Documentary Releases: Who is Harry Nilsson (And Why is Everybody Talkin' About Him?) (2010) - Reviewed
 |
| Courtesy of MVD Visual |
In the midst of pre-producing two upcoming documentary projects on Elvis
Presley and the band Blood, Sweat & Tears, MVD Visual saw fit to
re-release on blu-ray disc one of the documentary filmmaker’s (and the music
world entire) most beloved and tragic subjects with the 2010 documentary film Who
is Harry Nilsson (And Why is Everybody Talkin’ About Him?).
By now you’ve probably heard the
American musician and songwriter’s legendary Grammy winning track Everybody’s
Talkin’ used to great dramatic and commercial effect in the X rated 1969
Oscar winner Midnight Cowboy. You’ve
heard his collaborations with Randy Newman for the children’s film The Point
and contribution to the Popeye film soundtrack.
 |
| Courtesy of MVD Visual |
Considered by some to be ‘the American Beatle’,
Nilsson was not only dubbed The Beatles’ favorite artist but he’s among the few
to achieve mainstream success without embarking on tours or concert
performances. Moreover, the songwriter
spent a lot of time around Ringo Starr and John Lennon and was so profoundly
affected by Lennon’s death he briefly campaigned for gun control.
Nilsson, as you’ll find out in this
documentary comprised of both archival and newly shot interviews with the
artist himself and many who knew him personally including but not limited to
Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Yoko Ono, Robin Williams, Paul Williams and the
Smothers Brothers: Nilsson was a bit of a hellraiser.
Prone to now infamous widely publicized
alcoholic outbursts including one less than fondly remembered anecdote about
how John Lennon and Nilsson heckled a Smothers Brothers concert, Nilsson
represented another talented individual who fought for years with his own
self-destructive demons brought on by fame and fortune.
A melancholic, bittersweet portrait of
an extraordinary singer-songwriter and the complex, often difficult journey
from rags to riches to rags and back again, Who is Harry Nilsson (And Why is
Everybody Talkin’ About Him?) is one of the great early 2000s rock documentaries. Brought back into the limelight by MVD Visual
on the cusp of the filmmaker’s return to chronicling legendary musical
performers and artists, the film is a vivid treatment of the man’s life, legacy
and how it all came down upon him in the end.
 |
| Courtesy of MVD Visual |
For longtime fans it can be a tearjerker to watch. For the uninitiated it remains a fascinating
exploration of the life and career of a great singer-songwriter that will most
certainly make you want to look up his work after it finishes!
--Andrew Kotwicki
