Main Cast: Nicholas Hope, Ralph Cotterill, Carmel Johnson
Release Year: 1993
Country: IT/AU
Run Time: 112 minutes
Plot
This Australian cult film draws extremely dark humor from the story of Bubby, a man who has spent the first 35 years of his life locked in a disgusting basement by his abusive, controlling mother. Having been taught that the outside air is poisonous and that leaving home is sinful, he only realizes the truth when his long-absent father returns to disrupt the already twisted family unit. A tragic confrontation follows, forcing Bubby into the real world. Knowing nothing about life, and undoubtedly suffering from mental disturbance, he stumbles about the city, speaking in a rambling monologue made up mainly of overheard phrases. His behavior is interpreted in different ways by the people he encounters: some think him insane, while others equate his strange speech and erratic behavior with brilliance. The edgy lead performance by Nicholas Hope is key to the film's success, managing to make Bubby a figure that is both sympathetic and at times quite frightening. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
Cast
Nicholas Hope - Bubby
Ralph Cotterill - Pop
Carmel Johnson - Angel
Norman Kaye - The Scientist; Paul Simpson - Big Greg; Audine Leith - Fondled Salvo; Claire Benito
Credit
David Lightfoot - Associate Producer, Beverly Freeman - Costume Designer, Rolf de Heer - Director, Suresh Ayyar - Editor, Graham Tardif - Composer (Music Score), Beverly Freeman - Makeup, Ian Jones - Cinematographer, Rolf de Heer - Producer, Gerogia Draskovic - Producer, Domenico Procacci - Producer, James Currie - Sound/Sound Designer, Rolf de Heer - Screenwriter
Bubby became notorious for pushing the boundaries of good taste with its strong scenes featuring violence, incest and blasphemy amongst other taboo topics. In the UK it was cut for cruelty to a cat.[1] The film was released on DVD in April 2005 by the Blue Underground company, and a special Two Disc Collectors' Edition was also released in June 2005 by Umbrella Entertainment.
On the Blue Underground DVD, director Rolf de Heer claims that Bubby was the 2nd highest grossing film in Norway in 1995, second only to Batman Forever.
On 23/04/07 Eureka Entertainment released Bad Boy Bubby on DVD - Completely uncut for the first time in the UK
Bubby won four 1994 Australian Film Institute awards; Best Director (Rolf de Heer), Best Actor in a Leading Role (Nicholas Hope), Best Original Screenplay (Rolf de Heer) and Best Editing (Suresh Ayyar). It was also nominated for Best Film (Rolf de Heer) and Best Cinematography (Ian Jones).
Bubby (played by Hope) is a 35-year-old man who has never set foot outside his mother's (actress Claire Benito) two-room slum. She kept him from the world outside, telling him that poisonous gas filled the outside air and that without the gas mask he would instantly suffocate.
When Bubby's father ("Pop" played by Ralph Cotterill) returns home after 35 years, Bubby is driven out to head into an inhospitable world.
Audio and visual innovation
Director Rolf de Heer describes the movie as one large experiment, the most prominent of which is the method used to record the dialogue; binauralmicrophones were sewn into the wig worn by leading actor Nicholas Hope, one above each ear. This method gave the sound track a unique sound that closely resembled what the character would actually be hearing. The film also used 31 individual directors of photography to shoot different scenes. Once the character of Bubby reaches 'outside' a different director of photography is used for every location until the last third of the film - allowing an individual visual slant on everything Bubby sees for the first time. No director of photography was allowed to refer to the work of the others.[1]
