It's All Gone Pete Tong

Infobox_Film
name = It's All Gone Pete Tong

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imdb_id = 0388139
writer = Michael Dowse
starring = Paul Kaye
Beatriz Batarda
Kate Magowan
Mike Wilmot
director = Michael Dowse
producer = James Richardson
Allan Niblo
distributor = Matson Films
released = April 15, 2005
runtime = 90 min.
language = English
Spanish

"It's All Gone Pete Tong" is a 2004 fictional independent mockumentary about Frankie Wilde (Paul Kaye), a DJ who goes completely deaf. The title is a reference to a rhyming slang phrase used in Britain in the 2000s, referring to the BBC Radio 1 DJ Pete Tong, standing for "it's all gone wrong". Like the similar mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap, the film takes measures to appear non-fictional, but Frankie Wilde himself is a fictional character.

The film was released on April 15, 2005. The DVD was released on September 20, 2005. In 2005, it won two awards at the US Comedy Arts Festival for Best Feature and Best Actor (Paul Kaye) and swept the Gen Art Film Festival awards (Grand Jury and Audience). It was filmed on location in Ibiza and shot entirely in HD.

Several famous DJs appear in the film as "talking heads", giving the film a false sense of authenticity. Carl Cox, Tiësto, Sarah Main, Barry Ashworth, Paul van Dyk, Lol Hammond, Pacha and Pete Tong appear in the film. Ibiza locations used in the movie include Pacha, Amnesia, Privilege and DC10 as well as the historical Pike's Hotel.

Plot

At the beginning of the film, Frankie Wilde is a wildly successful DJ on the party island of Ibiza. He has a recording contract, performs at high-profile nightclubs, and lives in a luxurious villa with his trophy wife, Sonya, and their son. In talking head sequences, contemporary DJs laud Frankie's turntable skills during this period. It is also evident that Frankie has cocaine and alcohol addictions (in hallucinations, his drug addiction is represented by a giant, menacing badger). His career is increasingly guided by egotistical, insensitive super-agent Max Haggar.

Loss of hearing

Frankie's loss of hearing is first apparent when he hears a high-pitched whine instead of a Arsenal football match on TV. At this time, Frankie is making his next album with his "two Austrian mates" Alfonse and Horst, who seem more suited for a metal band. Frankie continues working on his album and playing gigs at clubs, but his hearing degrades rapidly. As a result, progress on his album stagnates. However, Frankie refuses to acknowledge his problem until a gig in Amnesia, when he cannot hear the second channel in his headphones and must crossfade one song into the next without being able to beatmatch them. The result sounds terrible, and the crowd boos him. Overcome with fear and frustration, he throws the Technics turntable and the mixer onto the dance floor, and is forcibly removed from the club.

The next day, Max confronts Frankie about the performance. Frankie agrees to see a doctor, who tells him he's lost hearing in one ear and has 20% left in the other. He warns Frankie that unless he stops abusing drugs and listening to loud noises, he will soon be completely deaf. Even the use of his hearing aid would only further degrade his hearing.

Then, during a recording session, Frankie confesses the full nature of his hearing loss to Alfonse. He inserts his hearing aid to demonstrate, and is overwhelmed by the sudden sound exposure. Before he can react, Horst smashes a guitar into an amplifier whose volume Frankie has maximized. The noise is excruciating, and the feedback knocks Frankie unconscious. The damage leaves him permanently deaf.

Without his hearing, Frankie cannot complete his album. He loses his recording contract, and Max abandons him. Soon after, Sonya leaves him. The talking head sequences describe this period as his darkest hour, in which he shuts himself into his home, which he has "soundproofed" with pillows in a desperate bid to recover his hearing. His drug use intensifies, and he appears to be heavily depressed. In one scene, he repeatedly throws his body against the walls. In other, he wraps roman candles around his head, an attempt at suicide, but dives into the pool before they ignite.

Recovery

After this dark period, Frankie calls a deaf organization and meets Penelope, an instructor for the deaf who coaches him in lip-reading. They become close, and eventually intimate. He confides his unhappiness at losing music, and she helps him perceive sound through visual and tactile methods instead.

Frankie then manages to devise a system for mixing songs, in which he watches soundwaves on a screen while resting his feet on the pulsating speakers. Using this system, he heads to the studio and manages to produce a song (Hear No Evil) entirely by himself. He delivers it to Max, who is wildly pleased - particularly by the potential of using Frankie's disability to increase record sales. He has Frankie take part in advertising and promotional deals which are increasingly offensive and insensitive to deaf people, which Penelope silently disapproves of. He also treats Penelope like he did Sonya; as Frankie's sexual object, not recognizing her substantial role in Frankie's life. In general, Max tends to patronizingly characterize the deaf as pained, helpless victims desperate for a deaf role model.

Max convinces Frankie to play live at Pacha as a career comeback. He thinks it is an opportunity for Frankie to prove himself to others, despite Frankie's insistence that he has nothing to prove to his critics. The gig goes exceedingly well, and many claim it showcases even greater talent than his early work. After the show, Frankie and Penelope disappear from Max, the media, and the music scene altogether. In a talking heads sequence, characters speculate on where he is now (if alive).

As the film ends, we see Frankie disguised as a homeless man, who is then met by Penelope and a child (presumably their own). They affectionately walk together down a street unrecognized. Additionally, we see Frankie teaching a group of deaf children how to perceive sound like he does.

Characters

Primary

*Frankie Wilde (Paul Kaye) is the king of DJs, slowly losing his hearing, and soon to lose everything he thinks is important to him: his job, his fame and his trophy wife.
*Penelope (Beatriz Batarda) is the deaf lip-reading instructor who gives Frankie the tough love he never had and always needed.
*Sonya (Kate Magowan) is Frankie Wilde's supermodel wife. Her days are filled with deciding on what theme is more appropriate for their garden: Japanese or Spanish?
*Max Haggar (Mike Wilmot) is Frankie's suger-agent. Fat, balding, and brash, Max is all about money and his cell phone is his lifeline.
*Jack Stoddart (Neil Maskell) is the ruthless CEO of Motor Records who has no sympathy for Frankie. He says, "I didn’t want a deaf DJ on the label. I didn’t want the company to be touched with the deaf stamp. Well, business is tough and sometimes you have to make awkward decisions and I’ve made harder decisions than dropping the deaf DJ."

econdary

*Eric Banning (Dan Antopolski) is the whimsical author of several biographies on Frankie Wilde.
*Alfonse (Paul Spence) is one of Frankie's "Austrian mates", half of the metal group Ladderhause.
*Horst (David Lawrence) is one of Frankie's "Austrian mates", half of the metal group Ladderhause.
*Dr. Lim (Doctor S.C. Lim) is the doctor who diagnoses Frankie's deafness.
*DJ Blink (Steve Oram) is Frankie's friend who runs off with Sonya.
*King (Sterling Williams) is Frankie and Sonya's son (from a different father).
*Coke Badger (Gideon Gold) is Frankie's personification of his drug addiction.
*Pete Tong (As Himself)
*Carl Cox (As Himself)
*Paul Van Dyk (As Himself)
*Sarah Main (As Herself)
*Tiësto (As Himself)
*Barry Ashworth (As Himself)
*Lol Hammond (As Himself)
*Charlie Chester (As Himself)
*Danny Whittle (As Himself)

Music

oundtrack

* Al Sharp - The Beta Band
* Back to Basics - Shapeshifters
* Can You Hear Me Now - Double Funk feat. Paul Kaye
* Cloud Watch - Lol Hammond
* DJs in a Row - Schwab
* Flamenco - Flamenco Ibiza
* Flashdance (Raul Rincon Mix) - Deep Dish
* Get On - Mogwai
* Good Vibrations - The Beach Boys
* G-Spot - Lol Hammond
* Hear No Evil - Lol Hammond
* I Like It (Sinewave Surfer Mix) - Narcotic Thrust
* It's Over - The Beta Band
* Messa da Requiem - Riccardo Muti/La Scala Milan
* More Intensity - Pete Tong and Chris Cox
* Musak (Steve Lawler Mix) - Trisco
* Music For A Found Harmonium - The Penguin Café Orchestra
* Need To Feel Loved (12" Club Mix) Reflekt
* Need To Feel Loved (Seb Fontaine and Jay P's TYPE Remix) - Reflekt feat. Delline Bass
* Parlez-Moi D'Amour - Lucienne Boyer
* Plastic Dreams (Radio Edit) - Jaydee
* Rise Again - DJ Sammy
* Ritcher Scale Madness - …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead
* Rock That House Musiq - Christophe Monier and DJ Pascal present 'Impulsion'
* Rock Your Body Rock - Ferry Corsten
* The Aviator - Michael McCann
* Troubles - The Beta Band
* Up & Down (Super Dub) - Scent
* You Can't Hurry Love - The Concretes

2-Disc CD

CD 1

* Pacific State - 808 State
* Cloud Watch' - Lol Hammond
* Dry Pool Suicide - Graham Massey
* Moonlight Sonata - Graham Massey
* Baby Piano - Lol Hammond
* Ku Da Ta - Pete Tong
* Mirage - Moroccan Blonde
* Troubles - Beta Band
* Parlez Moi D'Amour - Lucienne Boyer
* Need To Feel Loved (12" Club Mix) - Reflekt
* It's Over - Beta Band
* Halo (Goldfrapp Remix) - Depeche Mode
* How Does It Feel? - Afterlife
* Holdin' On - Ferry Corsten
* Four-Four-Four - Fragile State
* Music For A Found Harmonium - The Penguin Café Orchestra
* Learning to Lip-Read - Graham Massey
* Good Vibrations - The Beach Boys
* "'Interlude
* White Lines - Barefoot

CD 2

* Intro
* DJs in a Row - Schwab
* Flashdance (Raul Rincon Mix) - Deep Dish
* Good 2 Go - Juggernaut
* Rock That House Musiq - Christophe Monier and DJ Pascal present 'Impulsion'
* Blue Water - Black Rock
* Back to Basics - Shapeshifters
* Up & Down - Scent
* Serendipity - Steve Mac & Pete Tong Presents Lingua Franca
* Plastic Dreams (Radio Edit) - Jaydee
* Rock Your Body Rock - Ferry Corsten
* Can You Hear Me Now - Double Funk feat. Paul Kaye
* Musak (Steve Lawler Mix) - Trisco
* Yimanya - Filterheadz
* Need To Feel Loved (Seb Fontaine and Jay P's Mix) - Reflekt feat. Delline Bass
* More Intensity - Pete Tong and Chris Cox
* Frenetic (Short Mix) - Orbital

DVD Extras

The U.S. version of the DVD includes 5.1 Dolby Digital, Subtitles, and includes several extras that were part of the online/Web marketing campaign: Frankie Wilde: The Rise, Frankie Wilde: The Fall, and Frankie Wilde: The Redemption.

Awards

Won

* Best Canadian Feature - Toronto International Film Festival - 2004
* Best Feature - US Comedy Arts Festival - 2005
* Best Actor (Paul Kaye) - US Comedy Arts Festival - 2005
* Grand Jury Award - Gen Art Film Festival - 2005
* Audience Award - Gen Art Film Festival - 2005
* Best British Columbian Film - Vancouver Film Critics Circle - 2005
* Best Male Performer (Mike Wilmot) - Canadian Comedy Awards - 2005
* Best Overall Sound - Leo Awards - 2005
* Best Sound Editing - Leo Awards - 2005
* Best Feature-Length Drama - Leo Awards - 2005

Nominated

* Best Actor, Best Feature - Method Fest
* Best Achievement in Production - BIFA
* 8 Genie Awards

External links

* [http://www.itsallgonepetetong.com/ Official web site]
* [http://www.frankiewilde.com/ FrankieWilde.com]
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