Mister Lonely – 2007 director Harmony Korine Diego
Luna plays “Michael Jackson”, an impersonator living in Paris, just scraping by and living a very solitary life by performing for spare change and the occasional gig at an old folks home. At one such gig, he meets “Marilyn Monroe” (Samantha Morton), and she tells him of a commune made up of people just like them, which is in a remote area of Scotland. Since “Michael” hasn’t got much better to do, he agrees to go live with them, since they don’t have a Michael yet.
Now, Marilyn is married to Charlie Chaplin (who apparently used to be Buster Keaton) and they have a daughter, Shirley Temple. Also living in the commune are a foul-mouthed Abe Lincoln, The Three Stooges, Queen Elizabeth, The Pope, Madonna, Sammy David Junior, James Dean, and even…Buckwheat. There’s also Little Red Riding Hood (played by Korine’s wife) but that doesn’t really seem to fit as I wasn’t aware Little Red Riding Hood was ever a real person, but in this film, that doesn’t matter much.
You would think with that sort of premise & the cast that this would be some kind of goofy comedy and these people would be presented as “freaks”. They’re not. These people have such a passion for what they’re doing that they’ve “become” these people, in their minds, and they’re among friends with the same mindset.
Of course, these people go through trials and tribulations of life just like anyone else. There’s jealousy, there’s sadness, and there’s tragedy as the commune’s sheep have to be killed off because of disease. And of course, there’s the Three Stooges, with rifles, doing what needs to be done with grim faces.
The commune decides to build a stage and a performing hall and invite the locals to “The Greatest Show On Earth” where they all perform as their alter-egos, and while the cast is certainly enthusiastic about their production, the locals aren’t, and attendance is sparse. Then tragedy strikes as one of the members takes their own life, after which Michael decides to return to his old life in Paris.
Interspersed with the commune’s story (and seemingly unrelated to anything else) are some segments of a priest (played by director Werner Herzog) who seems to have found a miracle while flying his small private plane over a remote area dropping food, and by accident, a nun. The nun miraculously survives her fall from the plane so Herzog begins to take more nuns up to “stunt dive” and they all survive. This gains him and this particular order of nuns an audience with The Pope (the real one) and the film ends on an incredibly ironic note with the outcome of their journey.
Interesting casting choices in this film too, as there are two members of the cast from “Performance” (1970) playing The Pope (James Fox) and The Queen (Anita Pallenberg, former “Rolling Stones” girlfriend).
This is not a film for everyone but it is quite a departure from Korine’s earlier films (Julien Donkey Boy & Gummo). It’s incredibly strange, beautiful, and even a bit touching, and after you’ve watched it you’ll either wonder why or you’ll marvel at its oddness.