Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story

Synopsis: A film about the filming of Laurence Sterne’s 1760s bawdy novel.

Laurence Sterne’s nine volume novel The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman was a proto-post-modern stream of consciousness novel, rich with allusions and references to the movers and shakers of the time: Pope, Locke, Swift et al. It moved from satire through science, parody through philosophy, and took in contemporary obstetrics and military history along the way.

Winterbottom’s film-about-a-film-about-a-book flickers through many of these themes, as Steve Coogan plays himself about to play Tristram Shandy (and his father Walter Shandy as well). However, as in the novel, which purposefully broke the traditional narrative form, Tristram’s story never manages to get past the scene of his birth, given the many distractions and diversions that ensue.

Moving to and fro, from in-scene into the ‘real’ world of cameras and film-crew, ‘Steve Coogan’ and Walter are in the throes of insecurity and self-doubt. ‘Steve’ is preoccupied with being top-billed actor in the film, and is dumbly infatuated with his cute assistant, Naomie Harris, despite the fact that his wife and newborn have come to stay with him on set. In-scene, Tristram is about to be born and Walter agonises over the world into which his son is arriving. The trouble is that only a taste of the novel is provided, with comic but not much meaningful effect. The off-set scenes - including the familiar story of a man’s adolescent fascination with a woman much younger and smarter than he is – have the same problem.

Coogan, a charismatic performer, plays his character with liberal dosings of his typical deadpan humour. There are a multitude of fine supporting characters and actors adding to the comedy. Rob Brydon, angling for a co-lead credit with ‘Steve’, purposely upstages him, the two sharing some entertaining Al Pacino impersonations as the credits roll. Shirley Henderson plays a harried maid trying to keep Doctor Slop (Dylan Moran)’s forceps away from the baby. Even Gillian Anderson is called in for an amusing cameo, as an expensive battle sequence is dropped by the producers in favour of more pastoral, and cheaper scene. It’s a fairly entertaining ride, even if by the end, we don’t really know where we are.

 

 

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