I’ve heard all about how genius Wilco is and yet I’ve always found the music to rock-y and without distinction, so I watched this film last week just to prove its cult status is just that — a film with a niche following that didn’t belong on my list. Well, I was wrong. Despite the film having similar propagandistic qualities to Under Great White Northern Lights, it’s really well made, insightfully breaks down how a band makes its music, and even gets inside the musicians’ deepest feelings toward each other.
Is this film about Madonna’s Blond Ambition World Tour anything more than a marketing tool to help sell an already narcissistic zillionaire? Not really. Were poignant moments — Warren Beatty, wow! — tailored to create a feeling of intimacy? Of course. I didn’t mind.
When I was a teen, my friend Ben managed to get his hands on a VHS taping of a Joy Division show (when such things were hard to find). We studied Ian Curtis’ movements, looking for clues about his lost soul. This documentary finally fulfilled that yearning, and gave imagery to the haunting soundtrack of part of my adolescence.
Thanks be to POV for bringing back this gem about the Man in Black! We see him singing, going back home to Arkansas and talking about his music and his rough upbringing. It’s an older profile and refreshing because it
predates a lot of the clichéd devices that are common now in rockumentaries.
It’s part concert film, part rockumentary and part CSI episode. This Maysles’ film about the Rolling Stones takes on a surreal quality as we watch the members of the band watch parts of the film themselves. Most gripping is the final show at 1969′s Altamont Free Concert, in which Mick Jagger was unable to corral the guardian Hells Angels from killing one of the audience. Riveting stuff.
This is not a documentary, you say? You’re right. But this faux documentary about a fake heavy metal band on its last leg is so funny, and so brilliantly plays on each and every rockumentary cliché that it helped define the canon. And it’s why this rockumentary list goes to 11.
This, too, stretches the definition of a rockumentary. It’s actually more of a documentary, but the music is vital to this story of a man with mental illness who manages to make music that some consider brilliant, others awful. It’s a wonderful film about music, art, fandom and the peculiar human brain.
I’ve checked out some criticism of rockumentaries and some say that this film, the most famous rockumentary of all time I’d say, isn’t actually very good. It’s true that it’s not shot very well, the narrative is weak, and important moments from the famous music festival were left out. I’m OK with all of that. Just watching those hippies and Jimi Hendrix jamming — it’s like watching a phenomenon. Yes, director Michael Wadleigh just showed up at the right time, but sometimes that’s enough.
I couldn’t care less about the super-rich heavy metal band Metallica, but I do care about four men–businessmen–icons–musicians trying to maintain their success together while remaining true to themselves. This film isn’t just one of the most honest depictions of how men relate to each other, it’s an extended therapy session. And it’s awesome.
This film takes the best laughs from Spinal Tap and the most heartfelt moments fromSome Kind of Monster, and makes them its own. Any fan of Spinal Tap (and we are many) will relish this real realization of a heavy metal band truly on its last breath.
Like Woodstock and Gimme Shelter, this film benefits from age (see my review from last week) and becomes even better than the sum of its own parts. It’s about more than its subject (Bob Dylan). It’s about an entire generation. And while Woodstockcan feel dated, Dont Look Back has all of the filmmaking staying power of any of the best films from Francois Truffaut, Mike Nichols or Robert Altman. I’m a recent convert, and a rabid one.