Words for the Dying

Independent filmmaker Rob Nilsson’s idiosyncratic chronicle of the 1989 recording of John Cale’s album Words for the Dying is a feature made in spite of Cale’s super-producer collaborator Brian Eno, who refused to appear on screen until the end of the project. The recording sessions took place in perestroika-era Russia and Wales, allowing Nilsson to fill the film with numerous sidebars concerning Cale conversing with Russian rockers and visiting his childhood home. The difficulties with Eno aside, Nilsson manages to get a fascinating portrait of Cale, a master musician who is seen doubting his own ability and decisions while one hears his beautiful, neo-classical “Falklands Suite” (based on poems by Dylan Thomas) taking shape.

Shelf Talk: Nilsson has established a solid reputation as one of “Cassavetes’ stepchildren” in the indie world, but the real selling points here are cult icons Cale and Eno. Cale has had a diehard following dating back to this days in the influential Velvet Underground, and Eno may be seen as a “difficult artist” in Words, but his name on the package is sure to attract fans of his best-selling pop records (U2, David Bowie) and his more esoteric “ambient” musical experiments.