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He Died with a Felafel in His Hand (2001) More at IMDbPro »

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38 comments in total

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12 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
Felafel rolls up housesharing, 17 March 2002
Author: Philby-3 from Sydney, Australia

Putting John Burningham's best-selling but episodic reminiscences of house-sharing into a watchable feature film was quite a challenge, but a veteran house-sharer, Richard Lowenstein (`Dogs in Space'), succeeds here by having several of the more interesting and bizarre characters follow the narrator (Noah Taylor) from city to city. The felafel, in fact, a throwaway line in the book, is given centre stage, and the result is a well-focused tale of the horrors of house-sharing – it's the `Secret Life of Us' meets `Romper Stomper'.

Noah Taylor is one of those actors who cannot fail if given a goofy role, and here he is perfect as Danny, the aspiring writer roughing it with a collection of druggies, minor criminals, aspiring sorceresses and actors, while trying to evade his creditors and write a prize-winning story for `Penthouse'. Allegedly irresistible to women, he fails badly with his female housemates. As one of them says, incredulously: `Have an affair with you? I'm not a masochist!'

Romane Bohringer gives another strong performance as Anya, a sort of social bomb-thrower with a taste for Druid ritual, who puts any place she joins into an uproar in no time. Then there is Taylor the mad drunk (Alex Menglet), Flip the junkie (a touching performance from Brett Stewart), Nina the terminally vain soap actor (Sophie Lee hopefully not as herself) Iain the doctrinaire socialist (Ian Hughes in Melbourne of course) and Dirk the emerging homosexual (Francis McMahon), amongst others. Some of the landlord's agents do not lack colour either eg Linal Haft's rent collector as gangster in Brisbane.

All these characters are somehow accommodated in the story, though an early peak (the great bikie party in the Brisbane house) is followed by rather a flat period in Melbourne. Once the circus reaches Sydney, however, things pick up again – perhaps it's the more effervescent air.

The tropical squalor of the first house, a battered `Queenslander,' reminded me a little of `Praise', a vastly different film in tone, but Danny is not necessarily one of life's defeated, though it seems like that sometimes. This movie has a decidedly upbeat tone; the last place might have been pretty rugged, bet there's always the hope of something more salubrious, or at least of more congenial flatmates. No doubt admirers of the book will take offence at what has been left out, but Lowenstein should be given credit for giving it a cinematic context.

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9 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
Don't judge a book by it's cover, 12 August 2003

Author: KH_11_NZ from Christchurch, NZ

This film is a perfect example of the old saying not to judge a book by its cover. Here in NZ the DVD cover is a shot of him underwater with cigarette smoke hazing it over a little which looks uncannily like his head is in a toilet bowl. Out of pure curiosity I finally ventured up enough courage to take the 'plunge' and rented it out. What I found pleasantly surprised me. The dialogue is actually quite witty and sharp at times. What really makes this film tick however is the characters. They are from all walks of life covering a multitude of nationalities, much like a real flatting / boarding situation is. Noah Taylor plays his part as a washed out and uninspired writer named Danny down to pat even though I think he must have the least amount of dialogue in the film. Emily Hamilton plays Sam, a young and somewhat naive girl who, like most young people, hasn't totally decided what to do with her life. I found her performance to be quite convincing and not contrived or overacted like some performances can be in these types of low budget art films.

Romane Bohringer plays a spooky role as a pagan who takes her religion very seriously at times (The scene where she convinces one of her brainless flatmates to be a 'sacrificial lamb' upon a burning stake is hilarious) Her performances are also above average and generally tend to give the viewer the impression she is a witch bent on injecting chaos into any given domestic situation. Alex Minglet is perfectly casted as Taylor, a serious drinker who enjoys dressing up in commando gear and playing golf with frogs. His antics had me in stitches whenever he appeared on screen. There are other brilliant little support performances by Haskel Daniel as 'Jabber the Hut' who controls (and worships) the television set and Francis McMahon who plays Dirk who is having troubles coming out of the 'closet'. Also look out for some weird European dude who only says two lines during the film, "They are very, very fit." - Oddball stuff but makes for good humour, especially if you are a person who has been flatting at one time or another. This film isn't just about laughs however. Ideas and themes of friendship and new beginnings are put across quite seamlessly into the plot as Danny experiences a rite of passage which takes him from being stuck in the past to looking forward to the future and leaving the mess (which follows him from flat to flat during the film) well behind. Brett Stewart plays a heroin junkie named Flip who is trying to get ahead in life but finds himself caught in a ever increasing downward spiral of drug intake. I feel this film touches upon the issue of hard drug addiction quite well as you can visibly see what it is slowly doing to Flip. The film is set in Australia and is in my personal opinion one of the best films to emerge from there in a while. The soundtrack is complimentary and the ending will leave you with a smile on your face. I recommend this film to anyone who has a taste for small budget arty type films and can enjoy a little bit of black humour with their vegemite on toast in the morning. 7/10

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7 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Great, but best for the Aussies, 31 March 2005

Author: from Australia

A great Aussie film successfully continuing the tradition of character based humour that made shows such as the BBC's 'The Young Ones' so successful. The protagonist's frequent housing changes and philosophical musings are entertaining and while there isn't so much as an overall plot to tie it all together, you are absorbed by the gripping personalities of the characters. The film contains every sort of bizarre and twisted personality imaginable and flaunts them in a parade of pagan rituals, drug abuse, vaguely criminal activity and postmodern angst. However much of the humour relies on an understanding of Australian stereotypes and only viewers who are able to connect Queensland with cane toads and right wing military nut jobs, Melbourne with gangland crime and dodgy police, and Sydney with anal retentives, will appreciate the farcical situations that arise.

Not nearly as gritty as 'Trainspotting' but if the bizarre lives and apathetic self discovery of that appealed to you then you'll probably appreciate 'He Died with a Felafel in His Hand' as well. Not for people who aren't prepared to accept subtlety in films.

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6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Excellent, but not to everyones tastes, 18 September 2001
Author: David Dreimann from Melbourne

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.

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
So true, 9 September 2001

Author: techcon (yoga@ski.com.au) from Brisbane, Australia

If you have ever lived in a share house then I reckon you'll immediately appreciate this movie.

I think Noah Taylor did a brilliant job in this movie, we need more like it. The director (Richard Lowenstein) did a great job of not making Noah look like Nick Cave, too much! I also loved the sound track to this movie..who would think of using Dr Who sound track in their movie...very funny.

Overall this movie from start to finish was very entertaining, almost a laugh a minute. All up a fantastic movie.

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4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
An excellent Australian Film, 10 March 2002
Author: goodfellas_69 from Australia

I can't understand why everyone here on imdb is bagging this film...I found it to be a thoroughly original and refreshing piece of australian cinema. i can't make any comparisons between it and the book as I am not familiar with the book, but the only advice I can give is that you should see this film.

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
great film, 11 October 2005

Author: pendelton_the_cook from Australia

i am an Australian and am a fan of Australian films and 'he died with a felafel in his hand' is by no means a let down. few films leave me in the state which this film did, the first time i saw it was on commercial television and missed the first half hour, didn't really intend on watching the whole movie but by the end i couldn't understand why i felt so moved by this film. i hired it the next day, after watching it all the way through, at the end i still had the same feeling as i did the night before, i thought Noah Taylor was great as was Emily Hamilton,but also the minor characters, flip and all the other house mates Danny had stayed with added both depth and comic relief to the film.

if your thinking of seeing this movie i highly suggest you do, I've recommended this to all my friends, I'm a teenager so to get a group of pubescent teenagers through a movie with no college humor or breasts must mean the film has something going for it which appeals to audiences.

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Bizarre, quirky but brilliant, 10 July 2005

Author: hobbitsinskirts from Australia

I have to say I approached this movie with some dubiousness as I had read the book, which had no plot whatsoever, and was unsure how they were going to turn it into a film, but I found myself really enjoying this movie. Readers of the book will recognise many, many characters amalgamated into a few central ones. Basically this movie is about Danny, an aspiring writer who has lived in 49 different houses with an assortment of dead-beats, moontanners, lesbians, Satan-worshippers, neurotics, etc., etc., their antics and tangled relationships. As far as acting is concerned, Noah Taylor takes the bored, lifeless facial expression to new heights. Despite the lack of plot this was a very easy and enjoyable movie to watch, although it put me off share-housing for life. I would recommend this to any movie-goer looking for something different and original with personality.

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
A fine film from Australia, 14 October 2003
Author: craigkiwinz from New Zealand

I certainly enjoyed this inventive and unique piece of Australian moviemaking. I think that it was extremely well put together piece of film. I was always in pain from laughing so much. When the scene with the skinheads with the chainsaws happened I almost swallowed my Coke can !!! I must also compliment the casting director as the cast was certainly very well matched to their roles and made this film a pleasure to watch. I have been in the film industry ten years myself and would feel very proud to have been involved in such a production. My favorite character Was the African redneck, a brilliant and hilarious performance. Miss Hamilton is an outstanding actress with a huge future. Along side her alluring beauty is a marvelously dedicated and intelligent actress, I thought Miss Hamilton made the film so much the better. Congraduations to the crew and artists for producing one of the ten best films I have ever seen. And you go Miss Hamilton, you have everything it takes to go as far as it gets.

Craig Wilson

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4 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
excellent adaption, 14 December 2004
Author: (anics_32@hotmail.com) from australia

this film stands out as one of the best films i have seen. i saw it recently on DVD at my brothers place when he demanded i watch it. i was very surprised at the film i was presented with. i had seen the reviews when it came out, and was not very drawn to it, but i borrowed the DVD and watched it again. i intend to watch it as it is being screened this Saturday, 18th of December, 2004, on channel nine. i was very impressed. the lack of physical expression from danny did not stop him from conveying all his thoughts, either in the dialog or his subtle actions. even if you are doubtful this film is an excellent example of the produce of Australian men and women.

8.5/10

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