Northern Soul (2014)

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Having been a teenager in the 70's regrettably Northern Soul passed me by, so I have little knowledge of the music and rather stumbled across this movie, I thought this movie was a gem. Here we have the gritty 70's a tough decade but in some ways better than now. In the 70's people went to the pub to talk and drink, now we have people perpetually fiddling with their phones like a nervous disorder. I can be talking to some who will be staring into the phone, in the 70's we had dance now we have facebook and twitter where it is more important to tell people you are having a good time rather than having a good time. I love British films depicting ordinary working class lives and this film does it in spades. Rather than bore you with the plot which is covered in the synopsis get out and enjoy this film whether you like Northern Soul or not, great acting, vibrant, this is a joy of a film.

I've often reflected that English film making hasn't done enough to explore the English experience (compared for example to American reflexiveness in film which has been ongoing part of US cinema since the start), so I find films which look at England's cultural and social experiences with a little bit of favorable bias, and find in this film, about a phenomena probably little known outside of the UK something quite welcoming. Northern Soul, for anyone unfamiliar was a dance/party movement based on obscure American soul music which appeared in Manchester (among other places) in the late 1960s and who's preference, unlike the tastes of the capitol, tended towards lesser known soul music, often of a more up-tempo character. Wikipedia reports that the relative rarity of these soul sounds(as opposed to mainstream, commercially viable Motown sound) made for an environment where a single DJ might have the only pressing of a certain track. The best songs were naturally coveted and DJs might even travel to the US in search of new songs to bring to the dance floor. An entire subculture of music, dance and fashion emerge out of this milieu. That said, this film isn't a documentary and doesn't pretend to be. The story follows the friendship of two disaffected youth as they emerge deeper into and discover themselves through a nascent musical culture. For one of them it's a path of self-destruction and for the other self awakening. Gritty in its realism, Northern Soul embraces a darker side of English working-class society and views the movement, perhaps not unfairly as a respite from the malaise of urban-industrial England in the 1970s. That it occasionally overplays the meme is an evident enough fault and puts the main characters into transformations of identity that aren't always fully convincing (Steve Coogan plays a particularly loathsome secondary school teacher well, if not to slight excess). Matt, one of the film's protagonists transforms rather quickly from enthusiastic teen to angry firebrand in a not entirely nuanced way. We see this again in the ending who's glib tidiness is slightly out of tune with the film as a whole. The presence of drugs as antidote to social malaise comes as no surprise, and inevitably there is tragedy. Northern Soul does at times play that hand also a bit strongly, even as the music recedes into a background role to the more sobering realities in the front. The devolution from euphoria to dystopia where drugs become involved is not a new idea in cinema (or elsewhere) and it's truth is no less evident here. Still, the film is convincingly realized with terrific performances and tight, thematically consistent cinematography that never releases the viewer from a sense that the the straitjacket has yet to be loosed - something that music alone is incapable of doing. The music, the dance and the sheer expressiveness of the club scene provide balance and give the viewer a glimpse into the scene, a kind of English Saturday Night Fever. Enjoyable but not without faults, this is a great look at a time and place and tells a story that needs to be told.

Northern Soul – love it live it, there is no other way!I was there and everything that went on it that film went on in the mid-70s soul scene. Obviously not every week; as a bit of poetic licence needs to be added to give the viewers a storyline. Apart from a few anorak moments everything was detailed exactly, or as near to, the era including the locations and clothing.The choice of music was absolutely 10 out of 10, for the period. Having seen it on the big screen, the DVD lives up to that experience. Miss it – Miss out…..In the words of John Bowie – 'Your're gonna miss a good thing' H

So I saw Northern Soul the film tonight for the 2nd time. The first time I saw it was at the premier and it wasn't in a proper cinema and the sound was so bad that you couldn't pick out the dialogue.I am so glad I went back. I realise that I am biased but it's a bloody good film. I happen to have been lucky enough to be an extra in the dance scenes and have waited 2 years to see this film make it to the big screen. Many times along the way I thought it would never come.Elaine Constantine, the director, captures 2 things really well: the 70s and the passion for northern soul.She paints a great picture of growing up working class in the 70s and doesn't give in to the more comedic ideas of 70s fashion. This is all very real and there's not one Chopper or Space Hopper in sight.The film is dark and gritty but the soundtrack is amazing and her dancers are spot on. Elaine's experience as a photographer is very evident throughout as is her passion for the subject matter.She brilliantly captures the look on a dancer's face when they are lost in the music, when it's just you, the music and the dance floor.There are several cameos in the film and all are played down and the young leads really shine. All the cast do a superb job. I love the fact that James Lance is a great soul dancer and he picked up the moves to better understand his role but you never see him dance in the film. You can feel that love, that dedication throughout from all involved. This was a labour of love and it worked.Although the film sinks into a very dark place she really lifts it with the final scenes.A great British picture and I was proud to be allowed to be part of it.