Review: Good Vibrations (2012)

Cast: Jodie Whittaker, Liam Cunningham, David Wilmot
Director: Lisa Barros D’Sa, Glenn Leyburn
Country: UK | Ireland
Genre: Biography | Drama | Music
Official Site: Here

Editor’s Notes: Good Vibrations is now playing at TIFF Bell Lightbox. 

It all started with a 78 RPM MGM record of Hank Williams and lazy dancing through peonies in that magical time between spring and summer when anything was possible. Hank’s notes fill the screen in stylistic flourishes that bring us closer to the mind of Terri Hooley and his inner fixations that drove his crazed charismatic smile. Innocence is lost with an accidental arrow to the eye and that eternal mystical springtime gives way to decades of grief as “the Troubles” take over Ireland and the world seems to become a little more cynical. Flash-forward through a series of images taken from a cultural zeitgeist of sectarian violence and ideological turmoil and we are quickly catapulted into Terri’s young adulthood where he bears the dubious honor of being the “best DJ in Belfast”. He plays reggae for empty dive bars as Ireland’s last romantic soul, waiting for similar spirits to join his unintentional revolution of peace, pot, and eventually punk music.

Hank’s notes fill the screen in stylistic flourishes that bring us closer to the mind of Terri Hooley and his inner fixations that drove his crazed charismatic smile. 

“A proper record collection should have a song for every moment”, pontificates Terri as he meets with friends from both sides of the violent conflict, knowing that his inability to choose a side among the countless isms that have taken over his hometown and drawn demarcation lines between neighbors, friends, and brothers could result in his death. Religious tensions have reduced the collection of isms forged in the 60s into two groups and both groups are equally prepared for violence as Terri attempts to bridge the worlds with the power of free LPs. He has the preposterous dream of opening a record shop in an area that has become rife with hostilities, and with a little help from his lifelong “pharmaceutical and philosophical” friends and immutable optimistic charm he does the unimaginable in the middle of a domestic war-zone. With nothing more than 40 quid from his wife’s earnings as a truant officer and the ill-advised collateral of their house, Terri realizes his dream and shares his “good vibrations” with Belfast and eventually the rest of the world.

Good Vibrations intermingles historical footage from the era with its own aesthetic charms and fashions muted Technicolor-esque dreams that shows Belfast brimming with violence and contrarian slogans are spray-painted on every available surface. Its underplayed aesthetic and stylistic flourishes paint a portrait of Belfast that is both dangerous and brimming with nostalgic charm. The dangers are particularly palpable as Terri explores the tumult of Belfast nightlife to find new forms of angry youthful expression, and punk emerges from the murky depths as a shining beacon of hopeful discord in an area that truly needed an awakening before it self-destructed. Punk music is a logical form of expression for a non-partisan youthful rebellion, and its primal anger is toothless when compared to the violence of the establishment and anti-establishment at constant odds in the streets of Belfast. In one rapturous moment the young punk musicians face off against the establishment directly and force the police to leave the venue, broadening Terri’s smile as he becomes an instant convert into the metal-studded hair and bad attitudes of punk.

Minor victories seemed like avalanches of ideological triumph, and when the first “Good Vibrations” band hit the BBC airways a spontaneous street dance materialized and for one shining moment everything seemed possible.

Using the “revolutionary power of the 7” single”, Terri presses copies of this fresh, unheard music to share with the world. With cheap pressings and homemade covers, Terri circumvents the recording industry and its odd golden calves that did little to reflect the realities of life in Ireland at the time. It would take time to bring his odd misfits to the countryside and each gig would account for one or two converts, but with his wild-eyed charm and dreamer’s soul Terri would bring music that captured teenage angst with simple chord progressions and copious attitude to his little corner of the world. Minor victories seemed like avalanches of ideological triumph, and when the first “Good Vibrations” band hit the BBC airways a spontaneous street dance materialized and for one shining moment everything seemed possible.

Good Vibrations takes us through decades of Terri Hooley’s seemingly inconsequential existence and shows the power one dreamer’s soul against the impossible realities of living in a nation at odds with itself. It’s a freewheeling biopic that brings the characters from an understudied era in world history to life as Terri is shown as an unlikely catalyst for social change. Terri would be faced by the impossibilities of juggling dreams, financial realities, and raising a family, but for one shining moment his dreams become reality as he is able to fill a music hall in the only way permissible by the nihilistic ethos of punk. Though the film ends on a bit of a maudlin note one cannot help but smile at the carefree stubborn audaciousness of one man that knew that “New York had the bands, London had the fashion, Belfast had the reason”.

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Matthew Blevins

Director of Home Entertainment & Sr. Staff Film Critic

Behind me you see the empty bookshelves that my obsession with film has caused. Film teaches me most of the important concepts of life, such as cynicism, beauty, ugliness, subversion of societal norms, and what it is to be a tortured member of humanity. My passion for the medium is an important part of who I am as I stumble through existence in a desperate and frantic search for objective truths.

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