The Sparks Brothers (2021) – Helsinki International Film Festival - Love & Anarchy

Sparks, the musical entity invented and fronted by Ron and Russell Mael, is sometimes rock, sometimes pop, sometimes art song, always idiosyncratic. They’re a cult band with an ever-renewing cult and a career that spans 50 years. The Sparks Brothers, an energetic documentary directed by Edgar Wright, explains their appeal in part by emphasizing how it cannot be explained.

Glenn Kenny, The New York Times

The question of who Sparks are, and why they never broke out in a larger way is central to the new documentary The Sparks Brothers. Filmmaker Edgar Wright (Baby Driver, Shaun of the Dead) gathered a large cabal of Sparks’ famous fans – Beck, Flea, Björk, Mike Myers, “Weird Al,” two Duran Durans, Todd Rundgren, Jack Antonoff, and many others – and a few not-so-famous fans, and paired their observations with those of the Mael brothers for an in-depth, sometimes too exhaustive recitation of the Sparks story. It turns out, the reasons why Sparks never caught on are about as complicated as one of their songs.

Kory Grow, Rolling Stone

Theme: Of Arts and Artists
Country: United Kingdom
Director: Edgar Wright
Starring: Ron Mael, Russell Mael, Beck
Production: George Hencken, Nira Park, Laura Richardson / Focus Features, Media Rights Capital, Complete Fiction
Duration: 130 min
Age limit: K12

Language: English
Subtitles: N/A
Distribution: Finnkino
Cinematography: Jake Polonsky
Editing: Paul Trewartha
Make-up: Chloe Edwards