Justin Timberlake + The Tennessee Kids

A concert film. A tour is ending. The last two nights of Justin Timberlake's tour, which ran across two years, were filmed in Las Vegas. The film opens backstage. Corridors, the wardrobe room, warming up and a meeting; the company gathers before going on. Then the show begins and the film stays there almost throughout. The company is large. Orchestra, singers, dancers and crew; more than twenty-five people in all. The camera watches the musicians too. The horn section, bass, drums and vocals are each shown; the film does not frame only the lead. What the narrative is interested in is not fame but craft: the director films the concert not as a spectacle but as the work of a group performing together. The cutting is a clear choice. There is no fast montage; the shots are held and the audience can see how a number is built. The lighting design is left as it is. Colour correction is minimal and the concert's own look is kept. At the end it returns backstage. The tour ends, the company disperses, and the close is quiet. Jonathan Demme had made concert films before and continues the same approach here; this was among his last works. The production was made for a streaming platform. Justin Timberlake and The Tennessee Kids are on stage. Jonathan Demme directed. Who it is for: anyone interested in concert films and in what stage musicianship involves. Who it is not for: anyone with no interest in the music; this is not a documentary but ninety minutes of a concert.