It's now some eight years since the morning we woke up and heard that
Michael Hutchence had died. Whether you had time for the INXS man or
not, there was no doubt the front man was one of the most charismatic and
newsworthy names of the moment, and so his loss was felt in far-reaching
circles.
While INXS have resorted to reality television to try and come up with
his replacement, Hutchence has proved himself to be irreplaceable, and this
documentary explores some of the reasons behind that. Unfortunately what we
don't get is any proper footage of him performing, let alone any band
footage apart from the odd still and interview. Rather, we get music from
the singer's relatively unsuccessful solo album, pleasant enough with its
lighter touch and almost dubby tread in the background, but with no Need
You Tonight, Mystify or New Sensation there's a big hole in the story.
This is possibly a licensing issue, but it may also be a conscious
decision on the part of the film makers to explore their subject's
personality. Here they score heavily, with early footage of Hutchence in
Hong Kong, where he grew up. Chris Thomas, the band's manager,
reveals a few nuggets - particularly alarming is the judgement of Polygram
when declaring there were 'no hits' on the Kick album.
The infamous cab driver incident of 1992 is explored, an altercation
which left Hutchence with a hairline fracture of the skull. It's at this
point the film's trump card is revealed as Michael's dad. Kell
Hutchence speaks with an unwavering tenderness of his son, his gifts,
and the frustration felt by a father when Michael was unable to get back in
touch with him, receiving few of the many messages left to call him. While
Paula Yates is not clearly implicated here, there is a palpable tension in
this section of the interview. To the film makers' credit however they
refuse to employ tabloid speculation, neither on Hutchence's women nor the
ultimate cause of his death.
Kell talks in a relaxed form of Michael's funeral and the unexpected
weather patterns with which it coincided, and in a moving special feature
extra discusses his son's dreams as an actor, not to mention childhood
habits!
The women themselves scarcely feature, which is a shame, although one
short Kylie Minogue clip speaks volumes, the singer speaking of how
Hutchence "took my blinkers off". Band members too are few and far between,
though their occasional frustration at being upstaged by their front person
is all too clear. Most revealing is a brief aside with Hutchence and
Andrew Farriss, the singer declaring, "he's a purist and I'm in to
change".
At times frustrating then, but an affectionate look at Michael Hutchence
through the eyes of people who either truly loved him or who had a lot of
business dealings with him, or both. And no, I don't mean that sort of
business dealing - the subject of drugs receives sensitive treatment
throughout. The film doesn't bring us hugely closer to solving the
Hutchence riddle, but to its credit refuses to preach or condemn.
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