Joss Crowley's film is close to a definitive chronicle, as it explores the paradox of Chrissie Hynde: the smoldering punk who was also the most majestic songwriter of that scene.
Plus IconOwen Gleiberman
Chief Film Critic
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Courtesy of TIFF As a rock star, Chrissie Hynde has always been a bit of a paradox — gnarly but cerebral, ferocious yet guarded. And “Pretenders,” Joss Crowley’s sensational and revealing music documentary, shows you that there was a paradox — a glorious one — built into her band.
Formed in London in 1978, the Pretenders emerged from the moment when “punk” had morphed into “new wave.” But there were still musicians around who could claim to be both, and Hynde was one of them. When you listen to “Precious,” which is totally a punk song (it has the potent high-speed sizzle of something by the Ramones), the ice-cold defiance and gutter snarl of Hynde’s singing (“Made me wanna…”), the song’s total fuck-it-all vibe, are undiminished by time. Hynde, with her shag haircut and androgynous toothy scowl, had emerged from the original punk scene (she’d moved to London in her early 20s and even tried to join the Slits), and it left its mark on her. She was a blistering rocker who was going to be no one’s doll.
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