There are two musical films playing at The Nugget this week. “Stop Making Sense” is a remastered version of the concert film that opened in 1984. One of the best concert films ever made, the movie was a collaboration between the art-rock group Talking Heads and filmmaker Jonathan Demme. The film was shot over four nights at Hollywood’s Pantages Theatre when the group was touring for their “Speaking in Tongues” album.
David Byrne, Talking Heads’ principal songwriter and lead singer, envisioned a behind-the-scenes look at the process of putting on a concert. He wanted to bring the audience into the creative process. The film opens with Byrne alone on stage with a tape player and a guitar. Slowly, the rest of the crew, the musicians, and singers join him, and the set is built around him. At the screening I attended in 1984, the audience got up and danced in the aisles. They became part of the show.
“Stop Making Sense” elicits an audience’s visceral reaction to the music. By contrast, writer/director John Carney employs music as a medium to connect his characters, using it to communicate emotions and to set the period and tone of his films. Best known for “Once” (2007), which blurred the line between romantic musical and concert film, the movie’s stars went on a successful worldwide concert tour and won an Academy Award for their musical collaboration on the lead song of the film, “Falling Slowly.” The film also became the basis of a successful stage musical.
Carney collaborated with Gary Clark to write the original songs featured in “Flora and Son,” his latest musical drama set in Dublin. Premiering at Sundance Film Festival in 2023, the film is being released in select theaters while also streaming on Apple TV+ worldwide. Carney cast actors that had a good understanding of music in his film.
Eve Hewson turns in an amazing performance as the lead character, Flora. Hewson’s father in real life is the musician Bono, and she knows how to play guitar. All the singing she does on screen is her voice. She told The Hollywood Reporter although she had to overcome a “massive, massive fear” of singing in the film, she never turned to her father for musical tips: “I’d rather sing in front of the entire world.” The cast includes Joseph Gordon-Lewitt as an online guitar instructor. The actor is known for his own musical ambitions: he started HitRecord, an online media platform. He’s won two Primetime Emmy Awards for the two shows produced through the platform. Speaking at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, Gordon-Levitt reportedly said, “I finally got to play music in a movie! It’s really true, I’ve always wanted to do it and I’ve always been a musician at heart and love doing it. I’ve learned to do many things for movies. I’ve learned to walk on a tightrope or play hockey or, certainly, lots of fighting and shooting and things like that. But this time I was practicing a skill that I’ve practiced most of my life, but having to do it at a bit more of a skill level than what I was used to.”
The music and the appreciation of music is a central premise in “Flora and Son.” Flora (Hewson), a single mother living in Dublin, is having trouble with her estranged son Max (Orén Kinlan). He’s a rebellious teen and a petty thief. Encouraged by the Gardaí (Irish police) to find Max a hobby, Flora rescues an old guitar from a skip (the garbage bin). With the help of an online guitar instructor (Gordon-Lewitt) she discovers her own passion for music.
The film brings together some disparate musical influences, from singer/songwriters like Joni Mitchell that Jeff uses to inspire Flora; to techno beats that Flora loves to lose herself to on the dance floor; to the rap music that Max uses to try to impress his hip hop-loving crush. As the characters journey toward understanding each other and themselves, it’s the music that helps unite them.
Whether you’re looking for a film that might inspire you to dance in the aisle or a quieter film that might make you want to sing at your local pub, the Nugget Theater has you covered this weekend.
Drinks With Films ratings
“Stop Making Sense,” 5 tall glasses of water for the sweat-drenched David Byrne in his big suit (out of 5)
“Flora and Son,” 2 ½ glasses of wine while watching online tutorials (out of 5)
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