A film account and presentation of the final concert of The Band.
Director:
Martin ScorseseWriter:
Mardik Martin (treatment)
From metacritic.com
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Title: The Last Waltz (1978)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| The Band | ... | Themselves | |
| Rick Danko | ... | Self - Bass / Violin / Vocal | |
| Levon Helm | ... | Self - Drums / Mandolin / Vocal | |
| Garth Hudson | ... | Self - Organ / Accordion / Saxophone / Synthesizers | |
| Richard Manuel | ... | Self - Piano / Keyboards / Drums / Vocal | |
| Robbie Robertson | ... | Self - Guitar / Vocal | |
| Eric Clapton | ... | Self - Performer | |
| Neil Diamond | ... | Self - Performer | |
| Bob Dylan | ... | Self - Performer | |
| Joni Mitchell | ... | Self - Performer | |
| Neil Young | ... | Self - Performer | |
| Emmylou Harris | ... | Self - Performer | |
| Ringo Starr | ... | Self - Performer | |
| Paul Butterfield | ... | Self - Performer | |
| Dr. John | ... | Self - Performer | |
Thanksgiving, 1976, San Francisco's Winterland: the Band performs its last concert after 16 years on the road. Some numbers they do alone, some songs include guest artists from Ronnie Hawkins (their first boss, when they were the Hawks) to Bob Dylan (their last, when as his backup and as a solo group, they came into their own). Scorsese's camera explores the interactions onstage in the making of music. Offstage, he interviews the Band's five members, focusing on the nature of life on the road. The friendships, the harmonies, the hijinks, and the wear and tear add up to a last waltz. Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>
Martin Scorsese's documentary has been labelled a time capsule of an era, and whilst this type of reference usually sounds overstated, there is no doubting the accomplishment of this film as an event. Many use the documentary 'Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace and Music' as the ultimate example of a music-doco, but whilst the music in The Last Waltz is actually on par with the great performances of Woodstock (bar Jimi Hendrix[there's no substitute]), the thing which elevates The Last Waltz is the photography.
This was the first music doco to be shot on 35mm and watching the concert, you'd think that each performance was carefully choregraphed over a few weeks of shooting rather than over one night. Special thanks must be given to Cinematogrpaher Michael Chapman for his efforts on this film. The look of the film is what elevates it's overall appeal, because the music was always going to be epic, especially with the cavalcade of great names performing. This is just great filmmaking from contemporary cinema's most accomplished filmmaker. And how about that haunting theme that both starts and ends the film. Just great.