My own knowledge of Dury was very limited so I went into this with a completely open mind to the man.
Famously Dury was struck with Polio as a young man and there can be no doubt that his disability and his time spent in an institution for young men with similar afflictions as well as his, apparently, largely absent parents contributed to the creation of an angry, confused, self-destructive man.
Despite these negative qualities Dury did have another side; bohemian, generous, witty, erudite and wildly creative. He was also a loving, if absent and distracted, parent.
His life, loves and musical output are all covered in enough detail and with enough pace to make this an interesting biopic but the real success here is in the fact that it is not fawning or sycophantic like so many others. Here we see Dury in all his glory and covered in all his shame.
I came home and bought "New Boots and Panties" (the seminal Blockheads album) and found myself enjoying it greatly. That's a good recommendation for a movie I think...I liked it enough to find out more about the person at its heart.
I also got out the "New Boots and Panties" album again after viewing. I enjoyed the film, though I thought Serkis's portrayal was slightly too charicature for my liking. That said, I generally thought he made for a good Dury and can't actually think of anyone who'd have been better cast.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you Shabba. Serkis was excellent...the problem with the film is that Dury himself just wasn't a very nice person, making it difficult to feel anything for him.
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