15 Music Documentaries to watch under Quarantine
These are tough and weird days for everyone. Something so abstract as a virus called COVID-19 has put the world upside down and we all face worldwide restrictions never experienced before. Time to stay at home. But also time to watch all those documentaries that you never found the time for. Here's a selection of some interesting ones to watch while we cross fingers for all this to pass so things can get back to normal.
1. Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck (2015)
Documentary directed by Brett Morgen and premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival that chronicles the life of Kurt Cobain from his birth in Aberdeen (1967) through his troubled early family life and teenage years and rise to fame as frontman of Nirvana, up to his death by suicide in Seattlen (1994) at the age of 27.
2. Buena Vista Social Club (1999)
Essential documentary directed by Wim Wenders about the music of Cuba. The film documents how Ry Cooder, long-time friend of Wenders, brought together the ensemble of legendary Cuban musicians to record an album and to perform two times with a full line-up in Amsterdam and New York. Due to the travel restrictions between Cuba and the United States, many of the artists were travelling for the first time and the film shows their reactions to this experience.
3. Searching for Sugar Man (2012)
This multi award-winning Swedish–British–Finnish documentary film, directed and written by Malik Bendjelloul tells the surprising story of Sixto Rodriguez, an American musician completely unknown in its own country but a South African cultural phenomenon, something that he was not aware of.
4. Foo Fighters: Back and Forth (2012)
Rockumentary about the American rock band Foo Fighters, directed by filmmaker James Moll. The film documents the band's history since its appearance after the unexpected death of Kurt Cobain (Dave Groh, singer and guitarist of Foo Fighters was Nirvana's drummer).
5. The Beatles: Eight Days A Week (2016)
Documentary directed by Ron Howard about the Beatles' career during their touring years from 1962 to 1966, from their performances at the Cavern Club in Liverpool to their final concert in San Francisco in 1966.
6. Amy (2015)
Asif Kapadia’s Oscar-winning British documentary about the life and death of Amy Winehouse. Another essential artist who died too young at the age of 27 as a result of her drug abuse but left behind one of the best albums of the 2000s (“Back to Black”).
7. Oasis: Supersonic (2016)
British documentary directed by Mat Whitecross (and Asif Kapadia as Executive Producer) that goes through the history of the Britpop band Oasis and the irreverent Gallagher brothers during their initial years and the height of their success in the 1990s.
8. Let's Get Lost (1988)
Written and directed by Bruce Weber, Let's Get Lost is an American documentary about the turbulent life and career of jazz trumpeter Chet Baker. The film juxtaposes the decades of 1950s and 1980s, a sharp contrast between the younger and handsome Baker, to what James Lewis Hoberman described as “a seamy looking drugstore cowboy-cum-derelict”.
9. U2: Rattle and Hum (1988)
Rockumentary film directed by Phil Joanou. Following the breakthrough success of the U2´s “The Joshua Tree” album, the Rattle and Hum project captures their continued experiences with American roots music on the Joshua Tree Tour, further incorporating elements of blues rock, folk rock, and gospel music into their sound.
10. Rhyme & Reason (1997)
Documentary directed by Peter Spirer that explores the history of hip hop culture and how rap evolved to become a major cultural voice and lucrative industry, and what the artists have to say about the music's often controversial images and reputation.
11. The Filth And The Fury (2000)
British rockumentary directed by Julien Temple that follows the story of punk rock pioneers the Sex Pistols. The film goes from their humble beginnings in London's Shepherd's Bush to their fall at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco.
12. John & Yoko: Above Us Only Sky (2018)
Documentary directed by Michael Epstein focused on John Lennon's and Yoko Ono's relationship up to that point and how it impacted the Imagine album recorded in 1971 at their Tittenhurst Park home in Ascot (England).
13. Metallica: Some Kind Of Monster (2004)
American documentary directed by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky that follow Metallica´s members as they hire a group therapist and grapple with 20 years of repressed anger and aggression, while the band creates a new album and confronts their personal demons learning to open up in ways they never thought possible.
14. Quincy (2015)
American documentary about the life of American record producer, singer and film producer Quincy Jones (Over 2,900 songs and 300 albums recorded, 79 Grammy nominations, 27 Grammy awards and producer of Michael Jackson's “Thriller” album) co-directed by Alan Hicks and Jones' daughter Rashida Jones.
15. David Bowie: The Last Five Years (2018)
Directed and produced by Francis Whately, this film explores the unexpected end to a remarkable career looking to the last years of David Bowie's life, when he ended nearly a decade of silence to engage in an extraordinary burst of activity, producing two groundbreaking albums and a musical.
