As Brian's story unfolds, so too does Arthur's, as a star-struck fan on the fringes of the glam scene, his memories of the era inescapably intertwined with Brian and Curt. The time frame of the film sets the present in the 1980's when Arthur begins to delve back into the past. The '80's is a future projected from the '70's, an Orwellian vision rather than an era we have experienced. The 1984 we experience is a fantastic idea of what 1984 would be like as imagined by people in the early '70's, and to look back and see an era that we lived through in a very different light makes you question your own take on that period of your life. The film embraces numerous genres.
Music drives the film and is often the way the narrative gets progressed.
It's also about music and music history. I remember the thrill of going to the cinema when I was a kid. You had no idea what you were going to see. I hope this film has something of that feeling, of going on an unknown trip somewhere.