Jennifer Lopez as Jennifer Beals as Alex Owens; image courtesy of vh1.com

After last night’s assessment of Nine, I’ve still got screen musical adaptations on the brain tonight. So I thought I’d draw our attention to one more, and add music video that references screen musical stars from the genre’s golden era, and another that recreates an 80s blockbuster many believe to be a screen musical of sorts (and whose protagonist shares a version of my namesake).

If you want to note that all three of the artists are women of color and international pop sensations praised for their dancing and maligned for their limited vocal ranges, gold stars for you. If you want to weep over the slurred, siliconed mess Paula has become and hope that Glee does an all-Janet episode, shake your fists at FOX. If you want to posit what it means that these movies seem to have influenced the performers and may tap into their dance training and on-screen personae, let’s chat in the comments section.

First up is an oldie but a goodie from my youth. While I hadn’t seen Bob Fosse’s All That Jazz when Paula Abdul’s “Cold Hearted” started its rotation on MTV, it’s pretty clear that its takes its from the movie’s ”Take Off With Us” section. As if the direct mention wasn’t enough in the clip’s introduction, let’s compare the two. Warning: contents hot, and sexy.

Paula Abdul
“Cold Hearted”
Forever Your Girl
Directed by David Fincher

And here’s the source material, created by a director and choreographer who seems to have gotten women like Abdul, Madonna, and The Pussycat Dolls dancing (the last act going so far as to take cues from Sweet Charity’s “Hey Big Spender“ for “Buttons“). Also, something tells me warm nuts are served on this plane. (Rimshot) Acid probably is too.

The next one is also from my youth, released at around the same time from a woman whose early video work Abdul choreographed. Janet Jackson’s “Alright” is an homage to the film musicals of Cyd Charisse, the Nicholas Brothers, and Cab Calloway. I especially love Janet in a zoot suit. Click on Ms. Jackson’s name and enjoy.

Janet Jackson
“Alright”
Rhythm Nation 1814
Directed by Julien Temple

And here are the pop star’s and music videos’ influences. The first one comes from Singin’ in the Rain, while the second one is from Stormy Weather.

Finally, we have a clip from former In Living Color fly girl and Jackson back-up dancer who makes an appearance in “That’s The Way Love Goes.” Jennifer Lopez’s “I’m Glad,” a song about her big feelings for then-boyfriend Ben Affleck, retells the entire story of Flashdance, focusing on four dance sequences from the movie, especially the climactic audition scene. Unlike the source material, which utilized two trained dancers (one male) as actress Jennifer Beals’s doubles, I believe all J.Lo does all the dancing. 

Jennifer Lopez
“I’m Glad”
This Is Me . . . Then
Directed by David LaChappelle

And here are the dance sequences in question.

After last year’s successful debut, Soundtrack, Cardiff’s international film and music festival returns this week for another ambitious programme exploring the relationship between sound and celluloid.

Proving that sequels can be a good thing, the 5 day festival kicks-off this evening with an opening night screening of Powell and Pressburger’s sublime and tragic masterpiece the Red Shoes. Ravishing, sweeping and utterly powerful, the Red Shoes tells the story of a lead ballerina, torn between her Mephistophelean impresario and the young, ambitious composer of the prophetic The Red Shoes ballet. It’s an explosion of grace and colour and a perfect opening choice for a festival that aims to reveal the symbiotic relationship between film and sound.

And nicely done too: fresh from winning an Oscar for Powell and Pressburger’s previous classic Black Narcissus, the Red Shoes’ cinematographer was Jack Cardiff.

The rest of the festival programme lives up nicely to its opening night promise. On Thursday Cineworld hosts the world premier of Separado!, Gruff Rhys’ psychedelic western musical in which Gruff takes us on a pan continental road trip in search of his long lost Patagonian uncle, the poncho wearing guitarist Rene Griffiths. The Premiere of Separado! will be followed by a Q&A featuring Gruff Rhys, co-director Dylan Goch and Guardian journalist and author Will Hodgkinson.

Gruff Rhys returns on Friday with Super Furry Animals at the Coal Exchange as part of ‘Recreation’, an evening dedicated to Creation Records, the legendary independent label and subject of Upside Down, which is to be released in February 2010. The film’s trailer will be unveiled at ‘Upside Down: A Creation Records Evening’ at Cineworld earlier in the evening, as well as exclusive clips. The event will be hosted by Director Danny O’Connor and Ride frontman Mark Gardner, who will discuss the movie and Creation’s lasting impression on the modern musical landscape. Gardner will then join Super Furry Animals at the Coal Exchange – I am literally hanging out for Leave Them All Behind.

Friday also feature’s a special screening of American Psycho, Mary Harron’s adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ killer satirical novel. Special in that the writer of the film’s score, Garnant’s John Cale, will discuss his career as a composer before the screening. Cale then returns the following night for an exclusive performance of his haunting, cerebral masterpiece Paris 1919 at the Coal Exchange – the absolute highlight of this year’s Soundtrack.

Preceeding John Cale’s concert will be a screening of Beautiful Mistake, Marc Evan’s ode to a period of Welsh musical history that saw several bands cause so much fuss that the music press cobbled together a make-believe scene and condescendingly dubbed it ‘Cool Cymru‘. Made at the turn of the century Evans’ film portrays these artists  - Catatonia, Super Furry Animals, Gorky’s and the much-missed Derrero among them – more as the serious and meaningful musicians they were, stubbornly staying put in their homeland and refusing to run, as Cale did himself: to New York, John Cage and the Velvet Underground. Performing alongside Cale in the film, Evans’ sets the emergence of so much quality new music at one time against Cale’s early move away from his homeland; both beautiful mistakes in their own way.

Sunday sees the action stick mainly to the projector and the sound on the screen. Kicking off with the first showing in Cardiff of All Tomorrow’s Parties at Chapter. Shot on Super 8, camcorder and mobile phone, the film feature’s performances by many of artists that have played ATP over the last 10 years, including Belle And Sebastian, Daniel Johnston, Boredoms, Slint, GZA, A Hawk and a Hacksaw, Shellac and Patti Smith.

Later in the afternoon director Julien Temple, who has delivered great insight into several complex musical subjects through the Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle, the Filth and the Fury, Glastonbury and Joe Strummer: the Future is Unwritten will unveil his latest film, Oil City Confidential, at Chapter.

Concentrating on Dr Feelgood, “four men in cheap suits who crashed out of Canvey Island in the early ’70s, sandpapered the face of rock ‘n’ roll and left all that came before a burnt-out ruin, four estuarine John-the-Baptists to Johnny Rotten’s anti-Christ,” the film explores the strange cultural vacuum which existed before the coming of punk rock . The screening of Oil City Confidential will be followed by a Q&A with Julien Temple.

Soundtrack’s closing night film is Bunny and the Bull, the first feature film from Mighty Boosh director Paul King. Bunny and the Bull follows Stephen (Ed Hogg) and Bunny (Simon Farnaby) as they leave the dull routine of life in England behind and embark on an extraordinary odyssey, journeying from the industrial wastelands of Silesia to the bull fields of Andalusia and bringing them into contact with a Polish dog farmer (Julian Barratt), a moustachioed matador (Noel Fielding) and a hot-tempered crab waitress (Veronica Echegui) who soon tests how far their friendship really goes.

Paul King will introduce the feature as well as joining producer Mary Burke for a Q&A following the screening.

These are just a few of my must-sees at this year’s Soundtrack. Other highlights include Let Him Be, about two undergrad film students who discover a long thought to be dead rock icon living in a remote part of Canada; Mugabe and the White African, an extremely powerful and intimate feature-length documentary film charting one family’s extraordinary courage in the face of a relentless campaign of state-sanctioned terror; and a Hammer Horror double bill with Hammer experts Marcus Hearn and Dr. David Huckvale delving in to the history of the men whose chilling scores raised the hairs on the necks of a generation of classic horror fans.

There are also a series of workshops and seminars, including a look at Warp films at the Norwegian Church tomorrow.

Soundtrack runs from 18 – 22 November. Full event information and ticket prices are available at www.soundtrackfilmfestival.com

btw – if you don’t fancy the Red Shoes (seriously, it’s a great film) get over to Gwdihw at 7pm tonight for a free showing of The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T. Not sure if this is part of Soundtrack, but it should be

OOOOFF! was lucky enough to catch a screening of Julien Temple’s (The Filth and the Fury, Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten) new film, Oil City Confidential, last Friday. It tells the story of Dr. Feelgood – four men in cheap suits who crashed out of Canvey Island in the early ’70s. Despite being quite the music lovers, we had only ever heard whispers of the words Dr. Feelgood but this film has firmly cemented the band in our hearts and minds.

Oil City Confidential is a must for music and film fans. As Temple says, he doesn’t create documentaries, he creates cinema. And we have to agree. Put together in Temple’s trade mark ‘punk d.i.y’ style, the film is filled with highs and lows through a story that shows you can be forgotten as quickly as you arrived. If Dr. Feelgood didn’t already sit in your record collection, then we guarantee them a place after just one viewing of Oil City Confidential.

Dr. Feelgood – Roxette (Old Grey Whistle Test 1975)

Del 29 d’ octubre i fins el dia 8 de novembre, podrem gaudir del Festival Internacional de Cine Documental Musical de Barcelona: In-Edit. El festival, ubicat a les sales Rex i Aribau Club, celebra el seu setè aniversari amb una programació realment interessant, carregat de noms i estils molt variats; si no fos per In-Edit, poques possibilitats tindríem de gaudir d’aquest documentals en una sala de cine.
El festival presentarà 44 documentals, emmarcats en diferents seccions. En la Secció Oficial Internacional destaquen: Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison, el mític concert que va fer l’home de negre a la presó de Folsom l’any 68 davant tots els reclusos; Oil City confidential: The Dr. Feelgood Story, dirigit per Julien Temple, autor de Joe Strummer: Vida y Muerte de un Cantante o La Mugre y la Furia, el documental sobre els Sex Pistols; Shadow Play: The Making of Anton Corbjin, que repassa l’obra del fotògraf y director holandès; Soul Power, documental sobre el concert que van celebrar James Brown, B.B. King i d’altres artistes de color al Zaire el 1974 la nit abans del combat de boxa de Mohammed Ali.

Dins la Secció Excedlents, destaca Johnny Cash’s America, on personatges de la talla de Bob Dylan, Ozzy Osburne o Snoop Dogg, parlen de la influència de la música de Johnny Cash; Marc Bolan: The Final Word, el documental definitiu de l’estrella glam per excel·lència; Neil Young: Don’t be Denied, on es repassen els 40 anys de carrera del músic canadenc; One Fast Move or I’m Gone: Kerouac’s Big Sur on Sam Shepard, Tom Waits o Patti Smith s’encarreguen de revisar Big Sur de Jack Kerouac, amb música de Jay Farrar (Son Volt) i Benjamin Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie); Paul Weller: Into Tomorrow, tot un repàs a la carrera de Paul Weller, des de l’època The Jam fins avui en dia; R.E.M. This is Not a Show, les cinc nits que el grup de Michael Stipe es va tancar a l’Olympia Theater de Dublín, immortalitzades en un excel·lent blanc i negre.; The agony and the ecstasy of Phil Spector, on es combina l’història del productor amb una entrevista recent.

El festival també dedica un especial al director britànic Peter Whitehead amb la projecció de tres obres: Led Zeppelin Live at the Royal Albert Hall, un retrat de la banda de Robert Plant en estat pur; The Peter Whithead Pop Promos, un recull dels seus videoclips dels anys 60, i Tonite Let’s All Make Love in London, document imprescindible sobre el Swinging London.

A la secció nacional cal destacar la projecció de 1,2,3…Standstill, documental sobre el grup indie català. També destacar que aquest any s’inagura la Secció Imperdible, amb la projecció del film de culte de Rob Reiner, un fals documental, sobre un grup de Heavy Metal: This is Spinal Tap, un film únic.

Més imformació a: www.in-edit.beefeater.es

It’s funny how you don’t think about something for a while, and suddenly it’s everywhere. For example, I was at the 7-11 and they had a previously enjoyed DVD of The Great Rock ’N’ Roll Swindle on sale. While I had the soundtrack album and I saw DOA (the documentary that covers The Sex Pistols ill-fated American tour) in the movie theatre when it came out, and I saw director Julien Temple’s The Filth and the Fury, I had never seen Swindle.

So I bought it and I watched it and it reminded me that so much of what we think of as “punk attire” is really not what the punks wore in the day. The Sex Pistols were dressed by Malcolm McLaren and Dame Vivienne Westwood in S&M-style mohair sweaters and gauzy, straight jacket-like shirts. The fans wore ripped-apart-and-safety-pinned-back-together suits.

And then today it was announced that Joe Corre — son of McLaren and Westwood — was leaving Agent Provocateur, the lingerie label he co-founded 15 years ago.

Watching the movie, and thinking about the deliberate agitation and chaos (anarchy, if you will) behind punk, got me to thinking — in my day and geographic location (southwestern Ontario in the 80s), punk was more pose than provocation. But we still managed to raise a ruckus and get the Miss Oktoberfest pageant taken off University property. What would happen in a time and place, like England in 1976, where everything was all messed up.

And then, in a final coincidence, my friend Christina sent me an email about the
film Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam, Montreal-based filmmaker Omar Majeed’s documentary about young Muslims trying to re-define what that means in a post 9-11 world.

According to Majeed’s brother Zeelaf, the film is “loud and fun, thoughtful and deep. I guarantee you’ll be entertained and you’ll feel good about supporting independent documentary filmmaking in Canada.”

What: Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam
Where: Royal Cinema (608 College St. West)
When: October 16th-19th (excluding Sunday), at both 7 and 9:15pm.

The film also opens on Monday in Montreal, so pass it on to your Quebecois friends. For more info, join the Taqwacore Facebook group.

Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten

I jotted down the above while watching this Julien Temple documentary. I wrote it down, quickly and from memory, and don’t know if the quote is quite accurate. It’s from the section on Strummer writing lyrics for Rock The Casbah. To watch the changes in the band, in Strummer, is disconcerting – artists can be so self-destructive, mercurial, and yet utterly creative. Full on life forces. Also, well, there are the drugs.That beautiful wrecked voice, that beautiful wrecked visage!

Don’t quite know what to make of the film, except, as a Gen Xer, it feels a bit like exploring subterranean pre-teen feelings that surprise and startle as they re-surface. Did anyone really think Punk could change the world? Well, I certainly wouldn’t know – I was like the kid sister that learned about Punk a few years removed, from cracked old albums and cassettes left behind by a college-departed older brother.

Okay, I don’t have an older brother: what I mean is that I’m a few years too young to remember the heyday, and remember only the residue. I listened to, and actually bought music by, Big Audio Dynamite. Big Audio Dynamite had the first UK single with a sample, did you know? So, there.

assisti neste fim de semana ao documentário joe strummer: the future is unwritten sobre o líder do clash, morto em 2002, lançado em 2007 e dirigido pelo julien temple, o mesmo de “great rock’n’ roll swindle”. apesar das legendas da versão q eu baixei (aqui) atrapalharem bastante, mas se vc tiver uma pequena noção de inglês da pra ver de boa.

o clash é um dos vértices do punk. foram os caras que levaram, com london calling, o movimento um passo adiante da simplicidade dos ramones e do niilismo dos pistols. london calling é um dos discos de rock mais importantes já feitos e joe strummer era o cara que criou e comandou a coisa toda.

para contar a história de joe, the future is unwritten mistura depoimentos de pessoas que conviveram com ele antes da fama, companheiros do clash e dos mescaleros, artistas que foram influenciados pela banda e por ele e do próprio joe. misturando imagens de depoimentos originais com imagens de arquivo do clash e de joe, mais imagens de filmes antigos e desenhos animados para ilustrar principalmente os offs de joe. uma sacada bacana são suas locuções para um programa de rádio que servem como uma espécie vinhetas para o filme.

bom, muitos devem saber da história do cara. mas devo confessar uma coisa – apesar de gostar do clash, london calling é dos meus discos preferidos, e de achar o streetcore dos mescaleros um pusta disco – eu sabia muito pouco até domingo.

This is a sick, sick world, I thought.

I walked around Cheapo Records in Minneapolis, MN, a few days after Christmas 2002, in total contempt. Around the store, next to Christmas tree stickers and peeling Black Flag decals, were index cards with the words “R.I.P. Joe Strummer” written in black marker. Not funny.

I asked the cashier what was up with all the signs.

Are you serious?

I gave him the best steely look I could.

Joe died a few days ago, man. Heart attack. Where the hell have you been?

How I made it home from that music store remains a mystery.

…

Musical artists are an extended family to me. I know more about them than I do some of my relatives. The benefits of this arrangement are:

1. These kin are selectively vetted and chosen.
2. I only have to deal with their better characteristics.

The downside, however, is that a tragedy in the music world affects me more than is probably healthy.

Marvin Gaye’s murder back in the early 80’s left me stunned and puzzled. When Kurt Cobain died, I was angry and disappointed. Freddie Mercury’s death prompted mourning via black nail polish and incessant Queen playlists.

Joe’s death was pain. A crushing pain.

His absence was inconceivable. It was preposterous. I chuckle now at how blind I was to the news, even when staring at it in black and white. R.I.P.? Am I being punk’d? No, really. Is that a camera over there?

He was not allowed to be gone. Joe was immortal. Above death or demise. This was my conviction. This was my error.

…

In “The Future is Unwritten”, a documentary by Julien Temple, I was able to see the fallible Joe Strummer. The Joe Strummer who cheated on his girlfriend and stole other bandmates’ girlfriends. The Joe Strummer who abandoned lifelong friends almost overnight once he joined The Clash. The Joe Strummer who betrayed Topper Headon, fired Mick Jones and almost single-handedly dissolved The Clash.

I needed to see this.

I needed to see Joe the Man: accessible, fallible, and real. His slow rise to fame, brilliant climax, depressing downfall, and subsequent redemption all strengthened my respect for him as a human being.

The documentary follows him from his very early years as a youngster to his final days. Each chapter of his life is copiously spliced with rare video footage and photographs. If nothing else in this documentary entices veteran Clash or Strummer fans, then the fresh celluloid should.

Aside from the videos, the documentary is comprised of friends, lovers, and bandmates sharing their reminiscences of Joe. No shortage of stories. No shortage of opinions. No shortage of laughter and pleasure. Most are interviewed outside, around a campfire, just as Joe would have loved it.

There are no introductions to the interview subjects. No titles or names flashed across the screen. Gradually this omission falls to the wayside. The contextual relevance of each person becomes evident, but, somehow, the anonymity adds to the viewing experience. It doesn’t matter if it’s Bono talking or the guy that once fixed his guitar. Joe connected with everyone in the same way.

He craved the street culture of his surroundings. The dives, the underground clubs and seedy bars. Talking to people from all walks of life. He was the everyday everyman.

We see him walking the streets to pass out fliers for his new band, the Mescaleros. The legendary Joe Strummer pounding the pavement like so many other fledgling bands starving for an audience. Pedestrians rebuff him. He forges on eagerly and humbly.

“Never feel above anyone else.”

Every now and then you hear Joe’s voice during the interview breaks. He announces the soundtrack of the film, the songs played in the backdrop of nostalgia and thoughts. It is a radio broadcast of one of his many world-music shows. Nina Simone. U-Roy. Elvis Presley. Eddie Cochran. MC5.

You hear him excited about techno music and raves. He can’t keep up with the new stuff out there, he states. He rambles enthusiastically to anyone who will listen. He has an insatiable musical appetite. Cumbia. African. Native, Incan, Mexican. Learning from everything on this silly, eclectic, lovely blue orb in the cosmos.

“If you keep it too narrow, it’s going to kill the life in music.”

If you have never heard any of his world music playlists, then the film’s soundtrack would do you good. This is Joe. This is him transformed after The Clash: after the triumph, after the pitfalls, after the punk regiment, after the self-discovery, after the reconciliation.

In the end, he needed to go through that, through the less savory Joe incarnations. He needed to trudge through the muck in order to retain his dignity.

“Punk rock means exemplary manners to your fellow human beings.”

Joe Strummer didn’t just bring authenticity back to the music. He brought it back to what it means to be human.

R.I.P. to the man but his message is immortal.

Confirmed: Kinks documentary in the works. Julien Temple will direct. No release date as of yet. Julien was the man behind The Sex Pistols’ “The Filth and the Fury”. He also directed music videos for such wonderful  80’s nuggets like  “Come Dancing” and “State of Confusion”. Not their best era for music.

Mentre in The Filth and the Fury, venti anni più tardi, a parlare, raccontare, commentare la breve parabola dei Sex Pistols sarà Johnny Rotten (allora Lydon), sempre dall’ombra, qua la parola viene lasciata a Malcolm McLaren. Che approccia dal suo punto di vista; e che spaccia e manipola quelle che verranno rivelate come numerose, oggettive, falsità.

Non so se Julien Temple ne fosse al corrente, ma l’operazione presenta lati moralmente discutibili: nel dare rilevanza e centralità a questo manager che ammette candidamente di avere sfruttato una idea/operazione per raggranellare mucchiate di denaro all’insegna della truffa; nel marcare il dramma di Sid Vicious da un’angolazione cinica e idealmente in linea con le schifezze del mercato (la chiusura del film è di gusto decisamente cattivo).

Al di là di queste considerazioni, che ritengo comunque centrali, il film funziona. Una finta indagine condotta dal chitarrista Jones si alterna a stralci finzionali di una giornata di McLaren, a pezzi di concerti dei Pistols, a cartoni animati e così via. L’appartenenza al genere mockumentary si rivela anche nel diverso utilizzo del molto materiale che verrà riproposto in The Filth and the Fury: cartoni animati più lunghi, montaggio meno spezzettato di alcuni eventi biografici (laddove questa maggiore lunghezza comporta il comprendervi sequenze poco utili ai fini documentari e allo stesso tempo crea la sensazione di una finzionalità più accentuata).
Anche i pezzi musicali godono di spazio maggiore.

Un film dispari, come uso dire. Va allora un plauso ai programmatori del Festival, che ne hanno inserito la proiezione temporalmente dopo la versione corretta della storia, da cui in ogni caso The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle non dovrebbe essere disgiunto.

“Ci sono voluti tre tentativi per ottenere il risultato giusto, ma finalmente, in The Filth and the Fury, Temple ha prodotto un film veramente degno del soggetto. A distanza di oltre vent’anni, si è dimostrato la persona giusta per raccontare questa storia dal principio. [...] Un film così particolare probabilmente poteva essere realizzato soltanto da qualcuno che c’era e conosceva la band. [...] The Filth and the Fury non è la versione definitiva né l’ultima parola sul punk o sui Sex Pistols, ma è una versione della storia che era necessario sentire, e un piacere per chiunque s’interessi della band”.

(da Julien Temple: un milione di storie di Hugh Barker, uno dei contributi che accompagnano questo dvd. Altre news le trovate qui)

Ogni anno il Biografilm Festival dedica una retrospettiva a un documentarista musicale.
L’anno scorso ebbi il formidabile piacere di conoscere Peter Whitehead; quest’anno riscoprirò Julien Temple.

The Filth and the Fury traccia la storia dei Sex Pistols. Come qualcuno probabilmente si aspetterà, per me guardare questo documentario ha significato anche tornare alla mia adolescenza tra i 17 e i 25, grosso modo: ché sono sempre stato un po’ ritardatario e, soprattutto, conoscevo un amico che era, e per certi versi faceva, il ritratto di Sid Vicious.

Il film si concentra sulla storia del gruppo, sui profili umani, personali, dei suoi membri, specie di Rotten e di Vicious (e della stronza Nancy); sulla provenienza da un preciso contesto storico e sociale e sull’impatto che successivamente ne ebbero (ma senza calcare la mano in modo morboso sulle schifezze basso corporali); sul ruolo e sul comportamento da bastardo del manager McLaren.
Ciò trova coerenza e corrispondenza anche nel fatto che musicalmente i Pistols erano rozzi e semplici (i 3 accordi di Anarchy in the UK; e si ripete più volte che Vicious proprio non sapeva suonare, e il basso nei concerti veniva tenuto al minimo se non spento), oltre che nelle superbe scelte di montaggio, con magnifici accostamenti di vario materiale, anche di fiction televisive e teatrali e di cartoni animati (una delle chicche è l’incontro tra Rotten e Sting in Who Killed Bambi?).

Una eco estetizzante di anarchismo si può scorgere nitidamente (se non ero troppo sbronzo) in piccoli scivolamenti temporali tra fatti e interviste d’epoca e nel sovrapporsi a volte caotico e indistinto di voci.
E la risposta a quello che potrebbe sembrare il punto debole del film, ossia un (supposto) scarso approfondimento della contraddizione fra il modo di essere impersonato e sbandierato dai Sex Pistols e i loro contratti a 5 sterlinarie cifre, più che nella affermata incoscienza del tutto da parte loro (alimentata dall’ingannevole McLaren), probabilmente si trova, secondo una struttura forse più da fiction che non da documentario, nella loro stessa autodistruzione.

Siamo giunti alla fine,è stata una settimana faticosa ed intensa.

Qui trovate un breve riassunto video del festival.

Riprese a cura di tutto lo staff, Montaggio : Giada Tartarini.

ciaoooooooooooooooooooooooo

Incontro davvero emozionante con il guru Julien Temple, regista di documentari e videoclip sulla musica. Julien ci spiega come sia nata la sua passione verso il mondo della documentazione filmica e soprattutto ci racconta attraverso le sue immagini, l’atmosfera punk degli anni ‘70. Al Festival sono stati presentati contributi filmati come The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle, in cui Malcolm McLaren, manager dei Sex Pistols, mostra in dieci lezioni come truffare l’industria musicale, oppure il “rockumentary” The Filth and the Fury, collezione di materiali di repertorio che narrano tutta la storia di questa incredibile band.

Para quem estiver de bobeira em Sampa neste fim de semana e também durante a semana que vem, ainda dá tempo de conferir a bela programação da mostra “Tribos Urbanas no Cinema” que está rolando no Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil (lugar bacana, ali no centrão, pertinho da Bovespa).

A mostra reúne filmes sobre diferentes tribos e movimentos que se formaram em todo o mundo na segunda metade do século XX – muitos deles ligados à música. Beats, punks, mods, hippies, grunges, skatistas etc.. Rótulos à parte, a seleção de filmes é bem interessante (assim como o preço da sessão, apenas R$4), trazendo desde obras antigonas – como o clássico Sem Destino (Dennis Hopper, 1968) – até outras mais recentes – como Control (Anton Corbijn, 2007).

Mas a minha indicação aqui vai para o filme The Future Is Unwritten (Julien Temple, 2007), documentário biográfico sobre o líder do Clash, Joe Strummer. O filme remonta a vida e a carreira do músico de forma brilhante (na medida do que é possível fazer com duas horas de rolo). Várias e várias imagens de arquivo – muitas inéditas – intercaladas com depoimentos de convidados especiais (de Bono Vox a Johnny Depp), ex-integrantes do Clash (menos Paul Simonon, infelizmente) e outras pessoas próximas a Strummer. Uma das sacadas mais geniais do filme, no entanto, é sua trilha-sonora, montada com trechos do programa de rádio London Calling, que Joe apresentou na BBC entre 1998 e 2002 (ano em que veio a falecer).

Outro grande mérito do diretor Julien Temple foi ter conseguido contar a história do líder do Clash, que era seu amigo, de forma equilibrada, dando a dimensão de sua importância, mas sem cair na vã idealização de sua imagem. Temple revela uma figura altamente contraditória e, por vezes, autoritária. Mas se, ao final do filme, pode-se concluir que Strummer esteve longe de ser um messias infalível, também é certo que ele não foi um cara qualquer. Uma cabeça pensante raivosa (pensar era um passatempo, ele diz), que mudou os rumos do rock, e da vida de muitas pessoas, e soube buscar sua redenção, até o fim da vida.

E o filme termina de forma arrepiante, com cenas do show de 2002 em que Strummer e Mick Jones voltaram a tocar juntos após 20 anos, e com uma declaração do biografado (reproduzida abaixo) que vai martelar na tua cabeça durante um bom tempo. Para quem é fã de Clash, de música ou de uma boa película, garanto que o programa vale muito a pena. A última exibição de The Future Is Unwritten ocorre no dia 30 de maio, sábado que vem.

“People can change anything they want to; and that means everything in the world. People are running about following their little tracks. I am one of them. But we’ve all gotta stop… just stop following our own little mouse trail. People can do anything; this is something that I’m beginning to learn. People are out there doing bad things to each other; it’s because they’ve been dehumanized. It’s time to take that humanity back into the centre of the ring and follow that for a time. Greed… it ain’t going anywhere! They should have that on a big billboard across Times Square. Think on that. Without people you’re nothing.” (Joe Strummer)

THIAGO NEY

da Folha de São Paulo

No início dos anos 90, Michael Hutchence (1960-1997), então vocalista do INXS, e Joe Strummer (1952-2002), então ex-vocalista do Clash, estavam em um clube londrino quando um grupo de garotas se aproximou.

Foram todas para cima de Hutchence. Após um tempo, o galã desvencilhou-se das fãs, mas se sentiu mal por Strummer ter sido ignorado. Este voltou-se para Hutchence: “Não se preocupe comigo. Sou apenas o porta-voz de uma geração”.

Quem conta a história é o cineasta Julien Temple, que foi amigo íntimo do vocalista do Clash e dirigiu “Joe Strummer: O Futuro Está para Ser Escrito”, documentário agudo que está na mostra Tribos Urbanas, no Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil (CCBB) de São Paulo.

Por meio de entrevistas com pessoas ligadas a Strummer e com gente como Johnny Depp, Martin Scorsese e Bono, Temple procura decodificar o guitarrista, letrista e vocalista de uma das bandas mais atuantes e engajadas do rock –quando engajamento era algo mais do que cantar “Minha Alma” no programa do Luciano Huck.

A partir de referências sociais e políticas em músicas como “Tommy Gun” e “Spanish Bombs”, Strummer foi chamado de “porta-voz de uma geração”. Segundo Temple, 55, ele lidava com a expressão de uma maneira ambígua:

“Joe encarava isso com humor. Ele usou sua posição como pessoa pública de uma forma responsável. Realmente acreditava que podemos mudar o mundo positivamente. Por outro lado, ele acabou com o Clash porque não queria ser um rock star, muito menos porta-voz de alguém”.

Pistols ou Clash?

Temple e Strummer se conheceram em 1976, logo após a formação do Clash. Fascinado por rock and roll, o cineasta passou a filmar bandas da cena punk londrina, principalmente o Clash e os Sex Pistols.

Até que Strummer disse a Temple: ou eles ou nós. E Temple escolheu eles. “Eu já havia colhido um material extenso dos Pistols, não poderia jogar aquilo fora. Então tive que me afastar do Clash.”

Diretor e roqueiro ficaram afastados até os anos 90. “Joe se casou com uma amiga de escola de minha mulher. Certo dia, essa amiga vai almoçar em casa e eu dei de cara com Joe.”

Nos últimos anos, Strummer aproximou-se de Temple. Viraram bons amigos. “Ele se tornou pai, estava mais calmo. Mas não é fácil fazer um filme sobre um amigo.”

Julien Temple tem na bagagem alguns filmes de ficção (como “Bullet”, de 1996), mas são os filmes sobre pop e rock que dominam seu currículo, como “The Great Rock and Roll Swindle”, sobre o Sex Pistols, e “Glastonbury”, sobre o festival homônimo inglês.

“Não faço filmes estritamente sobre música. O objetivo é enxergar alguns aspectos que existem dentro da música. Não são documentários de rock; estão mais para longas de história social”, conta. “Cresci ouvindo Kinks e Stones, e eles me fizeram ver o mundo de forma diferente daquela que eu via na escola. Foi algo libertador.”

link da matéria: http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/ilustrada/ult90u565089.shtml

Mostra realizada pelo CCBB promove uma viagem audiovisual pelos movimentos que mudaram a história contemporânea, através da música, cinema e moda.

A programação inclui 20 títulos, representativos de dez movimentos. Estarão em foco o universo dos beatniks, mods, glams, clubbers, hippies, yuppies, new wavers, skaters, surfers, grunges e punks. Através de dois títulos por dia, de diferentes nacionalidades e épocas, dedicados a cada um dos movimentos, o público poderá conferir a filosofia, as inspirações e influências de cada tribo na época em que surgiu e seus desdobramentos nos dias de hoje.

As sessões acontecerão sempre de terça a sábado. A cada sessão, o espectador será convidado a dar notas ao filme. No domingo, serão projetados os três filmes com melhor votação durante a semana.

Estão previstos também dois debates, moderados por Tatá Aeroplano, cada um sobre uma tribo (o momento histórico, suas características e desdobramentos atuais), que prometem aprofundar todos os temas relacionados às chamadas tribos urbanas.

PROGRAMAÇÃO

Dia 05, terça-feira
18h30 – Sem Destino, de Dennis Hopper (97 min, 16 anos)
20h30 – Quadrophenia, de Franc Roddam (117 min, 18 anos)

Dia 06, quarta-feira
18h30 – Quase Famosos, de Cameron Crowe (122 min, 14 anos)
20h30 – New Yok Doll, de Greg Whiteley (78 min, 14 anos)

Dia 07, quinta-feira
18h30 – Noites de Lua Cheia, de Eric Rohmer (102 min, 14 anos)
20h30 – Joe Strummer: O Futuro Está para Ser Escrito, de Julien Temple (124 min, 14 anos)

Dia 08, sexta-feira
16h30 – Dogtown and Z-Boyz – Onde Tudo Começou, de Stacy Peralta (88 min, livre)
 18h30 – Wall Street – Poder e Cobiça, de Oliver Stone (125 min, 14 anos)
20h30 – Vida de Solteiro, de Cameron Crowe (99 min, 14 anos)

Dia 09, sábado
16h30 – Modulações – Cinema para os Ouvidos, de Iara Lee (75 min, 16 anos) 18h30 – Quase Famosos, de Cameron Crowe (122 min, 14 anos)
20h30 – Stop Making Sense, de Jonathan Demme (88 min, livre)

Dia 10, Domingo
16h30/18h30/20h30 – Sessão Especial (Votação do público: os 3 filmes mais votados da semana serão re-exibidos)

Dia 12, terça-feira
18h30 – Control, de Anton Corbjin (122 min, 14 anos)
20h30 – DEBATE (com mediação de Tatá Aeroplano (curador) + convidado especial)

Dia 13, quarta-feira
18h30 – Crônica de um Amor Louco, de Marco Ferreri (101 min, 14 anos)
20h30 – A Festa Nunca Termina, de Michael Winterbottom (117 min, 18 anos)

Dia 14, quinta-feira
18h30 – Riding Giants – No limite da emoção, de Stacy Peralta (105 min, livre)
20h30 – DEBATE (com mediação de Tatá Aeroplano (curador) + convidado especial)

Dia 15, sexta-feira
16h30 – Até Que a Vida Nos Separe, de José Zaragoza (110 min, 14 anos)
18h30 – Minha Vida em Cor de Rosa, de Alain Berliner (88 min, 14 anos)
20h30 – Stoned – A História Secreta dos Rolling Stones, de Stephen Woolley (102 min, 18 anos)

Dia 16, sábado
16h30 – Noites de Lua Cheia, de Eric Rohmer (102 min, 14 anos)
18h30 – HYPE! , de Doug Pray (84 min, 14 anos)
20h30 – Control, de Anton Corbjin (122 min, 14 anos)

Dia 17, Domingo
16h30/18h30/20h30 – Sessão Especial (Votação do público: os 3 filmes mais votados da semana serão re-exibidos)

Dia 19, terça-feira
18h30 – Eu Me Lembro, de Edgar Navarro (108 min, 16 anos)
20h30 – Stop Making Sense, de Jonathan Demme (88 min, livre)

Dia 20, quarta-feira
18h30 – Quadrophenia, de Franc Roddam (117 min, 18 anos)
20h30 – Dogtown and Z-Boyz – Onde Tudo Começou, de Stacy Peralta (88 min, livre)

Dia 21, quinta-feira
18h30 – Vida de Solteiro, de Cameron Crowe (99 min, 14 anos)
20h30 – Joe Strummer: O Futuro Está para Ser Escrito, de Julien Temple (124 min, 14 anos)

Dia 22, sexta-feira
16h30 – Riding Giants – No limite da emoção, de Stacy Peralta (105 min, livre) 18h30 – Eu Me Lembro, de Edgar Navarro (108 min, 16 anos)
20h30 – New York Doll, de Greg Whiteley (78 min, 14 anos)

Dia 23, sábado
16h30 – Wall Street – Poder e Cobiça, de Oliver Stone (125 min, 14 anos)
18h30 – Sem Destino, de Dennis Hopper (95 min, 16 anos)
20h30 – A Festa Nunca Termina, de Michael Winterbottom (117 min, 18 anos)

Dia 24, Domingo
16:30h / 18:30h / 20:30h – Sessão Especial (Votação do público: os 3 filmes mais votados da semana serão re-exibidos)

Local: Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil – SCES, Tr. 2, Lt. 22 – Asa Sul
Data: 05/05/09 a 24/05/09. De terça a quinta, às 18h30 e 20h30. Sextas, sábados e domingos, também às 16h30.
Preço inteira: R$ 4,00
Preço meia: R$ 2,00
Informações: 3310-7087

DIY before it was cool. U.K. Subs: Punk Can Take It was directed by Julien Temple who you may know better as the director of The Great Rock And Roll Swindle (Sex Pistols, y’all). Resting on the pastiche of World War II films Temple shows the disillusionment and anger that fueled the punk movement in England. This film is messy and vile and not well done. Exactly as it should be. There’s not really a whole lot going on here, but that’s OK. Punk Can Take It is a wonderful little snapshot of a time when punk was no longer in its infancy and you get to see the U.K. Subs live. By 1979 the second wave of punk had already been around for two years, Sid Vicious was dead, Hardcore, Oi! and New Wave were under way. Check out U.K. Subs: Punk Can Take It. Have some laughs, get inspired, learn a little history (or remember it if you were there). At the very least it’s only 18 minutes 59 seconds out of your day.

We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers and also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budweiser, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls. Not that we needed all that for the trip, but once you get locked into a serious drug-collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can.

Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

This documentary from Alex Gibney begins with an explanation that there were two Hunter S. Thompsons – the kind, caring one and the ill-tempered, angry one. By the end, though, it seems much more apparent that there are two better ways of viewing him – the myth and the man respectively.

The former is the notorious, hell-raising, super party animal inspired by his seminal work Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. It is the popular image, whose legacy remains to this day in the form of Duke in the Doonesbury cartoon strip, as well as being immortalised by Johnny Depp in Terry Gillam’s film adaptaion of the aforementionned novel. Indeed, quite a few scenes from which are used in this documentary. However, the fact that Thompson felt the need to live up to this image is what essentially destroyed him. Worse, though, as is the case with all tragic heroes, he could see and understand that he was the harbringer of his own doomed destiny, yet could not stop it from happening.

This brings us to Thompson the man. Perhaps it is the presence of Depp in both films that triggered the memory, but there are some notably common characteristics between this documentary and Julien Temple’s The Future is Unwritten about the life of Joe Strummer. Both were angry young men who became major voices of their generation. They both burned brightly in those years and their output from then on would never come close to being the same. However, whereas Temple’s film left you with feelings of warmth and sadness for the life and passing respectively of Strummer, Gibney’s work fails to connect satisfactorily with who the writer really was and what inspired and motivated him.

Instead, his formative years are glossed over as briefly as possible and the film deals instead with the well-covered ground of Thompson’s three most famous works. This is a period that spans the late sixties and early seventies, before the film goes on to chart his decline in more whirlwind fashion once more. Indeed, more time is given over to US Presidential elections of the period than is to understanding who Thompson really was. Indeed, the truth would seem to be that the allure of discussing the period’s presidential candidates George Bush Richard Nixon, John Kerry George McGovern, and Barack Obama Jimmy Carter was too great to resist. Whilst Thompson flits in and out of these scenes and this subplot is an interesting one in itself, there is a definite spell in the film where Gibney seems to have forgotten the subject of his documentary!

That said, this remains a broadly accessible and hugely entertaining film to go see if you wish to gain a general sense for who the writer was. There are some pithy one-liners, some great comic stories, and then there are the scenes with the inimitable cartoonist Ralph Steadman. Steadman illustrated Thompson’s books and both were probably the biggest influences in each others’ lives. Thompson was pushed towards his ground-breaking first-person style of journalism by Steadman, whereas the latter admits to have been the shy and retiring type before Thompson introduced him to his world of personal mayhem.

On the whole, so, anyone with an interest in Thompson’s writings will certainly gain something from seeing this documentary. However, as much as I enjoyed certain aspects of the film, I ultimately felt disappointed by it too. It just felt too warm and fuzzy, too willing to emphasize certain parts of who the man was, whilst underplaying others, and, as discussed, it lacked discipline. In other words, the documentary did little to crack the stereotypical image of one of the great American personalities of the twentieth century and that is a shame.

]]> http://purpleskybaby.wordpress.com/2008/12/03/joe-strummer-the-future-is-unwritten/ Wed, 03 Dec 2008 16:05:28 +0000 purpleskybaby http://purpleskybaby.wordpress.com/2008/12/03/joe-strummer-the-future-is-unwritten/

I don’t know much about The Clash,  I only own a compilation, but this was a really  good film.  Directed by Julien Temple,  it includes a mixture of biography and documentary.   This chronicling of Joe Strummer’s life is a must not only for punk fans,  but also music fans in general and anyone who is looking to be inspired.  Particularly after the clash finished it seemed that Joe Strummer  just realised how good it was to be alive and this came across really strongly in the later part of the film.  The film  was really well done,  it was a mixture of old photos and video footage,  with interviews of people that either knew him or were fans of his,  including Johnny Depp, Bono,  John Cusack and Steve Buscemi amongst others.  It also included clips from his World Service show.  In the early part of the film there was also a lots of animation which was probably either his drawings or based on them,  although I don’t know that for sure.  I highly recommend that you watch it if you get the chance.