The most recent experiment is “Sei nell’anima”: just under two hours to tell the story of Gianna Nannini directed by Cinzia TH Torrini. But in recent years the list of films, filmissimi, fiction and series that recall the music of the past with its protagonists has become very long. On the other hand, “today, in the age of streaming, making records makes little sense”: Claudio Baglioni recalled this a few days ago in an interview with Aldo Cazzullo in Corriere della Sera. And so, between nostalgia and the need for perennial promotion, here is the music that becomes a story of itself. They can be successful films like “Bohemian Rhapsody”, with high grosses, even 4 Oscars and several historical inaccuracies, or truthful confessions like “Il survivor” with Vasco Rossi or the more recent “Thank you, goodnight” on Bon Jovi or even true and their own artistic testaments such as that of Tina Turner, who died two years after the publication of the video-truth in which she told everything: from Ike Turner’s beatings to the health problems of the 2000s.
Also thanks to the Covid crisis, catalog rights have also been sold, artists become easier to conquer for television and film producers, and with the many platforms in activity, a video product cannot be denied to anyone, so Frank Zappa and Mahmood they find themselves coexisting in the same cauldron. But the distance between reality and reconstruction remains, and so documentaries where the protagonists speak always remain more interesting than fiction. And if it is obvious that each production comes with its accompanying record – a launch for new products, a catalog for re-enactments – it is less obvious that Bon Jovi talks about his fears of no longer being able to sing due to throat problems and that Vasco Rossi reveal your fragilities and your mistakes.
It is music which, having become an accessory, is no longer sufficient in itself to be relevant, and therefore must find something else to resist: featuring (which were once called duets), video verities, historical reconstructions, increasingly bombastic shows especially when the voice is no longer what it once was and only nostalgia remains. Among the next on the list is Bruce Springsteen who is reportedly negotiating the rights for a film on the making of “Nebraska”, an acoustic album from 1982. It is the song that loses weight, that lasts less and less even in the ears of listeners, that becomes less unforgettable. With all due respect to those who would only like emotion and surprise.
Ps: Vampire Weekend’s new album is beautiful, a meeting point between pop and indie.
