Live Forever

Putting the brief but indelible British pop phenomenon of the 1990s into a fascinating social and political context, filmmaker John Dower's Live Forever draws on extensive interviews with musicians, critics, and sundry observers, ultimately crediting years of Thatcherism and cultural complacency for a climate of restlessness in which important bands such as Blur, Pulp and, above all, Oasis (they were, in the words of one witness, "their own nation-state") arose. Offering insights into lyrical nuances and topical references that made their way into key songs, this lively documentary looks at how England was experiencing an overall burst of creative reinvention in the '90s, from the films of Mike Leigh to the ascension of Tony Blair, once a rock musician himself. Recommended. (T. Keogh)