Just as the name suggests, My Liner Notes takes from the nostalgic art form of an LP’s liner notes, which can be found within the inner sleeves and inserts of dusty records and cassette tapes. The personal essays found on this blog contain anecdotal and factual material which celebrate the visceral and emotional connection we all share with music. These analytical, humorous, and often poignant opinion-editorials are always delivered with the kind of brutal honesty you can only expect from a music nerd.
On the final day of Toronto’s Hot Docs festival, we checked out Josh Whiteman’s Shadow Play: The Making of Anton Corbijn.
The documentary gives an insider’s perspective into the work of renowned Dutch photographer/filmmaker, Anton Corbijn.
The man has shot and directed music videos for some of the biggest bands/artists in the world, such as Joy Division, David Bowie, Miles Davis, U2, Depeche Mode, REM, Nirvana, Elvis Costello, Björk, Johnny Cash and Echo & the Bunnymen.
Most recently, he made his directorial debut with the Ian Curtis biopic, Control. (If you haven’t seen this yet, shame on you! Seriously though, you better watch it by the end of the week or you won’t be getting a Christmas card from me this year.)
Shadow Play, which takes its name from a Joy Division song, is a fascinating look at Corbijn’s high contrast style, his innate ability to capture on film larger-than-life figures in a moment of unmasked vulnerability, and the many friendships he’s developed with these famous subjects.
Footage of Corbijn’s shoots and the filming of Control are interspersed with interviews with Corbijn and his subjects, which include Bono, Michael Stipe, David Gahan, Bernard Sumner, Chris Martin, Kurt Cobain, Fran Healy and Samantha Morton.
Arguably, the film’s best line comes at the introduction when Bono says, “having your picture taken is like intimacy, it’s like having sex… I’ve been having sex with Anton for nearly 20 years now, since I was a boy.”
Maybe I’m just taking this all on an absurdly literal level, but it sounds like Bono is finally admitting he’s a gay… for Anton Corbijn?
