Yesterday BAFTA Cymru held a screening of Culture, Alienation, Boredom and Despair followed by a Q&A with director Kieran Evans. The film is a documentary about the Welsh band the Manic Street Preachers’ early years, focused around their debut album Generation Terrorists, (which was at one point going to be titled Culture, Alienation, Boredom and Despair). The documentary is composed of interviews with the band, press and managers that know them and archive footage of early shows and press material.
In the Q&A director Kieran Evans talked of the prejudices he faced working in the film industry in London because he was Welsh. He also went on to say that although he had made many successful music videos and was in high demand, that it was boring and repetitive and that clients would simply reference his older videos and ask him to recreate them. Lastly he talked about his BAFTA winning film Kelly + Victor, and how after receiving a BAFTA award he got inundated with terrible scripts from people who just wanted an award winning director.
From here I thought I’d look at other music documentaries and biopics, giving my top 5.
5. In Bed With Madonna/ Madonna: Truth or Dare
This documentary followed the huge star Madonna on her 1990 Blond Ambition tour. It shows various controversies that impeded the tour because of her daring antics, and also her down-to-earth, ‘normal’ side. But the documentary still doesn’t let you quite get to know Madonna; she always keeps you at arms length.
4. The Runaways
This is a biopic of the all-female rock band The Runaways. Joan Jett and Cherie Currie are brilliantly played by Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning respectively. It’s more about the girls coming-of-age and their struggles in the music business, than the actual music. It’s an incredibly interesting story of a group of teenage girls jetted around the world to sing songs of rebellion.
This 1967 documentary about Bob Dylan is a pivotal film not only in terms of music documentaries but documentaries in general. The film utilises the observational/ direct cinema approach used largely by documentary filmmakers in the 1960s thanks to the arrival of lightweight portable cameras and recording equipment. Don’t Look Back leaves more questions than answers about Bob Dylan, and showcases his truly enigmatic persona. I’m not a huge fan of his music, but this is a very enjoyable documentary nonetheless.
A controversial documentary by Nick Broomfield (who also directed Biggie & Tupac), which is possibly going to be outshone by the recent documentary Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck. Kurt & Courtney tries to make sense of the circumstances under which Kurt Cobain died, and deduce whether it was suicide or murder. The film doesn’t blatantly point a finger at Courtney Love murdering her husband, but certainly considers it plausible.
1. Control
Control is a biopic about Joy Division singer Ian Curtis. A tragic story ending in suicide, it shows how Curtis put everything he had into his music which led to him losing his wife, his mind, and ultimately his life. Sam Riley nails Curtis’ look and character (based off archive footage of him). The use of black and white heightens the melancholic tone of the film established by the themes and Joy Division soundtrack .
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