The Blues

Seven 90 minute documentaries on various aspects of the blues by noted film makers, ranging from the disappointing "Godfathers and Sons", "Piano Blues" to the sublime; Wim Wenders "The Soul of a Man" and Martin Scorsese's "Feel Like Going Home". The other three films fall somewhere in he middle.

As a series the overall impact was less than I hoped for, but still very worth seeing. I was surprised by the amount of overlap; not only are a number of songs, and even specific recordings repeated in several of the films, but so are chunks of the vintage footage used.

To my personal taste, I found the series most potent and alive when it examined the roots of the blues on not just a musical, but also a political and historic level. When it just presented little pieces of songs by various artists (especially modern ones) without the benefit of probing context, it could feel predictably shallow. Still, an excellent overview of blues in the 20th century for those who already have a love for the form, and for the newly curious.

Just after Gangs of New York was released I heard about a series being made about The Blues and kind of shrugged it off afterwards. I had not previously seen any of Scorsese's documentaries like My Voyage to Italy or a Personal Journey so I didn't really expect anything special from it. A friend of mine knows about my interest in Scorsese films and asked me if I wanted the Feel Like Going Home episode on DVD directed by Martin Scorsese as a gift. I said yes as it would start me off into watching his documentaries and if this is anything to go by the rest he has made then I have got to start building up my Scorsese Documentaries because after I saw this I thought Wow. It was good timing as well as I have just recently started listening to the likes of John Le Hooker and Muddy Waters. Feel Like Going Home though really opened my mind to what the Blues really means and where it came from. The story follows a Blues Guitarist called Corey Harris who goes on a pilgrimage to find out more about his ancestors who first started playing the Blues and Scorsese's own knowledge of the music.

If you are a Martin Scorsese fan then cast your mind back to the beginning of Gangs of New York when The Dead Rabbits are preparing themselves to go up against The Natives. Listen to the music in the background whilst Amsterdam is holding his fathers hand. It sounds just like some of the music you hear in this. The very first scene in FLGH where two black men are holding a drum to them and another one is using the whistle instrument sounds just like the music used in the scene in GONY. I was wondering where that sound came from and now I kind of know. I am yet to see the rest of the episodes Directed by Clint Eastwood, Wim Wenders etc but if they are anything like this then this will go down as one of the greatest series ever of it's kind. Blues Fans will think this is the best thing since The Blues and I think it will like mine open up whether they are young or old to The Blues and just get them started off watch this to see how it developed originally.

A powerful and inspiring look to the Birth of The Blues.

It's hard to apply the usual numbered or grade ratings to this 7-part mini-series, as some parts may be more appealing to you than to others. It's a long mini-series, as each part goes in its own ways through the history of the blues, going back to Africa for some (as in Scorsese's first of the 7 films, Feel Like Going Home, which is one of the best of them), traveling around the country for others (The Road to Memphis, which is also very interesting, if a little repetitive), going this way and that to search for its passion and power (Wenders segment), or taking it down easy to sit with the masters (Eastwood's Piano Blues, one I will probably watch more than once on its own as its so loaded with musical goodies). As a fan of music in general, and of Blues up to the point when I watched the documentary fairly well, it's really an eye and ear opener. A lot of history and emotional connections go on with people and how they play or respond to the music, but it's all in tune with a simple, straight-forward way of telling little stories and getting a real mood more than anything. How you respond to the mood may depend more on your musical tastes, hence why the documentary, while overall intriguing, cool, sluggish, and hard-edged in different ways, is hard to really grade overall. But it's not one to miss if you've got the time; as it is I went back to at least a few of the segments recently, as the effect from first seeing the series in 03 wore off. Oh yeah, and Tom Jones is in one of the segments (perhaps the least effective one).

Not all the documentaries are on the same depth level, but generally speaking is one of the best series on any subject, in the whole... Some are excellent movies, and above all I place the piece by Wim Wenders: I quite believe the man is really a better documentarist than a 'movie' director; I mean, watching his film on blues, using actors and cinematography at the highest level, you forget about documentary, and just feel like you're watching ages lost films (just to contradict my first statement about this director: but I'm also thinking about the excellent Tokyo Ga from the same man!). Besides he is the one who is most successful, in my opinion, in communicating the great love he feels for this music and for the 'heroes' involved: well, he is also the most experienced director on this kind of subject, after his other great 'film' Buena Vista Social Club. In general the other documentaries are quite informative and well made too, but I also sense a kind of 'lack of a styling signature' from such otherwise GREAT directors (Eastwood and Scorsese above all); given that, surely it's worth seeing and hearing this whole piece of work.

I rated the 7 episodes from 8 to 10 and gave it an 8 overall (The 7th episode getting the only 10). If there had been more music and less talking, I would have enjoyed it better. Fuller biographies would have been nice too. Marshall Chess is a walking encyclopedia of the old time blues and was the best talker. It was still a great mini-series and well worth watching.