USA – 2009 – 83 MIN – COLOUR - FEATURE - IN ENGLISH
A FILM BY JONATHAN DEMME
Trunk Show: a traveling display of unique goods, packed and unpacked along the way. NEIL YOUNG TRUNK SHOW: Jonathan Demme's display of Neil Young's musical and spiritual soul. Young on a stage full of personal icons; alone in the center of a circle of his beloved acoustic guitars; in the midst of stellar musicians Ben Keith, Ralph Molina, Rick Rosas, Pegi Young and Anthony "Sweet Pea" Crawford, plus an onstage painter portrayed by Eric Johnson. There are delicately offered acoustic numbers like "Sad Movies" and "Mexico"; mesmerizing electric travelogues into the artist's psyche ("No Hidden Path"); searing, chaotic anthems including "Like a Hurricane" and "Cinammon Girl"; and rarely performed pieces like "Kansas" and "Ambulance Blues" that provide glimpses of Young's less public persona. Shot with a mix of video and film cameras, mostly handheld, NYTS presents the kinetic reality of a Neil Young performance in breathtakingly intimate fashion. Young and his band are captured with great immediacy, often in dramatically long takes that let the viewer experience Young opening up his heart song by song, and then blowing it all away in heated, uninhibited displays of rock and roll power.