Musician Biographies

[Alex]

Having recently watched 'Control' the biography on Joy Division's singer Ian Curtis and recently in the news about Robert Pattinson possibly playing Kurt Cobain, I thought it would be interesting to hear about musicians a biographical film could be based on.

I think Kurt Cobain would be a good one (that wierd one about the fictious guy doesn't count) as it could talk about how the band formed and his personal issues with drugs etc and family and friends

Layne Staley would also be another one, similar to Kurt Cobain about his life with drugs and his relationship with family and friends and a possible look into his last days (as he lived in seclusion for his last couple of years)

 

[Nitafrong]

Well these kind of films have been getting more popular in reccent years- as well as Ian Curtis, we have had Jonhny Cash, Elvis, Ray Charles, Edith Piaf, and John Lennon who have all had films made about them to varying degrees of acclaim. I may be a bit atypical here but the reason I enjoyed most of these films was because I had a very limited knowledge of the people they were about. In fact when I saw Control- I had no idea who Ian Curtis was though I knew one Joy Division song. The fact that these films could function as a normal was a big thing with me- I don't know how much I would have enjoyed them if I had a detailed understanding of the person they were profiling. They functioned as much as a introduction to the artist as anything for me.

The other thing to consider is whether the artist has lived an exceptional life of some kind. Most of the films above either detailed stars which were particularly iconic or whose story is one which truly deserves to be told. Most of the artists I listen to fail to fit into this category- they make great music but I don't know how really interesting they really are. The only one who I can think of which might be interesting would be MIA- especially considering the fuss over her lastest video. If you were looking for something a bit more dark and twisted and more than a little strange you could look at Varg Vikernes and the Norwegian Black metal scene which involved numerous church burnings and ended up with him imprisoned for murder. The problem with this though would be the necessity of playing their music which would only appeal to a small number of people.