Chicago International Film Festival – ‘Band’ (capsule review)

(Film viewed as part of the Chicago International Film Festival)

Look, getting older sucks, and it’s something that’s even harder to deal with when you’re an independent musician. At some point, bands who’ve yet to break through their respective “scene ceilings” age out of timeliness and interest.

In the quirky new documentary, “Band,” Director Álfrún Örnólfsdóttir documents her all-female avant-garde band as it mounts one final campaign at viability. Spoiler warning: The Post Performance Blues Band is a tough sell (think Bjork and Peaches, by way of “Warm Leatherette”). It’s never not cringy, especially when we see the band playing for beer in front of five people.

So much of “Band” feels absurd to the point that I needed to be convinced that it wasn’t a mockumentary (a few internet searches helped). If you know someone in a band; or if, heaven help you, you’re in a band, you’ll recognize a lot of what you see here. You don’t need subtitles to tell you how hard this racket is.

 

 

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Author: carconcarne