Worth: $16.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Röckët Stähr, Abby Ahmad (voices)
Intro:
… if you’re well versed in rock and roll, secretly wish Glam would make a comeback, are a bit of a bolshy and like playing ‘spot the 20th Century pop culture reference’, you will adore this.
This animated rock opera – heavily influenced by glam rock and the 1970s in general – is a feast for the eyes and ears. The animation is bright, bold, fluid and imaginative, while the sounds are stunningly well orchestrated. With a musical style influenced by Queen and the Beatles (amongst others), this ingredient absolutely soars.
The narrative, set during 2164 and 2165, is curious if a little clichéd – it begins with a big gig and the firing of a bullet, then rewinds to show a world under a totalitarian regime, where the church and state have fused. No fun allowed. Creigh A. Tohr, who’s your typical mad scientist, has made his Frankensteinian cloned creation, Röcky Stähr – who looks like a cross between Jimi Hendrix, Marc Bolan from T- Rex and Paul Stanley from Kiss. Platforms, flairs and big hair – Röcky has been built to bring rock and roll back to the youth, but with an added extra: he’s supposed to deliver a large helping of revolutionary politics along with the music.
Röcky is black but with white face make-up, and has four arms that are made (literally) to play a double-necked guitar. He and his band, Children of the Revolution, play their first gig in Boston, where the kids are almost immediately converted to rock and roll, but not at all interested in the politics. Meanwhile, Röcky’s fallen in love at first site with D-cup blonde, Ronnie Way (voiced by Abby Ahmad). And so, begins a rock and roll love story, laced with radical politics…
This is a work that will likely speak to a cult audience as opposed to a broad one – but if you’re well versed in rock and roll, secretly wish Glam would make a comeback, are a bit of a bolshy and like playing ‘spot the 20th Century pop culture reference’, you will adore this. It’s a bit sexist, though (not so much as to ruin the fun), and some religious viewers may feel uncomfortable with certain aspects.
Written, animated and largely performed by the multi-talented Röckët Stähr (who looks like his animated rocker creation minus the big hair), Death of a Rockstar was reportedly 10 years in the making. It’s a work that’s emerged from its influences, which are obvious and everywhere, but paradoxically it’s a bona fide original.
