Nowhere Boy
UK 2009, 97 minutes, 15 certificate Directed by Sam Taylor-Wood, Starring Aaron Johnson, Kristen Scott Thomas,
Anne Marie Duff
Sex & Drugs & Rock ‘n’ Roll
UK 2009, 115 minutes, 15 certificate Directed by Mat Whitecross, Starring Andy Serkis, Bill Milner, Naomie Harris,
Olivia Williams, Ray Winstone
Faced with two choice biopics of English music legends, we decided to
give you both.
Nowhere
Boy – joining the increasing number of films made by Turner prize
winning artists – is the debut feature for Sam Taylor Wood. John Lennon’s
life has provided plenty of material for cinematic scrutiny, and Wood has chosen
to focus on the period of his life between the ages of 14 and 19, ending with
his departure for Hamburg with the group that was to become The Beatles. But
this film differs from conventional coverage of Lennon in that it less about
his musical career, and more about his relationships with two women – the
formidable Aunt Mimi (Scott Thomas), with whom John lived from the age of 4,
and her sister Julia, his flamboyant and wayward mother who returns from years
of relative absence to assume a dominant role in his life. These relationships
act as polar opposites – the former representing control & safety,
the latter excitement and risk – but both women end up equal victims
of Lennon’s cruel wit. The cast are exceptional, and as you would
expect from an artist skilled in seductive photography, it is beautifully shot.
An affecting coming of age story, and one that reminds us of the ordinary English
lower-middle class origins of a man who was to become a global icon.
If
Wood has chosen a surprisingly conventional cinematic approach for
her biopic, then Whitecross’ portrayal of Ian Dury is impressionistic, as flashy
and colourful and chaotic as its anarchic subject. Combining reality with fantasy,
newsreel footage with animation, the film shifts between the various stages
of Dury’s life from the late 60’s til the early 80’s. It
examines the impact on his life of childhood polio, caught from a swimming
pool in Southend at the age of 9. It resulted in a lifetime in calipers, a
disability that informed his ascerbic wit, his identification with the outsider
and the underdog, his art and his writing, but also something that he sought
to transcend. The film provides a vibrant portrait of a deeply flawed and irresistably
charismatic artist, his influences, his lovers and his relationships with his
son and his father (Winstone), and Andy Serkis is mesmerising in the lead role – the
actor strapped himself into calipers for months before the shoot to add authenticity
to his portrayal - and he manages to capture Dury’s contradictory and
mercurial character with breathtaking likeness.
Nowhere
Boy – joining the increasing number of films made by Turner prize
winning artists – is the debut feature for Sam Taylor Wood. John Lennon’s
life has provided plenty of material for cinematic scrutiny, and Wood has chosen
to focus on the period of his life between the ages of 14 and 19, ending with
his departure for Hamburg with the group that was to become The Beatles. But
this film differs from conventional coverage of Lennon in that it less about
his musical career, and more about his relationships with two women – the
formidable Aunt Mimi (Scott Thomas), with whom John lived from the age of 4,
and her sister Julia, his flamboyant and wayward mother who returns from years
of relative absence to assume a dominant role in his life. These relationships
act as polar opposites – the former representing control & safety,
the latter excitement and risk – but both women end up equal victims
of Lennon’s cruel wit. The cast are exceptional, and as you would
expect from an artist skilled in seductive photography, it is beautifully shot.
An affecting coming of age story, and one that reminds us of the ordinary English
lower-middle class origins of a man who was to become a global icon.
If
Wood has chosen a surprisingly conventional cinematic approach for
her biopic, then Whitecross’ portrayal of Ian Dury is impressionistic, as flashy
and colourful and chaotic as its anarchic subject. Combining reality with fantasy,
newsreel footage with animation, the film shifts between the various stages
of Dury’s life from the late 60’s til the early 80’s. It
examines the impact on his life of childhood polio, caught from a swimming
pool in Southend at the age of 9. It resulted in a lifetime in calipers, a
disability that informed his ascerbic wit, his identification with the outsider
and the underdog, his art and his writing, but also something that he sought
to transcend. The film provides a vibrant portrait of a deeply flawed and irresistably
charismatic artist, his influences, his lovers and his relationships with his
son and his father (Winstone), and Andy Serkis is mesmerising in the lead role – the
actor strapped himself into calipers for months before the shoot to add authenticity
to his portrayal - and he manages to capture Dury’s contradictory and
mercurial character with breathtaking likeness.