USA,
2003, 130 min
Shown in 2004
CREDITS
- dir
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Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky
- prod
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Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky
- cam
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Bob Richman
- editor
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David Zieff, Doug Abel, M. Watanabe Milmore
- source
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Creative Thinking International, Ltd., 208 W 30th St., Ste. 302, New York, NY 10001. FAX: 212-629-5527. EMAIL: berlinger@radicalmedia.com.
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COMMENTS
Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky and Metallica members Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, Robert Trujillo, Jason Newsted in person.
OTHER
This is definitely a monster movie, but a monster of an altogether different stripe than usual. Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky—whose Brother’s Keeper (SFIFF 1992) and Paradise Lost (SFIFF 1996) are touchstones in the documentary world—initially signed up to make a film about the recording of Metallica’s latest album. What they ended up capturing destroys the rock film forever. The band, on the verge of a full metal meltdown, plunged into two years of intensive group therapy—and all of it unfolds on film, giving new meaning to “behind the music.” For those unfamiliar with Metallica, it may be surprising to see the members of the most successful heavy metal band ever approach their work, careers and relationships with such bold, candid sensitivity. For the band’s millions of fans, the film is testimony to what they already know—these guys are normal, albeit brilliant guys, who are ridiculously talented musically. This isn’t the first doc chronicling a band’s problems, but it may be the first one that deals with those problems seriously and with such naked honesty. As Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich explains, “This is not a film about Metallica, it’s a film about relationships.”
—Sean Uyehara
FACTOID #202
At the 1978 SFIFF, Paul Mazursky received a tribute at the Palace of Fine Arts. Apparently, the facility’s janitorial staff had not been notified, and the padlocked doors of the Palace had to be cut so the filmmaker and his audience could be let in.
