Bad Boy Bubby (2005)

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

The first must-see film of the year.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Bubby (Nicholas Hope) has spent thirty years trapped in the same small room, tricked by his mother. One day, he manages to escape, and, deranged and naive in equal measures, his adventure into modern life begins.As someone who likes strange and unusual films, I have to say this is among the most strange and unusual. For those who can be offended, there is plenty to be offended by here. Just in the first few minutes there is animal cruelty, full frontal male nudity and incest. So, yeah, this is not for everyone.And as the film goes on, it gets... well, not sure what it gets. Some have called this the Australian "Forrest Gump", which is not really accurate, but in some ways very accurate. Bubby is not so much stupid as just not aware of the world, and yet he seems to successfully manage it...

A quintessential part of any Australian film conversation. It starts claustrophobic and emotionally violent. It seems to have no purpose beyond its own nihilism. It's hard to take at the start. But once it blooms, it refuses to stick to a single note, parsing out nightmarish and beautiful experiences in a great tumble, becoming nothing short of a full-tilt run at what it means to be alive, to learn, to grow, to create art, to love and hate, to be loved, and to become a genuine thing instead of a mimicry of past experiences. For a film to start at such a narrow singular point and then successfully expand so fully is an incredible achievement.Thirty-two DP's, each one taking charge over a different set-piece, create a sense of large conglomeration for such a "little" film. The filmic style is always changing and evolving, its perspectives unset and roaming. Always looking for something.Nicholas Hope's performance is unbelievably watchable, bringing to mind Bruno S. in "The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser" (though nothing is really on par with Bruno. He didn't "act", he received a transmission) and the movie's simple premise - even if you come from a horrible place, even if the world around you is sh!t, that doesn't mean you can't become a better person - is incredibly satisfying in its resolution.It's an amazing low-budget, punk-art achievement by director Rolf de Heer. A great, great film that gets an unfair rap as "extreme" or "weird" cinema, when really it's quite beautiful, humanist and optimistic on the whole.

I say this not because my review is full of spoilers, but rather that Bad Boy Bubby is a film that's best viewed with no prior knowledge of what it's about. Much time has passed since I watched a film as strange and original as this.It begins in a hellish room with no natural light and disgusting, filthy grey walls that's inhabited by Bubby (Nicholas Hope), a simple man-child and his obnoxious incestuous mother who has brainwashed and abused her son, teaching him that the outside world is a dangerous place with poisonous air that will kill him if he dares to leave (she wears a gas mask when she leaves the apartment). To further ensure he obeys, she also puts the fear of God into him, placing on the wall a slightly broken model of Jesus on the cross.With its infamous scenes of animal abuse and wretched themes of incest and nightmarish oppression, it initially seems to the viewer that they're watching a misery-flick. However, the film is a big surprise; it takes turns that you would never, ever expect. Put simply, Bad Boy Bubby is a demented version of Forrest Gump, with pitch-black humour instead of sickly treacle.The film is driven by Nicholas Hope's performance, it is a very convincing depiction of a man completely bereft of social conditioning. Bubby speaks in broken English, the only way he can expand his vocabulary is by imitating verbatim the few abhorrent people around him. He also imitates behaviour, most notably his mother's abuse by dressing in her clothes and repeating her threats, only he directs it towards their cat, the bottom of the household hierarchy. Hope's unhinged, primitive performance is truly compelling, his absence from cinema following the film's release in 1993 is a shame. Unfortunately, his most noteworthy role over the past twenty years is probably in Scooby-Doo (2002).After over thirty years in utter isolation, Bubby manages to escape, beginning an experience so liberating, sensory, vivid and colourful that it must feel like a perpetual trip on psychedelic drugs. I feared for him as he navigated this new world, desperate to understand the variety of people (and animals) he meets. While not every plot development may be believable (parts of them approach Forrest Gump in their sentimentality), the film is edgy and abnormal enough for it not to matter. In fact, I was pleased for any good fortune that came Bubby's way, regardless of its implausibility.BBC film critic Mark Kermode is not flaky, he believes it's his duty to watch any film from beginning to end, however he walked out of a film festival screening of Bad Boy Bubby in 1993 - ' I have a principle where I definitely leave any film which features actual cruelty to children or animals… I walked out of the Australian film Bad Boy Bubby in which they mistreated a cat..' Kermode was not alone, the BBFC objected to it so much they banned it.Director Rolf De Heer wrote to The Italian Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in 1993, detailing how the cat used in the film was given to them by the Australian Animal Welfare League, who intended on 'destroying' the animal once filming was over – 'We were handed the feral cat by the Welfare League on the strict understanding that we had to return it to them to be destroyed… feral cats are too wild to be tamed and it is considered cruel to keep them in captivity for any length of time'We filmed with this feral cat, and the approved representative of the League was on set at all times during this filming. She had complete authority, from me, to stop filming with the cat, or change the way we were filming. The cat was well fed, treated very gently, and the shots were designed so that we would only have to do one take of one angle to get the desired effect. Filming went very smoothly for these reasons.'I think De Heer gives a very reasonable account. The scenes in question are indeed disturbing, but I don't think the cats suffered to a great extent at all, the moments of cruelty last only seconds. These scenes are not just vapid shock tactics either, they are important to Bubby's character development. Such matters will always be contentious, but, ultimately, the animals benefited from the production.Bad Boy Bubby is a film as wild and unpredictable as its primitive central character, who embarks on a remarkable journey armed with only his instinct. Please, watch this instead of Forrest Gump.

It has been years since I've seen a movie this brilliant. I encourage everyone who enjoys intelligent films to give this a chance. If you can make it through the first 20 minutes, which are very hard to watch for a number of reasons, the film will reward you. It rewards you with laughter, love, beauty, redemption, acceptance, and a simple-minded joie-de-vivre not unlike Forrest Gump. I often refer to this movie as Forrest Gump meets Sling Blade, which isn't too far off base. Now, to the heart of the movie. This film bravely, deviously takes you into Bubby's horrifying world, suffering unspeakable abuse at the hands of his mother. I really don't want to spoil it for potential viewers, but Bubby is set loose on an unsuspecting world. I felt a certain amount of childish awe through the eyes of Bubby, stumbling into the world as it is, with no preconceived notions of life or society outside his dirty cage. He exists as an unfiltered man-child with a limited vocabulary and a savant's brilliance for parroting people he runs into. He strings this together into a wonderful career by complete accident. His simplicity is enviable, although certain elements of society are all too eager to take advantage of him. The jail scene nearly made me cry. You really begin to feel for Bubby's predicament and cheer for him as he makes his way in the world. One of the most ingenious techniques used in this film was its consecutive shooting schedule (it was shot mostly start to finish), which preserves momentum. Another fantastic touch was using microphones actually placed in Bubby's ears during filming. This draws you in, in a subtle way, by making you (the audience) hear what Bubby hears. Very, very clever. It took the screenwriter nearly a decade to finish this script, and it's so bold, fascinating, and original that it was a gift to the world of film upon its realization. Movies like this are extremely rare, and I cherish it, as I hope you will after giving it a chance. Me not Bubby, Me Pop now.