He Died with a Felafel in His Hand (2001)

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

I've read He Died with a Falafel in his Hand several times and I'm a big fan of John Birmingham, he is a wonderful author. When I first saw this film I have to admit I was quite put out with the character being significantly different to that of Birmingham in the book and also the stories being quite different and most of them being left out altogether. I am the kind of person that get's annoyed with a film if it's 'historically inaccurate' (eg: Marie Antoinette, Becoming Jane etc...make me very angry!) and indeed it annoyed me that this film changed quite a lot of the things that actually happened in Birmingham's real life. However, after watching it again I realized just how amazing Noah Taylor is and of course the supporting cast. I also realized that if all of the stories in the book were included the film, it would've had to have been HOURS longer. It seems almost as if the film is just a VERY small portion of the book, just a nugget of the overall story, which in it's self didn't finish with the end of the book. I enjoyed the story in the film, even if it was significantly different. And although I love the book much more than the film, I have learnt to appreciate and respect the film for what it is.It's a fascinating story and Noah Taylor is just incredible as the main character, Danny. I also recognize a lot of the supporting cast from other Australian films or TV shows. (For example Sophie Lee from Muriel's Wedding.) There's something about Australian share house living that rings true with so many people. I my self have lived in many share houses and lived with some neurotic freak shows or stoned hippies or insomniac business men, and there is nothing that shows the transition from one place to the next more than this film. (And of course to a larger extent, the book.) It can feel almost likes nothing's changed from one house to the next when you move too often. Sometimes you have the feeling the script has missed out on some of the plot and character development, but otherwise it's an interesting film. If only for Noah Taylor. I do recommend reading the book though, as it is for all intents and purposes much better.

While I do try to support the Australian film industry (being Australian myself) occasionally an stinker comes along and, I'm afraid, 'He Died With A Felafel In His Hand' is one of them. Much has been made of this movie as it is the adaptation of a book by John Birmingham. A book that traces the author's life through various share houses around Australia and humorously captures the ups and downs of house sharing. Dealing with an array of strange guys who collect their pubic hair, live in tents in the lounge room and complain about our materialistic and corrupt society. Putting these characters to life would have been a difficult task for the director Richard Lowenstein and this is clearly evident as the film isn't as successful as the book. While Noah Taylor is good as Danny, the tortured writer, the other characters in the film are two dimensional and not worth worrying about or caring for. The characters are merely caricatures of 'weird and wacky' people and the dialogue inexcusably overbearing, the delivery hopelessly bland. Too often characters come in, talk a lot in a very convoluted and quirky manner and then leave only for this routine to be repeated again and again (with different combinations of characters) throughout this meandering wreck. The set design is well done though but only reinforces the fact that this film is all about surface. Much has been made of the soundtrack which is good. Any film that starts with the Stranglers' 'Golden Brown' deserves a shot. But what happens from there is merely pot luck... Read the book!

Sitting 'round Pemberton doing nothing, flicking through the channels, and stopped purely because of one of my (many) favourite tunes was on...Golden Brown by the Stranglers...of course that's the opening sequence to this movie.....Didn't know a thing about it really but just watched it in amazement.I related to the main character quite a bit purely because I travel so much and don't really have any proper roots, and feel that real frustration when people you're living with get so wrapped up in their own little problems when your own seem, at the time, insurmountable.I refer to a particular scene when Danny just blows up at the whining wannabe soap star....I think sometimes I should do the same!! The film is a comedy, but be warned it also goes very dark at times.....one of the characters tries to commit suicide is one grim example.There's a bit of philosophy going on in there but you'd have to watch it a few times and probably read up a little to understand it....I didn't! Because Movie Central was repeating this over and over again I ended up watching it a second time and got to understand it a little more...oh and if Emily Hamilton is single and ever in London/Whistler BC then I'd wine and dine her, that girl is hot....and a bloody good actress as well!

This film is a perfect example of the old saying not to judge a book by its cover. Here in NZ the DVD cover is a shot of him underwater with cigarette smoke hazing it over a little which looks uncannily like his head is in a toilet bowl. Out of pure curiosity I finally ventured up enough courage to take the 'plunge' and rented it out. What I found pleasantly surprised me. The dialogue is actually quite witty and sharp at times. What really makes this film tick however is the characters. They are from all walks of life covering a multitude of nationalities, much like a real flatting / boarding situation is. Noah Taylor plays his part as a washed out and uninspired writer named Danny down to pat even though I think he must have the least amount of dialogue in the film. Emily Hamilton plays Sam, a young and somewhat naive girl who, like most young people, hasn't totally decided what to do with her life. I found her performance to be quite convincing and not contrived or overacted like some performances can be in these types of low budget art films.Romane Bohringer plays a spooky role as a pagan who takes her religion very seriously at times (The scene where she convinces one of her brainless flatmates to be a 'sacrificial lamb' upon a burning stake is hilarious) Her performances are also above average and generally tend to give the viewer the impression she is a witch bent on injecting chaos into any given domestic situation. Alex Minglet is perfectly casted as Taylor, a serious drinker who enjoys dressing up in commando gear and playing golf with frogs. His antics had me in stitches whenever he appeared on screen. There are other brilliant little support performances by Haskel Daniel as 'Jabber the Hut' who controls (and worships) the television set and Francis McMahon who plays Dirk who is having troubles coming out of the 'closet'. Also look out for some weird European dude who only says two lines during the film, "They are very, very fit." - Oddball stuff but makes for good humour, especially if you are a person who has been flatting at one time or another. This film isn't just about laughs however. Ideas and themes of friendship and new beginnings are put across quite seamlessly into the plot as Danny experiences a rite of passage which takes him from being stuck in the past to looking forward to the future and leaving the mess (which follows him from flat to flat during the film) well behind. Brett Stewart plays a heroin junkie named Flip who is trying to get ahead in life but finds himself caught in a ever increasing downward spiral of drug intake. I feel this film touches upon the issue of hard drug addiction quite well as you can visibly see what it is slowly doing to Flip. The film is set in Australia and is in my personal opinion one of the best films to emerge from there in a while. The soundtrack is complimentary and the ending will leave you with a smile on your face. I recommend this film to anyone who has a taste for small budget arty type films and can enjoy a little bit of black humour with their vegemite on toast in the morning. 7/10