KnotMissPriceless
Why so much hype?
Ensofter
Overrated and overhyped
Cosmoeticadotcom
Film director Stephen Kijak's film is to be commended for never descending into minutia on Engel's life. In fact, virtually nothing, after the initial information on Engle's youth, is mentioned of his private life. This is refreshing, for it lifts the film well above any claims of being a vanity documentary. The negative is that Engel's 'art' is simply not good. Yes, he had a deep, powerful bass voice, and it was put to great effect in the early recordings. But, listening to his latest efforts, not only are his lyrics bad (Jim Morrison, Walker is not, even as some talking heads bizarrely link him to T.S. Eliot, Samuel Beckett, and James Joyce)- in a jumbled sense, but they border on PC and the 'music,' such as it is, is random and found noise, not harmonies and melodies. To top it off, Engel's voice is a dim echo of its former glory, often descending into what seems like a parody of some local 1960s television station's late night horror film show host's attempt at singing to a bad B film.Initially, the film plays out like a mockumentary, but the infusion of vintage television clips dashes that surmise. What is not dashed is the reality of how limited the 'art' of Engel's music. Great art does art well. Visionary art pushes boundaries, as well. But, to push the boundaries back, the artist has to stay anchored to the extremes, at least of the art form. In the case of music, this means non-banal lyrics, damning predictable percussion, varying melodies and other such extensions. Simply going off into a corner and wailing, or grunting, is not an extension of music nor singing, as arts. Of course, that is hyperbole, but Walker's latest efforts smack of a phenomenon known in the arts- that of the spent artist realizing he'll never duplicate his earlier successes, so he just preens and deranges, then hides behind the veneer of his earlier success, as a 'genius,' or the like (and it's no shock to know Engel worships the Beatniks). Engel simply never expands the boundaries of music- pop nor otherwise, even as talking heads damn many of the progressive rock acts of the 1970s that went far beyond Walker's experimentalism: Yes, King Crimson, and others.Scott Walker: 30 Century Man (the title taken from an Engel song) is a well wrought and exquisitely structured film on an ultimately interesting subject, but that subject is not Engel nor music nor art, but the peregrinations of the spent artist in search of that golden nipple needed to nurse him into senescence's uneasy drool. Now, if only director Kijack can find an artist and subject worthy of his talents, the film will be a landmark in the genre.
ifyougnufilms
I can understand why a previous reviewer mistook this at first for a mockumentary. It is jargon-loaded, trivia-burdened, and at times downright (unintentionally) comic-pompous. Walker had a fine mellow voice for ballad singing and expressed some originality in a very few later songs, but aside from this? Why drag in everyone who knew him and/or once grooved on his music and lyrics so they can be mugshot while straining to convince us he's some kind of unsung (pun intended)phenom all of us should recognize and appreciate? If this was the intended theme and purpose of the film, it is an utter failure, suggesting the mystery of Scott Walker's life is that there is no mystery.If the film makers are trying to make some other point (as is achieved in better music bio films), it's not clear what that might be. It doesn't help that some of his incomprehensible pseudo-poetic lyrics are scrolled in the background.Several of the commentators are as embarrassingly inarticulate as Walker's own more "advanced" lyrics are. (Are we sure this isn't a mock-umentary?) Where was the director/editor in all this rambling? Off somewhere grooving on Walker's earlier recordings? Interestingly, the most intelligent comment comes briefly from Sting when he begins to talk about the dark side of romanticism, etc. It's a shame he (or somebody) wasn't given more time to explore the significance of Walker's life. Scott Walker was not one of the greatest musical/poetry talents of the last forty years, but surely he deserves better than this inept bio-film.
Julio Bonet
I had no idea who Mr. Scott Walker was until I came across this incredible and honest portrayal of the most enigmatic musician ever. The fact that he has inspired the numerous (and eclectic selection) artists that contribute to this doc represents the power of his musical genius. I highly recommend everyone checks out this doc; you'll leave the theatre/your TV screen, anxious to collect and absorb all his albums.Kijak presents himself as an incredible interviewer and director just as much as Walker actually proves to be quite open to allowing the cameras into his world.Moving, unforgettable, and unique. A MUST-SEE!
seawalker
There is a great bit in "Scott Walker: 30 Century Man" in which self confessed Scott Walker obsessive/fan Marc Almond talks about his reaction to hearing "Tilt" for the first time.Marc explains that he was invited to an exclusive play of what was, at that time, the new album. He took his seat, with many other people, in reverential silence and then the event began. After listening to a couple of tracks, Marc turned to his friend and said"This is terrible. This a really bad record. How embarrassing is this?"(OK. For anybody who knows the film off by heart, and I'm sure that there will be a few, those are perhaps not the exact words that Marc Almond used, but I think I am pretty close.)It was a great scene. A crucial scene, in fact, because prior to that we had been treated to a veritable galaxy of famous talking heads rhapsodising over Scott Walker's genius, his innovativeness, the depth and scope of his recordings and his progression away from anything resembling traditional pop music to something more akin to avant guard or even performance art. The pop singer Lulu kept it simple. She just wanted to know if Scott was still "gorgeous". Fair enough, I thought. (She toured with him in the Sixties when he was in the Walker Brothers.)From the snippets of music in the film, and they were only snippets, I am not at all sure if I like Scott Walker's later music or not. I might... because it is like nothing you will ever hear, and I quite like the idea of that.Therein lies the mystery of Scott Walker. His current work is impossible to pigeonhole and you cannot assume that you will like his current work based on his past work, because it is so completely different. I did like the Walker Brothers singles. I did like those early great, soaring, orchestrated solo records, some of which Julian Cope dismisses in the film as "M.O.R slop". Above all Scott Walker was, and still is, a brilliant vocalist.But about the film...This is a really good documentary. It's the full story from jobbing bass player on the Sunset Strip, teeny bop stardom with the Walker Brothers, solo success, solo and critical confusion, solo failure and extreme solo experimentation. There are lots and lots of clips, and some rare archive interview footage including Scott on mid 80's yoof show "The Tube", which is kind of hilarious in itself because of the dreadful video clip that was made to promote the single he had out at that time. (No idea what that was called.) Current interview footage shows Scott as shy, self effacing and (shock horror!) kind of normal. He also laughs a lot when recording, which was a bit of a surprise.Good film.Interestingly enough, the ear worm working away at my brain when I left the cinema was "Make It Easy On Yourself". Hell, there's nothing like a good pop tune. Maybe the most radical thing Scott could do now would be to record a pop album. Now that would be shocking...
