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Neil Young: Heart of Gold

Jonathan Demme concert film captures aging rocker just before surgery for a brain aneurysm

By BROOKE HOLGERSON | February 14, 2006

3.0 Stars

NEIL YOUNG: caught on film just before surgery for a brain aneurysm.

Filmed over two nights at Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, this Neil Young concert documentary is a must-see for fans and will delight those with a limited interest in Young. Directed with simplicity by Jonathan Demme, it offers the briefest introduction and no backstage banter, instead focusing on the performance. The first half features songs from Young’s Prairie Wind, which was written after he’d been diagnosed with a brain aneurysm (the concerts took place just before he underwent surgery) and therefore has a melancholy bent that suits the intimacy of the setting and Demme’s direction. Young is a humble performer, surrounding himself with his long-time musicians and seldom interrupting the music to offer commentary or a joke. Demme occasionally lingers on Young’s wrinkled face or the stiffness of his limbs, and the result is poignant: the face and body of an aging rocker who still has something to say.

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Topics: Reviews , Neil Young, Jonathan Demme, NEIL YOUNG: HEART OF GOLD

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