BAD BOY BUBBY (1993) - ♦♦♦♦

Directed by - Rolf de Heer

Written by - Rolf de Heer

Starring - Nicholas Hope

"A 35-year-old man who was locked inside a tenement house by his mother, who used him for sex, steps outside for the first time. 

Bad Boy Bubby is so strange, bizarre and gritty that it could be considered the controversial Australian rendition of Forrest Gump. Filmmaker Rolf de Heer is not afraid to utilise the aforementioned gritty approach to the point of making his film seem fearlessly repellent. 

Nevertheless, despite the strange nature of the movie, it never seems to be exploitational - in other words it never appears to take advantage of its obviously vulnerable character and somehow manages to make his development seem quite genuine by restraining the tastelessness despite its obvious constant provocations. 

Bad Boy Bubby is a view on the corrupt modern world through the scarred eyes of the naive leading character, who faces it for the first time. As such, it exists on two dimensions - a narrative one and a more metaphorical one. Occasionally, the film can seem overtly cold and distant, but there is no doubting its fascinating dark, decadent and sometimes shamelessly awkward appeal."

Drama, Australia/Italy