Sing Street
"Rock and Roll is a risk."
Sing Street, and indie film from Ireland, was released earlier this year to a small amount of cinemas. I know this film is not a film seen by many, as most foreign made indie movies might be in the states. I'm definitely glad to have heard of this film because it really spoke to me, I know for sure this film is my favorite of the year so far. In a year full of so many sequels and remakes and reboots, i'm always on the lookout for originalfilms like this one. So what makes this film better than any other (in my opinion of course)? It's the great script, characters, atmosphere, music, and originality.
So Sing Street takes place in Dublin, Ireland and is set in the 80's. The film follows Conor Lawlor, wonderfully played by Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, who is facing many problems in his teen life. Conor's parents are constantly arguing, he gets bullied at school, and he just wants to find an escape. Things change for him when he sees a beautiful mysterious girl, played by Lucy Boyton, and decides to start a band to impress her and get her attention.So Conor recruits other outcasts similar to him to form the band "Sing Street". From here we see the band emulate many different music styles from the 80's, like "Duran Duran" and "The Jam". So the music in this film is fantastic for any fan of 80's music, and the original songs are just as good as the bands they are emulating. I recommend going out and listening to the original song "Drive it like you stole it", which is the films homage to the band "The Jam". The film really does a great job of capturing the joy and satisfaction, as well as the struggle, of creating something original and putting it out there for others to see.
I think something a lot of people can relate to about this film is feeling like your stuck in a bad situation. Throughout the film you see the lead character's struggles with his family and all the bad people he has to deal with at his chaotic school. It's very inspiring to see the lead use all the negative energy around him and bad situations to create something good. Instead of just letting it happen and giving up, he decides to put all his effort into creating music and trying to impress the girl to make it through all the struggles. It's a good message for anyone who might be going through any kind of struggle, to not let it bring you down and instead use your energy to focus on something that you've always wanted to do or that means something to you. You see the growth in the lead actor throughout the film as he uses all the things happening in his life to create good music, and with the music he
is able to overcome.
All the other actors in this film do a great job at playing their characters, though some might be over the top like the principal played by Don Wycherley, I think it fits the story well. I really loved the relationship between the protagonist and his brother Brendan played by Jack Reynor. Throughout the film Brendan is the one inspiring the protagonist to keep going and showing him the next steps to take in making music. Brendan wants his brother to succeed in the ways that he never could, and pushes him to keep going. The other relationship the film focuses on is that between the protagonist and his love interest. In the beginning it seems that the love interest is the one helping the protagonist by inspiring him and getting his mind off of his struggles, but it's great to see how it grows and you see her character is also going through a lot of her own struggles. The only slight complaint I
might have is that the film doesn't really focus too much on the other band mates, it might have been nice to know more about what they are going through. Still I can understand wanting to focus the story on the main character to keep things more straight-forward.
Overall this film was a joy to watch with fun characters, that great 80's setting, great original and licensed music, and a story anyone can relate to in one way or another. I loved all the original songs created for the movie, and was always excited to see what the next band they would homage would be. I've been listening to the soundtrack quite a bit since I've watch the movie, I think it's worth checking out by itself if you like 80's music. I can't say everyone will enjoy this film as much as I did, but if any of the things I mentioned have you even remotely interested i'd say you should check it out. Personally this one is my favorite of the year, it's very inspiring and relate-able and I've already seen it twice and enjoyed it more the second time. It's not too often re watch a film so soon, but this one was worth a second watch for sure. I'll have these songs stuck in my head for a good while, and
that makes me happy.
Overall grade: A
Sing Street is available on most streaming platforms.
