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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 436428" data-attributes="member: 23">Sing Street (2016) <img src="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fpics.filmaffinity.com%2FSing_Street-706505639-large.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=d125057c01f7d1a307f83c7c96b41b4c93412da7b1cd4fe2a08560050ee8bd03" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="width: 948px" />A completely on-the-spot decision. I was working through Prime looking at films leaving soon to narrow down my choices. After much scrolling and lack of inspiration Sing Street was very near the bottom of the page. I'll admit to a cautious glance at Wikipedia. In general I'm not a fan of the musical genre and was hoping to get some reassurance that it wasn't too twee or  cloying. That reassurance came from the two names I recognised in the credits: Queer As Folk's Aiden Gillen and Maria Doyle-Kennedy from The Commitments.Maria in particular gave me hope that this might be along the same musical lines as The Commitments and while Sing Street doesn't have quite a much attitude there were enough of its elements to satisfy. Indeed, the musical plot element - with the group forming from scratch and gradually becoming more proficient after studying lots of music videos - was very similar (there is an argument to be made for it also having elements of other 2010s musical projects such as Glee, but fortunately not  glaringly so). Looking at reviews today I've seen some comparisons to La La Land in YT comment (generally saying Sing Street is far better), but I'll never know. Mark Kermode also compares it to School Of Rock and Bandslam (neither of which I've seen).Maria didn't sing a note considering which is a bit of a waste considering what a great voice she has (she and Aiden play the parents of the film's protagonist). Still, it's nice to see her here. Most of the vocals come from Ferdia Walsh-Peelo who would then have been 15 or 16, supported by Mark McKenna. When I heard Ferdia - in character as Conor - sing Take On Me a cappella I thought we were in trouble. I should have known it was there for the journey but I like that the film surprised me when I realised (spoiler) he actually has a voice. Incidentally, the film is a clear demonstration of the difference production can make. Many of the vocals appear to be live, and they're good enough, but then it occasionally cuts to a studio version of the same song and it sparkles even more.Being set in the mid-Eighties, and there are plenty of treats here in the form of the music that inspires the characters as well as pop culture references of the time. Back To The Future inspires a music video made by the fictitious band and we see the real-life music videos for Spandau Ballet's Gold and  Duran Duran's Rio. [MEDIA=youtube]YS8X_DJDfi4[/MEDIA]The film even delivers a montage as we see Conor and Eamon spend time spinning records and discovering lots of then-current tracks. Brief, overlapping snippets are heard and it becomes a fun little game of Name That Tune (which I found surprisingly difficult hearing fragments of them).There's a great running gag where  Conor's inspirations keep changing and we see him rock up at school with a series of dramatically different styles inspired by artists such as Robert Smith of The Cure. It's also worth noting that U2's Bono and The Edge were involved in production, though didn't appear to write the songs (not that I spotted, anyway). The original tracks are great and flow really well with the MTV pop hits. I really like that each of the tracks is meant to be kind of inspired by certain songs or artists and that similarity can be heard immediately. Most of them felt instantly familiar - a mark of a top notch pop song - and Riddle Of The Model in particular had me convinced it was a cover.Happily, it's not a pure musical. Characters don't break into song at the drop of a hat. The songs still progress the story, though, since they're written by the protagonist as a way of expressing himself. When they're sung, truths are revealed to those who listen, so it has the best of both worlds. Really, though, the semi-autobiographical story is the most important part of the film and that works well. I'm sure anyone who was at school in the Eighties will recognise that element  here as surely as they will relate to Grange Hill of the era. The school I went to was a pretty good one, and thankfully not an abusive Catholic school like the one in this film, but it was also diverse and there were rougher kids and bullies and some strict teachers. I can see some of those in this film. Incidentally, the film appears to be shot at the real Synge Street school in Dublin, and there's an acknowledgement at the end of the credits that times have changed and it is a very different school in 2016 from what it was in 1985.The whole cast is great. Most of them are in their teens and early twenties but each character feels fully developed and almost jaded but all with a great dose of humour (a couple of the much younger supporting actors are hilarious).Dublin and its surrounding area is nicely filmed, with the appropriately grey-brown inner city palette being interrupted by colourful visits to the picturesque coastal town.The ending takes a little suspension of disbelief, but is so hopeful and open-ended that I'll take it. I already find myself wondering what happened next.This is a little gem (only slightly imperfect) that I think could take repeated views. [MEDIA=youtube]Ar8cfLcw5RA[/MEDIA] [MEDIA=youtube]3QEDsL33bwY[/MEDIA]</blockquote>

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