What do musicians Johnny Marr, Marc Almond, David Bowie, Brian Eno, Damon Albarn, Gavin Friday, Simon Raymonde and Richard Hawley have in common? A fervent admiration for the gifted and enigmatic Scott Walker, the subject of a new documentary by Stephen Kijak.
Scott Walker: 30 Century Man unfolds in three parts. The first is a primer on the reclusive musician's exstraordinary career, from 60's teen idol to Jacques Brel crooner, from 70's troubadour poet to avant-guarde experimentalist. The second part explores other musicians' fascination with Walker's ambitious music, and features the aforementioned artists, as well as fans such as Radiohead and collaborators such as Ute Lemper and Jarvis Cocker. It includes some truly wonderful, candid scenes of these musicians reacting to Walker's music as it is being played to them.
Finally comes the piece de resistance, a rare but extensive interview with the man himself interwoven with an insightful examination of his unique creative process (in a studio recording, he obtains irregular beats by asking his percussionist to hit a slab of meat with his fists).
A lot of Walker's music speaks for itself and the filmmaker seems aware that a portion of the audience won't be familiar with the work. Some musical passages are accompanied by distracting video graphics (which look like Windows Media Player animations though they are in fact designed by the talented Graham Wood). Throughout most of the film, however, the music is given the space it deserves and watching 30 Century Man feels a little like reading liner notes while a good friend plays Walker's LPs on the living room turntable.
Like Leonard Cohen, Lou Reed or Jeff Buckley, Scott Walker is a musician's musician, a charismatic man with a cult following. Many of his gushing celebrity fans are interviewed here thanks to David Bowie's address book (he acts as executive producer). They have elevated him to the rank of rock deity, which is all the more convincing since they, themselves, are rock royalty.
Walker comes across as a soft-spoken, intelligent and articulate man who is nonetheless very aware of the myth which surrounds his persona. He's only too happy to oblige, remaining enigmatic about his complex life story while feeding the personality cult with some great (tall) stories. In one scene for example, he smugly recalls "thousands of fans" pounding on the side of his van, turning the vehicle over. In another he claims that once a composition is finished, he never listens to it again... This portrait of the revered experimental artist flirts with self-parody, though there is never any doubt that the filmmaker's interest is sincere.
A secretive celebrity who lives like a recluse, constantly hidden behind dark shades and a baseball cap, Walker is an artist who refuses to make compromises in his exploration of the outer limits of musical composition. He's been known to disappear for years on end and his output is less than prolific. Walker explores the boundaries between chord and dischord, his work can be daunting, uncomfortable and disturbing. It is informed by classical composers and progressive jazz, the beat writers and the French existentialists, Ingmar Bergman and other European auteurs. It is both obscure and recognisable, if only thanks to Walker's unique crooner's wail.
He is the type of musician one discovers through the unconditional recommendation of another artist of critic. The walker myth has travelled through carriers and tastemakers such as cult filmmaker Leo Carax, punk icon Julian Cope or French music mag Les Inrockuptibles. In Kijak's insightful and substantial documentary, it has found a worthy vessel with which to continue its course through rock history.
Scott Walker: 30 Century Man is currently on release in the UK, it screens at the Seattle Film Festival June 10th and 12th, and at the Sydney Film Festival June 17th and 18th 2007.
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1 comments:
Gale Harold is the associated producer of this film too. Don´t forget it! :)
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