BROTHERS OF THE HEAD PRODUCTION NOTES
Pepe explains that much of what we see in the finished film is a result of the extended rehearsal process involving the main cast in improvisations that would allow the actors to think back on real events in their lives when being interviewed about events in the lives of their characters: All of the main actors (Sean Harris, Bryan Dick, David Kennedy, Tania
Emery, Diana Kent, Tom Bower, Elizabeth Rider) went through an extensive research and rehearsal period to build their characters:
"A lot of the improvs that we did were done to build the back-stories between characters (between Paul Day and Laura, between Laura and Nick, etc.) We also did a lot of rehearsals for contemporary characters (none of whom had any scripted scenes with Harry and Luke) so that they could spend time with the twins and build a history and "memories" with them. David Kennedy, Diana Kent and Elizabeth Rider all rehearsed extensively with Harry and Luke so that they would have actual experiences to draw on when they were interviewed in character. The scene of Laura meeting the twins was filmed with Tania, but we spent a day rehearsing it with both Tania and Diana so that when contemporary Laura talks about her first impressions of Tom and Barry, she's actually referring to an event that was real for her.
"Brothers of the
Head: Up close, personal, riveting" - seattletimes
By John Hartl
"When Laura Ashworth, a manipulative journalist, falls for Tom, and Barry inevitably becomes part of their relationship, all sorts of identity problems surface.
Two actresses play Laura. Tania Emery brings out the character's wickedly exploitative nature in the 1970s, while Diana Kent suggests a more melancholy narcissism as Laura recalls her
behavior three decades later."
"Brothers of the Head"
- The Dallas Morning News
By Mario Tarradell
"When Tom becomes romantically involved with journalist Laura Ashworth (Tania Emery in the 1970s, Diana Kent present day), you can sense Barry's hatred. The love scenes between Laura and Tom, with an unwilling, unnerving Barry looking on, are difficult to watch."
"Brothers Of The Head"
- EDGE Entertainment Contributor
by Kilian Melloy
"But while Barry, who is more the rebel of the two, pulls the pair toward rebellion, Tom is busy learning to play guitar and write punk-rock tunes. Tom’s girlfriend, Laura (Tanya Emery) - who is not entirely comfortable with Barry, especially when she and Tom are getting down to business - is, at first, something of a leavening influence, but eventually becomes more Yoko than Yoko, presumably the author of a letter that solicits the surgical advice of a specialist. When the surgeon writes Tom and Barry about their "request" for separation surgery, Barry freaks out: the boys share a liver, and their circulatory systems are enmeshed, meaning that any attempt to separate them will result in only one survivor. Laura knows which twin she’s rather keep around, and in the "contemporary" interview footage she has the grace to look awkward and contrite about it."
"Brothers
Of The Head" - Star-Ledger
By Stephen Whitty
"and Tania Emery adds some feeling as hanger-on Laura Ashworth."
"BROTHERS OF THE HEAD" - EFILMCRIDIC
By Jay Seaver
"Tania Emery is pitch-perfect as the young Laura, a
girl who initially at least seems to mean well, but is
also inevitably going to be gasoline on a smoldering
flame. She may or may not be trouble deliberately, since
in aging makeup she seems patently insincere when she
says she did nothing to cause a blowup."
"BROTHERS OF THE HEAD" - POPMATTERS
by Cynthia Fuchs
"But for the male
interviewees, the crucial problem is exactly opposite,
namely, the Yoko-esque Laura (Tania Emery). When she
first arrives on the scene, the older Paul observes,
“If you’re in trouble and you need a friend, Laura
Ashworth is the last person you want to see coming
around the corner.” A journalist angling to write an
“expose” of the twins’ exploitation, Laura soon
joins in the party, falling in love with Tom ("The
way he held his silence, I found that attractive")
and also drawn to Barry ("I wanted to protect
him")."
"As she ponders her relationships
with the twins in hindsight ("You did and you
didn’t forget that they were joined together"),
the film offers shots of the boys on stage (girls
rushing to touch the overwhelmingly symbolic, horrific,
and precious join), Laura conducting an early interview
(the boys harass her, childish and angry, one slipping
his hand up her skirt), watching them perform, sharing
their bed, acknowledging Eddie’s camera as part of the
process: they’re defined by being watched."
"BAND OF BROTHERS" - GTWEEKLY
By Lisa Jenson
"Complications arise in the person of Laura
Ashworth (Tania Emery). An old friend of someone in the
band’s growing entourage, pretty, eager Laura is a
journalist armed with a vintage punch-key tape recorder
and a despicable notion of depicting the “disabled”
Howes as victims of exploitation. Barry tells her off,
but there’s nowhere else for him to go when Laura and
Tom fall in love."
"Filmmakers Pepe and Fulton know how to convey the
look and feel of a crazy-quilt documentary cobbled
together from disparate sources. They’ve done an
especially fine job matching up actors playing
present-day interviewees with the actors playing their
younger selves in the ’70s footage. (Diana Kent, as
the older, wistful Laura, bears an uncanny resemblance
to Emery.) From polished clips from the faux Russell
film and snatches of intimate talk and acoustic material
from Laura's tape recorder, to home movies, concert
footage, and the tender, plaintive commentary of the
twins’ older sister (nicely played by Elizabeth
Rider), the filmmakers weave an often hypnotic tale that
feels at once mythic, yet firmly rooted in its
particular era."
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