Greendale

Studio: Sanctuary
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Cinematographer, occasional film director, and, yes, longtime rock star Neil Young personally made (under the silly pseudonym Bernard Shakey) the fascinating, strangely affecting, and feature-length experiment Greendale as an after-the-fact movie to accompany his CD of the same name. Shot with low-tech equipment, the grainy, overlit Greendale sets a dreamy, David Lynch-like mood as Young tells the story of the fictional Green family, who live in a Northern California town that bears their name. Multi-generational anti-war activists and pro-environmental warriors, the Greens become beleaguered in a world of intensifying media scrutiny, corporate arrogance, personal tragedy, and the devil himself (in the form of a dancing dude in a red suit), culminating in the family's disillusionment and renewed commitment. There's no dialogue: The lyrics of Young's song cycle speak for the characters, making Greendale a novel hybrid of music video and visionary movie. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

"Visit Greendale," pop: Neil Young's muses..........2006-06-05

How cool is Neil Young? He writes an album, creating a piece about a fictional California coast town, then produces, shoots and directs a film of it. Essentially a lo-fi series of videos for the album, the film is edited out of chronological order, aptly telling the story of Greendale, CA, USA. Very creative and interesting, if not slowish at times. But it remains under two hours and hell, its Neil Young music with visuals. Praise!
If you love Young, you'll like this, if not it may be a stretch. But his willingness to communicate his feelings for small town life, the turmoil of mistakes and unlawfullness, the tribute to family, marriage and love, and the commitment to fighting the good fight are all here.

greendale.......2006-03-14

Neil Young is an incredibley enigmatic atrist. I can watch this DVD over and over because although the movie is really good, the music is absolutley astounding. I would say for those who have never heard of neil to have an open mind while viewing and you'll encounter a zone of reality that may have never occured to you before. The CD by the same title comes with an accompaning DVD wich neil does a solo accoustic set.

amateur hour.......2005-02-19

*1/2

A film written and directed by Neil Young, "Greendale" is little more than an 87-minute music video set to a dozen or so of the artist's works. In lieu of dialogue, the film relies exclusively on Young's lyrics, which are heavily laced with sociopolitical commentary, to tell the "story" while actors act out the scenes.

Given the hammy performances and the shoddy graininess of the picture, the effect is the equivalent of Young blowing up some of his own home movies and releasing them for public consumption. Although there is allegedly a "story" running through the film, we really have no idea what is going on thanks mainly to the unpolished look of the film, the lack of dialogue and the amateurish ineptitude of the acting. All we get for eighty-seven minutes is a bunch of aging hippies cavorting silently through an incoherent narrative while Young's songs play endlessly on the soundtrack. The whole thing turns into a tedious exercise in self-indulgence. "Greendale" gives off-Hollywood, low budget moviemaking a bad name.

Still Speaks His Mind.......2005-02-09

It took a few listenings a while back, but Greendale the CD has worn its way into my top 3 favorite albums by Neil Young. I bought Greendale the DVD more as a curiosity knowing, at worst, I don't mind having video to go with the music.

Greendale starts as a disarmingly-simple introduction to the Green family and ends with 2 powerful, wake-up-call anthems. The actors, who sync the lyrics, make it all interesting and watchable. The journey takes on a surreal quality in fairly short time. Statements about corruption in the White House, corporate greed and our responsibility to the environment are even stronger in the film than they are on the cd. It amazes me that time hasn't worn the edge off Neil Young to speak his mind. This is a day and age when we're supposed to be afraid.

I had a great time watching this dvd. I can't compare it to anything I've seen. Ideally a person might know the music before watching the film; and also just appreciate film as an art. The 5.1 sound is great.

IF NOT GREAT VERY, VERY GOOD.......2004-12-20

This movie is a good movie with a lot of familiar faces including Ben Keith. The video goes good with the music but what makes the DVD worth the money is the live version of "Be The Rain". Ther is nothing better than a live version of a Neil song on video. Plus his daughter dances rather well in it! If you haven't seen this video it s worth the asking price.

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