Living the Blues

My review was written in August 1989 after watching the film on Raedon video cassette.

"Living the Blues" is a pleasant though slight family production about breaking into the music biz, made in 1986 and now arriving via video cassette.

Spotlight is on attractive dancer Galyn Gorg, who later was featured to good effect in the film "Body Beat". Vaguely in the tradition of Irene Cara and Jennifer Beals, she plays an aspiring dancer in love with Michael Kerr, who wants to become a blues guitarist. It's not exactly "Romeo and Juliet", but both families object to the relationship.

Pic benefits from some nice musical performances led by Sam Taylor, as Gorg's uncle, with filmmaker Gwyn Gorg limning the heroine's mother. Director Alan Gorg falls back on various genre cliches but generally whips up interest in the characters. Low-budget is reflected in the absence of the finale scene, when ev4one sets off for a gig in Denmark.

Galyn Gorg is an appealing screen presence, and cryptic but interesting scenes of her4 dancing on the sidewalk are interspersed with the main narrative. Kerr is bland as the male lead but supporting cast is okay.

I was attracted to Living the blues by reading on the social message that is encapsulated within its synopsis. I have broad music tastes with REM & Prink Floyd somewhere at the top. I never considered myself a Blues fan – but now that is something that I am not so sure about. This was a powerful and emotive film that relates a very common message of the human condition. It explores survival, commitment, dreams and aspirations. It validated the existential. It transcends materialism and offers a message of hope while conveying a message of hope in mankind. It connects across the continents. It was also clearly a task of love and I feel particularly connected to those who made it. There is a certain quality of warmth that comes across and I do believe that films of this type help knit people together across the globe with a heightened awareness that we are not so different. Perhaps music and independent films have gone a little way to providing a message of hope for us all?