Neil Young Journeys

A film set in Ontario and Toronto. Neil Young is to play a concert. At Massey Hall, two nights. The hall has a particular place for him. He played there years ago and that recording became an album. He drives to the concert. The car is old. A 1956 Ford and he drives it himself. The road starts in a town in Ontario. Omemee. Young grew up there. From there the film runs two things at once. On one side the road. He talks; about his childhood, his brother, his school, and what happened in that town. He passes his old house. He points at a lot. He mentions a creek. He remembers where a childhood friend lived. On the other the concert. Alone on the stage. Guitar, piano, organ and harmonica. The songs are mostly from his latest album with a few older ones. The camera is very close. In one number the lens is almost against his face and spit stays on it. The narrative does not cut it. What the narrative is interested in is not a concert but a place: its idea is that what he describes in his town and what he sings on stage come from the same source. One line is heavy. Young's brother and what they went through in that period. His father as well. He was a writer. During the concert one song is about a war and the narrative uses archive footage there. This is Jonathan Demme's third film with Neil Young. The two had made two concert films before. The images are plain. In the road sections the camera is inside and outside the car. The running time is around eighty minutes. Who it is for: Neil Young listeners and anyone who likes plain concert films. Who it is not for: anyone expecting a documentary; the narrative builds no life story and the talk is scattered.