I have to admit- at first I wasn't too crazy about this movie. Not because I didn't like the music- I mean, it's Neil freaking Young, man! But this document of Neil's performance in Nashville's Ryman Auditorium (where he debuted the songs of his "Prairie Wind" album) gradually warmed me up like a ray of morning sun climbing over the horizon. What most irked me about this movie is that it felt more like an "Austin City Limits" episode than a film, with its clinical shooting style being neither obtrusive nor terribly adventurous.
However slowly, Neil Young: Heart of Gold worked its charms. By its finale, an aching rendition of "One of These Days" (after his band of old friends, including Emmylou Harris, had spent a half-hour playing some old favourites), I couldn't move. The tone of this performance is as autumnal as the yellow-brown pallettes that dominate the background: the lyrics explore themes of passing time, faded dreams, empty nest syndrome, and death (the film is dedicated to his father who passed away two months prior to filming). It's an older, wiser Neil Young onscreen this evening, and God bless him, forty years later, he's still doing his thing, with a loyal curtain of friends who have remained with him over the decades.
Ultimately, this film is about the bond that exists between its players; in the opening, his bandmates humourously reveal how they ended up with Neil all those years ago. Despite that this is the only interview footage in the movie, this document succeeds over all the other many Neil Young concert films by portraying him as a person: in between numbers, he is reflective and dryly humourous. As this movie slowly builds to its crescendo, we better understand the strong ties that keeps these musicians together, as the filmmakers become more passionate about capturing the knowing glances that are exchanged among the chords.
2 comments:
A lovely film. Your point about the bond between Young and the other musicians is correct.
What was intersting to me -- someone who knows a bit about Neil Young -- is that the legendary songwriter and performer seemed to "get over" any problems he might have had with his dad... the late, and highly regarded Canadian sports writer Scott Young. During "Heart of Gold", Neil rendered and emoted great feeling toward his dad (referring to him as "daddy").
Quite a moving film, in a way.
Hi Greg -
Nice to see a writeup about "Heart of Gold" on your blog. As you know, I'm a great fan of music films, and Jonathan Demme's "Stop Making Sense" is one of my all-time favourite concert movies. So, being a long-standing Neil Young fan as well, I was excited by the prospect of Demme capturing Young live. And I was quite overwhelmed by the results. "Heart of Gold" is an incredible film, and I was lucky enough to see it on the big screen, at the Kingsway theatre before it closed a few years back. This is definitely one film that benefits from being seen in the proper context, and the long shots of the performers are quite intense portraits when seen full scale.
Demme and Young have created a document that will last, and "Heart of Gold" is a moving, intimate concert experience on film. The contrast with Jim Jarmusch's 1997 Neil Young film, "Year of the Horse", is remarkable. Jarmusch goes for the lo-tech approach to capture the raw energy and gruff charm of Crazy Horse, but almost a decade later Young is preserved in pristine form as an elder statesman of folk, rock, and country.
Young's film career is interesting, if spotty ("Greendale" was an offbeat, somewhat ill-conceived diversion), but "Heart of Gold" is certainly one of the highlights. I'm sure it won't be the last. Interestingly, "Journey Through the Past" will be available on DVD as part of Young's upcoming "Archives Vol. 1" boxed set, although the pricetag is pretty steep. Maybe it will come out as an individual title for the masses.
Cheers,
David
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