The Last Waltz (1978)

(On Cable TV, March 2019) Being in a rock band is cool and all, but who can claim to be cool enough to have a documentary about them directed by Martin Scorsese? Well, The Band is that cool enough, and they even get street credentials from roping in post-Mean Streets Scorsese before he became The Scorsese. Watching The Last Waltz, for me, is a bit of a strange experience as I know practically nothing about The Band itself (who does, these days?), and am so free to appreciate the film and the music itself without any prior emotional attachment. Much of the documentary is structured along the lines of the group’s last concert (with their original line-up, it should be said), intercut between interview footage with band members and a few testimonials. The audience barely figures in the film—it’s all about the band itself, special guests and the performances. Fortunately, the music itself is up to the weight placed on it. There have been other concert films since then, some of them also from Scorsese, so the newness effect of The Last Waltz is diminished compared to 1976. Still, everything is very well handled, with good music and interesting interviews even if you’re not familiar with The Band.