From a jail-inspired light sabre fight to the moment a sax-player flew, Take It or Leave It brilliantly captured the hit-makers\u2019 grimy origins. Will the film\u2019s return see it finally honoured as a music movie landmark?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s March 1981 and Madness are revisiting the haunts of their recent youth with a film crew in tow. In the 18 months since releasing their debut single, The Prince, the group have become the UK\u2019s most beloved hit-makers, their ascent abetted by inventive music videos that have left viewers of Top of the Pops and Tiswas believing a man could fly \u2013 while blowing a sax.<\/p>\n
But this new project is something else. Instead of squandering their newfound wealth on fast cars and country piles, the seven-piece have invested in a semi-fictional big-screen telling of their origin story that tempers their trademark \u201cnuttiness\u201d with a kitchen-sink realism suiting their working-class roots. While Take It or Leave It sank into obscurity soon after release, a new 4K restoration has primed the film for rediscovery as a time-capsule of grimy 70s London, and perhaps cinema\u2019s most honest depiction of the challenges involved in trying to get a band together.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/b0edf55fd3ca96159000d0e46100e22f85df77aa\/460_0_4562_3649\/master\/4562.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=8da04d59aa5aa5ee2fe4ebf3fc2515df\" "\\"\u2018Being")
<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"