I went to a pre-view of the new film "Good Vibrations" this evening, I wanted to go to the West End venue it was showing at, but that was fully booked, so I had to brave the cold and a much longer journey to go to the Odeon in Wimbledon to see it.
Although it had a 15 certificate, there was really nothing in it that would put anyone off going.it got the certificate, I imagine, from a few swear words of the type that most of us have to listen to from the ment all the time at work.
Starring Richard Dormer as Terri Hooley and Jodie Whittaker as his wife, it tells the true story - although no doubt somewhat embroidered to make a better film - of the real-life Terri Hooley, who throughout the troubles in Belfast, sought to bring people together through punk rock.
Utterly lacking in any business sense, he opened a music shop called "Good Vibrations", which lurched from one crisis to another, whilst Terri worked tirelessly to reach out to people from all communities to try and get them to enjoy music together. Punk rock was to be the glue that joined communities and his enthusiasm for spreading the words knew no bounds.
His ventures were never a commerical success - "Good Vibrations" opened and closed several times over the years - but he did suceed in raising the profile of at least some of the musicians in Northern Ireland, who had been somewhat relegated to the backwaters by the music scene in the U.K.
A gentle film, with quite a lot of gentle humour, but also one with a message - that music can be the means of bringing people together. Even if punk rock isn't quite my scene.
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