Northern Soul

Name: Northern Soul
Genre: Drama, Music
Released: October 2, 2015
Duration: 102 min
Rating: 64

2015

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 14 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 6 Ratings

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6.3

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6.3	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 6 Ratings

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Northern Soul

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Movie Details & Credits

Freestyle Releasing | Release Date: October 2, 2015 | R

Summary: In the 1970s, a form of dance music took a feverish hold on the UK, finding its heart in the north of England. The music of 1960s-70s American soul singers combined with distinctive dance styles to create what became known as northern soul. The movement tapped into a yearning for individual expression in northern working-class teenagers,In the 1970s, a form of dance music took a feverish hold on the UK, finding its heart in the north of England. The music of 1960s-70s American soul singers combined with distinctive dance styles to create what became known as northern soul. The movement tapped into a yearning for individual expression in northern working-class teenagers, and exploded into a cultural phenomenon that influenced a generation of DJs, songwriters and designers for decades to come. Northern Soul brings the scene to life with a tale of two Northern boys whose worlds are changed forever when they discover black American soul music.… Expand

Director: Elaine Constantine

Genre(s): Drama, Music

Rating: R

Runtime: 102 min

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Critic Reviews

Katie Walsh

Oct 1, 2015

The electrifying Northern Soul captures the 1970s British club scene of the same name with ethnographic detail and ebullient style. Read full review

Nathalie Atkinson

Oct 29, 2015

It thrills because Constantine, a noted British photographer, shows instead of tells. Read full review

The Playlist Christopher Schobert

Sep 30, 2015

Constantine captures the invigorating joy of these songs, and humorously shows that it is nearly impossible to listen and not feel the urge to dance. Read full review

Ali Catterall

Sep 30, 2015

Sporadically engrossing, its highlight is a brilliant recreation of an all-night dance-a-thon at that northern soul mecca, the legendary Wigan Casino. Read full review

The Guardian Mike McCahill

Sep 30, 2015

Every other scene showcases a northern treasure (Coogan, Thomson, Tomlinson, Stansfield) and looks, feels and – crucially – sounds true to its sweaty-hazy, slightly cramped corner of history. Read full review

Time Out London Tom Huddleston

Sep 30, 2015

Give Northern Soul its due: this feisty, frequently amusing chronicle of one young man’s journey through the dancehalls of Lancashire nails its time and place.... A pity, then, that the story is so tiresomely familiar. Read full review

Abbey Bender

Sep 30, 2015

This debut feature by Elaine Constantine has no shortage of style, but ultimately relies a lot on cliché. Read full review

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User Reviews

DawdlingPoet

Nov 23, 2021

This is an energetic youthful adolescence based drama film, with some comedy present. It covers themes including self expression, independence, rebellion and identity. It is quite gritty and doesn't just show things from an entirely positive light, which I see as being a good thing.

ThisThis is an energetic youthful adolescence based drama film, with some comedy present. It covers themes including self expression, independence, rebellion and identity. It is quite gritty and doesn't just show things from an entirely positive light, which I see as being a good thing.

This film features some jerky camerawork, with some scenes seeming to show almost constantly moving/changing camera angles - its not very smooth camerawise, put it that way. Rather than switching between many different cameras pointed at different angles, the film often relies on one camera constantly moving about to show the characters movements and so on. Of course its relatively frenetic during scenes of the clubs, so in a sense its to be expected but I feel it gave the film more of an 'indie'/budget feel to it which was possibly done on purpose to give it more of a chance of potentially becoming a cult favourite of the future, at a guess(?). I thought it seemed relatively realistic and it certainly doesn't come across as a patronising film, one made by adults trying to guess at what the teens at the time its based on (the 1970s) were like and so on. Its a British film, so it goes without saying that its not Hollywood-ised either.

I think if I had to describe this film in one word, it'd have to be energetic (certainly either energetic or vibrant) the characters are all quite assertive and extroverted, loud and unafraid to speak their mind, no matter the consequences it should be added. I felt the characters were well portrayed - while their rude and some are quite aggressive, it was relatively easy to see that they were a product of the economical times they were in, with signs of potentially poverty being clear to see. For the record (no pun intended!) the cast includes Elliot James Langridge as John Clark, Jack Gordon as Sean, Antonia Thomas as Angela and Steve Coogan as Mr. Banks (Johns teacher), John Thomson as Terry and Ricky Tomlinson as John's Grandad. Lisa Stansfield (the 1980s/1990s singer) also appears, portraying John's mum. I wouldn't say anyone especially stood out as giving an outstanding performance but neither did anyones seem wooden or otherwise clearly fake or forced, so I can't really criticise the cast. Content wise, the film includes strong language used almost constantly, plus sex and drug references throughout (including short scenes depicting people taking drugs by needle, although I wouldn't say that this film clearly glamorises drug taking as such). There is only a mild element or presence of violence in the film, mostly short lived fisticuff style scuffles between different characters. You could say its a rather urban film, I suppose. The film carries a 15 rating to reflect this content.

Of course the soundtrack plays a big part in a music based film of this type. There are a lot of northern soul tunes played during the film, which include 'I'm Comin' Home in the Morning' by Lou Pride, Back Street performaned by Edwin Starr, Time performed bt Edwin Starr, Soul Time performed by Shirley Ellis and The Night performed by Frankie Valli, among others.

I felt this film had been well written and features a decent cast. I enjoyed both watching and listening to it, film and music wise and would say this is generally a pretty decent film.

Yes I'd recommend this film as I felt it was quite vibrant and it didn't shy away from showing the negative sides of things. The cast give decent enough performances and the plot was pretty well paced overall - the camerawork is a bit shaky/jerky which might put some people off but I was quite glued to the screen pretty much throughout and at about an hour and 45 minutes long, its quite a good way to spend your time if your interested in the subject matter of course.… Expand

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