The Australian Cinémathèque presents Get What You Want: Music Cinema at GOMA until 2 October 2016.
The program features a selection of documentaries and films across a variety of music genres, offering insight into the creative and social energies that permeate different musical subcultures. The underlying idea is that music, in its endless permutations, can enrich our identities and transform both musicians and listeners alike.
Friday night’s screening of the Nick Cave documentary 20,000 Days on Earth (2014) was an unexpectedly touching experience. The film depicts a fictitious day in the artist’s life during the course of recording his 2013 album, Push the Sky Away. Co-written and directed by Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard, Cave also co-wrote the film’s script. The resulting combination of drama and reality provides a pleasing balance of frank yet intimate insights.
Cave, in his eloquence, gives us glimpses into an awkward Wangaratta childhood, as well as life within Melbourne’s raucous post-punk music scene and later, relocating to Brighton, England with its inclement yet inspirational weather.
Through a series of spoken reflections, old photographs and musical performances the film is a portrayal of the artistic process, the transformative nature of live performing (including my favourite scene, where both Cave and Warren Ellis recount an unforgettable Nina Simone), examining what creates our identities, but ultimately celebrating the power of the creative spirit.
Through a series of spoken reflections, old photographs and musical performances ‘20,000 Days on Earth’ is a portrayal of the artistic process, the transformative nature of live performance and ultimately celebrates the power of the creative spirit.
Watch the trailer:
Get What You Want: Music Cinema continues this Wednesday with screenings of Miles Ahead and Amy.
For tickets and more information visit the QAGOMA website.
The Garb Wire 