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Review

A star rating of 3 out of 5.

Whether film-maker Julien Temple is piecing together the story of the Sex Pistols, Ray Davies or Glastonbury, his documentaries are always passion projects. This illuminating history of the Balearic island Ibiza begins 500 million years ago, when Africa and Europe collided, and volcanic eruptions are intercut with DJ pyrotechnics - the film-maker's first of many visual rhymes. Much of the fact-packed history proves a gift: the Phoenicians, arriving in 654 BC, brought their god of dance, who turns out to be called Bes - close enough to Bez, dancer and maraca-shaker with rave band Happy Mondays to cast him as a pagan spirit. Nostradamus noted, "Ibiza will be the final refuge on Earth," and we are persuaded that this land mass a third of the size of London is more than an outline on a map. Scantily clad revellers at super-clubs illustrate the caption, "spirituality and sunsets are turned into money,", while Temple illuminates the island through Homer's Odyssey, Hannibal (cue: clip of Victor Mature in the 1959 movie), Moors, Catalan invaders, Guernica, Dadaists, beatniks and finally those nightclub tourists (100,000 in 1965 rose to four million by the mid-90s). Some of the dramatic reconstructions stray into Crimewatch territory and the emojis are a bit "trendy dad", but the story has a pull as elemental as the island itself.

How to watch

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Credits

Cast

rolename
BesBez
TanitClaire Davis
HausmannCathal Smyth
Fatboy SlimFatboy Slim

Crew

rolename
DirectorJulien Temple

Details

Theatrical distributor
Essential Nitrate WK Ibiza Ltd
Released on
2019-07-05
Languages
English
Guidance
Swearing, nudity, drug abuse
Formats
Colour
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