I was a little hesitant before going into Pistol, a music biographical drama miniseries, as I wasn't that convinced how the filmmaker is ever going to pull off such a story. The Sex Pistols was no doubt an important group in rock music history, having so much influence on the 70s UK punk movement as well as DIY and indie rock music a few decades later. However, their career was rather short, lasting a little over two years. Most of the news while they were active was rather negative with coverage focused more on scandals caused by the band members' behaviour than the actual music.
So I thought it could be interesting enough as a documentary, but probably not a live action one -- not to mention a six-part miniseries. Or the fact that a lot of die-hard music fans are against the show, saying that this is just a selling out to Disney, and making a dramatisation of actual events isn't really punk rock. Well, I was wrong. Under the supervision of director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, The Beach, 28 Days Later), Pistol is surprisingly a proper cinematic experience, and an incredibly detailed account of the rise and fall of the legendary punk rock band.
Pistol is about the foundation of a band and what went on during the birth of the British punk movement. Along with groups like The Clash, The Damned and Buzzcocks, the Pistols would go on to completely change punk rock and music forever in Britain and across the world. The series is based on the 2016 memoirs of Pistols guitarist Steve Jones, called Lonely Boy: Tales From A Sex Pistol. So it makes sense that this miniseries is based on his perspective, and focused more on his life as opposed to other group members like Sid Vicious or Johnny Rotten, considering they're much more well known. We follow the young Jones, played by Toby Wallace, who grows up in an impoverished kind of world. In the mid-70s, a large portion of the British population were disenfranchised, especially the youth, and unemployment was high. These people felt like they didn't have a place, so there was a rebellion growing. And that is what comes out through the Sex Pistols' music.
Each episode depicts a timeline of the group, how they became the band, how they wrote their music and eventually become a pioneer of a movement. The first episode provides the background of Jones and how he becomes involved with the people at the London boutique SEX run by Vivienne Westwood (Talulah Riley) and her then-partner Malcolm McLaren (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), who went on to become the band's manager. The second episode sees band members come together, including lead singer John Lydon (Anson Boon), and provides an insightful back story on the origins of songs like Bodies, Anarchy In The UK and Pretty Vacant. The last two episodes feature the story of the group's new bassist Sid Vicious (Louis Partridge) and his troublesome American girlfriend Nancy Spungen (Emma Appleton), as well as the group's only American tour in 1977.
Aside from great cinematography that gives such a cool 1970s aesthetic, all the music, including the re-recorded songs and the live concert sequences are well done. I liked how the series showed the band improving as musicians within each episode. The series also licensed a lot of great songs. There's a lot of cool needle drops with bands like The Kinks, David Bowie and The Stooges, to name a few. All of these parts come together to make you feel like you are in this story, and you're part of this cultural revolution that's going on at the time.
Those who are already fans of the Pistols or punk music/fashion in general should be delighted as in each episode, the show reveals more new characters -- those who were significant parts of the punk scene such as Chrissie Hynde (Sydney Chandler), who worked at SEX and was a love interest of Jones before becoming lead singer of The Pretenders; Siouxie Sioux (Beth Dillon) of Siouxie and the Banshees; and Pamela "Jordan" Rooke (Maisie Williams), an English model who's credited with creating the London punk look.
Pistol is a kind of work that feels like there's a lot of passion behind it, and you can feel that come through on the screen. Of course, there's always going to be criticism from some avid fans, like the story isn't accurate enough or not dirty enough for rock'n'roll. But I do feel like the show finds a balance for old and new music fans in a good way, and is even less exaggerated than much more popular biopics like Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) or Rocketman (2019). It's also decent enough as an introduction, getting the younger generation into the band and listening to good music. So at least there's a silver lining.
- Pistol
- Starring Toby Wallace, Sydney Chandler, Anson Boon, Thomas Brodie-Sangster
- Directed by Danny Boyle
- Now streaming on Disney+ Hotstar
