Being a huge fan of the band one might expect that I would also be a big fan of this movie. This is certainly not the case.
The idea of the Band in my opinion was for them to be a band with five equal members. Mr. Marty Scorsese obviously didn't think so. He must have been under the impression that the Band was a star vehicle for Robbie Robertson, like history has written, and not the group of equal musicians that slowly waltzed out of Big Pink.
Like Levon Helm said in his book the band was based on the heart and soul of Richard Manuel, the genius of Garth Hudson, the songwriting of robbie robertson, the hopping rythm of Rick Danko's bass, all pulled together by the tight rythms of Levon and Richard. On top of all that the three best vocalists in rock music, none of which are robbie robertson.
Even though half of the film is robbie singing his heart out from behind his ever changing Hollywood wardrobe, he is singing into a microphone that was turned off. Meanwhile you hear an amazing voice that comes from nowhere that you assume to be his but it belongs to the late Richard Manuel who is made to look like a clown in this movie.
As far as Scorsese's interview segments go you've got four guys who don't want to be where they are talking about some things they don't want to talk about with an interviewer that they couldn't care less if they never saw again. Then you have robbie robertson trying his best to turn the interview segments into a Hollywood career (which must have come to a complete halt when everyone saw his performance in the Crossing Guard).
It's a shame that this is how these folks are remembered, on screen at least, when footage exists of much finer concerts in Japan (Without robertson)that were never officially released. Part of the reason for this is that the rest of the Band didn't have the love for business and money that robertson pumped into the Last Waltz. With the exception of Manuel (who hung himself on a shower rod after a modest turn out at a small venue) the rest of the Band would've been happy playing anywhere for the rest of their lives. And basically, they all did.
Sorry if this got a little off track.
Buy the albums starting from Music From Big Pink before you ever watch this movie!
The idea of the Band in my opinion was for them to be a band with five equal members. Mr. Marty Scorsese obviously didn't think so. He must have been under the impression that the Band was a star vehicle for Robbie Robertson, like history has written, and not the group of equal musicians that slowly waltzed out of Big Pink.
Like Levon Helm said in his book the band was based on the heart and soul of Richard Manuel, the genius of Garth Hudson, the songwriting of robbie robertson, the hopping rythm of Rick Danko's bass, all pulled together by the tight rythms of Levon and Richard. On top of all that the three best vocalists in rock music, none of which are robbie robertson.
Even though half of the film is robbie singing his heart out from behind his ever changing Hollywood wardrobe, he is singing into a microphone that was turned off. Meanwhile you hear an amazing voice that comes from nowhere that you assume to be his but it belongs to the late Richard Manuel who is made to look like a clown in this movie.
As far as Scorsese's interview segments go you've got four guys who don't want to be where they are talking about some things they don't want to talk about with an interviewer that they couldn't care less if they never saw again. Then you have robbie robertson trying his best to turn the interview segments into a Hollywood career (which must have come to a complete halt when everyone saw his performance in the Crossing Guard).
It's a shame that this is how these folks are remembered, on screen at least, when footage exists of much finer concerts in Japan (Without robertson)that were never officially released. Part of the reason for this is that the rest of the Band didn't have the love for business and money that robertson pumped into the Last Waltz. With the exception of Manuel (who hung himself on a shower rod after a modest turn out at a small venue) the rest of the Band would've been happy playing anywhere for the rest of their lives. And basically, they all did.
Sorry if this got a little off track.
Buy the albums starting from Music From Big Pink before you ever watch this movie!