As a brit-pop fan since High School, I was very excited to hear that a documentary about Pulp was premiering at SXSW. I was not prepared for what a great concert film I just saw. I was expecting a film that documented the band members as children and talked about how they formed and all of their milestones but that is not what this film is at all. In a sense the filmmaker assumes you know that stuff and even if you don't it's not really important to the story. The film's focus is on the band's "final" gig, a big hometown show in the industrial city of Sheffield, England. Rather than get caught up in all of the minutia of interviewing schoolyard chums, former roadies and all of that business the filmmaker interviews the people that give the city its character. We meet Pulp fans of varying degrees and we get to know the city that informed the band's sound. The film also shows how the band's music has become so much larger than the band itself. Jarvis Cocker's lyrics have inspired books, classes and any number of enthusiastic choral arrangements.
Without a doubt, Pulp was one of the best contemporary concert films I have ever seen. If you enjoyed the LCD Soundsystem documentary, then you have to see Pulp.
I hate to tell y'all this but the Pulp documentary is only showing ONCE MORE at SXSW but don't fret because you can bet your ass this fine film will return to Austin at some point this year. In the meantime, you can still catch it at 7pm Wednesday night at the Stateside.
