TIFF 2024: Bruce Springsteen takes fans backstage, talks mortality in new film
TORONTO 鈥 Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band, which made its premiere in Toronto this week, gives fans a glimpse at the band鈥檚 creative process against the backdrop of the current world tour, which had to be interrupted because of the nearly 75-year-old rock star鈥檚 health.
The documentary, directed by Thom Zimny and narrated by 鈥淭he Boss鈥 himself, captures conversations and the band鈥檚 bond that resonates in their music, while Springsteen touches upon age, the present, and mortality. In the film, Springsteen鈥檚 wife and E Street bandmate, Patti Scialfa, reveals that she was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a philosophical thing about a person who鈥檚 going to be 75 in two weeks 鈥 mortality. The film captures that… It鈥檚 not a genre film. It鈥檚 a Bruce film,鈥 longtime manager Jon Landau said.
鈥淓very night is real. He gets out there and he tries to put his mind, body and soul right in the moment… And he feels like if he鈥檚 experiencing it, then the audience will experience it,鈥 Landau added.
The film begins with rare images of the band members barely out of boyhood, then contrasts that immediately with a present day challenge, their first tour in six years as they entertain thousands of fans across continents.
The ongoing tour across North America and Europe is scheduled to go on until July 2025 after dates were postponed as Springsteen dealt with a peptic ulcer that took him off the road for a while.
The New Jersey-born rocker, who turns 75 on Sept. 23, released his first studio album 鈥 Greetings From Asbury Park 鈥 in 1973 and since has sold more than 140 million records worldwide, and collected 20 Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes, a Best Original Song Oscar, as well as a special Tony for the Broadway show about his life and career.
Road Diary is the latest in a longtime collaboration as Zimny has directed about a dozen films with Springsteen in 24 years, in addition to some 40 music videos.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e a garage band, but at the same time they鈥檙e getting ready to conquer the world with this new tour… it鈥檚 very exciting to be a fly on the wall with it all,鈥 said Zimny, who won an Emmy for Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special for Springsteen on Broadway streamed by Netflix.
The new documentary is distributed by Disney. 鈥 Reuters
