He Died with a Felafel in His Hand (2001)

Such a frustrating disappointment

Nice effects though.

Better Late Then Never

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

I have read the book that the film is based on and although the film is very different from the book i think that standing alone this film is beautiful and well worth watching. Out of any film i am aware of it accurately depicts share house life in Australia with excellent dialogue and some really great performances. This film covers a niche that is rarely seen in movies yet such an important social factor in the lives of young Australians, and it does it well. A humorous and kind heart ed social critique of fringe dwelling Australia. I really love this film and anytime i watch it i am reminded of the crazy lifeforms i have lived with in the biggest holes on earth. The soundtrack is excellent as well which is always a bonus. The book made me wet myself laughing but the movie adds more heart and i can definitely recommend it especially (but not limited) to those who have lived in Australian share houses.

While I do try to support the Australian film industry (being Australian myself) occasionally an stinker comes along and, I'm afraid, 'He Died With A Felafel In His Hand' is one of them. Much has been made of this movie as it is the adaptation of a book by John Birmingham. A book that traces the author's life through various share houses around Australia and humorously captures the ups and downs of house sharing. Dealing with an array of strange guys who collect their pubic hair, live in tents in the lounge room and complain about our materialistic and corrupt society. Putting these characters to life would have been a difficult task for the director Richard Lowenstein and this is clearly evident as the film isn't as successful as the book. While Noah Taylor is good as Danny, the tortured writer, the other characters in the film are two dimensional and not worth worrying about or caring for. The characters are merely caricatures of 'weird and wacky' people and the dialogue inexcusably overbearing, the delivery hopelessly bland. Too often characters come in, talk a lot in a very convoluted and quirky manner and then leave only for this routine to be repeated again and again (with different combinations of characters) throughout this meandering wreck. The set design is well done though but only reinforces the fact that this film is all about surface. Much has been made of the soundtrack which is good. Any film that starts with the Stranglers' 'Golden Brown' deserves a shot. But what happens from there is merely pot luck... Read the book!

A movie that comes across as one "written" as though it was discovered only in mid-production that dialogue is important to a film. Interestingly, if one turns off the sound and just watches "Felafel" it is mildly engaging. The cinematography is fine and the film has a cool "look" but the dialogue is just so bloody awful it makes one laugh for all the wrong reasons. As there is really no plot beyond quirky loser moves around meeting even quirkier losers the movie is really just as easy to follow without any sound.The only conceivable reason to endure the dialogue is some fairly decent music in the soundtrack but it would be better just to get hold of the songs because while strong they really don't seem to have any particular relationship to the movie either.

I have read the previous comments and of course, a movie rarely comes close to the book, due to time constraints and of course it always has to fight one's fantasy. But that's OK, if the movie is well made and this one is ...And apart from that, I had shared house experiences in Brisbane for several years and everybody who had too can appreciate this movie, as it is so true ... and believe me, a lot of the subjects or experiences are quite close to the truth, as crazy as it may sound :-)The Queenslander reminds me so much of my first shared house. I started of living in a 2 by 2 meter room and soon moved into a bigger room. It was great fun!Watch it!