The Commitments

La musique est très chouette, beaucoup de soul, de rythm'n blues façon Dublin et de feeiling. Un film qui montre de manière réaliste les équilibres fragiles que sont les groupes de musique. C'est aussi un film sur la vie tout simplement, qui montre aussi la misère sociale. Et le tout avec un humour ravageur ! Je sais que l'humour est subjectif, mais sincèrement, je trouve certains personnages à mourir de rire : le saxophoniste soul sur le retour, le videur fou, très rentre-dedans devenu batteur qui n'hésite pas une seconde à défendre physiquement ses compères musiciens, le père du jeune manager, grand fan d'Elvis, le chanteur fruste et odieux à la voix incroyable... Bref, un classique comme les Blues Brothers, qu'on peut voir et revoir pour la musique et l'humour !

Dublin Soul ist überall, den hat man im Herzen und im Blut, ganz zu schweigen von gewissen anderen Körperteilen. Das ist an keinen Ort gebunden, das kann man auf der ganzen Welt spüren. Dieser Film funktioniert auch heute noch, nach den vielen Jahren, als ich ihn zum ersten Mal gesehen habe. Zeitlos. Soul eben.Die Musik basiert auf alten Soul-Klassikern, die einfach nur gut abgehen. Gerade sind James Morrison, Stefanie Heinzmann, Amy Winehouse, Adele und andere, die auf diesem genre ihren Stil festlegen, läuft Soul Musik in Bars und Lounges. Es ist wie mit Blues, Jazz und Klassik. Geht immer!Die Geschichte des Films ist die von Menschen mit Träumen, die haarscharf an der großen Poesie vorbei in die Herzen von Menschen blicken, sie verzaubern, sich schließlich an sich selbst, ihren Mitstreitern und an den Kleinigkeiten des Alltags aufreiben und wieder auseinandergehen. Kommt einem auch irgendwie bekannt vor. Da sind so richtige Typen dargestellt, und es ist, als wären sie einem schon mal irgendwo begegnet.Ein toller Film, sehr unterhaltsam, komisch, voller überraschender Ereignisse. Einer meiner all-time favourites!! Kann man immer wieder mal anschauen. Und da sich nun meine alte Videocassetten Sammlung ins Nirvana des Analoghimmels verabschiedet, ein absolutes must-have auf DVD. Einfach nur Klasse.Übrigens, es gibt auch eine CD zu diesem Film.

The movie is set in the depressed northside of Dublin in the 1980s. A jobless young hustler decides it would be fun and perhaps supply some much needed cash if he puts together and manages a band. Positing that Northsiders are Dublin's equivalent of U.S. inner-city blacks, he figures it should be a soul band. The music is so totally 60s soul that I found myself forgetting the story is set in the 80s. If you want a genre for this, it would be musical comedy. It's not the tale of a group's rise from rag-to-riches, but focuses on the relationships (in the broad rather than romantic meaning of the term) of the diverse members of the band. Apart from Colm Meany who plays the hero's Elvis-loving Dad, it has a cast of unknowns (to me, at least) who inhabit their characters to perfection. It's extremely funny and entertaining and the music is great. There are flaws, chiefly director Parker's refusal to let go of a good scene, rather like the guy at a party who gets a good laugh from a joke so repeats it over and over. The auditions for the band go on so long they become tedious, as compared to a similar scene in "The Fabulous Baker Boys" which works much better because it is kept brief. But overall the movie's so much fun it's weaker points become insignificant. A warning to the language-sensitive: these kids' vocabulary does not appear to have progressed beyond 4 letter words which they use so prolifically I ceased to notice after a while.

Imperdibile! Nulla da aggiungere!

"AYY, GINGA'...Shut(e) the F*** up!!What a line. When I heard that Ginger Baker reference from music store clerk, tired of hearing the incessantly loud, auditioning, drum play I was officially hooked; and laughing more than I could have imagined with this music, comedy.THE COMMITMENTS is one of those rare movies that can be seen and heard a second and 3rd time without losing an ounce of entertainment value since the songs are done so well while the dialogue, and a bevy of great lines, can be 'rediscovered' once you figure out exactly what these Dublin blokes are saying. Yes, accents are quite authentic.But, this Irish "Soul" band that is put together by unemployed Jimmy Babbitte (Robert Arkins - a musician, singer himself) is simply outstanding as they perform songs by such greats as Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett (there's a back story involving Pickett that is vital to proceedings...) with a bit of James Brown "for the moves" , and Aretha Franklin "for a lil' of everything..."Felim Gormley plays saxophone player Dean "Nipples" (funny scene/story behind nickname) Fay while Joey "the Lips" Fagan (John Murphy) claims to have played with everyone from B.B King to the Beatles! Is he full of it? Hard to say. He can sure play the trumpet though.By the time Maria Doyle (Orphan Black tv show on BBC...) sings "...I never loved a man/ the way that I/ I loved you..." I am very personally simmering to mesmerized by her 'smokin' vocals. Angelina Ball (plays Imelda Quirk) is the pure blonde, leggy eye candy who solos hot on "Chain of Fools". The 'other' girl is worth a mention too, singer Bronagh Gallagher, who is the only one "bringing in any money" in her family and is forced to bring a baby to the practice sessions which gives resident obnoxious front man Decko (Andrew Strong - the second coming of Joe Cocker ... but better...?) permission to torment the little tyke with inappropriately loud drum play. Decko is definitely "the prick" of the group.Check this one out although it is a shame of all the movies to have no xtras this really is a classic example of dialogue that should have had Subtitles. Oh well, still a great Widescreen picture and I can't say it enough: This is great rock-n-roll "Soul" music brought to us by (as Jimmy Babbitte points out) "Dubliners" (who)are the blacks of Ireland; and WE are the blacks of Dublin."Ladies and Gentleman THE COMMITMENTS.