The Last Waltz
1978 Directed by Martin Scorsese, Jerry Grandey …
Synopsis
It Started as a Concert. It Became a Celebration.
Martin Scorsese's rockumentary intertwines footage from "The Band's" incredible farewell tour with probing backstage interviews and featured performances by Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Ringo Starr and other rock legends.
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Fun, even if you don't know too much about the musical era. Probably not fun if you don't enjoy bluesy rock'n'roll, but who doesn't?
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Excellent documentary about a genre of music that is probably not my cup of tea, but I was impressed on how many big named artists show up and payed respect to The Band. Well shot and interesting stories made this a rock doc I would highly recommend!
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How about that? 1 full year of movie nights. Over the course of that year I have seen about 300 films, but I find a lot of reward in knowing that 52 of them have come from my weekly "movie night".
To commemorate this occasion, I invited several of my co-workers over for pizza, beer, and rock-and-roll documentary, Scorsese style. All of them declined. Philistines!
This film chronicles the final concert by the rock group 'The Band'. Where most people would be content to put a few cameras around the theater, Scorsese build elaborate sets and hid them in around. He had a series of mobile camera roving all over the place. Hell, he even got Laszlo Kovacs to do…
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"This film should be played loud."
This is the warning Scorsese gives us at the beginning and it holds true throughout this entire concerts journey. You may need to be a fan of The Band to actually enjoy this film, but if you are, its a must-see.
The between song interviews Scorsese conducts shine light on the fact that these ordinary men/musicians, in a seemingly ordinary band (called 'the band', go figure), can come together to make the most extraordinary backing band of all time. This isn't to say that each member of The Band is not an incredible musician in their own right, but each player's stage-awareness combined creates a lush foundation for whomever the song is featuring. Guest…
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Probably the best concert film ever made. Wait, no, not probably. Definitely.
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This is all I ever lived for..... my music, my attitude, my way of living, my dreams, my guitars, my artists, my wife, etc.... This film is me or the one I would like to have been....
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Great film, love The Band, Van is indeed the Man in this.
Docked a point because the print was pretty poor and there were stupid old couples who thought they could get away with talking during the louder moments. They couldn't.
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As a timestamp of some of the best known musical artists of the time (despite not really knowing many of them other than a vague familiarity of their name) this was a fantastic watch.
Somehow the gravity of Scorcese's drama classics still manages to come through in this documentary. It is great to watch with full attention but could also be on in the background without requiring your full attention.
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Martin Scorsese concert film about The Band's final show. The film features a number of famous guests, including Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Ronnie Wood, Eric Clapton, Emmylou Harris and Van Morrison... It's not always great, the Neil Young performance is infamous - Neil is clearly drunk/stoned to fuck and when he did his song "Helpless" with The Band, a giant rock of cocaine was clearly visible up his nostril. Scorsese and The Band's Robbie Robertson wanted to leave it in, but Young's manager demanded they remove it via special effects to the cost of thousands of dollars. I suppose the film does capture rock n roll, it's excesses along with it's brilliance.
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Excellent documentary about a genre of music that is probably not my cup of tea, but I was impressed on how many big named artists show up and payed respect to The Band. Well shot and interesting stories made this a rock doc I would highly recommend!
-
How about that? 1 full year of movie nights. Over the course of that year I have seen about 300 films, but I find a lot of reward in knowing that 52 of them have come from my weekly "movie night".
To commemorate this occasion, I invited several of my co-workers over for pizza, beer, and rock-and-roll documentary, Scorsese style. All of them declined. Philistines!
This film chronicles the final concert by the rock group 'The Band'. Where most people would be content to put a few cameras around the theater, Scorsese build elaborate sets and hid them in around. He had a series of mobile camera roving all over the place. Hell, he even got Laszlo Kovacs to do…
-
"This film should be played loud."
This is the warning Scorsese gives us at the beginning and it holds true throughout this entire concerts journey. You may need to be a fan of The Band to actually enjoy this film, but if you are, its a must-see.
The between song interviews Scorsese conducts shine light on the fact that these ordinary men/musicians, in a seemingly ordinary band (called 'the band', go figure), can come together to make the most extraordinary backing band of all time. This isn't to say that each member of The Band is not an incredible musician in their own right, but each player's stage-awareness combined creates a lush foundation for whomever the song is featuring. Guest…
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Favorite concert film
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Worth watching just to see Neil Young fawning over Bob Dylan.
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"Documentary by Martin Scorcese, following The Last Waltz of The Band . I enjoyed most of the music, but wasn't quite as keen on the interviews. Some of the singers appear not to have been wholly in this world that particular day - Neil Young was one, but his performance of Helpless was very special."