There are cool directors, and then there are directors as cool as Soda Jerk, whose films are almost like forbidden fruits – never coming to your favourite streaming platform and very rarely screened in a cinema near you. The reason the work of this highly distinctive film-making duo (Sydney-born siblings Dan and Dominique Angeloro) has the ephemeral vibes of theatre – available only for a brief window of time – is because they’re almost entirely comprised of pre-existing materials. Clips are liberated from their sources and reassembled for a Frankensteinian afterlife, without the permission of copyright holders, making any kind of traditional distribution impossible.
I included their previous production, Terror Nullius, on my list of the best Australian films from the previous decade partly because it’s an amazing exercise in deconstruction, ripping classics apart from their seams and ideologically reconfiguring them to reflect contemporary cultural mores. Terror Nullius for instance includes a wild #MeToo moment, jamming together images from various Australian titles to depict a group of furious women – including Lucy Fry from the Wolf Creek TV show and Jacqueline McKenzie from Romper Stomper – destroying a car from Mad Max, with Essie Davis from The Babadook lighting it on fire and Toni Collette from Muriel’s Wedding laughing as it erupts.
Hello Dankness uses remixing and reappropriation to jokily ponder the end of consensus reality – the idea that dramatic events of recent years have not just changed the course of human history but destroyed general agreement about what is real and what is not.
It depicts a recent historic period in which a series of unthinkables have happened; from the election of Donald Trump, to the madness of a global pandemic. Their approach is kind of reminiscent of those annual recap programs that overlay the year’s events with comedic commentary – except here using sometimes very old properties (like classic movies) to recall recent circumstances.
The opening is genius, simply consisting of Kendall Jenner’s protest movement-co-opting Pepsi commercial, presented in its original form. It’s a perfect curtain-parter for a film about the end of reality, because this ad simply couldn’t have happened. No company would so gratuitously pretend that deeply complex social issues could be resolved with a swig from a soft drink can, and no celebrity would ever put their face to it. Right?
Soda Jerk then (re)introduces Tom Hanks from The Burbs, who, in Hello Dankness’s funhouse alternate past – beginning during the lead-up to the 2016 US election – is now a Bernie Sanders supporter. Reyn Doi from Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar tosses newspapers on to front lawns, while Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne from Bad Neighbours exit their homes and Annette Bening from American Beauty drives down the street (she’s now a Hilary supporter). Then we see the other side of politics – and Bruce Dern’s crazy dude from The Burbs is obviously not voting Democrats.