It's All Gone Pete Tong
It's All Gone Pete Tong is a 2004
fictional independent
biopic about
Frankie Wilde , a
DJ who goes completely deaf. The title is Cockney rhyming slang for "it's all gone wrong".
Several famous DJs appear in the film as "talking heads", giving the film a false sense of authenticity. Carl Cox,
Ti?sto, Sarah Main, Barry Ashworth,
Paul van Dyk, Lol Hammond, and
Pete Tong appear in the film.
Canadian comedian Mike Wilmot also appears in the film, as Frankie's agent.
Encyclopedia
It's All Gone Pete Tong is a 2004
fictional independent
biopic about
Frankie Wilde , a
DJ who goes completely deaf. The title is Cockney rhyming slang for "it's all gone wrong".
Several famous DJs appear in the film as "talking heads", giving the film a false sense of authenticity. Carl Cox,
Tiësto, Sarah Main, Barry Ashworth,
Paul van Dyk, Lol Hammond, and
Pete Tong appear in the film.
Canadian comedian Mike Wilmot also appears in the film, as Frankie's agent. He won a 2005 Canadian Comedy Award for the role.
The film was released on April 15, 2005. The DVD was released on September 20, 2005. In 2005, it won two awards at the US Comedy Arts Festival for Best Feature and Best Actor and swept the
Gen Art Film Festival awards . It was filmed on location in
Ibiza and shot entirely in
HD.
Plot
The film begins showing a dirty, hermit-like man living in a very dirty padded room. The film then cuts back to one year earlier, showing DJ Frankie Wilde at the height of his fame on the party island of
Ibiza. With a record contract in hand, he lives an opulent life performing at the hottest nightclubs and living in a gorgeous villa with his trophy wife Sonya. Sonya is a model that starred in his first music video , and they have a son King . Frankie's career is guided by egotistical super-agent Max Haggar.
Contemporary DJs validate Frankie's mastery of the turntable.
Paul van Dyk states, "Frankie was definitely one of the best. He had his very sort-of own style, his very own momentum with the crowd. I don’t think that anyone else did it his way." With fame, we also see him partaking in the traditional rock star lifestyle, complete with alcohol, drugs, and women. Frankie's drug addiction manifests itself, to Frankie, as a giant "Coke Badger".
Frankie begins noticing troubles with his hearing while watching a soccer match. Frankie is working on his next album, which appears to be greatly delayed. Helping him are his "two Austrian mates" Alfonse and Horst, who seem more suited for a metal band. Frankie continues working on his album and playing gigs at clubs, but his hearing begins to degrade rapidly. After a disastrous set of gigs, it's apparent to everyone, except Frankie, that he's going deaf. After playing another terrible set at a club one night, Max confronts Frankie. Frankie agrees to see a doctor, who tells him he's lost hearing in one ear and will lose hearing in the other, unless Frankie stops exposure to everything he loves dearly: loud music and drugs.
During a recording session with his Austrian mates, a guitar is smashed into an amplifier whose volume Frankie has maximized. Trying to listen to the speaker, the feedback knocks Frankie unconscious. The damage has left him permanently deaf. Without his hearing and without completion of the album, Frankie is abandoned by Max and Sonya. In a desperate attempt to regain his hearing, Frankie locks himself up in his house, which he "soundproofs", and ingests only fast food and drugs.
Frankie attempts suicide , only to realize that he wants to live. Frankie meets lip-reading instructor Penelope and learns to read lips. As his ability increases, so does the closeness of their relationship. Over time, Frankie discovers that he can understand music and sounds through sight and vibrations . Frankie mixes an album and delivers it to Max, who, after listening to it, is ecstatic. His joy is only increased by the newly found knowledge that Frankie is completely deaf.
Max convinces Frankie to play live at Pacha as a comeback for the spurned DJ. Frankie agrees, reluctantly. Frankie proves he can still mix and he's better than ever. After the show, Frankie and Penelope disappear. As the film ends, we see Frankie and Penelope, with baby, walking down a street, unrecognized.
Characters
Primary
- Frankie Wilde is the king of DJs, slowly losing his hearing, and soon to lose everything he thinks is important to him: his job, his fame and his trophy wife.
- Penelope is the deaf lip-reading instructor who gives Frankie the tough love he never had and always needed.
- Sonya is the supermodel turned wife of Frankie Wilde. Her days are filled with deciding on what theme is more appropriate for their garden: Japanese or Spanish?
- Max Haggar is Frankie's suger-agent. Fat, balding, and brash, Max is all about money and his cell phone is his lifeline.
- Jack Stoddart is the ruthless CEO of Motor Records who has no sympathy for Frankie. He says, "I didn’t want a deaf DJ on the label. I didn’t want the company to be touched with the deaf stamp. Well, business is tough and sometimes you have to make awkward decisions and I’ve made harder decisions than dropping the deaf DJ."
Secondary
- Eric Banning is the whimsical author of several biographies on Frankie Wilde.
- Alfonse is one of Frankie's "Austrian mates", half of the metal group Ladderhause.
- Horst is one of Frankie's "Austrian mates", half of the metal group Ladderhause.
- Dr. Lim is the doctor who diagnoses Frankie's deafness.
- DJ Blink is Frankie's friend who runs off with Sonya.
- King is Frankie and Sonya's son .
- Coke Badger is Frankie's personification of his drug addiction.
- Pete Tong
- Carl Cox
- Paul Van Dyk
- Sarah Main
- Tiësto
- Barry Ashworth
- Lol Hammond
- Charlie Chester
- Danny Whittle
Music
Soundtrack
- Al Sharp - The Beta Band
- Back to Basics - Shapeshifters
- Can You Hear Me Now - Double Funk feat. Paul Kaye
- Cloud Watch - Lol Hammond
- DJs in a Row - Schwab
- Flamenco
Flamenco is one of the great European nonacademic musical forms....
- Flamenco Ibiza
- Flashdance - Deep Dish
- Get On - Moguai
- Good Vibrations - The Beach Boys
- G-Spot - Lol Hammond
- Hear No Evil - Lol Hammond
- I Like It - Narcotic Thrust
- It's Over - The Beta Band
- Messa da Requiem - Riccardo Muti/La Scala Milan
- More Intensity - Pete Tong and Chris Cox
- Musak - Trisco
- Music For A Found Harmonium - The Penguin Café Orchestra
- Need To Feel Loved Reflekt
- Need To Feel Loved - Reflekt feat. Delline Bass
- Parlez-Moi D'Amour - Lucienne Boyer
...
2-Disc CD
CD 1
- Pacific State - 808 State
- Cloud Watch' - Lol Hammond
- Dry Pool Suicide - Graham Massey
- Moonlight Sonata - Graham Massey
- Baby Piano - Lol Hammond
- Ku Da Ta - Pete Tong
- Mirage - Moroccan Blonde
- Troubles - Beta Band
- Parlez Moi D'Amour - Lucienne Boyer
...
- Need To Feel Loved - Reflekt
- It's Over - Beta Band
- Halo - Depeche Mode
- How Does It Feel? - Afterlife
- Holdin' On - Ferry Corsten
- Four-Four-Four - Fragile State
- Music For A Found Harmonium - The Penguin Café Orchestra
- Learning to Lip-Read - Graham Massey
- Good Vibrations - The Beach Boys
- Interlude
- White Lines - Barefoot
...
CD 2
- Intro
- DJs in a Row - Schwab
- Flashdance - [[Deep Dish]]
- Good 2 Go - Juggernaut
- Rock That House Musiq - Christophe Monier and DJ Pascal present 'Impulsion'
- Blue Water - Black Rock
- Back to Basics - Shapeshifters
- Up & Down - Scent
- Serendipity
...
- Steve Mac &
Pete Tong Presents Lingua Frranca
- Plastic Dreams - Jaydee
- Rock Your Body Rock - Ferry Corsten
- Can You Hear Me Now - Double Funk feat. Paul Kaye
- Musak - Trisco
- Yimanya - Filterheadz
- Need To Feel Loved - Reflekt feat. Delline Bass
- More Intensity - Pete Tong and Chris Cox
- Frenetic - Orbital
DVD Extras
The U.S. version of the DVD includes 5.1 Dolby Digital, Subtitles, and includes several extras that were part of the online/Web marketing campaign:
Frankie Wilde: The Rise,
Frankie Wilde: The Fall, and
Frankie Wilde: The Redemption.
Trivia
- The Coke Badger is a nod, not just to the rabbit in Donnie Darko but to the fairy godmother in Wild at Heart.
- One of the line producers disappeared, presumably on a drug binge, during the shoot in Ibiza.
- The film was shot 1.77 on HD.
- The baby in the closing scenes is Paul Kaye's real baby.
- Frankie's doctor is the director Michael Dowse's real-life doctor S. C. Lim, playing the part of himself; this character/ doctor also appears in Dowse's film .
Quotes
- Frankie Wilde: Flip flop is to me perfection.
- Frankie Wilde: I can confidently say Ibiza is dot dot dot.
- Frankie Wilde: Maybe I should write a book. That might take years though, perhaps a pamphlet or brochure.
- Frankie Wilde: We're bending the sounds. I've been forging it. We've a lyrical smelter.
- Max Haggar: I think what he's trying to say is even though he feels that he has nothing to prove to you, he'd be happy to prove anything you want, to you.
Awards
Won
- Best Canadian Feature - Toronto International Film Festival - 2004
- Best Feature - US Comedy Arts Festival - 2005
- Best Actor - US Comedy Arts Festival - 2005
- Grand Jury Award - Gen Art Film Festival - 2005
- Audience Award - Gen Art Film Festival - 2005
- Best British Columbian Film - Vancouver Film Critics Circle - 2005
- Best Male Performer - Canadian Comedy Awards - 2005
- Best Overall Sound - Leo Awards - 2005
- Best Sound Editing - Leo Awards - 2005
- Best Feature-Length Drama - Leo Awards - 2005
Nominated
- Best Actor, Best Feature - Method Fest
- Best Achievement in Production - BIFA
- 8 Genie Awards
See also
External links
