Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White sit down to discuss the electric guitar, the creative process and their art and life with Davis Guggenheim, the director who brought us Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth.
First and foremost: if you have any interest in guitar centred music -- see this movie! and, make sure you see the DVD with all of the deleted scenes and commentary. BIAS Alert: I have been a true fanboy of Led Zeppelin for most of my life, and U2 was central to my high school experience, so I have a skewed viewpoint to evaluate this movie. That said...
I have been profoundly interested in how things work and how things are created for all of my life. For that reason alone, this was a movie I wanted to see from the moment I heard about it. These three artists share their ideas about the impact that this instrument has had on their lives and art. They speak in very open terms about their lives and the events that have shaped them. You also get to see the sheer joy that music brings to them (in different ways for each of them).
It is also incredible to see the range of music that can be created by three men with very different perspectives on art and sound and life. I loved this film, and was really grateful that my sister gave it to me for my birthday.
The movie intersperses audio interviews with all three men with clips of their music, stories about their lives and a 'summit meeting' of the three guitarists sitting down in a warehouse studio to talk, jam and share their perspectives on art and music.
Some of the coolest scenes are the ones where the three artists jam together: someone shows off a favorite guitar, or plays a lick and the others watch, fascinated until they start playing along with the lead. The best scene is the look on the faces of The Edge and Jack White when Jimmy Page steps up and plays Whole Lotta Love -- they are in complete awe and I imagine the whole crew at that moment was captivated by what they were seeing. Then imagine you are Jack White and Jimmy Page wants to learn how to play Seven Nation Army! Jack looks completely giddy afterwards.
My only complaint with the movie is that I would have loved to have seen more of the 'Summit' scenes. I'm sure there must be enough film to cut a whole other movie with just those clips, and I would pay to see it.
Davis Guggenheim has done an impressive job in bringing this film to screen. I hope everyone has a chance to enjoy it.
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