Billy Bragg & Wilco: Man in the Sand [Import]

"Man In The Sand" has a few rough spots. As Bragg does his "Driveabout" in OK and TX, it's both funny and tragic watching him behave like he's on safari in the 1890s, rather than traveling to a not so foreign country in the 1990s. While trying to pay respect to Guthrie, Bragg's cultural/class snobbery is both intact and palpable (along with the irony). The filmmakers get a pat on the back for showing that bit.

The filmmakers do get it wrong in places. Frankly, I could have done without Bragg's home life, and instead used the time for delving into three areas/topics. First, show more of the music making process. Second, more explanation of how and why Wilco and Natalie Merchant were brought into the project. Third, if you are going to introduce the idea of creative strife at all, lay it all out. Don't dance around it, then suggest the reason you're going low key is that you don't want to overshadow the music. All of this can be easily attributed to being a BBC production. Meaning, we don't know the original intent of the documentary. On the other hand, I've come to expect nothing but top drawer from the Beeb. "Man In The Sand" falls short.

But, we were talking about a road movie. A road movie needs the participants to be in love with something elusive, and this movie has got it to spare. It is so obvious that Bragg, Wilco, and Merchant are totally in love with making the music. It's also wonderful to watch Nora (Woody's daughter) fall in love with her father, despite all of his shortcomings, on a level that she never could if he were alive.

This movie is about the search in (of) making music, and, what everybody finds. Not only do we get a glimpse of where the muse led Guthrie yesterday, but we see several people courting the muse today. By the end of the movie, the context Bragg was searching for begins to sink in. Perhaps more important, we see it's because of Nora and her stories, not Bragg following his road map and waiting for lightning to strike.

The disc looks and sounds wonderful. The five extra tracks (Bragg's demos for "Birds And Ships," "She Came Along To See," "I Guess I Planted," "Eisler On The Go," and "The Unwelcome Guest.") are certainly worth a spin. Fans of Bragg's may wince a bit, and Wilco worshippers are going to feel cheated. Those interested in the process of making music, period, are going to be the ones who come out ahead.

I enjoyed much of this documentary in spite of the limited talents of the filmmakers, as Mr. Bragg, Mr. Guthrie, and Wilco were all compelling enough to hold my attention.

But it is rather ignorant of the filmmakers to assume that those wishing to see such a document would have little to no interest in Wilco, who were more than minor participants in the project. Instead, they attempt to present typical British tabloid journalism, trying to recreate "Let It Be" by fomenting a minor dispute between the songwriters.

The best parts of this, for me, were the tidbits of Jeff Tweedy singing Guthrie's words, but they were scarce. The filmmakers never even said anything about how Wilco were brought into the project to begin with.

to end with some good observations: the performances here are tremendous and well worth keeping in your library if you are a fan of wilco or billy. again: jeff tweedy is breathtaking.