This is a movie that, more than any other I can think of, is about style over substance. Several aspects of the movie hint at its essential shallowness. First, the director, Julien Temple, had recently gone from working with the Sex Pistols to directing videos for Janet Jackson. This was the era of Janet's big dance production videos and the influence can definitely be seen in the movie. Second, they created an old-fashioned musical out of a book by Colin MacInnes, a radical bohemian English novelist - it's the equivalent of turning "On the Road" into a Disney musical cartoon. Last and probably least, my favorite communist punk - Paul Weller - showed up with his new band Style Council to give us a happy-sad little pop tune about losing your girlfriend.
What the movie lacks in depth it more than makes up for in style. The above-mentioned Weller tune ("Have you Ever Had it Blue") is my personal favorite of the post-punk new pop wave of the eighties. Bowie's performance is great; all the musical numbers are choreographed and executed - well - fabulously, from David Bowie dancing on a giant typewriter to Sade just dripping sophistication and sensuality on the stage of a mock-seedy basement nightclub. Even if the direction misses the seriousness of the source material, it really captures the musical essence of each of the many and diverse songs.
What the movie lacks in depth it more than makes up for in style. The above-mentioned Weller tune ("Have you Ever Had it Blue") is my personal favorite of the post-punk new pop wave of the eighties. Bowie's performance is great; all the musical numbers are choreographed and executed - well - fabulously, from David Bowie dancing on a giant typewriter to Sade just dripping sophistication and sensuality on the stage of a mock-seedy basement nightclub. Even if the direction misses the seriousness of the source material, it really captures the musical essence of each of the many and diverse songs.