Few filmmakers have been as daring and continually inventive as England's Michael Winterbottom. To describe him as eclectic would be an understatement, as the director has consistently blurred the line between narrative fiction and behind the scenes realism. 24-Hour Party People, the film that put Winterbottom on the map, showed us a wickedly funny portrait of music mogul Tony Wilson-played by Steven Coogan-who witnesses, among other things, the rise and fall of punk and the emergence of rave culture. What separated Party People from the ordinary biopic was the ingenious use of the real subjects. In one scene, Coogan tells a quick anecdote about a sexual encounter in a public restroom. Suddenly the real Wilson walks into the scene to declare that the story didn't happen that way.
Of course there have been failures for Winterbottom, including the lifeless sci-fi bore Code 46 with Tim Robbins, and the semi-pornographic 9 Songs, which was nothing more than concert footage and sex repeated for 90 minutes.
With his new film, Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story, Winterbottom once again turns standard cinema on its head. To understand the basis of the film, some background is definitely needed. The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy is a novel written by Lawrence Sterne back in the 1760s, at a time when the modern novel was still establishing its identity. The film provides a quick tutorial of the history, where it's said that the book was "post-modern before there was a modern." In the book, Tristram Shandy attempts to tell his life story but is continually sidetracked, telling unrelated stories about his father and uncle's adventures. For years it's been said that the novel is unfilmable, mainly due to the fact that Tristram isn't born until late in the novel.
Winterbottom apparently took that statement as a challenge. His adaptation is as perversely funny as the novel and equally difficult to categorize. The film jumps back and forth from the filmed segment of Shandy to the backstage troubles of trying to film an adaptation of Shandy. Sound confusing? Surprisingly the viewing is effortless as the mostly British cast jump in and out of character with ease.
Steve Coogan returns again as...Steve Coogan, who has been tapped to play the lead as both Tristram Shandy and his father, since Tristram isn't born when the story begins. As the filming progresses, Coogan's scenes continue to be cut, which infuriates the actor. His bitter rants against the other actors-most notably Rob Brydon as Uncle Toby-make him childlike in the midst of this sophisticated project.
The funniest segment has to be the womb scene. In trying to figure out how to show Tristram's birth, the director plans to have the adult Coogan be ejected from a giant womb. As humiliating of as this is, Coogan begrudgingly agrees. After the experiment fails, the actor is lifted by a crane out of the womb, only to get stuck in the opening. Never has a naked man inside a womb seemed so realistic.
With a film of such stylistic individuality, the impact is only as good as the actors involved. Luckily the cast is hugely talented. Coogan and Brydon are hysterical together, playing off each other's weaknesses like old buddies. Make sure to stay through the credits, as the two watch the finished Shandy film while debating who does a better Pacino impression. The humor is definitely British, with a lot of understated jokes and under-the-breath comments. Anyone who is a fan of the subtle humor of the original Office series will appreciate the blink-and-you'll-miss-it jokes.
With Tristram Shandy: Cock and Bull Story, Winterbottom has created a truly original homage to Sterne's novel. The film will please those that enjoyed Adaptation or A So Called Disaster. The inner world of the actors blends easily into the real film and gives us a lot of clever, improvised comedy. Anyone unfamiliar with the book will no doubt want to run out and see what the fuss is about, granted they don't get sidetracked first.
"Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story" opens January 27, 2006 and is rated R. Comedy. Directed by Michael Winterbottom. Written by Frank Cottrell Boyce, Lawrence Sterne (Novel). Starring Gillian Anderson, Jeremy Northam, Keeley Hawes, Naomie Harris, Rob Brydon, Shirley Henderson, Stephen Fry, Steve Coogan.
