Art Will Save the World

2012

1h 10min

Failed pop star. The soul of The Auteurs and Black Box Recorder reconstructs the purgatory of his career in a hilarious testimony that craps on every aspect of the pop music business. Those on the prowl for public relations and commercial potential have come to the wrong place. Haines is a notorious party-pooper, a wet blanket at awards ceremonies, and a sourpuss-that-sulks-in-the-corner. To relate his tragic-comic saga, director Niall McCann organizes a perfidious puzzle filled with talking heads: Jarvis Cocker, Stewart Home, David Peace… (or, as Haines puts it: “people who pretend they have met me”), unforgettable quips by the disgusted composer (“To hell with the common people”, “Britpop never existed”), and a script that resembles Winterbottom gone punk: actors that aspire to walk in Haines’ shoes, frozen images, surprising turns, and historical tiffs.