I can’t see that anyone else has posted this (apologies if I have missed something), but the latest Julian Temple doc was part of the Imagine series on BBC this week.
I always enjoy his films but I think this one is above excellent. The subject matter is a little dark, but the way Wilko talks is inspiring & it has been on my mind since watching it.
It is still on iPlayer & well worth a watch.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b06qqrk9/imagine-autumn-2015-5-the-ecstasy-of-wilko-johnson
I would like to watch this, but please ensure me that he doesn’t do his usual stuff of apparently projecting footage on to buildings and interspersing random ridiculous dialogue from black and white films into the doc.
I haven’t seen it yet though I have it recorded, but I have read on the Powell and Pressburger Facebook page that it includes clips from A Matter of Life and Death and other Archers movies. So even if it does include old film clips, you can at least be reassured that they are very, very good ones.
Hmm. I will watch it, but I have found the clips in the past rather annoying. He has used this technique in Sex Pistols, Dr Feelgood, Ray Davies and Dave Davies documentaries. Time to find a new thing.
I’ve seen it now, and the old clips are extremely frequent. Wilko comes across as a wonderful and multi-talented man though. It’s a wonderful and uplifting documentary.
There’s a Powell and Pressburger Facebook page? *switches tab*
Mainly stills and occasional links posted by fellow enthusiasts https://www.facebook.com/groups/151541771615779/?fref=ts
I’m an enthusiast. A Canterbury Tale is one of my favourite ever films. I mentioned in another post that I read Michael Powell’s autobiog last year and it is absolutely brill. A must for any fan either or the man himself, film generally or early 20th C English life.
Btw, ‘A matter of life and death’ was known as ‘from here to eternity’ in the US as the distributors there were worried that any title with the word ‘death’ in it would turn off audiences …
Re the OP – great documentary. Wilko’s a genuinely nice bloke and a fascinating character. The artsy style suited him to a tee and was not heavy handed at all.
Wasn’t ‘A matter of life and death’ originally released in the US as “Stairway to Heaven”, and not as ‘From here to eternity’?
Sorry – yes, of course you’re right.
This is me at a showing on Monday. The cinema was the IMAX in Waterloo, but they showed an American poster from a rerelease (the giveaway being a credit to Martin Scorcese) before and after the screening.
http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/rr107/Gatz_photos/image_4.jpeg
The stairway was built with the assistance of London Underground, and was known as ‘Ethel’.
It is brilliant.
I’m not even a fan, and I thought it was a warm, erudite life-affirming piece of work.
Me too. I realised Wilko now looks unnervingly like my late father-in-law.
It is worth watching
I’ve yet to watch it in full, but I have a question for more musically literate A’worders. In what sense did he influence Roger Daltrey and The Who ? Maybe Alan Yentob should get better researchers ?