It Couldn't Happen Here

This surely must be one of the most surreally funny film that I have every seen - who could forget Joss Ackland's priest or Gareth Hunt's over-the-top breakfast order. The must surely have provided some inspiration to the classic League Of Gentlemen comedy team.

The BFI recently released this on Blu-ray and DVD. Someone on Facebook recommended it, so I thought I would pick it up.

From the reviews on IMDB, I gather the film is meant to be surreal and the plot a bit all over the place, but sadly I think it was too much for me. I do like weird films, that break the "formula" and experiment, but I just ended up confused near the end.

Everything felt kind of pointless when there is no storyline throughout - it felt like a few music videos loosely glued together (which is what it appears to actually be).

Perhaps with more thought and planning, this could have made a more coherent narrative.

This film starts with arty images and Neil Tennant riding a bicycle on the path near the seashore and the title tune playing. The music is very good in the film with many hit songs such as Always on my Mind, Rent and It's a Sin featured. I've been a fan of the Pet Shop Boys since they arrived on the scene in the mid-eighties and like their oddness and style. This film is a surreal trip the Boys take somewhere in Southern England. They seem to have a fascination with Scunthorpe. Most of the actors play multiple characters, including respected Joss Ackland as a priest and an insane murderer who utters about Salvador Dali and tarot cards; former New Avenger and coffee ad-man Gareth Hunt as a practical joker, a morose postcard-seller and a wig-wearing ventriloquist whose philosophical dummy talks on its own; and current Eastender and Carry On veteran Barbara Windsor in two brief roles. There are some striking images on show, such as a man walking down the street on fire, men who look like zebras and cows on railway station platforms. It's sort of a Greenaway-wannabe type film, but with the star music duo's songs added. But it's still an interesting and amiable journey to experience.

I love this film...its so odd. Filmed in part at Clacton By The Sea...a coastal town north east of London. A place i used to summer at when i was a child and living in Colchester.

The movie is full of strange and funny ramblings...hilarious one liners...theatrical delivery of "classic" Pet Shop Boys songs.

This movie reminds me of other artists such as Laurie Anderson or Mikel Rouse.

The (vague) plot is somewhat hard to follow (as it is intentionally designed being a surrealistic (pop) "art" peace).

Characters are amusing and the dance numbers...right out of the mid 80's mtv craze...reminds one of the elaborate videos of Micheal Jackson or Madonna.

If you like the pet shop boys....if you remember fondly (and perhaps with some embarrassment) the 80's. This is great! As far as i know this film is long out of print... however one can easily find it as a rather small torrent file on the web for immediate download.

Seek it out if you like the odd and the unusual...and 80's disco pop!! -k

This is one of my most favourite films of all time. I know a couple of people who went to see it at the cinema, and they just didn't get it. I got it on video whilst at college. The film has an essential philosophical message clouded in a blend of surrealism and eighties electronic music. The message is simple - what is time ? Check out the ventriloquists dummy for the answer. A keen observation from most people who call the film a flop is that it does not follow a plot - which is annoying to some people (but look at pulp fiction - what plot?) - its a journey through time and their songs. So surreal I love it. I suspect it makes little sense because they have fit the script around each of the song's stories and stitched each one together. Do films really have to make sense ? Too many films today are based on reality and I thought movie watching was about losing yourself in escapism. This world is real & serious enough. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Give it a chance & Let yourself go.