Dr. Plonk

Dr. Plonk is a silent black and white comedy along the lines of Buster Keaton or Charlie Chaplin films. The story follows Dr. Plonk and his lazy drunken assistant Paulus, who in 1907 discover the world is going to end in the year 2008 and travel to the future to bring back proof when nobody believes them. For authenticity the film was shot with a hand crank camera using traditional techniques like under-cranking for the filming of chase sequences. While the film is entertaining, and features some fine acting (though the dog really steals the show in this department), what the film does most is remind everyone about how great and inimitable the masters like Keaton and Chaplin were. As an example, given a plot that brings a character from the year 1907 into the future to the year 2007, you'd think there would be some clever and unforgettable visual gags they could pull, poking fun at the absurdity of modern life. Instead, Plonk teleports into the future into such humdrum environments like abandoned warehouses and railway yards where the main gag is rather unimaginative Keystone cops type chase sequences. All in all it feels very much like a film school project, with a lot of homage to classic films, and very little genuine creativity.