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DVD Description
1974. Amidst power cuts, strikes and boot-boy aggro on the football terraces, Joe McCain is bored of a life that's going nowhere. Enter hair-dresser Jane: blonde, beautiful, and moving to the beat of a whole new world of sound, movement and all-nighter dancing at The Wigan Casino - the home of Northern Soul. Swept along on this tide of pulsating dance and lust, Joe becomes embroiled in the darker side of soul scene that will put his friendship to the test.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Not a brilliant script, but gives a good feel for the music, dancing, and the 70s itself.
17 Jan 2011
Format:DVD
I pre-ordered this back in October ready for its release in January. Just watched it today and thought it was a good film. Fair do's, as other people have said the script and plot-line is nothing original, but at the same time I felt the director Shimmy has made a good job of giving you a feel for the time. For any youngster today would know nothing of cassette players, birmingham/oxford bags, spooner shoes, vests, record shops on corner streets etc. As for the music, it's tremendous! In my opinion you get a real feel for the time with the dance scenes (dance off excluded!). They've done a brilliant job of blending old documentary footage (most of which you can see on youtube) with the film footage and passing it off as the same, which I thought worked very well (compared to others that have tried the same).
As for the comment by the person who wanted a storyline more for his age group (now being in his 50s or whatever) I think you've got to appreciate that this film is not just for people like him that want to reminisce, but also for those who haven't got a clue about this genre and how much it meant to people at that time, like the teenagers of today, hence the 'coming of age' storyline.
At the end of the day, it opened my eyes to what it may have been like at the time (I was only 10 in 1974) and having loved the music since I first heard it, it makes me wish even more that I had been apart of it as it was happening. Enjoy the music, and try if you dare to stop your feet from tapping or from wanting to dance!
As for the comment by the person who wanted a storyline more for his age group (now being in his 50s or whatever) I think you've got to appreciate that this film is not just for people like him that want to reminisce, but also for those who haven't got a clue about this genre and how much it meant to people at that time, like the teenagers of today, hence the 'coming of age' storyline.
At the end of the day, it opened my eyes to what it may have been like at the time (I was only 10 in 1974) and having loved the music since I first heard it, it makes me wish even more that I had been apart of it as it was happening. Enjoy the music, and try if you dare to stop your feet from tapping or from wanting to dance!
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
The period is well evoked and a lot of the sript hits the mark. Like the hero I got into Northern because I fancied a girl way out of my league who went to the Torch and then Wigan. Everyone I know (including me) was a bit of a div the first few times I went but as in the film you either got deeply into the scene or as a tourist you went a couple of times and that was it. Believe me if everyone I've met who claimed to be a Wigan regular had been more than twice then the capacity must have been over 100,000. I'm sure there must have been violence between rival drug dealers but I never saw it and I never saw a fight at any Northern Soul venue back in the day - if you stamped on someones foot they would apologise for being in the way ! The dance off scene was complete and utter crap and the whole scene earlier where Alan warns Joe off his girl (Jane) was hard to believe. The Mod "Ace Face" concept was still going in 74 and a top face would hold on to his girlfriend by being simply very very cool.Quite a good sountrack (except that bloody scooterist favourite "The Snake") and a cracking cover of Magic Carpet Ride. All in all in spite of it's faults a damn good Indy film, well written with some good acting especially from the likeable Compston and Jones and a decent contribution on the subject - better in many ways than Quadrophenia.
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Overall, this is a very atmospheric film and in my opinion captures the time and the Northern Soul scene very well.
Hoever, the storyline is a little weak and disjointed, making the film episodic rather than a smooth narrative flow.
The performances by most of the leads are good, and the actors have a good go at the Stoke accent but understandably slip quite a bit towards Manchester/Liverpool (to be fair, I'm from Stoke and I'm often taken for a Scouser by southerners!).
On a technical side, the 5.1 soundtrack promised on the DVD was appalling (ie: not properly coded 5.1). The stereo version was much better, especially with a bit of ProLogic II upmixing.
A flawed film, yes, but still the best (only) "Northern Soul" film out there.
With a bigger budget, this could have been absolutely brilliant.
Hoever, the storyline is a little weak and disjointed, making the film episodic rather than a smooth narrative flow.
The performances by most of the leads are good, and the actors have a good go at the Stoke accent but understandably slip quite a bit towards Manchester/Liverpool (to be fair, I'm from Stoke and I'm often taken for a Scouser by southerners!).
On a technical side, the 5.1 soundtrack promised on the DVD was appalling (ie: not properly coded 5.1). The stereo version was much better, especially with a bit of ProLogic II upmixing.
A flawed film, yes, but still the best (only) "Northern Soul" film out there.
With a bigger budget, this could have been absolutely brilliant.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
soul boy the movie
Having been around at the opening and though the best days of the wigan casino, I found the film most entertaining. Read more
Published 1 month ago by B. Hiley
loved this movie
i ordered the dvd and cd of the soundtrack at the same time, i only got into northern soul last year . Read more
Published 2 months ago by cupcake
Spin, Get High and the Dying Fly.
Soulboy is directed by Shimmy Marcus and written by Jeff Williams. It stars Martin Compston, Felicity Jones, Alfie Allen, Nichola Burley, Pat Shortt and Craig Parkinson. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Spike Owen
Got to see
Recommended by a friend. Fantastic bit of entertainment if you are into the northern soul scene. Good mock up of the old Wigan Casino. Can't go wrong for £6.
Published 5 months ago by Sparky
Excellent little movie
I loved this film. There is so little documenting the NS era and the film captured the spirit admirably. Read more
Published 8 months ago by G. Lucas
Liking Soul
After watching Soul boy I really wished I was there at the time as the dance scenes and the original film clips were awesome ,the sound track is very good. Read more
Published 9 months ago by arty
You didn't say a word...
If you love Northern Soul just buy it... you'll love this! You get totally caught up in the story and fall in love with the characters, I could watch this time and time again,... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Warren
Very very very good
I would recommend SoulBoy.The first time I went to the Casino Club got past Mrs Woods made my way towards the hall I could here Queen of Fools by Barbara Mills,could'nt wait to get... Read more
Published 11 months ago by codyboy
Took me back to the late 70's
This film was true to life I enjoyed it immensely lots of good tunes and all the dance moves were fab
My only criticism would be that perhaps on the credits rolling with all... Read more
My only criticism would be that perhaps on the credits rolling with all... Read more
Published 12 months ago by shandylincs
Best of its genre
Having sat through this the first time cringing with embarrassment at the cheesiness I watched it again a few nights later and quite enjoyed it. Read more
Published 12 months ago by 16forever
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