10 Amazing Music Movies You Must See Before You Die

5. 8 Mile

When Eminem first exploded into public view with My Name Is, its opening salvo "hi kids, do you like violence?", he was treated as a novelty shock-pop act with a limited shelf-life. Few could have guessed that he'd become a creative tour-de-force and cultural institution to boot. If we'd known his story, however, we might have guessed at there being more to the man than met the mic. As he'd go on to reveal so eloquently with his first two albums, as well as in the Curtis Hanson-directed, box office smash 8 Mile, his tale is a troubled one. Growing up on a trailer park in Detroit with little formal education, few life prospects and a mental shipwreck of a mother, music was his escape. After months stuck in a dead end factory job, he began writing and rapping. While 8 Mile was naturally expected to portray the racial prejudice he faced as a white kid writing hip-hop, it was a surprise to many when it focused as much on class and rising above what society deems your station. As such the movie boasts a powerful, poignant universality that raises it above the average rags to riches music flick.