“I recall how we lived on the corner of a bed”
The music of David Bowie has been utilised to great effect in recent motion pictures such as Foxcatcher (Fame) and Guardians of the Galaxy (Moonage Daydream), not to mention TV shows such as American Horror Story: Freak Show which had Jessica Lange performing Life On Mars? for the premiere and "Heroes" for the finale.
We also had the trailer for the upcoming Game Of Thrones season 5, which featured TV On The Radio’s version of "Heroes", along with various adverts (2015 Cadillac Escalade Evolution of Indulgence (Fame)) and a couple of console games.
But one of the more unexpected nods to Bowie came in the shape of Yann Demange’s superb film, '71. The movie has been around for a while (we caught it in October), but it’s released commercially (in the UK at least) on Monday (March 9).
For those of you that have yet to see it, here’s a brief synopsis.
'71 takes place over a single night in the life of a young British soldier (Jack O'Connell) accidentally abandoned by his unit following a riot on the streets of Belfast in 1971. Unable to tell friend from foe, and increasingly wary of his own comrades, he must survive the night alone and find his way to safety through a disorientating, alien and deadly landscape.
Hard to imagine where Bowie might pop up in that context, but keep reading to find out exactly how, if you don’t mind having the surprise spoiled in advance.
Without giving too much away, the character played by O'Connell goes into hiding after being injured.
The action cuts from a particularly tense street scene to the scene in question. O'Connell is lying in bed when the camera settles on the cover of Melody Maker pictured here.
The battered soldier is being attended to by a young woman and the dialogue commences thus...
Woman: Do you like David Bowie?
Soldier: Eh?
Woman: Do you not like him?
Soldier: He's alright, for girls really inni?
We’re wondering if it was just gratuitous usage by Yann Demange, simply because he wanted Bowie in the film somewhere! Who knows? Either way, it’s a quite bizarre but welcome diversion.
Pedants might point out that Bowie never had a full Melody Maker front cover until the following year and that Ray Stevenson’s shots of Bowie in bed at Foxgrove Road in Beckenham, in July 1969 couldn’t really be described as backstage either.
But worse than this was the outrageous suggestion that Bowie is for girls. We think there are a few gentlemen reading this that may just disagree with that claim.
'71 is released on the usual formats vis Studiocanal on Monday.
Thanks to Ray Stevenson for the Bowie shots and MP-A for the grab of the Melody Maker cover.