I first met Jonathan Owen a couple of years ago when I was working on Cass Pennant’s documentary debut Casuals, he was one of many interviewees who helped tell the story of the Mod and Casual fashion scene.
As many have proven, Jonny is genuinely one of the best guys you’re likely to come across, especially in the entertainment industry, and his winning charm is at the heart of the success of the Svengali project he’s been working on since the beginning. first viral started on YouTube in 2009.
The original series of webisodes attracted the attention of Mod culture and music fans alike and was hailed by the London Evening Standard as “the best thing on the internet” at the time. Featuring a handful of cameos from the rock world, including real-life ‘Svengali’, Alan McGee and Carl Barât of The Libertines, it traces the arrival of former Welsh postman Paul ‘Dixie’ Dean in London with high hopes of promoting the genre. raw and loud band The Premature Congratulations to the topper-of-the-popper-most.
While the five-minute virals focused primarily on Dixie’s naïveté and her relationship with her old Valley opponent Brian Horse (y), now a successful A&R man, whose contacts include all the leading lights in the music business. British music, the film expands his world by turning the spotlight on his long-suffering fiancée Shell, played by fearsome BAFTA-winning actress Vicky McClure.
Along with the central romantic plot, we finally get to see The Prems, as well as a glimpse of Dixie’s Welsh roots; Particularly effective is the scene where her father, played by the late Brian Hibbard, tells Dixie that she doesn’t have long to live and they share a poetic moment of pure cinematic gold. I return to this scene over and over again, not only has it been made all the more poignant by Hibbard’s own death shortly after the film was completed, but because I can’t tell if it’s entirely scripted or entirely improvised, either way it’s a wonderful tour-de-force performance by the two men.
The key that the film manages to reveal in much greater depth is the fundamental difference between Dixie and Horsey, who, on paper, could be considered two sides of the same coin. They both come from the same humble beginnings, but one has completely reinvented himself by poking fun at his past, while the other fully embraces him. It’s a shame that Roger Evans’ performance as Horsey has been largely ignored by critics, as it’s barely mentioned in most of the mainstream reviews I’ve read. He is the necessary Yin to Dixie’s Yang and the discreet combination of shame. the envy and bewilderment he shows on screen is one of the film’s strengths.
Svengali manages to be both a satire of the music and fashion scene, with Martin Freeman’s Mod-Elite record store owner and Matt Berry’s outrageously intimidating record label boss providing plenty of laughs, but it’s also a romantic comedy, a rags-to-riches story. and a buddy movie; this sounds disjointed, but it actually holds up very well. This is no doubt due to Jonny Owen’s central performance as Dixie, in the frame almost all the time her warmth, generosity and sincerity ooze off the screen.
In one of the best scenes, Exposed Horsey, who spends all his time with yes men, media types and prostitutes, ponders what Dixie has that he doesn’t and while closely focusing on how he’s able to spot musical talent, it is evident that the most important thing that Paul Dean has over Brian Horse in his life is love; both familiar and romantic. Dixie has stayed true to himself and his hometown, so despite walking away from everything he aspired to, he retains his dignity and his passion for life.
Svengali has shown that it is possible to make a quality, low-budget independent film in the UK that doesn’t have to fit a mold to reach its audience. The film’s journey echoes Dixie’s spirit in every frame and is a testament to all who believed in her and worked to bring her to the big screen over the years. I am very excited to see what Root Films, the joint venture between Jonny Owen and producer Martin Root, will do, and I wish them continued success.
