|
Good Vibrations
| Released |
29 March 2013 |
| Director |
Lisa Barros D'Sa, Glenn Leyburn |
Starring
|
Richard Dormer, Jodie Whittaker, Liam Cunningham, Adrian Dunbar, Dylan Moran, Killian Scott, Andrew Simpson, Mark Ryder, Kerr Logan |
| Writer(s) |
Colin Carberry, Glenn Patterson |
Producer(s)
|
Chris Martin, Andrew Eaton, Bruno Charlesworth, David Holmes |
| Origin |
United Kingdom, Ireland |
| Running Time |
97 minutes |
| Genre |
Biography, music |
| Rating |
15A |
|
|
Anarchy in the NI.
Last year was a good one for Irish film, and with Good Vibrations, 2013 looks to be off to a good start too.
This biopic of record shop owner and godfather of Belfast punk Terri Hooley (responsible for bands like Rudi, The Outcast and The Undertones) does a lot to rise above the staple generic fare – presenting instead a highly compelling story that manages to encompass a side of the Troubles less often depicted on film.
In 1970s Belfast, the sectarian conflict has divided the city. The ‘60s have ended, and the former hippy radicals and anarchists have become divided along catholic protestant lines. All except one that is.
As all his friends take sides and take up arms, Terri Hooley opens a record shop on the most bombed half-mile in Europe. Through it he discovers a compelling voice of resistance in the city’s nascent underground punk scene. Galvanising the young musicians into action, the aged hippy becomes the unlikely leader of a motley band of punks.
Good Vibrations is the second film from Cherrybomb directing duo Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn. Like their debut, Good Vibrations channels a heady youthful energy, although this time the effect is to tell a far larger, historical story. The directors’ smooth sepia-toned cinematography and stylish editing does well to recreate the period on a slim budget, and the slick direction pastes over any mistakes in the details.
The film weaves its story around archive footage of the Troubles to set the scene. This effect creates a genuinely oppressive atmosphere, so that it feels like a sincere release when the punk scene emerges. The story speaks of the redemptive power of music, without ever becoming preachy or moralistic. Like Hooley himself the film deliberately avoids the very suggestion of taking a side, with the punk becoming a powerful alternative to everything else.
With a film so devoted to music, the soundtrack is all important. And in this regard, Good Vibrations doesn’t disappoint. By far the most prominent piece of music to emerge from the period was 'Teenage Kicks' by The Undertones. The film goes to great lengths to establish the genesis of this particular song before letting the audience actually hear it. The first time we do actually hear it is when DJ John Peel gives it a spin on his BBC radio show, launching Belfast punk into the public consciousness across Ireland and the UK. It is a revelatory moment, and it shows an absolute reverence for the subject on the part of the filmmakers.
- Bernard O’Rourke |
