Richard Lowenstien directs Michael Hutchence, Kylie Minogue and Paula Yates in this found footage documentary following the life, lovers and decline of the INXS frontman.
INXS was my very much one of my sister’s bands but I have nostalgia for their bangers… of which they have enough to earn their place in pop history. This documentary by a friend of the subject is strange in that rather than being a celebration as intended it feels a collection of backhanded compliments focussing on the failures, tragedies and misfires rather than the hits. While it tries to paint a positive portrait of Hutchence and justify some of his worst behaviour and poor reputation, it unwittingly only proves the case for his diminished standing. Worst yet the hits are skipped over like distractions. Only very candid footage of an incognito romantic interlude with Kylie in the Orient has the right mixture of intimacy, heat and glamour that these muso documentaries need to fascinate us and humanise their subjects.
5