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Absolute Beginners

Brian Case, Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 22 March 1986

AT LONG last, it's almost here. Poor old JULIEN TEMPLE has been working on his movie of Colin MacInnes' novel Absolute Beginners apparently since the dawn of time (four years, in fact). Already, it's been debated, dissected, built up and slagged off. Temple believes it's the first genuinely British musical, a work deriving from the American films he's always loved. Insider gossip claims the movie is a disaster. Now, following the catastrophic reception accorded to Hugh Hudson's Revolution, Absolute Beginners finds itself single-handedly expected to save Goldcrest and the British film industry. In this Maker spectacular, Adam Sweeting reviews the film, Brian Case examines the tensions and crises which went on behind the scenes and looks back on the career of AB author Colin MacInnes, and we consider some of the individual contributions which went into its making.

Total word count of piece: 5306

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