Radio On Blu-ray

This film is a perfect example of the word "zeitgeist" because it records the general spirit or mood of 1979 in a million subtle but powerful ways. Every character seemed to instinctively know that one era had ended and a very different one was about to begin. The words and images are all directed to this purpose. I think this was an example of a director pursuing humble goals, but when something more lofty, fleeting, and complex gradually presented itself, he kept his ego out of the way and devoted his talent and energy to something larger than himself. It's sort of the opposite of Hollywood druggies today who film something with daddy's money masquerading as "artistic" or "experimental" purely for immediate fame and adoration. Watch it all the way through. The "payoff" will come as you reflect on it days and weeks later. Read more

Mildly interesting as a snapshot of the times but slow and not terribly engaging Read more

You know how you develop an inexplicable emotional attachment to certain films? This no-budget 1979 offering from writer-director Christopher Petit, shot in stark B&W is one such film for me. That being said, I should warn you that it is not going to be everyone's cup of tea, because it contains one of those episodic, virtually plotless "road trip" narratives that may cause drowsiness for some viewers after about 15 minutes. Yet, I feel compelled to revisit this one at least once a year. Go figure. A dour London DJ (David Beames), whose estranged brother has committed suicide, heads to Bristol to get his sibling's affairs in order and attempt to glean what drove him to such despair (while quite reminiscent of the setup for Get Carter, this is not a crime thriller...far from it). He has encounters with various characters, including a friendly German woman, a sociopathic British Army vet who served in Northern Ireland, and a rural gas-station attendant (played by Sting!) who kills time singing Eddie Cochran songs. But the "plot" doesn't matter. As the protagonist journeys across an England full of bleak yet perversely beautiful industrial landscapes in his boxy sedan, accompanied by a moody electronic score (mostly Kraftwerk and David Bowie) the film becomes hypnotic. A textbook example of how the cinema is capable of capturing and preserving the zeitgeist of an ephemeral moment (e.g. England on the cusp of the Thatcher era) like no other art form. Read more

I came into this with high hopes. Interesting sounding music, very interesting era as Britain moved towards Thatcher even after it had moved into Europe earlier in the decade. Seemed like it was going to be a introspective view of a world that was about to change. Sadly, it was terrible. Quite possibly one of the worst films I have ever seen. Mainly, it was incoherent. Not just that there wasn't much of a plot. I would have been OK with that. More that it jumped around from idea to idea without ever suggesting that there was some underlying motivation. The protagonist was a blank sheet, which could have worked really well to show a dysfunctional world, but instead was just really boring. People have suggested that it captured the end of an era as Britain moved towards Thatcherism. But it looked nothing like the 1979 that I remember. Admittedly, I was only 13, so a bit young, but England was much more colorful, and the black and white photography made it feel like it was set in the 50s or 60s. Given the camerman, it's probably not surprising that it's a joint British - German production. But the German parts in it, including the music seem really forced. The edition of the DVD that I have had no subtitles, which might have been intentional to show the alienation of David, the lead. But it didn't work. It just made those bits equally boring. And of course, the British production was by the British Film Institute. Which might go some way to explaining why in many ways this felt like a heap of educational movies that I had to see when I was a kid in school. Worthy would probably be the best word to describe those films, and this one too. The acting was uninspired, the message was lost in a montage of what might have been interesting with a better film-maker, and the ending was deeply unsatisfying. But there were a couple of good points. The scene with the Glaswegian soldier freaking out about what happened to him in Belfast, early in the film, promised more than could be delivered. The part with Sting as a petrol station attendant was OK. The (non) relationship with the German girl had its moments. Overall though, this was an indulgent, poorly filmed, incoherent, plotless, clueless, unimaginative depiction of a Britain I don't recognize having been there at the time, with an unnecessary German feel (think Wings of Desire but without the pathos, or good acting, or atmosphere), that ultimately leads nowhere except a British Rail train home. Read more