“WHAM” Doc. Picked a Very Unusual Director

George Michael, left, and Andrew Ridgeley, in the 2023 documentary “Wham!” The film’s director, Chris Smith, had just come off a run of true-crime stories when he was approached about the project.Credit...Netflix

 

Two young Londoners — one of Greek Cypriot origin, the other of Egyptian descent — set up a pop band in the 1980s that goes on to sell more than 30 million records. They break up several years later, at the pinnacle of their fame when the two hit the ripe old age of 23.

That, in a nutshell, is the story of Wham!, the British pop duo, and its two stars, George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. It’s a story that the director Chris Smith tells in a Netflix documentary, which is nominated in Sunday’s EE British Academy Film Awards, known as the BAFTAs.

Other contenders in the documentary category include “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie,” about the actor’s battle with Parkinson’s disease; and “American Symphony,” a year in the life of the musician Jon Batiste.

Smith previously directed the Emmy-nominated 2019 documentary “Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened,” about a fraudulent music festival that landed its organizer in jail. 

Two years earlier, he directed “Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond,” on the making of the 1999 movie “Man on the Moon,” in which Jim Carrey played the entertainer Andy Kaufman.

Smith said that he was approached to shoot “Wham!” by its producers. There is no narrator: The tale is told using documentary footage of the duo during their career, paired with audio excerpts from interviews with the two pop stars themselves, which are voiced over — Michael died in 2016 at 53.

 Mr. Michael and Mr. Ridgeley hold a red and white cake with the words “Wham!” and “No. 1” written on it. Both are smiling.

Michael and Ridgeley in a scene from “Wham!” The pop duo ultimately sold more than 30 million records.Credit...Netflix

Structuring the documentary are pages from a scrapbook that Ridgeley’s mother diligently put together during the band’s heyday, recording every little event in the Wham! trajectory. That scrapbook, with its glued lettering and newspaper cutouts, punctuates the different segments in the 92-minute documentary.

In a recent video conversation, Smith discussed the making of “Wham!” and his feelings about the band. The interview has been edited and condensed. 

How did “Wham!” come about?

I was approached by the producers to do it. I had come off a run of doing a lot of true crime projects, so it felt fascinating to do a documentary about something as simple as a friendship.

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I had a very surface understanding of Wham! as a band. I had seen those white T-shirts with the letters on them, and knew the music vaguely, only because you couldn’t escape it. But other than that, I didn’t really know anything.

It was an amazing story, just sitting there, that had never been told: George and Andrew’s story. I didn’t know that the band only lasted four years, that they walked away when they felt like they were getting too old — and they were only 23!

Chris Smith, wearing a long-sleeved black shirt, long hair, and a beard, stands against a lavender background.

Smith said that, while he was not initially a fan of the duo’s work, making the film “gave me a new appreciation and understanding for the music that I didn’t have before.”Credit...Neilson Barnard/Getty Images

I assume you didn’t listen to Wham! in the ’80s?

Where I was living in Michigan, kids were turning their noses up at Wham! I was a snide teenager, listening to the Cure, Depeche Mode, that sort of new wave thing.

Exactly. So I’m surprised that you took on this documentary.

I used to turn my nose up at Jim Carrey movies, too. When Jim Carrey was at the height of his popularity, I was watching foreign films, art films, and early American cinema. Yet I directed the “Jim & Andy” documentary with Carrey. It opened my mind: Even if his movies weren’t ones that I was interested in, the story behind them and his journey were interesting to me. 

So when the opportunity to direct “Wham!” came up, I realized that the music was irrelevant and that I should really open my mind to see if there was an interesting story behind the music. I was incredibly grateful to have been brought into that world.

More on Wham!

‘Wham!’ Review: They Made It Big, Then Broke Up

July 5, 2023

Andrew Ridgeley on George Michael and Life After Wham!

July 5, 2023

Why grateful?

Because it was one of the best projects I’ve been a part of, from a creative standpoint. I loved spending time in the world of Wham! Understanding George and Andrew and their trajectory gave me a new appreciation and understanding for the music that I didn’t have before. It was so positive, so fun, and about something that was equally profound as anything else I was working on. But it was all under the guise of something that felt more superficial.

Do you like the music now?

Yes, I love the music, and I didn’t before. For me, it was having my eyes opened to the songwriting genius that George Michael was.

How does it feel to be nominated for a BAFTA with this movie?

I look at the movie as a reflection of George and Andrew, and their spirit.

Image

Mr. Ridgeley and Mr. Michael sit inside a car. Mr. Ridgeley holds a camera and smiles; Mr. Michael looks away.

Ridgeley and Michael, in “Wham!” Of Ridgeley’s journey during the band’s heyday and beyond, Smith said “he was happy to have gone on the ride.”Credit...Netflix

Where did you source the interviews for the documentary?

We did four or five new interviews with Andrew, but in the case of George, we were able to pull everything from the archives: from interviews that he had done over the years. 

You describe “Wham!” as the story of a friendship. It’s also the story of a young man, George Michael, who is gay, but unable to be open and public about it.

Yes, the die was cast. When George understood his sexuality and revealed it to Andrew, the end of Wham! was set in stone, because he couldn’t continue. He had created a prison of his own making.

Does Andrew have any regrets that his career didn’t flourish the way George’s did?

I never got any sense of Andrew feeling bitter. If you get to know Andrew and see him in the archive footage in the movie, he enjoys living in the moment. He was happy to have gone on the ride, and happy to have been part of the journey. He’s always where he wants to be, and making the most of that situation.

Do you see this story as a tragedy, especially given George Michael’s premature death?

I find it to be bittersweet. I cry every time I see the movie. I find it incredibly emotional — in the sense that it’s something that had to end, but you didn’t want it to end.

It’s a tragedy in the sense that youth is finite.

By Farah Nayeri

The New York Times