"What a Witty Movie". Pirate Radio (as it's called in the US) is almost a sketch comedy movie if it weren't for how well every (highly caricatureized) character was done. They remind me of a description I once heard of Charles Dickens' characters: they might be two-dimensional, but they vibrate enough to seem three-dimensional. The relationships between the characters are dynamic to a very impressive degree, considering. I would say that the movie was too short; that I would have liked to see the relationships further explored; that the development was too choppy because of that. I would say that, if I didn't think it actually fit with the style of the movie very well.
Pirate Radio reminds me of the television show Glee, of which I've seen more episodes than I have of any other TV show (ie 3 episodes) in a long time. Neither show has a high degree of commitment to the previous scene. With Pirate Radio, it gives the impression that the movie takes place many months, which it does. If the movie were more fully explained, and therefore a lot longer, it would lose the economic balance that it achieves. And it retains a British sketch comedy feel and I like that. The other similarity is a love and respect of music. Both of these shows have bloody brilliant soundtracks.
The real difficulty with this movie is the dramatic over-abundance of characters. The major characters are focused on enough for it not to be a problem, but once in a while they mention another character and you are left wondering, "who was that?" We asked this multiple times though the movie.
Analysis (spoilers to follow)
Pirate Radio, for those who don't know, is semi-historical. During the 60's, pirate radio stations were created in England because the BBC had a monopoly over the airwaves. Not all pirate radio stations were at sea, but all of them were illegal. Not necessarily because of their content, but because they were unlicensed. But really, it's all semantical; it wasn't really possible to become a legitimate station and the government-run BBC had the monopoly. In effect, Rock and Roll radio was illegal. What was an entrepreneur to do.
Go into international waters and broadcast anyway, that's what.
Pirate Radio stations still exist. The British Government still fines those illegally broadcasting because it is annoyed by the potential security threats. Which, as the movie suggests, is the firm ground the government used to attack illegal stations during the 60's.
Pirate Radio, the movie, is not based on any specific station (though it leans on similarities to Radio Caroline), and doesn't really use history for anything other than inspiration and, perhaps, moral. The moral I take is that ol' tired Braveheart one: "what would you do without FREEDOM!?"
Well, um, maybe just about the same thing as with freedom... But that's a different topic.
Anyway, I'm getting off topic.
What I really wanted to talk about was some of the plot-based problems with the movie, but it really seems trite and unnecessary. So what if in the end the Count survives the sinking of the ship by exploding out into the ocean when the physics of a ship sinking would have dragged everyone still in the water with the ship. It was a bloody comedy! There was no reason to kill the Count. It did make me sigh a bit though. It would have been nicer, for me, if they figured out a more realistic ending.
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