Film Instrument: Ten Years With the Band

¶ … film Instrument: Ten Years with the Band Fugazi, directed by Jem Cohen, at first seems, unlike many 'rock-us-mentaries,' to have no particular perspective upon its subject. But when a viewer looks at the film more closely and carefully applies a critical cinematic eye to the filmmaking process, a solidified interpretation begins to become clear. By not having an ostentatiously obvious 'take' on this punk band and the particular music the band has produced, the director has revealed his own moral orientation in favor of personal simplicity and a lack of hype in the production of music. The director has chosen to focus on the band because Fugazi is one of the supreme manifestations of the punk scene, a scene that emerged as a radical movement in youth music but largely became commercialized. Fugazi stands apart in sharp contrast to all of descents into commercialization, however, and still remains pure and true to its roots. The director's own simplicity of style reflects its subject's simplicity.

The film's belief in the purity of the band is primarily reflected in the film's unpretentious format. The director simply followed the band's progress over the course of ten years, from backstage, to on-stage, to meetings with fans, even to the grandmother's home of one of the band members. Rather than choosing a short period of the band's history, the film follows a 'story' arc over an extended period of time. Thus the documentary does not attempt to create a sharp, swift narrative about the seduction or perils of fame. Rather, it features the artists from Fugazi talking about their work and playing their work through various ups and downs of concert touts and through various stabs at music distribution and creation. The perspective the artists are able to bring to their work over such an extended period of history gives the documentary an authenticity and a full reality that similar manifestations of the 'rock-u-mentary' genre lack. The fact that the director has also chosen to include footage of the band joking with one another, and the relaxing and bonding of the band members while on tour only contributes to this sense of a fully shaded portrait. Even though the band's music if often quite serious, the band itself is not serious twenty four hours a day. Music may be the most important part of the musician's lives, but the band members are also each unique human beings with fully rounded personalities.

The movie is generalist in the sense that it gives a portrait of some of the difficulties all bands suffer while on tour but it is quite particular in showing the dedication and the shaping of a band with a fairly uncorrupted perspective in the music industry. Furthermore it does so without overly criticizing more commercial punk bands -- the focus is on Fugazi, rather than Fugazi's relationship with other bands and contrasting and comparing its sounds with similar sounding artists.

Despite this stress upon Fugazi's resistance to standardizing its punk music for commercial distribution, and the fact that it enabled itself to remain true to its roots by owning its own record label, the film does contain commercial design elements. The documentary it must be admitted as has a very stylishly shot technique and style, and it a pleasure to listen to. The director does not adopt a self-consciously 'rough' style to narrate the tale of the band. The band, again perhaps because of the length of time the director spent with them, comes across as reflective and intelligent about the decisions they have made with their lives, yet also quite savvy about the music business that has shaped so much of their lives and existences.