Ryan McNeil
It’s Thanksgiving Weekend here in Canada, which for me means lots of time spent with my family. Going back to the house I grew up in reminds me of all kinds of different aspects of growing up. For instance, the wide array of movies my parents rented me that got my love for films going. Likewise, how my parents exposed me to all sorts of music from a very young age. In fact, for a few years, I was on a pretty steady diet of oldies. While my friends were listening to Guns N’ Roses and New Kids On the Block, I was learning about The Beatles, The Doors, Ray Charles, The Stones, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, and The Band.
As it happens, The Band are the subject of perhaps the best concert film of all time, Martin Scorsese’s THE LAST WALTZ documents a concert that took place on Thanksgiving 1976. After years on the road, The band had decided that they were going to call it quits, but not before one final hurrah in San Francisco. The concert included appearances by Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Muddy Waters, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Ronnie Hawkins, Ron Wood, Neil Diamond, and Bob Dylan.
When Martin Scorsese set out to make this film, he actually sat down with the song set- written out lyric by lyric -and mapped out how he wanted it filmed right down to the last cue. The whole film seems to be filmed from the point of view of a fan with access. There are no mini-cams strapped to guitar necks, no sweeping cranes, just shots that are all in the right spot for the right part of the song….no fancy tricks, just well thought-out photography. Do yourself one favour though – try not to pay too much attention to how coked-out Van Morrison is.
Inter cut with the concert are interviews with the band members themselves. All of them are rather well-spoken, and it’s intriguing to hear their stories about trying to make it on their own. All the bits are told with a tone of mischief and humility, which is rare compared to interviews you hear with most of today’s hottest performers. Perhaps some of those performers should be forced to listen to Robbie Robertson’s interview where he talks about the stress of the road. It’s a stress that he quite bluntly labels “A god damned impossible way of life”.
As for the songs themselves, they are all taken from the playlists of what I was raised on, so suffice to say I end up feeling a tad nostalgic when I hear them. Songs like “I Shall Be Released”, “Who Do You Love?”, “Up On Cripple Creek”, and “Further On Up the Road”. Perhaps their greatest hit, “The Weight” never sounds better than it does here with The Staples singing backup. Every note of these songs takes me back to being a kid, listening to 1050 CHUM in my parents’ car.
Occasions like Thanksgiving are primarily about family. The legends that gathered on stage that night felt a kinship with The Band, which easily accounts for why so many of them were there to say goodbye. As for my family, DVD’s like THE LAST WALTZ are a great choice to throw on because it’s the sort of film my we can watch together, have a few laughs, and enjoy some truly great music.