Heavy Load

“George Michael is gay at the weekends… and in the week too.” That’s just one of the lyrical gems of Heavy Load, stars of this rockumentary with a twist. As a welcome relief from that tired formula of egos, girls and guitars, we get learning difficulties thrown into the mix. The compelling cast of characters ranges from frustrated drummer (aren’t they all?) Michael, who yearns to go solo and jumps through endless hoops in his care home, hoping to gain independence and “become socialised” (as he puts it with admirable objectivity), to guitarist Mick, whose priority is his young family.

The band’s trajectory is inspiring: from solely playing nights for audiences with learning disabilities to securing billing alongside the likes of Badly Drawn Boy at the Wychwood Festival; from spear-heading their ‘Stay Up Late Campaign’, which supports those whose nights out are cut short by care-workers’ clocking off times, to receiving Kylie’s blessing to record their liberal interpretation of ‘Can’t Get You Out of My Head’. It’s better than Shine A Light any day.

Sadly, filmmaker Jerry Rothwell’s own frame-hogging tendencies more than match the egocentricity quota of your standard rockumentary. He directs like an overly loquacious taxi driver, regaling you with unwanted personal details and offering gratuitous commentary on the traffic, by bookending the film with solipsistic, superfluous meditations on his private circumstances and overlaying it with such banal cod-philosophising as, “They say the camera steals part of your soul… You can’t film something without changing it.” That’s some deep shit right there.

Still, the story tells itself, and the story is that Heavy Load are really no different to any other rock band. All they want, as bassist Paul summarises, is to “stay up late, get pissed, get shagged.”

Sophie Ivan

Anticipation:

A punk rock outfit with learning disabilities: certainly intriguing.

Enjoyment:

For filmmaker Rothwell: one. For his subjects: 4. Overall, call it a

In Retrospect:

Gives the badly dressed corpse of the rockumentary a welcome lease of life and sense of purpose.