Have you ever wanted to know more about a surprisingly tasty range of vegetarian foods from the 90s? Or what a “veggie nugget slide” might be? Or perhaps you’ve wondered what actually transpired during the writing of the famous song, Ebony and Ivory?
If so, this may well be the film for you. Well—maybe.
Ebony and Ivory is Jim Hosking’s reimagining of Paul McCartney (Sky Elobar) and Stevie Wonder’s (Gil Gex) meeting on the Mull of Kintyre in Scotland to discuss a possible musical collaboration in this bizarre absurdist comedy. Those who are familiar with Elobar will be aware of the nuance he will certainly bring to his character, and his on-screen chemistry with Gex is just bonkers.
Through a cloudy haze of weed smoke, galivanting in the countryside, sharing food and drink together and discussing the randomness of life, they form a peculiar bond, which must be seen to be believed. It is a little bit dumb, and it is a little bit juvenile, and perhaps a little bit repetitive in places, but considering nothing much actually happens and it mostly relies on the dialogue, the relationship between our two main characters will often surprise you. At a slight 87 minutes, it is worth seeing just for the experience.
Clearly, the two protagonists of the film are iconic and based on real people, which is hard to get your head around, but Hosking certainly has a lot going on in his mind about the creation of the song, ‘Ebony and Ivory.’ I do wonder what Paul, Stevie and Linda McCartney herself would think of it all.
As a dedicated fan of Hosking’s The Greasy Strangler (2016), this reviewer attended the screening of Ebony and Ivory at Glasgow Film Festival with glee, and of course, was very aware of what to expect. In fact, half the audience seemed to know what kind of humour to expect, whereas the other half appeared in a mini state of shock, and dare I say, a few even walked out. Well, that’s it, it’s the kind of art which certainly will not be for everyone, but an important and special thing about film art is for us to be challenged, and I can safely say Ebony and Ivory does that. It won’t be for everyone, but if you go in knowing Jim Hosking’s backlog, you may even still be surprised.
VERDICT:
Anti-Worlds released Ebony & Ivory in the UK and Ireland on 19th September.
