A good way to sum up this fine documentary about the enduring and elusive band Sparks is to say that it is both very Edgar Wright and very Sparks: serious yet playful, affectionate yet analytical, conventional yet anarchic. It deploys a raft of respected talking heads in black-and-white, Pythonesque cut-out animation and an incredible wealth of excellent archive footage that follow the band's progress over the last five decades. The context of the brothers' own lives and the evolution of American culture from the 1950s onwards is artfully deployed through sound and visuals and makes the journey truly sing, and the chronological album review format may be simple but it works well here in tracing the evolution of their sound/style as well as the band itself. Whilst comprehensive and celebratory - and rightly so - this excellent documentary does not detract from the enigma that is Sparks, but it is a delight to delve into the background and history of the band and to spend time with the two quite charming and interesting Mael brothers.
1 comment:
I saw this one at a Q&A back in 2021. One of the best experiences of my life.
It's so great that Sparks is, perhaps, going to gain a larger audience.
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