by Mark Demetrius
Worth: $15.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Robert Christgau, Carola Dibbell, Joe Levy, Greil Marcus, Thurston Moore, Randy Newman
Intro:
… these sorts of docos actually tend to work best when their format is formulaic and unadventurous, and that’s the case here.
Robert Christgau once described himself — rather jocularly, to be fair — as “the dean of American rock critics”. Maybe he is, maybe not … but he’s definitely an important one and a worthy enough subject for a documentary.
The Last Critic is, inevitably, focussed on the written word (and of course music), so it can’t really be judged in filmic or visual terms. On that score, suffice to say that these sorts of docos actually tend to work best when their format is formulaic and unadventurous, and that’s the case here.
Christgau started writing about music in 1967 and began his hugely influential Village Voice “Consumer Guide” column in ’69. It ran for 37 years, until he was sacked — basically for being too intellectual for the magazine’s new owners’ liking. Somehow, he has hung in there, and is still relentlessly writing reviews (albeit online) at 84. He has about 36,000 LPs and estimates that he’s spent 250,000 hours listening to music. And he’s still exploring new stuff.
Impressive though the man’s credentials and staying power may be, and effusive as some of the onscreen interviewees are, he is not without his — er – critics. (Lou Reed, for example, called him an “asshole” and “an anal retentive” after a disparaging review). But his tastes are as eclectic as they are passionately held and espoused, and he defends his trademark record rating system by saying “If they can put a price on it I can put a grade”.
Most of what we see here is within the confines of Christgau’s incredibly crammed apartment, though we also follow him and his wife and longterm collaborator Carola Dobella as they wander the streets of Greenwich Village. Speaking of whom, there’s an interesting and touching bit where they both speak glowingly about Robert Forster’s song “It’s Only Poison”. Forster’s wife had cancer and so did Dobella; the song is about chemotherapy.
The Last Critic is an apposite title, and a depressing one in terms of what it says about the changing times and dwindling media outlets — especially if you’re a critic.
