Nearly no one in the 80s expected Shane MacGowan to survive the decade. The Pogues singer was one of the best songwriters in his generation and has been rightfully described as the savior of Irish music, but he was also a hardcore alcoholic that was never seen sober and who constructed his stage persona in ways that led to his physical and sometimes mental destruction. But MacGowan did survive, even though he is now in a wheelchair - officially due to a fall, though it seems more like a stroke. Julian Temple, one of the most prominent pop film directors safter the Sex Pistols film THE GREAT ROCK‘N‘ROLL SWINDLE and the musical ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS, has now paid MacGowan a cinematic punk tribute, illustrating Shane macGowan‘s stories with punk animation and scenes from countless feature films, documentaries, and video clips. MacGowan also sits in front of the camera, talking to former Sinn Féin head Gerry Adams, Johnny Depp, his wife Victoria Mary Clarke, who also wrote the biography, “A Drink with Shane MacGowan“, which serve as the film‘s template. But he mostly tells his story off screen and talks about Irish history and politics – and about drinking. He overcame his heroin addiction, but MacGowan is an avid drinker. In 2015 Clarke announced that MacGowan was sober for the first time in years, but in the film it doesn‘t seem like Shane wants to stay sober. However, he‘s still alive, he can still collect his thoughts, he still remembers things.

Tom Dorow (INDIEKINO MAGAZIN)

Translation: Elinor Lewy