There are three parts to The Commitments.
The book by Roddy Doyle
The film directed by Alan Parker
The soundtrack performed by a disparate pack of actors, singers and musicians.
Sadly, Alan Parker passed away last month (July 2020), but with his usual wit, Roddy Doyle did a tribute to him on his Facebook page. In a fictional conversation he starts off with ..
"-Were you in The Commitments?
-Stupid question. Do you know anyone our age who wasn’t in the fuckin’ Commitments?"
and finishes with ..
"-Jack Charlton an’ Alan Parker – the two Englishmen who changed the face of Ireland.
-It’s gas, isn’t it?"
And so to the music (which is why we're here). Songs written and performed by Al Green, Otis Redding, Ann Peebles, Roy Head, Wilson Pickett, Mary Wells and made famous by them and Aretha Franklin, The Marvelettes and Clarence Carter. How could the album fail. All it needed was good singers able to give the songs life and treat them with respect. It had that in spades.
The focal point of the movie was the band, naturally, and the 3 backup singers, Angeline Ball, Maria Doyle and Bronagh Gallagher (Imelda, Natalie and Bernie respectively) were all singers in their own right before getting together for The Commitments.
The odd one out was Andrew Strong, who played Deco. He was a 16 year old kid, son of Rob Strong, the vocal coach on the film. He didn't really have an audition lined up but when Alan Parker heard him sing he basically took him on straight away. The character of Deco was even re-written to suit him.
One of the most successful musicians in the movie is Glen Hansard playing the part of Outspan Foster. He went on to star in the movie 'Once' and won an Oscar for best original song 'Falling Slowly' co-written with Markéta Irglová.
Screenwriters Ian Le Frenais and Dick Clement, who also wrote one of my all-time favourite TV series 'Auf Wiedersehen, Pet' were responsible for the movies oh-so-famous horse scene. It's a life lesson. “You’re not taking that into the lift.” “I have to. The stairs’ll kill him.”
You may not have read the book - me neither - but if you've never seen the film, what is wrong with you? Find it, watch it now, then get this soundtrack and relive it over and over again.
No comments:
Post a Comment