Hello, I’m David Bowie is a lovely little comedic film made by Roxana Stroe while at the National Film and Television School in the UK. It simply executes a high concept, which is one of the best approaches to a short film. Particularly one that is only five minutes long.
Edward Hayter plays a David Bowie impersonator, and Stroe makes the bold choice of him starting the film by singing more or less directly into camera. The song he sings is Bowie-esque, probably for copyright reasons, but it’s actually a great and convincing Bowie pastiche.
After the Bowie tribute act doesn’t exactly bring the house down in the small pub/club where he’s performing, one enthusiastic audience member approaches him at the urinals. Christian (Ross Carswell) has an unconventional proposition for ‘Bowie,’ and wants to hire him for a private event. “It’s not sex-related, is it?” It turns out that Christian wants ‘Bowie’ to break up with his boyfriend Paul, as he’s clearly not brave enough to do it himself.
‘Bowie’ delivers a brilliant break-up speech which involves cosmic crossroads, unaligned stars, separate astral planes, and freaky butterflies. It’s safe to say that Paul is less than impressed, but ‘Bowie’ and Christian console themselves with blue cocktails and a sing-song.
Hello I’m David Bowie has witty, slightly surreal dialogue by Joe Wills. The central performance by Edward Hayter is probably the film’s greatest strength, as he embodies the enigma that is Bowie. He is vaguely dreamy and opaque, and the degree to which he believes he actually is Bowie is left deliberately ambiguous. The fun thing about impersonating David Bowie is that you’re also impersonating his many personas – such as Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane and more.
Your enjoyment of this film will probably be higher, if (like me), you’re a huge fan of David Bowie and Flight of the Conchords. Let’s hope that the end of the film signals the start of a beautiful friendship for Christian and ‘Bowie’. As they both seem deluded in the same specific way, and clearly share a kinship in their love of the thin white duke. Let’s hope they’re floating away to Mars together, as we speak.