Woodenhead

28-year-old Kiwi Florian Habicht could be the bastard son of Béla Tarr and Guy Maddin if his talent weren't so uniquely original.

Woodenhead, New Zealand, 2003

Director/Producer/Screenplay: Florian Habicht
Production co: Pictures for Anna
Director of photography: Christopher Pryor
Editors: Florian Habicht, Christopher Pryor
Production manager: Prue Cunningham
Art director: Teresa Peters
Costumes: Georgie Hill
Soundtrack: Marc Chesterman
Music composed by Marc Chesterman
Vocals by Mardi Potter, Steve Abel and Warwick Broadhead
Lyrics: Florian Habicht

With: Nicholas Butler (Gert), Teresa Peters (Plum), Tony Bishop (Goerdel), Matthew Sunderland (Gustav), Warwick Broadhead (Hugo), David Hornblow (Tramp)

Voices: Steve Abel (Gert), Mardi Potter (Plum), Margaret Mary Hollins (Narrator), Lutz Halbhubner (Goerdel)

DVD, B&W, 90 minutes, M—Contains sex scenes

“28-year-old Kiwi Florian Habicht could be the bastard son of Béla Tarr and Guy Maddin if his talent weren't so uniquely original. His innovative film combines a wicked sense of humour and larger-than-life characters with lush, dream-like imagery. The memorable soundtrack was recorded before any visuals were shot, with the actors invited to improvise their parts around it, to disturbingly dreamlike results. Woodenhead is a striking experimental fairy tale which, unlike traditional bedtime stories, wears its perverted, bleeding heart on its sleeve. A visionary film sure to confound expectations of what cinema could or should be." — Commonwealth Film Festival, 2004

“The Woodenhead soundtrack weaves a story all on its own. Its weird and varied soundscapes amount to a beautiful range of sonic textures. If you are searching for something a little surprising but downbeat, this could be it. The film score is predominantly written by Marc Chesterman, an established sound technician and composer of film and theatrical audio accompaniment. He is joined by a variety of interesting and experienced performers. Cellist Edward Hanfling plays beautifully throughout, is reminiscent at times of Kim Hiorthay's wonderful album Hei, and is complemented by violinist Li Ming Hu on track four. ‘Goerdel’ gives us an intense drum and bass excursion, which seems to break the continuity a little. It imposes the eerie darker side of the film's soundtrack. In its own way Woodenhead can be considered a genuinely artistic soundtrack – and not merely a compilation of bands collected together to sell the movie – or provide excessive merchandise. The voice samples from the movie were the only extraneous element for me. My favourite, was a track called ‘Trumpet Song’ which features a rich meandering melody. But there was also the exceptional ‘Plum and Gert Duet’ – a sensuous love song – where Mardi Potter's vocals render a delicate melancholy. Older Wellington listeners may recognise Potter's singing from the days of the now defunct pop-band Beaker. The Woodenhead soundtrack would be lovely to play to your kids, or put on for an evening at home – because after the initial weirdness wears off – the 24 tracks meld into an endearing and beautiful narrative song cycle that provokes the imagination to fit a story to the music. — DC Holmes, The Package, September 2003

Screenings: Woodenhead screened on 17 October 2004 as part of a muscial programme selected by film writer Lawrence McDonald; on 8 August 2007 as part of the Desktop Cinema: 8 recent digital features programme