So, here we have it. The film that almost started World War III. The film that Sony were so adamant it was going to release they refused to listen to threats from North Korea, even ignoring the fact that they were being infiltrated by “The Guardians of Peace”, a hacking group from North Korea.
It’s a shame it’s such a terrible film.
Another failed attempt at the “water sprinkler” dance move.
The premise of the film is thus. Dave Skylark (James Franco) is a popular trash entertainment TV presenter in USA and has his own show called Skylark Tonight. However, as they reach their 1000th show his producer Aaron Rapaport (Seth Rogen) longs to produce something with a bit more depth. When an unlikely interview with North Korean leader Kim Jon-Un (Randall Park) becomes a reality, their breakthrough into high-brow entertainment is quickly turned into an undercover CIA mission to assassinate the leader. Hilarity ensues.
The humour in the film is generally derived from one of two sources: poking fun at the North Koreans or crude toilet humour gags. At one point a botched administering of ricin leaves the two stranded in North Korea without the ability to complete the mission. The CIA, in a continuity-challenging move, send over two additional ricin doses in a small rocket. Rogen, by this point facing imminent death due to a stray tiger (what?) and a group of about 15 guards closing in on him decides the only way to save the day is the insert the entire capsule into his anus.
Elsewhere we discover that Kim Jong-Un is a huge fan of cocktails and Katy Perry. He has emotional issues due to disconnection and lack of approval from his father. He regularly spends time with prostitutes. Despite their differences to the Western world, North Korea is a proud nation with a lack of understanding of the ways of the west. On this level it is understandable why this film would cause them a serious issue.
It’s a shame that this film has no sense of intelligent writing that has been on display in the creative outputs of both of its lead characters. Of all the films to fall flat with, it’s most unfortunate that it happened with a film that had the eyes of the world focused on it.
The problem that many British viewers of this film will have when viewing this film is a pining for what could have been. Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish had for a long time both been attached to the film, the former as director and both as co-writers. Both are extremely well-known amongst the geeks of Britain and the fact they were teaming up was an absolute dream. Edgar Wright proved what he could do when given the freedom of the source material when he directed the excellent Scott Pilgrim vs The World in 2010. Whilst the Ant-Man series wasn’t as well known as the likes of X-Men and Spiderman, in the right hands it had the potential to be a great film.
Phenomenal powers, itty bitty living space.
However, it slowly became apparent that Marvel had a different idea of the direction it should take. In an interview with Mike Ryan of the Huffington Post, Edgar Wright said “It is pretty standalone in the way we’re linking it to the others. I like to make it standalone because I think the premise of it needs time. I want to put the crazy premise of it into a real world, which is why I think Iron Man really works because it’s a relatively simple universe; it’s relatable.” Clearly Marvel wanted the film to be set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the compromises required to slot it in with Thor, Iron Man and the clan didn’t sit well with Wright and Cornish. With not long to go before release date – 420 days to be precise – the pair (along with director of photography Bill Pope) co-announced with Marvel Studios that they were leaving the project, citing “differences in their vision of the film”.
So what are we left with? Well, Peyton Reed has come on board as emergency director. His previous work has been pretty much exclusively romantic comedies (Down With Love, The Break-Up) and the impression is that he was brought in to do what the studio needed rather than drive his own vision of the narrative. Ironically that makes him a kind of yes man. [1]
What’s really frustrating is that the script has some very Wright/Cornish-esque humour in there. One of the large scale fights near the climax of the film happens around a Thomas the Tank Engine toy train track. Anyone familiar with Joe Cornish’s route to fame in the 90s will see the likelihood that this was one from him. Or maybe Peyton Reed is a big fan of Series 2, Episode 18 of the original Thomas the Tank Engine series “Thomas Comes To Breakfast”, which first aired in the UK in October 1986.
The one saving grace of the film is Paul Rudd doing and excellent job as Scott Lang, the thief-turned-hero who wants to make up for lost time with his daughter. His humour and sharp wit make the journey through the film entirely pleasurable. He is a great comedic actor and the film has benefited from his presence on the rewriting team.
However, for all the good that is done by some great work in the cast (Michael Peña is hilarious throughout), we keep getting reminders that this is two films woven into one. The worst moment of the film comes when there’s an oblique reference to The Avengers, which sticks out like a sore thumb. Just as we are forgetting about it, Falcon arrives on the scene. Yes that’s right, Anthony Mackie has his very own cameo role in everyone’s eleventh-favourite Avenger (12th if you include Ant-Man, 13th if you include Nick Fury… who knows where by the time Civil War is released). It’s so pointless and so clearly an afterthought that it not only doesn’t help fit it in with the Marvel Cinematic Universe but rather actually just causes a detrimental effect on the absorbing world that was almost being created in this film.
It’s a shame that we will never see that Wright/Cornish film that never was. It must be said that it was unlikely to ever see the light of day without some serious compromises, but as two huge fans of Marvel comic books that was never going to happen. Instead we’re left with a reasonable film with some rewarding moments, which never really gets going because it is so disjointed.
The tagline on the poster of a film says a lot about it. When it announces to the world that it’s going to “Smack Destiny in the Face”, it probably isn’t going to take itself too seriously.
Hot Rod is the story of Rod Kimble, an aspiring stuntman trying to step into the great shoes left behind by his father, a man Rod believes to be one of the greatest stuntmen of all time. One of his greatest goals in life is to earn the respect of his step-father Frank (Ian McShane), which apparently will be achieved by “beating the crap out of him”. This goal is a long way from being realised and time is running out as Frank’s health is deteriorating. To save his life, Rod decides to pull off a series of publicised stunts to earn money for his operation, whilst fighting for the affections of his love interest Denise (Isla Fisher) with her boyfriend Jonathan (Will Arnett), with the ultimate aim of getting Frank back to full health so he can have a fair fight with him.
“Who wants to see me do a big-ass stunt?”
Admittedly, the premise is somewhat flimsy when written out like that, but it’s a film that defies expectations. It tempts you to set the bar low, aims low, but yet somehow works. Many critics hate films that ask the viewer to accept what they’re seeing at face value. Indeed, it is usually a recipe for disaster (see Freddy Got Fingered, a film I consider to be one of the worst ever made). On the rare occasion that a studio gets it right, the results can be hilarious.
It was written initially by Pam Brady (South Park, Team America) for Will Ferrell. After a period of production hell, it was released by Paramount for use by The Lonely Island, who at the time were rapidly gaining popularity through their work on Saturday Night Live. It’s hard to see Will Ferrell in Samberg’s lead role, likely because Samberg has evidently evolved the character way beyond the original concept.
Hot Rod was a commercial failure at the time of release, exactly eight years ago today. The critics weren’t too kind either. It has since taken on something of a cult following. If you’ve ever heard someone say “cool beans”, “Hi I’m Rod and I like to party”, “Hwhiskey”, “I’m too legit to quit” or “ultimate punch”, then it’s quite possible you’ve let a cult quote slip right over your head. Throughout the film there are highly memorable scenes, not least the many failed stunts Rod attempts and the Footloose parody. At times it’s as quotable as Anchorman, perhaps the epitome of modern cult comedies.
When films like this misfire, studios can end up with a total embarrassment on their hands. When they get it spot on, as they have here, it can be pure comedy gold. As with most cult comedies it won’t be for everyone, but it would be criminal not to try it. It’s legit.
One of the highlights of the Late Mizoguchi boxset, and indeed Mizoguchi’s entire career, is the film Akasen Chitai. Literally translated as “red-line district”, the film concentrates on the legal brothels of post-war Tokyo. Two months after its release a groundbreaking law was passed in Japan that made prostitution illegal in Japan, putting an end to the “red-line” and “blue-line” zones that had operated up to that point. Mizoguchi would die in August of the same year whilst developing his next film “An Osaka Story” (later directed by Kōzaburō Yoshimura). This Akasen Chitai would prove to be his final film.
The five stars of a five-star film.
The film follows the fortunes of five prostitutes working in Dreamland, a legal brothel, contemplating their future should the Diet pass a law to make their profession illegal. The five lead characters – Yasumi (Akayo Wakao), Hanae (Michiyo Kogure), Yumeko (Aiko Mimasu), Yorie (Hiroko Machida) and Mickey (Machiko Kyô) – all form a central part of the plot in different portions of the film.
Hanae has arguably the most heart-breaking story. Trying to make ends meet to support a young child, her husband suffers from depression and suicidal tendencies as his inferiority engulfs his being. She is not a natural in her profession as her colleagues and if often criticised for her “scruffy” appearance. The only thing she fears more than her job is the possibility that she will lose her job in the near future. It is a complex and depressing sub-plot that
Conversely, the glamorous Yasumi is a compulsive liar who is playing on the emotions of her most devoted client to get him to buy her presents and give her monetary hand outs. It takes a skilled director to convince the audience to find sympathy for such a character, but that he does.
It is Mickey that eventually becomes the focal point of the plot. She arrives as a young and confident new employee at Dreamland and immediately proves popular amongst the clientele. Whilst her colleagues are all working out of desperation and a hope for a better life, it later transpires that Mickey has runaway from the home of her successful business-owning father. The scene in which he arrives to take Mickey home and avoid a family scandal is perhaps the film’s most powerful and memorable, full of elements of the mise en scène Mizoguchi was so famous for.
Whilst the overarching message is that of depression and desolation, the the film is effective because the characters are believable. There are also elements of humour littered throughout. For example, when the aging Yorie discovers one of her frequent clients with the younger Mickey. An argument ensues and the client calls her a whore, to which her response is “If I’m a whore then what does that make you?”, setting up the perfect response: “I’m the client!”
It may not have been his planned swansong, but Akasen Chitai is an excellent way to bookend the career of a masterful director.
Akasen Chitai is available as part of the late Mizoguchi boxset, though you may find the price of the DVD a little more palatable.
Partly as story about criminal gangs, partly a love story and partly social commentary, Pigs and Battleships succeeds in many ways. Perhaps its biggest success is being a vehicle for Imamura to stick two fingers up at the Nikkatsu Corporation, who had forced him to product uncharacteristically light fare (such as Nishi-Ginza Station), returning to the electric edginess hinted at in his debut picture Stolen Desire (also featured here).
This tone would be the cornerstone of a rich career in the film industry and Pigs & Battleships was the first time the world saw what Imamura was capable of. The unexpected controversy coupled with a spiraling budget led to Imamura being banned from directing by Nikkatsu for two years.
The plot of the film revolves around the frictional relationship between Kinta (Hiroyuki Nagato) and Haruko (Jitsuko Yoshimura). Kinta is a member of the local yakuza gang who are hatching a plan to farm and sell pork to the occupying US Naval Forces. Haruko is desperate for them both to move away from the tricky environment they both live in; she is two-months pregnant and still being sold by her mother for dates with US sailors. Kinta, though, is his own man and wants to make a name for himself and thus avoid becoming a slave to the wage.
A wonderful new put-down enters our lives.
Sinsaku Himeda’s cinematography contributes to a beautiful-looking picture and, coupled with some wonderfully-realised characterisation by Imamura, the film is extremely accessible and enjoyable even for those without an affinity for Japanese political films over half a century old. As the film progresses, the focus shifts from Kinta to Haruko, with the storyline almost outgrowing the former’s immature and selfish outlook to focus on Haruko’s determination to find a better life. This is the overarching statement achieved in the film, with Imamura drawing on his own experiences as a black-marketeer with American soldiers to clearly point out to any viewers willing to look under the cracking façade that the post-war occupation of Japan by the US Forces with creating a disjointed and self-destructive society in which nobody could hope to build a future for themselves.
The Masters of Cinema dual-format Blu-Ray and DVD of Pigs and Battleships + Stolen Desire is available to purchase now.
Hidden away on the Masters of Cinema Blu-Ray release of The Insect Woman is the second feature film directed by Shohei Imamura, Nishi-Ginza Station. It isn’t as fondly remembered as the main feature and for good reason, featuring almost none of the hallmarks of a director who would later come to be regarded as one of the greatest in Japanese film history.
The story plays second fiddle to the music, the recurring titular song as sung by Japanese crooner Frank Nagai. You’ll be forgiven for thinking you’re about to watch one of the worst musicals of all time after the first five minutes, though thankfully the support cast only get that one chance to derail both the song and the feature. What isn’t overly evident is that it is for all intents and purposes an extended music video for Nagai’s follow-up to his previous hit “Let’s Meet in Yarakucho”, a result of Imamura’s refusal to give the song a full playthrough at any point of the film.
One of Imamura’s finest hours in film… can be found elsewhere on the same disc.
The supporting story relates in no way to the words of the song, indeed contradicting it in many ways. It tells the story of a man name Oyama (Yanagisawa Shin’ichi), whose suppression at the hands of his wife Riko (Yamaoka Hisano) leads him to bouts of daydreams of his former days in the Japanese army, particularly a dream where he is trapped on an island with a beautiful girl named Sally (Hori Kyoko). When his wife and two children take a short break, he is encouraged by his friend Dr Asada (Nishimura Ko) to go out on the town and have a one night stand whilst he has the chance, under the pretense that he will clear his head, stop daydreaming and concentrate on his life as a family man.
It has its charms at times, but the rushed pace means it is littered with unexpected jumps that are at odds with the subtly developing romance between Oyama and love interest Igarashi Yuri (also played by Hori Kyoko). Imamura’s original screenplay was probably haphazardly chopped to get the running time down. Regardless, his third film of 1958 – Endless Desire – was on the horizon and there wasn’t time to make the film work.
Nishi-Ginza Station is certainly not amongst Imamura’s finest work, but will find a place in the interests of fans of his famed later works.
The Masters of Cinema dual-format release of The Insect Woman and Nishi-Ginza Station is available to purchase now.
On 14th July 1965, NASA’s Mariner 4 spaceship performed the first flyby of Mars, returning the first ever pictures of another planet and providing Earth with closeup observations of the surface. It was a time where the world was gripped by the space race, seeing two world powers at loggerheads to prove their technological superiority.
Just one month earlier, Ken Annakin’s epic ensemble comedy Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines hit cinemas globally. A homage to the beginnings of manned flight, the story follows fourteen pilots in brilliant replicas of 1910 aircraft as they attempt to fly from London to Paris (via Dover) to win a £10,000 prize put up by Lord Rawnsley (Robert Mawley), a British newspaper magnate. Mixing madcap humour with a loving recreation of the excitement once felt by the world for the flying machines now seen as highly primative, the film not only captured the essence of 1910 but also the imagination of the 1965 cinema-going public.
One of the main threads that runs throughout the film is the love triangle between the magnate’s daughter Patricia Rawnsley (Sarah Miles), her fiancé Richard Mays (James Fox) and rugged American Orvil Newton (Stuart Whitman), the latter two of which are also competing in the race. This thread serves as a springboard for a small amount of humour but allows the bigger laughs to be built around this central plot.
Many of the other characters conform to the national stereotypes: the Prussian Colonel Manfred von Holstein (Gert Fröbe, fresh from his titular role as bond villain Goldfinger) can’t do anything without a set of instructions; French womaniser Pierre Dubois (Jean Pierre Cassel) spends the whole film flirting with identical women (all played by Irena Demick) from different European countries in one of the film’s best running gags; Yamamoto (Japanese megastar Yujiro Ishihara) is a well-spoken Japanese naval officer who all the competitors fear will easily win the race. Elsewhere there are rewarding cameos from Tony Hancock, Benny Hill and Eric Sykes.
The main theme tune contains a highly infectious melody that has remained in the public conscience far beyond the popularity of the film itself. Ron Goodwin’s music is introduced alongside a humorous caricatured animation provided by Ronald Searle and it serves as the perfect introduction to the film. Beware – it gets stuck in your head and will refuse to leave for days.
There’s a hint of Wacky Races throughout.
Whilst the concept behind Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines closely follows It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World – released two years earlier in 1963 – to dismiss it as a carbon copy is to do it a disservice. There’s more on offer here than a simple rehash.
It also spawned a sequel that would be more easily associated to this film but for the fact its name was changed for most releases from Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies to Monte Carlo or Bust. That film has a nearly identical premise, with many reprised roles, but is set around cars rather than planes.
There’s plenty on offer here to warrant a first viewing and those that grew up with it won’t be disappointed by revisiting it.
Those Magnificent Men and Their Flying Machines is available to buy now from Amazon on extortionate Blu-ray or DVD.
[Note] Huge thanks to Ahoy Small Fry for the recommendation on this!
One of Wilder’s less fondly remembered films, “One, Two, Three” treads safe ground for Wilder by being adapted into a Hollywood blockbuster comedy from a European play (in this case the 1929 Hungarian one-act play “Egy, Kettő, Három” by Fenenc Molnár). It stars James Cagney as C.R. “Mac” MacNamara, the general manager of Coca-Cola’s operations in West Berlin, tasked with looking after his manager’s teenage daughter Scarlett Hazeltine (Pamela Tiffin) for a brief period as she visits the city. Seeing it as his chance to impress his boss Wendell P. Hazeltine (Howard St. John) and be handed a golden opportunity to take over operations in London, Mac sees it quickly unravel in the hands of a precocious 17-year-old girl, her East Berlin revolutionary fiancée Otto (Horst Buchholz) and a smattering of bad luck MacGuffins along the way.
There’s a reason why this film isn’t popular anymore. The jokes tend to point towards poking fun at former Nazi officers, caricatured communists and a disjointed society recovering from devastation. Considering Wilder himself lost three close family members in the war and only escaped the Nazi onslaught by some good fortune, however, it is perhaps incorrect to dismiss it as being simply dated. Wilder had a motive to make this film, which is in deep contrast to his former documentary short Death Mills – he wanted to bring his unique blend of humour to a topic close to his heart.
It is unfortunate, then, that the jokes themselves fall short on so many occasions. Wilder achieved timelessness in many of his feature films but the sort of slapstick fast-paced humour seen here hasn’t aged well. It’s actually hard to see what joy 1961 audiences would have found in its farcical plot.
“Are we there yet?” “No, there are still fifteen minutes of dated jokes to go, son.”
There is some deep-seated commercialism on show too. The film is entirely set in and around Coca-Cola’s operations in West Berlin, providing ample opportunity for product placement. Not wishing to spoil the punchline to the final joke, the one reference at this point to Pepsi-Cola underlines the focus on advertising Coca-Cola. There’s no evidence to suggest there was a sponsorship deal with them, but in the modern age of cinema this kind of product placement has become tiresome so it is retrospectively detrimental to the integrity of the film.
It’s fast paced and hard to keep up with but die-hard Wilder fans will find some enjoyment here. Just don’t seek it out hoping for anything special.
The First Film is an explorative documentary film that follows writer, producer, director and presenter David Nicholas Wilkinson in his quest to determine whether or not the first film footage ever recorded was done so in Leeds on 14th October 1888. The footage at the centre of the film is titled Roundhay Garden Scene, filmed by the Frenchman Louis Le Prince. It lasts only a few seconds but is possibly one of the most important breakthroughs in cinematic history.
Wilkinson explores the background of this footage and its claim to being either the first ever recorded film footage or simply the earliest surviving film footage. He also looks into the strange disappearance of Le Prince on 16th September 1890 on a train from Dijon to Paris, a disappearance that meant the argument of Le Prince being the inventor of the moving image cameras had lost its most important voice, paving the way for Thomas Edison to go down in the history books as the inventor of the movie camera. Things get very suspicious when the death of his son Adolphe in an unusual hunting incident in July 1901 lays his argument to rest.
A groundbreaking piece of cinematic history
When I caught up with David Nicholas Wilkinson to discuss the film, he reflected on the underwhelming appearance of the location as it stands today, a discovery that produces one of the most memorable scenes in the film.
“One of the first shots we filmed was of me finding the original location of the scene. I had to laugh. I had no idea what to expect but a cul-de-sac is about as banal a setting as I could imagine.” His presenting style is infectious even when he encounters disappointments like these, such is his passion for the subject matter. He remains upbeat despite such adversity: “I had hoped for something to be left, even if it was a tree.”
A key fact that the film explores is whether or not a photograph in a French morgue is that of Le Prince. It shows only the face of a deceased man who looks remarkably like the groundbreaking filmmaker, but David is not convinced. “I don’t really think it’s him. In 1890 the average height of a man in France was around 5ft 6in. Le Prince was actually 6ft 4in. In the accompanying notes for the photograph, anything unusual or out of the ordinary had been recorded for each person, though it was very scant in general. If it was definitely him it would have been recorded.”
Only one shot that had to be re-filmed, which meant both David and his co-writer Irfan Shan had to try their hand at acting surprised at discovering Le Prince’s grave. “He never wanted to be in it, but he knew most of the answers and stopped me making mistakes.”
The last-minute curveball
As we come to the end of the film, a late revelation throws the argument up in the air again through a discovery by Laurie Schneider. As David explains, “We had to delay. Everyone wanted me to cut it but once I knew what I’d found out about it I knew it was vital to the story.” The fact David’s discoveries are captured on camera means the audience goes on the journey with him, leaving the story open to these kinds of curveballs throughout.
Whilst the film explores the three most plausible explanations for the disappearance of Le Prince, David explains that there are many more doing the rounds. “There are around ten theories about what happened. One theory is that he was a spy for both Britain and USA during a time when there was a threat of a second French Revolution. Another is that he was filming snuff films with Jack The Ripper…” As he tails off there is something in his voice that gives the impression he doesn’t quite believe these avenues of thought.
It is clearly a labour of love and he has produced a compelling argument on what was likely a relatively small budget. One source of frustration for him came from the British Film Institution. “I went for a BFI distribution loan, which would allow me to visit colleges and universities around the UK. I had agreements with thirty out of a planned fifty and saw it as a great way to get the truth around. I was turned down because it was deemed “too educational”. I’m sure their remit is to promote the British film industry. I can’t come up with a tangible reason for it. Maybe they don’t believe me.”
David’s relentless passion for the project is infectious.
The driving force is Wilkinson himself and it becomes very easy to get wrapped up in his determined narrative. This determination comes despite concerns about the film’s viability. “It was a big worry because it had been rejected so many times. I’d been advised not to do it, but I knew people would be interested in this story.” It appears he is correct in this thought given the amount of coverage it is now getting in national newspapers. “It’s a forgotten story and an important part of our history as a film-making nation. People will now know the Le Prince name. In fact, the widespread coverage means the story is getting out even to people who haven’t seen the film.”
“The film has been thirty-three years in the making”, he states, referring to that point being the first time he pitched it to the BBC in 1982. “I’ve laid it to rest now though. Now that it’s out there I can move on. It’s often the case with filmmakers that the one project we’re really passionate about is the one that never gets made. People go decades without making a project and I often believe that they don’t really want it to get made.” It’s lucky that David’s one project was this one and we’re lucky to be able to hear the story, albeit 125 years late. The story deserved to be told and now it deserves to be seen.
The First Film is on limited release now, with the following cinemas offering screenings over the next month.
July
03.07.15 – Regent Street Cinema London
04.07.15 – Regent Street Cinema London
08.07.15 – Gate Cinema London
11.07.15 – Galway Film Fleadh – Ireland
14.07.15 – Triskel Arts Centre, Cork – Ireland
15.07.15 – IFI, Dublin – Ireland
16.07.15 – Queens Film Theatre, Belfast
20.07.15 – Greenwich Picturehouse London
23.07.15 – Ritzy, Brixton, London
26.07.15 – Cambridge Picturehouse
28.07.15 – Norden Farm, Maidenhead
30.07.15 – Kingston Arts Centre
August
01.08.15 – Bath Picturehouse
03.08.15 – Home Manchester
05.08.15 – Vue Leeds
06.08.15 – City Screen, York
07.08.15 – Sheffield Showroom
09:08:15 – Hebden Bridge Picture House
13.08.15 – Electric Palace, Hastings
18:08:15 – Picture House, Uckfield
1. The Shining
2. Everybody’s Stalking
3. Bewilder
4. Fall in a River
5. Camping Next to Water
6. Stone on the Water
7. Another Pearl
8. Body Rap
9. Once Around The Block
10. This Song
11. Bewilderbeast
12. Magic in the Air
13. Cause A Rockslide
14. Pissing in the Wind
15. Blistered Heart
16. Disillusion
17. Say It Again
18. Epitaph
Encore
19. A Minor Incident
20. I Love NYE / Something To Talk About
21. All Possibilities
22. I Saw You Walk Away
23. You Were Right
24. Silent Sigh
How Did We Get Here?
The first time I saw Badly Drawn Boy was during the infamous 2001 tour, which was to support his Mercury Prize-winning debut album The Hour of Bewilderbeast. I was only 15 at the time but I was completely dumbstruck by the completely unique style of concert I was seeing. His approach to dealing with his environment was unlike anything I’d ever seen before.
Kicking the show off with three songs by the Royton Bellringers was the perfect way to set the audience up for what they shouldn’t expect. It was, at this point, unlikely that the album was going to get a start-to-finish play through from an obliging band. Arguing with the crowd about the location of a photograph of his newborn child he had passed around the standing section was a highlight. Refusing to take his hat off despite the fact the room was swelteringly hot in the venue showed an air of defiance. This was an artist who played by his own rules.
Over the intervening years there has always been a portrayed feeling that the audience was either getting in the way or at the very least distracting Gough. Sometimes it’s treated with ardent contempt. But there’s also an overarching feeling that it’s all part of the act. On many occasions, he has happily laid into one of the band members who hasn’t learned his part correctly, or even crowd members for talking. If you’re not aware of what a Badly Drawn Boy gig is like I imagine it must be hard to understand and enjoy. Being on board the rollercoaster can be one of the most rewarding live experiences around.
In some ways it is sad that Gough has become predominantly linked with his admittedly excellent debut album. In the years that followed its release he has provided many reasons to show it wasn’t a slice of luck. The more mainstream “About A Boy” soundtrack is filled with some of his best-loved songs, and this was followed in the same vein with the fuller-sounding “Have You Fed The Fish?” However, in providing a more robust and polished sound he moved away from many of the nuances that drew his fanbase to his fragile debut. Whilst this new-found sound had brought him some mainstream success this seemed to disappear slowly and, despite still producing some excellent music (the gorgeously orchestrated soundtrack to TV movie “Is There Nothing We Could Do?” is well worth checking out), people stopped listening.
Once More Around The Block
This tour is the perfect way for Damon Gough to remind fans old and new why they fell in love with his music the first time around. Whilst retreading old ground can seem a little like a cash-in for some artists, it makes perfect sense to reignite interest in The Hour of Bewilderbeast.
When the newly-formed backing band too to the stage for the first time it took a matter of seconds for the audience to realise what was about to happen. As the original recorded intro to “The Shining” resonated around the room, it became quickly evident that the album would be performed in its entirety. The sound of Alfie’s French horn and cello [1] faded away and all that was left was Damon and his acoustic guitar looking slightly daunted to do something he must have done 1000s of times already. There is something about the way he does this that draws the audience in time and time again, willing him to get through whichever of his intricately crafted tunes he is performing at the time.
Launching into “Everybody’s Stalking” allowed the crowd to liven up a little with the band unleashed for the first time. The four highly talented (and highly bearded) band members are obviously a tight group of musicians and were working off each other all night, clearly enjoying themselves. Dare it be said – at times these songs actually sounded better than the record.
The small snippets of ideas that added so much character to the original album were all present too, much to the audience’s delight. The excellent run of songs that starts with “Camping Next To Water” and ends with “Once Around The Block” was punctuated by a few nervous eyes looking around the stage as Gough worked out whether he should say “Body Rap” or just allow the recording to speak for itself. He eventually went for the latter – probably a wise move.
It was in these moments that the charm of the night really revealed itself. The Nottingham gig was the first night of the tour and there was bound to be a few mistakes as the technicalities of performing an album from start to finish were ironed out. I doubt an artist called Perfectly Drawn Boy would have been half as popular anyway.
The standout moment of the night was a beautiful rendition of “Epitaph”. As Gough stood there on the stage alone with just his acoustic guitar, he quickly realised that he wasn’t 100% certain of the lyrics and even less so on the guitar parts. Eventually opting to perform an acapella version of the album closer with the printed words, the audience’s response in singing every word straight back to him was so overwhelming that he was brought to tears.
He came back on alone following a short break to perform a handful of songs from later albums, eventually with his band joining him. Bringing the night to a close was “Silent Sigh” from the “About A Boy” soundtrack. With smiles beaming across the room, from the stage to the back row, it was a perfect way to end an excellent night of live music and will no doubt have the entire audience digging out copies of his albums and rediscovering him once again.
Badly Drawn Boy is on tour for the next month. Dates can be found on his website.
[1] The Hour of Bewilderbeast had many personnel involved, including several members of fellow Twisted Nerve label-mates Alfie and also Doves, who were complete unknowns when this album was recorded. It is best to think of the first half of being Badly Drawn Boy backed by Alfie, whereas the second half is mainly performed with Doves.
Cinema, etc. 