Christopher Petit (director)
BFI (studio)
18 (certificate)
104 min (length)
17 May 2021 (released)
14 May 2021
As far as road movies go, this British ‘cult classic’ from 1979 marks one hell of a slow journey – at times so slow in fact that one must wonder why it was categorized as a road movie in the first place. That’s not to say RADIO ON doesn’t have its moments… for starters, the Anglo-German co-production boasts a killer soundtrack and a very early screen appearance by a young Sting performing an Eddie Cochran song at a Chippenham gas station.
Essentially this b/w film (atmospherically shot by Wim Wender’s assistant cameraman Martin Schäfer) follows Robert (David Beames) – a young man working as a disc jockey at a radio station based at the United Biscuits Network, setting off from London to Bristol in his vintage car (a vehicle that sometimes works and at other times does not). The reason for this road trip is to investigate the suicide of his brother who had lived in Bristol. Along his journey he comes across a motley crew of oddballs though anyone assuming this concept might lead to darkly humorous results in the vein of Jim Jarmusch’s movies will be in for a disappointment. Director Petit clearly attempted to bring a rather bleak 1970s England to the screen (in fact the year the film was made was the year in which Maggie Thatcher forced a vote of no confidence in the Labour Party) and decided to emphasize this bleakness by means of characters who seem as disillusioned and as apathetic as the economic state the land is in.
Driving along the motorway and city streets (often framed by soulless high-rise buildings) his first passenger is a hitchhiker (Andrew Byatt) who turns out to be a loose-as-a-canon Scotsman who has deserted his army post in Northern Ireland and clearly is in need of psychiatric help… Luckily, Robert has a lucky escape when said deserter yells at him to stop by the roadside as he needs a p*** and quickly drives off while the Scot stands in a field relieving himself. This entire scene does nothing for English-Scottish relations it must be said.
Soon after Robert’s car decides it wants to be temperamental tough luck is at hand when he spots a gas station where he makes the acquaintance with ‘Just Like Eddie’ (Sting) – a young lad who works at the station and lives in a nearby caravan. This being Chippenham, the conversation ultimately revolves around American rock ‘n’ roller Eddie Cochran who tragically lost his live in 1960 following a fatal car crash on the Bath Road… with Sting performing Cochran’s hit ‘Three Steps to Heaven’ before Robert continues his road trip.
Eventually arriving in Bristol he’s surprised to find a young woman named Kathy (Sandy Ratcliff) in his dead brother’s apartment, obviously he didn’t even know his brother had a girlfriend! She seems none the wiser as to why her partner decided to kill himself and one gets the impression that Robert doesn’t really care one way or another about the possible reasons. Drifting through a nightly and rainy Bristol, not knowing what to do or where to go he approaches a teenage teddy boy standing in front of a hot dog van and promises the kid he will buy him another hot dog if he tells him some good night spots to hang out in. Quick off the mark the kid takes the money off Robert and directs him towards a ‘really hot’ nightclub but deliberately fails to mention that upon entry a strict dress code is required. Continuing his aimless meanderings around Bristo, Robert then overhears two young German women who seem to be just as lost and whose English language skills are somewhat under par. One of the women, Ingrid (Bavarian actress Lisa Kreuzer) reveals she is searching for her little daughter Alice who is staying with her estranged German husband (who works for an English company somewhere in Bristol). Over the next couple of days Lisa and Robert strike up some sort of loose platonic relationship before embarking on their separate ways - whilst Robert’s car has broken down yet again. Frustrated by the entire experience of his road trip he decides to leave the old banger to rot in a quarry and heads back to London via train.
The film only ever comes into its own during scenes in which its soundtrack is used to clever effect. For example, at the opening shot when a camera slowly pans around Robert’s London apartment we hear David Bowie’s ‘Heroes’ though this being an Anglo-German co-production we also hear Bowie perform the German version ‘Helden’. Or during a later scene when Robert enters a pub/pool hall and ‘Lucky Number’ by Lene Lovich blasts from the loudspeakers. Other artists whose music is featured in the film are Kraftwerk, Ian Drury, Devo and The Rumour. The dialogue is deliberately sparse though the stark monochrome images are all the more powerful, depicting a landscape which has changed considerably since the film was made – this also goes for the political climate of the time. For example, in a scene in which Robert drives under the Westway along London’s Harrow Road a graffiti reading ‘Free Astrid Proll’ is sprayed on a wall… Proll was a member of the notorious Baader-Meinhof gang and had a job in Hackney before being caught by the British police.
RADIO ON is released newly restored on Blu-ray with Bonus Material including various interviews, audio commentary, trailer, Radio On-digital video essay, vintage information films (‘On the Road’) from 1972 and 1975 and the out-of-this world short film ‘Coping with Cupid’ (1991).