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David C. Thomas's look at the Motor City Five is a bit meandering and way
too long. Both the band and the documentary film - called MC5 * A True
Testimonial - follow the same crash-and-burn trajectory you'd expect to find
on a certain VH-1 series. If that's the kind of thing that fills your
cinematic belly, Testimonial will leave you happy, as it will if you're a
fan of the band, or even of its revolutionary spirit.
MC5 were one of those acts whose incredibly powerful live performances were
never adequately captured by any type of audio recording medium. As a
result, they've become more of a footnote in music history - a band you're
supposed to know about, even though you never hear their songs on the radio,
in films or television commercials, or blasting out of some pimped-out car
whizzing past your house. Testimonial is a success in that it might help
introduce the group to Gens X and Y, or possibly even a handful of
potentially interested baby boomers who didn't realize what they had on
their hands back when MC5 were still kicking around.
Testimonial follows the band from their inception in the mid 1960s through
(and a little beyond) their demise in 1972. The documentary is peppered with
great live footage alongside interviews with the three living members and
other close pals. A lot of time is spent on MC5's radical roots movement,
which caused the band to be targeted by the government. That's the kind of
thing you should expect when your Andy Warhol-ish manager/founder also
happens to be the leader of the White Panther Party, whose "By any means
necessary" became a much scarier catch-phrase than, "Kick out the jams,
motherfucker."
MC5's members were all the product of working-class stiffs (the opening
credits are cut with footage from automotive assembly lines), which made
things like the 1967 Detroit race riots hit closer to home for them than
most. They threatened Kiss, and said Cream was lucky. Their incendiary
performance at the 1968 Democratic National Convention made the event even
more incendiary. They'll make you want to stand up and beat the crap out of
The Strokes. And it's all here in Testimonial.
The decline of Testimonial's story is emphasized by more and more video
footage. But like I said, if that's what you're coming for, then you'll be
pretty happy. Then again, maybe Testimonial is like Adaptation, with its
nonsensical final reel acting as an homage to a group that went out with an
equally destructive finale.
1:59 - Not Rated
========== X-RAMR-ID: 37638 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 1274537 X-RT-TitleID: 1131715 X-RT-SourceID: 595 X-RT-AuthorID: 1146 X-RT-RatingText: 7/10
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