Doc 'Who Is Harry Nilsson (and Why Is Everyone Talkin’ About Him?)' centers around the songwriter who died of a heart attack in 1992.
An LSL Prods. presentation. (International sales: Flach Pyramide Intl., Paris.) Produced by David Leaf, John Scheinfeld. Executive producer, Lee Blackman. Co-producer, Peter S. Lynch II. Directed, written by John Scheinfeld.
With: Harry Nilsson, Jimmy Webb, Micky Dolenz , Rick Jarrard, Doug Hoefer, Richard Perry, Una Nilsson, Annie Nilsson, Stanley Dorfman, Al Kooper , Paul Williams, Terry Gilliam, Randy Newman, Dick Smothers, Tom Smothers, Yoko Ono, Ringo Starr, Van Dyke Parks, Robin Williams, Brian Wilson, Eric Idle, Beau Nilsson, Diane Nilsson, Olivia Nilsson.
The answer to the title is distinctly and definitively provided in John Scheinfeld's "Who Is Harry Nilsson (and Why Is Everybody Talkin' About Him?)." Made with a similar admiration for an American songwriting genius as Scheinfeld's past docu as producer, "Beautiful Dreamer: The Story of Brian Wilson," this has a far sadder ending than the Beach Boy saga. As influential and perhaps even more inventive than Wilson, and a harder partier, Nilsson died of a heart attack in 1994. Pic's positioned to revive Nilsson's name, which should happen through fest exposure and vid, and a few modest theatrical gigs.
With more Nilsson friends and collaborators than Scheinfeld and editor Peter S. Lynch II seem to know how to handle, pic teems with talking-head testimonials, anecdotes and opinions. Balancing this is the filmmakers' extraordinary access to a vast archive of material, lending the film the texture of a large home movie chock-full of memories.
This is elegantly established by an early playing of Nilsson's stinging autobiographical song, "1941," not only tracing his own sad youth (his father left the family and was reported dead during WW2) and his own early stab at parenthood, which in some ways darkly mirrored his father's behavior.
While it's clear that Nilsson had plenty of time to develop his own ideas as a lad, pic never gets to the bottom of where his seemingly endless gift for highly unusual songwriting--both musically and thematically--came from. Harry Nilsson seems to have burst on the '60s pop scene out of nowhere.
Songs such as "Good Old Desk" exemplify Nilsson's originality; as pointed out here, far from a mere ditty about his working table, it's a song about God. "Coconut" is a typical Nilsson song that defies description or categorization.
A simple love song appears to have never interested him, much to the admiration of friend and master songwriter Jimmy Webb, who comes off impressively throughout pic's fairly long running time.
Scheinfeld acutely includes the observations of Randy Newman that Nilsson had his generation's finest sense of harmony. The soundtrack offers fine evidence of Nilsson's unabashedly gorgeous, multi-octave voice, most memorably on his bestselling cover of the "Midnight Cowboy" theme, "Everybody's Talkin'" -- notably, not a tune he wrote.
However, other major thematic aspects of Nilsson's songs, such as an obsessive concern with loneliness, are barely mentioned.
Pic accurately portrays Nilsson as a genius recognized as such by other geniuses (this Beatles maven became best buddies with the Fab Four, particularly John Lennon and Ringo Starr), but tone turns grim as his weakness for alcohol, drugs and good times slowly takes control of his creative life.
As such, Nilsson's career almost exactly mirrors the '60s-'70s pop culture rise-and-fall, from early youthful brio and vision, to mature mastery (as with the unmatched album "Nilsson Schmilsson"), to decadent collapse in the late '70s. Lack of a music or pop culture critic to place Nilsson's career in the Zeitgeist is perhaps pic's greatest weakness.
"Who Is Harry Nilsson" nevertheless casts a lasting impression with its cavalcade of rousing and revealing memories, ranging from the Smother Brothers' still-bitter recollection of how Nilsson and Lennon heckled the comedy duo at the Troubador, to ace "Nilsson Schmilsson" producer Richard Perry describing the fecund recording sessions and his continued bafflement at Nilsson's apparent self-destructive streak. Monkees vet Micky Dolenz provides typically spirited, high-powered comments, while third wife Una Nilsson adds considerable charm.
Research and archive labors pay off immensely, while vid lensing of interview segments is no better than rudimentary.
Camera (color/B&W, DV, super-8mm, 16mm-to-DV), James Mathers; editor, Peter S. Lynch II; music, Harry Nilsson; music supervisors, Scheinfeld, David Leaf; sound, Marcus Pardo. Reviewed at Santa Barbara Film Festival, Feb. 6, 2006. Running time: 117 MIN.
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Date in print: Fri., Feb. 24, 2006