BAD BOY BUBBY (1993) (Umbrella Blu-ray Review)

BAD BOY BUBBY (1993)

Label: Umbrella Entertainment
Region Code: Region-FREE
Rating: R
Duration: 114 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 and 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Director: Rolf De Heer
Cast: Carmel Johnson, Clare Benito, Nicholas Hope, Ralph Cotterill

Bad Boy Bubby (1993) is a weird one, the demented story of a 35 year-old man named Bubby (Nicholas Hope, Henry Fool) who has been confined to a slum apartment for his whole life, never having ventured outside because his Mam (Claire Benito) has brainwashed him into believing that outside of the apartment the air is poisoned, and to reinforce that belief she wears a gas mask whenever she leaves the apartment. It's a strange life for Bubby, who we discover that despite being an adult has a stunted childlike persona, his only form of communication seems to be a Tourette's like form of mimicry, randomly regurgitating things his mother has screamed at him through the years. Mam's a harsh, disgusting woman who not only  beats him, but she also sexually abuses him, using him for her own incestual sexual pleasure. 

Bubby's worldview is shaken one day by the arrival of a shabby looking man who comes knocking at the door, who turns out to be his biological father, Pop (Ralph Cotterill, Howling III: The Marsupials), who never even knew he has a child. Pop is a slimy, alcoholic priest who want's back into Mam's life, and back into her bed as well. With the arrival of Pop, Bubby begins to have jealous thoughts, especially when Pop begins to share his mother's bed, which was formerly his place. As Bubby begins to realize that the outside world is not poisoned he manages to free himself from the grip of his mother with help from a roll of plastic clingwrap, and begins a strange odyssey into the outside world. 

On the streets he encounters all manner of people as he is overwhelmed by so many completely new experiences. Interestingly one of his first encounters is with a lusty young woman from the Salvation Army who gives him his first taste of pizza, a shave, and then beds him in short order. Eventually he meets and falls in love with a kind, big-busted, nurse from a children's hospital named Angel (Carmel Johnson, The Babadook), and he becomes the star attraction in a rock band. He also encounters other more inhospitable characters, like a rapey jail guard and people who are offended by his strange and stilted behaviors. It's interesting how he manages to get by regurgitating the often vulgar phrases he learned from Mam and Pop, as well as new colorful phrases he acquires while on the streets.    

In a weird way the film features many exploitative elements but never feels viscerally exploitative, particularly when Bubby is the one committing the offense, as he is merely mimicking the bad behavior and language of his parents while attempting to find normalcy in this new world. Even when he suffocates a cat with clingwrap it is done out of a warped curiosity based on a lie his mother told him about how cat's can survive outside because they do not need to breathe, a lie which also leads to his parent's demise as a matter of fact.  

More often than not it is Bubby who is being exploited, be it for sex or for spectacle, and Nicholas Hope does fine work as the idiot-savant on a strange odyssey. It's a complex role, and he manages to make what could have been a thoroughly unlikable character into someone who we are rooting for to find happiness of some sort. 

It's a weird one for sure, and it's hard to describe, but that it works at all is a credit to director Rolf De Heer and actor Nicholas Hope, who have crafted a disturbing and curious bit of movie-making with Bad Boy Bubby. 

Audio/Video: Bad Boy Bubby (1993) arrives on region-free Blu-ray from Umbrella Entertainment who bring the film to Blu-ray with a new 2K restoration of the interpositive framed in 2.35:1 widescreen. This is not a 1080p presentation with a lot of wow-factor, it's a dingy looking film by design, particularly the first third of the film set inside a dark, squalid apartment. Things improve once the titular Bubby frees himself and embarks upon his adventure into the outside world. Also making this an inconsistent viewing is the fact that there are thirty-two cinematographers on the film, a different lenser for each segment, and the aesthetic, lighting and style shifts accordingly, but I also found this decision to be very fitting for this particular film. The colors are solid if a bit muted, and blacks are decent but not great, again it shifts with the revolving cinematographers, but is never problematic. The source is in very good shape, the opening credits showcase a bit of light damage, but otherwise the only thing of note are occasional white specks and cigarette burns. 

Audio comes by way of both English DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo and 5.1 surround with optional English subtitles. The sound of the film was partially captured using a weird binaural recording rig that was attached to each side of Nicholas Hope's head under his wig, meant to capture the sounds the way that the character would actually hear it. It makes for an odd mix for the audio, sometimes sounding distorted and not emanating from where you might expect it to, which is slightly off-putting, but in an appropriate way. 

Extras kick-off with a laid back commentary from Director Rolf de Heer & Star Nicholas Hope. It's pretty chill but covers a lot of ground, a lot of which is repeated in the video interviews on the disc. 

Archival interviews begin with Christ Kid, You’re a Weirdo, a 25-minute interview with director Rolf de Heer who talks about the strange genesis of the film, writing it for over ten years, financing it, casting Hope, and is original intent for the aspect ratio of the opening segment, and the death row ending that almost was. 

Up next is Being Bubby - Interview with Nicholas Hope who gets into his early career, the short film Confessor Caressor, and how he approached the strange character. We also get the 27-minute Popcorn Taxi Q&A with Nicholas Hope, an audio-only, 31-minute 25th Anniversary Q&A with Nicholas Hope & Natalie Carr, plus a 20-minute Confessor Caressor starring Hope that makes for an interesting companion piece for the main feature. The disc is buttoned-up with a 6-minutes of trailers for Dingo, Bad Boy Bubby, and The Tracker, and a 2-minute Stills Gallery. 

The single disc release arrives in an an oversized Criterion-style clear keepcase with a dual-sided sleeve of artwork featuring a new illustration by Umbrella's Simon Sherry  that nicely captures the dinge and derangement of the character. It is not reversible but the flipside does feature some images from the film. This is released as part of the Beyond Genres line-up and includes a sharp-looking slipcase with the same key artwork integrated into it, the disc itself also features the same illustration. Both the wrap and the slipcover are numbered, this being number seven in the series.  

Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Director Rolf de Heer & Star Nicholas Hope
- Christ Kid, You’re a Weirdo - Interview with Rolf de Heer (25 min) 
- Being Bubby - Interview with Nicholas Hope (15 min) 
- Popcorn Taxi Q&A with Nicholas Hope  (27 min) 
- 25th Anniversary Q&A with Nicholas Hope & Natalie Carr (31 min) 
- Confessor Caressor - Short Film (20 min) 
- Stills Gallery (2 min) 

- Trailers: Dingo, Bad Boy Bubby, The Tracker (6 min)
- Binaural Headphone Recording

Bad Boy Bubby (1993) might be the weirdest of the Beyond Genres line-up so far, and that's saying something. This won't be a movie for all tastes but if you like your cinema weird, off-kilter and strangely uplifting this might be for you. Bad Boy Bubby gets a fantastic release from Umbrella who offers up an extras-stuffed releases and attractive packaging, making this demented slice of outsider cinema very desirable. 

Screenshots from the Blu-ray:  

Extras: