"It Was the Music" will probably forever be labeled a music documentary, but it is more than a music documentary. It is a film about ageing and generational gaps, about collaboration, interpersonal relationships, and the passage of time. It is a film about creation and inspiration, about the artistic process and overcoming adversity, and yes, about music. And when I see Barack Obama on the television screen in the background of one scene, finally understanding how long it took to make this film, I realize it is also a story about perseverance. The perseverance of the filmmaker.
I emailed the director the above thoughts, and here is his reply: "Hand in hand with perseverance is loss, the loss of the 20th century. Things you can hold, or hold dear. I had set out to do an ode to the viewer, in the old romantic poetry sense of the word. As opposed to a linear story, I wanted to see if I could do something time-based, a series of occurrences, seemingly in no particular order, somewhat like jazz with a number of soloists."
This director has produced something extremely rare in the film industry. There's a line in his first documentary, Stone Reader, about certain literature "bordering on genius." I think the same could be said for It Was the Music, which is why this film richly deserves both commercial and critical success.
I emailed the director the above thoughts, and here is his reply: "Hand in hand with perseverance is loss, the loss of the 20th century. Things you can hold, or hold dear. I had set out to do an ode to the viewer, in the old romantic poetry sense of the word. As opposed to a linear story, I wanted to see if I could do something time-based, a series of occurrences, seemingly in no particular order, somewhat like jazz with a number of soloists."
This director has produced something extremely rare in the film industry. There's a line in his first documentary, Stone Reader, about certain literature "bordering on genius." I think the same could be said for It Was the Music, which is why this film richly deserves both commercial and critical success.
