Bad Boy Bubby is a 1993 crime comedy-drama[4] film written and directed by Rolf de Heer, and starring Nicholas Hope, Claire Benito, Ralph Cotterill, and Carmel Johnson.
Hope stars as the titular character, a mentally challenged man who has been held captive in his home by his abusive mother for his entire life.
[5] Bad Boy Bubby premiered at the 50th Venice International Film Festival on 1 September 1993, where it won the Grand Jury Prize.
It was released in Australia the following year, and was met with positive reviews, with particular praise being given to Hope's performance and de Heer's direction.
[6] In an industrial area of Adelaide, Bubby is a mentally challenged 35-year-old man who lives in a squalid house with his abusive and religious fanatic mother, Florence.
After reading a newspaper that reports on the murder of Bubby's parents, the band members decide to send him to stay with their friend Dan.
Shortly after graduating from film school, Rolf de Heer collaborated with Ritchie Singer on the idea of what would eventually become Bad Boy Bubby.
Hope, who was raised Catholic, found the scenes where Bubby curses God in front of Angel's parents difficult to film.
[citation needed] Director de Heer describes the film as one large experiment, especially in the method used to record the dialogue: binaural microphones were sewn into the wig worn by leading actor Nicholas Hope, one above each ear.
[10] Bad Bobby Bubby premiered at the 50th Venice International Film Festival, winning the Grand Jury Prize on 11 September 1993.
[15] On 23 April 2007, Eureka Entertainment released Bad Boy Bubby on DVD for the UK market with all scenes intact.
On the Blue Underground DVD, director Rolf de Heer claims that Bubby was the second highest-grossing film in Norway in 1995.
[17] David Stratton awarded it five stars out of five in a highly complimentary review on his television program The Movie Show, remarking, "I really think this is one of the finest and most original of all Australian films that I've seen.
[18] In a positive review for The Age, Neil Jillett described Bad Boy Bubby as "shocking, disgusting, silly, pompous exploitative and cruel" while also conceding it was an "extraordinary" film that "stays in the mind".
[19] For The New York Times, Ken Shulman commended the film as "electrically entertaining", and gave plaudits to Hope's performance and de Heer's "fast-paced direction".