If you ever wondered what propelled the punk music explosion in Britain in 1977, you now have your answer: Aliens!
The inventive minds of director John Cameron Mitchell (“Shortbus,” “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,”) and writer Neil Gaiman spell it out for us in their wild new film, “How to Talk to Girls at Parties.”
When you hear a Nicole Kidman character say “Don’t you know that sex is over?” you feel we are in uncharted territory.
In one sense, the film is a conventional love story: London boy Enn (Alex Sharp) and his lads happen onto a party in a strange house and Enn falls for alien girl Zan (Elle Fanning) who yearns to “do punk”. She begs, “I feel this body is dying, yet make it alive!”
Her “colony” gives her 48 hours of freedom and we are off, with her, into a strange, new world.
That aliens in tight, vinyl suits can wander 70’s London streets and hang out in a fast-food joint without much notice makes you realize they were odd times indeed.
The aliens can “ride” human bodies and speak in their own voices at will: who is on which team? What is a dream and what is “real”: just the pleasant confusion of this scattershot story going in every direction at once.
Near the end of the closing credits, we are assured that “no aliens were harmed in the production of this film.” Given the preceding action, that’s good to know.
It will be showing through June 14th. Tickets available on this site!
