Vacuuming Completely Nude in Paris
Directed by Danny Boyle.
With Timothy Spall, Michael Begley, Katy Cavanagh.
United Kingdom, 2001, digital video, color, 75 min.
With Timothy Spall, Michael Begley, Katy Cavanagh.
United Kingdom, 2001, digital video, color, 75 min.
Returning to digital video, again with a script by Jim Cartwright, Danny Boyle creates another tale of hilarious, chaotic characters living in a dystopic, English urban landscape. The film centers on the maniacal Tommy Rag (Spall), a crazed and sleazy vacuum salesman powered by the adrenaline rush of getting a housewife’s signature on a contract, and his unlikely mentorship to the shy apprentice salesman Pete (Begley), who is denied sex by his stripper girlfriend until he makes his first sale. The velocitized stylistic texture, extreme closeups, deviant angles, and forced perspectives work in concert to profile the actors’ bravura performances in this irreverently innovative blow to the status quo.