Absolute Beginners (film)

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Absolute Beginner is a 1986 English rock film adapted from Colin MacInnes's book on the same name about life in the late 1950s in London. The film was directed by Julien Temple, featuring David Bowie and Sade, and Patsy Kensit in one of his first major roles. The film was screened out of the competition at the 1986 Cannes Film Festival.

Once released, Absolute Beginners received great coverage in the British media. At that time, the British film industry was considered to be at the point of collapse (with recent film failure of the Revolution ). However, the film was criticized by critics and became a box office bomb. Some critics include stylistic anachronisms, such as miniskirts and clear 1980s music from the likes of The Style Council and Sade, Kensit character bowdlerisation (Crepe Suzette has been described as a promiscuous "negrophile" in the book), and Bowie's casting, which made him became a condition of his musical contribution. Although the film was not successful, the Bowie theme song was very popular in the UK and reached number two on the charts.

The commercial failure of Absolute Beginners and other films released around the same time, The Mission , caused the collapse of Goldcrest, a major film studio in the UK.

Video Absolute Beginners (film)

Plot

The film took place in 1958, a time when pop culture changed from 1950s jazz and early rock to a new generation on the threshold of the 1960s. London is post-World War II, but pre-Beatles/Stones. The storyline combines elements of the 1958 Notting Hill race riot.

Young photographer Colin falls in love with fashion designer Crepe Suzette but he is only interested in his career. Colin tried to win his attention by taking a gap in his big time. Meanwhile, racial tension heats up in the Colin neighborhood of London.

Maps Absolute Beginners (film)

Cast

• Patsy Kensit as Crepe Suzette
• Eddie O'Connell as Colin (unnamed narrator in the original novel, so named first author for the movie)
• David Bowie as Vendice Partners
• James Fox as Henley from Mayfair
• Ray Davies as Arthur, Colin's Dad
• Mandy Rice-Davies as Mum
• Eve Ferret as Big Jill
• Tony Hippolyte as Cool Guy
• Graham Fletcher-Cook as The Wizard
• Joe McKenna as Fabulous Hoplite
• Steven Berkoff as The Fanatic
• Sade Adu as Athene Duncannon
• Edward Tudor-Pole as Ed the Ted: credited as Tenpole Tudor
• Bruce Payne as Flikker
• Alan Freeman as Call Me Cobber
• Lionel Blair as Harry Charms
• Paul Rhys as Dean Swift
• Julian Firth as The Misery Kid
• Chris Pitt as Baby Boom
• Slim Gaillard as a Party Singer

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Production

$ 2.5 million of film budget comes from Orion and Ã, £ 2.5 million from Goldcrest.

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Reception

Writing in The New York Times, film critic Caryn James was largely unaffected by the film and commented on Temple's "unevenness", and the results were "uncertain". Elsewhere Pauline Kael states that, although Temple's , the musicals "are typically asymmetrical and brief". Comparing it to MacInnes's novel, he writes: "This film has a glossy closeness, and you can feel the flash and determination that goes into it.What you do not feel is the tortured romance that makes teenagers in the 1970s swear by novels like children -America was previously sworn by Jeremy Allen at The Guardian praised Bowie's theme song but described the film as "an overbudget turkey of enormous proportions." Corey K Creekmur states in The International Film Musical that although the film "fails to meet the critical expectations that surround it", it remains "very interesting, if flawed, an attempt to utilize contemporary music in political service and social equality."

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Soundtrack

Absolute Beginner: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released simultaneously to promote the film. In addition to most music from contributing artists, the music score was compiled by Gil Evans. David Bowie's title song, Ray Davies' "Quiet Life" and Style Council songs were released as singles. Exclusive 11-18 tracks for CD version.

Track list

1. "Absolute Beginner" - David Bowie - 8:03
2. "Killer Blow" - Sade - 4:37
3. "Have you ever felt Blue?" - The Style Council - 5:37
4. "Calm Life" - Ray Davies - 2:56
5. "Va Va Voom" - Gil Evans - 3:26
6. "That's Motivation" - David Bowie - 4:14
7. "Having It All" - The Eighth Wonders featuring Patsy Kensit - 3:08
8. "Rodrigo Bay" - Working Week - 3:32
9. "Sell" - Slim Gaillard - 3:36
10. "Riot City" - Jerry Dammers - 8:29
11. "Boogie Stop Shuffle (Rough And The Smooth)" - Gil Evans - 3:00
12. "Ted Is not Ded" - Tenpole Tudor - 2:35
13. "Volare (Nel Blu Dipinto On Blu)" - David Bowie - 3:13
14. "Napoli" - Clive Langer - 4:08
15. "Little Cat (You've Never Got That So Good)" - Jonas - 2:19
16. "Better Git It In Your Soul" - Gil Evans - 1:49
17. "So What? (Lyric Version)" - Smiley Culture - 4:18
18. "Absolute Beginners (Refrain)" - Gil Evans - 1:41

Double cassette (Virgin TCVD 2514) was also released featuring four more songs: B6 and B8-B10.

Song list:

Side A

1. "Absolute Beginner", David Bowie (Bowie)
2. "Killer Blow", Sade (Sade Adu, Simon Booth, Larry Stabbins)
3. "Have you ever felt Blue?", The Style Council (Paul Weller, arranged by David Bedford)
4. "Calm Life", Ray Davies (Davies)
5. "Va Va Voom", Gil Evans (Evans)
6. "That's Motivation", David Bowie (Bowie)
7. "Have Everything", the Eighth Miracle featuring Patsy Kensit (Geoff Beauchamp, Alex Godson, Kensit)
8. "Rodrigo Bay", Working Week (Booth, Stabbins)
9. "Sell", Slim Gaillard (Gaillard, Tot Taylor, Julien Temple)
10. "Riot City", Jerry Dammers (Dammers)

Side B

1. "Boogie Stop Shuffle (Rough And The Smooth)", Gil Evans (Charles Mingus)
2. "Ted Is not Ded", Tenpole Tudor (Temple, Edward Tudor-Pole)
3. "Volare (Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu)", David Bowie (Franco Migliacci, Domenico Modugno)
4. "Napoli", Clive Langer (Langer, Temple)
5. "Little Cat (You've Never Got That So Good)", Jonas (24) (Nick Lowe)
6. "Absolute Beginners", Gil Evans (Bowie)
7. "Better Git It In Your Soul", Gil Evans (Mingus)
8. "Landlord and Renter", Laurel Aitken (Aitken)
9. "Santa Lucia", Ekow Abban (Abban)
10. "Cool Napoli", Gil Evans (Langer, Temple)
11. "So What? (Lyric Version)", Culture Smiley (Culture, Miles Davis)
12. "Absolute Beginners (Refrain)", Gil Evans (Bowie)

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References

Notes

Source

• Walker, Alexander, Fire icon: The Practical Awakening and Fall of Everyone in the British Film Industry 1984-2000 , Orion Books, 2005

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External links

• Absolute Beginner on IMDb
• Absolute Beginner at Rotten Tomatoes
• Absolute Beginner in Box Office Mojo
• Absolute Beginner in the TCM Movie Database
• Absolute Beginner in AllMovie

Source of the article : Wikipedia