Maxance Vincent
The one thing you need to know about Will Lovelace and Dylan Southern‘s Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger before buying a ticket is that it’s very loud. Perhaps too loud. But the film doesn’t begin this way. For the first forty minutes or so, screenwriter Steven Knight stages a reunion for the ages between Oasis band members and brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher, who haven’t spoken (or rehearsed together) in about fifteen years.
The aesthetic of this formatted-for-IMAX documentary feels rather essayistic, almost poetic, as Lovelace and Southern don’t seem interested in a traditional “talking heads” format to convey the importance of the band’s reunion. That’s why moments where Noel waits for his brother to show up carry emotional weight. Even viewers unfamiliar with what happened between them will feel tension before the movie kicks into high gear.
Unlike Mat Whitecross‘ Oasis: Supersonic, which explains (in great detail) who Liam and Noel are and what they mean to broader music culture, Don’t Look Back in Anger isn’t necessarily concerned with things already covered in media or the public eye. That’s why the documentary may feel inaccessible to people who don’t really know Oasis’ music (although it’s hard not to know “Wonderwall”) or the brothers themselves. However, cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos creates a visual language so enveloping that it’s hard not to feel something as the brothers reunite and start jamming together.
And yet, the music is the least impressive aspect of Don’t Look Back in Anger. You’ve probably heard these songs before countless times, and maybe you’ll feel some emotional catharsis in seeing Liam and Noel play again, but the most interesting aspects of the documentary are parts that are away from the music. If Supersonic was a movie that wanted to parse the importance of Liam and Noel’s songs, Don’t Look Back in Anger interrogates their music through the eyes of its fans. There are some genuinely soulful and reflexive sequences that occur throughout the Oasis’ reunion tour by focusing on a specific fan and the reason why Liam and Noel’s music speaks so much to them.
Whether it’s a nonspeaking child learning how to communicate, a couple understanding their love better, or simple soccer players riffing an anthem through Oasis’ most popular song, all of them share a common love for the band that feels indelible. It’s part of the reason why the movie works so well, despite its obvious flaws, especially at around two hours and two minutes. While its first half is definitely affecting and puts us in the complicated headspace of both band members, the movie begins to feel repetitive after a while, structured in the same pattern of a performance followed by fan appreciation, and a bit of commentary from both Liam and Noel. The novelty begins to wear out quick for the simple reason that Oasis : Don’t Look Back in Anger is the year’s loudest film.
Fans might appreciate hearing their favorite band play as loud as an actual rock concert, especially on IMAX. But there’s a difference between « booming » and « throbbing, » and the movie unfortunately falls into the latter. There’s so much loudness one can take before it becomes very uncomfortable, and up to a point, I couldn’t wait for this film to end, regardless at how magical it felt to see Liam and Noel perform at the height of their powers. Many years might have gone by since their « breakup » (or since they might be « past their prime, ») but the undeniable truth about Oasis is how timeless their music is. There simply isn’t anything quite like « Wonderwall, » as overplayed as it may be. And there simply isn’t anything quite like how « Champagne Supernova » makes you feel.
By the end of Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger (if your ears weren’t obliterated), the one pressing thought that you might have is that no matter what happens to Liam and Noel Gallagher, their music will always be there to guide us in our lives. They’ve impacted billions of people around the world, and there are billions more who don’t yet exist that will eventually stumble upon one of their songs and have their lives changed forever…
SCORE: ★★★
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