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| Greendale
Year: 2004
Classification: Drama
Directed:
- Neil Young
- Bernard Shakey
Actors/Actresses:
- Eric Johnson
- Sarah White
AS I was saying, characters from Pynchon....
Young and Crazy Horse are basically characters from Pynchon (LOT 49, VINELAND) come to life, often with results that seem equally absurd, poignant, heartfelt, goofey, amateurish, honest. And all of that is on display in this film, particularly Young's anti-Spielberg aesthetics, which is cause enough for celebration. That mix of burn-out eco-hippie-polemics has served Young and the Horse well. One need only look at footage of some of their arguments in Year of the Horse, Live in Berlin, to realize just how comical they are when they are seriously pissed at each other.BR>This film, however, has a point, and is embraced by what is one of Young's best collections of songs in a very long while. Characteristically, it is as unprofessionally "acted" and shot as you can get, and therein lies its charm. The "actors" are basically road and musician colleagues assembled by Young to mouth the words of his songs, intercut with montage pieces reflecting the spirit or message of a song. It is the same approach he used with his classic JOURNEY THROUGH THE PAST film from the seventies (Hey, Neil, where's the DVD of that or even the soundtrack?).BR>I'm likely the only one who has ever seen JOURNEY 11 times, and I don't suspect that I'll attempt that with this film, but amid his goofiness as a filmmaker, Neil has quite a lot to say about the state of mind of the US, at least as seen through the prism of this one family. In doing so, he addresses greed, karma, the environment, and the nature of one's nationality set against this backdrop of violence that is all American Eagle, and none of the compassion of Liberty. Although others may state the theme more eloquently, Young gets across in so unaffected a manner that the silliness of the movie is its own metaphor for how we clutter what is essential with the temporal and effete.BR>Back in JOURNEY, Young had David Crosby articulate an observation that is as chillingly accurate today as it was at the end of the Nixon era. I do not doubt that 30 years on, someone will come across this odd film and laugh at first, and then think about what the comedian just said.BR>Young is a lot like the hero in VINELAND. Re-read Pynchon, listen to Neil: they paint an accurate picture of life under gravity's rainbow.
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