Absolute Beginners

ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS (1986) Cert 12Eddie O'Connell, Patsy Kensit, David Bowie, James Fox. Directed by Julien Temple. (1hr 48m).​It may be set at the tail end of the 1950s, but in fact Julien Temple's glorious, chaotic musical is the ultimate Eighties movie, a celebration of pure STYLE in every single frame of celluloid, as well as being a staggeringly ambitious cinematic spectacle. It opens with an extraordinary three-minute travelling shot through a bustling, lovingly detailed re-imagining of London's notorious Soho district in 1958, and then proceeds at breakneck pace from one dazzling setpiece to another, culminating in a hyper-stylised recreation of the Notting Hill "race riots" in which black shirt fascists went to battle with newly settled immigrants from the Caribbean.Yet despite the occasionally gritty subject matter, the whole piece fizzes with joyous no-holds-barred excitement. It's based on Colin MacInnes' acclaimed trilogy of London novels about post-war multiculturalism and the birth of the "teenage phenomenon" in Britain but Temple throws into the mix a whole melting pot of movie references ranging from classic Hollywood musicals to gangland melodrama, while also finding time to give cameo appearances to a wildly diverse rollcall of pop-culture icons familiar to anyone who grew up somewhere between the 50s and the 80s.Where else would you find David Bowie sharing screen time with Lionel Blair? Sade, The Kinks' Ray Davies and Patsy Kensit with Irene Handl, the Profumo scandal's Mandy Rice-Davies, disc jockey Alan Freeman and - blink and you'll miss him - comedian Eric Sykes. Bizarrely, there's even a brief appearance by Strictly's Bruno Tonioli. Yes, it is sometimes definitely a bit too much, and all that style regularly overshadows the substance, but it's still the most amazing cinematic feat, long overdue for rediscovery.The film starts at 8pm but Ushers Bar is open for drinks and dinner from 6pm. Contact us for more details and to book for dinner.

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