The cover of the DVD box says that The Last Waltz is "the greatest of all rock movies", and it maybe right. It avoids most of the cliches of the genre, is expertly photographed, and featuresa lot of great music. I actually think it's one of Scorsese's best films.
The Last Waltz was the official name of the farewell concert of The Band, who broke up, according to the filmnot because of band infighting or egos (they all seem to like each other), but because they were just plainexhausted of sixteen years of almost nonstop touring. It sounds like a recipe for trouble- the last show after a long tour could mean they just want to get the hell out off the stage so they can go home and sleep.
Luckilly, the band is treating the event as a celebration and is having a great time. They have also invited a lot of other musicians to join them as guests (my favorite was Neil Young's perforamance of "Helpless"). The concert is given at the San Francisco auditorium where they gave their first show, and the stage is elaboratly decorated to look like a ballroom. I knew almost nothing about The Band going into the film and was really impressed- the group is unique, performing rock music with a country aesthetic. The name of the group also is a good descripton of their dynamic- althogh the obstenstivle leader is Robbie Robertson, they split lead vocals and everyone gets an instrumentalshowcase.
Visually, the movie exceeds all other films in their genre. Shot in 35mm by master cinematography Michael Chapman with a ton of cameras, the movie avoids the shaky, grainy look of a lot of other rockumentaries. There are some other songs shot in the studio that don't totally fit into the flow of the film but look great as well.
There are two flaws signifigant flaws in the film. The first is that although all the music is great (well, except for Neil Diamond's song) there is just too much of it. This movie almost certainly would play better in a theatre as afterwhile one's attention begin to go, as the songs are all in the same style, and a big screen and booming sound would better simulate the concert experince.
The other problem is that between songs Scorsese includes footage of The Band and himself, in which the director is an overly serious interviewer, asking irreleveant questions like "What did you think of women on the road?" ("They were great!" is the answer). The interviews are unimformative and unnessarcary, and are savagly parodied with Rob Reiner's "Marty DiBergi" in This Is Spinal Tap.
Althogh it seems that Scorsese largly treated it as a side project (filming it simltanoisly with New York, New York), it is one of his best and most upbeat films. And the music is magestic. I guess the greatest complaiment I can give is that I started unfamilier with The Band and finished a fan.
The Last Waltz (1978)