Retro Film Review: Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who (2007)
Although rock music can generally be considered one of the most overrated cultural phenomena of the 20th century, some of its representatives deserve to stand alongside giants like Mozart and Tchaikovsky in future histories of music. Among these is the British rock band The Who, which is the subject of the 2007 documentary Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who.
At first glance, The Who may not mean much to the iPod generation, but it is almost certain that many of their members have been listening to their works. The primary reason for this is the CSI television franchise, which featured songs by The Who as its opening theme across all three shows: "Who Are You" (Las Vegas), "Won't Get Fooled Again" (Miami), and "Baba O'Reilly" (New York). The two-hour documentary by Paul Crowder and Murray Lerner shows viewers how The Who has earned such accolades, not only for their longevity but also for their influence on late 20th and early 21st-century pop and rock music.
Amazing Journey is not the first documentary dedicated to The Who. In 1978, a devoted fan named Jeff Stein produced The Kids Are Alright, which is one of the most well-known rockumentaries ever made. Unlike that film, which primarily focused on the band's music, this documentary primarily discusses the band itself, particularly the two surviving members—singer Roger Daltrey and guitarist Pete Townshend—whose relationship is sometimes as intriguing as their music.
The documentary primarily explores the band's beginnings and its fascinating evolution from indistinct imitators of American rhythm and blues to a cultural symbol of their own mod generation, ultimately becoming significant innovators who introduced the world to the concept of rock opera. Through archival footage, interviews with Daltrey and Townshend, and commentary from later rock stars who regarded them as influences (such as Sting and The Edge from U2), it demonstrates that this evolution was not merely a result of external cultural trends but also an internal struggle between lead singer Daltrey and Townshend as the creative force behind the group. Besides addressing their careers, it briefly touches on their private lives, which often epitomised both the best and worst aspects associated with sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll.
Amazing Journey is truly remarkable but only until it touches on the death of legendary drummer Keith Moon in 1978, which forever altered The Who. The film superficially depicts the not-so-glorious end of the band in 1982 and its subsequent resurrections in the decades that followed. The finale, where an aged Daltrey and Townshend work on the song "The Real Good Looking Boy," feels somewhat anticlimactic. However, despite this, even this duo of venerable figures appears superior in many ways to younger dilettantes who like to call themselves rock stars. By the end of this two-hour journey, even those who are not particularly fond of rock will find themselves fascinated.
RATING: 7/10 (+++)
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