Pocket Review: The Beat is the Law (Cinema Versa)

Directed by: Eve Wood

4 stars

The Beat is the Law follows the extraordinary history of music within the confines of one city: Sheffield. Although the documentary structures itself on the story of ‘Pulp’, this set up allows director Eve Wood to present to audiences the stories of bands such as Longpip, ClockDVA, Chakk and the people at the forefront of Sheffield’s music scene in 80’s-90’s such as WARP’s Rob Gordon. As Eve Wood was eager to confirm in the Q&A afterwards, she acts only as a platform for the bands to tell their stories. She does however keep the audience enthralled for the most-part with high speed reels and thumping 80’s music, whilst weaving the still exciting albeit somewhat dejected history of the miners strikes around the bands’ stories. The film sees Pulp’s on-going attempts to break into the industry finally achieved in their legendary Glastonbury headline set in ’95, yet the film isn’t afraid to expose the difficulties and unhappy endings inside the music industry. It’s not a documentary you would expect to give it’s audience a conclusive message, but it’s probably one of the best ways to learn about our country’s ballsy musical history.

Click here for our interview with Pulp’s Candida Doyle