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Powder
R2 - United Kingdom - Soda Pictures Review written by and copyright: Samuel Scott (13th October 2011). |
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The Film
 Acclaimed novelist Kevin Sampson has led an interesting and varied life. His first book, "Awaydays", is based on his following of Liverpool Football Club as he was growing up and in 2009 it was used as a basis for a movie of the same name in which a teen joins the firm of Tranmere Rovers following his mother's death. His second book, "Powder" is loosely based on his experiences as manager of nineties indie band, The Farm, who went on to have a huge hit with "All Together Now" and a number one album "Spartacus". Following the success of "Awaydays", "Powder" was used as another (extremely) loose basis for a movie, this time directed by professional editor Mark Elliott and starring Liam Boyle, Alfie Allen and Jo Sampson. The synopsis from Soda Pictures reads: Starring Liam Boyle, Alfie Allen & Ralf Little, POWDER captures all the energy and excitement of a band breaking through, following the story of Liverpool band The Grams on an unflinching journey through the machinations of the music industry. Made by the team behind Awaydays and filmed on location in Ibiza, London, Liverpool and live at the V Festival, Powder is an authentic rock 'n' roll story based on the best-selling novel by Kevin Sampson. The problem with this independent British feature, is the lack of direction. It just doesn't know whether it wants to be a dark comedy or whether it wants to be a drama. Instead of trying to find a nice balance between the two, scenes are seperated on an either or basis so as the drama comes, a funny scene removes the impact and when we get a funny scene, a dramatic segment takes away the laughter. It's a shame, because as a dark comedy with hints of drama, this would've worked really well, and the one cast member (who I normally dislike) that manages to find the balance in his brief scenes is Ralf Little, although to no real effect due to the surrounding cast members. Although the film plods along with no real sense of worth, you can't help but keep watching due to the music. Despite being a completely falsifyed band, the music played by "The Grams" is excellent. Written by and performed by Starsailor frontman James Walsh, he doesn't actually appear in the film, instead allowing Liam Boyle (who plays Keva) to take the lead role and lip synch any applicable scenes. The lip synching isn't bad but the difference between his actual voice and the singing voice is obvious, even to the less-observant viewer, which does take away slightly from the overall experience. The concert scenes are well filmed and they obviously used the crowds and stages from a T4 concert (T4 is part of Channel 4's youth orientated content for which they hold regular free live events). Other concert footage has obviously been filmed at the world-renowned V Festival. The characters themselves are a mixed bunch. Whilst cliched, there is a good mix mockney's, has-beens, hangers-on and wannabes. For the most part, the cast performances are OK, though nothing special, likely down to them being confused with how to play their characters (dramatic or funny?). The dialogue isn't poorly written, but it's not as much of a scathing view on the insides of the music industry as it's trying so hard to be. If you can look past the mixed up genres and the cliched characters, this is a film worth viewing if you like indie music for it's safe by-the-numbers script interspersed with great tracks if nothing else.
Video
Presented anamorphically at 1.78:1, picture quality is overall good, but not great. The film uses a particularly large amount of dark colours and sometimes the sharpness doesn't distinguish them as much as they should. There was a very small amount of grain on occasion but the disc was otherwise blemish free.
Audio
Although the press release that accompanied this disc states the single English Dolby Digital track to be 5.1, it is actually just 2.0 stereo which, for a music heavy film, is a little disappointing. Seperation is apparant throughout, dialogue clear and volume levels consistent but I did notice a small one second audio dropout at (65:25). Outside of that, I heard no other problems. There are no subtitles included.
Extras
"A Short Film About Chilling" documentary (36:57) is better than the main feature. Shot in 1990, the extra follows various people as they gear up for a big event in Ibiza, including DJ's, punters and even a club promoter from Tokyo. The picture quality is sometimes poor, and there has been no obvious work in preparing the piece but it's certainly recommended viewing. "Debauchery" deleted scene (8:12) is a rightfully deleted scene that shows just how poorly the film was flittering between comedy and drama. Deleted scenes are always a good inclusion but an optional commentary would've been welcomed so we can find out the reasoning for not including the scene in the final product. "Vox Pops" interviews (5:24) is quite funny to start but gets samey a bit fast. It features other bands being interviewed about (non-existant) The Grams as though they are real. There are also some non-skippable Start-up Trailers: - "Treacle Jr." (2:00) - "Unmade Beds" (2:21) - "Seperado!" (1:23)
Overall
The film features some fantastic music but is poorly structured and unsure of the route it wants to take. Picture and sound is good if underwhelming and the documentary included in the extras is essential viewing for fans of the nineties Ibiza scene. Rent it.
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