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One night, Bubby's dad comes home for a visit, and in a fit of jealousy and panic, both Bubby's parents end up dead. It isn't long before Bubby figures he'll head outside, where he finds not a post-apocolyptic world besieged by nuclear winter, but rather a modern Australia, complete with bakeries, criminals, and rock and roll music.
Once he's out in the real world (which takes a surprisingly long time), Bad Boy Bubby takes on the structure of O Lucky Man!, with our protagonist pinballing from one strange situation to another, often without much rhyme or reason. Bubby only communicates through mimicry -- usually human but also often with feline hissing and growling -- and the situations in which he barks his order at a bakery, gropes the woman who gives him a ride, or quietly accepts being raped in prison are invariably intriguing looks at how society functions when communication breaks down.
Ultimately Bubby finds acceptance when he's recruited to be the front man of an alternative rock group, where his gutteral growls and frequent shrieks of 'Christ kid, you're a weirdo!' -- just like Dad used to yell -- are an instant hit. And even for Bubby, who has no social or language skills whatsoever, a happy ending is in store.
Rolf de Heer's Bad Boy Bubby is invariably categorized under 'bizarre,' and that couldn't be closer to the truth. Hope's Bubby, who appears in nearly every scene of the film, is unabashedly a freak, a product of an unconscionably abusive upbringing who we instantly feel sorry for despite his tendency to be cruel to everyone and everything. Maybe it's the way he's so tender with his collection of dead cats, wrapped in plastic.
You may not understand Bubby, but damn if you won't want to take him home with you -- if only for an hour or so.
The new Eureka Blu-ray edition includes both Blu-ray and DVD versions of the film, a digital copy, commentary from de Heer and Hope, and an interview with de Heer.
