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Thursday, February 23, 2006

HEART OF GOLD

Neil Young has a new concert movie in theaters called 'Heart of Gold'. The Legal Diva and I saw it this past weekend, and I recommend it highly. Directed by Jonathan Demme, it's beautifully shot on location at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville (home of the Grand Old Opry). Demme does for Neil what he did for the Talking Heads, which is to say that through lighting and staging he captured the essence of the artist without inserting much of 'Jonathan Demme' into the mix.

The set list was mostly the new record, 'Prairie Wind', plus a few fan favorites at the end. 'Prairie Wind' is another Nashville record, like 'Harvest', 'Comes a Time', and 'Harvest Moon', but it's an autobiographical record as well. After Neil's aneurysm a year ago, he began writing this record, and put this film into production while still undergoing medical treatment.

Neil is an artist. The movie, like the record, tells his story through song. What a wonderful thing.

Comments:
I just watched "Rust Never Sleeps" on DVD a few weeks ago. I think I am more of a fan of the Crazy Horse stuff (especially "Powderfinger," which is just incredible), but I do find myself singing the folkier material quite a lot. Neil is definitely an intense, interesting character.
 
I will be watching this movie this weekend.

I found it interesting that the movie made over $50,000 in the opening weekend.

That doesn't sound very good, until you realize, it was playing in only 4 theaters!
http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=heartofgold.htm

I've heard nothing but good things

Neil is one of those artist that I (I'm only speaking for myself) am always excited, and never disappointed when I hear the new material.

Prairie Wind is remarkable, and every bit as fresh as ANYTHING he has ever done.
 
Dave, if you haven't seen "Year of the Horse," check that one out as well.

Demme, of course, did an amazing job with "Stop Making Sense". But the staging concept was all David Byrne.
 
Year of the Horse is coming up soon in the Netflix queue, I think. Psyched for that one.
 
Year of the Horse is amazing. Jarmusch. Imagine having all these great directors wanting to make your movie?
 
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