Bruce Springsteen now has behind him over half a century of career, but he looks fantastic, he is in full physical and vocal form - the fact that he has always played in low tones and a little rough, helps him at this age. His 19th album, 'Western Stars' is accompanied by a concert filmed in a former barn on one of his farms, but Springsteen (who is also a co-director) intended more than just to produce a filmed concert. Each song is prefaced by an explanation or story that clarifies the music and the text, and presents the context of what we are about to hear. In addition, he inserts between songs filmed sequences, some archive clips documenting Springsteen's life, others landscapes of the agricultural or wild American nature, a little bit in the style of the Marlboro commercials from 40-50 years ago (including many horses). Springsteen talks about his life, about his loves and separations, about cars and horses, about America's plains and metropolises, and especially about the people who populate them.
His music is closer today to folk than to rock. For this record and for the filmed concert, Springsteen brought his orchestra with string instruments to his usual musicians (first of all guitarist and singer Patti Scialfa, his close collaborator and since 1991 his wife). I do not like the combination of folk and violins, nor does it work very well here, in my opinion, except for 2-3 songs, with a touch closer to pop-rock. But there are many others viewers, I suspect, that will be delighted. The concert is very well filmed, the spoken part adds, but without containing too many deep sayings, the filmed interludes seemed commercial and looking for easy aesthetics. I can bet that many of Bruce Springsteen's fans will enjoy this movie and overwhelm it with superlatives. We, the others, can enjoy a well-filmed concert, and we can also find out a few more things about a singer who still remains after this movie, outside of my list of favorite musicians.
