CRITICA CINEMATOGRÁFICA EN INGLÉS, ESCRITA EN 2008

FILM REVIEW:
STING AND BRING ON THE NIGHT
By Emilio Sánchez
September 2008

Bring On The Night is a 1985 film from director Michael Apted, which shows the genesis and creation of Sting’s first band after having been a member of The Police. This one was formed with African-American jazz musicians, which was a risk yet a challenge at that time since it paired Sting, a british rock musician, with these new band members, and vice-versa, creating one of the most interesting musical experiments ever shown on film and heard on record.

The band, aside from Sting on guitar and lead vocals, consisted of the following members:

- Bassist Darryl Jones, who would interestingly become a member of the Rolling Stones’ backing band years later.

- Drummer Omar Hakim, known for his work with the legendary jazz-fusion band Weather Report.

- The late pianist/keyboardist Kenny Kirkland, who came from Miles Davis’s group.

- Saxophonist Branford Marsalis,son of jazz pianist Ellis Marsalis and brother of trumpeter Wynton Marsalis.

- Background vocalists Dolette McDonald, who had previously toured with The Police, and Janice Pendarvis, who would accompany Sting in his solo career on many occasions.

The reactions that came when the band was ready to record, rehearse and perform, were interesting. On one side, as Sting would later describe it in his book Lyrics by Sting, the jazz line-up of the group “(…) caused some friction with Branford’s brother, Wynton, who, apart from losing two of his band, thought they were selling out by playing with a pop musician like myself.” (Sting 99) Kirkland’s point of view, as expressed in the film, was: “I’m sure some people – some real purists, jazz people – don’t like the idea of us doing this, but I have another attitude about that you know? I think if you’re a musician you should try to play whatever you can play. You should try to cover all of music.” This was probably the attitude of Sting and the rest of the band as well; therefore, they rehearsed in an ancient French castle, where they prepared for their debut at the Théatre Mogador in Paris. The creation process as it leads to the final product, is what is shown in this film, where Sting says: “Most rock films are made about bands when they’re at the peak of their career or when they’re finished – it’s The Last Waltz (the classic Martin Scorsese film that shows the final performance by The Band), or Let it Be (the film that shows The Beatles as they were coming to their own end). I can’t think of a film that is about a band starting off, beginning.” Therefore, Bring On The Night was made.

Now, it is understandable that, at this band was new, they would have to play songs from the album that they had just finished, The Dream of the Blue Turtles, which is why we hear tunes like the now classic “If You Love Somebody Set Them Free”, the catchy “Fortress Around Your Heart”, the jazz instrumental that serves as title track to the album – which we hear as Sting and the band are photographed for around Paris for the album and the concert poster, by an unusual but undeniably spontaneous photographer – or the anti-cold war ballad “Russians”. However, as Sting came from The Police, it was also important and necessary for the old fans to hear the already famous material. Perhaps that is why the film opens with the band performing a soaring medley which starts off with the song after which the film is named, and then leads to another Police song – “When the World Is Running Down”, from this author’s favorite Police album, 1980’s Zenyatta Mondatta, which includes another song reinterpreted by this band, “Driven To Tears”, being complemented by Sting and Branford’s guitar, vocals and saxophone rendition of “Roxanne”. If not enough, the show at the Mogador opens with “Shadows in the Rain” and ends with Sting’s encore performance of “Message in a Bottle”, which is preceded by a rocking, yet jazzy version of “Demolition Man”. Therefore, Sting and the band manage to find the perfect balance between the new songs and the classic ones.

However, not all of the band members were originally musicians. Janice says: “One of the main things that I did before I was singing, was [that] I was a junior high school English teacher (…)”, which makes quite a contrast when compared to Dolette’s past, since she says: “I was a receptionist in a house of prostitution.” Sting himself was not a musician by profession, he was a school teacher, and he says: “One of the great things about my life is that I haven’t the faintest idea what I’ll be doing in a year’s time. One of the reasons I left teaching was that it was very easy to see the next ten years of my life. I could become the deputy headmaster and I could almost see the way I would look and the way I would behave and then ten years beyond that, I’d become the headmaster in this little school. And that was a nightmare. I much prefer not knowing what’s around the corner.” Maybe Sting’s beliefs are what lead to another key point in the film: the birth of his first son.

Throughout the film, Sting’s then-girlfriend and now-wife, Trudie Styler, is shown pregnant, and the band places bets on the date of birth. Sting wins the bet since Trudie goes into labor on the day of the concert at the Mogador where, before going to the hospital and shortly before the band goes on stage, Trudie stops backstage, where Dolette wishes her good luck, and Branford, with intentions to do the same, tries to say “Break a leg”, but as he remembers her current state, he ends up saying “Break a water main”. Finally, we see Sting after the concert, at the hospital, witnessing the birth of his son John, which is shown on screen.

Also important is the band’s sense of humor, which reflects on Sting, who is more likely to be seen in a serious and sober mood when in public. We see it during a rehearsal, when Branford grabs an edition of the London Mirror and reads an article about Sting in the following humorous way: “The Festival of Britain was in full swing. A general election was around the corner, but for Ernie and Audrey Sumner, the big event in life was the birth of their UGLY baby boy in 1951, Gordon Sumner[1].” This sense of humor is also present when the band is having lunch and Janice mockingly asks Darryl what he wants to be when he grows up, to which he answers “I want to be like a Las Vegas singer”, and is joined by Branford in a funny, spontaneous version of “New York, New York”, in which they imitate the style of the classic Vegas entertainer, be it Frank Sinatra or Liza Minnelli.


Taking into account all the factors previously mentioned, in my opinion, Bring On The Night is an excellent concert film. Peter Stack from the San Francisco Chronicle, referred to it by saying: “It’s a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at a band in the act of creating music”. To me, it is that and much more. It is a fantastic look at a band in the act and art of living.


WORKS CITED:

1) Sting, Lyrics by Sting. 1st Ed. New York: The Dial Press, 2007.
2) Bring On Tbe Night, A film by Michael Apted, A&M Records, 2005.
3) "PRESS RELEASE USA - BRING ON THE NIGHT DVD." StingUs. StingUs. 24 Sep 2008 http://www.stingus.net/sting_the_police_andy_summers_stewart_copeland_news_comments.php?id=840_0_2_0_C.

[1] Gordon Sumner is Sting’s real name.

Copyright 2009 Emilio Sánchez Enterprises Inc.