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TIFF: The Boss goes behind the camera for a ruminative performance film filled with old obsessions and a new twist of his classic narrative style.
Even the casual listeners of Bruce Springsteen's songs are well aware of The Boss's many obsessions – America, cars, love, small towns, hard times, personal fulfillment, the denim – and his first lap behind the camera shows his consistency. not broken, do not fix it ", a philosophy that has already guided much of his work. A concert party, a part of personal rumination about everything that makes Bruce, well, Bruce"Western Stars" is both an intimate exploration of Springsteen's latest album of the same name and a deeper dive into his most invasive compulsions. Springsteen's natural charisma shines through every turn. Even if Bruce's neophytes do not fully buy his depth, former admirers will appreciate his usual tricks. As always, Bruce means what he says.
The album (released earlier this summer) and the film were designed, as Springsteen explained in a voiceover, as a response to the inherent dichotomy of American life: the desire for individual freedoms and the need of a community. That's Springsteen, through and through. However, there are still some evolutions to be appreciated here, when Springsteen first appears behind the camera, as a director alongside his long-time collaborator, Thom Zimny, who has already made several videos of Springsteen and the documentary "The Ties That Bind. A well-done first film that combines Springsteen's (and Zimny's) staging, the Emmy Award winner also directed "Springsteen on Broadway", another Bruce collaboration that goes beyond the doc conventions of concert) with more cinematic entertainment.
While Springsteen and his group – including his wife and constant creative partner, Patti Scialfa, plays a big draw himself – play each song on stage in the order of the albums, the stories behind their creation are delivered only by Springsteen via a series of arty vignettes. The singer and songwriter is again exploiting his usual interests for the material (a lot of cars, more love stories, a lot of difficult times), a country album to the epic trend pop made epic by the Inclusion of an orchestra of thirty musicians, but the presentation and design of "Western Stars" is indeed something fresh.
Starting with the live show (located in the Springsteens' own century-old barn, large enough for the band, the orchestra, the crew and a handpicked audience), interstitial explanations find Springsteen playing the times and try to slightly embody some of the many characters that make up the recording. While some scenes show that Springsteen roaming the desert recalling his own life, including occasionally using archival images and old images to literally illustrate his words, others find it more directly involved in the more fictional elements of the disc. Springsteen has always been open about his emotions, less reluctant to share specific experiences – although in recent years he has shared many more, including on Broadway and in his autobiography "Born to Run" – and "Western Stars "find him in a place where feelings reign over facts.
"Western Stars"
Rob DeMartin
Until Springsteen begins to slip into the stories of others. He does not hide his affection for creating characters to compose songs at once, and "Western Stars" includes a variety of characters as colorful and fascinating. Of the endangered western star (in the eponymous song, Springsteen jokes about the fact that his character was photographed by John Wayne while he's at work), a stuntman and even a child Leaving heart attack as a horse-breaker, "Western Stars" is replete with Springsteen replacements who allow him to explore his themes in greater depth.Sewer Director Joe DeSalvo, another Springsteen regular The Boss turns with ease and intimacy, bringing us closer to the stage and the stage.
Even if the introductory extracts of The Boss are sometimes too revealing, addressing obvious ideas and even resuming the same lines as the song (the passage to "Western Stars" is particularly demanding), they also offer a new way of expression explanation. Springsteen's concerts are punctuated with amusing anecdotes and classic storytelling techniques, and "Western Stars" see it and Zimny in a narrative style that gives old chestnuts a fresh feel. They did something similar with "Springsteen on Broadway", which also relied on the star who told stories before embarking on songs, although "Western Stars" offers a more appealing approach to this concept .
Filmed over the course of a few days, "Western Stars" naturally uses the best shots to fit into a coherent editing, but a brief overview of the so-called bloopers at the end of the credits suggests a finer cut, a less refined version hermetic final product. Springsteen and his team are at their best when they are allowed to party a bit, and the most spontaneous moments sound real, ranging from the vision of a cello player radiating in an understandable way to Springsteen and Scialfa interacting on "Stones." Springsteen's goal is to tell a story with every album, and while the stories that make up "Western Stars" are often known, the setting that unites them is new and brilliant.
Grade: B +
"Western Stars" was premiered at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival. Warner Bros. will release the movie in October.
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