Capital Celluloid 2025 — Day 120: Thu May 1

Slade in Flame (Loncraine, 1975):  BFI Southbank, NFT1, 6pm


The re-release of the rock showbiz drama will finally mean this terrific movie will get the attention it richly deserves. There are a number of screenings at BFI for this movie in May while this special event includes Noddy Holder, director Richard Loncraine and actor Tom Conti on stage for a Q&A.

BFI introduction:
Gritty rather than glam, this incendiary, cult rock-biz classic sizzles its way back to the big screen for its 50th anniversary. Confounding and delighting audiences in equal measure at the height of Slade’s Top Ten pop majesty, Slade in Flame remains a singular rags-to-riches music film. Charting the rise of fictional rock group Flame, with Slade themselves playing the band, it offered a witty, sublimely cynical and warts-and-all inside-view of the music industry circa 1970. And it features a soundtrack stuffed with high-octane Slade boot-stompers. Labelled ‘the Citizen Kane of British pop movies’ by Mark Kermode, it features pitch-perfect performances by Slade, alongside an outstanding early role for Conti, brilliant as an icy businessman hell-bent on making them stars. Newly remastered by the BFI from original film materials, Slade in Flame returns in a blaze of glory.
Vic Pratt

Here (and above) is the trailer.

No comments: