DOXA – Vancouver, Wed 11th May 2011
May 1st, 2011 | Published in Featured Screenings, Festivals, News
Wednesday May 11th 9pm, Vancity Theatre
Canadian Premiere
The demise of the independent record store is ostensibly the subject of Jeanie Finlay’s deeply charming documentary. But music and the passion it evokes are the real heart of the film. In the last five years British record stores have succumbed to economic forces, closing at the rate of one every three days. But despite these rather grim statistics, Sound it Out is a warm and deeply funny portrait of British eccentrics, music fans and vinyl enthusiasts who have found a home for themselves in the last vinyl record store in Teeside, northeast England. The Sound it Out record shop is a hub of activity, whether it’’s an elderly lady with a penchant for Meat Loaf albums or a pair of metal-heads sporting mellifluous accents. As Tom, the store’s owner says, “It’s all emotions and memories…records hold memories.”
For people who came of age buying records, this film packs a particular punch. Finlay, who grew up three miles from the store, brings a keen and affectionate eye for the English characters that patronize the store. One scene hammers home the sense of community that people make out of shared musical experiences. During a live in-store performance from local Stockton lass Saint Saviour (otherwise known as Becky Jones), the camera glides over the faces of the audience, listening with attention and rapture. In one of the most economically hard hit areas in all of the UK, life goes on, accompanied by a soundtrack. Whether that soundtrack is dance music or Meat Loaf, it is carefully selected and deeply loved. —DW