CROCK OF GOLD: A FEW ROUNDS WITH SHANE MACGOWAN
****
Director: Julien Temple
Screenwriter: Julien Temple
Principal cast:
Shane MacGowan
Johnny Depp
Siobhan MacGowan
Maurice MacGowan
Victoria Mary Clarke
Gerry Adams
Country: UK
Classification:MA15+
Runtime: 124 mins.
Australian release date: 17 December 2020.
Julien Temple has made some pretty impressive documentaries on the likes of The Sex Pistols, Joe Strummer of The Clash, Wilko Johnson from Dr. Feelgood, Keith Richards, The Strypes and Suggs from Madness, plus a plethora of music videos with Bowie, Jagger, Tom Petty, Neil Young, Whitney Houston - you name them, the list goes on and on - so he is no stranger to diversity. Indeed, right now he’s in post-production on a film about Marvin Gaye. In the case of Crock Of Gold: A Few Rounds With Shane MacGowan, his most recent completed doco, he has focused on the lead singer of The Pogues, the punk band known for using traditional Irish instruments like the tin whistle, the mandolin and the accordion. Here, MacGowan reminisces, albeit reluctantly, about his experience heading up one of the most famous bands of the ‘80s and ‘90s. Time and booze have taken their toll though and MacGowan has succumbed to the physical frailties that come with long-term alcohol abuse. However, as he slurs his way through this fascinating documentary (always with a glass of wine in hand), it is apparent that he still has a sharp, acerbic mind so what he reveals is a truly absorbing portrayal of his, and the band’s, history.
MacGowan was raised in Tipperary with his extended Catholic family, who were strong supporters of the IRA and had no love for the Brits. He wanted to be a priest until he was 11-years-old but he also took up drinking when a lad. His parents “believed in letting the child do what he wanted, as long as he went to Mass.” While still a boy, his family moved to England when his father relocated for work and MacGowan always resented the loss of living in Ireland and clung to his Irishness. In Crock Of Gold he states that his happy childhood in County Tipperary was the last of the ‘old’ Ireland and his memories of that time imbued his sense of Irish nationalism, which was later to come out in his song writing. Temple’s film includes many dreamy, black-and-white animated recreations of this early part of the singer’s life. The good thing about living in England was that he was introduced to the nascent punk music scene and he formed his first band in 1976. The Pogues were founded in 1982 and succeeded in combining Irish folk songs with a punk attitude, successfully evoking the anarchic atmosphere that existed in Thatcher’s Britain at the time. The band toured and recorded, on and off, until 2014 but there were many personnel changes and bust-ups during its existence and MacGowan didn’t perform with it for 10 years, until he re-joined it in 2001. The last time The Pogues played a concert was in 2014 and, right to the end, the lead singer maintained that, “We play better when we’re sober but it’s not as much fun!” Now that’s punk!
The archival footage is plentiful and it’s terrific. Crock Of Gold: A Few Rounds With Shane MacGowan gives us a bit of a history lesson and clearly shows how tough life was for the Irish for much of the 20th century. It also reveals many of the artistic influences on MacGowan, especially the poet and author Brendan Behan. There are scintillating conversations with ex-Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams, Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream, and Johnny Depp (with whom he’s been friends for over 30 years), plus endearing comments from his partner and sister. You don’t have to be a fan to thoroughly enjoy this affable portrait of a man who never wavered from his ideals and, even though he made a lot of money, never let go of his beliefs that Ireland belonged to the Irish.
Screenwriter: Julien Temple
Principal cast:
Shane MacGowan
Johnny Depp
Siobhan MacGowan
Maurice MacGowan
Victoria Mary Clarke
Gerry Adams
Country: UK
Classification:MA15+
Runtime: 124 mins.
Australian release date: 17 December 2020.
Julien Temple has made some pretty impressive documentaries on the likes of The Sex Pistols, Joe Strummer of The Clash, Wilko Johnson from Dr. Feelgood, Keith Richards, The Strypes and Suggs from Madness, plus a plethora of music videos with Bowie, Jagger, Tom Petty, Neil Young, Whitney Houston - you name them, the list goes on and on - so he is no stranger to diversity. Indeed, right now he’s in post-production on a film about Marvin Gaye. In the case of Crock Of Gold: A Few Rounds With Shane MacGowan, his most recent completed doco, he has focused on the lead singer of The Pogues, the punk band known for using traditional Irish instruments like the tin whistle, the mandolin and the accordion. Here, MacGowan reminisces, albeit reluctantly, about his experience heading up one of the most famous bands of the ‘80s and ‘90s. Time and booze have taken their toll though and MacGowan has succumbed to the physical frailties that come with long-term alcohol abuse. However, as he slurs his way through this fascinating documentary (always with a glass of wine in hand), it is apparent that he still has a sharp, acerbic mind so what he reveals is a truly absorbing portrayal of his, and the band’s, history.
MacGowan was raised in Tipperary with his extended Catholic family, who were strong supporters of the IRA and had no love for the Brits. He wanted to be a priest until he was 11-years-old but he also took up drinking when a lad. His parents “believed in letting the child do what he wanted, as long as he went to Mass.” While still a boy, his family moved to England when his father relocated for work and MacGowan always resented the loss of living in Ireland and clung to his Irishness. In Crock Of Gold he states that his happy childhood in County Tipperary was the last of the ‘old’ Ireland and his memories of that time imbued his sense of Irish nationalism, which was later to come out in his song writing. Temple’s film includes many dreamy, black-and-white animated recreations of this early part of the singer’s life. The good thing about living in England was that he was introduced to the nascent punk music scene and he formed his first band in 1976. The Pogues were founded in 1982 and succeeded in combining Irish folk songs with a punk attitude, successfully evoking the anarchic atmosphere that existed in Thatcher’s Britain at the time. The band toured and recorded, on and off, until 2014 but there were many personnel changes and bust-ups during its existence and MacGowan didn’t perform with it for 10 years, until he re-joined it in 2001. The last time The Pogues played a concert was in 2014 and, right to the end, the lead singer maintained that, “We play better when we’re sober but it’s not as much fun!” Now that’s punk!
The archival footage is plentiful and it’s terrific. Crock Of Gold: A Few Rounds With Shane MacGowan gives us a bit of a history lesson and clearly shows how tough life was for the Irish for much of the 20th century. It also reveals many of the artistic influences on MacGowan, especially the poet and author Brendan Behan. There are scintillating conversations with ex-Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams, Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream, and Johnny Depp (with whom he’s been friends for over 30 years), plus endearing comments from his partner and sister. You don’t have to be a fan to thoroughly enjoy this affable portrait of a man who never wavered from his ideals and, even though he made a lot of money, never let go of his beliefs that Ireland belonged to the Irish.