Search The Archive
Noah Taylor plays Danny, a neurotic now living in his 47th share house. He wants desperately to be a writer on the level of Dostoevski but can't get past obsessing over the reasons why his girlfriend dumped him over six months before. To Danny, life is one giant jigsaw puzzle where the meaning of existence is commonly pondered, in amongst constant episodes of the plain bizarre that arise when trapped in a house with a series of complete strangers.
We pick Danny up in the tropical testosterone riddled environment of Brisbane, living with an over abundance of males and one tomboyish girl Sam (Emily Hamilton). The arrival of Anya (French actress Romane Bohnnger) and a Miami Vice style rental dilemma throw both life and ultimately the house they live in, completely off track.
Fast forward to house number 48 in Melbourne where rain and sleet go with the existential theme. Danny finds himself in a Kafkaesque nightmare that reflects the character of the city, with a pair of philosophising detectives and a hard core collection of drop kick followers, who discover that in Victoria, police tend to shoot to kill. House 49, Danny comes in contact with a Melrose Place on acid scenario. Director Richard Lowenstem takes us through the seemingly locked and irresolvable love triangle between three people who are doomed to chase each other through hell in a never-ending unrequited daisy chain of desire.
"Capturing the anarchic, reign-of-chaos comic spirit of writer John Birmingham's popular 1994 novel. He Died With A Felafet In His Hand depicts a generation approaching 30 and struggling to make its mark on the world with little sense of commitment or focus. . . a carouse! ride of bizarre characters and out-of control situations,"—Variety