DEPECHE MODE
SPiRiTS IN THE FOREST
There’s a coherent argument to be made that Depeche Mode’s 1989 tour film 101 invented reality TV, when director DA Pennebaker focused his documentary on the fans who’d won a “Be in Depeche Mode” competition. MTV took note, as 101 inspired The Real World and, well, who knew that Depeche should get royalties for The Real Housewives Of Cheshire?
Regularly working with Anton Corbijn, the spirit of 101 is still there in SPiRiTS IN THE FOREST, though thankfully in the telling of fans’ stories rather than trashy gawpfests. Corbijn’s film was given a cinema release last November, and deservedly so. As it follows six fans from around the world – Ulan Bator, Bogotá, Romania, France, Rio and LA – their stories show there’s no such thing as a (stereo)typical Depeche Mode fan and, more broadly, that it’s stupid to pigeonhole fans of any band or genre.