their forte.
What this movie needs is Christopher Guest and Fred Willard and some improv comedy. But maybe that’s because I was expecting something like that – not the sleepy mind-bender the film tries to be.
The Treadway brothers play the Howe brothers in “Brothers of the Head.”
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