FILM - NORTHERN SOUL

I've got something a bit different for you on the blog today. Nothing to do with food, but a recommendation for a film you should all go and see.

We received an invite to a preview showing of Northern Soul, which is out in cinemas this Friday 17th October, as a friend of ours is one of the film's stars. We were invited along to a private cinema to watch him in action, and I enjoyed the film so much that I need to tell you all about it, in the hope that you'll go and see it too.

Northern Soul is a film about the music scene in the 70s in the North of England, directed by Elaine Constantine. It follows a teenager from a struggling working class family, John, who finds an escape in the much sought after soul music that came over from the States at that time. John meets Matt, played by our friend Josh Whitehouse, and together they immerse themselves in the secret music scene that was popping up across the North of England, and plot a trip to America to get their hands on these rare soul records they hear in youth clubs and discos they frequent. I won't go into the story as you have to see it for yourselves but the film is a real treasure and was 10 years in the making.

Elaine Constantine is the film's director and she herself was directly influenced by the Northern Soul scene when she was growing up. She wrote, directed and funded the film herself, by re-mortgaging her house and gathering all her savings to raise the funds needed to make the film. She gave us a passionate talk before the film preview started and you could tell how much it meant to her; that it was a vision of what she had seen growing up. Music in the 70s wasn't like it is now. You couldn't download something you'd heard or play a 10 second clip into a machine for it to tell you the name of the song - in fact most of the characters in the film probably couldn't even play or listen to music on speakers at home. This provides a fascinating storyline but also created a problem for Elaine when choosing her cast. She needed the authenticity of the characters, she needed them to live and breathe this music as they did in the 70s. And at first they didn't get it. So Elaine set up a weekly club night in Islington, soon followed by a similar club night in Bolton, where week by week, over a 3 year period, she built up a following of people who came for the music and learnt how to dance to these amazing soul tunes. Finally she had her cast, and once she had raised the funds to make it, the film came to life.

We were treated to a performance by some of the dancers from the film before we watched it, who were all fantastic and gave their absolute everything, despite having to do those tricky dance moves on a harsh carpet. The soul dancing powder used in the 70s to ease the feet on the floor, and given to each of us at the preview, was useless on the carpeted floor!

 

Originally the film was only going to be shown in a handful of cinemas but there's been such a demand for it that it will now be showing at over 100 screens across the UK. Go and see it - I was wiggling away, chair dancing in my seat all the way through and came out grinning from ear to ear, having been transported straight to the 70s for an hour and a half, but surrounded by our mates. And we couldn't be prouder of Josh's magnificent performance in his first ever acting role.

You can find all the details of when and where the film is showing HERE - but book quickly, as I know it's going to be hugely popular, so make sure you don't miss out.