GREENDALE Rating: (out of 5 stars) Director: Bernard Shakey Producer: L.A. Johnson Writer: Based on the album "Greendale" by Neil Young Directors of Photography: Neil Young Cast: Sarah White, Eric Johnson, Ben Keith Visit the IMDB page for full cast and crew

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Review by: Warren Curry
2/23/04

Revealing statement time: I feel a little unqualified to review legendary musician Neil Young's "musical novel" entitled Greendale. You see, reviewing this work seems to be more of an assignment for a music critic than a film critic, and I'm not nearly familiar enough with Young's musical career to offer much in the way of an informed opinion. In addition to being the title of his film, Greendale is also the name of Young's new album, a concept piece about a small town family robbed of its purity and privacy by the exploitative media, which ties into a larger theme about the human responsibility to respect nature and save the earth while we still can. Somewhere between a collection of home movies and a compilation of music videos, Greendale, the film, plays mostly like an unnecessary companion to the album.

Directed under his filmmaking pseudonym, Bernard Shakey, Young shot Greendale in grainy 8mm (hence the home movie comparison). The albums' ten tracks make up the entirety of the film's sound -- it acts as the dialogue and the score, with ambient noises and sound effects nowhere to be found. The characters will often lip sync the lyrics to the songs, which also provide the film's story. Despite the unconventional structure, a coherent narrative does run through the film -- the movie is experimental in form, but not so much content.

In the rural town of Greendale, a man named Jed Green (Eric Johnson) is arrested for the murder of a local policeman. The media soon descends on Greendale, invading the private lives of the Greens, and when one member of the family stands up to the frenzy, the consequences are fatal. Inspired by her family's perseverance in these difficult times, a young female member of the family, Sun Green (Sarah White), uses this experience as a catalyst to become an environmental rights activist -- her cause championed by the film's climactic musical number.

Young's direction is pedestrian, but the simple visuals are obviously used as a tool to enhance the power of the music. The rough images add immediacy to the songs, so the proceedings never get too abstract. While the idea of watching the actors lip sync all of their dialogue might sound like a daunting task, this technique actually doesn't turn out to be a distraction, although it will probably take at least the first song to adjust to.

While I won't be rushing out to buy the album, the music is good, even though many of the songs get bogged down with the same mid-paced tempo. Young's musical vocabulary doesn't appear to be mellowing at all, as his guitar is loud, distorted and bottom heavy. This is aggressive, passionate, socially conscious music being churned out by a man just a few years shy of his 60th birthday.

I don't at all regret the 90 minutes (or just slightly under) I spent with Greendale, but I'm skeptical of the film's ability to communicate to those who aren't Young aficionados. While the movie certainly stands as a creative form of expression, it's also one that is inherently limited. Greendale, the album, may certainly qualify as a vital piece of music, but given the fact that it exists in audio form, the film just feels like a superfluous exercise.

(A Shakey Pictures release. Opens in Los Angeles, Irvine, CA and Austin, TX on February 27, 2004. Expands to more cities at later dates.)