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New Oasis film captures band's frosty reunion
A new film about Oasis's historic 2025 world tour, which premiered Saturday in Venice, captures the frosty reunion of the British band's Gallagher brothers -- and shows how their children have become the "cement" in their volatile relationship.
Titled "Oasis: Don't Look Back in Anger", the documentary reveals the moment Liam Gallagher arrived for the first meeting in 15 years with estranged brother Noel for a rehearsal ahead of their "Live '25" tour.
His first words are to object to some acoustic shields on the drums -- "they're giving me the hump" -- before he launches into the songs in characteristic style and then leaves without saying a word.
"They're English working-class men, they're not going to show emotion, not going to even shake hands," film creator Steven Knight, creator of the "Peaky Blinders" TV series and the writer of the new James Bond film, told AFP.
Over the course of the tour, the combustible brothers gradually bury one of the most famous feuds in modern rock music, which dates back to a 2009 backstage fight before a concert in Paris.
Fans began gathering at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday morning ahead of the premiere, with the Gallagher brothers waving to them from a boat as they arrived in the sun-drenched Italian city.
Their on-stage reunion last year saw an outpouring of 1990s nostalgia and support for Oasis, one of the biggest rock bands of the past 30 years, with the film seeking to explain why they have such strong cross-generational and cross-language appeal.
Liam and Noel's reconciliation was helped by the budding relationships between their children who didn't know each other before the band reunion, according to Knight.
"I think once their kids got involved, that was the cement. Their kids met and became mates," he added.
Asked about his work on the next Bond, Knight said he couldn't talk about it, adding only: "I'm very much looking forward to that. It's going to be really good."
- Music at the cinema -
"Don't Look Back in Anger" is part of a lucrative new trend of major artists releasing tightly controlled films about their tours, allowing fans who missed out on tickets to get an alternative view of the shows in the cinema.
Taylor Swift's film about her Eras Tour in 2023 grossed an estimated $260 million worldwide, while Beyonce also released a movie the same year about her tour, raking in $44 million.
"I think it's really good, and the reason that anyone wants to fund something like this is because they see a precedent," Knight added.
The expletive-heavy Oasis movie is mostly feel-good entertainment, making no reference to contentious issues such as the "dynamic pricing" of tickets which saw some fans pay significantly more than they expected.
It also skims over the 2009 break-up and the ensuing years of rancour, but it reveals Liam's nerves about messing up, his decision to avoid all cigarettes and alcohol on tour, and how Noel was a "mess" with his emotions at the start of the first concert in Cardiff in July 2025.
The film was directed by renowned British music documentary makers Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace who worked alongside Knight.
"The eyes of the world are on this thing, and it involves two brothers who are famously volatile and we didn't know how it was going to turn out," he told AFP.
The Oasis duo as well as British acting superstar Robert Pattinson, appearing for his new film "Primetime", brought a buzz to the Venice festival on Saturday which has been largely shunned by big Hollywood studios this year.
"Oasis: Don't Look Back in Anger" releases worldwide from September 9.
M.Powell--SFF
