Frank (2014)

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Movie
German title Frank
Original title Frank
Country of production Great Britain , Ireland
original language English
Publishing year 2014
length 94 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Lenny Abrahamson
script Jon Ronson ,
Peter Straughan
production Ed Guiney ,
David Barron ,
Stevie Lee
music Stephen Rennicks
camera James Mather
cut Nathan Nugent
occupation

Frank is a 2014 musical comedy directed by Lenny Abrahamson and starring Domhnall Gleeson , Maggie Gyllenhaal and Michael Fassbender . The film is loosely based on the memoirs of the English musician and comedian Chris Sievey . The film premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival .

action

Frank is the quirky but charismatic front man of the rock band Soronprfbs: a brilliant, cobbled together, barely functional outsider band. The musical genius Frank always wears an oversized paper mache head, both in public appearances by his group and in private everyday life . Not even his bandmates Clara, Don, Baraque and Nana know what he really looks like.

Hobby keyboardist Jon joins this group after his predecessor was hospitalized for attempting suicide. In his mind he is a real creative and an extraordinary musical force; in reality, however, a perfectly ordinary young man who wants to escape the boring small town life.

Highly motivated, Jon moves with the band to a remote forest hut in Ireland, where they record a new album for months. While Jon desperately tries to be perceived as a full member of the band, he falls increasingly under the spell of the enigmatic and talented Frank. To bring the Soronprfbs closer to a larger audience, Jon secretly posts videos of the recording sessions on YouTube , which attracts more and more people and eventually the South by Southwest Festival in Austin , Texas to the experimental band.

However, Jon suspects that they could flop the audience with the experimental music and tries to make the band's music more suitable for the masses. Then the band members leave the band, leaving only Jon and Frank. The gig becomes a disaster. Jon improvises a song idea, and Frank loses consciousness. When he later disappears without a trace, a tip from the Internet leads Jon to Frank's parents' house. He sees Frank without a disguise for the first time and decides to reunite him with his band.

production

Sievey as Frank Sidebottom

Frank is a fictional story and loosely inspired by the life of English musician and comedian Chris Sievey and his role Frank Sidebottom, as well as by outsider musicians like Daniel Johnston and Captain Beefheart . The film idea came from the memoirs of Jon Ronson, who was himself a keyboardist in Sidebottom's band. The film was shot in 2013 in County Wicklow , Dublin and New Mexico . All of the music that can be heard in the film was recorded live.

Reviews

Overall, Frank was discussed very positively. On Rotten Tomatoes , the film received a rating of 92% based on 145 reviews with an average rating of 7.5 out of 10.

Christoph Petersen von Filmstarts writes: “Comedian Chris Sievey , who died in 2010, became a legend in his British homeland, above all because of his fictional character Frank Sidebottom , who always wore a huge paper mache head , when he also toured the country regularly with his Oh Blimey Big Band [ ...]. The men who stare at goats -author Jon Ronson was once a member of the band for a short time and helped out as a keyboardist during college. When he processed this bizarre experience into a script decades later, he had Johnny Depp as Frank in his head - but luckily that didn't work: During the Pirates of the Caribbean star, the bizarre side of the papier-mâché singer in his own way would have emphasized with a fair degree of certainty, the once again grandiose Michael Fassbender defies the role in Lenny Abrahamson's musician drama Frank with the multi-layered, touching portrait of a misunderstood outsider. "

For David Steinitz from the Süddeutsche Zeitung , "the tragic comedy Frank , a bittersweet ode to the love of pop music and one of the most beautiful films of this autumn".

Barbara Schweizerhof sums up for epd Film : “Frank belongs to the type of film in which some viewers pound their thighs with laughter while others shake their heads in complete incomprehension. The third sway back and forth, the film is so multifaceted. "

Awards and nominations

date festival category receiver Result
December 7, 2014 British Independent Film Awards Best script Jon Ronson, Peter Straughan Won
Best director Lenny Abrahamson Nominated
Technical merits - music Stephen Rennicks Won
Best supporting actor Michael Fassbender Nominated
The best supporting actress Maggie Gyllenhaal Nominated
December 18, 2014 Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards Best song "I Love You All" Won
19th December 2014 Les Arcs European Cinema Festival Best music Stephen Rennicks Won

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Frank . In: BFI .
  2. ^ Certificate of release for Frank . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , July 2015 (PDF; test number: 152 996 K).
  3. ^ Frank Sidebottom: the true story of the man behind the mask. The Guardian , January 12, 2014, accessed April 3, 2020 .
  4. ^ Film info: Frank. IMDb , accessed July 31, 2015 .
  5. ↑ Sundance: Cast of Michael Fassbender's 'Frank' Thought Film Was 'Bizarre'. The Hollywood Reporter , January 18, 2014, accessed July 31, 2015 .
  6. ^ Frank Sidebottom: the true story of the man behind the mask. The Guardian , January 12, 2014, accessed July 31, 2015 .
  7. ↑ Film Review: 'Frank'. Variety , January 18, 2014, accessed July 31, 2015 .
  8. ^ Film (2014). Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved July 31, 2015 .
  9. ^ Criticism from the FILMSTARTS.de editorial team. Film releases , accessed July 31, 2015 .
  10. ↑ Lay an egg with me! Süddeutsche Zeitung , October 7, 2014, accessed on July 31, 2015 .
  11. ↑ Critique of Frank. epd film , July 16, 2015, accessed on July 31, 2015 .
  12. ↑ Nominations 2014 . BIFA.org.uk. November 3, 2014. Archived from the original on January 4, 2015. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved January 1, 2015. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bifa.org.uk
  13. ↑ 'Birdman' and genre love from Las Vegas film critics . HitFix.com. December 18, 2014. Retrieved January 1, 2015.
  14. ^ Fabien Lemercier: Les Arcs crowns The Fool . In: Cineuropa . 19th December 2014.