Directed by: Jonathan Demme

‘Neil Young Journeys’ celebrates the music of one of Canada’s greatest artists.  A concert film clocking 81 minutes, the film has nearly seventy minutes devoted to Young performing a mix of classic and newer songs that he has written.  Filmed while Neil is driving his car (Neil is a car buff and Demme rented a 1956 Ford Crown Victoria) followed by his brother Bob (in another vintage car), Demme drove with him to Toronto on the freeways of Canada. Young reveals snapshots of his life on the road trip (hence the ‘journey’) from recalling things from his hometown of Omemee, Ontario in Kawartha Lakes (near Peterborough), to Ceasarea and Pickering North in Durham and finally to Toronto’s Massey Hall (where Young was born) where the concert takes place.  On the drive, (which seems long in the film, but probably took under two hours), Neil and Bob Young recall their childhood in the last sixty odd years. This is evident in Neil’s songs that are really powerful, with film clips of a video showing historical news footage of the 1970 Kent State University shootings, with a live performance of songs like Ohio, to the legendary singer performing his most recent songs like Love and War, After The Gold Rush, My My Hey Hey and Down By The River, to even selections from his 2010 album ‘Le Noise.’

The downer would be the way the concert footage was filmed. Demme uses some odd camera techniques and on two songs he uses a tiny camera mounted on the mic stand and what you get is close-ups of Young's teeth. This looks very amateurish, often shaky, but hearing Neil Young performs his hauntingly beautiful songs live makes up for this.

The special features are interesting, you get up close and personal with the Neil Young at two events – ‘Journey to Slamdance: A Conversation with Neil Young and Jonathan Demme’ and 92Y a TV station talk show.

Recommended for all die hard Neil Young fans.

Rating: ****

Reviewed By Verus Ferreira