All mysteries are just more needles in the camel's eye

Rating: 10/10 (4 August 2014)

This film is definitely one of my favorites among the ones who pay some kind of homage to rock'n'roll history. That opening scene with Jack Fairy's childhood and then the credits rolling to the sound of Needle In the Camel's Eye is one of the best and most exciting things I've ever seen. I guess I could say I love everything about it, how can you not love a cast like that? They're all wonderful and so believable in their performances, especially Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Ewan McGregor, who had very physical roles, but pulled it off just fine – I thought McGregor was especially brilliant in this, performing the songs live and jumping and throwing himself around, a certain Mr. Osterberg would be proud.
The story is an obvious portrait of David Bowie's relationship to Iggy Pop and Lou Reed in the 70's (adding a little mixture of Kurt Cobain, why not?), a decade I imagine was unique to rock'n'roll, filled with exciting new music, rebellion and social changes, but it's also a story about discoveries and growing up, represented by Christian Bale's character ("That's me, dad, that's me!"). It's not an unknown feeling to us all, coming across a circumstance where we have to revisit years past, and the memories of what we once were may sound strange. Along with the glitter and the glam rock comes the melancholia of being a part of a movement that is already in decadence, because all great things must burn fast and come to an end. Besides, what other movie presents us with a more delightful sight than that of Ewan McGregor and Christian Bale loving each other beneath a glitter rain brought on by a UFO? Words are unnecessary after that.