Neil Young: Heart of Gold (2006)

Powerful

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

This concert film was directed by Oscar winning director Jonathan Demme and was apparently filmed just before Neil Young attended hospital to have a brain operation performed on him.The opening segments comprises of Young and fellow band members talking to the camera as they head towards the arena. The music and songs are mainly his acoustic set as the band (with guest vocalist Emmylou Harris) perform all but one of the ten numbers on the 'Prairie Wind' album and some of his classic's such as Harvest Moon.This is a must see for Neil Young fans and also showcases his acoustic songs and is gorgeously filmed.

The music of Van Morrison and Neil Young helped me through some complicated and conflicted feelings around the time this film first came out but I didn't know about it then. I just recently came across it and picked it up for the same kind of vibe I got from listening to the 'Harvest Moon' album over and over again through the years. Apparently Jonathan Demme's treatment and Young's performance is intended to evoke a wistful and melancholy look back over his life and career, and at times it becomes almost maudlin. I couldn't really relate to the Prairie Wind songs, and the line 'If you follow every dream you might get lost' managed to bother me a lot. It didn't give me a very inspirational feeling about looking ahead for better things to come. The mood got better in the second half of the film when more familiar songs kicked in, and my favorite turned out to be "One of These Days", a wistful song itself but one that holds out some hope of connecting one more time with past lives and loves. The only upbeat tune throughout the performance was 'Old King', though you have to overlook the fact that Young admits kicking the poor old mutt once and now he's dead. The aftermath of this concert offering turns out to be a positive one. Young survived the brain surgery that was alluded to a couple times during the filming and one looks forward to additional productive years from this legendary musical performer. He's one of the few artists I'd work my schedule around just to see him do what he does best.

I watched Heart of Gold today. Three times. I couldn't get enough of Neil Young and his back-up band. Prairie Wind was super, but then his "old chestnuts" were delivered with a depth and emotion that blew me away. I was intrigued with the one song that he didn't write, Ian Tyson's Four Strong Winds. Neil said he loved the song when it first came out in 1963, and he played it over and over again on a juke box. I did the same thing today, playing the song until I can recite it, word for word. Overall, a super movie, timely, emotional, meaningful. I've been a fan of Neil Young for thirty years, but this is the best of the best!

There are music videos, there are concert videos – and then there is Neil Young's "Heart of Gold".I have just finished watching this proverbial masterpiece in it's entirety, and I must say that I am left absolutely awestruck! It's been a very long time since I've seen a concert that was so "polished" and utilized a cast of the most talented and "seasoned" musicians, who all seem to work together in perfect synch, to put something like this together that will, I predict, garner more than a few accolades and awards for their efforts! If you've been a Neil Young fan (as I have) for a lot of years, this concert DVD is a MUST for your collection! I guarantee that it will bring back memories and evoke emotions that you may have thought were long lost or forgotten.I can't even attempt to score this one – so I won't. Suffice it to say, it's WAY off the charts! Check it out. You won't be disappointed!