Film Reviews

Brothers of the Head

• Rating:
• Director:
• Starring: Harry Treadaway
• Details: UK / 93mins (16s).

Brothers Of The Head is one of those movies that you have to meet someone after watching it to tell them what you've just seen - just to get it right in your head. Get this: a fictional documentary on a pair of conjoined twins - Barry (Luke Treadaway) and Tom (Harry Treadaway) Howe - who are plucked from obscurity and groomed to be the biggest punk rock outfit England, circa 1975, has seen. Not able to play a lick, they are whisked away to an old mansion where they are taught guitar and given voice training. Their sound, the riots at their gigs and obvious unique look create a sandstorm of media publicity, but Barry, the more abrasive of the twins, is a ticking time bomb. While all this is going on, director Ken Russell (playing himself) is making a controversial film on the twins even though he's told he "better stick to Women In Love". Directed by Louis Pepe and Keith Fulton and adapted by Tony Grisoni (all Terry Gilliam aficionados - so you can take it as a given that it's a little left of field) from Brian Aldiss' novel, Brothers Of The Head is like nothing you've seen before. Taking its cue from Tim Robbins' political documentary Bob Roberts, Brothers Of The Head treats itself very seriously indeed, despite the ludicrousness of it all. The twins, and in particular Luke, make sparkling debuts, stuck together with one arm around each other for the entire film, they give the madness around them depth, compassion, and above all, believability. Harry is content to be the warmer, chilled out guitarist while Luke comes across like a pissed off Iggy Pop, whether he's on stage or not. The twins close relationship adds to the ad-lib dialogue and it's both scary and funny watching them tease each other, have fistfights and engage in relationships. Brothers Of The Head is really well put together and the tunes are really kickin', but it's hard to see what the target audience for a film like this is.

Review by Gavin Burke