By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Xan Aranda
Country: united_states
Year: 2012
Running time: 80
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1800665/
Chris says: “If you’ve ever seen Andrew Bird live, you can understand why anyone would want to make a film about him. A singer, songwriter and classically trained multi-instrumentalist (most notably on violin and guitar), Bird has gradually harvested a notable following over the past decade (his latest album cracked the top ten). Obvious talent notwithstanding, he
doesn’t really sound like anyone else. His music is an idiosyncratic but accessible mix of jazz, folk, roots and rock while his voice
(pitched somewhere between Jeff Buckley and Rufus Wainwright) is punctuated by a whole lot of violin (and nearly as much whistling). In concert, he’s even more strikingly peculiar, often using looping to build one sound on top of another until they result in a rich, multi-tracked, ever-shifting tapestry.
“Following him over the course of a year, the film intercuts concert footage of Bird and his quartet with scenes of him at his family farm in bucolic rural Illinois, where he’s converted a barn into a recording studio. The former, mostly culled from a show at the beautifully ornate Pabst Theater in Milwaukee, is a terrific primer for anyone unfamiliar with Bird as it shows how comfortable and innovative he is as a performer (especially in how he continually strives to challenge himself and his band). Director Xan Aranda smartly employs split screen techniques (a la WOODSTOCK) to illustrate the flurry of activity and
multifaceted nature of a typical Bird show.
“The ‘Bird at home’ stuff also captivates but in a different way. Although the novel setting gives some insight into Bird’s background, it ultimately just emphasizes how all-encompassing music is in his life. Even in his house, he’s surrounded by a menagerie of instruments; in other times when he’s not performing, we see him scribbling lyrics in a hotel room or visiting a man who sculptures the giant phonographs Bird utilizes in his performances. We learn very little about his personal life apart from glimpses of him gardening or biking to a creek nearby his home for a swim. Since the film concludes with Bird more or
less stating that music is his life, this decision makes sense, but I still would have liked more moments such as the brief one when his parents visit him backstage (and could’ve done with less endless point-of-view shots of the open road meant to suggest how much time Bird spends on it while touring). Still, ANDREW BIRD FEVER YEAR is far more than a puff piece or a concert film DVD extra; it’s clearly manna for fans but crafted well enough to easily convert new ones or at least earn respect from others. 4 cats
“(screened at the 2012 Independent Film Festival of Boston)”