For those nostalgic for the most cataclysmic ‘punk-rock’.
Directed by: Julien Temple Cast: Shane MacGowan, Johnny Depp, Bono, Gerry Adams Original title: Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan Country: USA, UK Year: 2020 Release date: 04-16-2021 Genre: Documentary Photography: Steve Organ Synopsis: A fast-paced journey through the extraordinary career of Shane MacGowan, leader of the band The Pogues and one of the most influential musicians in recent UK history. Through interviews, unpublished archive images and animations by renowned illustrator Ralph Steadman, the film immerses us in a charismatic character who knew how to combine the poetry of traditional Irish music with the visceral energy of punk rock in his songs.
The best: for content and form, the animated scene with drawings of the mythical Ralph Steadman.
Anyone who has reached a certain age without knowing absolutely anything about Julien Temple and Shane MacGowan is doubtful that they will perceive this documentary for what it really is: not only a fiery yet painful gift for hardened punk-rockers, but also a cultural cluster bomb. that transcends the heartfelt tribute to the odd figure of the biographer. Much more than just another of Temple’s already many musical covens, again on the umpteenth self-destructive genius created and swallowed up by the rock industry (though this one might take the cake, okay), Crock of Gold: Drinking with Shane MacGowan. it functions as an exuberant filmic, aesthetic, historical and socio-political sounding board.
Collage of merriment and havoc adorned by all imaginable textures, abuzz with unprecedented and unfailingly tragicomic adventures, we are, ultimately, before a song (of course intoxicated) to a certain universe, beautiful, terrible and grotesque, which no longer exists except in the nostalgia of mythomaniacs and in the babbling of those wounded in combat.
