Spinal Tap meets La Nouvelle Vague in Christopher Beech’s film, “Rock & Roll”. The leading rocker, Johnny Ghost (Christopher Beech), is as enigmatic and eccentric as one would expect from the front man of any rock band.
Filmed mostly in black and white, the noir stylings of the film compliment the mystery and ambiguity of the whole narrative. The comedy moments of the film are very well executed and contrast nicely with the faint whiff of unease that lingers in the air. Beech parodies the well-known rock persona while also adding something new and interesting to the story.
The story-line is impressively weird but the film manages to maintain a clear sense of direction throughout. The weirdness is mirrored in some excellently quirky camera angles, crash zooms and unique sound editing. All of these things come together to create a wonderful concoction of rock and roll unreality.
The larger than life characters are what make “Rock & Roll”. Beech has mastered the brooding darkness of Johnny Ghost and Josi St.Tovi (playing the guitarist, Josi Ghost) is nothing less than perfection. His hair alone deserves a mention! Lynne Sellers does an excellent job of portraying the long suffering manager. In the final scene, the manger and Jonny have a very moving heart to heart which provides an unexpected amount of emotion the ending of the film.
“Rock & Roll” is a uniquely funny and engaging narrative with powerful characters. Christopher Beech has triumphed in his every role in the film from writer, to director to actor.
Watch the trailer below!