Heart of Gold: Rehearsal Diaries (2006)
*** (out of 4)
Director Jonathan Demme created this "diary" for an extra on the DVD release of HEART OF GOLD so fans of that film will certainly want to check this out. What we basically have is Demme showing some behind-the-scenes stuff that's broken down into three different segments. "Soundcheck Studies" takes a look at six days worth of rehearsals where the band and Young get their songs down. "The Ryman Auditorium" takes a look at the venue itself as Demme talks about the difficulty of getting the lights ready and the cameras while at the same time not taking away from the crowd that was going to be there. "Day of the Performance" is exactly what it sounds like as we see some last minute changes as the concert is about to go. I think this documentary is a bit of a hit and miss. It's a hit because it's great getting to see what went on behind-the-scenes and it's certainly interesting seeing everything that went into getting this movie filmed. At the same time you can't help but be a bit disappointed at times because Demme is talking about stuff going on and then we don't get to hear it. There's a point where he's talking about Young's wife joining in on "Comes a Time" but we never get to hear it. There's another point where we see some rehearsals going on and I think it would have been nice to have heard more of them. With that said, fans of Young will still enjoy seeing what went on to get everything up and running. The main film is without question of masterpiece in terms of visuals and performance and this here works as a good extra.
*** (out of 4)
Director Jonathan Demme created this "diary" for an extra on the DVD release of HEART OF GOLD so fans of that film will certainly want to check this out. What we basically have is Demme showing some behind-the-scenes stuff that's broken down into three different segments. "Soundcheck Studies" takes a look at six days worth of rehearsals where the band and Young get their songs down. "The Ryman Auditorium" takes a look at the venue itself as Demme talks about the difficulty of getting the lights ready and the cameras while at the same time not taking away from the crowd that was going to be there. "Day of the Performance" is exactly what it sounds like as we see some last minute changes as the concert is about to go. I think this documentary is a bit of a hit and miss. It's a hit because it's great getting to see what went on behind-the-scenes and it's certainly interesting seeing everything that went into getting this movie filmed. At the same time you can't help but be a bit disappointed at times because Demme is talking about stuff going on and then we don't get to hear it. There's a point where he's talking about Young's wife joining in on "Comes a Time" but we never get to hear it. There's another point where we see some rehearsals going on and I think it would have been nice to have heard more of them. With that said, fans of Young will still enjoy seeing what went on to get everything up and running. The main film is without question of masterpiece in terms of visuals and performance and this here works as a good extra.
