Just let me hear some of that rock and roll music.
Any old way you choose it!
One of the most acclaimed and classic rock bands of all time is The Who. The band is very much made whole by its four members; lead singer, Roger Daltrey; guitarist and songwriter, Pete Townshend; bass guitarist, John Entwistle; and drummer, Keith Moon. A super-fan of the group, Jeff Stein, wanted to make what could basically be called a compilation film. Footage from key events in the band’s history would be compiled in 101 minutes. This film is considered a documentary on most sites that house such info. Perhaps the line is blurred a bit between the two. There are basically no new interviews, no narration; only mementos of the past, which do include some interviews. While unintended at the start of the film’s production, there are some very brief new interviews and some newly recorded performances, though the film seems like it’s trying to hide this. It’s all blended in with everything else.
The Kids Are Alright lacks a real plot. A later Who documentary, Amazing Journey (2007), tells the story of the band in more or less chronological order. This film paints a less clear picture in a different way. The film starts with some performances of songs in full, then shows more, but splices in interviews and music videos. We pick up more about the band in more subtle ways. Pete discusses culture and his songs, giving insight in his creative process. He speaks of the other band members. There’s a portion of the film about Keith. We see his interests and destructive behavior. He and Pete love to destroy their instruments on stage. Keith loves to goof off. During the film’s production, Keith died and the other band members didn’t want it changed. This makes sense as there’s no dedication or memorial to Keith, though it seems odd that he’s the only member to get part of the film to show off their personality. John and Roger get very little time to shine and one that watches the film wouldn’t come away knowing much about them. John wrote some songs, why not have him talk about them? Why not have Roger talk about his films or his opinions or his voice?
This film could be described as a compilation album with the visuals. The constant stream of full or almost full songs gives you lots of opportunities to feel the music like one could do while listening to an album. For my money, I like it when there’s stuff that you can’t really get from an album, like footage of the band partying or in the recording studio. Basically more to give a bigger picture. Why not make this film two and a half hours with that extra hour dedicated to the lives and personality of the band? What are they doing when they’re not in the band? The band weren’t touring for a few years in the 70’s. Why not show what they were doing and then tie off the film with some awesome tunes from when they started up again? That’d be way more satisfying. One can’t complain too much with the film ending with an amazing 1977 performance of “Won’t Get Fooled Again”.
This film achieves its goal of highlighting the band. There’s tons of excellent performances and cool footage. It covers the whole golden age of The Who (The Keith Moon period). More would be nice, but it’s impressive how much is represented and shown in under two hours. It’s strange how it doesn’t feature the song, “The Kids Are Alright”.
The Filme Diary 