dogs in space

Dirty. Squalid. Boring. These are three words I would use to sum up 'cult' film 'Dogs in Space'. I picked up this 'hidden treat' on video at a record store for a few bucks once after hearing someone talk it up as 'amateurish but fun'. I guess that would be an accurate description if you were feeling generous. I'm not really feeling generous.

Dogs in Space are a late 70s punk band from Melbourne, Australia, fronted by Sam, some kind of retard (played by Michael Hutchence, really badly). I'm not sure if Sam is meant to be a retard but this is certainly what he comes across as at times. Sure, he can sing and perform as the energetic and entertaining frontman for the band, but when he's not doing that he seems to just crawl around making childlike and monosybillic requests for drugs and sex. On paper, it sounds like a realistic portrayal of a single-minded 'punk', on film - with Hutchence's dubious acting talent - it just comes across as a pisspoor performance.

The plot... what there is of it... revolves around the house that the band lives in and Sam's relationship with some girl. There's heroin and parties and stuff getting trashed but not much really happens. The ending of the film tries to be bittersweet and poignant (I can guess this from the very un-punk song that Sam performs) but it doesn't count for fuckall when so much of the film beforehand is mindless trash.

I guess there's a kind of fun to be had, if you can stomach one or two hours of plotless screaming, vomiting and partying. One of my favourite bits would have to be when one of the female characters shouts out 'Oi, cuntface!' It's delicate wit is indicative of most of the film and became a catchphrase in the house I used to live in. Most of the characters are fairly unsympathetic and the messages the filmmakers try to convey (eg. Sam being a poseur) are lost amongst all the amuteurism. There are a few funny moments but low production values make them hard to spot.

Watch it if you're bored, or a Hutchence fan, or like punk. It's meant to be a semi-autobiographical account of the late 70s post-punk Melbourne band 'The Ears' (whoever they are) and, if I have to say one positive thing about it, I must admit that it is probably a fairly realistic account of life at that time in that subculture.

TRIVIA: Director Richard Lowenstein is better known for directing videos for U2 and INXS. He also made 'He Died With a Felefal in His Hand' (a very good film) and co-produced John Safran's recent and acclaimed SBS series', 'John Safran's Musical Jamboree' and 'John Safran Vs. God'.

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