Director Jim Archer does a good job of letting his star duo stew in their oddness, but fails to give the work aesthetic and narrative consistency. For example, the opening sequence plays as a faux documentary, to the point that the camera operator even asks Brian a question, yet by the middle the camera operator ceases to be a character. Brian and Charles': How the Brit Comedy's (Extremely) Low-Budget, 7-Foot, Cabbage-Eating Robot Was Brought to Life". The Hollywood Reporter. 21 January 2022. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022 . Retrieved 18 June 2022. Brian and Charles is a 2022 comedy drama film directed by Jim Archer, in his feature debut, from a screenplay by David Earl and Chris Hayward, who also star in the film. Hayward wanted to bring the professor to life, so began dreaming up what he might look like for a stage show. Charles Petrescu was born. Selected items are only available for delivery via the Royal Mail 48® service and other items are available for delivery using this service for a charge.

Prizes may take from days to a few months for delivery which is out of our control so please do not complain Kay, Jeremy (28 January 2022). "RSS Focus Features, Bankside strike worldwide deal on UK Sundance selection 'Brian And Charles' ". Screen Daily. Archived from the original on 28 January 2022 . Retrieved 28 January 2022. Introducing Charles Petrescu, the star of Sundance-bowing Brit comedy Brian and Charles and undoubtedly the most ridiculous — not to mention low-budget — automaton ever to grace the big screen. The humble robot has served as a faithful companion in films since the early days of cinema. But very few are 7 feet tall, look like an emotionless old man who has swallowed a washing machine whole, talk like a toddler on a Speak & Spell and enjoy eating cabbages.When we did it live, we always had this idea of having a girlfriend onstage, but at the time I said I couldn’t face building another puppet monster,” says Hayward. “So Charles could come home with his new love … I’d like to see him make love to another robot.” Brian is established as a dorky inventor of a small village, mostly keeping to himself. His many inventions on his farm are revealed in a documentary style where cameras follow him around. Though he specializes as a local handyman, he fancies himself a clever man who always thinks up new ideas in his workshop. Sadly, most of his inventions go up in smoke. This happens quite literally when his idea for a flying bike has him scrambling for a fire extinguisher. While sorting through junk piles, he finds enough parts to make himself a robot. It’s uncertain how much experience Brian has with robots but also unimportant. All that matter is that one stormy night leads to his boxy creation of a robot coming to life, choosing the name Charles. It’s an idyllic existence, ecstatically captured in a montage played out to the Turtles’ Happy Together. Yet all too soon, electronic adolescence dawns and Charles starts to resemble a stroppy teenager, albeit one whose tiny head looks more like that of an eccentric professor and whose wayward manner will strike a chord with anyone who has experienced older relatives succumbing to the strange infantilisation of Alzheimer’s.

A feature-length adaptation of the trio's 2017 short film of the same name, Brian and Charles premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. [2] The film was released in the United States on 17 June 2022 and in the United Kingdom on 8 July 2022. This is Charles (Chris Hayward), a latterday Tin Man with wildly mismatched body parts and a glitchy Max Headroom voice who wouldn’t seem out of place in a Wallace and Gromit animation. “I am your friend,” declares Charles, whose twitchy feet are made for dancing and whose wonder at the world around him (“How far does the ‘outside’ go? Does it stop at the tree?”) weirdly recalls that of the young survivor from Room. Brian thinks its best to keep Charles (who grandly adopts the surname “Petrescu”) a secret from the locals, and so the pair spend their days playing darts, cooking cabbages, riding bikes, having pillow fights and watching TV travel shows that give Charles a wanderlust to visit places like “Hono-loop-loop”. See the Box Office tab (Domestic) and International tab (International and Worldwide) for more Cumulative Box Office Records. It is clear director Jim Archer and the writers' Earl and Hayward, who play the main roles, invested seriously in the film so that you are effectively charmed and not alienated by it being utterly daft which to an extent it is. Then to top it off just to add some more charm, maybe even ladle some on, adding into the mix Hazel, sweet and socially awkward like Brian, played with some skill by Louise Brearly.Munday, Rob (20 January 2022). "Sundance Film Festival 2022: Talking 'Brian and Charles' with director Jim Archer". Short of the Week. Archived from the original on 21 January 2022 . Retrieved 29 January 2022.

Brian is a lonely inventor who lives in a remote valley in North Wales, spending his days in his dilapidated workshop constructing bizarre objects nobody wants. Then one day, Brian builds a robot. Made out of an old washing machine and a battered mannequin head, the 7ft tall machine is a walking, talking lifeform with the mannerisms of an inquisitive child, keen to know about its surroundings and how everything works. Initially, Brian and Charles have a great time together, the robot being the perfect antidote to Brian’s loneliness. However, as their relationship develops, things become strained. The competition is not opened to employees, family, friends of The Peoples Movies, MediumRare Entertainment No. Brian’s isolation, and as we see it is not total, stems from being a bit of an oddball of no fixed occupation in rural England. The itinerant handyman takes to his shed to invent stuff. Like a pinecone bag. That being a regular tote bag with a bunch of pinecones affixed to it. Or an egg belt—a leather belt featuring a few pouches in which one puts eggs. Not invented by Brian as such but pointed out by the character to the invisible person operating the camera is his “cabbage bin,” which is a trash bin exclusively for cabbages. Used or new, he doesn’t say.

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Forget the sleek silicon and smooth chrome, we have a new vision of a sentient robot, and it was cobbled together with spare parts that were lying around the house. Charles — who wants you to know his full name, Charles Petrescu — is a 7ft-tall boxy mess with a mannequin head, washing-machine torso and a blue light in his eye that he can’t turn off when he goes to sleep. He may not be an ideal robot in any other way, but he’s the perfect machine for this movie. Shares Out now to own on Blu-ray and DVD, the delightful comedy Brian And Charles. Starring David Earl, Chris Hayward, Louise Brealey and directed by Jim Archer, fancy winning a Blu-ray copy courtesy of MediumRare Entertainment? The relationship between Brian and Charles is simplistically sweet. They spend their days exploring the farm and interacting with animals. They spend their evenings boiling cabbage and having dance parties. Brian is reluctant to show him off to the town, given his social anxiety around others. Naturally, Charles’s daring nature inspires Brian to finally talk to that girl he has a crush on and maybe stand up to that bully on another farm. But if Brian is happy, what about Charles? Let’s just say Charles gets the ultimate wish for anyone who wants to learn more about our world. One of those callers was his producer Rupert Majendie (now head of development at Steve Coogan’s Baby Cow production company), but, too nervous to talk himself, he would use a robotic voice simulator software to type in what he wanted to say. The best of the various voices used was a somewhat serious, stern British accent that at the time they introduced as “the professor.” Brian and Hazel return to the bonfire, where Brian saves Charles just in time before he catches fire. Eddie and his family chase Brian, Charles, and Hazel into town where the rest of the town gathers. The citizens confront Eddie on his thieving, and with the help of the inventions Brian made, he and Charles send Eddie and his family away.

More like Brian and Charles

Now complete and ready to be unleashed on an unsuspecting world, Brian and Charles is getting its first bow on Jan. 21. Sundance’s shift to virtual sadly means Charles won’t be able to enjoy an awkward robotic shimmy down a red carpet just yet, although Hayward says he might “make a special appearance” in a live Q&A. I concede this is a churlish point to make about a film such as this, when all we should take from this is no matter our disagreements, no matter our lifestyles, all are valid and none can override or overshadow true friendship. Being someone’s real friend is as close to choosing your family as you can get.