The Runaways (Film Review) and Keith Richards: Life (Book Review)

[selenak]

I became curious about The Runaways because of this review; the music and the group itself, I have to admit, was unknown to me. (I mean, obviously I know who Joan Jett is, I know several of her solo songs, and I saw her on screen in Light of Day with Michael J. Fox, not to mention that appearance in Highlander, but the Runaways as a group I hadn't

Comments

[ide_cyan]

I'm kind of curious as to what you'd make of the rock documentary Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage, but I suspect it'd probably be even more frustrating to non-Rush fans than to Rush fans, as it can only skim the group's 40-year history and doesn't actually go very far beyond the group's history of touring and recording, with little about their personal lives after adolescence except for the tragedies that struck Neil Peart and their impact on the trio.

Most of what I know about The Runaways I know from reading about them around the time the movie came out; I know the film uses composite characters for some of the band members who wouldn't contribute to the project, and omits Cherie's rape by her sister's boyfriend to give her film version a more traditional character arc.

The scene in The Runaways where Joan pisses on the guitar of an unnammed rock group (portayed as middle-aged men) is actually based on an incident with Rush, who would still have been young men not much older than the Runaways in the 70s. Much as I love Rush, I can

[selenak]

Should I come across the Rush doucmentary, I'll tell you what I tink.

I know the film uses composite characters for some of the band members who wouldn't contribute to the project, and omits Cherie's rape by her sister's boyfriend to give her film version a more traditional character arc.

The boyfriend comes across as distinctly unpleasant and leering in the opening scenes, which doesn't get a follow-up later, so I wonder whether the script originally included the rape? Anyway, I'm not surprised to hear it happened.

Ugly: it's very teenager-like, complete with "and Joan doesn't like you, either". Fictionalizing the incident and choosing middle-aged rockers instead of rockers the same age simplifies the gender/generation conflict, of course, so go figure that the script woud do that.

[kathyh]

the media, predictably, only picked the criticism of Mick's gigantic ego and penis and skipped the praise

Hm..typical.

Anita Pallenberg and Keith Richards were both hopeless addicts just looking for the next fix

It's miraculous they both survived and are now grandparents!

George MacDonald Fraser's Flashman novels (figures) and Patrick O'Brien's seafaring novels because of the central friendship between Aubrey & Maturin who always remind our narrator "of Mick and myself".

That's actually rather touching. He's almost a character out of Flashman himself, but reading about a close friendship and reminding himself of its loss is a little sad.

[selenak]

Hm..typical.

What I thought when I came across the positive passages. He doesn't relentlessly slag Mick off, he makes clear why they were friends to begin with and why the Stones survived that long, and that whould have been mentioned in the reviews.

It's miraculous they both survived and are now grandparents!

No kidding. The last or so mention of Anita Pallenberg is rather charming because it seems she's good at gardening nowadays and he's not, so he asked her to trim his hedges and she helped him out.

That's actually rather touching. He's almost a character out of Flashman himself, but reading about a close friendship and reminding himself of its loss is a little sad.

It certainly made me go "aw" and is my favourite detail in the book.

[harmonyangel]

Interesting thoughts on the Runaways. I think your points are solid, though the first one is just a matter of the filmmakers doing what they could, because Lita Ford refused to participate in the film and drew limits on what they could do with her portrayal. I do think the sister relationship could have been more of the final moment, though.

[selenak]

Re: Lita Ford (not) participating: I wasn't aware that this would be a problem one way or the other, after having watched my way through various Beatle biopics, which were all made without participation of a single Beatle. (Well, Yoko Ono and Paul McCartney gave permission for the use of three songs in Nowhere Boy, but that was after the fact, i.e. the film was already done.) And God knows Tony Blair, the Queen, Gordon Brown and Bill Clinton did not participate in the various films scripted by Peter Morgan featuring all of them.

[harmonyangel]

I'm not sure what all the legal issues are surrounding it -- British laws may be different from American laws, and there may be a difference between politicians and little-known musicians. A google search gives a rather nebulous definition of "life story rights," but it's definitely a concept that exists in the popular imagination, if not in set-in-stone legal documents. But it could just be a matter of respect -- if someone says "I do not give you the right to use my life," it's probably better NOT to do so, to be a decent human being. And, also, to avoid potential litigation.

[selenak]

"A matter of respect" is a good explanation considering everyone involved in the production - it would make sense if they after a strict no would respect the wishes there.

In Germany as far as I know it's a question of whether or not the person is a "person of public life". Musicians would qualify with their public appearances. Otoh, if you're a dentist and someone wants to do a biopic, then you are privacy protected. This I happen to know because we had a famous cause celebre two years or so ago when a novelist took revenge on his ex girlfriend by portraying her in an unflattering manner in a novel. She sued, it went to our equivalent of the Supreme Court, and she won because she had never been a person of public life.