I Know You've Got Soul. 'Northern Soul'.

I don't  really like 'northern soul' music, it's too much like chewing the same piece of gum all night for my tastes; I prefer my soul funkier, but that didn't stop me from enjoying the film 'Northern Soul'. It does the job of capturing a very specific slice of British sub-culture and should resonate across generations and tribal cultures.

As you would expect, the film is strong on location and painstaking detail. It doesn't feel like the cast have just put on period clothes. It feels like they're living it. This isn't a rose-tinted look at the seventies with a few funny jackets and wigs, this is the real deal. It's a grimy, smeared glass, beer stained look at the period. The camera lens even seems to capture the light and dust of the past.  This film doesn't go for the easy route of filming in black and white (as in 'Control' the Joy Division biopic) but really strives to get the colours, the textures and lighting right for authenticity and emotional impact.

Two friends get into the scene and live for the weekend. Loyalties are tested, lives are changed, dreams are broken. It's not much of a story and nothing we've not seen before but the music, the dancing and liveliness of the film make it exhilarating to watch.

Director Elaine Constantine believably captures the euphoria of the dance floor but doesn't shy away from the ubiquitous drug use, the elitism, and the male dominance of the scene. She captures the essence of what it is like to be these young men full of energy, full of anger, channeling their focus onto something that makes them feel alive but absolutely nails the claustrophobia and frustration of their lives away from the dance floor too. It's"feel good" but not light, it's political but not overt, life affirming but not sentimental.

The two male leads are strong enough to carry the film (despite having little more than 'Hollyoaks' and 'Casualty' on their cvs) and there's fine support from the rest of the cast. I particularly thought John Thomson and James Lance got their respective DJ roles spot on. Ricky Tomlinson, Steve Coogan and Lisa Stansfield are in it too, but largely irrelevant (especially Tomlinson) and these are little more than extended cameos used to prop up a cast of largely unknown talent. If anything, the film could have been braver in dispensing with the more obvious narrative trappings altogether. But then it probably wouldn't have got made.

I'm glad that northern soul has finally got the movie it deserves. It's good but not great. It's no 'Quadrophenia'. It's no 'Saturday Night Fever'. But it's not a bad attempt. As a drama it does lack something but I'm still glad it's out there and keeping the faith.

Now, if somebody wants to give me some millions to make the definitive c86 / goth / dreampop / shoegaze movie then I am available for talks. Thanks.