Live Forever (2003)
In the mid-1990s, spurred on by both the sudden world-domination of bands such as Oasis and Prime Minister Tony Blair's "Cool Brittania" campaign, British culture experienced a brief and powerful boost that made it appear as if Anglophilia was everywhere--at least if you believed the press. Pop music was the beating heart of this idea, and suddenly, "Britpop" was a movement. Oasis, their would-be rivals Blur, Pulp, The Verve, and many more bands rode this wave to international chart success. But was Britpop a real phenomenon, or just a marketing ploy? This smart and often hilarious documentary probes the question with copious interviews from Noel and Liam Gallagher of Oasis, Pulp's Jarvis Cocker, Damon Albarn of Blur, Sleeper's Louise Wener, and many other artists and critics who suddenly found themselves at the cultural forefront.
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Wonderful character development!
Must See Movie...
Memorable, crazy movie
Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.
...it's odd how this story about the best of 90s Britpop (although it claims to be about more than just music) starts at about the time I'd pretty well lost interest in pop. It wasn't a feeling of 'the music was better in my day' - I was in my early-to-mid 30s in the early to early-to-mid-1990s - just that I'd grown up. It was a strange feeling when one day I realized I'd heard a lot about Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit, but had no idea what it sounded like.But, having seen Live Forever, I now can't stop thinking about the song Live Forever (which I'd never heard before), Wonderwall, and Blur's Parklife (which I'd also never heard before). And some internet research has revealed that the song I'd heard just once, years ago, and never been able to get out of my mind, was Massive Attack's Unfinished Sympathy (sic).I did have some contact with the music - indeed, virtually the only pop album I bought during the period was the Trainspotting soundtrack, which features in this film. (Pulp, Blur and Sleeper are on it, and all their lead singers are interviewed here.) But my knowledge of Oasis was limited to Wonderwall (including the Mike Flowers easy listening version, which I appropriately first heard on supermarket muzak) and Don't Look Back in Anger. I could take them or leave them. And the Oasis/Blur Battle of the Bands? Never heard of it. See what I mean about Rip van Winkle? Noel Gallagher's (and others') comments that 'Britain was dead in the 80s', musically as well as politically, are of course nonsense. But I can't get too worked up over that: they're par for the course for any British pop act over the last 40 years that takes itself oh-so-seriously. 'Yeah, well, there was nothing happening, know-what-I-mean?' Nevertheless, the best of their music does still stand up.By the way, Noel Gallagher is not interviewed sitting in his Georgian mansion - the director's commentary on the DVD reveals he's actually at Knebworth Castle.(Personal postscript - during 1990 Trafalgar Square Poll Tax Riot that features at the start of the film, I was just a few blocks away at Leicester Square. I saw smoke in the distance, and people coming into the Tube station carrying anti-poll tax placards, but didn't put the two together till I got home and saw them on the news. Damn, missed A Defining Moment in the History of Modern Britain.)
This insight into britpop is not really as insightful as it fancies itself as being.I'm not saying that this film is without its good points. It explores the politics behind the era (interesting in itself) and to a lesser extent, the youth culture. The main problem I have with this film is I was expecting so much more! It really only explores Oasis, Blur, Pulp, Sleeper and Massive Attack (who is a great artist nonetheless, is not britpop). Where is Kula Shaker, Manic Street Preachers, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, Catatonia etc. They didn't even explore Placebo, The Verve or even Radiohead.It is not an impossible task. Look at the way Hype! explored Seattle grunge/indie rock. It is pretty much definitive. Live Forever is not.Check out films like Hype!, 24 Hour Party People or The Filth and the Fury for brilliant looks at alternative music. Live Forever just doesn't compare.
This could have been good...and some of it was, but first of all, someone should have told this filmmaker that there were more than five bands involved with the Britpop scene, for heaven's sake! And before I go further I must ask...what in the world has Massive Attack got to do with anything? The filmmaker obviously is a big Massive Attack fan, while the rest of us just do not care. Actually, I like Portishead but the mention of them was out of place as well.So, wouldn't you think a documentary about Britpop would be about the whole scene? There are a million bands that could have been mentioned. Where was Supergrass (except for the brief video clip)? Where were the Charlatans UK?They showed us Louise Wenner talking a lot but never showed us Sleeper. And not once did anyone mention the word "Madchester." Oh, there was the slight nod to the Stone Roses but everyone knows that Britpop is the direct result of Madchester and to not mention that scene (or Shaun Ryder) is a crime.Who cared what the guy from Loaded had to say? Shees! Could have gotten rid of that useless Damien Hirst as well. There was too much talk about New Labour and Thacherism...blah, blah, blah. Sure it was a factor but this is supposed to be about Brit-POP, not Brit-TAIN. Princess Di...totally irrelevant to the topic. This documentary about music needed a heck of a lot more MUSIC.How can you talk to Jarvis Cocker and never mention that brilliant Michael Jackson incident?So what did I like? First of all, it was a hoot to check back in with the Gallaghers since my mid-90s fanship has fallen off. Noel was a bit more articulate and bright then I remembered him, and Liam was a whole lot dumber. Boy, is that kid stupid. But that is what makes him a rock star. He is absolutely pure...a good looking ape that is dumb as a post...but it works. I loved the interview with Damon Albarn. He is the epitome of a really bright, talented guy who is completely fed-up with all the crap. He was so wonderfully disgusted with everything. And rightly so.
7.5/10I thought that Live Forever was an excellent documentary capturing the phenomenon of the Britpop passage. It is worth noting that I think that even if you didn't get the whole Britpop experience it is still worth watching to try and understand exactly what the period of time tried to encapsulate. Dragging Britain from a period of being totally dormant, to generating great music and creating an aura of genuine invincibility.Live Forever features the obvious candidates that are Oasis and Blur as the battle for number one captured a nation, whilst also giving an analysis of movie culture and the feel good factor that took over Britain during those 2/3 years. Massive Attack were also undoubtedly another factor in the way that Britain seemed to transcend itself to another plain, and although many will be put off by some of the language used it is worth remembering that the laddish behaviour of that period was a factor that boosted the industry and re-ignited interest in British pop/rock.The documentary also takes perspectives from a political sense whilst also highlighting perhaps a more sinister undercurrent to Britpop and the way it was used by stragglers and then dumped once the period was over. Whatever your perspective, it made me feel alive and was more than happy to re-visit that golden few years where the music was on another level and the country was swept with the feel good factor. Nirvana was the catalyst for the whole period that saw the change, and I was more than happy to re-visit Cobain's angst ridden voice, Oasis' brilliance and the competition that was Blur.