Sincetheturnofthecentury,anintriguingsubgenrein musicdocumentary
has emergedthat sees filmmakerslookingto revive the songsand reposition
the legaciesof certainartistswhosecompellingwork was not met with com-
mercialsuccess.Arguablythe most famousof this cohortisSearchingfor
SugarMan(Malik Bendjelloul,2012),about the Detroit-bornsinger-songwriter
Rodriguez.Other,similarlyexcellentfilms have been made about musicians
Gene Clark,Gram Parsonsand the band Love (even if those artistsall at-
tainedrelativelyrespectablelevels of fame).Thesedocumentariesshare a
commondenominator:they all celebrateAmericanartistsbut were made by
Europeans.The late Bendjelloulwas a Swede;the 2004 Parsonsfilm,Gram
Parsons:FallenAngel, was createdby a German(GandulfHennig);and those
on Clark (TheByrdWhoFlewAlone:TheTriumphsandTragedyofGene
Clark, Jack & Paul Kendall, 2013) and Love(Love Story, Chris Hall & Mike
Kerry, 2006),by Brits.
There is a trend, therefore,of such films being producedby outsiders
peeringinto the exoticmythologyand romanceof Americanculture,their
admirationfor their respectivesubjectsborn of the advantagesof observ-
ing from afar. The patterncontinueswithWaiting:TheVanDurenStory
(Greg Carey& Wade Jackson,2018),a documentaryaboutthe epony-
mousobscure,Memphis-bornsinger-songwriter,for whom it has fallen
to twounassumingAustraliansto tell his story.
Born in 1953, Durenwas in a numberof bandsthroughouthis adoles-
cencebeforefindinghimself,in the mid 1970s,in the orbit of Big Star, the
cult Memphisband frontedby the enigmaticAlex Chilton.Durenactually
failed an auditionfor Big Star, but, after the band broke up, he recorded
a series of demos with drummer Jody Stephens. Through his work with
SETTING THE
RECORD STRAIGHT
GregCareyandWadeJackson’s
Waiting: The Van Duren Story
Afterfourdecadesof obscurity,Americansinger-songwriter
Van Durenis finallyreceivingthe attentionhe deserves–
thanksto the commitmentof two Australianfans-turned-
filmmakers.BarnabySmithrecountsthe pair’smission
to reinstatetheir hero’s1970sstandingand examinesthe
cinematic work birthed by their incursion into music history.