Radio On

I saw this at a film festival, at one in the morning, in a tiny, crowded room with the itchiest, stiffest seats you can imagine. I hated it but decided to rent the DVD, so I could watch it at my leisure in the comfort of my own home and hopefully enjoy what seemed like an understated but ambitious road movie. Nope. Nice photography though, and Sting's little cameo was cute.

A small time capsule of the sights and sounds in Britain, 1979.

Bleak and mysterious British road movie. The cinematography is astonishingly beautiful and every scene feels like a piece of art. Britain in the late seventies is made to look incredibly grim highlighting the reality of the depression. Don't expect any answers from this film, it has none to give, but that's part of what's great about it. Answers were hard to come by in that era. The soundtrack is magnificantly well chosen too.

God damn this is boring

Inconsequential road movie that can barely summon up any interest in its characters; it is much influenced by the films of Wim Wenders, who was its associate producer.

For me this was a case of style over substance. It creates a mysterious atmospheric vibe but is too much like a late '70's Germanic music video. It feels dated.

Shot beautifully, incredibly agitating and the cameo that I won't spoil is the shining light on this whole sludge-fest. I saw this movie at a Mystery Movie screening so I didn't know what to expect. Had I known what it would be, I wouldn't have stayed because this isn't the kind of film you'd say to your friends "Hey guys! Let's go check out this film of slow cinema in the theaters called Radio On it's so depressing you guys are gonna have a blast". It just doesn't sound right