General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20264 min read

Bring On the Night

Bring On the Night is a 1985 American documentary film directed by Michael Apted that follows the British musician Sting during the early stages of his solo career, as he forms a jazz-inspired band, records his debut solo album The Dream of the Blue Turtles, and prepares for his first solo concerts.¹ The film takes its title from the 1979 Police song "Bring On the Night," and the same title was later used for Sting's 1986 live album drawn from the tour it documents.²

Key fact	Detail
Release	8 November 1985, United States; 97 minutes; PG-13³
Director / producer	Michael Apted (also screenwriter); produced by David Manson for A&M Films³^•⁴
Subject	Sting's first solo project and band, formed after his work leading the Police; songs shown in recording appear on The Dream of the Blue Turtles¹
Band shown	Branford Marsalis, Kenny Kirkland, Omar Hakim, Darryl Jones, with backing vocalists Dolette McDonald and Janice Pendarvis⁵
Filming	Shot in 35 mm; much of the film set at the Château de Courson outside Paris, where the band lived and rehearsed for nine days²
Award	Grammy Award for Best Music Video, Long Form at the 1987 Grammy Awards²
Box office	$1.9 million gross in the United States; released on DVD on March 29, 2005⁴

Spoilers

Content and structure

The film traces the Dream of the Blue Turtles live project from press conference through rehearsals to the first night in Paris. Time Out described the mix as about two-thirds music and one-third interview, with every musician in the band interviewed over the course of the film.⁶^•¹ Recording sessions for songs that appeared on the album are featured, and much of the studio work was done in a mansion, identified in other accounts as the French Château de Courson outside Paris, where the band met, lived, and rehearsed for nine days.⁷^•²

Near the end of the film the band plays its first concert, at the Théâtre Mogador in Paris. In the closing scene, Sting is present with his wife, Trudie Styler, during the delivery of their son Jake, who is the couple's second baby and his fourth child. Sting said he initially "resisted" Apted's suggestion of filming the birth, then "realized there's a tenuous link between the band being born and the baby, so it fit."²

Production

Apted, known for the Up documentary series (the 28 Up installment among them), shot the film unusually for a documentary in 35 mm, focusing primarily on band rehearsals, musician interactions, and interviews.⁵^•² According to the American Film Institute catalog, a May 1, 1985 Variety announcement said the documentary marked Sting's tenth film appearance and that the two-week shoot would take place in Paris with a $2 million budget.³ Ralf D. Bode served as cinematographer, with editing by Robert K. Lambert and Melvin Shapiro and production design by Ferdinando Scarfiotti.³ Colleen Atwood, later a regular collaborator of Tim Burton, designed the monotone concert and behind-the-scenes costuming.⁵^•²

Sting's manager Miles Copeland III appears frequently, complaining about the backing vocalists and venting to Atwood; a widely noted scene shows him telling the band members, in a dispute over money, that audiences come to see Sting and that Sting alone carries weight in negotiations.²^•⁸

Reception

The film has generally received positive reviews. It holds a 79% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes, though from a single counted review, and more than 1,000 audience ratings; IMDb users give it 7.5/10 from about 712 votes.⁴^•⁹ Dennis Schwartz rated it an A, writing that "it was fun watching all this talent get it on together."⁴ Time Out called it "one of the more intelligent, slick and witty shots at the bronzed, big-named rockumentary," while noting that Sting is seldom as colorful or revealing as his jazz-rooted bandmates Marsalis, Kirkland, or Hakim, and that things are "a little too clean and easy throughout."⁶ A Letterboxd reviewer judged the film obviously staged and slightly self-important, but credited it with electric and intimate practice and concert performances.⁵

The film won the Grammy Award for "Best Music Video, Long Form" at the 1987 Grammy Awards.² It was released on DVD in 2005, and as of recent listings it streams on the Qello Concerts by Stingray Amazon Channel.⁴^•¹

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Films by genre, form, and subject › Documentary and biographical films › Documentary films by subject: arts, music, sports, and place

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026

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