Mutiny in Heaven: The Birthday Party

Released Sep 1, 2023

1h 26m

Documentary

Music

List

100%

Tomatometer

11 Reviews

Hailed as "a one band war", The Birthday Party with Nick Cave was one of the definitive post-punk groups and goth rock pioneers, creative and destructive in equal measure. Their incendiary live performances were the stuff of violent, anarchic legend. Featuring a wealth of rare and unseen archives, original artwork, unreleased tracks, studio footage, animation, and told exclusively by the group's members, MUTINY IN HEAVEN is the story of epic struggle, artistic genius and total chaos, bringing the band's own account to the screen for the first time.

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Luke Buckmaster

Guardian

It’s not just the subjects who rock out but the whole cinematic kit and caboodle, with White imparting a sense that the film, too, is necking bottles, smoking dream pipes and banging around in the mosh pit, soon to wake up with a terrible hangover.

Nov 3, 2023

Full Review

Richard Whittaker

Austin Chronicle

What White captures is the raw yet deliberate, accidental but structured energy of the Birthday Party, and how a certain level of discomfort seemed to fuel their creativity and success.

Rated: 3/5

Oct 19, 2023

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Jamie Healy

Radio Times

It's early footage of The Birthday Party performing live that makes this such electric viewing, with Cave caterwauling and flailing around like a man possessed.

Rated: 4/5

Mar 27, 2024

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Sean Clancy

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

It's not for everybody, but for those who are drawn to the Birthday Party's brand of bleak, poetic nihilism, it's heavenly.

Rated: 89/100

Dec 1, 2023

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Simon Miraudo

Movie Squad (RTRFM 92.1)

An absolutely hectic primer on a seminal punk outfit.

Rated: 3/5

Nov 10, 2023

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Keva York

ABC News (Australia)

White maintains a tight focus on his subject, keeping the gushing, retroactive assessments to a cool minimum.

Oct 27, 2023

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vivienne n

If only for the quote "Rowland took London personally".

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

11/13/23

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Ian White

Director

Nick Cave

Self

Mick Harvey

Self

Rowland S. Howard

Self

Phill Calvert

Self

Tracy Pew

Self

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Synopsis

Hailed as "a one band war", The Birthday Party with Nick Cave was one of the definitive post-punk groups and goth rock pioneers, creative and destructive in equal measure. Their incendiary live performances were the stuff of violent, anarchic legend. Featuring a wealth of rare and unseen archives, original artwork, unreleased tracks, studio footage, animation, and told exclusively by the group's members, MUTINY IN HEAVEN is the story of epic struggle, artistic genius and total chaos, bringing the band's own account to the screen for the first time.

Director: Ian White
Producer: Wim Wenders, Mick Harvey, Bill Lord, Michael Murphy, Stuart Souter, Jenny O'Shea
Distributor: Cargo Film & Releasing
Genre: Documentary, Music
Original Language: English (Australia)
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 1, 2023, Limited
Runtime: 1h 26m

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