Road movies are one of cinema's finest traditions, and the genre is about to receive a boost with the addition of Bunny & the Bull, a road movie that takes place in a flat. More specifically, this trip occurs within one man's mind inside that flat — and an intense, emotional, freewheeling booze-, sexand seafood-fuelled journey it is.
Stephen Turnbull (Edward Hogg) hasn't left the house in months. He has an extremely precise daily routine, and his system works well: he has no need to interact with the world or think about anything in particular. But one day an infestation of mice wreaks havoc on his schedule, unleashing a chaos that rattles his mental cage and sends him hurtling through the past. This means reliving the disastrous European trek upon which he had embarked the previous year with his best friend Bunny (Simon Farnaby).
Bunny has a very different temperament than Stephen, and though his name suggests the opposite, he is a raucous, sex-obsessed, compulsive gambler of a boozehound. When he discovers that Stephen is enduring a massive romantic disappointment – “She's put me in the friend zone” – he decides there's nothing for it but to embark on a railway tour of the continent. During the course of this debauched journey, they encounter an alcoholic matador, a highly superstitious waitress and a dog-loving tramp who likes some of his canines a tad too much. The journey reaches its final heated pitch in a field in Spain, and it is to these worlds that Stephen travels in his mind the following year.
Fans of the British cult television series The Mighty Boosh have cause to celebrate, since much of the creative team behind that comedy sensation, including director Paul King, have come together to bring Bunny & the Bull to the screen. The film is a playground for the eyes, wrought with a visual and narrative inventiveness – including extraordinary animation of different styles – reminiscent of Michel Gondry and early Terry Gilliam. King has described it as “Withnail & I for the mentally ill,” but this is also a funny, unique and touching tribute to male friendship.
Jane Schoettle
Paul King was born in Winchester, England and studied English at Cambridge University. He has worked as a director in film, television and theatre, specializing in comedy. His theatre directing credits include
Garth Marenghi's Fright Knight and
Garth Marenghi's Netherhead, as well as Noel Fielding's
Voodoo Hedgehog. He is the director of the television series
The Mighty Boosh, which earned him a 2004 best new director BAFTA nomination.
Bunny & the Bull (09) is his first feature film.