Gary Numan: Android in La La Land is screening in selected UK cinemas throughout September and we think it's a must-see. Here's why…
‘We all can dance when we find music that we love’ There’s a moment in this honest and affectionate film about Gary Numan that captures perfectly the gentle soul behind the cold robotic image that the synth pioneer became famous for – albeit very briefly – in the late 1970s and early 1980s – when he crafted the hit electro-pop tunes Are 'Friends' Electric? and Cars.
Gary is reading to his daughter Raven from a children’s book about a lonely giraffe called Gerald who learns to embrace his brilliance. It’s a story that matches Numan's own outsider journey, one that has seen him battle years of rejection and mental illness with drive and determination and, most significantly, with the help of the love of a good woman. In Gary’s case, it is his wife Gemma, who has not only given him a loving family (daughters Raven, Persia and Echo), but has supported him through all the highs and lows (including stage fright, depression, and a fall out with his parents).
Their tight-knit relationship, which started out when Gemma was a teenage fan girl, is core to the film’s unapologetic honesty. The film also allows audiences to get inside the creative mind of the Godfather of electronic pop music as he moves the family from the UK to California to put the final touches to Splinter, his first album since 1983. As played out in the film, this labour of love would eventually reach the UK Top 20 on its release in October 2013 – earning Numan the praise and accolades from the very people who had for so long belittled his career.
You certainly do not need to be a fan of Gary Numan or his music to get totally absorbed in this captivating film, which can also be read as a real-life fairy tale, one in which a self-confessed geek and loner conquered his demons to recognise his own brilliance.
Gary Numan: Android in La La Land is screening in selected UK cinemas throughout September. Check out the website for more details: http://www.numandroid.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qr1uWKlg4sU
