How entertaining? ★★☆☆☆
Thought provoking? ★★☆☆☆ 5 June 2016
A TV review of VINYL season one. |
YouTube review:
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“Do I look like a f***ing Wall Street man?” Richie Finestra (Bobby Cannavale)
One of the first lines of dialogue, in the initial series, of the normally superlative HBO television channel roster. Is this a sly nod to Martin Scorsese and Terence Winter’s earlier collaboration, THE WOLF OF WALL STREET? After that winner, and the engaging BOARDWALK EMPIRE (I am up to season three as of writing), this reviewer expected a lot more from VINYL. A lot, lot more. This is sub-MAD MEN self-destruction. Over ten episodes we repetitively witness the lead make terrible decisions to the point of wondering how he became the head of a famous record label. Don Draper, in contrast, is given observations that make us see the protagonist’s skill.
One of the first lines of dialogue, in the initial series, of the normally superlative HBO television channel roster. Is this a sly nod to Martin Scorsese and Terence Winter’s earlier collaboration, THE WOLF OF WALL STREET? After that winner, and the engaging BOARDWALK EMPIRE (I am up to season three as of writing), this reviewer expected a lot more from VINYL. A lot, lot more. This is sub-MAD MEN self-destruction. Over ten episodes we repetitively witness the lead make terrible decisions to the point of wondering how he became the head of a famous record label. Don Draper, in contrast, is given observations that make us see the protagonist’s skill.
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The pilot episode is the equivalent of a movie, and clocks in at nearly two hours. (When was the last time an initial episode was that long?) And as a result we have been given a new Scorsese film, which is always a desired thing – he is still in the top ten filmmakers working (and has arguably not left that list since MEAN STREETS). Even if the characterisation and narrative arc are not up to the maestro’s standards, we still get to see television reach cinematic levels of panache, which even in the current golden age of the small screen it rarely does.
Scorsese directing the pilot, and cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto (25TH HOUR; ALEXANDER; LUST, CAUTION), bring 1973 New York City to slick life. Slow-motion dancing long hair swinging, lens bouncing with revellers, swirling camera moves. Fans of visual braggadocio are in for a treat. As others take over after them in later episodes the style is diluted, but the polished veneer remains. Echoes of BOOGIE NIGHTS spring to mind, but VINYL pales. Hedonism, debauchery, borderline cruelty are shared, but P.T. Anderson’s sophomore feature is still the post-1970s 1970s-set trailblazer.
The first episode is a must-see for fans of the RAGING BULL director. Note the recording of a song in the studio. Headphones on we only hear the voices. The sound design here is original, making one think of FIREFLY and the absence of noise in space.
“I earned my right to be hated,” Richie. Unfortunately the central figure is not quite despicable enough to be hated. The entire cast are annoying, endlessly self-sabotaging and sabotaging others. The news is full of such people dramatically falling from grace. Art thus needs a perceptive spin enquiring into the whys and hows. The behaviour of these music industry folk seem sociopathic/psychopathic, but contrast superior, and more horrifying, recent film KILL YOUR FRIENDS.
If you are going to focus on a heinous lead, they must be:
- A force of nature, e.g. Tony Soprano (THE SOPRANOS), or
- Initially sympathetic, e.g. Walter White (BREAKING BAD), or
- Tap into our darker selves, e.g. Dexter Morgan (DEXTER).
It is difficult to care about anyone on this show. Unless it is FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS, watching people continually getting wasted/high is dull. Does any character on VINYL have impulse control?
Will Baz Luhrmann’s THE GET DOWN, due later this year, be better?
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