40 years ago, one of the best concert films ever made was released. “Stop Making Sense”, shot over four nights in 1983 at Hollywood’s Pantages Theatre by director Jonathon Demme and six cameramen. The concert by the alt-rock band Talking Heads is very theatrical and lends itself to the big screen treatment. Unlike the 15th anniversary screening that I got to see in 1999 at the SF Castro Theater, the 2023 restoration used the original negative and soundtracks and is being released in limited cities in an IMAX version. There’s a great piece about the restoration process in Rolling Stone magazine: Big Suits, Lost Tapes, and the Dancing Heads: Inside A24’s Incredible “Stop Makine Sense” Restoration.
Band leader and lead singer, David Byrne envisioned a behind-the-scenes look at the process of putting on a concert. He wanted to bring the audience into the creative process. The film opens with Byrne alone on stage with a tape player and a guitar. Slowly, the rest of the crew, the musicians, and singers join him, and the set is built around him. At the screening I attended in 1999, the audience got up and danced in the aisles. They became part of the show.
Where “Stop Making Sense” can elicit an audience’s visceral reaction to the music, writer/director John Carney uses music as a medium to connect his characters in “Flora and Son“. Carney, a former musician himself, uses music in his films to communicate emotions between characters and to set the period and tone of his films. Best known for the film, “Once” (2007) which blurred the line between romantic musical and concert film, the movie’s stars went on a successful worldwide concert tour and won an Academy Award for their musical collaboration on the lead song of the film, “Falling Slowly”. The film also became the basis of a successful stage musical.
Carney collaborated with Gary Clark to write the original songs featured in “Flora and Son”; his latest musical drama set in Dublin. Clark also created the score. Premiering at Sundance Film Festival in 2023, the film is being released in select theaters while also streaming on Apple TV+ worldwide. Carney cast actors that had a good understanding of music in his film.
Eve Hewson (“Bad Sisters”) turns in an amazing performance as the lead character, Flora. Hewson’s father in real life is musician Bono, and she knows how to play guitar. All the singing she does on screen is her work. She told The Hollywood Reporter, although she had to overcome a “massive, massive fear” of singing in the film, she never turned to her dad for musical tips: “I’d rather sing in front of the entire world”. Alex, Ritman (January 20, 2023). “Eve Hewson on John Carney’s Sundance-Bowing Music Drama ‘Flora and Son’ and Why She Didn’t Ask Her Dad (Bono) for Singing Tips”. The Hollywood Reporter.
The cast includes Joseph Gordon-Lewitt as an online guitar instructor, Jeff. The actor is known for his own musical ambitions. He started HitRecord, an online media platform. He’s won two Primetime Emmy Awards for the two shows produced through the platform. Although he’s got a less showing role in the film, Gordon-Levitt lends an easy charm. I enjoyed how the movie brings the characters together to create a more intimate feel…something not easily accomplished when someone is mainly an image on a small screen.
Speaking at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, Gordon-Levitt was quoted as saying “I finally got to play music in a movie! It’s really true, I’ve always wanted to do it and I’ve always been a musician at heart and love doing it. I’ve learned to do many things for movies. I’ve learned to walk on a tightrope or play hockey or, certainly, lots of fighting and shooting and things like that. But this time I was practicing a skill that I’ve practiced most of my life, but having to do it at a bit more of a skill level than what I was used to.” – Carey, Matthew (January 22, 2023). “Joseph Gordon-Levitt Displays Singing, Guitar Chops In John Carney’s ‘Flora And Son,’ Opposite Eve Hewson: “I’ve Always Been A Musician At Heart” – Sundance Studio”. Deadline Hollywood.
The music and the appreciation of music is a central premise in “Flora and Son”. Flora (Hewson), a single mother living in Dublin, is having trouble with her estranged son Max (Orén Kinlan). He’s a rebellious teen and a petty thief. Encouraged by the Gardaí (Irish police) to find Max a hobby, Flora rescues an old guitar from a skip (the garbage bin). With the help of an online guitar instructor (Gordon-Lewitt) she discovers her own passion for music.
The film brings together some disparate musical influences. There are the women singer/songwriters like Joni Mitchell that Jeff uses to inspire Flora, to the techno beats that Flora loves to lose herself to on the dance floor, and the rap music that Max uses to try to impress his hip hop-loving crush. As the characters journey toward understanding each other and themselves, it’s the music that brings them together.
Whether you’re looking for a film that might inspire you to dance in the aisle or a quieter film that might make you want to sing at your local pub, there are two wonderful music films playing this week for you to seek out.
Drinks With Films ratings
“Stop Making Sense”, 5 tall glasses of water for the sweat-drenched David Byrne in his big suit (out of 5)
“Flora and Son”, 2 ½ glasses of wine while watching online tutorials (out of 5)
Drinks with films 