Fine, you hate “Wonderwall” because the song has taken on a life of its own at this point when every dude with an acoustic guitar plays it at every party and it somehow becomes a drunken sing-a-long. But it’s still a top tune. You don’t like Noel and Liam Gallagher because one time they insulted your favorite band. Guess what? They have insulted every single thing under the sun from Kaiser Chiefs to the Royal Family, so really your dislike for them based on one insult how many ever years ago that they probably forgot they made is a little misplaced. Are they both incredibly over confident and a bit full of themselves? Yes, well you would be, too, if your band reached the heights that Oasis did, but also, the Gallaghers are also fairly self-aware in some ways about their attitude towards fame and success.
If you are a fan of Oasis, though, you need to see Supersonic. You have already exhausted every single compilation article of the Gallagher's best quotes and watched Noel's commentary on Oasis videos at least once a week, and like Noel with happiness and fame in the 90’s, you want more. Director Mat Whitecross created two hours of the formation and rise to fame of Oasis from their early rehearsals around 1992 and eventual signing to their two huge shows at Knebworth where they played to 250,000 people over two days in 1996. Even though the documentary only covers four years the band’s life that were most likely the best of their career, it does also feature moments of uncertainty and chaos in the band. Supersonic provides a rounded look that even during the height of their career, things seemed like they could fall apart at any second.
A quote praising the movie from a reviewer on the poster outside the theater called Supersonic “Biblical,” which was not far off given Liam and Noel were making referenced likening themselves to “Able and Cable” (meaning Able and Cain) less than 15 minutes in. The opening shots of the movie tease the immense Knebworth shows before tracking back in time to the Gallagers early years before forming Oasis with Bonehead (Paul Arthurs), Guigsy (Paul McGuigan), and Tony McCarroll. What follows is all the chance encounters that Oasis go through before meeting Alan McGee from Creation Records who would eventually sign them. From there, things only go up and up (unfortunately also the name of a Coldplay song that Noel recently played guitar on) for the band’s career while relations within the band due to preexisting tensions and the addition of drugs bend back and forth.
Prior to the film’s release, a scene of Liam singing “Champagne Supernova” during the recording of (What’s the Story?) Morning Glory became popular online because of how amazing it was to watch Liam sing the song so perfectly in one take. Also, he does it so casually. He hears Noel play the song once and bangs out the vocals. You can never get over watching songs that have taken on such a huge presence recorded in such a calm and casual manner. The clip doesn’t show it, but once he finishes the take, he just says “mad for it,” and then leaves to watch the football game. Insane. Also, it goes without saying that the interviews with both Noel and Liam are filled with so many gems of quotes that there were too many to even try and keep track of while watching.
The crowd at Knebworth, 1996.
One of the best methods Whitecross uses in telling the Oasis story is animation. Throughout Supersonic, only audio interviews are utilized over archival footage, and instead of just having a talking head relay a story where footage is missing, amazing animation is put in place instead. There is a great story about a wild ferry ride where animation and footage is spliced together with the interviews, and then animation that can only be described as super cool is used for a studio fight. The animation is well done and feels natural in Supersonic. Another fascinating thing to me was just how much old footage there was available of Oasis from even before their signing of tiny gigs, like their one at King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut, to random bits of them at home and phone calls.
Even though the subject has been discussed exhaustively by this point, it was surprising that the Blur feud did not feature in the movie. Even though their class was not at the center of the discussion, a few comments were made here and there by Noel and Liam as well as their mother Peggy, who is the real hero of Supersonic, about them just being lads from council housing. Chart battles aside, it was that sentiment of class difference that also put them so against Blur who were seen as the posh middle class. On Twitter Whitecross did mention that Blur was mentioned in a longer cut of the film, though. Maybe one day that will be available?
Supersonic serves not only as an amazing Oasis documentary but as an exemplary music documentary. Whitecross constructed a method of storytelling that presented a clear narrative that still provided all the insanity and chaos that we know and love to be a part of Oasis. There are still some showings of it in movie theaters going on, but it is also currently available on iTunes.
