Kay, Jeremy (28 January 2022). "RSS Focus Features, Bankside strike worldwide deal on UK Sundance selection 'Brian And Charles' ". Screen Daily. Archived from the original on 28 January 2022 . Retrieved 28 January 2022. While Archer says it all depends on whether the “world likes the film,” he admits he has been playing with another text-to-speech voice that could lend some inspiration: a female robot. The humble robot has served as a faithful companion in films since the early days of cinema. But very few are 7 feet tall, look like an emotionless old man who has swallowed a washing machine whole, talk like a toddler on a Speak & Spell and enjoy eating cabbages.

Brian Gittins is a lonely inventor in rural Wales, who builds quirky contraptions that seldom work. One day while scavenging scrap, he comes across a mannequin’s head, which inspires him to attempt to create an artificially-intelligent robot, though he is unable to activate it. That night, during a thunderstorm, Brian discovers his activated robot wandering outside of his workshop, and Brian brings it into his house.

Charles, it should be noted, is literally just Hayward, barely hidden inside a giant square cardboard box with clothes stretched over the top, moving the mannequin’s mouth when he speaks. The puppet’s height, plus the absence of any eyeholes, meant he had little idea what was going on around him during the shoot. Forget the sleek silicon and smooth chrome, we have a new vision of a sentient robot, and it was cobbled together with spare parts that were lying around the house. Charles — who wants you to know his full name, Charles Petrescu — is a 7ft-tall boxy mess with a mannequin head, washing-machine torso and a blue light in his eye that he can’t turn off when he goes to sleep. He may not be an ideal robot in any other way, but he’s the perfect machine for this movie. The film follows Brian after a particularly harsh winter. Depressed and completely isolated with no one to talk to, Brian does what any sane person would do when faced with such a melancholic situation. He builds a robot. Read our review HERE

The following morning, Brian discovers that the robot has learned the English language by reading a dictionary, and it gives itself the name Charles Petrescu. Brian begins spending time playing with Charles and showing him around his property. The childlike Charles becomes more curious and eager to explore more of the world, but Brian instructs him to stay nearby at all times. There is no cash or another alternative to the prize stated and the prize is not transferable and no part or parts of the prize may be substituted for other benefits, items or additions. Introducing Charles Petrescu, the star of Sundance-bowing Brit comedy Brian and Charles and undoubtedly the most ridiculous — not to mention low-budget — automaton ever to grace the big screen. The film is neither taxing on your emotions or going to cause you to cry with laughter but making you gently smile for the majority of its runtime at the silly shenanigans framed amongst some stunning and inventive shots of remote Welsh countryside means, to be frank, it is a hard heart that sets against Brian and Charles.Brian is established as a dorky inventor of a small village, mostly keeping to himself. His many inventions on his farm are revealed in a documentary style where cameras follow him around. Though he specializes as a local handyman, he fancies himself a clever man who always thinks up new ideas in his workshop. Sadly, most of his inventions go up in smoke. This happens quite literally when his idea for a flying bike has him scrambling for a fire extinguisher. While sorting through junk piles, he finds enough parts to make himself a robot. It’s uncertain how much experience Brian has with robots but also unimportant. All that matter is that one stormy night leads to his boxy creation of a robot coming to life, choosing the name Charles.

On stage, Earl says that Charles’ character was “quite rowdy and boisterous,” and often dependent on how much Majendie had to drink when he was typing his dialog. “It was quite an adult act,” he admits. For the 2017 short, this was softened, Charles becoming more innocent and immature, and Brian treating him more like a young child or eager-to-please pet. Prizes may take from days to a few months for delivery which is out of our control so please do not complain One of those callers was his producer Rupert Majendie (now head of development at Steve Coogan’s Baby Cow production company), but, too nervous to talk himself, he would use a robotic voice simulator software to type in what he wanted to say. The best of the various voices used was a somewhat serious, stern British accent that at the time they introduced as “the professor.”Film4 Productions boarded the feature-length adaptation of Archer, Earl, and Hayward's short film in early 2019, followed by the BFI. Principal photography took place on location in rural North Wales, including Cwm Penmachno and Llyn Gwynant, during the COVID-19 pandemic. [3] [4] Release [ edit ] Now complete and ready to be unleashed on an unsuspecting world, Brian and Charles is getting its first bow on Jan. 21. Sundance’s shift to virtual sadly means Charles won’t be able to enjoy an awkward robotic shimmy down a red carpet just yet, although Hayward says he might “make a special appearance” in a live Q&A. It just had a really, funny weird intonation,” says Hayward. “And it took Rupert a little while to type the answers, so when he’s talking to David there’s always a little weird, awkward pause.” A film like this works so well due to its dry nature that slowly warms the heart over time. I’ll be honest Brian and Charles's chemistry felt too simplistic at first. After some time, however, you get to know and love these people who only have the best intentions and ultimately want some love in their life. There’s something so perfect about the imperfect design of Charles in this regard. The design of Charles makes him look more like someone’s failed attempt to build a Jim Broadbent android. He wobbles, has no expression, and speaks in a monotone computer voice, making it sometimes difficult to gauge his emotions. And yet he becomes a loveable character for being such a simplistic design restricted from specific displays of affection.

I couldn’t really remember where I got the head, so had to scour the internet, and the ones that turned up were slightly more handsome,” says Hayward. “But he’s a movie star now, so that’s fine!”

Weekend Box Office Performance

To enter and win Brian And Charles on Blu-ray (runner up DVD), answer the following question… Q. In Brian And Charles, what is Charles? Brian and Charles is a 2022 comedy drama film directed by Jim Archer, in his feature debut, from a screenplay by David Earl and Chris Hayward, who also star in the film. The Editor’s decision is final and binding on the entrants. No correspondence will be entered into. A low budget film with a deliberately Heath Heath Robinson-esque robot cobbled together from a washing machine, a mannequin head and other odds and ends and all worn to no convincing effect by Hayward. The film sees Brian is still lonely, ( it’s never made clear whether he’s divorced or he lived with his now dead parents in the family home) and Charles becomes his friend and something of a bromance develops between the two. Typically and eccentrically British the film was met with acclaim and made a modest amount at the UK box office.