Dr. Plonk

Rolf de Heer has taken his idea of a scientist who in 1907 discovers that the world will end in 2008, combined it with time travel via a machine that would not look out of place in a museum of Heath Robinson artifacts, added a good dose of well natured slapstick humour and filmed a fast paced, witty story in the style of the old Buster Keaton comedies.

In 1907, Dr Plonk (busker and entertainer Nigel Martin) discovers that the world is going to end in 2008, however no-one in his time believes him. To collect proof, he builds a time machine with the help of his erstwhile assistant Paulus (Paul Blackwell) who spends more time being badgered by Mrs Plonk (Magda Szubanski) or being forced to walk the dog (Tiberius) than actually working. Together they use it to try and collect proof of the end of the world for the politicians in their time.

Filmed in black and white and presented with musical accompaniment by the Stileto Sisters, we see Dr Plonk in the usual "fish out of water" and life threatening situations that time travel plots usually permit, with a healthy dose of societal and political commentary thrown in for good measure.

With this film, de Heer has again proved himself to be a capable writer and producer of material that, while not intended to be a mainstream production, will appeal to the mainstream anyway.

His script allows Martin's skills as entertainer to be wonderfully showcased and with tight direction there are very few low spots, and it's easy to see why Szubanski was cast in the role that she has been as she fits the role of the nagging yet supportive wife so very well.

I was fortunate enough to view it at the final dress rehearsal/preview screening with live musical accompaniment provided by the Stileto Sisters and their performance went off without a hitch. A standing ovation awaited the performers and film at the end - bravo! I sincerely hope that this movie will be available on DVD for eventual purchase and addition to my collection!

Dr. Plonk is a silent black and white comedy along the lines of Buster Keaton or Charlie Chaplin films. The story follows Dr. Plonk and his lazy drunken assistant Paulus, who in 1907 discover the world is going to end in the year 2008 and travel to the future to bring back proof when nobody believes them. For authenticity the film was shot with a hand crank camera using traditional techniques like under-cranking for the filming of chase sequences. While the film is entertaining, and features some fine acting (though the dog really steals the show in this department), what the film does most is remind everyone about how great and inimitable the masters like Keaton and Chaplin were. As an example, given a plot that brings a character from the year 1907 into the future to the year 2007, you'd think there would be some clever and unforgettable visual gags they could pull, poking fun at the absurdity of modern life. Instead, Plonk teleports into the future into such humdrum environments like abandoned warehouses and railway yards where the main gag is rather unimaginative Keystone cops type chase sequences. All in all it feels very much like a film school project, with a lot of homage to classic films, and very little genuine creativity.

Rolf de Heer, in introducing Dr. Plonk, explained that there were at least three reasons he made this film:

* He found the stock in a fridge going to waste, and decided to use it. When I asked him about it later, he said it was about ten years past its expiry date. It was colour film that was converted to black and white in post-production.

* He wanted to make a film that was a tribute to the films he loved in his childhood, such as The Keystone Kops.

* After the difficulties of some of his earlier films, he wanted to make something that would be fun to make and fun for the actors to be involved in. As an aside, he mentioned that it was much more difficult than expected.

While I live in hope for Australian films, I can't say that I'm a big fan of much of our output. Rolf de Heer is an Australian director whose work does interests me. I've only seen three of them, but each was completely different:

* The Old Man Who Read Loves Stories (2001). I saw this in 2004 at the Nova cinema, with a Q&A session with the director. De Heer described some of the many problems he had making this film with an international cast in the jungles of French Guiana. Starring Richard Dreyfuss, Timothy Spall and Hugo Weaving, it was both an unusual and an interestingly different film.

* Ten Canoes (2006). This is a really unique Australian film that tells an indigenous story in a way that these people voiced so publicly. It won the Un certain regard (Special Jury prize) at Cannes 2006 as well as 6 AFI awards (for best film, director, screenplay, cinematography, editing and sound). It was also my no.3 favourite film for 2006 (after Em 4 Jay and The King).

* Dr. Plonk

I was pleasantly surprised by Dr. Plonk. At first glance, the images promoting the film looked somewhat cringe-worthy. I was also a little skeptical at the idea of reproducing the silent-era style in a contemporary film.

De Heer told me that when he presented the film to a group of school children in Adelaide, the general consensus was positive, even though most of them didn't understand the concept of silent film. One student asked why no-one was talking. I think this is excellent family entertainment. Often the word 'family' is used in conjunction with children's films, but I mean it in the context of 'all-ages'. Baby-boomers and older will relate to the obvious homage to The Keystone Kops (which I also enjoyed as a child) and the early films of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin.

De Heer has done a remarkable job of producing a contemporary film that is not only a faithful reproduction of the style and mood of these historic films (including classic slapstick, stunts and acrobatics), but also manages to fuse contemporary issues. Set in 1907, Dr. Plonk creates a time machine that travels 100 years into the future in order to gather proof that the world will indeed end in 2008. De Heer displays excellent judgement in subtly presenting political points in a way that doesn't detract from the mood of the film or offend people's sensibilities.

The casting was spot on. The three main characters were Dr. Plonk (Nigel Lunghi), his lowly assistant Paulus (played as comic relief by Paul Blackwell) and Mrs. Plonk (the always funny Magda Szubanski). South Australian premier Mike Rann appears in a cameo role as the present day Prime Minister Short, and Wayne Anthoney plays Prime Minister Stalk in 1907. The film also takes a humorous look at who our next prime minister will be.

Some of the classic devices of silent films used by de Heer include: humiliation of a superior towards his subordinate, lots of bum-kicking, a performing animal, altered film speed, a slight flickering look to the film as the light intensity varies (emulating the imperfections of the technique of the day) and absurdly simple devices (like a wooden box with a lever as the time machine).

There's a point around half way into the film where if gets a little flat, and I suspect some contemporary audiences - particularly those with little experience of silent film - may get a little bored. Having recently seen some Keaton shorts at Melbourne Cinémathèque, as well as Keaton's The General at the Astor a year or so ago, I thought this was still consistent with the films of that era. The music was enjoyable and appropriate, yet a little whacky - it was performed by the Stiletto Sisters.

All in all, I found the film a real treat, well conceived and executed. I intend taking my six year old son to see it and I'm sure he'll be laughing his head off at the good old-fashioned gags that leave most modern comedies for dead. This film is 83 minutes of refreshingly good old-fashioned entertainment.

Dr Plonk is the genius of his nation and age (Australia, 1907). He predicts the end of the world in 2008, but no one will believe him without proof. Aided and abetted (and sometimes hindered) by his lazy, deaf assistant Paulus, bustling Mrs Plonk and his dog, Tiberius, Dr Plonk creates a time machine and travels forward in time to find proof.

This comedy is a feature-length (85 minutes) silent, black and white film with a specially composed musical score. And it is funny. The audience at the showing I attended at the Gothenburg Film Festival started out not really knowing how to take it, but first there were giggles, then there were laughs, and the whole thing ended with applause and lots of animated talk and cheerfulness.

The movie has been shot on film that has been treated to look like footage from 1907 and filmed throughout with a hand-cranked camera. An adapted modern camera -- apparently the attempt to use real antique cameras and lenses had to be abandoned as they were incompatible with the modern film that was available. The story is that the movie was conceived as a way to use up writer/director Rolf de Heer's back stock of left over film, but the effort that has gone into keeping true to the look of silent movies does not suggest that scrimping and saving is the film maker's prime motive.

The action of the film is one long list of clichés from all the silent comedies you can remember seeing, and a great deal of use is made of that silent staple, the vanishing box. Freeze the action. Cut the film. Remove the box. Start the action. Oooh, the box has gone! (The box in this case is the time machine.) The film is successful in part because it has been very well written and planned, and very well cut. Also, apparently, because making it was allowed to take a very long time. It shows a great knowledge of and love for the physical comedy of the old silent movies. It helps also that many of the actors, not just Nigel Lunghi/Martin (Dr Plonk), must have circus or acrobat training, as they are both physically very funny and their timing is meticulous. Beyond that they also play their parts very truthfully to the style they are imitating. This is a comedy, but it is a comedy in the style of silent comedies from the early days of cinema. Even in the scenes in modern Australia, the actors stay in style as well as in character.

And the dog seems to be having a whale of a time too.

Dr Plonk is a great watch and a commendable tribute to the silent era. Rolf de Heer, director, maverick and inspirator is Dutch by birth but has carved out a stunning career in film in Australia. He migrated at 8 and has been following the silver flicker of celluloid ever since.

This film is not perfect, particularly in the area of missed comic opportunities but de Rolf usually works in drama, not humor, and he had to teach himself antique techniques, so the occasional omission is forgivable.

There is an obvious Australian tinge to the work. Plonk is Australian slang for wine. It appears to have been sot in Adelaide. De Here and cinematographer Judd Overton laboured to invest the film with authenticity. Lead actor, Nigel Lungh, is an Adelaide busker and so brings the necessary rough-house humour to his part. Whilst writing of cast, South Australia's then Premier Mike Rann, offered a credible performance as 2007 Prime Minister Short!

I have to be honest; I bought the DVD not for its comic content but see what a reimagined or retrospective science fiction movie might look like. I had the privilege of seeing an almost complete version of Georges Melies', A trip to the Moon. It was both a treat and fascinating. De Heer's time travelling tale* doesn't have the naïve charm Georges Melies' does but it is a treat and fascinating. (De Heer's laboratory scene is a tribute to Melies.)

(*Dr Plonk predicts, in 1901, terrible global cataclysms in 2007, unless someone intervenes. The film then becomes something of a tennis match as the viewer is shuttled back and forward between 1907 and 2007.)

One critic said this was the worst film he'd seen in ten years. This is a pity and a disappointment. He should cast his net wider and be prepared to embrace a greater variety of cinematic experiences. Dr Plonk is fine effort by any measure.