Hunky Dory

2013
6.2| 1h50m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 22 March 2013 Released
Producted By: Wales Creative IP Fund
Country: United Kingdom
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

In the heat of the summer of 1976, drama teacher Vivienne fights sweltering heat and general teenage apathy to put on an end-of-term version of Shakespeare's The Tempest.

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Reviews

Nonureva Really Surprised!
Humbersi The first must-see film of the year.
Roy Hart If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.
Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.
ladybug2535 I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. The storyline and the music brought back fine memories (I was almost the same age in the same time period--and oh how the music took me back). In this the script was VERY successful in conjuring a specific time and place. Although I was in the United States rather than Wales, I would have to say our general teen experiences of the times were pretty similar on both sides of the Atlantic. We certainly experienced that same raging uncertainty of being a teen of any time period, but ours was greatly amped up by the extraordinary social upheaval of the 60s and 70s, which could only serve to exacerbate the general fear of what comes next in anyone's teens. This anxiety would be even more potent in a region with rampant unemployment and open class warfare (not to mention the ongoing clash in Ireland of the time). The excellent use of music in this film brought out qualities in the songs that were lost when streamed out on the radio waves among the popular playlist of the day, and certainly threw them into a new light, with nuances I'd never before considered. Very effective and in some places, positively poignant. I thought the choices of music were excellent; so much so that I could have easily enjoyed much more of it and more of the film in turn, just on that alone. To be truthful, the movie really could have used another half hour or more, just to flesh out the more important characters. There were some interesting people here, but the length of the film gave them-- and in truth the storyline, short shrift. While that could have been addressed by reducing the number of main characters or focusing less on the more extraneous of the story lines, I don't know if I would have in fact enjoyed the film more by doing so. I would have like more of everything to be truthful; more exploration of the characters and their relationships that we were exposed to; more of the film's interpretation of the music put through the lens of of hindsight; and more development and rehearsals of their play--when juxtaposed and compared with the daily lives of the film. Certainly not everyone will agree with me, but it was a terrific little film--and I'd like to see more of it. Just more. Not the Hollywood treatment, no, that would alter it's character too much I fear, but just more of what we were given all too briefly. Yes I admit, I may be biased by my own familiarity and nostalgia of the times, but I am not going to apologize for that. I simply Loved it. Loved it. Loved it. Oh for.... they wouldn't allow me to capitalize that I "love it". L.O.V.E.D. I.T. I don't understand how anyone can consider this shouting for god's sakes, it's only a voice in your own head powered by your own imagination. No one is shouting! If anything that exclamation point conveys shouting more than capitalizing an entire word. Capitalizing only emphasizes the word or words. Emphasis, not shouting. I would italicize it but that doesn't W.O.R.K. on IMDb's website. If you italicize or even bold letter a word it just comes out with ampersands and all kinds of mixed symbols--but no italics or bold letters. If they fixed that then I wouldn't be tempted to S.H.O.U.T.! Moderators? Do you read these?????
plutus1947 Is it not possible for many screenwriters to put together a script without having to resort to totally unnecessary expletives and are they capable of stringing a sentence together when speaking without using it? Time and time again I have to endure a movie with foul language being used in virtually every other word. The vast majority of these movies end up with a 15 certificate because of it but if the script was written without this it could be released as a PG or even a 'U' and therefore available to a much wider audience.The movie could be seen by a much wider audience and the lack of expletives would enhance the movie no end.Hunky Dory is one such movie the foul language used was totally unnecessary and completely spoilt a potentially truly enjoyable experience.SPOILER BEGINS Vivienne Mae (Minnie Driver) is a drama teacher who wants her students to perform a musical version of Shakespeare's The Tempest but the students are totally apathetic and she has her work cut out to get them enthusiastic.SPOILER ENDS This had the makings of a very entertaining movie spoilt only by the constant use of expletives. Even Vivienne, the teacher used it in front of her students, but the students were no better.I know one thing, if my teachers used this language in front of their students they would soon be out of a job.I have given this movie a '3' rating simply because of the totally uncalled for and constant foul language but if that was absent I can see me awarding it a '7' or '8'.I must admit that there are possibly 100s of movies which have been given 15 certificates because of the bad language but could and would have been wonderful all round entertainment, even for young children had the script not contained expletives.
sloan1874-296-337 Just back from watching this film at the Glasgow Film Festival, and still seething at losing 1hr 50mins to it. So generic as you'd imagine that it had come to the director kit-built, it's assembly of characters go through the paces of yer bog standard 'coming of age' drama in a tick-box way that makes your heart sink. To be honest, I could rattle on about its many problems - not least the fact all the cast have hair cuts and vocal styles that seem to be more 2009 than 1976; that the school production appeared to have an unlimited budget, or that they seemed to have Dexy's Midnight Runners' brass section on board. Above all, though, it's unforgivably boring.
josh-thawley Set in 1976 Swansea, "Hunky Dory" follows charismatic drama teacher Viv (Minnie Driver) as she attempts to stage a rock-opera version of Shakespeare's "The Tempest", set on Mars. Predictably, the play serves as a catalyst to examine and solve some of the students' problems, such as broken families and burgeoning homosexuality, and as a point of confrontation between liberal Viv and other sterner and more classically minded teachers.What the "Freedom Writers", cum "Glee", cum "School of Rock" plot lacks in originality is more than made up for by the stellar ensemble cast. Driver provides a strong, believable lead performance, supported by the frankly superb rising star Aneurin Barnard, as troubled student Davey, and backed by a surprisingly good cast of relatively unknown young actors.Without a doubt, the best thing about "Hunky Dory" is the great soundtrack, which is performed entirely by the talented, young cast. The film features a staggering selection of classic 1970s rock artists, such as Pink Floyd, The Who, The Beach Boys, with an emphasis on David Bowie, whose album the film takes its title from.Overall, "Hunky Dory" is a film that would appeal to the younger "Glee-generation", had it not been awkwardly clashing with a classic rock soundtrack, and a more adult storyline. Nonetheless, it is an entertaining, if schmaltzy and clichéd, film.