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BROTHERS OF THE HEAD Send This Review to a Friend
Directors Louis Pepe and Keith Fulton have collaborated on making a fake documentary, a film that pretends to be a real story but is fiction offered as a memoir by those with knowledge of the so-called facts. Using a screenplay by Tony Grisoni based on Brian Aldiss’ novel, Pepe and Fulton have done an effective job with a bizarre tale of twins conjoined at the stomach who, condemned to unwanted togetherness, are sold in childhood by their father to an impresario who will exploit their freaky condition. Eventually, they become 1970s rock performers who achieve notoriety for both their raging music and the state of their being.
The tribute to “Brothers of the Head” is that the story, set in Britain, does seem real instead of manufactured. Tom and Barry Howe, the twins, are played by real life twin brothers, Luke and Harry Treadaway. (The co-joining is done through the magic of cinema and prosthetics.) The plot takes them through the use of drugs, problematic relations with women and their climb to success amid mounting stress. Each has a distinctive personality, but the sight of them always together no matter what makes an indelible impression of how relentlessly tough such a situation can be.
From a viewer’s viewpoint, the film poses a problem. The rock music is grating rather than appealing. The story is steeped in grimness, and despite the filmic expertise and the convincing acting, it is very unpleasant to watch. One can admire what the directors, who previously did “Lost in La Mancha,” have pulled off. It seems as if these twins really existed in the world that has been conjured for them. Yet despite moments that are undeniably touching, I was relieved when the saga came to an end. An IFC Films release.
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