It is posited in the documentary Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin’ About Him?) from filmmaker John Scheinfeld that people who know Harry Nilsson believe him to be on a similar level as The Beatles or The Beach Boys. Yet for a large segment of the population, any mention of Nilsson would be more likely to be greeted with a shoulder shrug or blank expression. If you are one of the people unlucky enough not to know the man, there is a pretty solid chance that you have at least heard his songs in passing. Nilsson was in the odd position of having immense success with songwriting when covered by other artists – Three Dog Night can thank him for “One” – while having notable acclaim as a recording artist when tackling material written by others. This mercurial figure had a striking gift for melody and a voice seemingly from the heavens to complement it perfectly. His songwriting could be very edgy and subversive, and his particular brand of inventiveness was the type that appealed to other musicians – The Beatles called him their favorite American musician. Yet with everything seemingly in his favor, reality had other intentions for his career.
While an unconventional man may scream out for an unconventional documentation of his life, the standard-issue talking-head documentary format charting the beginning to end of his life provides you with enough engaging material to keep you satisfied. The range of participants is fairly all-encompassing; professional collaborators and admirers such as Van Dyke Parks, Randy Newman, producer Richard Perry, Jimmy Webb, Mickey Dolenz, Yoko Ono, the Smothers Brothers, Paul Williams and more reveal further layers of his music; moments with wives, ex-wives, children, cousins and other close friends seek to let us know the man behind the melody. It is clear that the early life of Nilsson and his poverty-stricken family was no picnic – one cousin even claims they had to eat dog food because it was what they could afford. Those who knew him best attempt to fill in the puzzle pieces as to why he was so angst-ridden, and ultimately such a volatile person to be around.
While conventionally straightforward, Who Is Harry Nilsson does get credit for going warts-and-all in its approach to covering the entirety of his life. His time with his first wife is all-but glossed over, perhaps because of the brevity of their time together, but second wife Diane Clatworthy and their son Zak are on hand to paint a portrait of a man not equipped to be a husband or a father. It is heartbreaking to compare it to his relationship with his wife Una, who appears along with many of their six children to portray a Nilsson calmed somewhat by a hard-lived life. There is a stark contrast between memories the younger children had with their father and the single handwritten note written to Zak as a baby that he has to hold onto. A few subjects seem slightly hesitant to go too far into bad mouthing the late Nilsson, but he is certainly not made out to be an angel.
Even more time is spent delving into his career from his initial publishing hit for The Monkees to his own uniquely experimental albums such as his debut Pandemonium Shadow Show and his multi-platinum opus Nilsson Schmilsson. The latter is especially excavated thanks to insights from Richard Perry detailing the many disagreements had on the way to his masterpiece. Whether you are new to this music or revisiting these old tunes once again, you will delight in hearing the evolution. Yet this distillation of talent makes the heartbreak of his demons hurt all the worse once they become more detrimental. Interview subjects discuss going out on the town with Nilsson almost like going to war – you never knew if you would return in one piece. The psychological analysis over whether or not he was self-sabotaging is one of the threads that is most intriguing and sad. There is immense admiration from many of the subjects featured, and you are left to wonder what could have become of Nilsson if he had been able to tame his demons earlier.
The documentary is a very neat examination of this great musician, but it never seems to give him a complete pass for his bad behavior. Harry Nilsson was never appreciated as much as he should have been while he was alive, and he certainly deserves to be remembered now that he is gone. He was an artist that pushed up against creative boundaries, and hopefully this film can illuminate what was so special about him to a whole new audience.
Video Quality
Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin’ About Him?) comes to Blu-Ray after being remastered from its native standard definition video and upscaled to high definition. The result is imperfect given the limitations, but the film looks about as good as you could hope for in an upconversion. The film features a lot of different material in varying degrees of quality. The archival tape footage used seems to be in the best shape possible given the quality of the source material. Newer interview segments look incredibly solid and clear with mostly natural skin tones and some detailed facial features. The colors featured in the film have some degree of life to them. The process of transferring the original source to HD has resulted in some artifacting and stair stepping. MVD Entertainment has made this film look as good as it can on Blu-Ray, and is certainly a step up from DVD.
Audio Quality
This Blu-Ray disc comes with a LPCM 2.0 track that perfectly suits the source material, but is understandably restrained. As this primarily acts as an interview showcase with talking heads abound, dialogue is the focus right up front in the center channel. The archival clips do not feature much in the way of age-related wear, thankfully. Since this is a film focused on music, the sound quality of the songs themselves is pristine and fills the room in a wonderful way. The two-channel presentation is enveloping in its own way, and it maintains the artistic choice of the feature. For that reason, this is a very worthwhile audio track.
Special Features
- “Loneliness” Music Video with Yoko Ono Intro: A seven-minute piece which features the music video along with initial thoughts from Yoko Ono and director Stanley Dorman.
- Deleted Scenes & Extended Interviews: Seventeen scenes of unused footage is included here totaling well over an hour that fans will love digging into.
- Trailers: The two-and-a-half-minute trailer for Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin’ About Him?) is provided here. There are also trailers provided for The Point, The Go-Go Boys and Fahrenheit 9/11.
Final Thoughts
Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin’ About Him?) is a straightforward, entertaining documentary detailing the life of one of the great American musicians. The subjects on hand do a solid job of illuminating both the great aspects about Nilsson, along with the less endearing qualities. Whether you are already a fan of the artist or are curious to learn more about him, this film should please most parties. MVD Entertainment has released a Blu-Ray featuring a decent A/V presentation and some cool additional material. Recommended
Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin’ About Him?) is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray and DVD.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: MVD Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
