Blu-ray Review: Springsteen & I

“Does anyone love their fans as much as Bruce?” That’s the question I posed a few weeks ago when BruceSpringsteen.net posted a “thank you” video to attendees of the Wrecking Ball Tour cut to an unreleased version of Bruce’s cover of “Dream Baby Dream.” Springsteen & I is a new a crowd-sourced documentary about the emotional connection fans feel to Springsteen. Purposefully, the film opens with with a clip of Springsteen in concert, telling the crowd that he can’t do it without their support. Springsteen & I is equal parts love letter to Springsteen and love letter to Springsteen’s fans.

When the filmmakers announced their call for submissions last November, inviting the entire world to upload video footage describing their connection to Bruce, I uploaded a video of my wife and I having our first dance to “Happy.” A year later, the finished film is so perfect that I’m only a little sad we didn’t make the cut.

The footage of fans’ first-person professions of love is intermingled with a healthy proportion of Springsteen performance footage from different venues and decades. Fans of all ages, races, ethnicities and nationalities are featured in the film. Included in the footage are monologues, three-word descriptions, visual representations, sprawling dialogues, and more. Many of the submissions are charmingly unpolished. Credit goes to the filmmakers that they don’t shy away from displaying a few submissions that teeter on the edge of unhealthy obsession.

Out of the tales, the live concert recollections are definitely the most powerful. I felt ridiculous, but I found myself choking back tears throughout the film. Forget any sentimental Oscar-bait coming out later this year; Springsteen & I is the true tearjerker of 2013. Well, at least for the Springsteen indoctrinated. I’m not sure how non-fans or casual fans would respond to this film – and I’d be fascinated to hear their reactions. Springsteen & I isn’t a life-changing experience. If you’re watching the film, chances are that Bruce Springsteen has already changed your life.

My own memories of concert experiences came flooding back to me throughout the film… Unexpectedly scoring day-of tickets to his first night at the Meadowlands on the Working on a Dream tour and being closer to Bruce than I ever imagined. Taking my Mom to see her first ever Springsteen concert. Watching Bruce blow out candles on his 63rd birthday at 2:00 in the morning after a three-hour weather delay. The ecstatic embrace my wife and I felt in Louisville when we heard “Rosalita” performed live together for the first time.

I’m still sad that I wasn’t able to see Springsteen & I in the movie theater to experience the communal atmosphere that accompanies those concert memories, but seeing it on this stunning Blu-ray is a great consolation. The bonus features include 30+ minutes of concert footage from Hard Rock Calling 2012, which is worth the price of the Blu-ray alone. The performances include a stripped-down, tear-inducing version of “Thunder Road” (introduced by Bruce as the first song he ever played on British soil) and the infamous duet with Paul McCartney on “Twist & Shout” (in all its uninterrupted glory). Between this and the Hard Rock Calling 2009 Blu-ray, I’ve vowed that if he ever plays Hyde Park again, I need to find a way to go see him there in person.

Also included are four uncut fan submissions. Each one is beautiful and artistic in its own way. My favorite is by Rogerio from Brazil. It details his odyssey to see Springsteen in concert through the use of stop-animation. The final special feature involves a few of the lucky fans featured in the movie getting to meet Bruce back-stage after a concert. Bruce interacts with his fans in the kind of personalized, intimate manner you’d imagine based on the many legends of fan-interaction we’ve heard over the years.

Springsteen & I is an accomplishment of diligent curating and masterful editing. The right clip in the wrong place could have seriously derailed the film, but the filmmakers never take a misstep. A sequence containing a man in his car crying as he talks about Springsteen easily could have been risible if it had been inserted with less grace.

Some of the film’s simplest moments are also its most profound. Early in the film, a young girl states that she likes Bruce Springsteen because he puts so much effort into every song. But my favorite part involved a lovesick young man who brought a sign saying “Hi Bruce, I just got dumped.” Springsteen reads the sign and asks the young man, “What happened?” “She didn’t think I was spending enough time with her,” the young man responds. “You probably weren’t,” Bruce advises before giving the man a hug. And that’s the Springsteen wisdom encapsulated. He offers truthful, sobering commentary, but he also offers compassion and comfort.

I’m hard-pressed to think of anything else to sum up the experience of watching Springsteen & I than to merely echo the chorus of voices that conclude the film: “Thank you, Bruce.”

More: Springsteen & I theatrical review

Theatrical Review: Springsteen & I

Rory: Tonight, OB and I headed to the Kip's Bay AMC to see Springsteen & I.  Going in, we weren't sure which one of us would write the review.  However, upon exiting the theater, I could tell by the gleam in his eye that OB wanted to sink his teeth into the review.  I'll let him take it away, but will chime in with my thoughts here and there.

OB: Truth be told, I usually hate Springsteen stories.  Growing up in New Jersey, I can’t tell you the number of times I've heard Springsteen stories from friends.  Most of the stories, I didn't believe, but the ones I did were just bad stories.  Some people say what a jerk he was, others say he was the coolest guy they ever met, but for the most part they were all really boring stories.  And I’ll never forget when I used to work with this guy who used to tell total suspect stories about his band playing shows down the Jersey Shore and how Bruce would come up to them after the show and say what a huge fan he was of them.  Keep in mind this was a bar band, that played nothing but covers.  Even listening to E Street Radio, I hate listening to fans' “stories” about Bruce.  They just are not that interesting.

It was with this attitude that I went into “Springsteen & I”.

Rory: I came in with similar skepticism.  Working on this blog has forced me to explore so much Springsteen; in just a year and a half, I've read three autobiographies, listened to countless interviews, and watched hours upon hours of live performances.  I did not think "Springsteen & I" would bring me something I haven't already seen before.

OB: I was not expecting much but a part of me had hope that Bruce would not disappoint.  My expectations were greatly surpassed.  This is a fantastic film for Bruce fans, music fans, film lovers, or just about anyone.  It’s genuinely funny, heartwarming, and honest.

For those who don’t know, “Springsteen & I” is a crowd-sourced documentary made up of footage shot by fans who describe what Bruce, his music, and being a fan is all about.  Within two minutes of the film starting, any apprehensions I had were gone.  There are no stupid exaggerations, or downright lies about meeting Bruce, or anything of that nature.  Just honest stories about how Bruce has impacted the lives of his fans. I do not want to spoil the stories, and me typing them out would not do them justice as opposed to hearing them for yourself. Suffice to say almost every story had me laughing hard or choked up with tears.

Rory: While we do spend a lot of time with the typical Springsteen fans - middle-aged white Americans who are eager to embarrass their kids - we also get to see Springsteen love from all walks of life (I particularly enjoyed the soft-spoken yet eloquent young female truck driver).  Every crazy story is backed up with video footage, some of which loyal readers of the blog will already know, such as Bruce playing with a street performer in Copenhagen.

OB: You can’t help but nod your head along as you hear these stories simply because you can relate to them so well.   The movie is aptly titled “Springsteen & I”, because even though Bruce is the star, we the fans play such an intricate part and we can all relate to one another.  You can’t help but think of your own stories while watching this movie and hearing about the role Bruce has played in other people’s personal, professional, family, and even sex lives.  When you watch both men and women of all different ages, from all over the world, tell their stories you cannot help but connect to them.  Much like the way way Bruce connects to his fans every night on stage.

The thing I love about this movie is not only does it show you Springsteen from a fan’s perspective,  but it also shows you the Bruce fanatic from the outsider’s perspective.  Hearing stories from spouses being dragged to Bruce shows, or children being forced to listen to Bruce in the car while their parents drove them are some of the funnier parts in the movie.  But hearing about how listening to Bruce has helped parents bond with their kids, or brought couples close together will tug at your heart.  I know I absolutely thought about my mother introducing to me to Bruce, as well as my father telling me I was wasting my money when I bought his albums.  I thought about how being Bruce fans has brought me to be even closer friends with Steve and Rory, so much so that we started this blog  But I was also reminded of a girl I used to date recently telling me I ruined “Thunder Road” for her, because it reminded her of me.

And finally, there’s the music.  The movie is filled with clips of Bruce throughout his career, and many clips of the concerts that the fans are telling stories about.  I’m sure every Bruce fan will want to see this movie, but if you’re not sure about it for some reason, the live clips are worth the price of admission alone.

Rory: I must also add that, if you are seeing it in theaters, make sure to stay after the credits roll.  Unlike the vague, disappointing clips they show at the end of super-hero movies, this is worth sticking around for. 

It isn't too late to see Springsteen & I on the big screen!  Go to http://www.springsteenandi.com/ to see where the movie is playing on July 30th.

To wrap up, I just want to share my favorite quote from the film.  It sometimes seems that children can see the world more clearly than adults, which is odd because it would seem knowing more would be preferable to knowing less.  However, while some adults talk in vague, mystical language, one little girl sums up her love of Springsteen in brief, yet crystal clear, detail: "Bruce is my favorite singer because he puts a lot of effort into his performances.  He takes a deep breath before each song.  When the camera is on him, you can see the veins popping out of his neck.  After one song, he is as sweaty as a normal singer is after ten songs."  Amen, sister.  I couldn't have said it better myself.

Coming Soon: Springsteen & I

The other day I was at my local movie theater seeing Man of Steel and I was delighted to see the above poster hanging in the lobby. It brings me great excitement to see a poster for the feature-length documentary Springsteen & I hanging beside summer blockbusters in AMC theaters.

Springsteen & I is a crowd-sourced documentary that compiles footage submitted by fans across the world explaining what Springsteen means to them. I uploaded a video of my wife and I doing the first dance at our wedding to “Happy” but alas, I don’t think we made the cut. Regardless, I’m extremely excited to see the film.

MCN Fathom Events is bringing the film to a score of theaters across the country on July 22 and July 30. You can visit the official website to see which theater near you will be playing the film and buy your tickets in advance: http://www.springsteenandi.com/

I’ll be seeing the film on July 30 so stay tuned for a review. In the meantime, here’s the trailer…