BAFTA-nominated indie filmGood Vibrationstells the story of Belfast music legend Terri Hooley, but Australian producer Bruno Charlesworth offers a local link. We caught up with Charlesworth to learn all about it.
How did you come to be involved with Good Vibrations, the BBC and Andrew Eaton?
Funnily enough I met David Holmes, the composer and one of the major driving forces of the film, through a mutual friend in Paris. It was one of those strange connections that started by total chance. I knew David’s work as a recording artist and composer of a bunch of films for Steven Soderbergh, including the Oceans Eleven trilogy.
What can you tell us about the film’s background and its story?
The film is set in Belfast and as you know is based on a true story of Terri Hooley and his record store at the end of the ’70s. I knew most of the songs in the film and certainly The Undertones loom large in my memories of the time. The fact that such an iconoclast as Terri Hooley could approach the insanity of the time in Northern Ireland with such optimism and a conviction that music could form a bridge and take kids away from the mania and lunacy of the religious/cultural divide hooked me straight into the story.
What was the punk scene like in Belfast at the time, and how is it represented in the film?
From what I know there were a lot of similarities in the sweaty music bars around the world no matter where you were. It reminded me of the Crystal Ballroom days (in Melbourne) … The setting in Belfast makes that escape all the more important when every day is otherwise punctured with horror and chaos.
What input did the real-life Terry Hooley have into the film?
Terri Hooley is an amazing character in real life and very generous to let us take his life and make a film. Although it is largely based on his stories (some of which may not be entirely true!), we didn’t let the truth get in the way of a good story.
Good Vibrations is in cinemas Thursday June 12
