Yva Las Vegass, Red Road
Gillian G. Gaar
The Life and times of Yva Las Vegass
May 28, 9:15 pm, Egyptian
At times, I’ve wondered if I was the only Sweet 75 fan in the world, because it seemed like everyone I talked to about Krist Novoselic’s first post-Nirvana band gave them the thumbs-down. I was lucky enough to see them a number of times in Seattle, including a memorable night at the Elysian where a sax player spontaneously jumped up and joined them, and I always enjoyed them. "Not very commercial," people would say. Maybe that's why I liked them; at least they were different.
And who knows, maybe this doc will send the curious in search of the group’s sole, self-titled album. For the lead singer is the subject of this film, Yva Las Vegass, a Venezuelan musician best known around these parts as a street musician; recent years have also seen her performing with Children of the Revolution.
But the woman with the big voice is a complicated character. Krist declined to be interviewed for the film, but Sweet 75’s first drummer, Bobby Lurie, checks in and reveals the discord that caused him to leave the band after a few shows. And members of Children of the Revolution chime in to say however much they admire her talents, Yva’s in-your-face personality can be too much to deal with. Yva says this herself, though the doc makes sure to include enough performance footage that you can understand what it is that people like about her.
But the commentary becomes increasingly repetitive, and even at 80 minutes the doc still feels long. Still, it’s a world premiere, and Yva will no doubt be in attendance.
Red Road
May 25, 9:30 pm, Harvard Exit
May 26, 1:30 pm, Harvard Exit
This intriguing suspense film starts out well enough. Jackie (Kate Dickie) monitors surveillance cameras in gritty Scotland — so gritty, in fact, that subtitles are used, and you’ll be glad they are. One day, a man she observes catches her eye, and she begins to deliberately track him, for reasons that become slowly, tantalizingly clear. It’s the gradual unveiling of Jackie’s motivations that draw you in, and I really enjoyed the loving attention to detail, the small moments that end up being powerful. Unfortunately, there’s no “explosive finale” as the SIFF program promises, it’s more a gradual let down, that left me somewhat frustrated over the lost opportunity to really push the story to the edge. Plus, an extensive sex scene that’s so graphic I felt embarrassed for the actors. But still worth seeing? Yes.
Posted by Gillian G. Gaar at May 23, 2007 10:16 PM
I was very disappointed with the Yva Las Vegass doc. I could have easily sat and watched Yva perform for 80 minutes. Unfortunately there aren't too many performances in this. And some of the performances that are shown have iffy audio. Audio troubles also crop up in the various interviews. There's an interview with one guy who is in a room that echoes. There's another interview with two guys and only one of them is apparently mic'ed. Few of the interviewees say anything enlightening. I could forgive the technical flaws if there was an overall compelling story (i.e. King of Kong) or if the performance footage was super rare, but in the end I was so frustrated when the 80 minutes were through.
And although I realize that it probably wasn't a direction that the filmmakers wanted to go in, I would have been interested in hearing more about any mental health issues (their existence, any treatment, etc). Yva herself mentions paranoia a number of times and irrationality is a running theme throughout. Towards the end it's almost implied that a young cute caring female can solve these issues for Yva or that a true artist will (or must) always have demons. There's an amazing story in Yva but for me this film didn't portray it.
The redeeming element of the film is seeing Yva sing (including during the credits, don't rush out when the credits appear). But her amazing talent makes everything else in this doc look flat.