As a big lover of all things rock ‘n’ roll, I was beyond excited to be attending the first UK screening of God Bless Ozzy Osbourne; an insightful documentary into the life of one of the biggest pioneers of heavy metal.This is my 2nd assignment working with Smashed Music (http://www.smashedmusic.com/) and my first time attending an event in a journalistic capacity, so for that I have to give a big shout out of thanks to my friend Meriem Nacer who was able to give me this opportunity.
Okay, so I rock up at the very swish Sony Pictures UK building in Central London and head to the bar to get into the spirit of things soaking up some Black Sabbath and Ozzy tunes, sipping on a complimentary cranberry juice and then it’s time to enter the screening.
It was a small room, with a modest turnout but this added to the ambience of an intimate feeling as we were about to get up close and personal with one of rocks most iconic legends.
Jack Osbourne said a few words (literally, a few) to introduce the documentary that he produced and a nice little touch was added to every seat: a God Bless Ozzy Osbourne t-shirt, a gold Ozzy cross medallion and the press release about the film.
Directed by Mike Fleiss and Mike Piscitelli, the documentary begins with Ozzy’s troubled background growing up in Birmingham’s Perry Barr and how he formed the revolutionary band Black Sabbath with some of his neighbourhood friends. It goes on to show how the bands success and status helped to fund Ozzy’s wildman lifestyle, fuelled by drink and drunks, which led to his crazy antics (biting the heads off doves and bats, urinating on the Alamo, covering hotel walls in his excrement – yes really – to name but a few) his first failed marriage and him eventually being fired from Black Sabbath. It also details his solo comeback and the deaths of his father, Jack Osbourne, and of his best friend and guitarist Randy Rhoads.
Containing some never-seen-before archival footage, God Bless Ozzy Osbourne also features recollections from Ozzy’s family, former Sabbath band mates and other rock icons such as Sir Paul McCartney (The Beatles), Tommy Lee (Mötley Crüe) and Robert Trujillo (Metallica), whilst showcasing many of Ozzy’s tunes throughout his Black Sabbath days and in his solo career.
The documentary itself showed great insight into The Prince of Darkness’s career, personal life, addictions and the impact it had upon his friends and family. You see a vulnerable side to Ozzy in some interviews, but it by no means paints him to be an angel, also highlighting some of the darker things he has done and his own confessions of how he looks back at them.
This is even shown in the image promoting the film: Ozzy resembles a Jesus-like figure, with his long hair, cross and heavenly clouds forming a halo behind him. In juxtaposition to this, Ozzy wears a skull ring and the red flames lick at up at him from the fiery pits of hell.
The film strikes a good balance between the comic moments, the touching and the unsettling; whilst the animal-lover in me did have to look away for one scene, I would well up in the next and be laughing in another.
God Bless Ozzy Osbourne proves to be a very interesting and revealing rockumentary for any Ozzy fan or rocknrollers out there, this is one you should try to get your eyes on!!
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