Greetings,
Wow, that is a long title for a documentary. The good news is that it manages to answer both of these questions. Although, if you don't know who Harry Nilsson is or why everybody is talkin' about him, then you have been deprived, and you definitely need to watch this. Or just watch it because it's good.
Who Is Harry Nilsson? etc., is a basic birth to death bio documentary, structurally speaking anyway, but this is not one of those 'unauthorized' messes. You know what I mean. The ones with interviews with people who barely seem to know who the subject is and features none of the actual music. No, this is very legit, even starting with the words "Authorized Films Presents". Good sign, though, that might seem like a proclamation of trickery. It's not. This movie is extremely well put together, with all the great music and a ton of info about our titular subject.
The film begins with some of that music and an image of Harry Nilsson turning on his TV, only for us to focus in on the screen where we see Dustin Hoffman in front of a huge audience. The star of Midnight Cowboy had the unfortunate task of informing the crowd of the passing of Harry Nilsson, which, apparently, had happened that day. It was a very interesting way to start, I think, but immediately and thankfully, we go right into the song that comes from that aforementioned film and the one for which this documentary is named, as well as the boat load of interviews we will be getting.
We learn of Harry's childhood, having been abandoned by his father and forced to grow up in poverty and how he developed a love and a gift for his music. Actually, what we get a taste of is a lot of the stories that inspired the songs he would eventually write, and I'm the type of person who absolutely loves knowing about where artists get their ideas from. And with a musician as unique as Harry was, it is quite an experience to find this out. Also, we can easily see what a fun guy he was, and I'm not referring to his rep as kind of a partier, though he did have that. No, I mean that, in all these interviews and whatnot, he just appeared to have such a good sense of humor, something that was clearly evident in his music.
Now, about those interviews of which I spoke, there are some really great ones here. We get to hear from a lot of Harry's family, his wife and children, as well as his friends, like Micky Dolenz, Jimmy Webb, Eric Idle, Brian Wilson, the Smothers Brothers and even Robin Williams, interestingly enough. Interesting, I say, because Robin Williams was in the movie musical Popeye, a film for which Harry Nilsson wrote all the music. Yeah, I'm one of those people who is surprised this isn't more swept under the rug, but I guess it has its fans, so whatever.
Actually, something that is brought up a few times is how volatile he could be. The great Paul Williams summed it up quite fittingly by saying that "He was a big bunny with really sharp teeth". Yes, we artists can be moody at times, to say the least, and Harry was no different. And he had his share of struggles, some that were imposed upon him, some he created himself. Still, you can sense that he truly did try to get all he could out of his, unfortunately, short life, for better or worse. And he was well-loved and is greatly missed by so many people, whether they knew him or not. Come to think of it, one interviewee that would be expected but is missing is Ringo Starr. He was a great friend of Harry's, but therein lies the issue. Apparently, there are three people about whom Ringo is reluctant to speak on - John Lennon, George Harrison, and Harry Nilsson, three of his closest friends who have all passed away. I can understand that.
So, in closing, I will say that I definitely recommend this documentary. Fans of Harry Nilsson have probably already seen it, but if you're one of them and are trying to recruit others, this is a good tool to use. This film really does give a full picture of the artist and the person. We see how he was able to be himself and develop his own style, writing all this beautifully quirky melodies with lyrics that were about more than only the expected subject of romantic love. As I said, we get a ton of stories, as well as so much of the amazing and extraordinary music that made Harry Nilsson such a legend. Frankly, I think you don't even have to be a fan of his to like this; you merely have to be a fan of music.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
