'Groupie' Jonathan Demme Premieres Neil Young Film at TIFF
September 14th 2009 4:25PM
The surprise cancellation of Neil Young's public appearance as part of the Toronto International Film Festival may have miffed a few autograph-seekers, but the real show will still go on Monday night as Jonathan Demme presents his latest concert film, 'The Neil Young Trunk Show.'
The free outdoor screening, part of TIFF's 'In Concert' series, garnered much buzz when word hit weeks ago that Young himself would show up. Alas, as Demme tells Spinner, sometimes "life intrudes."
"He would have loved to have been here," says the Oscar-winning director, in town to introduce the film. "I talked to him last night and we both feel bad about it. But I feel like I'm the messenger that's bringing Neil to Toronto tonight in the form of the film, on the big screen."
'The Trunk Show' is Demme's second feature-length film with Neil Young, a follow-up to 2006's box-office success, 'Heart of Gold.' Both capture the Canadian music icon live in performance, although the 'Trunk Show's mostly hand-held style is more rough 'n' tumble than the meticulously crafted 'Heart of Gold.'
Demme, the director of 'Silence of the Lambs' and 'Philadelphia' as well as the classic Talking Heads concert film 'Stop Making Sense,' credits Martin Scorsese's slick, larger-than life Rolling Stones documentary 'Shine a Light' for inspiring his more "punk" and "arthouse" filmmaking this go-round.
"When I saw 'Shine a Light,' which is obviously fantastic, I thought, 'This is the fulfillment of concert films. It's such a lavish, amazing presentation of a rock show there's nowhere else to go
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