Gorman Bechard’s What Were We Thinking Films delivers one of the most riveting, interesting, informative and entertaining films I’ve seen in a while. Every Everything: The Music, Live & Times of Grant Hart is just that – it is the story of Grant Hart, the drummer/singer/songwriter for Husker Du; later guitarist/singer/songwriter for Nova Mob, solo recording musician and graphic artist. What makes this movie so compelling is that it is told in Grant Hart’s words by Mr. Hart alone. With the exception of a lone voice asking the occasional question for the sake of clarification, no one else appears in this film – it is all Grant Hart, for the entire length. And at no time does it become tiring or dull.
Mr. Hart is a fascinating subject; he is interesting, opinionated, diplomatic, engaging, charming, funny – I’m certain there are more phrases to use. For what I consider the first time, I (and anyone who watches this) gets an insight into a man – an artist – who has never been given the proper opportunity to tell his side of a story that has been told often and slanted in a different (or less than venomous) manner. Aside from how and where Husker Du went awry, Mr. Hart gets personal: a glimpse into his family and childhood (part of the movie’s charm is his walking around the now-empty lot where his house stood, having burned down in 2011, and describing where everything was in the present tense); the years with Husker Du and his substance problems. He speaks about his admiration for William Burroughs; he shows us how he goes about creating collages in a Minneapolis-St. Paul bookstore; he talks about SST Records and how they’ve mishandled their finances. Most powerfully – and said in a matter-of-fact way, for the first time – Mr. Hart speaks of his becoming a father. In this movie, Grant Hart talks with an ease and refreshing candidness you don’t often expect from someone who is (at this point in time) something of a musical legend (if not a major influence).
Mr. Bechard’s film is a solid, knocked-out-of-the-park hit. A very complete look into one of music’s most misunderstood and under-appreciated figures in the last 30 or so years. And not to leave out one of the critical elements, you are reminded of what a great songwriter Grant Hart is as you travel through his story. A huge nod of thanks to Gorman Bechard for this fine piece of work.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
DVD AVAILABLE AUGUST 8th
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