Filter: Hide Spoilers:
Page 1 of 2:[1] [2] [Next]
Index 17 comments in total 

15 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
Van Zandt movie a fine documentary, 3 June 2005
10/10
Author: dhelling from United States

I just returned from watching this documentary at the Seattle film festival, and it was wonderful. It should be required viewing for fans of Townes, and it's highly recommended for anyone interested in the phenomenon of an artist giving over his life completely to his art. The director does a great job of presenting the balance between the often tragic events and circumstances of his life and Townes' wonderful sense of humor. There are some bits, musical and otherwise, that Townes fans will probably already have seen, but quite a bit of new footage as well. The director was given access to a wealth of material to put together into this glimpse of the complicated life of Townes, and the interviews done specifically for this film were extremely well done. Some of my favorite bits: Previously unpublished outtakes to the wonderful film Heartworn Highways, showing a much younger Townes. Fascinating sound clips from a box of taped phone conversations, taken by a journalist over a six year time period. Great filmed interviews of Townes's children, including a very spooky clip of Katie Bell, his young daughter, recounting a dream she had about her father that ended in a gravestone being made. And very interview segments with his friends and fellow musicians, notably Guy Clarke. The film goes into general release in the states in December, and a DVD will follow a couple of months after that.

Was the above comment useful to you?

12 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
Answers Don't Come Easy, 15 March 2006
9/10
Author: David Ferguson (fergusontx@gmail.com) from Dallas, Texas

Greetings again from the darkness. The wait for this one to hit Dallas has been long and painful. Just mentioning the name Townes Van Zandt gets me all weepy and longing for those many nights in Austin between the mid 70's and early 80's. Although I only saw him perform live three times, his influence on the Austin music scene was unmatched.

Margaret Brown's directorial touch on this bio-documentary is filled with love, admiration, respect and a harsh dose of reality. Townes was not the typical inflated ego icon so familiar in the music business. Yes, he drank entirely too much and yes, he did way more drugs than any one body could possibly handle. But hearing fellow musicians, three wives and numerous children talk about him, affirmed one thought that I had always clung to: the man had soul.

There are some fascinating film clips of Townes both living life and on stage at various times throughout his "career". When we hear the spoken words "he is here for the music", it all makes sense. We see him unkempt, living in a lousy trailer and in his constant state of gauntness. This man was born to write songs and he did it better than anyone. Near the opening, Joe Ely tells the story of how listening to Townes' first record, forced he and Jimmie Gilmore to totally change their approach to songwriting. Folks, that is talent and power.

The reverence in the voice of Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson and Steve Earle (three fine songwriters in their own right) as they recollect how Townes touched their music is very base and raw. This is no Hollywood love fest of a dead character actor. This is pure respect from those who truly understand the gift.

The documentary is pretty well paced, but my one quibble is that we do not get to hear Townes perform a song all the way through until he sings "Marie" sometime past the midpoint. Also, I don't believe we had a single track from the "Carnegie Hall" show. That said, there are so many songs included, even if only for a verse, that it will provide a tremendous overview to anyone not already touched by the man's music.

We cannot help but be saddened as the talk of his shock therapy and subsequent change in personality are detailed. Also, hearing his kids speak of him is almost invasive, but what a remarkable gift to the film this is.

One of the producers is the great and under-appreciated Louis Black. He was involved in a film class I took at the University of Texas many years ago and has since gone on to edit an Austin paper and found the SXSW music and film festival. I feel certain his insight was invaluable to the film and sense that Townes Van Zandt music impacted his life the way it did many of us.

Was the above comment useful to you?

13 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
A Fine Tribute to America's Best Songwriter ever!, 17 September 2004
Author: Pithybrid from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

I was lucky enough to view this film at the Toronto Film Festival. As a longtime, and pretty rabid Townes Van Zandt fan, I was very impressed with the film. Director Margaret Brown did a fantastic job. Her film showed the tragedy, humor and beauty that made up Townes. I had a chance to talk to her briefly after the screening, and you could tell that this was really a labor of love. The interviews in this seem like a who's who of singer/songwriter music, featuring Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Guy Clark and many more. Hopefully it will find some sort of distribution on DVD. It is the type of film that deserves to be seen. Anyone who considers themselves a music fan should take any opportunity they have to see this film.

Was the above comment useful to you?

8 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
Surpasses your average Vh1 documentary AND THEN SOME! Great film., 3 November 2005
9/10
Author: b1lskirnir from United States

Even if you're not a fan of documentaries, hell, even if you're not a fan of folk/country, Be Here To Love Me is a beautiful and well-directed story of the life of singer/songwriter Townes Van Zandt. More than just a movie for hardcore fans of the genre and the artist, the impeccable visual style of the movie keeps the average movie-goer enthralled within it's heartfelt and hilarious interviews of friends, family, and musical contemporaries give dialogue almost too good for a movie.

But then you're reminded that it's a documentary; it's fairly easy to forget. The only narration is the actual audio, be it phone calls (such as in the amazing opening sequence to "At My Window"), home movies, live performances, or the music itself. The camera pans across montages of midwest scenes: old men in the old mens' bars, truck driving, wandering through the desert, and so many others that play like one gorgeous, intermittent music video. Some of the dialogue is unforgettable, be it Townes discussing his addiction to airplane glue, Guy Clark laughing at him hitting on his wife, or his own mother expressing sorrow for exposing him to shock treatments early in his life.

The overall pace of the movie becomes disrupted near the last 20-30 minutes, as the overall flow of themes in Townes' life unfold less and less precisely and with as much organization as the beginning, but that's basically the only flaw to an otherwise brilliant documentary.

Not knowing much about Townes as a person, I can say that this movie helped me fall in love with his music and find new respect for the genre. I recommend it to anyone who loves this man, loves these kinds of quirky stories, loves country/folk, or... well, I recommend it to anyone!

Was the above comment useful to you?

4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
"A Singer & Songwriter that you must know about!, 12 August 2006
8/10
Author: JEVizzusi (centralhsd@earthlink.net) from Orlando Florida USA

Margaret Brown's story of Singer and Songwriter Townes Van Zandt is a wonderful tribute and heartfelt autobiography. In her own retro film style, I felt like I was part of the story of a struggling Musician trying to make it in a world that cared more about the record deal than the songs they produced. Van Zandt stuck to his guns and never sold out and recorded some of finest lyrics and haunting acoustical guitar work anyone has ever heard. The interviews really take you inside this guy's life - head and soul... and raw footage of Townes is aplenty in this film. One comment that will stay with myself forever was a interview with a Tour Manager whom stated: "He was moving up the Concert Tour Circuit... almost to a Motor Coach, YEA, he was ready to go! Van Zandt could care less about so-called fame, and just wrote and played what he felt. And this film sends the message to do whats in your heart, even if it kills ya at a young age. For any Artist, a 'Must See Documentary Film!

John Vizzusi, Behind the Indie Camera / Florida Film Monthly

Was the above comment useful to you?

6 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
Great look into a songwriter whom will be hard to surpass, 10 December 2005
10/10
Author: brendan_ocuin from Ireland

I went to see this film with a limit knowledge of the mans music and next to nothing on the life of the man. This film give a great look into a songwriter that has the ability to put into word, what many people will fail to feel in their lifetime. The mix of footage from the Townes own home footage to live performances and interviews with the people who know him make the whole experience a full one and as you leave you will understand how unique he was, his talent was and his effect on people. The film has been made is such a way that it provides a full spectrum into the life. You will both laugh and feel sorrow at the events that made up the life of Townes Van Zandt.

A must see for music lovers.....

Was the above comment useful to you?

3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
To live is to die, 13 April 2008
8/10
Author: tieman64 from United Kingdom

"Well, many of my songs, they aren't sad, they're hopeless." - Townes Van Zandt.

"I don't envision a very long life for myself. I think my life will run out before my work does, you know? I've designed it that way." - Townes Van Zandt.

An amazing talent, with a bent for self-destruction, Townes was a unique and singular voice. This film reuses much footage from "Heartworn Highways", an arty documentary made in the 70s. It conveys the pain and self destructiveness that plagued Van Zandt and reveals that he was a manic depressive and alcoholic, facts which would not surprise anyone who listened to his work.

The film focuses on the period between the late 70s and late 80s when Townes went into hiding. After producing a record called "7 Come 11" he literally vanished, refusing to release his music until 20 years later.

The film is peppered with interviews with producers and song writers, many touting him as one of the greatest singer/poets since Dylan, who sadly, because of his suicidal tendencies, never achieved the superstar status he deserved.

Townes inexplicable failure to promote himself and his music baffled the industry and pretty soon he began a downward spiral, creatively and personally. He'd play Russian roulette with a .357 Magnum, often talk about suicide, inexplicably avoid his family, stay up nights drinking and spent years locked away in a log cabin, away from the world.

It seems that these "lost years" contributed to Van Zandt's decline, although one gets the sense that Townes didn't know what he was looking for or what he really wanted to achieve. He was an intelligent man, but his pain was just too much to warrant living. When questioned in an interview about what his goals were, it seems Townes had never thought about it (or didn't have any), and he struggles with the question until answering with a smile, "I would like to write a song that no one understands, including myself."

It's a playful comment, until you see the look in his eyes and realise what he means. He'd like no one to understand or identify with the pain of his music, because sadly, to understand is to suffer too.

As the film nears it's end, the shocking transformation of Van Zandt into a skeletal alcoholic is particularly disturbing. His cheek bones protrude like shards of broken pottery, his guitar skills deteriorating and his voice becoming torn and melancholy.

Van Zandt's music has been called folk and country, but on its deepest level it relates most comfortably to the blues. Over the past two years there's been a tremendous revival of interest in roots music. People initially turned to this music as a kind of protest against the childishness and soullessness of commercial, popular music. Then, after September 11th, roots music came to be associated with "Americana". A kind of cultural patriotism.

A couple years later and scepticism and anger raises it's ugly head. "Americana" was suddenly bad, and the old vanguard of roots music, those angry anti establishment folk guys like Dylan (or the original punk rockers like The Ramones) are suddenly popular again.

Zandt never had a revival. Aside from the Coen brothers using his song in "Lebowski" and paying homages in "O brother where art thou?", he's still relatively unheralded and unheard of. Like Van Gogh, he seems a tortured artist doomed to slow appreciation. One of those masters who, though hugely influential, remains remembered by only those in the industry. But at his best, Van Zandt is songwriter who could rival anyone. There is nothing cute, celebratory or charmingly old-timey about him. Far from reassuring, his songs are as unsettling as they come. And as one producer says in this documentary, "if you're serious about American music, eventually you're going to have to enter this darkness."

8/10- Great artists are sensitive people, permanently attuned to the world. Townes Van Zandt lived a tortured life, his music reaching depths few writers are able to plunge. I'm not a huge fan of country music or blues or even Townes, but even I found this documentary to be quietly adventurous, visually poetic and emotionally devastating. "Be here to love me" is a sad meditation on the darkness and beauty of Van Zandt's life and the collateral damage such a life can have on those who live it with you.

Was the above comment useful to you?

3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Townes Van Zandt: The best songwriter of the past 100 years, 26 November 2006
10/10
Author: reverendtom from Santa Cruz, CA

I can say without a doubt, that Townes Van Zandt is simply best American songwriter of the past century. He owes a lot to classic bluesmen like Lightnin Hopkins and country balladeers like Hank Williams, but for my money, he's the greatest. He has an economy of words and a poetry that none of his competition comes close to. Many people would site Dylan as the greatest, but I think Townes blows him out of the water. There is a rawness, and realness to Townes that you very rarely hear in music, period. You can feel the pain and longing that haunted this man, also the genius poet at work and occaissonally goofy fun lover in all his songs. I discovered Townes thanks to this movie, so I feel indebted to it for introducing me to some of the best music I've ever heard.

Was the above comment useful to you?

2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
no one like townes, 20 November 2006
Author: haverslick from Canada

If you aren't absolutely amazed by Townes' songwriting, finger picking, and singing, all you have to do is pick up a guitar to realize how difficult it is to do what he's doing. He's actually doing three or four things at once: Plucking a bass line with his thumb, a melody with his remaining fingers, and to top it all off, he sings absolutely hauntingly over this intricate accompaniment.

When Kristofferson called Townes a "songwriter's songwriter," this is made even truer by the fact that most of his biggest fans are musicians, because of his dedication and the perfection he achieves in his songs. It is truly songwriting rocket science. After I discovered Townes, I hardly ever strummed my guitar anymore, but rather try to keep it mostly fingerstyle.

Townes' greatness stemmed from what is the lifeblood of most all great musicians: persistence and dedication (and drugs), at least to his art, if not to the business side of things. Like he said; "You've got to lock yourself in your apartment, take the phone off the hook, and listen to Lightnin' Hopkins for two weeks."

Was the above comment useful to you?

2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Very powerful, 13 October 2006
9/10
Author: old-dude from Odessa, Texas

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Having lived in Austin back in the 70s when Townes played here all the time, I have to say we really took him for granted. I never knew any of his history or that he had such an impact on so many performers. In some ways, I wish I was still naïve. Be prepared for an extremely depressing movie. Yet, the movie has stayed with me for over a week now. The film was very powerful but I just cannot put in to words how. Everyone who heard his music knew his songs were sad but somehow I envisioned him as being OK when the show was over. For the most part, it was not. At one point in the movie someone ask him, "Why are your songs depressing". Townes simply looks at he guy and says ". . . life is sad. Don't you think"? Such a perfect answer for anyone who experiences melancholy. Another powerful scene shows Townes oldest son fishing as he pontificates on the road that his father had chosen. We all hear over and over how this performer or that celebrity gave up everything to follow his heart but gosh it was all worth it. Yet JT somehow describes how there are so many other simple everyday aspects of life which are equally important and his father missed a lot of those moments. This is such a profound perspective from such a young man. The movie has many memorable moments. I'd recommend it for anyone who likes sad songs like one might hear from Iris DeMent or John Prine. Everyone else should go rent a Ben Stiller movie.

Was the above comment useful to you?
Page 1 of 2:[1] [2] [Next]

Add another comment

Related Links

Ratings External reviews Official site
Plot keywords Main details Your user comments
Your vote history