"The Commitments" performers who embody the biggest charm of band movies, "holo bitterness"

Audition local Irish musicians

Just as Jimmy selected the people who came to recruit, Alan Parker, the director of The Commitments, held auditions in Dublin, where the story is set, to select the 12 main cast members. The casting team spent two months picking 64 bands from all genres, from heavy metal to folk. They had them perform at 10-minute intervals, and then selected about 50 of them. They then had them perform songs that were candidates for use in the film, and narrowed it down to three candidates for each role.

At the end of the audition process, Andrew Strong, the lead singer for Deco, emerged as a talented performer. He was the son of Rob Strong, who was a member of the session band that played the candidate songs, and when he sang " Mustang Sally ," director Alan Parker was blown away by his singing ability and cast him for the role on the spot. Andrew was only 16 years old at the time.

There was one other person who was selected outside of the regular auditions. Johnny Murphy, who plays Joey, the oldest trumpet player, was scouted by the casting director while he was watching a play.

In the end, the 12 members of "The Commitments" were all musicians, except for two actors, Johnny Murphy as Joey and Bronagh Gallagher as Barney in the chorus. After that, they rehearsed all 24 songs that they would play in the film, and also had acting training. When you watch the finished film, it's amazing how all of them are completely immersed in their roles, as if they had acting experience.

“The Commitments” © Photofest / Getty Images

Many band movies end with a heartbreaking ending of rifts and breakups, or with a nostalgic feeling of "it was a fond memory." "The Commitments" is no exception. The scene in which the band's manager Jimmy explains what happened to the band members after they broke up will surely be burned into the minds of those who have seen this movie. Although it is not a band movie, it is a standard style of coming-of-age movies to show what happens to the characters afterwards, as is the case with 1973's " American Graffiti ."