If I Should Fall from Grace: The Shane MacGowan Story (2001)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Sarah Share

Genre:

Documentary | Biography | Music

Plot:

Music videos and archived footage supplement recent interviews in this documentary of ex-Pogues singer Shane MacGowan...

Plot Keywords:

Irish Music | Punk Rock | Concert Footage | Music Video | Alcoholic

Cast

Nick Cave	...	Himself
Philip Chevron	...	Himself
Victoria Clarke	...	Herself
Elvis Costello	...	Himself (archive footage)
Johnny Depp	...	Himself (music video: "That Woman's Got Me Drinking") (archive footage)
Philip Gaston	...	Himself
John Lydon	...	Himself (archive footage)
Kirsty MacColl	...	Herself - Song "Fairytale of New York" (archive footage)
Maurice MacGowan	...	Himself
Shane MacGowan	...	Himself
Therese MacGowan	...	Herself
Sinéad O'Connor	...	Herself - song "Haunted" (archive footage)
Deirdre O'Mahony	...	Herself
The Pogues	...	Themselves (archive footage)

Runtime:

Ireland:91 min

Country:

Ireland

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Company:

Bórd Scannán na hÉireann

Quotes:

Philip Chevron: If you had issues with alcohol there was no better - trust me - there was no better place in the world to bury them and hide them in than in The Pogues.

Soundtrack:

God Save the Queen

Let me go down in the mud where the rivers all run dry

There is a deleted scene on the DVD showing Shane MacGowan, the subject of this documentary, in a bar playing "Kitty", a love ballad from the first Pogues album. Out of the drunken stupor he has put himself into comes a glimmer of the genius this man once had. And then he finishes the song and returns to his drink.

MacGowan was the founding member and many would argue the driving force behind an Irish Folk/Punk band in the 1980's called The Pogues. They released several albums that are considered master works before it all fell to pieces due to Shane's heavy drinking. The film follows MacGowan around London and across the strait to Ireland as he prepares for a concert with his new band, The Popes. Along the way we hear the story of one of the punk generation's greatest song writers, told through interviews with MacGowan's parents, his wife, former band mates, and MacGowan himself. We also see archive footage and music videos interspersed thoughout. The difference between the Shane making the music he is known and loved for and the Shane of today mumbling drunkenly through songs is striking and sad. Its a great film, and I highly reccomend it, escpecially to parents trying to teach their kids about the dangers of addiction.