Greendale

As a director, Neil Young should probably stick to his day job. Working under the pseudonym of Bernard Shakey, a name he often assumes, Young’s taken the songs from his latest album and fashioned a movie around them (or is it the other way around?) The story has something to do with a small town called Greendale, where the Devil (no, really) hangs around causing trouble and a young girl named Sun Green decides to become an environmental protester. There’s no actual dialogue in the film; Greendale is 87-minutes of wall-to-wall Young tunes, with the characters occasionally mouthing his lyrics. On a musical level, it works primarily because of Young’s ample talent as a musician. The songs collected in the film (and on the accompanying soundtrack) are exceedingly enjoyable – provided you like that sort of thing (grunge rock crossed with folk music). But as a director, Young’s got about as much talent as Ed Wood – with none of the enthusiasm. The whole thing’s been shot on grainy, hand-held 8mm (presumably), giving the movie a decidedly unpleasant look. Watching Greendale is like watching your old home movies set to Neil Young’s music, except you don’t know any of these people. Still, despite the fact that Young makes Kevin Smith look like Paul Thomas Anderson, the film remains watchable due to the catchy and memorable tunes. But really, you’d probably be better off picking up the Greendale soundtrack and using your imagination to provide accompanying images.

** out of ****