Documentaries and feature films about rock musicians: a list of the best

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Films about rock musicians are of interest to a wide variety of audience groups. It can be fans of the person the story is based around, people who are interested in stories about the path to fame, or simply those who love this kind of music. For a list of the 15 best films about rock musicians, see this article.

Control

This is a film about the rock musicians of the cult English band Joy Division and, first of all, about the founder and vocalist Ian Curtis. The debut work of director Anton Corbijn won a huge success among the audience and fans of the group, and also aroused great interest among those who were not previously familiar with the work of Joy Division.

The plot is based on the biography of Curtis, described in the biographical book of his wife Deborah. The role of the protagonist was played by British actor Sam Riley, and the surviving members of the group wrote the soundtrack for the film and played it. In 2007, the film "Control" was awarded many different awards - as the main ones, among which wasBAFTA award, and from associations of independent films.

Doors

The 1991 film The Doors, about the life of famous singer and poet Jim Morrison and his band The Doors, is considered by many to be the best filmography of the controversial director Oliver Stone. A special highlight of the picture is considered to be a non-linear narrative, which is fragments from the life and memories of the musician.

The main role was played by actor Val Kilmer, who in those years had an almost portrait resemblance to the "king of the lizards". And Kilmer, whose vocals were overdubbed over the band's original songs, sang so much like the real Morrison that even the late musician's former bandmates could not tell Val's vocals from the original. In addition to him, the film starred actors Meg Ryan, Michael Madsen, Crispin Glover and rock musician Billy Idol.

The film "Doors" in 1991 was a participant of the Moscow International Film Festival. However, he did not receive any awards.

Detroit is rock city

This 1999 teen comedy tells the story of four friends who become fans of the famous glam metal band KISS and decide to go to their concert in Detroit. The film's title refers viewers to one of the band's famous songs, Detroit Rock City.

On the way to the concert, the guys constantly get into various troubles, each time risking not seeing their idols at all. But in the end they are stillget to Detroit and watch KISS performing the song of the same name with the audience on the other side of the screen.

Despite the fact that the picture was not a success at the box office, it is now popular as a good reflection of the time shown, and is also of interest to all fans of the group, which exists and tours to this day.

Sid and Nancy

One of the most popular rock movies (especially for punk rock fans) is 1986's Sid and Nancy. It tells about the tragic love and death story of "Romeo and Juliet" of the 70s: the bassist of the cult punk band Sex Pistols Sid Vicious and his beloved Nancy Spungen.

In addition to the story itself, which is interesting to all fans of the band, the film attracts viewers in large part due to the participation of Gary Oldman, who played the main role of Sid.

I'm not there

One of the most complex, surprising and unusual among the films about rock musicians is the story about the life of Bob Dylan "I'm not there", which was released in wide release in 2007. The very structure of the picture is intriguing: childhood, adolescence, growing up, peak of popularity, maturity and transformation into a legend are shown by six different actors, none of whom are called Bob or Robert, but each of which means exactly the great musician, showing in detail episodes from his biography. It is worth noting that one of the "Beans" was played by the famous actress Cate Blanchett, and the mostthe early period of life was embodied not by a Jewish, but by a black little boy, Marcus Carl Franklin. The other four Dylans were played by Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, Christian Bale and Ben Whishaw.

A hard day's evening

This 1964 feature film is one of the cinematic treasures the Beatles left behind for their fans during their short career. A Hard Day's Evening was the first feature film featuring Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr and was made to promote the four's self- titled album.

Why watch actors play the Beatles when you can watch them play themselves? Moreover, in addition to excellent music, the film has an interesting plot and a lot of excellent humor.

Let it be

And this is the last film made with the participation of the Liverpool Four in 1969. It's no surprise that it's considered one of the best documentaries about rock musicians, as it features the work on The Beatles' latest album, Let It Be. The picture is especially interesting in comparison with the first film, which is described above. There you can see four friends: young, happy, inseparable. Here are four adult musicians, between whom, it seems, there is nothing left in common, except for world success and fame. Now they will finish the album and part forever - each in his own way.

Become JohnLennon

Let's move on to the Beatles movie without the Beatles. It is worth watching simply because it tells about the period before the founding of the cult band, and there are no movie stories with real musicians about this time.

The film "Becoming John Lennon" was filmed in 2009, starring the then aspiring actor Aaron Johnson. The plot tells about the beginning of the career of John Lennon, his family and studies, as well as meeting Paul McCartney (played by Thomas Sangster).

The plot covers the main key moments of Lennon's early youth, which subsequently influenced the creation of The Beatles, but this is not mentioned on the screen - the film ends with the formation of the first band of the musician The Quarryman.

Burglar

And this film is a must-see for all fans of Russian rock, and especially for fans of the Leningrad rock club. "Burglar" was filmed at the Lenfilm studio in 1987 and is part fiction, part documentary. The main character is Kostya Kinchev, the leader of the Alisa group. The plot revolves around him, the beginning of his work and life outside the stage, however, musicians from such groups as "Auktyon", "AVIA", "Coffee" and others also appear on the screen.

Rock Star

The 2001 Rock Star movie under assumed names and titles tells the story of Judas Priest vocalist Timothy Owens. In the film, the band is called Steel Dragon and the main character's name is changed to Chris Cole. Starring Mark Wahlberg, Jennifer Aniston and Jason Flemyng.

In addition to the amazing story of Owens-Cole himself, told in sufficient detail and authenticity, the film is interesting for its realistic depiction of the life and backstage of the heavy metal scene of the 80s, and also carries an important subtext about passing through "copper pipes", which rock filmmakers often forget about.

The Blues Brothers

The cult feature film about rock musicians "The Blues Brothers" is not only the best musical comedy of the 80s, but also tells the story of a real-life rock band of actors Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi, who played themselves under pseudonyms Jaykka and Elwood Blues.

The plot of the film is simple, funny and witty, but the main value in it is the participation of a huge number of famous blues musicians, including Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Cab Calloway, John Lee Hooker and others.

Kill Bono

The unusual thing about this film about rock musicians is that it tells about the creation and development of U2 and its frontman Bono not directly, but through the creative path of another, less successful band from Dublin, who also went to London. Brothers Neil and Ivan McCormick understand that their failures directlyconnected with the success of Bono, which means that by all means they need to get to a more successful fellow countryman and just get rid of him.

The film premiered in 2011, starring Ben Barnes and Robert Sheehan.

Rose

One of the best but little-known biopics about rock musicians is "Rose", which tells about the life of the great singer Janis Joplin. The film was made in 1979 - nine years after her death and ten years after her triumphant performance at the Woodstock festival.

Since Joplin's relatives did not sell the film rights to the singer's life, the authors replaced all real names and titles. Instead of "Pearl" Janis Joplin, the main character was "Rose" Mary Foster. Her role was played by then aspiring actress Bette Midler, for which she was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Actress category. In addition, the film "Rose" was nominated for four more "Oscars", and was also awarded three "Golden Globes".

Bohemian Rhapsody

The most recent film on this list is "Bohemian Rhapsody", which was released in 2018 and won a lot of positive reviews from both viewers and critics. It tells the story of Freddie Mercury, the leader of the band Queen and one of the greatest vocalists of all time.

Rami Malek starringwon an Oscar for Best Actor. In addition, the picture won four more "Oscars" out of six nominations. Not deprived of "Bohemian Rhapsody" and several awards "Golden Globe", "Sputnik" and BAFTA.

Given that other Queen musicians took part in the creation of the picture, it turned out to be quite accurate and reliable, and most importantly, overflowing with wonderful music. A fascinating story makes "Bohemian Rhapsody" an excellent film for those who are already fans of Mercury and Queen, and for those who would like to get acquainted with the work of the group, and, by the way, even for those who managed to not hear or know anything at all about these musicians.

Prison Rock

Elvis Presley films have the same rule as The Beatles' films, only the king of rock 'n' roll left a far greater cinematic legacy than the Fab Four. Prison Rock is a 1957 black-and-white film starring Presley that is partly autobiographical.

The feature film is about Vince Everett, a hot-tempered young man who goes to jail and gains popularity with a televised inmate music concert. Having achieved success, Everett forgets the friends, thanks to whom he was able to climb the musical Olympus.

This is one of the best musical pictures in the vastElvis filmography, as it has an unpredictable plot, in contrast to subsequent films that were filmed according to the same scenario with a change in location, names and musical numbers.