I've actually been to see a first-run movie. I go to movies so rarely that this is a notable event. I usually haven't even seen movies which have been released as videos. However, the confluence of my interest in folk music with the release of the mockumentary A Mighty Wind was too much to pass up. My wife had the day off (and I, of course, have all days off at present), so we took in a matinee showing this past Friday.
It was a lot of fun. The movie recounts the reunion in the present of three imaginary folk groups from the sixties. Each group is modeled after a well known folk group, or type of group, of that era. One group was modeled after the three-young-men groups such as The Kingston Trio. A second group bears a remarkable resemblance to The New Christy Minstrels. The final group is a duo similar to Ian and Sylvia.
The movie follows the promoters who are trying to quickly throw together a memorial concert for the manager of the folk groups. We see the various members get together for the first time in years (except for the New Mainstreet Singers (Christy Minstrels) who have been performing right along with shifting memberships in venues such as amusement parks). Fun is poked at the performers, the songs, the promoters, and just about everyone. But even with all of the quiet humor, I got the sense that there was also a genuine enjoyment of some of this music. The manipulative, feel-good climactic moment still felt good, even though it is in the midst of a comedy making fun of this music and the people involved.
One particularly interesting point about the movie is that the actors generally wrote their own songs for the movie. The title track was probably somewhat inspired by Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" and the Chad Mitchell Trio's "A Mighty Day". Many of the other songs are similar enough to real folk tunes popular in the sixties that the whole experience felt very familiar, even as I watched singers I'd never seen before.
The movie's creative team is the same group that has done other mockumentaries about metal bands (This is Spinal Tap), community theatre (Waiting for Guffman), and dog shows (Best In Show). I look forward to their next movie, especially if they tackle another subject with which I am familiar.
Posted by JoKeR at April 24, 2003 01:45 PM | TrackBack