The Man from Mo'Wax

This is a film you have to see, it's honest, exhilarating and packed full of brilliant tracks. Even without being a die-hard Mo'Wax/UNKLE fan I could watch this film countless times, this is a profound story of dizzying success, crushing failure and everything in-between. Amazing home video from James Lavelle and DJ Shadow as well as some really insightful (and at times very funny) interviews with key people from from the worlds of music and art, Josh Homme, Futura, Ian Brown for example, make this film a must see.

I can't speak enthusiastically enough about The Man from Mo'Wax. As a child of the late '70s, this documentary hits a sweet spot for me in that the main players were all huge influences on me in my late teens and early twenties and the soundtrack plays like the soundtrack to my own personal coming of age biopic.

More than that though, whilst I find the subject and the music of this documentary thoroughly engaging from a nostalgic perspective the narrative portrayed here is enthralling, the character arcs both fascinating and captivating.

The Man from Mo'Wax feels well-paced, and crucially with so many interesting dynamics to explore and so much source material to call on it didn't feel like the filmmakers had tried to cram too much information into the film, fortunately, they also avoided the trap of leaving too much out. The film gives a great insight into the creative process and what can be achieved when people with different strengths of character come together in pursuit of a common vision; and in stark contrast what happens when those common visions diverge, people stop communicating and self-interest and ego prevail.

I enjoyed The Man from Mo'Wax from start to finish, from young enthusiastic can-do (f*$k you) attitude to an older and wiser reflection on how things came to be.

No judgement just an honest and open retelling of what went down.

I thoroughly recommend this film 10/10.

The Man from Mo' Wax is a fascinating depiction of the explosive rise and fall of maverick founder of Mo' Wax Records, James Lavelle. The documentary takes you on a fast paced emotional roller-coaster, through unseen and rare personal footage, of the highs and certainly the lows of the man behind Mo' Wax and UNKLE at odds against a rapidly changing and hostile world. With a surprisingly honest, and at points relatable, human story at its heart; this film is brazen and slick with an absolutely killer soundtrack.

The execution of the documentary is commendable. In the main, the film is skilfully constructed from a treasure trove of unearthed, self-documented footage derived from Lavelle himself and many of his friends and collaborators. The raw footage spanning decades is sophisticatedly intertwined with contemporary and retrospective interviews; additional exposition is smartly incorporated or in keeping with Lavelle's recurrent science-fiction theme. A particularly enjoyable aesthetic choice was the decision to have the cuts between stills dictated to the exceptional soundtrack, it gave the film personality and at times worked well to mirror the chaotic pace of Lavelle, Mo' Wax and indeed the music industry.

Following Lavelle's prosperous and naive beginnings, you really get sense of the scale of what Lavelle was achieving and at such young age. However, director Mathew Jones spends surprisingly little time on Lavelle's time at the top and focuses predominantly on the encroaching cracks appearing in several of Lavelle's relationships and his worsening position within a difficult and changing industry. Lavelle has the rug pulled from under him and refuses to move on from it, burning through years, relationships and gargantuan amounts of money trying to recreate it; but does he ultimately learn from it? The comment that is never really answered to, made by producer Antony Genn, that unmovably sticks in the mind is, "you don't have to be Sigmund Freud to work out that it might be you (Lavelle) that is the problem". It doesn't really come across that Lavelle has learnt or changed from his experience but has just simply moved on to his next opportunity and endeavour, tempting history to repeat itself.

The Man from Mo' Wax is an extremely engaging and polished documentary around a truly fascinating and driven visionary, working decades ahead of his time. It features an exemplary soundtrack and would be a sure-fire hit for any Mo' Wax or UNKLE purist. Regardless, the documentary does well to work with limited knowledge of the subject and remains engrossing throughout. When all is said and done and you strip it down to its bare bones, the film is ultimately a really relatable human story of ingenuity and perseverance.

The man with Mo wax gives viewers an extremely informative and exciting view into 1990's musician James Lavelle's journey within the music industry. Director Mathew Jones gives a wonderful insight into the workings of Britains underground music scenes with this brilliant, fast paced documentary.

This production truly stands out from other music documentaries with its incredibly insightful style. Not only do we get a full view into the rise and fall of the musicians career, we are also introduced to other music icons who influenced his journey greatly. The viewer also has the opportunity to learn a lot about the workings of the music industry in 1990 Britain from this production.

'The Man from Mo'Wax' showcases original clips captured by Lavelle and his teams, from the beginning of their exciting journey, through to the hardships that they faced along the way. The use of constant self tape cut aways creates an extremely authentic and honest representation of how hard Lavelle worked to create a name for himself within the industry.

I truly loved every part of this documentary. From observing the hard work that went into the creation of a "boutique label", through to gaining an understanding of just how much Lavelle kept believing in himself in order to gain positive recognition. The appearance of iconic musicians, cult fashion brands and art throughout the entire production made for extremely nostalgic viewing.

I really loved this film - such an honest exploration of a unique part of music history and the mad rollercoaster that is James Lavelle's life - not your yourself artist promo pretending to be a documentary. There's some amazing home footage of DJ Shadow and some really funny interviews with all the different people Lavelle has worked with. If you happen to be fans of Joshua Homme, Thom Yorke, Ian Brown there's some great interviews and never before seen studio footage of them. Even if you don't know about the music or this era it's just a really honest and relatable, human story that makes you laugh and cry at different moments. There's also some great music that makes up the soundtrack - so I highly recommend this film to everyone.