We will be attempting to watch his entire filmography (about 82 credited roles, according to Wikipedia) over the course of the year, updating readers when it feels appropriate. So, to kick things off, we watched The Return of Bruno (1987), a made-for-TV mockumentary about “legendary” musician Bruno Radolini (Willis), who has been unjustly left out of music history. The film aims to tell his forgotten story through a series of interviews with key figures from the music industry as well as clips of Bruno’s performances.
An impressive array of musicians were recruited for the film: Elton John and Ringo Starr make appearances, and Bruno performs with the Temptations at one point. But before we get into all of that, we should give the film some context. Because its context is really, remarkably weird.
Willis recorded two R&B albums in the 80s, both of which were released by Motown. The first is titled The Return of Bruno. Although it doesn’t seem like the music industry took the album very seriously, it did yield some chart-topping hits in both the U.S. and the U.K. The record served as the soundtrack for the film, which aired shortly after the album’s release. Almost all of the tracks are covers, although there is one gem titled “Jackpot (Bruno’s Bop)”, which Willis co-wrote.
The setup of the hour-long film is essentially as follows: Various musical icons are interviewed, singing Bruno’s praises and detailing exactly how Bruno influenced their musical careers. There are intermittent clips of Bruno performing, and the last 20 minutes or so is a full-on Bruno medley, with Willis singing, dancing, and playing the harmonica in outlandish dress.
Seeing Grace Slick (Jefferson Airplane) pay her respects to Bruno as Bruce Willis staggers across a mock Woodstock stage is surreal, yet everything that you would expect from a mockumentary like this.
A shining moment that showcases the film’s comedy comes from an interview with Phil Collins, legendary soloist and drummer for Genesis. During Bruno’s phase of “purported” heavy drug use in the 60s, Collins recalls seeing him take more acid “than anyone’s ever taken.”
Shortly after this interview, a follow-up with Bruno’s former manager airs in which he states that Bruno never took acid, going so far as to say he would fire anyone suspected of using drugs. The manager does mention that Bruno had a taste for sugar cubes during this period and guesses that Collins mistook the sugar cubes for acid.
Bruce Willis’ performance as Bruno comes across as everything it should be. With the future Die Hard star emulating both Springsteen and David Byrne (of Talking Heads fame) simultaneously, there’s a zany, campy quality to seeing Bruce Willis pretend he’s been behind every musical movement of rock’s heyday from the 1950s on.
Whether the film is taking you through Bruno’s days as a mop-head lead singer on American Bandstand in the 50s, or emulating the Boss in the 80s, it proves fun.
Throughout the film Bruno hijacks credit for diverse feats, as if there weren’t enough cultural appropriation in the music industry and rewriting of history to favor white dudes as it is. Of course, the whole thing is a big joke, and the film doesn’t try in the slightest to take itself seriously, but we couldn’t help but wonder whether back in the day some channel surfers landed on the film and took it at face value.
One might even take the satirical, hyperbolic nature of Bruno and extend it into a more purposive interpretation — that the film provides commentary on the way we construct histories. Still, we suggest that viewers kick back with this one; It’s a good post-excruciating-seminar film. There’s no need to think through much of anything.
If you, for whatever reason, feel compelled to watch The Return of Bruno, it’s available in its entirety on YouTube.
Next up on the Willis docket is Blind Date (1987), a romantic comedy about (you guessed it) a blind date and its explosive aftermath. Make sure you stay tuned to the Arts & Entertainment section in the upcoming weeks for the latest Bruce Willis columns. You never know what Bruce will have in store next.
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