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Brothers of the Head

Conjoins talent and a vision

By PETER KEOUGH | August 1, 2006

3.0 Stars

Harry and Luke Treadaway

This film from Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe isn’t your everyday mock documentary. It’s based on a novel by Brian Aldiss (who appears played by an actor) that contains footage from another fictitious documentary and from an unfinished fictitious fictional version of the same material directed by Ken Russell (who appears played by himself). Fulton and Pepe obviously picked up a tip or two from Terry Gilliam in their non-mock-documentary on him, Lost in La Mancha. Then there’s the subject matter. Siamese twins joined at the chest, Barry (Luke Treadaway) and Tom (Harry Treadaway) Howe are content to live in isolation in a remote seaside nook of England called the Head. In the mid ’70s, however, an entrepreneur desperate for a hit novelty act “discovers” them, and they’re groomed as punk-rockers. It’s kind of like Spinal Tap with a shared liver and no laughs. As in Mark and Michael Polish’s Twin Falls Idaho, trouble comes in the form of a femme fatale who falls in love with one brother and wants to split up the band. Brothers of the Head gives evidence of the filmmakers’ intensity and talent as it ranges from the pretentious to the visionary.

On the Web:
Brothers of the Head's Web site: http://www.brothersofthehead.com

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