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ON FILM

Some of Kevin's words appear as the scripts for two of the London films made by the director Paul Kelly with Saint Etienne.  

Finisterre: A Film About London

In this 2003 film the velvet voiced Michael Jayston narrates the script which was largely written by Kevin. In a review for The Telegraph Sukhdev Sandhu described the script as "a playful medley of urban reverie and street-sharp rhymes," and added that the narrative "ensures that the film is optimistic rather than downbeat, and charmingly idiosyncratic in the style of old John Betjeman films." 

In the book Nothing's Too Good For The Common People Paul Kelly is quoted as saying: ""We felt he wrote a bit like a scriptwriter. We felt Kevin would understand the aesthetic and we all loved the way he wrote."

What Have You Done Today, Mervyn Day?

This 2005 film is set in the Lea Valley area of East London on the day after it was announced that London's bid to host the 2012 Olympics had won. This also turned out to be the day of the London bombings. The theme of the film is impending change. Paul Kelly has described how the script by Kevin was written "on the fly, as we were shooting. We'd say, 'We've seen this; can you write something about this?', sending reports back to him. It felt almost like a military operation."  

 

In the film Kevin's words are narrated by David Essex and Linda Robson.  

To find out more about these films and the work of Paul Kelly take a look at the Heavenly Films site. Among Paul's work is Lawrence of Belgravia in which the film's hero can be seen talking about a book dedicated to his old group Felt. In this clip Lawrence refers to and reads from an article by Kevin Pearce which opens the book which he seems to really like. It's a lovely moment in a very moving film.

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