Telstar (3½ Stars)

This is the true story of the English music producer Joe Meek, based on his life from 1961 to 1967. He was a true innovator in the music industry, but also a tragic character. Before him all recordings were made live in the studio. What I mean is, a group played a song together, and if one of the musicians slipped up or the singer hit a bad note the whole song had to be recorded again. Meek was the first person to record the different instruments on different tracks and mix them together. It seems so obvious to us today, but it was new at the time and took a few years to catch on with other producers.

Unlike other producers, Meek worked at home. The musicians recorded in his living room, his bedroom and even his bathroom. Considering the chaotic atmosphere of his recordings, as shown in the film, the recording quality was amazingly good. He had a session band called the Tornadoes that he used as the backing group for different singers, but they also had hits in their own right. In particular "Telstar", which was recorded in 1962 and sold over five million copies. Unfortunately a French composer sued Meek for copying the song from him, so he never received any money from the sales. The court case was settled in Meek's favour, but not until three weeks after his death, so Meek died penniless.

Joe Meek had a difficult life. He was a homosexual in a time when homosexuality was illegal. Towards the end of his life he became increasingly paranoid, convinced that his enemies had bugged his apartment. On February 3rd 1967 he killed himself after shooting his landlady. Despite dying at the young age of 37, his musical legacy remains.

As for the film, it's a problem to me. It seems disjointed. In the first half it's a comedy, focusing on Meek's chaotic lifestyle. In the second half the mood turns dark as we follow Meek's mental decline. Another problem with the film is that in the first half we don't really know who Joe Meek is. He's suddenly thrust on us, and we don't understand his motivation or his character. It would have been better if we could have seen 15 to 20 minutes of his earlier life to introduce him. It wasn't until the second half that I began to have a feeling for him. I would give the first half of the film 2 stars and the second half 4½ stars, so I'll average out my rating at 3½ stars.

Click here to view the trailer.