Engaging look at how the Band of brothers unravelled
Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and the Band (E, 101 mins)
Directed by Daniel Roher Reviewed by
We have all seen this narrative play out in documentary form a dozen times ormore. How disparate characters came together, as schoolmates and childhood friends, or from the remains and fallout of other groups, to form a group, and then to write and play some of the 20th century’s most indelible songs, before alcohol, heroin and their attendant paranoia and mistrust drove the creative impulses into the ground, with the band soon enough to follow.
In some cases, literally.
And yet, these films are nearly always compelling, watchable, worth making, because we love the music at least.
Or because the band and its members yield such a trainwreck that we simply can’t look away for fear of missing some new inanity unfolding.
So when sitting down towatch Once Were Brothers, Daniel Roher’s quite excellent and authoritative documentary of The Band, my only real surprisewas that no-one had made the film before.
The Band – and what focus, naivety, humility and unassailable self-belief Robbie Robertson and company must have had, to choose that name – were a founding powerhouse of so much that we call rock, folk and Americana today.
In Robertson they were blessed with a songwriterwith very few equals and only a handful of betters.
Levon Helm was more than just the – sorry, Phil – greatest ‘‘drummer who sings’’ of all-time, he was also one of the great rock vocalists and one of the best drummers of his generation.
The rest of the classic lineup, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson, were all superlative musicians and, crucially, perfect collaborators.
For a glorious decade-and-a-half, from their beginnings, united as backing musicians for Ronnie Hawkins, then on to the bluesier, folkier sound that set them apart and shaped a generation or two of bands to come, The Band put down a template that would be picked up by everyone from The Eagles – obviously – to The Hold Steady and The Felice Brothers, who I still love, despite now knowing they owe their entire look and sound to The Band.
Their influence can also be heard in The Beatles’ and Rolling Stones’ post-1967 output.
But, as addiction, alcoholism and an alarming propensity for car crashes began to overwhelm the group, The Band fragmented and the crucial, foundational friendship between Helm and Robertson faltered.
As Once Were Brothers tells it, this was entirely down to Helm’s heroin use. But anyone who’s read Helm’s memoir This Wheel’s On Fire, would say that maybe the contentious split of the royalties and Robertson’s boundless ego were a factor, too.
And if Once Were Brothers will have its detractors, they will be people who say – asHelm did of The LastWaltz, Martin Scorsese’s legendary and timeless 1976 concert movie of The Band and many friends in full flight – that it is Robertson’s vision, and that only Robertson’s version of events is allowed oxygen here. And maybe that is so.
But, unless another, more balanced and definitive film is made, which seems unlikely now, then Once Were Brothers will hold up as a respectful, enthralling and engaging look at the band who were simply The Band.
This will hold up as a respectful, enthralling and engaging look at the band who were simply The Band.