photo's by Ray Tharaldson all rights reserved 2014
by Alissa Simon
In 2011, while
country crooner and legendary guitarist Glen Campbell prepared to tour
in support of his latest album, his family revealed that he had received
a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.
Remarkably, the Campbells not only proceeded with a “Goodbye Tour,” but also allowed filmmaker James Keach to document the progression of Glen’s illness and its effect on their lives and work.
Remarkably, the Campbells not only proceeded with a “Goodbye Tour,” but also allowed filmmaker James Keach to document the progression of Glen’s illness and its effect on their lives and work.
“Glen Campbell … I’ll Be Me” blends intimate and unflinching medical details, poignant performance footage and a survey of its subject’s place in musical history through well-chosen archival footage and interviews with other iconic performers. A limited release through U.S. distributor Area23a begins Oct. 24 and will expand in the weeks to come, while festival kudos at Nashville and Vancouver could spell more awards attention down the road.
Just
as the “Goodbye Tour” repped the last chance for Campbell’s multitudes
of fans to see him live, this observational docu offers a final
opportunity to witness the singer in lucid moments, with his artistry
movingly intact. He was moved into a specialized Alzheimer’s treatment
facility in March 2014, three years after filming began in 2011. At that
time, Campbell was 75 years old and had been married for nearly 30
years to his fourth wife, Kim, a bedrock of strength 23 years his
junior. The couple has three children, talented musicians Cal, Shannon
and Ashley, all of whom are in his backup band.Kim’s commentary about what’s going on (sometimes directly to the camera) functions in lieu of narration. In one early scene, Glen and Kim watch documentary footage chronicling his salad days and superlative achievements — among them five Grammys; induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame; his own TV series, “The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour”; and a co-starring role in the original “True Grit.” When Kim has to tell Glen who’s who, the moment not only epitomizes the sad losses of an Alzheimer’s sufferer and the patience required of a caregiver, but also cleverly provides background about the musician’s life and career.
As members of
their medical team explain to Glen and Kim, Alzheimer’s is a progressive
type of dementia that causes problems with memory, thinking and
behavior as the hippocampus shrinks and atrophies. Yet the doctors can
only marvel at the extraordinary wiring of Glen’s brain, which allows
him to continue performing complicated guitar solos and sing with
perfect pitch even while he suffers more typical symptoms.
Although Glen
quickly becomes, in the words of Kim, “unrehearseable,” the family and
band members decide to go on the road for as long as the good outweighs
the bad. We see the strain this causes every member of the tour, not
least Kim, but it’s is trumped by the palpable love that surges from the
audience toward the stage. Even if Glen at times doesn’t appear to know
where he is or what he’s doing, he feels the emotion and gains energy
and focus.
Even as they go
through the emotional and professional wringer, Campbell’s offspring
don’t regret participating in the tour. Son Cal notes, “When he connects
to something that gave him joy, it’s like he’s himself again.” Daughter
Ashley, who performs a lively dueling guitar/banjo riff with her father
onstage, also accompanies her parents to Capitol Hill and makes a
touching appeal before a Congressional committee for more funding to
fight the disease, which is growing exponentially. Director Keach also
recruits a slew of top musicians, including Bruce Springsteen, the Edge,
Chad Smith and Kathy Mattea, whose own lives have been touched by
Alzheimer’s, to comment on Campbell’s courage.
As the tour
extends over nearly two years to 151 concerts, we begin to observe its
diminishing returns, particularly as Campbell moves into the later
phases of the illness, characterized by frustration, anger and paranoia.
But even as he suffers a complete meltdown onstage, the audience is
with him and for him. A scene of Campbell’s final recording with members
of his former crack session band, the Wrecking Crew — the song his “Not
Gonna Miss You,” a ballad he wrote for Kim — heartbreakingly
demonstrates the man’s profound understanding of the disease, something
that does not always come across in the filmed footage.
Stylistically,
“Glen Campbell … I’ll Be Me” is nothing special; indeed, the homevideo
shots are mostly pedestrian. Yet the sheer joy, even magic, captured in
the concert footage preserves the artist’s sublime musicianship and the
ineffable relationship between performer and audience. In the end, his
family’s willingness to document his decline, in the hope that it will
draw more attention and resources to fighting the disease, burnishes and
extends Campbell’s legacy in enduring fashion.
Film Review: ‘Glen Campbell ... I’ll Be Me’
Reviewed at Vancouver Film Festival (Arts & Letters), Oct. 1, 2014. Running time: 105 MIN.
Production
(Documentary) An
Area23a release of a PCH Films production in association with Volunteers
of America. Produced by Trevor Albert, James Keach. Executive
producers, Scott Borchetta, Susan Disney Lord, Jane Seymour, Stanley
Schneider, Julian Raymond. Co-producer, Kayla Thornton.
Crew
Directed by James
Keach. Camera (color, HD), Alex Exline; editor, Elisa Bonora; music,
Julian Raymond; sound (5.1 surround), Milos Zivkovic, Logan Aries, Alex
Exline, Dwight Chalmers, Marianna LaFollette, Cody Peterson, Carlos
Pulido; associate producers, Jeff Pollack, Debra Pearl, Carl Jackson,
Cindy Sinclair.
With
Glen Campbell,
Kim Campbell, Ashley Campbell, Cal Campbell, Shannon Campbell, T.J.
Kuenster, Ry Jarred, Siggy Sjursen, Kiefo Nilsson, Dr. Ronald Petersen,
Bobbie Gale, Jay Leno, Jimmy Webb, Brad Paisley, The Edge, Clancy
Fraser, Bill Maclay, John Carter Cash, Sheryl Crow, Kathy Mattea, Scott
Borchetta, Dr. Hart Cohen, Chad Smith, Keith Urban, Steve Martin, the
Band Perry, Blake Shelton, Paul McCartney, Bill Clinton, Nancy Pelosi,
Hal Rogers, Chris Smith, Richard Shelby, Bruce Springsteen, Richard
Landers, Stanley Schneider, the Wrecking Crew, Gerald Campbell, Jane
Campbell, Sandy Campbell, Kelli Campbell, Debby Campbell-Cloyd, Sandie
Gillard, Richard Landers.
I met with Glen
after photographing his concert during the summer of 2012. We talked
about how the tour was going and his plans to meet with his friend
George H. Bush the following week. Glen could not have been more down to
earth and gracious with his time.
FILED UNDER: Glen Campbell Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me James Keach
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