Neil Young: Heart of Gold Review
Posted by Chad Webb on 04.18.2006
Heart of Gold is a glimmering 24 karats...
Featuring:
Neil Young
Emmylou Harris
Pegi Young
Spooner Oldham
Ben Keith
Rick Rosas
Grant Boatwright
Anthony Crawford
Chad Cromwell
Directed by: Jonathan Demme
Release Date: February 10, 2006
Running Time: 103 minutes
Rated PG for some drug-related lyrics.
For many decades now, Neil Young has been experimenting as a musician and entertaining fans as one of the most respected, prolific, and versatile artists in history. In Neil Young: Heart of Gold, viewers gaze into his soul through compelling and beautiful songs from the past and present. Young joins his closest friends in Nashville, Tennessee for a two-night performance at the historic Ryman Auditorium. This concert was held about a week before his life threatening brain surgery due to an aneurysm. I suppose he wanted to give the world one last show that would leave an imprint of his melodies etched in the hearts of his admirers. Fortunately, the surgery was a success.
As the film opens, Neil Young and his friends present brief interviews as they travel to this special concert. Neil divulges that he was never fond of having "studio bands" work with him. He preferred to choose his own lineup of talent. When the rock troubadour takes the stage with about 30 musicians, he begins with his latest album, Prairie Wind, in its entirety. He pours out his insides during these simple tunes by expressing his thoughts on the recent passing of his father, who suffered from dementia late in life. The album's title track opens immediately by evoking how personal his newest offering is while singing "Tryin to remember what my Daddy said, before too much time took away his head..." These new selections from his catalogue lay the groundwork for the whole recital as he discusses life, death, mortality, and 9/11.
The task for Director Jonathan Demme was not just to point and shoot Young on stage as he belts out various tunes, but to craft a connection between the moviegoer and Young's conveyance of memories. By no means is this a fancy concert film, but Demme's camera covers all the right angles from the passion in Young's face to a wide shot of the band, or the pluck of each string on the guitars. He slides across each band member in their element as they each expose a deep concentration to uncover the very best of aging friend comrade. Spooner Oldham, Ben Keith, and Grant Boatwright are in top form as experts on their respective devices that could encourage any aspiring young musician. By avoiding clichés such as sharp editing, Jonathan Demme creates a gentle and organic atmosphere that puts us in the seats of the Ryman Auditorium. Intimacy consumes Demme's vision of Young. He captured the essence of this star in a most amazing way, but then again, we should expect nothing less from the man who fashioned the splendid Talking Heads musical documentary Stop Making Sense back in 1984.
In between the certain songs in the set, Young fascinates the audience with stories of his music choices. Prior to the song "Here For You", Neil talks about his daughter just turning 21 and leaving for college, but he doesn't want to say any more, in fear of embarrassing her. Since his wife Pegi joins him on stage, he converses about the love songs he has written, and as he looks at her, amusingly jokes that he "still has a few of those left." On more than one occasion he mentioned Hank Williams Sr., and asked what he would think if he saw the state of Nashville today. Young unreservedly says that the spirit still flourishes in the town. Before playing "This Old Guitar" he admits that the guitar he has been using for the show was once owned by Hank Williams himself.
As a masterful artist, Young performs wonderfully with the guitar, banjo, harmonica, and piano. The second half of the two night spectacle is precise choices from the past albums Harvest and Harvest Moon. "Comes A Time" exhibits a glorious duet with Emmylou Harris, who radiates the Ryman with her exquisiteness. If the backdrops of a fireplace den, or a prairie painting slowly changing appearance and color in the midst of a melody isn't natural enough, during "Harvest Moon" a broom is swept across the floor as a fitting complement to the harmony. An invigorating cover of "Four Strong Winds", originally written by Ian Tyson, is completed with more than a half dozen acoustic guitars side by side.
While the age is evident on his face, the core of his character is as intense as ever as he and Jonathan Demme have given music and film lovers a breathtaking gift. Demme's undemanding camera movements match flawlessly with Young's display of bold emotion to portray a subtle, welcoming, and sentimental environment. For those who are expecting the equally as impressive documentary on Bob Dylan by Martin Scorsese, look elsewhere, because Demme's plan was to leave the talking to Neil, who puts viewers under the spell of his poignant lyrics and smooth voice. Accompanying Young's friends are the Nashville String Machine and the Fisk University Jubilee Singers who supplement the setting beautifully gorgeously. Throughout Heart of Gold is a shifting sense of remorse, insight, fear, and hope for the future. His best tracks, "The Needle and the Damage Done", as well as "Heart of Gold" still sound as fabulous as ever. This is a pure cinematic and musical masterpiece that will prevail as an overlooked jewel among throw away concerts that do not come close to this mellow, yet pungent autobiographical homage.
The 411: I think I will go dig up all my Neil Young CD’s now. I am not his biggest fan, but I have always enjoyed his music, as it is touching with each listen. This is a very simple, but brilliant film by a director who is an excellent veteran in this genre. This film has stayed in mostly small theaters, but I am glad it finally came my way. If you can see this, do it now.
