Absolute Beginners
1985's ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS was expected to be a breakout hit that established the British film industry as a force to be reckoned with... instead, it nearly destroyed the industry altogether. Director Julien Temple is known both for having an eye for detail and being an unflinching perfectionist, which doubtlessly drained the movie's budget -- money ran out several times and they had to put production on hiatus. Then when the film was finally released, it was an enormous financial disaster.
(Loosely) based on the novel by Colin MacInnes, the story centers on a 19 year old London photographer in the late 1950s, who's living in an era of rebellion and the burgeoning rock and roll movement. Describing the plot is a bit problematic because it's all over the map... mainly it's a love story, but there's a slew of unnecessary detours. What the movie lacks in story, it more than makes up for in style -- there's a phenomenal production design, overblown sets, elaborate camerawork, countless great performances and a stellar soundtrack. Somebody on imdb described it as 'an '80s MOULIN ROUGE,' and that comparison's pretty on the mark.
There's a wide array of song styles and each production number is unique. For example, Ray Davies sings his infectiously catchy ditty "Quiet Life" while dancing through a set that's essentially a life-sized dollhouse. David Bowie's "That's Motivation" is like an '80s version of a 1940s musical number, complete with elaborate, oversized setpieces. Several of the jazzy dance numbers seem uncannily reminiscent of WEST SIDE STORY. There's an in-studio recording session of "Little Cat (You've Never Had It So Good)" that feels (and sounds!) like something from "American Bandstand." Sade's "Killer Blow" is like a 1930s nightclub number, and Patsy Kensit's "Having It All" feels like something from a 1950s beatnik bar.
One of the problems, however, is that all of the musical numbers stop the film dead in its tracks and contribute little or nothing to the overall story (not to mention that most of the lipsynching is terrible). David Bowie and Ray Davies have two of the film's best segments, but their characters seem unnecessary -- it probably would have been a better movie without them. The story is further bogged down by a sequence with race rioting, which comes pretty much out of the blue and seems like it belongs in another film altogether. It feels like there may be huge chunks of the story missing (leading me to believe there may be a lot of footage left on the cutting room floor) and, at 108 minutes, there's really too much jammed in that goes nowhere. Still, one can't help but admire the film's ambition.
Not surprisingly, the movie's built up a small cult fanbase. On television and home video, the film looked terrible -- when they cropped the oversized picture to fit on a TV screen, Temple's artistic vision was completely destroyed, which is a travesty since one of the film's strongest merits is its artiness. Thankfully, it's available now on DVD (one of those stupid double-sided discs) complete with a beautiful widescreen print. Unfortunately, aside from a tiny photo gallery, the disc has no other extras. However, Video Detective's got a vintage home video trailer, and Bowie's full-length, film-noir music video can be found on YouTube.
Here in the USA (where the film was endlessly promoted, virtually ignored and instantly forgotten) the incredible soundtrack double LP was butchered. Although I actually prefer the art on the U.S. version (which more faithfully represents the stylishness of the film, IMO), the entire second album was missing -- meaning, amongst others, no "Little Cat" and "Ted Ain't Ded," two of the film's most memorable numbers. Further complicating matters, there's an extended cassette edition which contains four more tunes, bringing the tally up to 22 songs. Yet only 18 of 'em are on CD... and none of 'em are currently available in the USA, not counting a few variations of the title song. Heavy sigh.
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Random fun fact: It's less traumatic to be beaten senseless by a group of drunken rednecks than to find your parents homemade sex tape.