Plot
The rise of teen culture in 1950s Britain provides the backdrop for Julien Temple's unconventional rock musical Absolute Beginners. The film centers on Colin, an 18-year-old with a talent for photography and a fondness for the neon nightlife of British jazz clubs. He also is in love with Crepe Suzette, an impulsive, ambitious young beauty who abandons him after attracting the attention of a powerful fashion designer. Depressed and aimless, Colin turns for help to a flashy ad executive (David Bowie) who promises to make him a star photographer. The former lovers take parallel paths to success, capitalizing on the youth mania gripping the nation. The film's nostalgic yet gently satirical look at teen culture is tempered by a recognition of the era's social tension, particularly a disturbing rise in racism. Despite these serious undertones, however, the film tells its story with a colorful vibrancy reminiscent of both MTV and old Hollywood musicals, filled with such show-stopping numbers as a memorable sequence in which Bowie dances on a giant typewriter. Critical reception was mixed, with some hailing the film's spectacular cinematography and ambitious scope, while others found the mixture of tones and style too inconsistent. The film also drew lukewarm response at the box office, with the memorable soundtrack receiving more attention than the film itself. ~ Judd Blaise, RoviReview
Julien Temple's wildly stylized musical adaptation of Colin MacInnes' novel is a dazzling blend of music, dance, and visual effects, reminiscent of a two-hour video in the best sense. Set in the pre-swinging London of 1958, it centers on the tribulations of a young working-class photographer (Eddie O'Connell) anxious to impress a former girlfriend (Patsy Kensit) already moving up in the world. Evocative of the Minnelli and Gene Kelly musicals of the '50s, the film also reflects Vegas revues, with a visual style grounded in swooping crane movements and smoothly interlocking tracking shots which never seem to end. As it could be only in Temple's fantasy world, jazz is its lingua franca, with a coruscating patchwork score by the venerable Gil Evans that samples the music of Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, and other luminaries of the period. Given the limitations of O'Connell, Kensit, and the thin script, the film lags when the music stops and they're required to act, but most of the time the director uses them virtually as animatronic figures reacting in the simplest manner to the spectacle constantly spinning about them. In a film that touts the retro appeal of a martini and a smoke, David Bowie's Mephistophilean ad man is an emblem of its fascination with seductive surfaces. ~ Michael Costello, RoviCast
- Eddie O'Connell - Colin
- Patsy Kensit - Crepe Suzette
- David Bowie - Vendice Partners
- James Fox - Henley of Mayfair
- Ray Davies - Arthur
Credit
Stuart Rose - Art Director, Ken Wheatley - Art Director, David Wimbury - Associate Producer, Daivd Toguri - Choreography, Dave Perry - Costume Designer, Sue Blane - Costume Designer, Julien Temple - Director, Richard Bedford - Editor, Michael Bradsell - Editor, Gerry Hambling - Editor, Russell Lloyd - Editor, Nik Powell - Executive Producer, Al Clark - Executive Producer, Gil Evans - Musical Arrangement, Edward Tudor-Pole - Songwriter, Ekow Abban - Songwriter, Sade - Songwriter, Laurie Aitken - Songwriter, Edward Barber - Songwriter, David Bowie - Songwriter, J. Burton - Songwriter, Smiley Culture - Songwriter, Jerry Dammers - Songwriter, Raymond Douglas Davies - Songwriter, Miles Davis - Songwriter, Slim Gaillard - Songwriter, Patsy Kensit - Songwriter, Clive Langer - Songwriter, Simon R. Lewis - Songwriter, Nick Lowe - Songwriter, Franco Migliacci - Songwriter, Domenico Modungno - Songwriter, Angela Morley - Songwriter, Robert Palmer - Songwriter, Beatrice Reading - Songwriter, Julien Temple - Songwriter, Paul Weller - Songwriter, Jacqueline Young - Songwriter, Peter Frampton - Makeup, John Beard - Production Designer, Oliver Stapleton - Cinematographer, Chris Brown - Producer, Stephen Woolley - Producer, Joanne Woollard - Set Designer, David John - Sound/Sound Designer, Richard Burridge - Screenwriter, Don MacPherson - Screenwriter, Christopher Wicking - Screenwriter, Eric Coates - Featured Music, Walter Donaldson - Featured Music, Jimmy Kennedy - Featured Music, Charles Mingus - Featured Music, Colin MacInnes - Book Author| Absolute Aggression (1996 Film), Absolut Warhola (2001 Film) | |
| Absolute Beginners: Bass Guitar (2002 Film), Absolute Beginners: Drums (2002 Film) |
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