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50 greatest music films ever
From Wagner to Elvis, Cliff to Cobain, and Walker to Ryder, a multitude of musicians have stepped out of the studio and on to the big screen – often, it must be said, to disastrous effect. But sometimes the union of sound and vision produces magical movies and, to prove it, our film and music teams join forces to find the 50 best ever.
First off, an apology. Nowhere in this list of fantastic films about
musicians will you find ‘This is Spinal Tap’. As much as we love
Christopher Guest’s mockumentary, the band never actually existed
(sorry to break it to you, Tap fans). Instead we’re celebrating great
films – dramas and documentaries – about real musicians. We’ve polled
our film and music writers for their personal favourites and looked
beyond the obvious to include films about jazz, films about opera,
films about Finnish polka rock and films about Gilbert and Sullivan.
Why?
Partly to coincide with the release of ‘Control’, Anton Corbijn’s new
film about Joy Division, and partly because we recently saw ‘I’m Not
There’, Todd Haynes’ movie about Bob Dylan, which reminded us just how
superb films about musicians can be. Here we offer you 50 excellent
cinematic creations and guarantee that the one we’ve picked for the
Number One spot may not be to everyone’s taste. We, however, think it’s
a work of genius. But if you disagree, we want to hear from you. Have your say.
2 Don't Look Back (DA Pennebaker, 1967)
3 Gimme Shelter (David Maysles/Albert Maysles/Charlotte Zwerin, 1970)
4 24 Hour Party People (Michael Winterbottom, 2002)
5 Topsy-Turvy (Mike Leigh, 1999)
6 Monterey Pop (DA Pennebaker, 1968)
7 Be Here to Love Me (Margaret Brown, 2004)
8 Thirty Two Short Films about Glenn Gould (Francois Girard, 1993)
9 Cocksucker Blues (Robert Frank, 1972)
10 Bird (Clint Eastwood, 1988)
11 The Last Waltz (Martin Scorsese, 1978)
12 Rude Boy (Jack Hazan, David Mingay, 1980)
13 Scott Walker: 30 Century Man (Stephen Kijak, 2006)
14 Bound for Glory (Hal Ashby, 1976)
15 The Decline of Western Civilization Parts I & II (Penelope Spheeris, 1981, 1988)
16 The Devil and Daniel Johnston (Jeff Feuerzeig, 2005)
17 Sweet Dreams (Karel Reisz, 1982)
18 Notes from a Jazz Survivor (Don McGlynn, 1982)
19 Elgar (Ken Russell, 1962)
20 Rust Never Sleeps (Neil Young, 1979)
21 The Future is Unwritten (Julien Temple, 2006)
22 'DiG!' (Ondi Timoner, 2004)
23 Some Kind Of Monster (Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky, 2004)
24 A Hard Day's Night (Richard Lester, 1964)
25 Jimi Hendrix (Joe Boyd, 1973)
26 Sid and Nancy (Alex Cox, 1986)
27 Elvis (John Carpenter, 1979)
28 The Last of the Blue Devils (Bruce Ricker, 1980)
29 Rough Cut & Ready Dubbed (Hasan Shah & Dom Shaw, 1981)
30 Amadeus (Milos Forman, 1984)
31 Stop Making Sense (Jonathan Demme, 1984)
32 Charlie is My Darling (Peter Whitehead, 1966)
33 Magic Fire (William Dieterle, 1955)
34 A Joyful Noise (Robert Mugge, 1980)
35 Coal Miner’s Daughter (Michael Apted, 1980)
36 Last Days (Gus Van Sant, 2006)
37 Wonderful Life (Sidney J Furie, 1964)
38 'Round Midnight (Bertrand Tavernier, 1986)
39 Watch the K Foundation Burn a Million Quid (Gimpo, 1995)
40 The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach (Danièle Huillet & Jean-Marie Straub, 1968)
41 Buena Vista Social Club (Wim Wenders, 1999)
42 Soul to Soul (Dennis Sanders, 1971)
43 Hilary and Jackie (Anand Tucker, 1998)
44 Made in Sheffield (Eve Wood, 2001)
45 Jazz on a Summer’s Day (Bert Stern, 1959)
46 So You Wanna Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star? (Mark Kidel, 1976)
47 Leningrad Cowboys Go America (Aki Kaurismäki, 1989)
48 MC5: A True Testimonial (David C Thomas, 2002)
49 Sign O’ The Times (Prince, 1988)
50 Catch Us If You Can (John Boorman, 1965)
Author: Dave Calhoun. Written by Derek Adams, Geoff Andrew, Dave Calhoun, Wally Hammond, Michael Hodges, Martin Horsfield, Martin Hoyle, David Jenkins, Trevor Johnston, Eddy Lawrence, Sharon O'Connell, Chris Parkin, Graeme Thomson, Peter Watts
User comments on this story
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- Tobbe said...
- What.. why arent The Blues Brothers on this list.. Shuld be at the top five... Posted on Nov 18 2011 18:25
- Report as inappropriate
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- Matty said...
- Might have been pit already but lets have nowhere boy on the list somewhere, and somewhere high up because its a keeper Posted on Oct 17 2011 01:27
- Report as inappropriate
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- nick said...
-
Let's Get Lost,about Chet Baker,should be on the list.
Bird,about Charlie Parker,should not. Posted on Apr 18 2011 16:07 - Report as inappropriate
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- Declan said...
- Titanic?? "She moved through the fair" in Micheal Collins?? Gladiator song?? Jurasic Park?? these should all be included Posted on Apr 14 2011 20:47
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- Gary Handman said...
- Hello. I think it's totally misguided and non-useful to lump fictional films about music and musicians togehter with documentaries. The language, intent, and cinematic strategies of these two kinds of film are often world's apart. For a more sensible listing of movies about music, see UC Berkeley's web page: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/musicmovies.html and UCB's Music Documentary page: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/music.html Posted on Mar 08 2011 20:20
- Report as inappropriate
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- Bop City said...
-
MC5 - A True Testimonial poll:
http://tinyurl.com/MC5-ATT-poll
“It’s a great document of the band, it’s a great document of life, and it’s a great document of things ... far and beyond the band.” - Jackson Smith, Detroit-based musician son of Fred & Patti Smith
"Music so extraordinary that it transformed the lives of all who experienced it demands the release of a documentary that does the MC5 justice. Few bands have ever seen so much go so wrong so quickly and have been so misunderstood in the process. A True Testimonial represents a belated opportunity to set things straight, put things right. The fans deserve it. So does the band. And so does the music." - Don McLeese, author of Kick Out The Jams (Continuum 33 1/3 series) Posted on Feb 05 2011 22:21 - Report as inappropriate
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- andy said...
- what about Human Traffic or High Fidelity? Posted on Jan 06 2011 13:12
- Report as inappropriate
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- shar said...
- Loved the Last Waltz Too Jim... But more as a sound track than a Movie. Ray, Cadillic Records, The Contenders and even Walk the Line had a great story line . Some are good for CD/Sondtract, but lose it as a film. Posted on Aug 20 2010 21:01
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- Bill said...
- Wayne's World is number 1! Posted on Aug 20 2010 19:35
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- GONIC said...
- i think 'August Rush' is the one of best music films. the way you feel the muzic. and how we can belive in it. the power of music. and every thing Posted on Aug 18 2010 06:22
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- shar said...
- Cadillic Records and The Contenders Best ever Films and Great Sound Track Posted on Aug 09 2010 02:19
- Report as inappropriate
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- shar said...
- Cadillic Records and The Contenders Best ever Films and Great Sound Track Posted on Aug 09 2010 02:18
- Report as inappropriate
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- shar said...
- Cadillic Records and The Contenders Best ever Films and Great Sound Track Posted on Aug 09 2010 02:18
- Report as inappropriate
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- Jim said...
- Um, I'm not gonna try to reason with you, but let's just say you left out Woodstock and The Last Waltz. End of story. Also, Scott Walker is a godly artist (actually my favorite) but 30th Century Man is a terrible doc. Just a bunch of pretentious idiots and mediocre directing and editing. And if you're going to include movies about music, I would add Satyajit Ray's The Music Room. Posted on Jul 24 2010 02:13
- Report as inappropriate
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- Bill said...
- Wayne's World is number one Posted on Jul 11 2010 09:45
- Report as inappropriate
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