I watched this 2017 film called England Is Mine that’s in my Apple library.
It’s the coming-of-age biopic about Morrissey when he was just an introverted, pouty little douchey wanker (and all while growing up to be a pouty BIG douchey wanker) sulking in the corner of hole-in-the-wall live show venues and handwriting future landmark songs in his little douchey wanker notebook, growing up in Manchester in the late 70s and having a stint in The Nosebleeds before forming The Smiths. Needless to say, I identified with this character more than the average person.
I thought it was a wonderful film. It was a refreshingly low-key and straightforward biopic that was wisely about — just one person. It was surprisingly focused and wasn’t trying to span many, many years on end and cater with fan service to monumental music artist events — in young Morrissey‘s little wanker life — like just about every other music biopic does, nor does it amplify and celebrate, nor does it revel in the cliches of the genre, like the unintentionally hilarious and profoundly lazy pander-dumb fuckfest Bohemian Rhapsody succeeds so well at, it goes on to win 4 Oscars.
I was both deeply moved and genuinely inspired by this telling of a shy underdog who, although arrogant as fuck like the wanker that he is, had a unique voice and was so thoroughly passionate about music, that he grew from being a little chickenshit wanker that was too self-conscious to bring his lyrics to life… up into a big pompous douchey wanker with a stupid Pompadour haircut that no longer has anything of value to say publicly as a person.
It’s easily one of the best music biopics I’ve ever seen.
