The one-eyed man is king
GOOD VIBRATIONS-IN THE LAND OF THE BLIND…
I suppose the first two questions that occur when thinking about a biopic review are “Does the subject deserve a biopic?” and “Can it be told in such a fashion that it has a universal appeal?”. In the case of Good Vibrations, the second feature from directorial team Glenn Leyburn and Lisa Barros D’Sa, the answer is a resounding “Yes!!”.
Telling the story of record shop/label owner Terri Hooley, Good Vibrations starts with the young Hooley losing an eye at the business end of an arrow. His world changes instantly. The first song he hears on the way to the hospital is Hank Williams’ “I Saw The Light”. The film continues to follow an equally dark and humorous tone.
At the height of the troubles in Belfast, Hooley decides to open a record shop in what was The Most Bombed Street In Belfast. There was some stiff competition for that title at the time. It is at this point that the film, and indeed its subject, really takes flight. Hooley had seen his myriad of friends separate and divide into two sides. He felt part of neither. On seeing the punk band Rudi performing at the Pound bar in Belfast, he realised that the emerging Punk scene was as oblivious to religious divide as he was. This was his calling.
As the film documents his grand business plan, love and marriage, fatherhood and Teenage Kicks in an ever increasing round of brandies and Guinness, Hooley appears to be on the cusp on greatness. But ultimately, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory is a trait of the one-eyed anarchist.
Good Vibrations succeeds on a number of levels. The script, by writers Glenn Patterson and Colin Carberry, is pacey, natural and expresses the humour of Belfast and its inhabitants where others have tried and failed. David Holmes soundtrack is dizzying as it careers from Girl-groups, through Reggae and of course, to Punk, and is as biographical as the film itself. The music is the man and vice versa.
But top credit must surely go to Richard Dormer as Hooley. Already familiar with playing complex and arguably insane characters (he portrayed Alex Higgins in his self-penned one-man-show, the brilliant Hurricane), he inhabits the role with convincing ease, from Hooleys unusual gait to the mild campness of many Northern Irish men, a product of too many hours at the mothers apron strings while their fathers worked to provide.
The look of the film is worth mentioning. The colour palette is spot-on. Not in a ‘cinema 1970s’ fashion but the earthy browns and greens add a realistic quality to the film. And yes, the Undertones really did dress like their mothers still bought their clothes for them.
There are so many scenes that will remain with me forever. Hooleys epiphanic Rudi gig, the beautifully played scene when he slips on the headphones to hear *that* song for the first time and the very subtle hint at his “I punched John Lennon” story. But its not all larks and laughs. The central story of his marriage to Ruth, played with a deft touch by Attack The Block’s Jodie Whittaker, is such a tragedy of circumstance that it could get a tear out of a stone. And it did with me…