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Bunny and the Bull Review
From the writer and director of cult TV series The Mighty Boosh, comes a tragi-comedy that charts one-man's retelling of his travels through Europe, from inside his head.
Stephen (Edward Hogg) hasn’t left the confines of his flat for over a year. When an infestation of mice munch through his stockpile of vegetarian lasagne, he’s forced to make contact with the real world and sparks, in his mind, a reimagining of the events that have left him housebound: A chaotic, and ultimately disastrous, trip around Europe with best-friend Bunny (Simon Farnaby).
In what you would expect from the minds of the makers of The Mighty Boosh, namely writer-director Paul King, this is not your average road-trip movie.
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The mismatched couple constantly clash. Sensitive soul Stephen is keen to soak up the local culture, from The National Shoe Museum of Poland to the German Museum of Cutlery, while Bunny is intent on drinking and womanising his way across the continent. A chance encounter with disillusioned waitress Elouisa (Verónica Echegui) in a grizzly Polish restaurant inspires the odd-couple to join her on a road trip to her Spanish hometown, in time for the local fiesta. With stubborn Bunny recklessly set on fighting a Bull when they reach their destination, and Stephen infatuated with Elouisa (even though Bunny is making all the right moves), it makes for a troublesome journey.
Stephen’s rethinking of his trip through Europe is depicted in a dream-like, or nightmarish, quality, dependant on his state of mind. None of the scenes are shot on location. So a race-course is created entirely from cardboard cut-outs and ink (resembling the opening credits from Paddington Bear), and most of Europe is shown on a lovingly animated miniature-model. It's a striking and imaginative (not to mention cost-effective) way of telling the story and fits snugly with Stephen’s confused mental state.
It’s worth mentioning that King shot the film on a shoe-string budget of one-million pounds, peanuts by Hollywood standards, but it gives Bunny and the Bull an attractive home-spun quality. And it’s clear that coupled with grand ambition he has lovingly created a fantastical, alternative universe inside’s Stephen’s head.
Bunny and the Bull: Noel Fielding
As well as its impressive visuals, Bunny and the Bull is genuinely funny. It lives up to Boosh standards in the surreal comedy steaks, while still possessing a slightly unsettling edge. Hogg and Farnby are convincing as the odd-couple friends, but it is newcomer Verónica Echegui, who standouts as the frustrated Elouisa, in particular her impressive employment of swearing.
King also calls favours with Boosh boys Julian Barrett and Noel Fielding, who pop up during the course of Stephen and Bunny’s adventure with small cameo roles. Barrett?s ‘strange shaggy-bear man’ is worth the price of admission alone.
Bunny and the Bull is a difficult proposition to pull off. The success of Boosh could have made the move to the big screen difficult for King, but he flourishes here with new and innovative ideas. Not only that, but the fusion of humour and tragedy gives Bunny and the Bull a much needed dose of reality.
Boosh fans won’t be disappointed, but Bunny and the Bull deserves a much wider audience. With its unique style and quick sense of humour, it is easily one of the most creative comedies of the year. The Boosh boys just got better.
Bunny and the Bull Reviews
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