One can get all worked up about Spandau Ballet –as demonstrated by this excellent summary of its journey. Soul Boys of the Western World has the one thing that’s conspicuously absent from the ‘80s nostalgia programmes: context and vision. This is a film without clichés or cheap headlines. A documentary that oozes enthusiasm and finally returns Spandau Ballet to the podium they deserve. The band members appear one by one, telling it their way, and it’s impossible not to get swept away by the anticipation and euphoria. Five working class lads from Islington, sons of the ‘60s, soul boys and failed punks reborn as feather-fettled new romantics, as painted phoenixes. First surprise: you’ll like them. Stick with the sensation of triumph and potential of the early years, and within a heartbeat you’ll be cheering for these badmouthed kids that just wanted to have a good time. From the days of Blitz to the first #1s, from “To Cut a Long Story Short” to Spandaumania, world tours, Live Aid, fatigue and collapse, lawsuits and a bitter ending. But the story lives on. Like the songs. KA
D: George Hencken
E: Chris Duveen
M: Spandau Ballet, Jess Bailey, Graeme Perkins
P: Steve Dagger, Scott Milaney
CP: Wellingmax
Tony Hadley, John Keeble, Gary Kemp, Martin Kemp, Steve Norman
Metro International Entertainment. Farah Caroline Woditschka
T +44 207 396 5301 E farah.woditschka@metro-films.com
W metro-films.com - spandauballetthemovie.com
Producer of such documentaries as Oil City Confidential (2009), Requiem for Detroit? (2010) and London – The Modern Babylon (2012). Soul Boys of the Western World is his first work as a film director.
