Rust Never Sleeps

United States

1979

103 Min

Color

English

Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
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EXEC Jeanne Field, John Thompson

DP Jon Else, Paul Goldsmith, Robbie Greenberg, L.A. Johnson, David Myers, Hiro Narita, Richard Pearce

CAST Neil Young, Ralph Molina, Frank Sampedro, Billy Talbot

SOUND David Hewitt, Steve Maslow

Synopsis

ROCK films come in two categories. More common is the film designed solely for an act’s fans. But some appeal beyond the cult to the general public, as in Richard Lester’s two Beatles movies. Neil Young’s “Rust Never Sleeps,” which opens a limited run at the Palladium today, might seem to be in the latter category. In fact, it’s very much a fan film.

Its credentials as a message beyond the cult rest largely on its extra-musical conceits. Instead of being a straight concert documentary, “Rust Never Sleeps” calls itself a “concert fantasy.” As he was during last fall’s tour at which this was filmed, Mr. Young is discovered “asleep” on top of one of the loudspeaker banks, which has been disguised as an oversized pirate chest, and “wakes up” to begin the concert.

The “roadies” who move equipment about have been dressed as “roadeyes,” the little scavengers with brown robes and beady pinpoint eyes from “Star Wars.” The idea, reinforced by playing tapes of crowd-control announcements from the Woodstock Festival, is to comment on rock’s aging, on the discrepancies between veteran rock performers and their teenage audiences, and on rock’s allegiance to youthful rebellion and innocence. All of this reads better than it appears on the screen, however, where an otherwise fine concert is continually interrupted by laboriously miming “roadeyes” and other cuteness.

Mr. Young, who directs the film under the rather coy pseudonym of Bernard Shakey, further limits its appeal by extremely grainy and underlit footage. And the Palladium, as rock’s principal rock concert hall in New York, is likely to attract more rock fans than film buffs. Perhaps that’s what he meant to do, in a film that reaffirms the purity and unity of rock. But it’s too bad, because Mr. Young has the talent to appeal to intelligent people outside his world.

For Mr. Young is, in the opinion of some of us, the leading creative figure in present-day rock-and-roll, and this film has stirring, even triumphant passages. He writes songs of unsurpassed metaphoric richness with deceptively simple, melodic tunes. He sings with haunting evocativeness and plays guitar with more personality and stark individuality than almost anyone else.

“Rust Never Sleeps” offers some of his strongest songs, both new and old, in performances as fine or finer than those on his recent, partly live record album of the same title. The effect here is rougher than the record, less polished with overdubbing; at one point, Mr. Young even mangles the words of one of his own best songs. But the intensity of the singing and the playing of Crazy Horse, Mr. Young’s longtime partners for electric-rock projects, is as moving as rock can offer. It’s so good, in fact, that it almost lets one overlook Mr. Young’s theatrical conceits, and almost makes the film recommendable for the general public, after all. —The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Director

Neil Young

Neil Percival Young, OC OM (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, film director and activist. Young began performing as a solo artist in Canada in 1960. He then migrated to California in 1966, as part of Buffalo Springfield and established himself as the tentative fourth member of Crosby, Stills & Nash. Due to Young’s relationship with all band members diminishing to being too acrimonious for them to cooperate, he left both and forged a solo career, to success and critical acclaim. He has since become “one of the most respected and influential musicians of his generation”. This distinctly derives in part from the longevity of his career, which has spanned for more than 40 years, with a continually challenging exploration of new musical ideas. Young has recorded 33 studio albums, the most recent of which was Fork in the Road (2009).

Young’s work is characterized by his deeply personal lyrics, distinctive guitar work, and signature tenor singing… read more

Neil Percival Young, OC OM (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, film director and activist. Young began performing as a solo artist in Canada in 1960. He then migrated to California in 1966, as part of Buffalo Springfield and established himself as the tentative fourth member of Crosby, Stills & Nash. Due to Young’s relationship with all band members diminishing to being too acrimonious for them to cooperate, he left both and forged a solo career, to success and critical acclaim. He has since become “one of the most respected and influential musicians of his generation”. This distinctly derives in part from the longevity of his career, which has spanned for more than 40 years, with a continually challenging exploration of new musical ideas. Young has recorded 33 studio albums, the most recent of which was Fork in the Road (2009).

Young’s work is characterized by his deeply personal lyrics, distinctive guitar work, and signature tenor singing voice. Although he accompanies himself on several different instruments, including piano and harmonica, his clawhammer acoustic guitar style and often idiosyncratic electric guitar soloing are the defining characteristics of a sometimes ragged, sometimes melodic sound. Although Young has experimented widely with differing music styles, including swing, jazz, rockabilly, blues, and electronic music throughout a varied career, his best known work usually falls into either of two distinct styles: acoustic folk and country rock (“Heart of Gold”, “Harvest Moon” and “Old Man”) and electric-charged hard rock (like “Cinnamon Girl”, “Rockin’ in the Free World” and “Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)”), in collaboration with the band Crazy Horse. In recent years, Young has adopted elements from newer styles such as alternative rock and grunge. His profound influence on the latter caused some to dub him “the Godfather of Grunge”. Young has been an undeniably important artist; The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame website begins their article on Young stating him to be “one of rock and roll’s greatest songwriters and performers”. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame twice; first as a solo artist in 1995 and secondly as a member of Buffalo Springfield in 1997. Young has been nominated for multiple Grammy Awards and has won once.

Young has directed (or co-directed) a number of films using the pseudonym Bernard Shakey, including Journey Through the Past (1973), Rust Never Sleeps (1979), Human Highway (1982), Greendale (2003), and CSNY/Déjà Vu (2008). He is currently working on a documentary about electric car technology, tentatively titled Linc/Volt. The project involves a 1959 Lincoln Continental converted to hybrid technology, which Young plans to drive to Washington, D.C. as an environmentalist example to lawmakers there.

Young is an outspoken advocate for environmental issues and the welfare of small farmers, having co-founded in 1985 the benefit concert Farm Aid. In 1986, Young helped found The Bridge School, an educational organization for children with severe verbal and physical disabilities, and its annual supporting Bridge School Benefit concerts, together with his wife Pegi Young (née Morton). Young has three children: Zeke (born during his relationship with actress Carrie Snodgress), Ben and Amber Jean (born to his wife Pegi). Zeke and Ben were diagnosed with cerebral palsy, and Amber Jean, like Young himself, with epilepsy.

Young lives on his ranch in La Honda, California. Although Young has lived in northern California since the 1970s and sings as frequently about U.S. themes and subjects as he does about his native country, he retains Canadian citizenship, which he has never wanted to relinquish. On July 14, 2006, Young was awarded the Order of Manitoba. On December 30, 2009, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. —Wikipedia

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