Liebeling (of Pentagram) struggles with drug addiction and, more often than not, lives in his parents’ basement. Yet, the tone with which the films treat this theme varies, matching the health of the lead subject. Both films foreground the inability of the lead men and their groups to gain fame and fortune. If I had to pick just one additional film that would be most appropriate to discuss as a pair with the Anvil doc it would be Last Days Here (2011)-about another failed/cult metal group, Pentagram. Like Anvil: The Story of Anvil, the Big Star doc opens with a series of talking heads who weigh in on this question: why wasn't this band more successful? I would still say that this type of the rock doc is much more the exception than the rule, but we are fleshing out a large enough list here that it could be regarded as a subgenre in its own right. We could include Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me (2012) in this discussion as another film about a band that could have been a lot bigger than they were. I've seen Searching for Sugar Man and 20 Feet from Stardom, but A Band Called Death is new to me. Last Days Here, Big Star, and This is Spinal Tap Log in or register to reply to this comment.I'm wondering if you see any of these other titles as performing something similar in terms of their representations of musicians who act as hybrid fan/stars, or if you see these films as connected in terms of their representation of musicians who reside in some space that is tangential to conventional celebrity. Yet the machinery of the music industry somehow let them fall into obscurity, only to be resurrected by documentaries like these that highlight relegated performers and are sometimes even accompanied by soundtracks and tours. At the risk of generalizing, I'd categorize Searching for Sugar Man, A Band Called Death, and 20 Feet from Stardom as similar to Anvil! in that they all function as what you call "sympathetic portraits" of talented musicians (who are also, in some cases, described as musical innovators) worthy of the fame others have achieved. It seems to me that there's been something of an emergent sub-genre recently in rock documentaries about similar "would-be" stars. I particularly enjoy your approach at making sense of Kudlow's liminal place between musical stardom and fandom as he, one the one hand, aspires to what we might recognize as more conventional musical stardom while performing for a small but dedicated fan base while, on the other hand, acting as a fan for conventional rock stars and working as a direct distributor of his own fan ephemera. Kudlow enthuses about such performances as “beautiful moments, human moments when you are in the same room as the people that love you.” The scene evokes both sympathy and admiration for the same reasons: that Kudlow will not forsake his nearly impossible ambitions and that he finds so much enjoyment even at this modest moment in his performing career. Long-time fans attest that Kudlow himself delivers purchased albums and shirts to their homes. In the clip included here, Kudlow plays a show, his own birthday party, at a Toronto-area bar for around 100 people. When Kudlow makes a case for the transcendent quality of his musical performance it is in a much more intimate context. Rather than discussing his own performance or coolly relaxing, the small-time frontman searches eagerly for legitimate stars, rushing to greet more famous performers who are flustered by his enthusiasm. The backstage interview with Kudlow plays humorously against rock-doc expectations. Midway through the film, the band lands a break and is able to perform (albeit at a very early hour) at a large metal festival in Sweden. He is a fan, still, as much as a performer. Kudlow solicits identification from the audience as a liminal figure in the music world. Yet, despite the fact that Kudlow has not achieved broad popularity, he continues to pursue musical stardom. He delivers lunches for a food service company, driving an old van and pulling large coolers across snowy schoolyards. This blurry, unrestored VHS footage is followed by shots of Kudlow in his current-life. The film opens with a performance at a large metal festival in the mid-80s, when it was possible that the band could make it big. Anvil: The Story of Anvil presents a sympathetic portrait of this energetic, would-be star. Widespread fame is well past the reach of middle-aged frontman Steve ‘Lips’ Kudlow (guitar/vocals) who continues to perform and record. Sacha Gervasi’s Anvil: The Story of Anvil (2008), about a Canadian metal band active from the late 1970s to present, covers a much less popular group than most rock-docs.
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