Frank

Jon, a mediocre musician, joins a band on a keyboard by accident. Frank, who leads it, never takes off the enormous papier-mâché head, not to eat and not to shower. There is a real source. The English comedian Chris Sievey performed for years as Frank Sidebottom exactly like that. Co-writer Jon Ronson actually played in Sidebottom's band, which makes the Jon of the film the writer himself. Musically the character draws on Daniel Johnston, Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa. Michael Fassbender plays the whole part inside the head. Lenny Abrahamson said Fassbender was very comfortable in the mask and even enjoyed acting in it. The effect is strange: with no face available, all the feeling moves into the body and the voice. Made for 1 million dollars, it grossed 1.9 million worldwide. Rotten Tomatoes sits at 92 percent, and it won Best Screenplay at the British Independent Film Awards. Who it is for: viewers who want art and mental illness handled without romance. Who it is not for: anyone who came for comedy and cannot follow the tone as it darkens in the last half hour.