LAST DAYS HERE
USA, 2011
Running Time: 91
minutes
Cast: Bobby Liebling,
Sean Pelletier
Director: Don Argott,
Demian Fenton
Cinematography: Don
Argott, Demian Fenton
Probably the saddest rock-doc of
all time, Last Days Here tells the story of Bobby Liebling, the lead singer of
a late ‘70s hard-rock band called Pentagram. Never heard of them?
No problem. Few have.
Until Sean Pelletier shows up.
Pelletier is a music nerd, an
obsessive collector of obscure vinyl and more obscure bands. Pentagram’s music changed his life, and
he takes it on himself to re-release all the band’s unreleased material and
drag the band out of retirement for one last shot at the big time.
There are obstacles of
course. Liebling, when we first
meet him, is a hopeless junkie living in his parents’ sub-basement. He shoots smack, smokes large
quantities of crack and is convinced he’s infested with parasites that he tries
to gouge out of his flesh with his filthy nails.
All too aware of how unreliable
and difficult Liebling can be, most of the band’s members (and over 30 years
there have been a lot…) are unwilling to commit to the project. But Pelletier won’t give up. He elicits promises of sobriety from
Liebling and for a while, thanks to the love of a rabid fan called Hailley, it
looks like Liebling may survive long enough to actually do it.
But when the relationship ends and
Liebling is arrested for stalking her, Pelletier begins to wonder if
resurrecting his idol is worth all the headaches.
This is a painful film to watch,
but by the end, you’ll find yourself rooting for these people and their
unlikely dream. There are laughs,
but the humour is pitch black and the laughter more a nervous reaction to
horror than from anything funny. I
came out questioning the power music has over people and why these hideous old
rockers all end up with gorgeous young girlfriends. Clearly music has a power that can overwhelm reality.
This sounds like an amazing film.... but, more importantly~ I literally just came from another blog (Suzanne von Rooyen) that was talking about your book Unstill Life, and now I'm definitely going to have to buy it! I love 'small world' stuff. :)
ReplyDeleteSorry I've been absent from your posts recently! It's been crazy at work... but I'm back now and hope to keep up for the rest of the challenge. :)
Alex Hurst, fantasy author in Japan, participating in Blogging A-Z April Challenge.
I have never heard of Pentagram, but the name smells heavy metal >:)
ReplyDeleteCold As Heaven
And I thought I knew my movies. My head is bowed in shame. :)
ReplyDeleteHadn't heard of it, but sounds like another interesting one, definitely.
ReplyDeleteI never heard of the band or the movies. Wow, what a story.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure it's music specifically. I think fame is attractive to many young girls. They love the stardom and the star's persona - they rarely know the real person, and if he was a gas station attendant, wouldn't give him the time of day. But sports players, actors, reality stars, etc. attract attention. Look at Warhol. Little, weird, gross, but even society women would be in his "movies" and do anything he wanted.
ReplyDelete