Wow, tough crowd! Though I have to add that my mum also said it was 'a load of self-indulgent crap'
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I disagree with her, and some of you. I really enjoyed it. If there's one thing Mr McQueen is good at, it's the sustained (and often uncomfortable) gaze. Maybe this developed during his video installation days. So a long slow whine is a good fit subject wise for his treatment.
Personally, I found story enough in the blossoming romance, with friends and relatives variously getting in the way, or getting out of the way. And the portrayal of a blues from set up to sun up, was for the most part really well done, though a few details felt off (where was the interminable system-check stage - that should have taken up half the film!
. How about the awkward wallflower stage? And what dance runs lovers first and then brok-wild music last? That's back to front is it not? Oh and turn off about half the lights! ). But on the whole I felt like I was at a blues, and I cared about what happened to the characters.
The only bum note for me was the whole wilding thing towards the end. I mean wtf?
I've been in jams a bit like that, but not back in the day. That just felt all wrong, and possibly the consequence of how a young cast imagines things.
I mean, maybe this is contentious, but I kind of feel like, despite containing some very radical elements, the old blues were essentially quite conservative spaces. By that I mean that behaviour codes seemed quite narrow, and stoopidness wasn't really tolerated. Admittedly I was just a kid / early teenager during this era, so maybe I didn't have a complete understanding of it all.
Anyways, despite that wrong turn, I was fond of the production, love letter as it was to an under-celebrated scene.
