About

A charming Australian comedy, Malcolm stars Colin Friels as the titular character - a chronically shy mechanical genius whose way of relating to the world is through a love of self-built contraptions. After being fired from the Melbourne tram depot for making his own tram, to make ends meet Malcolm takes in a boarder – Frank (John Hargreaves) and his kind-hearted girlfriend Judith (Lindy Davies). Malcolm discovers Frank is a petty criminal and unexpectedly teams up with Frank and Judith to rob a bank.

Malcolm approaches Frank’s professional predicament with the same fresh-faced curiosity he applies to his contraptions and cooks up playfully inventive devices that aid the criminal lifestyle – most notably the iconic yellow getaway car that splits in half. This directorial debut from Nadia Tass (The Big Steal 1990), brings to life a script written by David Parker who also built the mechanical devices along with Steve Mills and Tony Mahood. The film features a soundtrack by folk-classical-pop group Penguin Café Orchestra whose use of sampled telephone dial tones and experimental sensibilities brilliantly match the whimsy of the film.