Review for Mister Lonely (2007)

 
If I told you that the sublimely surreal 'Mister Lonely' featured a cast of characters that includes Michael Jackson, Marilyn Monroe, Charlie Chaplin, The Pope, The Queen, Madonna, Abraham Lincoln, James Dean, Shirley Temple, The Three Stooges and Little Red Riding Hood then you could be forgiven for thinking that this could be the greatest film on earth. Well, it isn't. Not quite.
 
 
'Mister Lonely' is one of those brilliant otherworld fantasies, normally associated with Directors like Lynch (there are nods to Eraserhead here) and Jarmusch, which is wildly ambitious, sometimes funny, but principally drenched with what I can only describe as an achingly melancholy. The kind of film that the bastard son of Werner Herzog and Ingmar Bergman would make. Which is why Werner Herzog's fleeting presence here as a deluded priest in an undisclosed third world location is less of a surprise than it otherwise might have been.
 

 
This is US Indie Director Harmony Korine's third full feature ('Gummo' and 'Julien Donkey-Boy' being his previous works) and for this low budget epic he decided on three locations for filming: Paris, France; Scotland (where the majority of the movie was shot) and Panama for the surreal side-story with the flying nuns (when you see the movie you'll know what I mean).
 

Starring Diego Luna (Y Tu Mama Tambien) as a highly convincing Michael Jackson, as well as UK TV drama stalwart Samantha Morton (Control, Morvern Callar) as a wonderful version of Marilyn, the cast is further enhanced with the inclusion of James Fox (Performance) as The Pope and an ancient looking Anita Pallenberg as the Queen (who joins Fox on film for the first time since 'Performance').
 
 
The film also features one of my favourite musical artistes (turned actor) from the 1970's - the under-rated Richard Strange ('Doctors of Madness') who, in my opinion, invented punk about two years before it actually happened. Here he is playing a completely belligerent Abraham Lincoln who can barely speak without swearing.
 
 
This community seems idyllic at first and almost entirely self-sufficient with each member free to live out their lives peacefully as their alter-ego's. But all is not well and the cracks start to show. Charlie Chaplin becomes suspicious of his wife's motives for bringing Michael Jackson back from Paris with her. Chaplin appears to be somewhat abusive in the relationship, nudging the edges of Dennis Hopper's bedside manner in Blue Velvet, and before long tensions rise.
 

Add to this is the need to destroy all of the commune's sheep who have contracted a foot and mouth type disease, as well as the building of a theatre and the creation of a show which no one attends - life begins to get very bleak indeed.
 
The film has a wonderful pace and atmosphere - a mix of melancholy and wonder, perhaps with a twist of Lynch-like dark surrealism, and, despite its rambling narrative, is a compelling watch. Beautifully shot and wonderfully quirky, the film will leave you pondering over its meaning and message for days. Really quite superb.
 
 
Unfortunately, the grim, hand-written DVD-R I received for review purposes contained no menu or extras, as well as permanently burnt-in French captions which were a real irritant. So there is no way that I can comment on the quality of the final DVD.
 

However, it's rare that a review disc is magical enough to inspire me to make a purchase but this was one of the rare occasions when I have done exactly that. When my 'proper' disc arrives I will update and let you know how good a transfer this actually is.
 
As a film though, if you're partial to Lynch (circa Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks) or Jarmusch movies, then you're going to love this.