Captain Busby

I have been watching “Captain Busby” by Ann Wolf. It’s an absurd look at a station in the middle of nowhere. It’s got some great dialogue but I feel it lacks a message. The message is what I was talking about before. Ms. Wolf seemed to be under the illusion that you could achieve success in the absurd with as little as a carrot and a carriage moving on its own. The original poem by Phillip O’Connor had many levels to it. It even has a sometimes sombre feel. I still think it was incredibly brave to attempt to put something like this on film, especially in 1967 when it was made. The absurd was only for the stage then and the public at large were generally unaccepting of anything like this. Overall, this is an example of absurdity for the sake of absurdity. Still worth having a watch, it was available through the BFI website. I would recommend the poem by Mr. O’Connor too. Some great surrealism.