REVIEW

Movie Review: Neil Young Heart of Gold

Written by Triniman
Published March 04, 2006

This is a concert film, with a brief opening chapter showing the band members driving to the concert hall and reminiscing about Neil Young.

The concert in Nashville is the world premiere of his new album, Prairie Wind. Some of the tracks are pretty good while others, like the title track, are instantly forgettable. The band plays mostly country-folk music and features Emmylou Harris, a huge star in her own right, on backing vocals.

Toward the end of the show, Young rattles off a few of his hits including "Old Man", "The Needle and the Damage Done", "Harvest Moon", and of course, "Heart of Gold.." Young mentions Winnipeg and Falcon Lake and recalls plugging all his money into a jukebox in a restaurant there to hear Ian Tyson "Four Strong Winds", one of the most definitive songs in Canadian popular music history, at Falcon Lake.

Neil also spoke about his father, who passed away a few months before the show. He recalled the time he was being shown around the ranch property he bought when he was quite a bit younger by the caretaker and how it inspired him to write "Old Man". Young's guitar, formerly Hank Williams' rated a story. You even get to see one of the band members sweep a mat with a straw broom, contributing to the shuffling sound of "Harvest Moon". Who knew?

If you're a fan, you're probably going to enjoy this film. The Ryman Auditorium's balcony is the first upper level I've seen that looks as good as the lower level. There's not a bad seat in this house, the former home of the Grand Old Opry. If you're not a fan, you would be hard pressed to dismiss the band's performance. Neil Young expresses emotion and beauty as honestly and intimately as his legend would suggest. Curiously, Oscar-winning director Jonathan Demme doesn't have shots showing the audience close up, which was a tad disappointing. Demme also directed the 1984 Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense.

Triniman's BlogAlmost weekly, Triniman catches new movies, and adds one or two CDs to his collection. Due to time constraints, he blogs about only 5% of the CDs, books and DVDs that he purchases. Holed up in the geographic centre of North America, the cultural mecca of Canada, and the sunniest city north of the 49th, Winnipeg, Triniman blogs a bit when he's not swatting mosquitoes, shovelling snow or golfing.

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Movie Review: Neil Young Heart of Gold
Published: March 04, 2006
Type: Review
Section: Video
Filed Under: Music: Classic Rock and Oldies, Music: Rock, Music: Video, Review, Video: Music
Writer: Triniman
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Comments

#1 — March 5, 2006 @ 11:25AM — thrasher [URL]

I was OK without audience shots. In fact, that's what makes it great! Those Neil Young fans are nuts anyways...

#2 — March 5, 2006 @ 21:37PM — bernard shakey

did you really watch this movie?
i can tell you probably skimmed through it
this is probably the greatest concert film ever made
neil young is a major living legend and his music
is pure genius, including this new cd- not forgettable as you say
you probably have been listening to too much of tadays garbage to know what real music is
who knew that a corn broom was used on 1992's
harvest moon?...i did-
by the way the band used by neil are THE top
musicians in nashville, and have all been playing with neil for years and years on and off
they are Elite, Real musicians,
who have been on many classic country recordings
people (especially young people of this sterile generation) just don't understand the difference
between REAL music,like Neil Youngs Heart of Gold Movie, and complete garbage- 99% of todays "music"- not played by real musicians and not made by live bands.
and who wants to see the audience?
who cares about the audience?
i didn't pay money to see some people who are at a concert
its sad that for 100 min or so you heard pure genius and didn't even know what it was, sad

ps- don't take this as a "personal attack"
those words made me laugh when i saw them
ha ha ha ha ha ha

#3 — March 5, 2006 @ 22:07PM — Triniman [URL]

Some of his tracks are stronger than others, just like any other artist.

#4 — March 7, 2006 @ 20:07PM — Lou

Hey Shakey, back off creep. You act as if only your opinion matters. Guess what? It doesn't. But I do agree that this movie was fantastic. Probably the best concert movie I've ever seen.

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