High Fidelity
Anyone who grew up in the 1980s and early 1990s will know that even back then music piracy was condemned. LPs and CDs would come with a tape and cross-bones stickers (see below) on the front and often also the back reminding us that copying music was a crime and in fact “killing in music”.
I always loved the ironic contrast that in large music retailers such as Woolworths there would always be a large wall (or bin) of TDK D90 tapes, these cassettes too carried the warning on piracy and they were of course for recording your own personal music ignoring the fact that 90s meant you could get an album on either side.
The tape recorder gave birth to the concept of the ‘compilation tape’ replaced not so well by the digital ‘playlist’. People made tapes not so much to copy music not to create their own theme cassette. The TDK D90 was often used as a chat up line and generally said more about the person sending it than the actual artist making the music.
Well the film High Fidelity based on the novel by Nick Hornby revisits the era and importance of the compilation cassette. The film unlike the book is set in America and stars John Cusack. The synopsis : Early-thirtysomething Rob Gordon (Cusack) is a slacker who owns a vintage record shop, a massive collection of LPs, and innumerable top-five lists in his head.
At the opening of the film, Rob recounts directly to the audience his all-time top-five “breakups” which doesn’t include his recent falling out with his girlfriend Laura (Iben Hjejle), who has just moved out of their apartment. Thunderstruck and obsessed with Laura’s desertion (but loath to admit it), Rob begins a quest to confront the women who instigated the aforementioned top-five breakups to find out just what he did wrong.
The mix of direct audience communication and humorous flashbacks really make High Fidelity a great watch. My highlights are “Kevin Bannister” (you have to see it, as I won’t give too much away). The film is smart features a cameo by Bruce Springsteen and has enough music trivia to keep most music fans happy. Tim Robbins character will raise a smile, (I mention him simply so I can name drop and mention I’ve met him once) and Jack Black is on top floor as an assistant in the record store.
If you like music and have reached the dizzy age of 30 I’d say it really should be on your Love Film rental list at the very very least. If you have seen it please post what you thought, I know some people didn’t like but it is certainly on my top ten films of all time list. Note YouTube click contains some swear words….. Jack Black!
