This is a great documentary. Good interview footage, just the right amount of humor and sentiment, and a rare story of fulfilled hope. I saw it last night in San Francisco and, oddly, there weren't many people there. Maybe the Dolls are more forgotten than I realize(?)
One question:
Does anyone know if the filmmakers are Mormon? There is a noticable lack of profanity in the movie.
I wouldn't be to suprised if a lot of the guys behind the scenes were Mormons. Most of the crew on Napoleon Dynamite also were Mormons. There are actually a lot of "Mormon" films out there now.
shareYes. They are LDS (or Mormon, same thing), I think one of them was in Arthur Kane's church congregation and that's how the whole thing got started.
shareDirector, Greg Whiteley, and the cinematographer on this film were Arthur Kane's "home teachers." A home teacher is a calling within the LDS church in which a pair visit a family or an individual during each month to strengthen and uplift them, often making several visits monthly to make sure that all needs are met.
Greg told this to a group of BYU Film students last November.
By the way, New York Doll is out on DVD today! Go and buy it.
[deleted]
The DVD mentions the filmmaker met arthur at his church.
Most brands of christianty frown on rock music as well as condemning idol worship of celebrities. It was surprising that his church seemed to encourage him to pursue fame and worldy rewards in a field rife with the temptations of vanity, sex and drugs.
Napoleon Dynamite was a riot and G Rated (wasnt it?) Ive never seen anythign so clean and so hilarious since the early muppets!
I just watched the DVD this morning, and I think you missed the point of what the church leaders and friends were encouraging . . . they were encouraging him to do the one thing he had been so singularly focused on doing for 30+ years . . . to re-unite with his band members (the director said that you couldn't have a conversation with Arthur without him telling you about the Dolls and his role with the band) . . . to see if he could resolve the conflict he had regarding David Johanson's seemingly success all those years. The comment made in the movie was that when Arthur returned and spoke to his Bishop, he had said that the best part of the reunion was truly smoothing-over any hard feelings he may have had, and becoming comfortable friends again with David.
There was an underlying concern that was expressed by the director, the Home Teacher and the Bishop with regard to what might happen if the band DID get a chance to start-up again . . . but within 18 days(?) Arthur was dead and the prospect of a "good thing" happening was once again, . . . missed. Morrissey said it best when he said the band has been the MOST blighted band ever . . . every time they got ready to make the next positive move, there was always a tragedy, starting with the death of their drummer Billy Murcurio (sp?).
One of the saddest parts of the story for me was seeing the incredible damage all the years of hard drinking had done to Arthur. He was slow of mind and speech. It did give the viewer a perspective of his deep-down kindness and gentleness from those years of being so raucous, rude, and generally anti-social (the original Punks of punk music).
I was extremely impressed with the manner in which the story was told. This is NOT a Rockumentory, though it has those elements. This is a GREAT story about a man who had lived a miserable life, who had few breaks, and before passing-on, had an incredibly uplifting moment with his surviving band mates, sharing some of the changes he'd made in his life, but deep-down, always desiring to fulfilling HIS goal of giving music to people so they could enjoy it and having a good time while listening.
In addition, I was also saddened to know that the members of the band have never made a dime on ether of their two albums, and drug overdoses destroyed 1/2 of the 6-members of the Dolls.
Overall, I REALLY enjoyed this film and gave it 4 3/4 out of 5 stars. It opened my eyes to knowing more about the intricate weave of the music world than I have ever known before (wasn't the band-tree one of the coolest visuals???) . . . seeing how all the cross-dressing bands of the 70's and 80's followed the NY Dolls dress style and made millions (from Cinderella, RATT, Poison, Sigue Sigue, all the British glam/ romantic bands, etc.)!! And yes, . . . I am old enough to remember the NY Dolls, but barely! LOL
Dave
Great post troutdsd ! Very well written and adds to my understanding of the film. Thanks
share[deleted]
Most brands of christianty frown on rock music as well as condemning idol worship of celebrities. It was surprising that his church seemed to encourage him to pursue fame and worldy rewards in a field rife with the temptations of vanity, sex and drugs.