Absolute Beginners

Theatrical Release Date: 1986 04 18 (USA)

UPC: 027616884565

Studio: MGM

MPAA Rating: PG13   Contains:[Violence, Adult Situations, Questionable for Children, Adult Language, Profanity]

Summary: The rise of teen culture in 1950s Britain provides the backdrop for Julien Temple's unconventional rock musical Absolute Beginners. The film centers on Colin, an 18-year-old with a talent for photography and a fondness for the neon nightlife of British jazz clubs. He also is in love with Crepe Suzette, an impulsive, ambitious young beauty who abandons him after attracting the attention of a powerful fashion designer. Depressed and aimless, Colin turns for help to a flashy ad executive (David Bowie) who promises to make him a star photographer. The former lovers take parallel paths to success, capitalizing on the youth mania gripping the nation. The film's nostalgic yet gently satirical look at teen culture is tempered by a recognition of the era's social tension, particularly a disturbing rise in racism. Despite these serious undertones, however, the film tells its story with a colorful vibrancy reminiscent of both MTV and old Hollywood musicals, filled with such show-stopping numbers as a memorable sequence in which Bowie dances on a giant typewriter. Critical reception was mixed, with some hailing the film's spectacular cinematography and ambitious scope, while others found the mixture of tones and style too inconsistent. The film also drew lukewarm response at the box office, with the memorable soundtrack receiving more attention than the film itself. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

Category: Drama

Features: ccPhoto gallery
English: Stereo Surround
English, French & Spanish language subtitles

Absolute Beginners

Format: DVD

Release Date: 04/15/2003

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Cinemascope, 1.33:1 Pre-1954 Standard

Audio: DDS Dolby Digital Surround

Runtime: 108 Minutes

Sides: 2

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English

Subtitles: English,French,Spanish

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Side #1 -- Widescreen
1. Main Title/Absolute "Beginners"
2. The Teenage Miracle
3. Late for Suzette
4. "Sweet and Sour Home"
5. Charms' Stable of Stars
6. Suzette Crashes/"Va Va Voom"
7. "Having It All"/Goodbye
8. "Have You Ever Had It Blue"
9. "Quiet Life"
10. Trouble on the Rubble
11. When Babies Boom
12. Parasite Party
13. Tomorrow's Sellout... Today
14. "That's Motivation"
15. Reality TV
16. "Killer Blow"
17. Trouble Developing
18. Riots/"Keep Britain White!"
19. "We'll Be Back!" "So What?"
20. "Absolute Beginners"/Credits
Side #2 -- Standard
1. Main Title/Absolute "Beginners"
2. The Teenage Miracle
3. Late for Suzette
4. "Sweet and Sour Home"
5. Charms' Stable of Stars
6. Suzette Crashes/"Va Va Voom"
7. "Having It All"/Goodbye
8. "Have You Ever Had It Blue"
9. "Quiet Life"
10. Trouble on the Rubble
11. When Babies Boom
12. Parasite Party
13. Tomorrow's Sellout... Today
14. "That's Motivation"
15. Reality TV
16. "Killer Blow"
17. Trouble Developing
18. Riots/"Keep Britain White!"
19. "We'll Be Back!" "So What?"
20. "Absolute Beginners"/Credits

Michael Costello

Julien Temple's wildly stylized musical adaptation of Colin MacInnes' novel is a dazzling blend of music, dance, and visual effects, reminiscent of a two-hour video in the best sense. Set in the pre-swinging London of 1958, it centers on the tribulations of a young working-class photographer (Eddie O'Connell) anxious to impress a former girlfriend (Patsy Kensit) already moving up in the world. Evocative of the Minnelli and Gene Kelly musicals of the '50s, the film also reflects Vegas revues, with a visual style grounded in swooping crane movements and smoothly interlocking tracking shots which never seem to end. As it could be only in Temple's fantasy world, jazz is its lingua franca, with a coruscating patchwork score by the venerable Gil Evans that samples the music of Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, and other luminaries of the period. Given the limitations of O'Connell, Kensit, and the thin script, the film lags when the music stops and they're required to act, but most of the time the director uses them virtually as animatronic figures reacting in the simplest manner to the spectacle constantly spinning about them. In a film that touts the retro appeal of a martini and a smoke, David Bowie's Mephistophilean ad man is an emblem of its fascination with seductive surfaces. ~ Michael Costello, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Alfred Maron  Actor 
Jim Dunk  Actor 
Colin Jeavons  Actor 
Slim Gaillard  Actor 
Hugo First  Actor 
Alan Freeman  Actor 
Bruce Payne  Actor 
Sade  Actor 
Gary Beadle  Actor 
Sandie Shaw  Actor 
Graham Fletcher-Cook  Actor 
Astley Harvey  Actor 
Smiley Culture  Actor 
Carmen Ejogo  Actor 
Mary Selway  Actor 
Robert Austin  Actor 
Joe McKenna  Actor 
Pat Hartley  Actor 
G.B.  Actor 
Zoot Money  Actor 
Jess Conrad  Actor 
Johnny Edge  Actor 
Bruno Tonioli  Actor 
Ekow Abban  Actor 
Gerry Alexander  Actor 
Paul Fairminer  Actor 
Susie Figgis  Actor 
Chris Brown  Producer 
Richard Burridge  Screenwriter 
Don MacPherson  Screenwriter 
Nik Powell  Executive Producer 
Julien Temple  Director 
Christopher Wicking  Screenwriter 
Stephen Woolley  Producer 
Al Clark  Executive Producer 
Eddie O'Connell  Actor 
Patsy Kensit  Actor 
David Bowie  Actor 
James Fox  Actor 
Ray Davies  Actor 
Steven Berkoff  Actor 
Eve Ferret  Actor 
Anita Morris  Actor 
Lionel Blair  Actor 
Mandy Rice-Davies  Actor 
Tenpole Tudor  Actor 
Tony Hippolyte  Actor 
Chris Pitt  Actor 
Paul Rhys  Actor 
Julian Firth  Actor 
Ronald Fraser  Actor 
Irene Handl  Actor 
Sylvia Syms  Actor 
Peter-Hugo Daly  Actor 
Johnny Shannon  Actor 
Amanda Jane Powell  Actor 
Robbie Coltrane  Actor 

Country: UK