Punk May Never Die… At Least For The Film Industry
Just another music biopic? Yes, but good nonetheless. Ian Dury as portrayed by Andy Serkis in the Berlinale Panorama SEX & DRUGS & ROCK & ROLL.
SEX & DRUGS & ROCK & ROLL
Mat Whitecross’ Berlinale Panorama film SEX & DRUGS & ROCK & ROLL (UK), which concerns the English punk rocker Ian Dury’s rise to fame, is a good application of the now-fashionable formula for a rock star biopic: British Accent + Broken Love Story + References to the Hero’s Childhood + Music. In that respect, the movie could be rated DINM (Do It No More) – for movies that disturb the audience with the fact that they have seen them – at least – a thousand times before. But in another respect, it is one of the best of the genre, thanks to the marvellous performance of Andy Serkis.
The movie takes off from the birth of Dury’s son, Baxter, and relates the story of Dury’s career from his early band Killburns to his success with The Blockheads. At the same time, the film shows his comings and goings between his wife, Betty, and his girlfriend, Denise, while also emphasizing his importance as an unstable role model in the life of Baxter, who, in one scene, imitates his father’s drug use by swallowing a pill. The emphasis on these themes ensures that the film totally lives up to its title, as there is sufficient amount of ”sex & drugs & rock & roll” in it.
What makes the film worth seeing is, as mentioned above, Andy Serkis, who not only plays Ian Dury but becomes him. Singing all the songs performed in the movie in a close approximation of Dury’s vocal style, perfectly imitating Dury’s idiosyncratic on-stage head tilting and grinning, and wearing the same ankle-length overcoats and clashing colours, Serkis brings Dury back to life.
Another significant aspect of the movie is that it adds Baxter’s point of view to the story. In addition to being an Ian Dury biography, the film relates how influential Dury becomes in his son’s self-image, how much Baxter (who became a musician himself) looks up to his father and how much he both loves and hates him at the same time. The film underlines the fact that Dury – an abandoned son himself – really tries (though fails) to be there for his son as much as he can. The exploration of this father-and-son drama gives a certain depth to an otherwise very plain rock biopic.
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