Worth: $16.00
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Cast:
Brian Welch, Jennea, James Shaffer, Jonathan Davis, Reginald Arvizu
Intro:
It’s emotional and triggers a sympathetic response through a no holds barred tale of an individual.
Brian “HEAD” Welch and his career with the band Korn almost ended his life. The story here follows Welch as he lives through drug addiction, fights to maintain a relationship with his daughter, and his battle to survive the rockstar life by redirecting his addiction towards faith.
The slickly made documentary’s impact largely relies on building empathy for Welch, as it details his journey to becoming a founding member of one of the world’s biggest bands, which ultimately led to the worst possible moment of his life, and how he managed to work his way out to survive today. It shows how the aspirational rockstar life of excess, luxury, 24-hour parties and music, of course, is often accompanied by addiction, pain and loneliness.
With his signature dreadlocked hair, Welch sits in the centre of a massive warehouse-like space speaking to camera, succinctly with his heart on his tattooed sleeves. He looks like a rock star, but speaks honestly as if to a therapist, recounting his life. His uncensored confessional is intercut with numerous intimate moments as well as a seemingly AAA set of interviews with the major players in his life, from his bandmates to parents. A large proportion of the footage is home movies and backstage scenes, as we are witness to his entire journey. Some of the archive is confronting, whether it’s our protagonist high on drugs and being destructive or photos of his daughter, Jennea, with self-harm marks all over her arms. There’s also the music of Korn, which is not to everyone’s tastes, but it’s also hardly the focus of this personal story, which quickly transcends Welch’s musical following and becomes a truly universal one.
One of the notable stylistic flourishes is the use of archival footage, cropped to fit an old square CRT television. The effect makes it seem like you are there with the interviewees, watching this footage together, and it is quite successful in building an emotional connection to the scenes.
If you fear that Loud Krazy Love is sanctimonious and an advertisement for the church or Korn, fear not. Welch’s turn to Christianity is used throughout the film as an example of his redirection of addiction, showing how addicts need that one thing to put everything into, in order to avoid relapse. And, as mentioned by fellow bandmate, Jonathan Davis, Welch wasn’t preachy or evangelical about his conversion and didn’t try to convince others.
As per its title, Loud Krazy Love has a great deal of heart. It’s emotional and triggers a sympathetic response through a no holds barred tale of an individual’s life, with all the ups and downs, it’s just that in this case they are turned up to 11. The documentary use of such an extreme example shows that balance is an essential part of life, whether you’re a globe conquering rockstar, his daughter, friend, fan or simply, human.
Brian ‘HEAD’ Welch will attend a Q&A screening on Wednesday 15 May at Event George Cinemas in Sydney.
More about the screenings here: https://www.eventcinemas.com.au/EventsFestivals/LoudKrazyLove
