Neil Young: Heart of Gold (2006)

I love this movie so much

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Blistering performances.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Neil Young: Heart of Gold (2006): Dir: Jonathan Demme / Featuring: Neil Young & associates: Beautiful concert documentary of the Prairie Winds Nashville concert of legendary musician Neil Young. Opening scenes feature interviews with band mates mostly within vehicles but structure is all concert but never boring. Young flawlessly performs several songs both old and new yet always showing great appreciation for his backup band. He tells of his father's recent passing and how that has affected him in writing a song in his honor. He also wrote and dedicated another song to his daughter. What is most interesting about Young's talent particularly as a song writer is his ability to express thoughts, many of which relate to the nature of growing. It is interesting that Jonathan Demme chose to direct this project after helming Silence of the Lambs and Beloved but it truly displays his range as a filmmaker as well as his passion for Young's career. This is a very different project for Demme and must be a passion film for him to step back from mainstream Hollywood to engage in this. Negative aspects are minor at best. Perhaps more background footage particularly of members of the band might have added to a greater effect but as it is it plays as a great tribute. It is not just one of Demme's best films, but to fans of Neil Young it will be a treasure to behold. Score: 6 ½ / 10

This concert film was directed by Oscar winning director Jonathan Demme and was apparently filmed just before Neil Young attended hospital to have a brain operation performed on him.The opening segments comprises of Young and fellow band members talking to the camera as they head towards the arena. The music and songs are mainly his acoustic set as the band (with guest vocalist Emmylou Harris) perform all but one of the ten numbers on the 'Prairie Wind' album and some of his classic's such as Harvest Moon.This is a must see for Neil Young fans and also showcases his acoustic songs and is gorgeously filmed.

It is ironic that this film is named after the song Neil Young said "put me in the middle of the road; travelling there soon became a bore so I headed for the ditch." For say what you will about Young's music -be it the "Harvest" style folk/country rock or the "Ragged Glory" grunge- arguably it will be his "Heart Of Gold" material he will always be remembered for (whether you like it or not, Neil!) So what we have here is a great concert film of a one off performance in Nashville, 2005, shortly after Young was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm, from which he -thank god- survived. Of course, it's no big secret that Neil Young is a survivor anyway...he's refused to rust or fade away ever since he first made it big with Buffalo Springfield. In Nashville, along with a lot of old friends and musical colleagues (pointedly, neither CSN nor Crazy Horse were invited), Neil performs most of his remarkable "Prairie Wind" album (easily "Harvest Part 3", following the original and "Harvest Moon") as well as a smattering of crowd-pleasing favourites ("Old Man", "Comes A Time", and of course the tune that drove him to the ditch, "Heart Of Gold") in the same countryish vein. As easygoing as this music is, Young is playing as though his life depended on it- literally. (I'm digressing, sort of, but it would have been fitting if Neil had have been taken from us following "Prairie Wind", one of his finest albums. Much more so than, say, he went tomorrow with "Living With War" -easily his most dated album, for a man whose music is basically timeless- as his final musical statement..."Prairie Wind" makes a much better epitaph than "Let's Impeach The President"!)Admittedly, Neil Young's music tends to be an acquired taste (mostly due to his voice and/or guitar playing) but man! What an artist! No wonder Neil Young and Bob Dylan are considered the singer/songwriter kings...a fitting sequel to this film would be something like "The Neil and Bob Show"...what a concert that would be! Though admittedly, as far as Neil's music goes, I prefer his electric stuff, but "Heart Of Gold" is a must-see for ANY of his fans...and any sort of roots music fan at all. Neil Young is one of the few things left that truly makes me proud to be Canadian.

I really enjoyed this film. A must for all Neil Young fans.It is a concert film rather than a documentary so don't expect a "No DirectionHome" type of film. There are a few interviews from artists in the concert about how they met Young etc and a very brief comment at the start from the man himself.The first half of the concert footage featured songs from the Prairie Winds album. I hadn't heard any of this material before but thought it was excellent. Young says a few words before some of the songs and a lot of them seem to relate to memories of his childhood.Perhaps they were inspired on by his illness(he's now recovered), which is alluded to briefly.The second part of the film (filmed on a different night I believe) features many of the classics from Young's long career.I heard someone coming out of the cinema saying they could have watched that film all night and can only agree.