Stray Notes

By J.C.

JOURNEY THROUGH THE PAST

Directed by NEIL YOUNG

I'm deep inside myself

But I'll get out somehow

Motion pictures, motion pictures...

The trouble with this tongue-tied autobiographical speculation is that contrary to the words of his song, Neil Young stays resolutely on top--on the surface, in fact. An esteemed singer-songwriter and sometimes part of the supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, he is working under a handicap in his first movie. Young conceived the film himself, directed it and cut it, all with the same impenetrable seriousness that characterizes much of his music. It is easier to get away with recording your dreams and your fantasies on vinyl than on film. Songs are shorter, and a good melody can often get you safely across a lyric crag.

Stillborn Parables. Neil Young, on all the evidence, did not think much about any of this. Though the film has a reckless naivete that is intermittently charming, it is mostly an indulgence.

Journey Through the Past contains much documentary footage--of Young on tour, performing with Crosby, Stills and Nash and the Buffalo Springfield--intercut with stillborn fictional parables about a scholar who tromps through picturesque locations, searching for himself, or perhaps just for a guitar. There are intellectual asides (Stephen Stills ruminates that "some day words, and the reassurance of words, won't be necessary--soon"), social speculations (a discussion of concert ticket prices segues into a rendition of Find the Cost of Freedom), and heavy images (a needle stashed inside a Bible) of terror and salvation. There is also an occasional felicity: a scene of black, hooded figures carrying wooden crosses, riding hard down a lonely beach, has power and mystery.

Journey Through the Past has been playing, sparsely, since last fall, although the original-sound-track album came out more than two years ago. Those hooded horsemen can be seen on the front cover of the record, a location that is probably more congenial for all concerned.

qed J.C.

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