Showing @ Filmhouse, Edinburgh, Sun 06 Oct only @ 17:45

Jack Bond / UK / 2013 / 100 mins

Flash back to 1981 and Adam Ant was one of the world’s brightest stars. But his fall from grace was just as epic as his career: a very public mental breakdown, arrests, hospitalisation and an eventual diagnosis of bipolar disorder. But now, thirty years on from his heyday, Ant has returned with a new persona, and his friend Jack Bond has created this sympathetic portrait of the man behind the headlines.

Screening as part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival, The Blue Black Hussar is a very low key, intimate portrait of a truly gifted artist and a genuine eccentric. Ant’s mental illness is acknowledged early in the film, but this is primarily a chance for Ant to discuss what he is interested in: flea market finds, motorbikes, art, and above all his comeback as the eponymous Blue Black Hussar. There’s plenty of concert footage from Ant’s comeback tour and he is still a charismatic stage presence, even when practicing dance moves in his kitchen.

Producer Eddie Harrison acknowledges in the post-show discussion that this is a fairly niche film, and certainly it will play best with Ant’s legion of fans. However for those who remember (or wish they remembered) the 80s , this is a hugely enjoyable portrait of a real living legend.