Scottish ’94 rave isn’t just a party
If you think an ecstasyinfused flashback to “Trainspotting” sounds, as one character might say, “f—in’ magic!,” then the new Scottish indie “Beats” is for you.
With a wee bit of “Footloose” mixed in, director Brian Welsh — no relation to “Trainspotting” author Irvine Welsh — takes us back to 1994 Scotland, soon after the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act of 1994 outlawed raves. Shot mostly in blackandwhite, Brian Welsh achieves an authentic 1990s indiefilm vibe that might have you dusting off your old copy of “Clerks.”
The film follows two best friends whose lives are going in opposite directions — the more conservative Johnno (Cristian Ortega), who is about to move with his mom and her policeman boyfriend to a different neighborhood, and wild boy Spanner (Lorn MacDonald) — when they decide to throw one last big bash, with the help of a whackedout DJ known as DMan (Ross Mann), and their girl crew (Amy Manson, Gemma McElhinney and Rachel Jackson).
Trouble is, they have to stay one step ahead of the cops, including the boyfriend of Johnno’s mom.
Sure, it’s a rave, and the kids just wanna have fun, but, as DMan notes, “It’s not just a party, but a protest . ... They want to privatize our minds. This (music) is a living pulse. They can’t kill it.”
The movie is predictable at times, but also winning, with a thumping soundtrack and smartly written characters. Ortega, with his Peterfrom“Office Space”deerintheheadlights look, is the movie’s appealing center.
Interestingly, Welsh based his film, which is executiveproduced by Steven Soderbergh, on a oneman play by Kieran Hurley, who cowrote the screenplay.
A share of the proceeds from ticket sales through the Roxie Theater’s virtual cinema will go to local music venue Rickshaw Stop. Each ticket sale also gains access to an exclusive, prerecorded conversation with Welsh and Soderbergh, moderated by Slamdance’s Peter Baxter.