The Beat Is The Law – Fanfare For The Common People

It’s Glastonbury Festival 1995. The Stone Roses pull out of their headline set after a mountain bike accident and Rod Stewart is unavailable. Last minute replacements, Pulp, take to the stage to face 80,000 people. They deliver a set ‘regarded as one of the best in the festival’s history’ climaxing with the era-defining song, Common People, and in the process catapult themselves to the forefront of the Britpop movement – an achievement that 12 years earlier seemed like an impossible dream.

Directed by Eve Wood, The Beat Is The Law – Fanfare For The Common People leans on a strong ensemble — Nick Banks, Martin Bedford, Mark Brydon — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about documentary titles of 2010.