Biopics focusing on the lives of Australia’s music artists come few and far between. There tends to be a focus on criminals, which started with the string of Ned Kelly films (our first ever feature was The Story of the Kelly Gang), continuing over the last few years with the success of the Underbelly series and recently with the Nine Network’s Schapelle.
Other national cinemas have caught on to the effective, entertaining nature of the musical biopic genre, particularly in France (La Vie En Rose, Gainsbourg), Britain (Nowhere Boy, Control) and USA (Walk the Line, Ray). However, Australian cinema has only seen a handful including Shine, Mao’s Last Dancer and The Sapphires.
INXS: Never Tear Us Apart is a two-part television mini-series, looking at the rise and fall of one of the biggest Aussie bands, INXS and its frontman, Michael Hutchence. Playing over two weeks on the Seven Network, part one shows how this group of young men rose to fame. At first it seems incredibly fast-paced, as each scene instantly cuts to the next, lasting no more than 30 seconds a piece. Perhaps this reflects how quickly it all happened for the boys, from the Perth pub scene to stadiums across America.
Because of the pace, it was difficult to really engage with each character and understand how they fit into the INXS puzzle. Instead, the creators went for a music video-style delivery, with the usual sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll scenarios. The story is told in flashback, with different band members talking through their side of the story with an interviewer, and there are additional flashbacks which go all the way back to their upbringing, including parents with broken marriages and the setting up of music equipment in the family garage.
The star of the show, Michael Hutchence, is played by Luke Arnold, who did a splendid job. Not a new face to Australian television, Arnold has played roles in Rush, Winners & Losers and appeared in feature-film The Tunnel. Apart from the horrid wig he wears during their very early years (which all of the boys wear, unfortunately), he is seductive, sexy and mysterious. He is the ladies’ man that the late Hutchence was. One of the most intriguing scenes in the first part of the series is his (seemingly short) relationship with our beloved Kylie Minogue (Samantha Jade).
Apart from the private lives, relationships, sex, drugs and weddings that happen in part one, a really significant aspect is that Hutchence wrote the lyrics and Andrew Farriss (Andy Ryan) composed the tracks. Of course, it may not have been the way it happened, but the music-making sequences showcase their talent as a team, passing a cassette and bits of paper to each other (in between a sea of pills and breasts), which end up being songs like the ever-popular, ‘Need You Tonight’.
Part two of the series shows Hutchence’s drug addiction worsen as he loses his sense of smell (and subsequently his sense of taste) after a head injury. To add to the fall of the rock star, who self medicates with an assorted range of pills and powders, he’s drawn under the spell of who becomes the mother of his child, Paula Yates. Their love seems as terrible an idea as Sid and Nancy (and the tagline for that 1986 biopic, Sid & Nancy, was ‘love kills’).
This second and concluding part of the story is a lot more engaging as audiences know what is coming. The end, when the band and the world find out that Hutchence had died in his hotel room on the brink of an Australian tour, is probably the most bittersweet moment. In a white room, with a gorgeous white grand piano, Farriss and Hutchence perform ‘Never Tear Us Apart’. It’s almost as if we’re taking a peek into what heaven might look and sound like. This reaffirms the function of Never Tear Us Apart – remembering the music and revealing their tragic story.
It appears that Never Tear Us Apart has copped a lot of flak for being inaccurate, used only to sell music and the like. What audiences need to understand is that this film draws attention to Australian music industry and the amazing talent that we have here. Something that we haven’t been doing enough of in the film and television industry, at least. It shows us that life at the top isn’t all glamour, that it can be very tough and lonely.
INXS: Never Tear Us Apart is a look (and only one look) at the life and career of the band, with a particular focus on Michael Hutchence. It is not a definitive and flawlessly accurate account, but that is an impossibility for a fictional film. The performances are great, the film is entertaining and it’s guaranteed to entice audiences to search through the back catalogue of INXS.
Review Score: THREE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
INXS: Never Tear Us Apart is released on DVD tomorrow, February 26th.
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