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Karaoke Soul

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by Liam Tullberg
Set in a bleak Lancashire town, Joshua Neale's Karaoke Soul focuses on three people for whom daily life offers little pleasure, and who each seek solace in Saturday night karaoke.

For Peter, life slipped into a downward spiral when his eyesight began to deteriorate and his company made him redundant, his self-esteem and marriage suffering drastically in consequence. 'I sing a song to say how I feel,' he later confides to camera. 'Sometimes it's easier than talking.'

It's this attitude that unites the three very different individuals at the centre of the film and reinforces the sense that, throughout everything, hope prevails.

Laura, a 20-year-old mother of three, dreams of her children living beyond the grim council estate limits. Pushing the buggy along the road, she leads the filmmakers to an area in which she aspires for her family to have 'the best': a concept so alien that she can't even define it. 'Do you think you'll ever live here?' she's asked, and, from her flat negative response, it's hard to believe this is the same girl whose voice soars when singing a song so appropriate for her situation: Somewhere Over The Rainbow.

When Paul's wife walked out on him and their two young sons, he was forced to leave his job in the mill in order to raise them alone. Now at the ages of nineteen and twenty, Luke and Simon argue constantly and take their anger out on his home and possessions. When he's had all he can take of his pressurised environment, Paul finds himself at the karaoke machine. 'I'm not a confident person,' he says. 'But when I get on the mic, I change.'

It's through the juxtaposition of these different selves that Karaoke Soul excels. Intercutting individual narratives with their musical counterparts, the film is a poignant account of unseen lives that are returned to after last orders are called and the song has been sung.
Dir. Joshua Neale, UK, 24 mins
Karaoke Soul screens at this year's Sheffield Doc/Fest on Friday 9th November, 5.45pm and on Channel 4 on the 30th November at 7.30pm

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