The Wrong Bum Notes: Sense and Surrealism in Elixir

Director Brodie Higgs has imaginatively depicted a collision of eras, pitting the anarchic surrealists against the structured commercialism of today. However, by attempting to channel the movement's disavowal of method and meaning, while simultaneously falling back on conventional tropes such as love triangles and tortured artists, the film fails to be quite as clever as it sets out to be, writes Cavan Gallagher.

Additional keywords: Andre Breton, Malcolm McLaren, Dada, punk, juxtaposition, anachronism.