The Blueblack Hussar

One of the biggest pop stars of the 1980s, Adam Ant suffered a nervous breakdown and, he reckons, lost 15 years of creativity after, more than once, being sectioned under the Mental Health Act. Filmed over the course of a year, Jack Bond's documentary takes its cue from his 1965 cinéma vérité film Dali in New York to follow Ant as he tries to rebuild his career by playing small venues to help promote his sixth studio album. Resembling Johnny Depp doing a Russell Brand impression, Ant fizzes with ideas, opinions and wisecracks. He's at his most engaging showing off his purchases after a day's memorabilia shopping in Paris. Encounters with famous friends like Mark Ronson, Charlotte Rampling and artist Allen Jones may be staged, but confirm the esteem in which he is held. While old fans may feel a bit short-changed on the nostalgia front, Bond rightly concentrates on the new material and Ant's new persona, the Blueblack Hussar, whose live shows are splendidly eclectic and occasionally electrifying.