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Wham! (film)

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Wham!
Cinema release poster
Directed byChris Smith
Produced by
Starring
Edited by
  • Gregor Lyon
Music by
  • Tim Atack
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 17 June 2023 (2023-06-17) (DocFest)
  • 27 June 2023 (2023-06-27) (United Kingdom)
  • 5 July 2023 (2023-07-05) (Netflix)
Running time
92 minutes[3]
Country
  • United Kingdom[4]
LanguageEnglish

Wham! is a 2023 documentary film about the English pop duo Wham! consisting of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. The film marks the 40th anniversary of their 1983 debut album Fantastic. It was directed by Chris Smith and relies primarily on rare archive footage and audio interviews by the duo, including television appearances, concert footage, private home video and behind-the-scenes outtakes and family comments all linked together using scrapbooks created by Ridgeley's mother.[5] A British venture, the Netflix film was co-produced by Ventureland / Passion Pictures, Nemperor Production and Library Films with Altitude Film and Netflix serving as distributors.[6][7][8]

Wham! had its world premiere at the Sheffield DocFest on 17–18 June 2023 and was given a limited theatrical release in the United Kingdom on 27 June, by Altitude Film. It was released worldwide to stream on 5 July 2023 on Netflix. It received generally positive reviews from critics.[9]

Synopsis

Wham! begins with Ridgeley and Michael who first met at Bushey Meads School in 1975 when they were 12 and 11 years old, respectively. It covers the journey of the pop duo featuring private home video and never-before-seen archive footage. The film is all framed together using a large series of scrapbooks with articles and photos documented by Ridgeley's mother throughout the film. It discusses how they put together their first demo tape with a full version of "Wham Rap!" and a portion of "Careless Whisper" recorded in Ridgeley's front room, eventually signing a record deal with Innervision Records in March 1982.

A turning point for the band after the release of their first single "Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)" which stalled in the official UK charts, was an appearance of Top of the Pops in November 1982 performing "Young Guns (Go for It)" which rose in the charts to number 3. By 1984, Wham! discuss the big success of their first number 1 single "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" and how Michael was inspired by a note that Ridgeley had left on his bedroom door for his mum to wake him up the next morning. Ridgeley wrote "Wake me up up before you go" by mistake, then added "go go".

The film ends with new alternative music video footage of "I'm Your Man", with the song playing over the credits.

Production

George Michael (left) and Andrew Ridgeley (right), c. 1985

Development

The initial concept for a documentary film was when Ridgeley contacted co-producer Simon Halfon about the idea, around the same time as Ridgeley’s 2019 memoir Wham! George & Me. Halfon then pitched the project to Kate Townsend, the VP for original feature documentaries at Netflix and John Battsek.[10][11] In June 2022, it was announced that a documentary film about the band Wham! was in production and had the official support of Ridgeley, with Chris Smith signed on to direct. The official social media of Ridgeley and Michael announced and asked the public for any footage they may have.[12]

In the early stages of the project, Smith said that he approached it with the possibility of using on-screen interviews, however, during the editing process, Smith had decided to use the archival audio of Michael with a new audio commentary from Ridgeley. A number of days were spent in Ridgeley's studio during the recording.[13] According to Smith, one of the biggest surprises were the scrapbooks (around 50), that Ridgeley's mother put together documenting the entire four years.[14][15]

Among the tapes of archival footage of varying quality discovered and located by the team was a VHS tape of their 1983 Hammersmith Odeon concert from the Club Fantastic Tour owned by Wham! bass player Dave West. This was found not long before the film's completion.[16]

Music

Composer Tim Atack was in charge of the film's musical score. Studio cut excerpts used and concert footage of the following tracks in order:

Release

Wham! held its world premiere at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England for the 30th Sheffield DocFest on 17 June 2023 with a Q&A session after the screening with the film's director Chris Smith and Wham! member Andrew Ridgeley, both via video call. On 18 June it was given another DocFest preview at the Showroom Cinema’s Warner Chappell Production Music screen.[17] An advanced BAFTA screening followed on 20 June 2023 with Smith, Halfon, Battsek, Ridgeley and Wham! backing singer Shirlie Holliman in attendance for a Q&A session hosted Anna Higgs at BAFTA's Piccadilly headquarters in London.[18] Further screenings with Smith in attendance followed in June at the Paris Theater in Manhattan and early July at the Bay Theater in Palisades Village, Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles.[19]

Wham! was released theatrically on 27 June 2023, in the United Kingdom by Altitude Film Distribution and was released on Netflix on 5 July 2023.

Marketing

An official trailer was released on 15 June 2023 and featured the songs "Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)" and "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go".[20]

Audience viewership

According to Netflix, Wham! was watched by 4.4 million people in its first five days of digital release worldwide in any language and ranked 8th for the most watched TV and film.[21] It was the most-watched film in the United Kingdom debuting at number one for the week 3 July to 9 July 2023.[22] It also reached the top ten most-viewed film/TV list in 23 countries during the same week including Ireland, Greece, Cyprus, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, Malta, Iceland, Belgium, Netherlands and Canada.[23]

Reception

Critical response

Upon its premiere at the 2023 Sheffield DocFest, the film received positive reviews from critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 89% of 37 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.0/10. The website's consensus reads: "While Wham! may mostly appeal to those familiar with shoulder pads and cassette tapes, it's hard not to swing along to this tribute pop-umentary about George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley."[24][25] On Metacritic, the film holds a weighted average score of 74 out of 100 based on 14 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[26]

Screen International film critic Fionnuala Halligan wrote "The quality is far above the norm for this type of memoir assemblage, even if the substance is full of air bubbles..."[27] In a positive 4/5 star review for the London Evening Standard, El Hunt called it an "illuminating film" with it being "Cleverly stitched together and drawing on a vast archive of audio recordings, their narrative does not shy away from reappraising the band’s past and even calling themselves out."[28] Wendy Ide from The Guardian gave the film 4 stars out of 5, said "The film, which creates a dialogue between recent interviews with Ridgeley and older archive recordings of Michael, pays tribute to the close bond between the two Bushey Meads school friends who found themselves living the dream."[29] Nick Hilton of The Independent was critical of the film for "Wham! inadvertently becomes a music documentary without much interest in music. Like the band themselves, this is a breezy watch, but if there's profundity beneath the perms and the cut-offs, the film struggles to find it.", rating the film two of five stars.[30]


The Sydney Morning Herald’s Robert Moran felt that "a documentary as bright as the band’s short-shorts and as satisfying as their enduring hits."[31] San Francisco Chronicle’s, Mick LaSalle described it "“Wham!” tells a sweet story", he continued "but also a goofy and entertaining one, because these guys were more ’80s than anybody, more even than “Miami Vice” and Duran Duran." giving it 3 out of 4 marks.[32] Chicago Sun-Times's Richard Roeper summed up the film as "The end result is a feel-good documentary about a feel-good band who were never destined for a decades-long run but had one hell of a good time dancing at the top of the pop charts for a few crazy years."; he rated the film three of four stars.[33] Kevin Harley, writing for the Radio Times gave 3 stars, saying "While the film can seem somewhat shallow, it works best as a warmly nostalgic celebration of fleeting youth and friendship."[34] Debiparna Chakraborty from Best of Netflix gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars, writing "...the documentary acts as a vehicle for nostalgia, celebrating the effervescence of youth and the mercurial nature of fame."[35] Christy Lemire of RogerEbert.com wrote, "a total blast, regardless of your level of fandom. On the most superficial level, it’s just a joy to relive this time of pop culture excess and sing along with these insanely catchy tunes."[36]

See also

References

  1. ^ Halligan, Fionnuala (17 June 2023). "'WHAM!': Sheffield Review". Screendaily. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  2. ^ "'Wham!' Documentary To Make World Premiere At Sheffield, As DocFest Reveals 30th Edition Lineup". Deadline. 10 May 2023. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  3. ^ "Wham!". British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). June 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  4. ^ Halligan, Fionnuala (17 June 2023). "'WHAM!': Sheffield Review". Screendaily. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  5. ^ "Wham's story as told by the duo, Andrew Ridgely and the late George Michael". NPR. 5 July 2023.
  6. ^ Halligan, Fionnuala (17 June 2023). "'WHAM!': Sheffield Review". Screendaily. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  7. ^ "'Wham!' Documentary To Make World Premiere At Sheffield, As DocFest Reveals 30th Edition Lineup". Deadline. 10 May 2023. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  8. ^ "Wham!". Sheffield DocFest. June 2023. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  9. ^ Halligan, Fionnuala (17 June 2023). "'WHAM!': Sheffield Review". Screendaily. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  10. ^ Staff, MusicWeek (3 July 2023). "Andrew Ridgeley launches Wham!'s catalogue renaissance". Music Week. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  11. ^ Eames, Tom (29 June 2023). "Wham documentary is 'a story of friendship': Director Chris Smith reveals how he made the Netflix film". Smooth Radio. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  12. ^ Edwards, Chris (7 June 2022). "New Wham! documentary featuring Andrew Ridgeley in the works". NME. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  13. ^ Eames, Tom (29 June 2023). "Wham documentary is 'a story of friendship': Director Chris Smith reveals how he made the Netflix film". Smooth Radio. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  14. ^ Staff, MusicWeek (3 July 2023). "Andrew Ridgeley launches Wham!'s catalogue renaissance". Music Week. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  15. ^ Eames, Tom (29 June 2023). "Wham documentary is 'a story of friendship': Director Chris Smith reveals how he made the Netflix film". Smooth Radio. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  16. ^ Eames, Tom (29 June 2023). "Wham documentary is 'a story of friendship': Director Chris Smith reveals how he made the Netflix film". Smooth Radio. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  17. ^ "Wham!". Sheffield DocFest. June 2023. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  18. ^ "BAFTA Screening: WHAM! Photocall and Q&A". Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  19. ^ "The Paris Theater". Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  20. ^ Blistein, Jon (15 June 2023). "Friendship and Creative Fire Fuel Wham!'s World-Conquering Pop in New Doc Trailer". Rollingstone. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  21. ^ Maglio, Tony (13 July 2023). "Netflix's 'Wham!' Documentary Put the Boom-Boom Into My Heart". IndieWire. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  22. ^ Clover, Julian (13 July 2023). "Wham! doc leads Netflix UK most watched films list". Broadband TV News. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  23. ^ "Top 10 By Country: Weekly Top 10 lists of the most watched TV and films in countries around the world (UK)". Netflix. 9 July 2023. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  24. ^ "Wham!". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  25. ^ "WHAM!". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  26. ^ "Wham! Reviews". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  27. ^ Halligan, Fionnuala (17 June 2023). "'WHAM!': Sheffield Review". Screendaily. Media Business Insight. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  28. ^ Hunt, El (23 June 2023). "WHAM! documentary review: there's a refreshing lack of hyperbole". Evening Standard. Evening Standard Ltd. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  29. ^ Ide, Wendy (25 June 2023). "Wham! review – the truth behind the mahogany tans and catchy songs". The Guardian. The Guardian. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  30. ^ Hilton, Nick (6 July 2023). "Wham! review: Netflix doc is a missed opportunity that plays like a greatest hits album". The Independent. Independent Digital News & Media Ltd. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  31. ^ Moran, Robert (3 July 2023). "A sharp look at a pop band that parted at its peak, without resentment". The Sydney Morning Herald. Nine Entertainment Co. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  32. ^ LaSalle, Mick (4 July 2023). "In 'Wham!' documentary, friendship triumphs over showbiz". San Francisco Chronicle. Hearst Communications. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  33. ^ Roeper, Richard (4 July 2023). "If you're gonna do a Wham! documentary, do it right — like Netflix did". Chicago Sun-Times. Chicago Public Media. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  34. ^ Harley, Kevin (22 June 2023). "WHAM!". Radio Times. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  35. ^ "'Wham!' review: An ode to friendship in the murky world of showbiz". best-of-netflix.com. 4 July 2023. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  36. ^ Lemire, Christy (5 July 2023). "Wham! movie review & film summary (2023)". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
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