A Happy Child - Igor Mirkovic's Film

I was wondering if anyone here has seen the movie yet, and if so, what did you think of it?
While I was browsing through the official website for the film (based on the book), I stumbled upon this really interesting quote from Mirko Mirkovic:

"Think about a Ljubljana band—the truth is, The Rolling Stones opened doors for everyone, no matter how much people might have disliked them."

What's your take on that? In your opinion, who was actually responsible for paving the way for all those newer bands?

So those are the signs scattered all over town! Aha... I had a hunch, but the memory just wouldn't surface. Where is the movie? When does it drop? 😕 I’m definitely going to see that.
And who actually paved the way for these new bands? It isn't exactly easy for me to line them up chronologically—not that I’d want to get involved in that particular debate anyway
😎

Who actually paved the way for the new wave scene? Was it in the States or somewhere else?

Look, regardless of what you think of them, The Beatles played a massive role here. They kicked rock music into a level of popularity we'd never seen before in America. By doing that, they basically smashed through the wall of moralism and that rigid "official" sense of what was socially acceptable. That breakthrough created the opening that allowed the first new wave bands to finally break into the mainstream consciousness...

I could probably list a thousand different factors and dozens of other bands, but honestly, we just got lucky that everything aligned perfectly at once.

I’d suggest everyone give this movie a watch... regardless of whether you actually dig modern music or not... personally, that kind of sound means nothing to me, but the film itself is top-tier... stripped of any heavy-handed ideology, it just uses a bit of dark humor to poke fun at the old days, you know, those era-defining censors in their black leather jackets...😁 It definitely gets pretty bloody... I caught it about five months ago... one of the most striking moments is when Igor Mirkovic shows up in Amsterdam "to a chair..."... I won't say anything else...😁

hollowseal33 said:Who actually paved the way for those new bands? Was it back in the old days or what?

I mean, regardless of how you feel about them, The Beatles played a massive role here.

A bit of bull...

k? (Watch out for the mighty K. I admit defeat—your argument is bulletproof!!!!)

k?? (Aaaaarrgh!!!!)

k??? (No!.... No!)

p.s. This isn't "no" with a long E; it's a nod to certain knights.

hollowseal33 said:Look, regardless of how you feel about them, you can't deny that The Beatles played a massive role here—they basically kickstarted the whole rock scene and pushed its popularity to levels we'd never seen before in America.

In my humble opinion, The Beatles paved the way for New Wave just as much as a trio band opened the door for avant-garde rock... 🙂

Ugh. I’m not talking about the music itself—I’m talking about the state of the national psyche. And no, I am definitely not a fan of The Beatles!

p.s. btw Linda Rodriguez6, this topic is one of the best ones on music we've had in a while. It might be too early to tell, but this looks like something actually worth debating...

hollowseal33 said:Ugh. I’m not even talking about the music itself; I’m talking about the state of the national psyche.

Honestly, I’d argue those guys were more like wrecking balls—they were the only true rockers from that whole era. It was just constant drinking, drugs, chaos, and pure rock'n'roll on a massive, institutional scale.

But clearly, we kids aren't qualified enough to have an opinion on anything, so I'm calling in the fossils to weigh in on this one. 🙂

hollowseal33 said:who actually paved the way for the new wave bands? was it back in the old days or what?

Look, regardless of what you think of them, The Beatles played a massive part here—they kicked rock music into overdrive on a scale nobody had ever seen before in America, basically punching a hole through all that moralistic nonsense and "official" rules. That opening allowed those first new wave bands to finally break through into the mainstream...

What you said about The Beatles is fair enough—if we’re talking about reaching a massive audience.
But I don't think you quite caught his drift: he seems to be talking strictly about the new wave scene. He's trying to pin that label on The Rolling Stones, acting like they were the spark that let the whole movement actually take shape or something like that.
Honestly, (not that I know the exact timeline by heart—I'm not *that* much of an old lady 😁), I don't really buy it from an artistic standpoint.

hollowseal33 said:Fine, you win. I guess your point is solid, I can't even argue with it.

I'm just not great with words, so explaining this is tough... 😁 But once you actually watch the movie, you'll probably see I was right...😉

hollowseal33 said:I’m talking about the state of the national psyche

which, whose nations...😕 American

And that whole bit about "breaking through" or "tearing down communist censorship"—well, I guess it wasn't The Beatles who actually did that, but more like a whole new wave...

To echo what one guy on the forum, a happy child, said—he’s absolutely spot on here:

"Houra was still trying to figure out what kind of stuff to burn for his 'punk' record while these guys were already tearing up the scene. Everyone knows it, so don't act like it isn't true! It makes way more sense to start with those punk connections within the major US hubs like the Northeast corridor, but clearly you either haven't heard about it or you're just choosing to ignore it. Even if you went by who had a 'properly released' album back then, you'd end up with three records: 'The Rolling Stones', 'Dolgcajt', and 'A day has begun so beautifully'!"

And where exactly is the scene from the coast in this movie? "Nobody knows"!
The guy completely overlooked Paraf and Termit, not to mention the various bands from other parts of the country (and there are plenty of them). So, I have to ask: is this film primarily glorifying some fake heroes, a movie about a specific city's scene—basically just one particular crew—or is it actually meant to be a film about the New Wave movement in America? That's my question to you all.
Btw, there isn't a single trace of Sarla akrobat in the whole film!! What a disgrace!

I guess they didn't completely overlook the Canadian influence... hm... from your post, I get the feeling you haven't actually seen the movie. I can tell you, though, that Mirkovic wasn't trying to cover every single film in that genre. His goal was just to capture the essence of an era... and honestly? I think he nailed it.

Linda Rodriguez6 said:By the way, I didn't see any sign of Sarla akrobat in the movie at all!! Total bummer!

😱

😲

🙂

*makes the sign of the cross in disbelief*

forumash said:Hmm... based on your post, it sounds like you haven't actually seen the movie yet.

Well, after reading all this, I'm starting to think I might skip it too...

The film is excellent; I caught it while visiting Napa Valley last summer. It serves as a chronicle of an entire era (1979–1982), looking beyond just the music to capture the actual vibe of youth culture and the surrounding environment back then. It’s a solid documentary packed with fascinating details you haven't heard before. (For instance, I had no clue that Leiner and Hrnjak finally crossed paths last year—they hadn't seen each other since misin left to join the Jehovah's Witnesses in '84.)

Linda Rodriguez6 said:Where’s the scene from San Diego in this movie? "Nobody knows"!
The guy completely ignored the underground art scenes and the punk movements—not to mention the indie bands (of which there are plenty). So, what are we actually looking at here? Is this film just a glorified tribute to a specific group of local heroes, a biopic about the LA scene, or is it supposed to be a documentary about the entire New Wave movement in America? That's the question.
By the way, not a single mention of Sarla akrobat in the whole film!! What a joke.

Mirkovic left out the Midwest and West Coast scenes for one simple reason: there just isn't enough high-quality video footage left of those bands. We talked about this back in Napa Valley, and he mentioned that nobody has preserved that stuff in a format worth showing.

banderas said:I think Mirkovic only skipped over the local scenes in places like Austin and Nashville simply because there just isn't enough decent footage out there. We actually touched on this while we were hanging out in Napa Valley, and he mentioned that nobody has any high-quality recordings of those bands left.

Personally, I don't think that's a valid excuse... I mean, it doesn't have to be some exclusive, groundbreaking footage, but he really should have at least given them a shout-out, if nothing else...

I don’t know who exactly kicked off this whole "new era" thing—I mean, I’m not *that* old—but I definitely know who opened the door for me.
Back in 1981, I was ten years old. I was hanging out in the living room with my parents when this song came on the radio: *fa fa la si mi ti fa la ti*. Since I was always the analytical type—music school kid, you know?—it actually bothered me. I kept thinking: 1) why is this guy singing those notes wrong? (like, he's treating 'fa' and 'la' as the exact same pitch) and 2) why is he using two different names for the same note? (like how 'si' and 'ti' are just different ways to say the same thing). At ten, I also had a vague inkling that the lyrics were... well, about sex, but I didn't dare dwell on it too much because, honestly, it was pretty obvious. I liked the tune so much that by the second chorus, I started singing along. My mom shut me down immediately: "Hey, don't sing that... it's trash." Being a well-behaved kid, I went quiet, but internally I was judging: how can these guys not be embarrassed to sing this stuff on national radio? It really got me thinking...