Pulp Documentary Traces Band's Rise From Sheffield Classroom to O2 Triumph

A new documentary about the British band Pulp traces the group's origins back to 1978, when, according to a review published by The Guardian, a 15-year-old Jarvis Cocker wrote a "mission statement" in the back of an exercise book while a student at a comprehensive school in Sheffield. The review states that Cocker had recently formed the band with classmates who, like him, "weren't picked first for sports."

The film, titled "Pulp: What Do You Do for an Encore?", follows the band's trajectory from those early days to 2023, when Pulp resumed touring after a decade-long hiatus, according to the review. That reunion culminated last year in two sold-out nights at London's O2 Arena, with each show drawing an audience of 20,000 people, the review reports.

According to the review, the documentary features concert footage from those O2 performances, showing Cocker, now in his sixties, singing the band's art-pop hits alongside most of Pulp's classic lineup and a ten-piece string section. The review describes Cocker as "still lithe, still-got-it."

The film intersperses this concert material with autobiographical reflections, archival footage, and interviews, including conversations with Cocker's mother and grandmother, the review states. Cocker himself narrates the story of the band's journey from its Sheffield classroom origins to its recent arena success, according to the review.

The Guardian review credits the documentary's archive material and Cocker's narration for effectively conveying the band's "unlikely rise," while noting that the camerawork during the O2 concert sequences struggles to capture the full excitement of the live shows.