Truly, Mustang Bull Frog! In November 1970, a group of 200 members of the Bomont Youth Club in Leighton threw tomatoes at Princess Anne, because she preferred to visit Sir Lawrence Olivier’s Three Sisters instead of the London premiere of Bronco Bullfrog. A week later, she still decided to get acquainted with the first creation of the 25-year-old director, after which the lead actor Sam Shepherd was arrested by the police for trying (according to him) to kiss the princess’ hand.
Shot in the blessed 1969 for almost the cost of a used scooter, this film earned such epithets as "masterpiece" and "mod poem." To buy the original poster today, you will have to shell out an impressive amount. Although if you are satisfied with the reproduction of the iconic shoe, the director of the film Barney Platts-Mills will sell it to you over the Internet. Judging by the same rumors, for £8 including postage.
Barney Platts-Mills entered the film industry in 1960 as the third assistant editor of Shepperton Studios, and worked, among other things, on Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus. However, it is not the scale of peplums that will take possession of it... The charm of the Italian neorealism of the 40s and the essay “Cinema Believe” of the 50s will inspire him to make a documentary about improvisational theater workshops. This fact interested us primarily by the fact that it was there, in the workshops, the director was prompted by the idea of a future debut, which later will receive rave reviews, an award in Cannes and the Writers Guild award.
Four young men in heavy shoes rob a local diner. Of the loot, only ninepence and a box of cookies. In despondency, they go to their hideout in the wasteland, where during the conversation it turns out that Joe, nicknamed Bronco Bullfrog, has returned from a juvenile colony. Del and Ray (two of our friends) go looking for him, so that they can participate in a larger event together, the Train Robbery (although peacefully standing on the tracks). Meanwhile, Del meets Irene (a friend’s cousin) and they begin a love affair despite their parents’ disapproval. And there will be problems in the family and with the law.
This is a fascinating timeline of the lives of ordinary young people of phenomenal authenticity! And with the wonderful soundtrack of the British rock band Audience in addition. All this (in reverse projection) is quite similar to the work of Jim Jarmusch. The main characters were played by non-professional actors - real guys from the East End, the most disadvantaged area of London. As Sam Shepherd later says: “An honest film with a crooked game and crooked actors.” We were all like that in those days. Just turn your back and we'll whistle the camera.” The tape acquired a cult status in some circles due to the display of Swaydheads (this light version of skinheads) in their usual, so to speak, habitat. And it was the impetus for the development of this subculture.
After its premiere, "Bronco Bullfrog" was perceived by critics as a breath of fresh air, but its distributors were not given to understand what to do with it - first they wanted to rename it, then they decided to simply bury it. As a result, after the release in cinemas, the film was shown on British television only twice. In the mid-80s, the original negative, found by a film laboratory employee in a garbage can, was placed in the archive. Now it is in the collection Martin Scorsese in honorable place. Probably because of all this unfortunate situation, Barney Platts-Mill once said: It was a lie then, and it remains now. Movies are just a way to showcase Tom Cruise's underpants.
Already today, valiant moralists have tightened the censorship of the Bronco Bullfrog on some mythical three points, for they saw in the frame a miraculously flashed obscene word “cunt”. It is believed that this is the first appearance of indecent graffiti in the history of cinema.
In conclusion, let me quote an extremely apt description of the picture: "A rare example of British social realism, capable of conveying life in all its roughness and spontaneity, rudeness and sensuality." You can't say better.
10 out of 10