Cooped up at home with a cold this week I found myself experiencing a strange desire to watch the film Absolute Beginners. Whilst not the greatest musical movie in the world and being a little dated (it was made in 1986) I found myself thoroughly enjoying it. What amazed me as well was how many critically acclaimed pop videos have obviously drawn their inspiration from it.
For a start "Let Forever Be" by the Chemical Brothers (which incidently is an excellent video) - there is a scene in the video where there is shot of a girl on an escalator which turns into several girls on escaltors behind one another and there is a similar scene in the film. There is also a song by Ray Davies in the film where the camera pans over the front of a house that has its front wall taken away and shows you the rooms from the outside. This has also been used in pop videos ranging from Massive Attck's Protection (also by director Michel Gondry who made the Chemical Brothers Video) and Mel C and Bryan Adam's "When You're Gone".
I hadn't realised before how far reaching the influence of this movie has been. It also features some great songs and is well worth a second look.
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