Chris
Cunningham is a well-regarded special effects person and
music video director in Hollywood. He has worked on the
special effects for such films as Alien Resurrection,
Alien3, and AI. His videos have ranged from
his middle-of-the-road offering for Madonna with "Frozen"
to his disturbingly edgy creations for Aphex Twin with
"Widowlicker" and "Come to Daddy."
Most
of his work seems to blend music video with short film
exploration and Rubber Johnny is no exception.
It's
definitely more in the music video range, though decidedly
not mainstream. The storyline is supposed to be about
a physically handicapped boy that is trapped in his basement
by his redneck parents. I say "supposed" because
the actual film narrative isn't really there--you just
find this out from press releases. The only time you come
into contact with the "redneck parents" is when
you hear Johnny get bellowed at by a boorish brute who
sounds like he's from Manchester, not Arkansas! (Well,
maybe redneck means "from Manchester"
when you're in Britain.)
Much
of this short film is
actually a very strange...
...Aphex
Twin music video involving
a mutant in a wheelchair dancing.
Content
If you're expecting an actual short film, you will be
disappointed. This is the sort of short film that can
only exist as such if there isn't a music video category
in whatever it has been entered in.
How
can I say it's not really a short film? Well, a short
film, by it's nature, tells a story of some form. It can
be a very basic story but it is still a story. Compare
this with a music video which doesn't have to tell a story
and can rely on strange camera shots, accelerated frame
rate, and snappy edits to musical beats and you will find
that Rubber Johnny must follow the latter.
Now,
is the content interesting? Yes.
Is the content good? Good is subjective in this situation.
I believe the more appropriate adjectives are: strange,
bizarre, and avant-garde. If you
are familiar with Chris Cunningham's work and his fascination
with the human body, then you will find that Rubber Johnny
fits well within that collection.
If
you like his darker work, then you will definitely like
this film. I personally have shown the film to a number
of people and have found the reactions to be completely
varied. Many found that it was extremely disturbing and
seemed to dredge up terrifying images from our Jungian
nightmares. Others found it to be really cool due to the
way in which it fuses image with music. I personally found
it strange, but compelling. It tries out new things and
experiments with odd ideas, which, in a short form, is
a very good thing.
