Are the Interviews a distraction?

Not at all. Loved the interviews.

I love the interviews. This is probably an unpopular opinion but for me the guest musicians were more of a distraction from the Band's career ending finale, Hawkins and Dylan excepted for obvious reasons.

I don't mean to sound too precious, or sarcastic for that matter-- but I would say that if the interviews are distracting, it's because the quality of the interview segments are nowhere near the quality of the music and overall production.

From various accounts I've read over the years, originally Scorsese et al (et al mostly meaning "Robbie") intended to produce a straightforward concert film.

But once he got started, Scorsese began expanding the project to include more "documentary" elements, as well as adding those studio performance segments.

Unfortunately, the expanded scope of the film added a stressful burden to The Band; apart from coping with the emotional reaction to officially ending their superstar group, they had to learn a lot of new, sometimes complicated material (Joni Mitchell's arrangements) and rehearse with the guest stars.

The interviews weren't exactly an afterthought, but apparently they were conducted in a haphazard, catch-as-catch-can way.

Levon became so bitter afterwards that one has to take his "testimony" with a grain of salt. But he claimed that Scorsese conducted the interview segments more or less on the fly, when he (Scorsese) found time to do it.

Who knows, maybe Scorsese thought that the spontaneity would produce more honest or vivid responses. But Levon convincingly insisted that the interviews were usually squeezed in at inopportune times, without giving them a chance to prepare or focus.

For instance, Levon claimed that one of his interviews took place just after some big blow-up involving the logistics or lineup for the concert, when he was too aggravated to "chat". And he also reported that Garth was actually woken up by the crew at 6am, and was half-asleep when he mumbled a few spacy responses.

Well, stuff happens. But if they'd taken the same care in producing the interviews that they took with the music and overall cinematography, maybe they wouldn't seem so distracting.

I love the interviews. But when I first watched this I found them distracting. I used to skip them sometimes. Now I've watched this so many times that I kinda wish that the interviews were a bit longer.