Pearl Jam Twenty

A documentary covering twenty years of a band. The narrative starts in Seattle. The singer of a band called Mother Love Bone dies of an overdose, and the two musicians left try to form something new. A cassette from San Diego, and the voice on it, changes everything. What follows is a fast rise: the first album sells enormously, the band becomes known worldwide overnight, and they struggle with the pressure that brings. That pressure is the film's real subject. They stop making videos, cut back on interviews and end up in court against the ticketing company. That fight closes off touring for them for years. The narrative also enters a tragedy: the crush at a festival in Denmark in which nine people died. The production rests largely on archive. The director gathered thousands of hours of footage spanning twenty years, most of it never released. Cameron Crowe directed; he has known the band since their early years and cast members in a film he made in the 1990s. A comprehensive production for anyone who likes music documentary and the American rock scene of the 1990s. For a viewer expecting a critical view, the film stands close to the band and keeps no distance.