Neil Young: Heart of Gold (2006)
Average Rating: 8/10
Reviews Counted: 98
Fresh: 88 | Rotten: 10
Proving that it's neither better to burn out nor fade away, Neil Young: Heart of Gold works both as a concert film and a meditation on mortality.
Average Rating: 7.8/10
Critic Reviews: 36
Fresh: 31 | Rotten: 5
Proving that it's neither better to burn out nor fade away, Neil Young: Heart of Gold works both as a concert film and a meditation on mortality.
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Average Rating: 2.9/5
User Ratings: 92,069
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Movie Info
In the fall of 2005, Neil Young returned to the sound and style of his iconic 1972 album Harvest with Prairie Wind, a set of ten songs which look to America's past and future accompanied by sweet but rough-hewn country-rock. The album was written and recorded after Young was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm, and shortly before he went into the hospital for surgery for the condition, Young played a pair of special concerts at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, the original home of the Grand Ole Opry,
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All Critics (101) | Top Critics (36) | Fresh (91) | Rotten (10) | DVD (13)
...Even those who haven't followed Young's every recent move could well find his performance here surprisingly captivating.
Top CriticThe best moments in the film are when Ellen Kuras's camera just sits there taking in the whole stage, the whole gorgeous ecosystem.
It doesn't penetrate his craggy mystique, or make us hear his music in a new way. Instead, it's the same old choir song.
This Prairie Wind concert is one long sweet twang of wistful not-quite-regret.
When it comes to pop-music icons, Neil Young is the full package.
Some defiant rockers are forever young. This one is in name only.
Lovely
Proves it's better to burn out, than to fade away.
Pleasant, but hardly pulse-quickening stuff.
Shows the famed songwriter's performance and work off with reverance, and a faithfullness to the live experience.
The result is simply spellbinding.
...Neil Young has experimented with film many times, but this is by far the most accessible cinematic treatment of his music; a troubadour at the top of his game.
Young's presence, his heartfelt delivery, and the audience's fore-knowledge of his brain aneurysm add enough weight to make the film a surprisingly emotional experience
A potent brew of humanity, empathy, and dignity.
Regardless of what you call it, Heart of Gold is a revelation and one of 2006's best movies.
Demme continues to make concert films not because he's a fan, but because the concerts are inherantly cinematic and make perfect sense.
A tell-tale Heart worth having.
Director Jonathan Demme and singer Neil Young team up for a rousing, touching concert film. The double discs provide plenty of background materials.
...The arrival of Neil Young: Heart of Gold should be an inspiration to music buffs and cinephiles alike.
The beauty of the movie is in how alive it all sounds: rich and rueful and satisfying.
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Filmmaker Jonathan Demme was there to document this event on camera, and this film, is the resulting compilation of the major highlights. It's very folksy, reflective, and full of sentimentality. Only one song features an electric guitar, but there's still a great deal of heart, soul, and hope to be found here.
Peppered with some of Neil's dry humor and a few interviews at the beginning, this is an elegantly simple concert film that is quite enjoyable and really comforting. The great thing about Neil is that he's always been great at performing both folksy acoustic music and raw electric jams with great skill. All of what's featured here is the former, but, even though I tend to prefer his more 'grungy' electric stuff, sometimes nothing beats the lighter stuff.
All of the musicians are at the top of their game, the Prairie Wind album is pretty decent, and the songs for the 'classics' set are well chosen, and have a few of my favorites like "Heart of Gold", "Harvest Moon", and "The Needle and the Damage Done", so that makes me happy.
If you're a fan, you definitely dig it. If you're not a die hard, you might find it to be decent, and if you're a newcomer, this might not be the best place to start, but it probably couldn't hurt, either.