Posts
didn't watch I'm Not There last night bc I was in the mood for something I haven't seen before.. so in the same category I chose: 24-hour Party People (2002, Winterbottom) with Steve Coogan as a (semi) fictional Tony Wilson, the "manager" of, among others, Joy Division and the various incarnations. Amazing performances all around. It maintained the documentary feel throughout. I especially loved Andy Sirkus as Martin Hannett, the studio genius/maniac behind the Manchester sound.
Some fantastic 4th wall breaks, especially when Coogan suddenly goes BTS and shows us which actual people from that era did cameos lest we may have missed them. The dude who plays Bez leaping up onstage and doing the Bez thing had me uncontrollably laughing each time he was on screen.
At one point, inevitably, Ian Curtis dies, and they dealt with it so beautifully, dropping the humor just enough to maintain the tone of the film and lovingly pay due respect. Coogan, who as an infamous c*nt in the rest of the film (I use that word only bc Ian Curtis when first meeting him, stands right in his face and calls him that, rightfully), but here in this one moment while alone in a room with Curtis' body lying in state, bends down and gently, if slightly awkwardly, kisses him on the forehead. It was the only time he showed a genuine albeit fleeting moment of compassion.
I'm seriously curious about how much of this film was fiction. However (I'm embarrassed to admit this), I don't think I'll read a book about the Manchester days between The Sex Pistols and the end of the Hacienda Club, aka, the "Madchester" years, only because I'm kind of saturated with sex drugs and rock and roll stories at the moment. And I have Dylan Jones' LOADED: The Life and Afterlife of the Velvet Underground sitting on my "things to read next" shelf.
But eventually I will.
And I will get to Kate and I'm Not There after I watch something completely different
No comments:
Post a Comment