sd s
one of my favourite movies. a raw and direct, no frills fairy tale
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
03/04/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Christopher Eccleston is brilliant in this, and as well, this is Danny Boyles first great film. Not perfect, but pretty amazing considering it's his second effort.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/27/23
Full Review
eric b
At first glance, the prospects for this film are tantalizing: director Danny Boyle's first feature, a flamboyant starring role for Christopher Eccleston and a presumably hip look at English street culture. So why is this film so awful? Details, details. Sort of an urban fairy tale about an unlikely couple's rise to rock 'n' roll stardom, "Strumpet" is so naive in its plotting that it defies being taken seriously. Eccleston is "Strayman," a half-mad cretin whose fringe lifestyle supplies the film's two notable visuals: a room of walls filled with manic poetry scribblings and an adopted pack of stray dogs who flank him everywhere like soldiers escorting their general. Strayman comes across a down-and-out girl who calls herself Strumpet (Jenna G., apparently answering a "Must be willing to prance around in your underwear or less for no reason whatsoever" casting call), and takes her in like just another orphaned pooch. Strumpet trusts him because he's not interested in sex, and the two soon combine her vacant guitar noodling and his poetry into a spontaneously created "song." The song (two basic chords, and grating screams of "Get it out!") is awful. Just awful. And neither of them can sing well. But somehow, a hyperactive lad next door overhears their tune and is convinced it's bound for greatness. So, with him installed as their eager manager, the three casually truck off to allow a local label to release it and send them all to "Top of the Pops." Not even remotely plausible. A shame, because Eccleston gives the part everything he has and Boyle's direction is already impressively confident and polished. See "Starstruck" or "Breaking Glass" instead.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Made for t.v. and boldly shot on DVC, Danny Boyle's oddball musical romance dramady features solid performances and a keen sense of momentum.It's a little slight and perhaps a tad too strange for mass appeal,but the fact that a major player like Boyle should take time out to experiment is incredibly noble,and of course, this venture into Digital led the way for both "28 Days Later" and "Slumdog".
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
01/27/23
Full Review
Audience Member
I'm glad Danny Boyle's 2001 DV effort has made it to DVD, as I've wanted to see it again since seeing it on TV way back.
It tells the tale of Strayman, a loner living in a run-down council estae flat with eleventy bafillion stray dogs, and Strumpet/Claire, seemingly a stray herself, brought into town by a truck-driving slob. The two bond over the writing of a song, which is subsequently heard by a neighbour who attempts to make them stars.
What follows is both a touching story of two lost souls finding one another, and a neat critique of the music industry and it's tendency to take art and suck the heart and soul out of it until it, and it's creators, are empty husks before tossing them on the slagpile.
The images are gorgeous, and as usual with Boyle's work, the soundtrack and score are wonderful too.
Seek this little gem out, it's worth your while.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/05/23
Full Review
Audience Member
I love this film for all it's quirks. Antony Dod Mantle's DV cinematography is brilliant. It showed Danny Boyle was capable of great things. Eccleston plays mad brilliantly and Stephen Walters shines as Knockoff, why oh why has nobody really discovered the genius actor that is Stephen Walters, no more bit parts please. Cast him in something decent!
Strumpet is a hidden gem of modern British cinema.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
02/14/23
Full Review
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