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Working Class Boy is the unflinching story of Jimmy Barnes – from childhood survival in the slums of Glasgow to the forlorn immigrant suburbs of Australia, to the day he is asked to join a band and finds his escape with Cold Chisel. A powerful & confronting coming-of-age tale ripped with poverty, alcoholism, domestic violence and abuse. Raw and compassionate, this is how a wild cheeky kid from the mean streets of Scotland and South Australia was saved by rock n roll ... only to have it nearly destroy him. Special Features: - Never before seen footage (6 videos) - International Melbourne Film Festival Q&A with Jimmy Barnes and Mark Joffe - Directors commentary by Mark Joffe with story producer Francine Finnanne
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Jimmy Barnes: Working Class Boy (2018)
104 min
With nine #1 albums to his name, Jimmy Barnes is one of Australia’s greatest rock icons. But his success masked a life of hardship and abuse, where the music that once saved him from oblivion almost came back to destroy him. Before Jimmy Barnes was Jimmy Barnes, he was James Dixon Swan, a troubled kid from the mean streets of Glasgow – and the even meaner streets of North Adelaide – trying to survive against a backdrop of addiction, alcoholism, poverty and abuse. For Jimmy, escape was the only option and he found it with a band called Cold Chisel. But the rock’n’roll lifestyle has its own temptations and the scars of childhood are always waiting to take you home. Based on the bestselling memoir and directed by veteran Australian filmmaker Mark Joffe, Working Class Boy is both an inspiring story of rock and redemption told in Barnes’ own words and an unflinchingly honest reflection on fame, creativity and depression.