The Unseen Movie Review

It's All Gone Pete Tong

The phrase from which this film derives its title was a popular bit of rhyming slang for a while in the early to mid 1990s – “Pete Tong, wrong” – a tribute to the habit of one of the earliest superstar DJs to make mistakes during his sets. As you might expect with a title like that, it revolves around the club DJ scene. Which seems a tad passé these days, but still.

Thankfully, however, this is not merely a mindless trip through clubland like the inexplicably popular Human Traffic from a few years back. Nor is it a documentary about the now pretty much past it world of insanely loud music, overly-energetic dancing and mind-altering drugs. At least, not really.

Seemingly loosely based on Citizen Kane, the movie is a partially documentary-style attempt to explore the life of fictional superstar DJ Frankie Wilde, partially a regular movie following his various difficulties. With contributions from the likes of Carl Cox and the man himself, Pete Tong – both playing themselves – as well as a thumping soundtrack, it’s a convincing look at the club world of the 90s built around a great central performance from the often criminally underrated Paul “Dennis Pennis” Kaye as Wilde.

The major conceit, as with Citizen Kane’s “Rosebud” investigation, is that the filmmakers are trying to uncover what happened to the once legendary DJ, who vanished without trace a few years ago. The basic answer is uncovered pretty early on – he went deaf and had a breakdown. After all, how can you mix music if you can’t hear the beat? After setting up the character, his attempts to cope with his sudden change in circumstances and plans for the future – if he has one – form the bulk of the movie, and it’s all good stuff.

Although a DJ with a coke habit going deaf could easily end up an excuse to preach about the damage clubbers are doing to themselves, that would – let’s face it – hardly pull in the punters. Instead, the story of Frankie Wilde’s tragic fall is layered with dose after does of richly black comedy.

There are also some nice surreal touches chucked in for good measure to emphasis Wilde’s other major problem – a hefty cocaine addiction personified by a six foot tall badger in a fairy costume being a particular highlight. That in itself should be enough to demonstrate that, despite the talking heads from real life DJs, this is anything but a serious film.

With a less talented lead, this could all have come crashing down, much like Wilde’s career. But Paul Kaye is more than up to the task, turning in a superb performance that’s at once obnoxious, funny and endearing, and well worth the price of admission on its own. It’s about time he got a decent break onto the big screen, and this could well be it - he’ll be cropping up in a big budget blockbuster before you know it.

posted by Nosemonkey @ 12:00 AM