‘My tummy is a washing machine…’
Brian Gittins is the alter ego of British comedian David Earl. He has popped up in much of Ricky Gervais’ work as well as his own projects. The character is defined by his crudeness but also by his extreme loneliness. Brian and Charles dials down the former to focus on the latter and in doing so eclipses anything that Earl has made with Gervais…
Brian (Earl) is an eccentric inventor who lives in a small village in Wales. One day he decides to make a robot out of bits of junk in his garage and eventually, he rustles up Charles (Chris Hayward – who co-wrote the screenplay along with Earl). At first, it appears that Brian has finally found someone to talk to outside of short exchanges with a kindly local woman (Louise Brealey) but Charles soon starts to act out.
Obviously, considering the subject matter, Brian and Charles is an odd film. But it’s also a strangely beautiful film. Shot as a faux documentary with Earl often speaking directly to the camera (the conceit is never acknowledged by anyone else which suggests the ‘camera crew’ could be a figment of Brian’s overactive imagination), Jim Archer’s film treats Brian with warmth and sympathy, even when we are laughing at him. The film has much to say about male loneliness and how that often manifests in obsessive hobbies and hoarding and it also marks Earl’s finest performance in the Brian Gitten role.
Brian and Charles is a unique and surprising film that has a big heart and a lot of silly jokes – a genuinely lovely film.
