Brothers of the Head (2006)

Brothers of the Head is an adeptly made and consistently fascinating fictional rock documentary. The word "mock" doesn't really apply, as the filmmakers clearly venerate both the cinematic form and the music. The power of the film's proto-punk performance scenes, and the convincingly chaotic, off-the-cuff way in which they're captured, goes a long way toward selling the film's bizarre story of the Bang Bang, a 1970s rock band fronted by conjoined twins, Barry (Luke Treadaway) and Tom Howe (Harry Treadaway). The film opens cannily, with a gothic clip from a (purely fictional, but wholly convincing) unfinished Ken Russell film about the brothers, "Two-Way Romeo," and an interview with the director about what drew him to their story (the theme of "innocence exploited"). This naturally sets the stage for writer/directors Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe to tell the "real" story of the Howe brothers and their tragic journey from sheltered shut-ins to decadent budding rock stars. If the bones of the tale are a bit familiar, it's intriguingly fleshed out with the specificity of the brothers' personalities (excellent performances from the young leads as the charismatically petulant Barry and the introverted, creative Tom) and a very well-rendered simulation of both the mid-'70s British pub-rock scene, and the vérité style of documentary filmmaking popularized during that era. The film even has its own "Altamont" moment, which is perhaps the one moment where the filmmakers seem to wink a bit too blatantly at their audience. Beyond that, it has a great soundtrack (mostly composed by Clive Langer) and a surfeit of period atmosphere. Brothers of the Head is engagingly weird, and despite outlandish subject matter that might lend itself to something more lurid or camp, it treats its characters and their story with refreshing restraint and seriousness. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide