THE BEE GEES: HOW CAN YOU MEND A BROKEN HEART
US, 2020, 111 minutes, Colour.
Directed by Frank Marshall.
How can you mend a broken heart is one of the Bee Gee’s immediately recognisable songs. But, as this pleasing documentary highlights, there are so many others. And, of course, the film begins and ends with Stayin’ Alive.
This is a film about the Bee Gees and their career, their music. It is not a film about their personal lives, though indication of their family bonding, the move from the Isle of Man to Queensland, the return to the UK, the role of their parents, their father as manager, the younger brother, Andy, and his career and their making him part of the ensemble in 1988 (with a brief indication about his drug use and the regrets about his heart attack and death at the age of 30). There is some information about the marriages of each of the Bee Gees, some quotations from some of their wives. But, this is not a film about gossip.
Which means that there is a great emphasis on each of the three brothers and their personalities, Barry the oldest and something of a surrogacy-father during their careers, the twins Robin and Maurice, Barry with the strong voice, discovering his falsetto, Robin and his genial personality and harmony, Maurice and his ability to harmonise.
The Bee Gees came in the aftermath of the Beatles’ breakup. And, while the Beatles still dominate musical memory, this documentary indicates the worldwide popularity of the Bee Gees, emerging at the end of the 1960s, coming into their own during the 1970s, and, of course, disco. There are some details about Robert Stigwood becoming their manager, his commissioning a film that would become Saturday Night Fever, the time in a French château and composing the score, the melodies, their collaborators with techniques to enhance the soundtrack. And, then the extraordinary success of the film, the records, Grammy…
But, the film also includes an event in 1979, in Comiskey Park, Chicago, where a DJ held a rally, “Disco Sucks�. Participants were invited to bring a disco disc, their all being collected and then exploded. Meanwhile, the Bee Gees were on tour, but this anti-disco mood had some effect, but actually led to them reasserting themselves, and further collaboration with a great number of singers from Barbra Streisand to Celine Dion. (And one commentator on the Comiskey Park episode notes that it was started by someone whose name I have already forgotten!).
The Bee Gees certainly had strong life after disco, some performances but exercising their skills as songwriters.
The film indicates the sadness of deaths, Andy at 30, Maurice with complications from surgery in 2002, Robin dying of cancer in 2012. But, Barry is interviewed extensively throughout the film, and is seen singing, falsetto and Stayin’ Alive at Glastonbury in 2017, age 70.
The lives of the Bee Gees did not make headlines like those of other groups and of The Beatles. They had their problems, a breakup when they were very young at the end of the 1960s, but reuniting and having a 30 year successful career.
The film runs for just under two hours and cannot include everything. Some bloggers list the songs and events that are not included. Interesting to note that Sylvester Stallone’s sequel to Saturday Night Fever, Stayin’ Alive (1983) does not get a mention.
The film was directed by veteran producer, especially with Steven Spielberg over the decades, Frank Marshall. It is a tribute film – but highly enjoyable for those interested in the history of popular music in the latter part of the 20th century. It will probably be a surprise to many audiences who don’t see themselves as music aficionados as they recognise so many of the Bee Gees songs.
