Song Sung Blue

Tuesday afternoon-
Song Sung Blue

When I saw there was a film about a husband and wife Neil Diamond tribute band who had nearly but not quite become famous, I was expecting a quirky, possibly humorous character piece. Actually, this film was dark as hell. Shot in rough and ready, almost home video, style, it tracks the fall and fall of Mike and Claire Sandida, otherwise known as "Thunder and Lightning." "Thunder" was Claire, who sang backup and danced in sparkling costumes while Mike "Lightning" did the actual Neil Diamond impersonating. They were big in Milwaukee.

Over the course of the film, these two go through everything. Even before the film begins, Mike has already been a Vietnam vet and recovering addict / alcholic. Over the course of the film, Claire loses a leg, their career together nose dives, their family turns dysfunctional and Mike eventually dies. Not quite as quirky and funny as I'd been hoping for. Probably not what Mike and Claire were hoping for either.

Expectations aside, this is a film that, somewhat like its troubled stars, alternatively finds and loses its stride. One thing I appreciated was that it makes use of NOT showing things you expect to see, or turning away from high drama. For a long time, it avoids showing Claire after her accident. During roof-raiser family arguments the camera discretely faces away or looks around the room John Smith style. When Mike is dying, it won't show his face. This technique of avoidance is both respectful and effective in conveying emotional gravity. Other times though, like at the birth of Mike and Claire's grandchild, or when Claire is washing the stump of her leg in a sink, the presence of the camera feels voyeuristic. At times it is almost as if it is perversely doing what you don't expect it to.

Overall, it's interesting to watch the family's shifting fortunes, especially how every member of the family seems to respond directly to the success or failure of the Neil Diamond act, as if no one has a destiny of their own. I can find with these up close and personal films though that you end up watching every event in more detail than is necessarily needed to tell the story.