In 1980s Dublin, a young man deals with his parents’ impending separation, his oppressive new school and the torments by his local bully, through his discovery and passion for pop music. It’s also about a girl, but of course that goes without saying.
In an era when pop music really began to challenge conventional notions of gender expression (we’re looking at you, David Bowie) a Dublin teenager manages to find his own unique image through his passion for music.
In order to win the affections of a girl, who he promises to cast in his music videos, Cosmo (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) must quickly form a band and then write some music. In doing so, he connects with a group of other somewhat lost youths at his school, which is run by a headmaster whose treatment of children is questionable at best. The school is also dominated by a thuggish bully, who threatens physical violence on a daily basis.
This is Dublin in the 1980s, and it’s a tough time to be young. Employment is at an all-time low. Families are being torn apart by the resulting hardships, and the disenfranchised youth (represented here by Cosmo’s older brother, played by Jack Reynor) face a bleak future. Music is what gives them hope and inspires passion despite it all.
With artists such as Depeche Mode, The Cure, David Bowie and a whole host of New Romantics forging a bold new vision of masculinity, the 80s were a colourful time of shifts and changes, set to a synthesised beat. The fun and energy of the era is well captured in Sing Street, which is a film that will appeal to those who were young then and today’s youth in equal measure.
The central, and most charming, relationship in this film is that between Cosmo and his older brother, a colleague dropout and stoner, who refuses to see his little brother follow his failed footsteps. The performances and the writing are warm and engaging, and overall this is a warm-hearted film which brings simple yet effective storytelling to the fore.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_YqJ_aimkM
Director: John Carney
Stars: Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Aidan Gillen, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Jack Reynor, Lucy Boynton
Runtime: 1hr 46mins
Release Date: Out now in limited release
Rating: PG
Reviewer Rating: 3.5/5