The incomparable Bruce Springsteen performs his critically acclaimed latest album and muses on life, rock, and the American dream, in this intimate and personal concert film co-directed by Thom Zimny and Springsteen himself.
"“Western Stars,” Bruce Springsteen’s best album in years, makes for an enchanting movie that looks bravely ahead at the open road while casting a longing glance in the rear-view mirror.
Co-directed by The Boss with trusted collaborator Thom Zimny, it puts the heart and soul of these cowboy songs into gorgeous western scenery and close-ups of personal introspection.
The mostly acoustic tunes are inspired by the breezily wistful Southern California pop of the 1970s by the likes of Jimmy Webb, Glen Campbell and Harry Nilsson. They sound carefully crafted but also effortless, like they just poured out of Springsteen.
Springsteen performs all 13 tracks from “Western Stars” in the film alongside his wife/bandmate, along with a 30-piece string orchestra. The performance footage is inside a 100-year-old barn turned concert venue.
There’s one more tune not on the record: Campbell’s “Rhinestone Cowboy.” It’s a song about the mixed emotions of being a star and trying to hold on to what’s real: “There’s been a load of compromisin’/ On the road to my horizon/ But I’m gonna be where the lights are shinin’ on me.”
It just felt right to include that song, Springsteen says. He calls his film a “tone poem,” because he introduces each song with deep reflections drawn from a long life of wandering the world — the first two tracks are “Hitch Hikin’” and “The Wayfarer” — and wondering what to make of it all." - Toronto Star
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