Reviewed by Robert Hull
Stars Marina Baltadzi, Mirek Coutigny, Laurens Platteeuw, Matthieu Renier, Eva Storme, Mariam Romelashvili, Giorgos Loannides, Bab Buelens, Elvira Baharova
Produced by Elizabeth Karlsen & Stephen Woolley
Certification UK 12A | US TBC
Runtime 89 minutes
Directed by Jamie J Johnson
In an age when even a Swiss-bank-account’s worth of special fx can’t make a blockbuster look anything out of the ordinary, thank heavens for the talent and dedication of documentary film-makers.
This year has already seen us rock out to the almost flawless Anvil! The Story of Anvil, and now director Jamie J Johnson has composed this, a love-letter to the junior version of the Eurovision song contest. If you see a more consistently funny film during 2009 you’ll most certainly be under the influence of mind-altering stimulants.
Johnson’s camera focuses on teens from Belgium, Bulgaria, Georgia and Greece whose determination, focus, good fortune and, only very occasionally, singing ability, sees them heading to Rotterdam in The Netherlands for the fifth junior Eurovision (held in 2007).
Take time to marvel at the dance moves of Cypriot whirling dervish Giorgos, a lad with energy to burn but the wisdom of a boy philosopher. Or Laurens, perhaps the world’s tallest teenage drummer in a Belgium indie-pop act, and quite possibly the most easily contented person you’re likely to meet.
But what makes Johnson’s film so engaging is that he doesn’t just train his camera on a bunch of perceived unfortunates and ask us to laugh at them. Instead, he supplies us with genuine stories of enthusiasm, courage, hardship and sadness, as well as dollops of self-effacing humour, delivered with the honesty it seems only children possess.
So it’s not just the comedy value that makes Sounds Like Teen Spirit such essential viewing. It’s the melancholy moments, such as when Marina, part of Bulgaria’s seven-piece pop wannabes Bon Bon, talks of her parents’ separation, or when her mother finds a coin on the pavement and says ‘that’s lucky’, to which Marina looks to camera and says, ‘Mum’s never been lucky’.
Kitted out with its stonking Euro-friendly soundtrack and pure joie de vie, Sounds Like Teen Spirit will top up your tank with eco-friendly happy vibes – just make sure you also develop a plan for hiding your sobs from your mates as the sad bits kick in. Not Euro-trash rather a Euro-triumph.