MovieChat Forums > Pirate Radio (2009) Discussion > My major beef

My major beef

posted 13 years ago by lubin-freddy
6 replies | jump to latest

While there were some good moments, I had one major problem with the film, in addition to some others mentioned by others.

No one really TALKS about the music. This was nineteen hundred and sixty friggin' six, when things were really getting interesting in the music scene. Groups were cropping up every day, new directions shown, chances being taken. The times they were a-changin', and the music spoke of it.

I remember the period, and how much people TALKED about the music.

Here, although they claim to live for the music, and are ready to die for it, not one conversation about "Did you hear what the Stones are doing?". Or, "Hey, did you see Hendrix play in London?". Or a debate about what Dylan meant by this or that line.

Compare that with The Dreamers, where the background is cinema rather than music, and how much people actually talk about it, as their stories develop.

This, and the rather innocuous soundtrack, ruined what seemed, even through the first ten minutes of buildup, to be a great idea.

You know you should surrender
But you can't let it go...

[–] carzy_6 13 years ago

Unfortunately, the two best scenes discussing music happen in deleted scenes. One with The Count telling the others about the Beatles and one about where Gavin had been before returning to Radio Rock.

In its defence though, it had to set out to be its own story rather than just a tribute to music in the sixties. It wasn't a documentary, after all, and if they did something along those lines it could be seen as the musical equivalent of a puff-piece bio-pic.

---
"Just deal with your girlfriend's cheesy feet. She puts up with your cheesy face." - Jack Dee

[–] lubin-freddy 13 years ago

In its defense though, it had to set out to be its own story rather than just a tribute to music in the sixties...

Yes, I agree.

But my point is that we would better understand the characters, and thus their stories as well, if we understood each one's connection to the music.

When your eyes are blind with tears
But your heart can see
Another life, another galaxy

[–] rooprect 13 years ago

You took the major beef right out of my mouth.

Wait, that didn't sound right.

Yeah, the way they never talked about the music made it seem like they were just rebelling for the sake of rebelling. They could've been running a radio station, or just as easily a tv show, or a porn magazine. The music was incidental.

Maybe that was the point, I guess. Maybe the movie is not about music but simply about breaking conventions. Still, as a fan of the 60-70s rock movement, I was hoping for a little more to show what an influence the music had on the DJs & listeners (not just dancing around). In the director's commentary, he talked about how profoundly he was affected by the Beatles. Too bad that didn't translate to the screen.

[–] jaystarstar 13 years ago

Agreed 100%. Even though they said they would "die for the music," they really didn't appear, at least from the evidence in the movie, to really care about it very much.

[–] venusthrow 13 years ago

Just watched it and I could see how it could bother some. But for me it didn't need to be said. it was music. It is music that is still on the airways and people were trying to keep it from England. Maybe because I love classic rock but I don't need to hear why they loved it. It is classic rock what is there not to love.

JMO

[–] MrHooba 13 years ago

Well, it wasn't classic rock back then. Some of it was contemporary while other tracks had not even been recorded yet. Another major problem with the film in addition to the above-mentioned lack of music discussion. I worked at a radio station for a number of years and we always talked about the music. That's what bonds people at stations that play music. Curtis blew it with this film.