1. The Cool Britannia
story is set in London in 1997. The mid-1990s was the era of the "renaissance" of British culture, including the leading British rock music Britpop, with representative bands such as Oasis and Blur , Radiohead, etc., their music is also used as the bgm of this film. Some people think that its appearance is related to the New Labor Party's coming to power at that time, and Blair's election has brought hope to young people. There were Spice Girls in the UK at that time. Some people say that the accidentally successful girl group in the film is reminiscent of Spice Girls...
In 1998, the Economist Magazine published an article summarizing the history of the phrase "Cool Britannia": The name of a song by Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band in 1967; it was registered as an ice cream trademark in 1996, but it appeared on the cover of Newsweek magazine in the same year to promote the British cultural phenomenon that was flourishing at the time; the Labour Party defeated the Conservative Party in 1997 , Blair came to power, the word became a symbol of the New Deal; however, in 1998, people began to hate the word.
After 2000, with the decline of Britpop, the word began to take on irony.
2. The original novel,
the film adapted from the novel of the same name published in 2008, author of the novel the film is also a screenwriter John Niven. Niven worked in the record industry in the 1990s and did A&R. He has decades of experience in the industry, so his novels are mainly derived from his work experience. This novel is very popular in the industry, and many musicians actively contributed a lot of good bgm to the film, of course, they are all songs of that era.
John Niven said that for many young people, the lifestyle of the recording industry described in the book is too extravagant. But the reality is more exaggerated than what is written in the book. For example, he himself only learned to play in his thirties after leaving his job, because the company would provide luxury cars, and people would continue to deliver new cars. This is because the record sales at that time were dozens of times as much as the current one, and the unit price was still two or three times the current one, so it was very profitable. All the employees in the industry are young people under the age of thirty. However, the success rate of A&R selection at the time was not high. It was very good that one out of ten signed artists could be in the early stage (similar to private equity). And the people inside are really so rude and cruel, he portrayed it truthfully.
In addition, he believes that the essence of the current recording industry has not changed. Sexism and racial discrimination still exist, but they are more hidden. With the rise of social networks, the way of dissemination is not as simple as in the 1990s: At that time, singles could be touted as long as they were looped on well-known radio stations. Now that the culture and media are diversified, there are no young people listening to the radio, so this The industry is more difficult.
The novel also explains the background of some of the protagonists. For example, unlike other rich second-generation generations in the A&R department, Stelfox is born in a more phoenix male, so he is more unscrupulous in order to climb up.
John Niven missed the opportunity to sign Coldplay and Muse when he was doing A&R. But he said that he has not been very interested in them, because Radiohead is enough...
Now he writes full-time, he himself majored in literature at university, and has published 7 novels by the end of 2015.
3. Director Owen Harris
Director Owen Harris was very interested in that era, not only because of the music, but also because of the high national sentiment driven by Britpop, arrogant but united, thinking that Prime Minister Blair is the savior, and we are lonely and arrogant in Great Britain. In that era, ambition was more important than talent, and ambitious young people were as crazy as they were beaten up. This is a very rare era in the history of British culture.
The director has directed an episode of "Black Mirror" (Black Mirror) Be Right Back, and the film starring Nicholas Hoult's famous short film "Skins" (Skins). Last year, I filmed a TV movie "The Gamechangers" that introduced the moral controversy behind the famous game Grand Theft Auto. Harry Potter starred as the boss of the game company...
4. Starring Nicholas Hoult,
starring in this film Nicholas Hoult's acting skills were generally praised. But the process of his taking the role was quite accidental: when he was sitting in Hyde Park a few years ago, someone suddenly came over and handed him the script. Nizi was taken aback. In fact, it was the producer Gregor Cameron. But at that time, Nizi thought she was too young and inappropriate, and it took a year before she felt that she could play the role.
The house of cards
Nepalese child's performance with reference to the "house of cards" in the undergrowth president ...... Kevin Spacey is to break the "fourth wall", show the way for the lens. This is also the director's request, in order to show the contrast and division of the protagonist.
In fact, John Niven said that he had already used this method in his earliest scripts, and later found out that House of Cards and The Wolf of Wall Street were the first to use it... very frustrated.
6. American Psycho & The Wolf of Wall Street,
the comment was made to the film "American Psycho" x "Wolf of Wall Street" is the dissipation of the industry's description, a cruel actor, bursting with ambition, drugs chaos, and murder The case and the police are related.
But the director said it was not the same, and the tone was different.
7. Don Simpson
The author of the novel John Niven once said that the Stelfox prototype refers to Don Simpson (1943-1996), a poor boy from Alaska who grew up into a famous American producer with ambition, and produced "The Thunder" and "The High Aspirations". It became popular with Brother Tom. He is a famous party animal, profligate, unmarried for life, and moody because of drug use, and eventually died of overdose.
8. In the Frida Sundemo
film, the protagonist has always wanted to sign the small fresh band The Lazies, which was not signed. The female lead singer is played by the Swedish singer Frida Sundemo. The song in the film is also her own.
She recently also had a song used in the neurotic American drama "Scream Queens" (Scream Queens).
9.
The book "Unleash Your Monster" that the protagonist of Unleash your monster has been reading is fictitious and does not exist.
Source:
IMDB: Kill Your Friends
Nicholashoult.org Interview
supajam.com Interview
rogerebert.com Interview
nme.com Interview
theGuardian.com Interview
bigissue.com Interview
independent.co.uk Interview
vice.com Interview
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