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The Music Machine (1979)

Director: Ian Sharp

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From Time Out Film Guide

Produced on a skin-tight budget, yet designed to contain every possible ingredient for mass commercial teen appeal. Its major source is Saturday Night Fever, transposed to Camden's Music Machine and its environs (with, incidentally, quite a good sense of location). The disco fairytale is pursued, with young hero (Sundquist) aided by two 'fairy godparents' (Boulaye and Peters) who embody the ideal qualities of the beautiful disco person. They're black, Americanised, and act rich. What disappoints is the limping naturalism of the style (which regrettably extends to the dancing), and the predictable bits of 'social realism' slotted in to explain the hero's disco-dream, like the scene at the Job Centre.

Author: JS

Time Out Film Guide


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