A musical adaptation of Colin MacInnes' novel about life in late 1950s London. Nineteen-year-old photographer Colin is hopelessly in love with model Crepe Suzette, but her relationships are strictly connected with her progress in the fashion world. So Colin gets involved with a pop promoter and tries to crack the big time. Meanwhile, racial tension is brewing in Colin's Notting Hill housing estate...
Cinematography
Every frame looks like a Vogue spread having a nervous breakdown
Costume
Bowie's pink double-breasted suit deserves its own credit
Direction
Julien Temple's music video energy crammed into narrative film
Director
Julien Temple
Eddie O'Connell
Colin, Photographer / Narrator
Patsy Kensit
Suzette
James Fox
Henley of Mayfair, Dressmaker to the Queen
David Bowie
Vendice Partners
Ray Davies
Arthur, Colin's Dad
Mandy Rice-Davies
Flora, Colin's Mum
Eve Ferret
Big Jill
Tony Hippolyte
Mr. Cool
Graham Fletcher-Cook
Wizard
Joseph McKenna
Fabulous Hoplite
Steven Berkoff
The Fanatic
Sade
Athene Duncannon (as Sade Adu)
Edward Tudor-Pole
Ed the Ted (as Tenpole Tudor)
Bruce Payne
Flikker
Alan Freeman
Call-Me-Cobber
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Ray Davies wrote and performed his own songs, making this the only film where Kinks and Bowie discographies collide.
This bombed so hard it killed the British musical revival for a decade—but predicted the hyper-stylized music video aesthetic that would dominate the 90s.
GB
