London 1976: Social unrest is rife. Youths are searching for their future. The punk movement erupts into a bland artistic and cultural landscape, devoid of any notion of revolt. It brings with it all forms of rebellion imaginable. The only difference being that this is now expressed through music. Against this background, a young Corsican, Henry Padovani, arrived in London. He went for two weeks and stayed for more than 7 years.

As an apprentice musician, he was to discover another world and he instinctively adopted its philosophy. This period – which became a turning point in musical and social history – was to become, for Henry Padovani, an era of encounters with people who are now the undisputed stars of Pop and Rock. From Sting and The Police to Mick Jones and The Clash, via Kim Wilde, Jeff Beck or The Stranglers… they would all become part of his life. Far from the spotlights, Padovani built himself a life in which human values are paramount. More than being a guitar partner, Henry was – and still is – their friend. A friend who filled Sting’s fridge when The Police, the band he formed with the drummer Stewart Copeland, was unknown, skint and ignored by everyone. It was by preserving these friendships, standing behind them, showing a constant passion for life, that Henry Padovani became – perhaps in spite of himself – the ideal witness to this gestation. In spite of himself because he was never famous, which is what also makes him the perfect guide. Thanks to his values and the loyalty he has shown over the years, he remains, even now, someone to whom you can refuse nothing. The one people want to thank for always being there in those years of hardship. It is the human endeavour, the history of rock music from the late 1970s to the early 1980s that Rock‘n’roll… Of Corse! captures and shows. By means of numerous interviews and meetings, in the course of our wanderings through London or on Cape Corsica, this film strives to seize the substance of this incredible rock‘n’roll saga. Topper Headon’s descent into hell (The Clash), the adventures of the IRS label alongside Miles Copeland (REM, The Bangles, The Lords of the New Church, Stan Ridgway, etc.), friendship, solidarity, drugs, women and the pleasure afforded by music… these are the ingredients of this epic journey. From concerts in the “historical” clubs of punk/rock London to impromptu get-togethers and improvised discussions on the beautiful island of Corsica, the voice of Henry Padovani guides us, with characteristic sincerity, though the labyrinth of this very particular period. Nothing is faked when Henry Padovani, 30 years after the break-up of The Police’s original line-up, joins Sting, Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers on the stage of the Stade de France stadium to play alongside them in front of 80 000 people. It is totally symbolic.

This idea, that became a way of life, is one of the constants in the film. From young student to hard-core Rocker, acknowledged by his peers, we meet his family, his friends, the people who were familiar with young Henry’s dream. We visit the region of his birth, where he realised that music would be a leitmotiv in his life, a whole lifestyle in fact.

It seemed essential to us to leave a lot to the spectators’ imagination. To arouse the interest of the people discovering this story, to let them dream, let them identify with and project themselves in this exceptional life that is recounted with such simplicity, reflecting the way it was lived. Because it seemed as important to us to emphasise the human side that links all these musicians who are now legends and the socio-political context in which they lived, as it was to tell the story of the music, the rock. Their respective music styles were a sort of soundtrack to those extraordinary years. A notion of life and accomplishment and passion for music in general and Rock in particular, of social rejection, opening up to other people… Music will be part of their lives forever. Rock is not a by-product, it is a way of life, a common goal, a constant questioning, far beyond the dream.

We travel through a constant coming and going between past and present, between art and society, between music and the human adventure, between the memories of Men and historical facts. From the standpoint of a participant, but also as a wise observer, a witness on the inside, Henry Padovani and his hoarse voice transport us. Borne by the unforgettable melodies and rhythms of The Clash, the Sex Pistols, the Pretenders, the Stranglers or The Police, we (re)live a short period of a very special era that changed the way we listen to music, forever.