Pulp: a Film about Life, Death and Supermarkets

Pulp's final show of their 2012 reunion tour is given an unorthodox spin in this documentary from New Zealand film-maker Florian Habicht. The director complements Jarvis Cocker's songs about the experiences of everyday folk with interviews with the people of Sheffield in an attempt to instil his work with a similar earthy lyricism. The ploy doesn't always work and tends to sideline the band, but there are some amusing moments, although having a women's choral society and assorted pensioners singing Pulp songs is no substitute for the real thing. Footage from the gig itself finds the band on roof-raising form, and there's an interesting parallel to a grainily filmed set from 1988 - another farewell show of sorts, shot on the eve of the band leaving Sheffield for London in search of success. Fame did come with the release of Common People in 1995, but the ever-droll Jarvis reveals how instant celebrity didn't sit comfortably with him, likening it to "a nut allergy". The other members of the group also dwell on the murkier days of their chart-unfriendly This Is Hardcore period in the late 90s, but Habicht frustratingly makes little attempt to catalogue Pulp's history in any depth. According to Jarvis, the reunion concerts were a way of tidying up Pulp's affairs after the band's disintegration ten years earlier. Those looking for the film to tie up similar loose ends may feel less satisfied.