First off, this is not a movie per say . It is a full length music video and should be approached as such. Consider that it was created in the early 80's during the MTV video explosion. If you are a product of the 80's and more importantly a fan of ABC then there could not have been a better source of material to produce a full length video from, this is the album The Lexicon of Love.
The drawback is it was created during a time of low resolution 4:3 screens and dreaded VHS. So finding a good copy with good sound quality can be a challenge.
Once you get past this you can focus on the subject. Martin Fry and ABC were early MTV front runners in the second British Invasion of the early 1980's. Their album "The Lexicon of Love" was hailed as the greatest album ever in some U.K. music publications. They stormed Europe in their niche which was new wave dance. The style was dignified, classy disco. This work was produced by the Buggles very own Trevor Horn whom also produced Yes' 90125, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and Seal to name a few.
In a time when music videos were a required part of any album release ABC leveraged the idea into a concept video. The theme for Mantrap is just that. A Mantrap. Without giving away the story Martin is a lone man picked up by a band, manager and woman all in one night. His life is transformed by an audition with an up and coming band called ABC. If he can sing he can join the band. From there they travel Europe featuring only the songs from the Lexicon of Love album. It is a simple espionage twist with a dash of romance. They kept it simple. In the end you have to look for the clues in order to understand the ending.
It becomes clear that the director wanted very little dialogue in the video to keep the music pace flowing. Everyone including the band plays characters in the story. So you can't expect to learn anything real about Martin Fry, Mark White or the rest of the band.
If and only if you honestly appreciate this album you will love this video for the musical value. The story is weak but not sad. Martin seems to have reasonable acting skills while the rest of band phones it in.
One song that is not on the Lexicon (Language) of Love album is the theme from Mantrap which is a variation of Poison Arrow. There is both an instrumental and vocal version. You get plenty of real ABC live exposure so even if you could care less about the story line there is some great video music to watch along the way. Most all songs are uninterrupted so you get the complete song to watch and listen in on.
I'm rating this video high for production value in it's time. Not modern times. It is dated. It is a product of the 80's and should be judged as such. I was no fan of the director Julian Temple in many of his other efforts like David Bowie's Bluejean feature video, but on this occasion he didn't hurt the band ABC.
The drawback is it was created during a time of low resolution 4:3 screens and dreaded VHS. So finding a good copy with good sound quality can be a challenge.
Once you get past this you can focus on the subject. Martin Fry and ABC were early MTV front runners in the second British Invasion of the early 1980's. Their album "The Lexicon of Love" was hailed as the greatest album ever in some U.K. music publications. They stormed Europe in their niche which was new wave dance. The style was dignified, classy disco. This work was produced by the Buggles very own Trevor Horn whom also produced Yes' 90125, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and Seal to name a few.
In a time when music videos were a required part of any album release ABC leveraged the idea into a concept video. The theme for Mantrap is just that. A Mantrap. Without giving away the story Martin is a lone man picked up by a band, manager and woman all in one night. His life is transformed by an audition with an up and coming band called ABC. If he can sing he can join the band. From there they travel Europe featuring only the songs from the Lexicon of Love album. It is a simple espionage twist with a dash of romance. They kept it simple. In the end you have to look for the clues in order to understand the ending.
It becomes clear that the director wanted very little dialogue in the video to keep the music pace flowing. Everyone including the band plays characters in the story. So you can't expect to learn anything real about Martin Fry, Mark White or the rest of the band.
If and only if you honestly appreciate this album you will love this video for the musical value. The story is weak but not sad. Martin seems to have reasonable acting skills while the rest of band phones it in.
One song that is not on the Lexicon (Language) of Love album is the theme from Mantrap which is a variation of Poison Arrow. There is both an instrumental and vocal version. You get plenty of real ABC live exposure so even if you could care less about the story line there is some great video music to watch along the way. Most all songs are uninterrupted so you get the complete song to watch and listen in on.
I'm rating this video high for production value in it's time. Not modern times. It is dated. It is a product of the 80's and should be judged as such. I was no fan of the director Julian Temple in many of his other efforts like David Bowie's Bluejean feature video, but on this occasion he didn't hurt the band ABC.
