The Vigil is a very low budget Candian film about a group of Nirvana fans who travel from Alberta to Seattle for the tribute to Kurt Cobain following his suicide. In it's way, the film has a charm to it, but it is also constantly undermined by the low budget and poor acting. The film does not even contain one Nirvana song, ironic since the film is meant to be a tribute to Cobain. The film does not have the knowledge of movies and is not as entertaining as say, High Fidelity, but it shares that films same love of music. The Vigil is a good, not great film. By Grade: 7/10.
6 Reviews
Good amateur effort
crash_into_me4209 December 2001
The Vigil seems to have a lot of trouble deciding whether it's a tribute to Kurt Cobain or the story of the emotional decay between two brothers. The way I see it, the trip to Seattle is the backplot and if it's a tribute to Cobain you're looking for here, you won't get much of one.
The acting really isn't that bad, and even though it's not hard to lose interest in the story it is well told through eerie dream-sequence scenes. Overall, a good amateur effort.
The acting really isn't that bad, and even though it's not hard to lose interest in the story it is well told through eerie dream-sequence scenes. Overall, a good amateur effort.
Pure, unadulterated garbage
rbxfromdashow9 October 2011
Warning: Spoilers
It's safe to say Rock music is my strongest passion. It's also safe to say a movie whose main title touts the plot's vehicle appeals to my interests. Unfortunately, this film barely accomplishes that, and instead, we're treated to two militant vegetarians rushing to Kurt Cobain's vigil, whining about their miserable lives.
Excusing the abysmal cinematography (especially the lighting, but since I'm a seasoned viewer of shoddy cinema, this is only one problem among many), films with a thin plot rely on strong characters to drive the movie; this film fails abjectly. Our story involves two McJob loathing vegetarian zinesters conversing constantly about a wide range of subjects, including the meaning of life, their employment, place in the world, and most of all, music. Accompanied by their doltish omnivorous (borderline carnivore) "friend," they spontaneously decide to attend Kurt Cobain's vigil upon hearing news of his untimely death. Meanwhile, Simon (played by Damon Johnson) feuds with his brother, harping on him for his irresponsibility. He hopes hopes this trip will at least help them make amends. As they ride through, they pick up two people, one of whom is a grungey musician named Cassandra that plays covers of country songs in Punk style and the other a disaffected young man constantly making sociopolitical analogies of fairy tales. So far, so good. A road movie about young disaffected college students aiming to attend their idol's vigil while making amends with their personal problems.
Unfortunately, not one of these characters (save the black vegetarian played by Donny Lucas, but barely) are remotely interesting. Their nauseatingly archetypical far-left attitudes compounded by their convenient know-everything-in-their-early-twenties barely add any depth. Their inane conversations equally accomplish nothing. Aside from typical gen-x canards and platitudes, their conversations neither advance the plot nor add depth to the characters. Of course, they argue with the sole meat-eater for indulging in a hamburger, although the dolt threw the first proverbial punch. Excusing that, they exchange banter over whether chewing gum fits someone's mood. If that wasn't enough, a character (it's pathetic when the film makes no effort to distinguish any of these gen-x clichés save their generic names) they later pick up muses about the analogues between politics and fairy tales. Worst yet, absolutely no tension between the two brothers' feud exists. Not once do you feel for either character, and when they resolve their problems, you're too bored to care.
If anything, the film's underground Rock sound speak volumes of the music of the time. Worth checking out, but that's it.
Excusing the abysmal cinematography (especially the lighting, but since I'm a seasoned viewer of shoddy cinema, this is only one problem among many), films with a thin plot rely on strong characters to drive the movie; this film fails abjectly. Our story involves two McJob loathing vegetarian zinesters conversing constantly about a wide range of subjects, including the meaning of life, their employment, place in the world, and most of all, music. Accompanied by their doltish omnivorous (borderline carnivore) "friend," they spontaneously decide to attend Kurt Cobain's vigil upon hearing news of his untimely death. Meanwhile, Simon (played by Damon Johnson) feuds with his brother, harping on him for his irresponsibility. He hopes hopes this trip will at least help them make amends. As they ride through, they pick up two people, one of whom is a grungey musician named Cassandra that plays covers of country songs in Punk style and the other a disaffected young man constantly making sociopolitical analogies of fairy tales. So far, so good. A road movie about young disaffected college students aiming to attend their idol's vigil while making amends with their personal problems.
Unfortunately, not one of these characters (save the black vegetarian played by Donny Lucas, but barely) are remotely interesting. Their nauseatingly archetypical far-left attitudes compounded by their convenient know-everything-in-their-early-twenties barely add any depth. Their inane conversations equally accomplish nothing. Aside from typical gen-x canards and platitudes, their conversations neither advance the plot nor add depth to the characters. Of course, they argue with the sole meat-eater for indulging in a hamburger, although the dolt threw the first proverbial punch. Excusing that, they exchange banter over whether chewing gum fits someone's mood. If that wasn't enough, a character (it's pathetic when the film makes no effort to distinguish any of these gen-x clichés save their generic names) they later pick up muses about the analogues between politics and fairy tales. Worst yet, absolutely no tension between the two brothers' feud exists. Not once do you feel for either character, and when they resolve their problems, you're too bored to care.
If anything, the film's underground Rock sound speak volumes of the music of the time. Worth checking out, but that's it.
I love this film
zippypin1019 October 2002
I really love this film. The music rocks, the women kick butt and some of it is hysterical. My favorite part was that the film didn't try to be a tribute to Kurt, at least not directly. Instead it focuses on this group of people who love Nirvana (and music period) and who drive to his vigil out of respect. I was originally worried what this film would be like but now it's totally one of my favorites ever. I don't know if everyone will love it as much as me, but I know a lot of you will!
Funny with subtle humour.
cineworks6 March 2001
From Clark Hemphrey, author, "Loser: The Real Seattle Music Story"
caya-223 November 2011
Warning: Spoilers
CRASHED
The following is a full review from Clark Humphrey's MiscMedia website. Mr. Humphrey's wrote "Loser: The Real Seattle Music Story."
On one of Cinemax's tertiary channels late Monday night, I finally saw Highway, a pathetic little action-thriller movie filmed three and a half years ago under the working title A Leonard Cohen Afterworld.
It's an awful low-budget (yet completely corporate) "Gen X" movie like hundreds of others. It starts in Las Vegas with Jared Leto getting caught schtumping a mobster's wife. Leto and pal Jake Gyllenhaal run from the mobster's hired thugs by taking a road trip, ending in Seattle. Along the way they have unimaginative misadventures, punctuated by unimaginative cuss words that are apparently meant to be funny just because they're really loud.
It only qualifies for mention here because of one scene toward the end—a full-scale re- creation of the Kurt Cobain memorial at the Seattle Center International Fountain. I saw it being filmed—that's the only reason I can tell you it was a full-scale re-creation. All you see on screen are a few close-ups of the actors. Leto is heard complaining that Kurt's death meant nothing to him compared with the demise of "that Led Zeppelin guy." The thugs promptly show up. The dudes run off. One shot later and we're a mile and a half away in Pioneer Square, where the thugs (in cars) finally catch up to, and beat the metaphoric crap out of, the dudes (who've presumably been running all that way).
Naturally, neither Nirvana nor any other Seattle act is heard on the soundtrack, a pseudo-"grunge" guitar pastiche created by a member of the more Hollywood-acceptable Black Crowes.
Not only does the story have nothing to do with Cobain, it contradicts almost everything he stood for. It treats its characters as one-dimensional stereotypes. It treats young-adult males in general as a target market to be cynically marketed to. It insults the intelligence of its would-be audience. It glorifies violence and stupidity. Its "heroes" are just the sort of jocks- in-punk-clothing Cobain had repeatedly denounced.
A much better version of the same premise can be found in the 1998 Canadian indie drama The Vigil (for Kurt Cobain).
The guys n' gals on that film's road trip are depicted as human beings, who loved Cobain's music and learn to love one another. The Vigil doesn't actually show the vigil. To re-create it the way Highway did would've busted The Vigil's tiny budget. So instead its road-trippers show up in Seattle a day late, but decide they've had an invaluable learning and coming-O- age experience from the journey itself.
Nobody learns anything in Highway, except perhaps not to get caught schtumping a mobster's wife.
Clark Humphrey
The following is a full review from Clark Humphrey's MiscMedia website. Mr. Humphrey's wrote "Loser: The Real Seattle Music Story."
On one of Cinemax's tertiary channels late Monday night, I finally saw Highway, a pathetic little action-thriller movie filmed three and a half years ago under the working title A Leonard Cohen Afterworld.
It's an awful low-budget (yet completely corporate) "Gen X" movie like hundreds of others. It starts in Las Vegas with Jared Leto getting caught schtumping a mobster's wife. Leto and pal Jake Gyllenhaal run from the mobster's hired thugs by taking a road trip, ending in Seattle. Along the way they have unimaginative misadventures, punctuated by unimaginative cuss words that are apparently meant to be funny just because they're really loud.
It only qualifies for mention here because of one scene toward the end—a full-scale re- creation of the Kurt Cobain memorial at the Seattle Center International Fountain. I saw it being filmed—that's the only reason I can tell you it was a full-scale re-creation. All you see on screen are a few close-ups of the actors. Leto is heard complaining that Kurt's death meant nothing to him compared with the demise of "that Led Zeppelin guy." The thugs promptly show up. The dudes run off. One shot later and we're a mile and a half away in Pioneer Square, where the thugs (in cars) finally catch up to, and beat the metaphoric crap out of, the dudes (who've presumably been running all that way).
Naturally, neither Nirvana nor any other Seattle act is heard on the soundtrack, a pseudo-"grunge" guitar pastiche created by a member of the more Hollywood-acceptable Black Crowes.
Not only does the story have nothing to do with Cobain, it contradicts almost everything he stood for. It treats its characters as one-dimensional stereotypes. It treats young-adult males in general as a target market to be cynically marketed to. It insults the intelligence of its would-be audience. It glorifies violence and stupidity. Its "heroes" are just the sort of jocks- in-punk-clothing Cobain had repeatedly denounced.
A much better version of the same premise can be found in the 1998 Canadian indie drama The Vigil (for Kurt Cobain).
The guys n' gals on that film's road trip are depicted as human beings, who loved Cobain's music and learn to love one another. The Vigil doesn't actually show the vigil. To re-create it the way Highway did would've busted The Vigil's tiny budget. So instead its road-trippers show up in Seattle a day late, but decide they've had an invaluable learning and coming-O- age experience from the journey itself.
Nobody learns anything in Highway, except perhaps not to get caught schtumping a mobster's wife.
Clark Humphrey
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