‘Pulp: What Do You Do For An Encore?’ review: Britpop misfits take a deserved victory lap
“What prevented me from joining the legion of lost souls?” Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker asks during their new documentary What Do You Do For An Encore?, “The band.” Shot during their victory lap tour in support of last year’s ‘More’ – their first album for 24 years – this delicate and personal film focuses on the seed of Pulp’s success: Cocker’s childhood dreams.
The film opens with a performance of comeback single ‘Spike Island’. The song itself is a reinstatement of their core values (“I exist to do this/Shouting and pointing”) and the frontman is in full flight: all telescopic fingers and twitchy model wiggles in his Serge Gainsbourg suit – a cypher for all his “Mis-shapes, Mistake, Misfit” fans. What Do You Do For An Encore? is a celebration of Pulp, tracing their supermarket sweep from Sheffield wannabes to national treasures, stitching together live footage with decades-old interviews and a voiceover from Cocker himself.
Early on, director Garth Jennings’ flashes up a bricolage of Pulp memoranda (flyers, stickers, album covers, backstage footage). It’s a cinematic Proustian moment because the classic Pulp line-up of Jarvis Cocker, Candida Doyle, Steve Mackey, Russell Senior, Mark Webber and Nick Banks are forever etched into the collective consciousness as the band who queered up Britpop’s stage.
But back to the power of dreams. Obsessed with space and Dr Who, a young Cocker lived full time in a fantasy world. Into this dream factory, he visualised Pulp by the age of 15. We peer into his notebook, which already featured their name and various outfits the members would wear drawn in scratchy blue Biro. He lovingly calls it “The Masterplan”. It’s worth noting that director Garth Jennings is best known for directing kids’ films (such as 2016’s animated Koala-starring Sing) but it’s a good fit. The message of What Do You Do For An Encore? is a wonderfully simple one about self-belief.
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There are many years that the band, with an ever-changing line-up, spend on the live toilet circuit. An interview from the early ‘80s shows a group circumnavigating possible electrocution due to badly set-up equipment, as well as poorly paid university shows. Jennings magically cuts from Cocker recalling the 15 years of tumble weeds between their first Peel Sessions appearance and their ‘90s success with footage of him holding a trophy for ‘More’ reaching Number One in the album charts.
Fame comes across like a headache, as we see a dizzying high-low montage of alien puppets Zig And Zag, broadcaster Melvyn Bragg, comedy duo Trevor and Simon and a polaroid in which Cocker’s flanked by David Bowie, Cher and Van Morrison. “As you can tell – I’m thrilled,” Jarvis deadpans. ‘The Masterplan’ had been manifested, but he still felt like an outsider. What followed was the album ‘This Is Hardcore’ – arguably their artistic masterpiece – but it’s framed as a form of career suicide.
As the footage cuts back to a 2025 performance, we see Cocker begin the title track sitting in a brown leather chair taking what appears to be a turmeric shot. Jennings here subtly highlighting the changes of a man who was then close to burnt out, but now can’t stop smiling on stage. You’ll be smiling too when you watch these 20 or so live performances including ‘Babies’, ‘Sorted For E’s & Wizz’, ‘Disco 2000’ and the climactic ‘Common People’. They’re shots of pure cinematic joy.
‘Pulp: What Do You Do For An Encore?’ is in UK cinemas for one night only on September 18. It streams on MUBI from September 25
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