By Karl Quinn
Seven years after the release of Working Class Boy, in which hard-living rocker Jimmy Barnes shared the story of his abusive upbringing, a sequel has finally arrived.
Working Class Man will debut at the Melbourne International Film Festival on August 21 before its airing on Seven towards the end of the year.
Jimmy Barnes, Benjamin Rodgers (guitar) and Clayton Doley lay down a track for the film.Credit: Rhys Luscombe
The film, which was announced at MIFF’s official program launch on Thursday night, was many years in development but not so many months in production.
“We always wanted to do a second one,” says director Andrew Farrell, who was executive producer on the first. “It was just when was the time going to be right?”
Hectic schedules for Barnes and his musical clan finally presented a brief opening late last year for a week of interviews and recordings of acoustic versions of some of his biggest hits, solo and with Cold Chisel.
The experience for 69-year-old Barnes was painful. Not because he was trawling the emotional wreckage yet again, but because his body was falling apart.
Barnes’ wife, Jane, is a key part of the story.Credit: Rhys Luscombe
“When we interviewed him, he was about to go in and get his hip replaced, so he’s hobbling around,” Farrell recalls. “He’d just come off tour, he’d had to be strapped up by a physio before he could walk on stage each night, and even sitting down on the couch talking to us, he had to get up and have a bit of a ripple. And then he went straight into surgery the next week.”
Barnes being Barnes, soon after that he was on the road again.
Farrell sees his film as the final act in a six-part journey through Barnes’ difficult life, and the years of therapy and reflection that followed his decision to start writing about it.
“There was a Working Class Boy book [released to enormous critical and commercial acclaim in 2016], stage show, film, then a Working Class Man book, stage show and film,” he says.
Telling and retelling that story has taken its toll. “It was a lot more than just a performance, doing those tours and writing those books,” says Farrell. “He was going through this different kind of therapy each night, a different part of the story would unfold. That was really hard for him, but ultimately, it helped him get to where he is now.”
Farrell’s film isn’t just about Barnes, of course. It is very much about his marriage to Jane, who has been by his side through all manner of ups and downs – including revelations of “secret” children.
That, though, does not figure in this version of the Barnes story, though the idea of family looms large.
“This isn’t exactly like a normal documentary about a band or a person,” says Farrell. “It’s primarily Jimmy’s story through Jimmy’s eyes, and it’s Jane’s story as well.
“Because it’s a survival story and a love story. She’s the reason he’s still here.”
MIFF runs from August 7 to 24. The full program is available at miff.com.au
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