It's All Gone Pete Tong

It's All Gone Pete Tong is a 2004 Canadian fictional independent mockumentary about Frankie Wilde (Paul Kaye), a DJ who goes completely deaf. The title is a reference to a rhyming slang phrase used in Britain in the 2000s, referring to the BBC Radio 1 DJ Pete Tong, standing for "it's all gone wrong". Like the similar mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap, the film takes measures to appear non-fictional, but Frankie Wilde himself is a fictional character. The film was released on April 15, 2005. The DVD was released on September 20, 2005. In 2005, it won two awards at the US Comedy Arts Festival for Best Feature and Best Actor (Paul Kaye) and swept the Gen Art Film Festival awards (Grand Jury and Audience). It was filmed on location in Ibiza and shot entirely in HD. Several famous DJs appear in the film as "talking heads", giving the film a false sense of authenticity. Carl Cox, Tiësto, Sarah Main, Barry Ashworth, Paul van Dyk, Lol Hammond, Pacha and Pete Tong appear in the film. Ibiza locations used in the movie include Pacha, Amnesia, Privilege and DC10 as well as the historic Pike's Hotel. At the beginning of the film, Frankie Wilde is a wildly successful DJ on the party island of Ibiza. He has a recording contract, performs at high-profile nightclubs, and lives in a luxurious villa with his trophy wife, Sonya, and their son. In talking head sequences, contemporary DJs laud Frankie's turntable skills during this period. It is also evident that Frankie has cocaine and alcohol addictions (in hallucinations, his drug addiction is represented by a giant, menacing badger). His career is increasingly guided by egotistical, insensitive super-agent Max Haggar. Frankie's loss of hearing is first apparent when he hears a high-pitched whine instead of a Arsenal football match on TV. At this time, Frankie is making his next album with his "two Austrian mates" Alfonse and Horst, who seem more suited for a metal band. Frankie continues working on his album and playing gigs at clubs, but his hearing degrades rapidly. As a result, progress on his album stagnates. However, Frankie refuses to acknowledge his problem until a gig in Amnesia, when he cannot hear the second channel in his headphones and must crossfade one song into the next without being able to beatmatch them. The result sounds terrible, and the crowd boos him. Overcome with fear and frustration, he throws the Technics turntable and the mixer onto the dance floor, and is forcibly removed from the club. The next day, Max confronts Frankie about the performance. Frankie agrees to see a doctor, who tells him he's lost hearing in one ear and has 20% left in the other. He warns Frankie that unless he stops abusing drugs and listening to loud noises, he will soon be completely deaf. Even the use of his hearing aid would only further degrade his hearing. Then, during a recording session, Frankie confesses the full nature of his hearing loss to Alfonse. He inserts his hearing aid to demonstrate, and is overwhelmed by the sudden sound exposure. Before he can react, Horst smashes a guitar into an amplifier whose volume Frankie has maximized. The noise is excruciating, and the feedback knocks Frankie unconscious. The damage leaves him permanently deaf. Without his hearing, Frankie cannot complete his album. He loses his recording contract, and Max abandons him. Soon after, Sonya leaves him. The talking head sequences describe this period as his darkest hour, in which he shuts himself into his home, which he has "soundproofed" with pillows in a desperate bid to recover his hearing. His drug use intensifies, and he appears to be heavily depressed. In one scene, he repeatedly throws his body against the walls. In other, he wraps roman candles around his head, an attempt at suicide, but dives into the pool before they ignite. After this dark period, Frankie calls a deaf organizati