LIVE FOREVER (15) 82min 0.. Unless you really went to town on the pills, you’ll remember the 905: a decade characterised by the fag end of acid house culture. the arrival of New Labour and Britpop bands Blur and Oasis. Beginning with the Stone Roses' gig on Spike Island and ending with the pretty puppets of manufactured pop music today. Live Forever documents a decade when British culture ‘rocked‘. Apparently. Therein lies the problem — unless you buy into writer/director John Dower's idealistic theory that ‘the 805 were crap’ and the 905 by contrast were vibrant, creative and thrilling. you‘ll find the self- aggrandising tone of this somewhat nai’ve documentary quite ridiculous. But that doesn‘t make it any less enjoyable to watch. especially the parts where Blur and Oasis bicker over who‘s more working class. With the notable exception of Jarvis Cocker. every other commentator digs their own grave here: James Brown (former editor of Loaded) makes reference to Irvine Welsh‘s tale of heroin addicts living in ‘Glasgow housing schemes'; music
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Documenting the decade when British culture rocked (apparently)
journalist Jon Savage admits that he cried when he saw Oasis perform ‘Some Might Say' on TOTP; while Noel Gallagher takes the prize for the pure idiocy of his anti-Blur comment, saying that because he ‘worked on a building site and had a milk round‘, his ‘soul is purer than theirs’.
And it‘s fun seeing them all making fools of themselves, more so because they've probably seen the film and thought that they came
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across well. As for the shallow idealism of the project, Dower and the film‘s producer John Battsek are clearly conscious of the fact. but that doesn't stop them joining the ranks of the Thatcher‘s children they‘re documenting as they shamelessly capitalise on the current penchant for dewy-eyed nostalgia with this feature film and its accompanying soundtrack. (Catherine Bromley)
Blarny, blarny, blarny . . .
THE-SON (LE FILS)
(12) 103mm 0...
Film
Powerfully enigmatic drama
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