He Died with a Felafel in His Hand (2001)

Director:

Richard Lowenstein

Writers:

John Birmingham (novel)
Richard Lowenstein (written by)

Release Date:

30 August 2001 (Australia)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Some people will do anything to get out of paying the rent

Plot:

A nightmare chase through hell in a never-ending, unrequited daisy chain of desire...

Plot Keywords:

Independent Film | Based On Novel

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Noah Taylor	...	Danny
Emily Hamilton	...	Sam
Romane Bohringer	...	Anya
Alex Menglet	...	Taylor
Brett Stewart	...	Flip
Damian Walshe-Howling	...	Milo
Sophie Lee	...	Nina
Francis McMahon	...	Dirk
Ian Hughes	...	Iain the Socialist
Robert Rimmer	...	Derek the Bank Clerk
Sayuri Tanoue	...	Satomi Tiger
Linal Haft	...	Brisbane Goon 1
Nathan Kotzur	...	Brisbane Goon 2
Haskel Daniel	...	Jabber
Skye Wansey	...	Detective O'Neil

Also Known As:

E morì con un felafel in mano (Italy)

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

Australia | Italy

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Hungary:16 | USA:Not Rated | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA

Filming Locations:

2 Taylor Street, Annerley, Queensland, Australia

Company:

Fandango

Trivia:

The opening line of the credits reads 'For Michael 1960 -1997', referring to Michael Hutchence, a close friend of director Lowenstein.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the scene with Dirk and Nina arguing over the pineapple chunks, the label on the can changes from shot to shot, from "pineapple pieces" to "sliced pineapple". Neither can contains "pineapple chunks" as said in the dialogue.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Danny: Flip, turn the fucking TV off! People are trying to sleep.
[Flip does not respond]
Danny: Flip, have some fucking consideration.
[Danny turns the TV off]
Danny: For Christ's sake, Flip... Flipster? Oh, shit. Shit! Fuck!

Movie Connections:

References Chung Hing sam lam (1994)

Soundtrack:

La Valse

Excellent, but not to everyones tastes

I found Felafel enthraling. There was something about the film that sucked me into another world and made me want to stay. Noah's portrayal of Danny was great, and his performance along with some clever directing and great writing really carried this film. Its not the book. I don't see how it could be. The subtlety of this piece is amazing, its not overly dramatic, but there was something somehow that shines through, you know just what is going on in the hearts and minds of the characters. The dialouge is awesome, everyone spoke outloud about there own problems, and nobody did more than half listen. The soundtrack kicked arse. Emily Hamilton was most sexy. My only critism was of Sophie Lee who's performance of a rambling drama queen was dismal and really detracted from the film. Until she appear on the screen no matter how zany or stereotypical a character may have been, they were all delightfully human. Sophie unfortunately was nothing more than a poor satire, her performance may suit non-natrualistic comedy, but here she makes a potentially great character a boring tacky cliche.

Not everyone I know has liked this film, in fact its had a really mixed response amoungst my peers. Some have loved it others didn't get it. If you don't need everything spelt out for you and can apriciate black humour and nick cave you'll be in heaven, otherwise you might want to hire the Castle out on video instead.