How Pulp’s ‘Chaotic’ Reunion After a Decade Apart Became a New Film and an Unexpectedly Spiritual Experience (Exclusive)

Gillian TellingThu, October 1, 2026 at 2:30 PM UTC

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Pulp in 1998. From left: Mark Webber, Nick Banks, Jarvis Cocker, Steve Mackey and Candida Doyle.Credit: Martyn Goodacre/Getty -

Director Garth Jennings began working with Jarvis Cocker around Pulp’s 1998 album This Is Hardcore

Cocker asked Jennings to help direct Pulp’s 2023 comeback shows after he expressed interest in filming them

The MUBI concert film/documentary Pulp:What Do You Do for An Encore? blends performing footage with a look at Cocker’s childhood and Pulp’s origins

Director Garth Jennings, who helmed the new Pulp concert-meets-documentary film Pulp: What Do You Do for an Encore?(now streaming on MUBI), has plenty of stories from his years-long friendship with the band’s frontman Jarvis Cocker — including one particularly memorable night in Paris.

Cocker arrived at Jennings’ Paris apartment on Nov. 5 (the U.K.’s Guy Fawkes Night) with some explosives. “He brought a load of fireworks over,” Jennings recalls.

“We just went out into the street,” Jennings continues. “And he started setting off these fireworks until the police came and stopped us. We got into a bit of trouble.”

The anecdote is just one memory from a friendship that dates back decades — and one that ultimately helped lead to Jennings’ new film about the beloved British band, best known for mid-’90s U.K. hits like “Common People” and “Misshapes” from their 1995 No. 1 album Different Class, and their reunion tour after a decade-long hiatus.

Jennings, director of such films as The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Sing, first met Cocker around the release of Pulp’s 1998 album This Is Hardcore, when he was tapped to help direct their music videos for the singles “Help the Aged” and “A Little Soul.” When he heard rumors that Pulp might tour again in 2023, he says, he sent Cocker a simple text: “I’d love to come and see the concert, but I’d also love to film it,” he said.

Garth Jennings at the Torino Film Festival in 2021.Credit: Nicola Campo/LightRocket via Getty

Cocker wrote back, “Would you help me direct the show?”

“Everything snowballed from there,” Jennings says, noting that the band’s comeback ultimately inspired a new album as well.

“Nothing began with a clear, like, final goal,” he continues. “It all just kept growing out of the enthusiasm of everyone being back together. It was all a little chaotic, which is a beautiful way to make something.”

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Jarvis Cocker of Pulp performing in Wythenshawe, England, on Aug. 28, 2026.Credit: Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage

Instead of making a straight concert film, Jennings incorporated a look back at Cocker’s childhood in Sheffield, England, and the origin story of Pulp.

“Jarvis’ story is a very beautiful story that anyone could find appealing,” he says of the archival footage and interviews with family members. “And if you want to truly know someone, interview their mum.”

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While he was delighted to learn new things about Pulp, Jennings says the best part of making the film was being able to see the hold the band still had on crowds of fans, which included different generations and “tons of younger kids.”

He says when he heard thousands of them singing along in what felt like “this giant wave” during the Top 10 song “Something Changed” from Different Class, the experience became almost spiritual.

“It was like being a church,” he says. “It was really goosebumpingly beautiful.”

What Do You Do For an Encore? is now steaming on MUBI

on People

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”