I searched this film out at the LFF. I've seen all of Chris's other films including his short with David Shrigley. This for me was his best. He combines live action perfectly with animation to create an amazing child's mind scape. The film is warm, touching, funny, tough and as someone else said at the festival said "very human".
Billy and his Mum live next door to a bloke (Dennis) who clearly has something up with him. He spends his time knocking on the wall, driving his mum crazy. Mum and son think he's a retard. But Billy likes to torment him and hence Dennis's banging, you get the feeling that the situation has gone on years before the film begins. As Billy's antics get bigger so do Billy's own fears which are not too far behind. I'm not going to tell you what happens in the end. There are lots of laughs in here. Billy is very cheeky, like when he tells his mum that Dennis is shagging the gypsy in street. It's clear he likes to wind up his mum.
I've never seen a short film with so many mind blowing effects and tricks. It kept making me think - how did they do that? The 70's art direction was stunning. This is a exceptional film is well worth searching out.
