They admit they never fit in with the mousy artists of the traditional folk scene, which at first made it tough for them to find a larger audience. Ray and Saliers don’t shy away from addressing the sexism and homophobia that largely excluded them from more conventional popularity. As many fan interviewees note, the Indigo Girls’ music was a tool for their survival. I’m sure every musical artist in the world has saved at least one person’s life (there’s gotta be some dude out there who crawled his way up from rock bottom because of Limp Bizkit), but it’s fairly clear from It’s Only Life After All that the Indigo Girls practically invented a small cottage industry of providing even just a little bit of hope to queer people in the 1980s and ’90s who were coming of age while trapped in homophobic communities. The film crescendos as it digs into how Ray and Saliers’ identities as lesbians were vital to their success, drawing countless young queer people to their music decades before LGBTQ+ acceptance was more mainstream and corporatized. The documentary made me consider the downside of career longevity for artists: An early work can keep you steeped in the shame of youthful folly because you’ve inadvertently immortalized a regrettable time in your life. I mean, truly, what artsy girl hasn’t? She is achingly humble, deflecting when forced to contend with her own power as a songwriter. Similarly, Saliers, who Ray even describes as “elusive,” hilariously cringes at the ethereally poetic self-seriousness of her younger days, laughing to herself as she admits writing pretentious songs about the Lady of Shalott. (Not realizing that’s exactly what makes the song and her visceral delivery on it brilliantly relatable! I’m not sure I knew anyone who wasn’t depressed in college.) Ray, who comes off as the mouthpiece of the duo, decries her song “Blood and Fire” as the kind of dejected and self-absorbed frippery one writes in their early 20s when they’re depressed in college. Indeed, it’s a delight to see them honestly assess their early lyrics. Instead, they dive into topics like envy and comparison. Unlike other musicians when asked to define their legacy, the two are never boringly cryptic or mechanical while reflecting on their careers. Viewers can easily observe how they balance each other, not as the light and the dark but as the raw and the wistful. “And did have some stagy self-congratulatory gestures that were annoying to me now to look at.”Īs self-effacing as they each are looking back at their past emotionality, their current candidness remains the documentary’s revving engine. “I feel like I was too exaggerated and ardent sometimes,” Ray acknowledges. Throughout the one-on-one interviews, you get the sense that these people are their own biggest critics Ray in particular chastises herself for her history of alienating anger management issues and publicly insecure responses to dismissive journalists. Yet, as loving a portrait as this film is, it’s not entirely hagiographic either and I don’t think Ray and Saliers would ever let it be anyway. I’m also just a sucker for rock history archival footage, and this doc is a seamlessly edited treasure trove of old photos, audio recordings, taped performances and video interviews from their younger days. Even I, who’s generally more drawn to edgelord irony than guileless sincerity, was immediately swept into the narrative of how two queer female Georgian misfits, who first met in elementary school in the 1970s, discovered the alchemical power of their combined songwriting talents and eventually inspired an entire generation of young listeners to embrace introspection. In the intimate and heartfelt rockumentary It’s Only Life After All - an unfortunately longwinded and nonsensical word sequence when ripped from the context of the aforementioned song of its origin - filmmaker Alexandria Bombach tenderly coaxes Ray and Saliers into looking back on their oeuvre, politics and partnership. Venue: Sundance Film Festival (Premieres)
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |