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| Le Donk & Scor-Zay-Zee (15)
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Dir: Shane Meadows, UK, 2009, 71 mins
Cast: Paddy Considine, Dean Palinczuk, Olivia Colman
Review by Dave Hall
It’s unlikely that Shane Meadows and Lars von Trier have much else in common, but with his 5 Day Feature initiative, Meadows and producer Mark Herbert have come up with the guerrilla filmmaker’s answer to Dogme 95, arthouse’s back-to-basics manifesto. The only rule is that any film released under the 5 Day banner must have been shot within a working week, and the good news is that this unpretentious standard bearer is a warm and funny romp. In fact, it’s difficult to imagine a better example of how to make an on the hoof feature in quick time, even if Meadows’ probably pulled strings to facilitate the cast-of-thousands climax.
Filmed as a music mockumentary in which, confusingly at first, director Meadows and his crew play themselves, the film hinges on a tour-de-force comedy performance from Considine as Le Donk, freelance roadie and would-be pop star (think Saxondale: the early years), whose yoof clobber and Manc street talk mask a disastrous personal life and an unwillingness to admit that success might have passed him by. His one last chance comes when he hooks up with Scor-Zay-Zee (Palinczuk), a taciturn, roly-poly rapper (“the honey monster with a lobotomy”), who may just gain Le Donk access all areas, when it comes to the good life.
This has already drawn comparison with Spinal Tap, but it’s not really a satire on the music business, more a droll, affectionate character study of how one man’s brittle self-image is constantly being undercut by reality. Le Donk’s tour bus of choice is a Bedford Rascal, his luxury pad a suburban house, where his slobbish lodger wears last night’s curry on his underwear. Even his pregnant ex-girlfriend doesn’t want him present at the birth of their child. But when Scor-Zay-Zee (Palinczuk’s real life stage name) is clocked in rehearsal action by the “Arctical Monkeys”, suddenly Le Donk has the chance to play in front of 50,000 fans at Old Trafford…
Often, films that look like they were a hoot to shoot (and this one does) don’t let the audience in on the joke, but here the knockabout, largely improvised feel really is infectious. The only suitable phrase to describe it is the much overused laugh out loud funny. As always, Meadows draws natural performances from all the cast (though the Arctics are a bit stiff in front of camera), and his choice of locations is spot on – motorways, hotel car parks and empty stadia are probably a fair reflection of the roadie’s life. It’s earthy and entertaining, with a well-chosen soundtrack and even if the feelgood ending is slightly contrived, it continues to prove that Meadows is, like Michael Winterbottom, a British filmmaker who can turn his handheld to just about anything.
Whether this (like ultra low-budget contemporaries Colin and Morris: A Life with Bells On) signals a brave new world of no frills filmmaking remains to be seen, but this is a film that stands on its own merits either way. It’s worth staying tuned for the closing credits, too.
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