Definitely not Hunky Dory: Screen Bowie blasts back at singer’s family

NETFLIX’S worldwide hit The Crown i s not t he only drama that’s provoked a row about the portrayal of real people and events on screen.

Johnny Flynn, who plays a young David Bowie in the forthcoming ‘biopic’ Stardust, has attacked the l ate pop star’s family for their criticisms of the film.

Bowie’s film-maker son, Duncan Jones, has refused to give his seal of approval to Stardust, which focuses on his father’s trip to America that inspired his androgynous alter ego Ziggy Stardust. He has also criticised it for not using any of the singer’s music or seeking permission from the family.

Now, Flynn has lashed out at Jones. ‘It’s a dangerous attitude to have,’ the British actor says. ‘It’s a kind of cancel-culture bulls***. The movie is journalistic in tone. [It gains an] objectivity . . . not being in bed with the estate.’

Jones had said of the film: ‘I’m not saying this movie is not happening. I honestly wouldn’t know. I’m saying that, as it stands, this movie won’t have any of Dad’s music in it, and I can’t imagine that changing.’

He added: ‘If you want to see a biopic without his music or the family’s blessing, that’s up to the audience.’

American music journalist Michael

Oberman said: ‘I am portrayed in this f i l m. My brother Ron is portrayed in this film. My mother is portrayed in this film.

‘None of the portrayals are accurate. In fact, they are demeaning.’

Oberman added: ‘Also, the movie portrays a road trip that my brother Ron and David Bowie took . . . in fact that never happened.

‘While the film has a disclaimer that it is mostly fictional . . . had the true story been told, the film might have been interesting.’

The film is set mainly in 1971, while Bowie is on a U.S. promotional tour for his album The Man Who Sold The World and his wife, Angie, is pregnant with Duncan in London.

Due to be released next week, Stardust was described by this newspaper’s film critic Brian Viner as a ‘saddening bore’.

He wrote: ‘What could go wrong? Well, apart from the casting, the script, the acting, the music and the wigs, hardly anything does.’