And this week's Friday night movie has been... The Roxette Diaries!
Anyone heard of this? This is a collection of footage taken of Swedish popstars Roxette during their late 1980s/early 1990s heyday - all taken in the 'home video' style. And I only knew of it once it showed up on my streaming service.
Personally, when i was a kid in the late eighties, Roxette seemed to me like the biggest stars on the planet: They had multiple hits that got tonnes of radio play and a constant presence on early morning rage. Of course in the years since, Roxette's material may come across as dated but to be one of Sweden's biggest pop exports (second only to ABBA) is nothing to sniffed at. And besides it's unlikely that Savage Garden would've existed without them.
So what this movie is a whole bunch of footage captured on (presumably) camcorders shot by both Roxette themselves and friends. We see footage of live shows, goofing around backstage, store appearances, music video shoots, gold record presentations, and generally, Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle being themselves. Granted this is nothing new given we have YouTube and TikTok, but the fact that it was utilizing the tech of the time is impressive.
Thing is, I have to wonder: What is the point of this? The obvious answer is, as mentioned above, showing Marie and Per as themselves. I won't fault that that - it is even spelled out in a statement at the beginning - but a lot of the footage i found to be arranged in such a haphazard manner: There is little to no context of the footage. And the pace is VERY hurried, with some sequences moving on just as soon as they arrive. And such editing choices do indeed seem at odds with the mission statement.
So yeah. a great idea handicapped with some strange editing choices. Damn...
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