On June 11, 1963, two African-American students in Vivian Malone and James Hood both were given admission to enroll at the University of Alabama by a federal court judge yet Governor George Wallace refuses to comply with federal law leading a two-day showdown between the state and President John F. Kennedy and his brother in attorney general Robert F. Kennedy. Being the final state to integrate, Alabama is set to deal with this change but Wallace refuses believing that blacks and white should segregate for their own good. The film explore these two days where Malone and Hood are getting ready to enroll yet they have to deal with all of these issues as they’re aided by deputy attorney general Nicholas Katzenbach who goes to Tuscaloosa where the university is at.
Robert Drew, along with cinematographer Gregory Shuker as well as several camera operators including D.A. Pennebaker covers both what is happening at the home and office of Robert F. Kennedy, the Oval office, and what is happening in Alabama as he gets perspective from all sides. Notably as Drew showcases how Robert F. Kennedy and Wallace both start their day with the former surrounded by his kids at home while the latter is watching his young daughter play piano and chat with a few workers and play ball with a kid. Shooting on a cinema verite style that allows complete access to what is happening as well as this fly-on-the-wall perspective, Drew and his crew use hand-held cameras to showcase what is going on that climaxes with a showdown between Wallace and General Henry Graham as the latter represents the federal government and the national guard.
Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment is an incredible film from Robert Drew. Not only does it capture a moment in American history during the Civil Rights movement but also showcases what goes on when political forces try to figure out what to do to avoid violence as well as do something peaceful. Especially during a moment in time where change is hard to accomplish but also face with acceptance for a better future. In the end, Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment is a remarkable film from Robert Drew.
Related: Primary
© thevoid99 2020
Directed by Martin Scorsese, No Direction Home: Bob Dylan is a documentary film about the life and career of Bob Dylan from his early life and impact on popular culture until the 1966 motorcycle accident that would nearly kill him and put him into a temporary retirement. The film would feature footage of Dylan in those times including archival interviews with Dylan talking about those events as well as a look into the folk music scene of the times. The result is an engrossing and evocative film from Martin Scorsese.
In the 1960s during a period of social change, folk music was considered the soundtrack to express these changes during the Civil Rights movement as well as with what was happening politically in those times. The biggest voice of that music scene was Bob Dylan whose songs would be covered by many in the world of folk, pop, and rock music as he was seen as the voice of a generation whether he liked it or not. The film is about Dylan’s time in the spotlight until a motorcycle accident in July of 1966 put him into seclusion where he rarely made public appearances for eight years until he toured again in 1974 with the Band. Dylan is interviewed from a 2000 conversation with his manager Jeff Rosen about these events as Rosen allowed the interview to be used in the film as many of the interviews with individuals involved such as Allen Ginsberg, Peter Yarrow, Pete Seeger, Mavis Staples, Al Kooper, Joan Baez, Bob Neuwirth, filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker, and Dylan’s former girlfriend from the early 1960s in Suze Rotolo are dated as far back as the mid-1990s.
Using a lot of archival footage including material and outtakes from documentary films such as D.A. Pennebaker’s Dont Look Back and Murray Lerner’s Festival plus the rarely-seen documentary about Dylan’s 1966 tour in the film Eat the Document. Martin Scorsese would create a narrative that play into Dylan’s early life and his ascent into stardom that is inter-cut with footage from the 1966 tour in Europe where he is getting a polarized reaction for playing rock n’ roll. Scorsese play into not just Dylan’s early life living in a small town of Hibbing, Minnesota where it was an ordinary town yet he would discover different kinds of music late at night from the early ideas of rock n’ roll, blues, folk, and country music. Dylan also talked about the folk music scene of the early 1960s where it wasn’t about people getting famous but rather create a community of art and music without any kind of complications and create some kind of commentary about what is happening in America.
Through the interviews with Baez, Staples, Neuwirth, and several others that was shot by several cinematographers led by Mustapha Barat with contributions from Maryse Alberti and Ellen Kuras, Scorsese manages to get an idea of how Dylan coped with his fame as Scorsese would do an audio re-enactment of the 1963 Emergency Civil Liberties Committee ceremony where Dylan received the Tom Paine award as it was a moment that had Dylan display his discomfort of being a voice for any kind of movement. With the help of sound editor Philip Stockton, Scorsese would use that moment to play into a moment that would mark a change in Dylan from being this folk singer into wanting to be something else. Even as Baez and Rotolo discuss how their relationship with Dylan would change and fall apart in that time of his growing fame as it would force him to do other things while Baez would continue to create protest music as a way to speak about what is going on.
With the help of editor David Tedeschi, Scorsese would compile various concert footage including rare footage from Dylan’s 1966 tour that includes the infamous show at the Manchester Free Trade Hall where a fan screamed “Judas” at him for betraying the folk movement. It all play into Dylan’s refusal to be labeled for other people while he would admit that he was arrogant into the way he treated himself as a major figure. Even as the tour would serve as the peak of his public persona as this unlikely spokesman of a generation who was becoming increasingly difficult and didn’t care about what his audience thought.
No Direction Home: Bob Dylan is a sensational film from Martin Scorsese. It’s a sprawling documentary film in a near-4 hour running time that chronicles Dylan at his most famous as well as his most controversial with the man getting the chance to talk about that period. Even as it showcases rare footage and insight into the period of the times including Dylan’s early background. In the end, No Direction Home: Bob Dylan is a spectacular film from Martin Scorsese.
Related: Dont Look Back - I'm Not There - Trouble No More
Martin Scorsese Films: (Who’s That Knocking on My Door?) – (Street Scenes) – Boxcar Bertha – (Mean Streets) – Italianamerican – Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore - Taxi Driver - New York, New York – American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince - (The Last Waltz) – Raging Bull - The King of Comedy - After Hours - The Color of Money - The Last Temptation of Christ - New York Stories-Life Lessons - Goodfellas – Cape Fear (1991 film) - The Age of Innocence - (A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies) – (Casino) – (Kundun) – (My Voyage to Italy) – Bringing Out the Dead - (The Blues-Feel Like Going Home) – Gangs of New York - (The Aviator) – The Departed - Shine a Light - Shutter Island - (A Letter to Elia) – (Public Speaking) - George Harrison: Living in the Material World - Hugo - The Wolf of Wall Street - (The Fifty Year Argument) – The Silence - (The Irishman (2018 film)) - Killers of the Flower Moon - (An Afternoon with SCTV)
© thevoid99 2018
Written, shot, edited, and directed by D.A. Pennebaker, Dont Look Back is a documentary film that chronicles Bob Dylan’s 1965 tour of Britain which would be the last tour he would do playing solely acoustic music before going electric. The film showcases the folk artist struggling with fame as well as questions about his authenticity as an artist as it shown in a raw, black-and-white style. The result is an engrossing and fascinating film from D.A. Pennebaker.
It’s the spring of 1965 in Britain as Bob Dylan is doing an eight-day tour as he’s accompanied by an entourage that include folk singer/then-girlfriend Joan Baez, road manager/friend Bob Neuwirth, and manager Albert Grossman. Joining his former Animals keyboardist Alan Price who had just left the band as they chat about music and ideas while Dylan is doing interviews with the press who are questioning about what his songs mean and all sorts of idiotic questions. It does play into Dylan’s disdain towards his growing fame just as he is changing his look that would include footage of him singing protest songs in Mississippi that is filmed by Ed Emshwiller that shows a young Dylan two years before being the prince of the folk music scene. The Dylan during this tour of Britain is often seen wearing sunglasses and black-leather shoes as well as being a bit more confrontational.
Much of D.A. Pennebaker’s direction is loose in the fact that he captures all of the chaos that goes on backstage, at a hotel room, whenever Dylan is being interviewed, and when he’s on the road riding on a train to a show. Even as there’s scenes that has Joan Baez singing a couple of songs in a hotel room while Dylan is typing something or Dylan watching Donovan perform in a hotel room following an argument over who threw glass on the floor. Pennebaker would often shoot something just as it is happening while he also films a scene of Grossman doing a deal to show how much he cared for Dylan during that time as they would part ways five years later. The usage of raw black-and-white film would give the film a stylistic look while Pennebaker’s editing also has style in the way he would shoot some of the performances with the usage of dissolves and jump-cuts in some of the scenes of Dylan being interviewed.
The performances are straightforward in its presentation with the climax being the shows Dylan played at the Royal Albert Hall in London as it would be this moment that would show Dylan ready to move on from playing folk music and get ready to take a step into a new path. The film’s opening scene is a music video for Subterranean Homesick Blues that has Dylan holding cue cards featuring the lyrics while Allen Ginsberg is in the background talking to someone as it play into this new phase that Dylan was to embark. Even if Pennebaker was unafraid to show Dylan in a bad light such as the scene of him confronting someone over broken glass or being mean to a journalist where it does show Dylan being arrogant in some ways as a front in how he tries to deal with this growing sense of stardom. The sound work of Jones Alk with concert sound by J. Robert Van Dyke does play into the way things sound with Van Dyke providing a nice approach to how Dylan sounded live in his performances.
Dont Look Back is a phenomenal film from D.A. Pennebaker. It’s a documentary that showcases a man’s ascent to stardom as well as coping with this stardom while on tour at a turning point in his career. It’s a film that fans of Bob Dylan must see as it’s also a film that does play into the looseness and style of documentary that captures this air of realism that is unfolding during the course of a tour as it is happening. In the end, Dont Look Back is a tremendous film from D.A. Pennebaker.
Related: Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars - No Direction Home - I'm Not There - Trouble No More
© thevoid99 2018
Directed by D.A. Pennebaker, Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars is a documentary concert film that chronicles David Bowie’s final show as Ziggy Stardust on July 3, 1973 at the Hammersmith Odeon in London. Featuring footage from the show as well as backstage material where Bowie would wear different costumes throughout the entirety of the show. The film also showcases Bowie’s final performance with the band that were part of the Spiders from Mars in guitarist Mick Ronson, bassist Trevor Bolder, and drummer Woody Woodmansey. The result is a powerful and evocative concert film from D.A. Pennebaker.
On July 3, 1973 at the Hammersmith Odeon in London, David Bowie would play the final show of his world tour that promoted 1972’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars and 1973’s Aladdin Sane. The show was to be a triumphant moment for the British superstar who a year ago had changed the landscape of popular music in Britain by pretending to be an alien rock star from Mars. The show itself would be not just one of Bowie’s greatest concerts but also a defining moment in his career where he would kill the character of Ziggy Stardust once and for all as it would also mark the last time he would play with his backing band in the Spiders from Mars.
Shot entirely in 16mm film, D.A. Pennebaker creates a film that doesn’t just capture the concert from the view of the audience and what is happening on the stage. Pennebaker also shows footages of what is happening backstage where Bowie would change costumes between songs or during a major instrumental break. Some of the backstage footage would show Bowie not only putting makeup on with some staff but also conversing with Ringo Starr who is at the show watching backstage. Along with cinematographers Mike Davis, Jim Desmond, Nick Dobb, and Randy Franken, Pennebaker maintains a hand-held style with a lot of close-ups and medium shots to capture the performance and the audience’s reaction. While the lighting may seem a little low for what was presented in the concert as it’s largely red lights and such. It does play into something that is unlike anything that was happening in 1973.
With the aid of editor Lorry Whitehead, Pennebaker gathers a lot of footage while creating some unique cutting of Moonage Daydream being performed while it’s heard in the background while Bowie is doing another costume change. It’s among these fine moments in the editing as well as showing how the audience reacts to songs where they sing along or just be enamored with the visuals. The performances themselves are just incredible not just of what Bowie was doing on the stage with mime and other aspects in his role. It was also the interaction he had with the audience and how he would share the spotlight with his band as Mick Ronson was a guitarist that was unlike anyone at the time who was doing guitar hero poses and moments that were just amazing. The rhythm section of Trevor Bolder and Mick “Woody” Woodmansey were just as great where Pennebaker gave those three men a chance to shine. Also in the performance were additional music that featured another of Bowie’s key collaborators in keyboardist/pianist Mike Garson as well as percussionist/backing vocalist Geoff MacCormack, guitarist/vocalist John Hutchinson, and saxophonists/flutists Ken Fordham and Brian Wilshaw.
Helping to make the music sound just as big as well as providing a nice balance in the mixing with the music and audience is Bowie’s longtime producer Tony Visconti who would help supervise the mix for the film’s 2002 re-release and remastering. The look of the film would be more crisp where Pennebaker would also maintain that raw look of the 16mm film while cleaning some of the footage up a bit.
Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars is a phenomenal film from D.A. Pennebaker. Not only is it one of the finest concert films ever made but it’s also a fascinating document into the world of 70s glam rock as well as a period in the life and career of David Bowie where he was probably Britain’s biggest star then. In the end, Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars is a spectacular film from D.A. Pennebaker.
Related: Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (album)
© thevoid99 2016
