Anvil!TheStoryOfAnvil Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Last year, Toronto's Hot Docs was full of interesting documentaries, many of which trumped the fictional features that I checked out in 2007. There were pounding beats and screeching tykes with the likes of Girls Rock!, first love with Billy the Kid, Euripides in Jessica Yu's Protagonist, and even messie moms and foul odors with Seven Dumpsters and a Corpse. This year, after an impressive 1800 submissions, 173 films have been picked for the festival, which runs from April 17-27.
The fest will open with Anvil! The Story of Anvil, Sacha Gervasi's film about the "demi-gods of Canadian metal," which our James Rocchi reviewed at Sundance and said: "I am about as metal as your aunt, and I was spellbound by Anvil! The Story of Anvil -- laughing, yes, but also inspired to think and feel, literally moved to the edge of tears by the complicated-simple, stupid-smart, goofy-serious story."

From there, the docs hit all walks of life. Erik Davis' beloved Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son about his Father will get its Canadian premiere, which Erik thinks will make for an interesting night because of what is said about Canada (me, I'm trying my darnedest to go in fresh). There's also As Slow As Possible, which details a man who found out on his 18th birthday that he would slowly go blind, a biography of the late musician Wesley Willis called Wesley Willis's Joy Rides, Isabella Rossellini's Green Porno, a doc about an orthodox priest with strong views about abortion and social issues in The Tadpole, the Rabbit, and the Holy Ghost, a look at a tough American writer with Who's Afraid of Kathy Acker?, and Dreams of Sharp Teeth -- Grizzly Man producer Erik Nelson's look at Harlan Ellison.

But really, that's only the tip of the iceberg. Go to the festival's website and check out all that great films that will screen this year. I don't know how I will choose between them all.

Sascha Gervasi wrote The Terminal for Steven Spielberg; Rebecca Yeldham has helped produce high-class adaptations like The Motorcycle Diaries and The Kite Runner -- so what are the two of them doing making a movie about a Canadian metal band that's been rocking since Ronald Regan was in office? Anvil! The Story of Anvil has been playing to standing ovations here at Sundance, depicting the lifelong friendship -- and lifelong struggle -- of friends and bandmates Steve "Lips" Ludlow and Robb Reiner, members of the obscure-yet-influential (and vice-versa) rock band, Anvil. Gervasi and Yeldham spoke with Cinematical about the long and odd genesis of their film, the terrifying Eastern European post-Soviet heavy metal fan base and how while Anvil! The Story of Anvil may rock hard, it's not just shredding to the converted. Gervasi knows the film's about a metal band, but " ... there's so much more, and that's what's been really exciting for us; people know it's going to be a fun experience, but I don't think they understand the real level of emotion."


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Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven. -- John Milton, Paradise Lost

I'd rather be a king below than a servant above. -- Anvil, '666'

... Which is all well and good, but what about serving in hell? Anvil! The Story of Anvil is not just better than you'd think that a documentary about a 30-year-old Canadian metal band led by two lifelong friends in their 50's would be. It's better than most music documentaries. It's better than most documentaries, period. I am about as metal as your aunt, and I was spellbound by Anvil! The Story of Anvil -- laughing, yes, but also inspired to think and feel, literally moved to the edge of tears by the complicated-simple, stupid-smart, goofy-serious story that it tells thanks to Sascha Gervasi's inspired and impressive direction. Anvil! The Story of Anvil is a documentary about a metal band, sure. And The Catcher in the Rye's about baseball.

Robb Reiner (drums) and Steve "Lips" Kudlow (guitar, vocals) met at 14 near Toronto; they formed a band. Anvil played heavy metal -- loud, fast -- and were both ahead of their time and behind the curve. They paved the way for bands like Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax and Metallica (Scott Ian of Anthrax, Lars Ulrich of Metallica and Lemmy from Motorhead appear briefly to either endorse Anvil's music or character), but they watched as the bands they inspired went on to sell millions of records as Ulrich points out, "I don't know if it was an isolationist thing, because of the Canadian element. ..." Singing about being " ... from the land of the ice and snow ..." worked out remarkably well for Led Zeppelin; actually being from a land of ice and snow may have hurt Anvil's chances.

Whatever it was, it held them back. Anvil! The Story of Anvil begins with footage from a Japanese 1984 supertour, with a packed stadium being rocked by The Scorpions, Bon Jovi, Whitesnake ... and Anvil. Jump to the present, and Anvil are playing a sports bar in the Toronto suburbs for Lips's 50th birthday. It has been a long way from rocking the globe to playing in a sports bar with an acoustic tile drop ceiling. And, as Gervasi's film makes abundantly clear, there have been more than a few bumps on the way down. Anvil haven't stopped -- still playing, still writing, still trying. And the questions hover in the air: What keeps Anvil going? If their long-awaited time of glory didn't happen then, what makes the band think it's going to happen now? What's crueler -- dashed hopes or undashed ones?