Pete Who?
(Photographs by Mark Rishaug)

Let me try to explain this the best I can. The movie's called It's All Gone Pete Tong. There's an actual Disc Jockey named Pete Tong. But this movie's about a DJ named Frankie Wilde who eventually loses his hearing. So I could've been called "It's All Gone Frankie Wilde". But It's All Gone Pete Tong is also slang for it's all gone wrong, at least in Britain. In Canada we'd probably just say it's FUBAR. Which was director Michael Dowse's previous work, an ode to headbangers and their rather strange lifestyle. I think. This whole paragraph is kinda going all Pete Tong on me. My bad, I meant to say FUBAR.

Michael Dowse, the much-ballyhooed director is something of a local legend, a local boy made good. He was a struggling member of the Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers (CSIF), which sponsored the Alberta premiere of Pete Tong, when he made FUBAR and edited in at CSIF. FUBAR has developed somewhat of a cult following which is just right cause it's a cult movie in the making. Dowse's second feature has already opened on 350 screens in the United Kingdom, where thousands of young Britons make their annual pilgrimage to Ibiza each year to engage in year-round spring break debauchery. They love their soap covered clubs and their fast, hard, and sonically gifted DJs. This is how we're introduced to Frankie Wilde.

Frankie Wilde is the best, as all lead characters in every movie must be (truthfully, the worst works just as well, it's the extreme ascension or declension that lends the struggle credence). That is until he loses his hearing due to really, really loud music being blasted into his brain all the time. Thus begins his big slide into drugs, actually even more drugs, he did a ton when he was at the top of his game, too. One character accurately describes Mr. Wilde: "Denial is a river that runs deep in Frankie". How true. However when he begins to learn read lips so he can communicate he also learns how to use his other senses. Frankie realizes that he can communicate the music the way he always did through his feet and fingers. A one-night comeback re-certifies his reputation as the DJ with the biggestmixes. And then he just disappears. Further feeding his reputation as an enigmatic and fickle genius.

There was a gift giveaway prior to the screening, which was nice. Yours truly won nothing, which wasn't. In its place I got lots of fun film info. The movie was shot on the island of Ibiza in 2003 and as expected from all those Wild On specials, was a ton of fun. That's right, a thousand kilos of fun. There's a coke Badger, ala Harvey and Donnie Darko, which serves as a physical drug menace that Frankie overcomes through freewill and a shotgun (the two things that go together like ham and Swiss). The comedy in It's All Gone Pete Tong is more cerebral than FUBAR, coming at us in all directions and from unintended sources. The producers of the film, a couple of English blokes approached Dowse to direct on the strength of FUBAR. I predict more projects will be coming his way on the basis of Pete Tong.

The movie features the best and most profound use of the Beach Boys song, "Good Vibrations" since the revelation that Tom Cruise was on autopilot and looking for some Technical Support in Vanilla Sky. In fact the producers had a soundtrack deal with EMI, which leads to some excellent showcases of DJs at work and electronica. Best of all, at the last Toronto Film Festival, It's All Gone Pete Tong won Best Canadian Feature which was especially fulfilling as FUBAR wasn't even invited to the festival during it's time.

Two things, in case anyone is curious: The real Pete Tong currently DJ's in London. And the proper pronunciation of Ibiza is "I-bitha".

Photo#1:The anticipation builds as the crowd waits for curtain call.

Photo#2:Introductions and gift giveaways.

Photo#3:Michael Dowse (the director) answers questions after the film having just arrived from Ottawa, having missed a flight.

Photo#4:Dowse has led us all to see the light. Pete Tong IS All Gone.

Photo#5:Dowse chatting after the Q & A.

Photo#6:The poster. That colored thing behind the flashes.

Photo#7: A merged panarama shot of the crowd before the screening.

Photo#8:Fun with a beer coaster collage.

Photo#9:Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers (CSIF) poster.
Jess Nakaska is an aspiring screenwriter always on the lookout for the next great script idea. He'll let you know if he finds it. Feel free to contact him at jessnakaska@hotmail.com.