Robyn Hitchcock - Storefront Hitchcock (1997)

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Rock-music lover and feature-film director Jonathan Demme takes on eccentric British singer-songwriter, Robyn Hitchcock, in an ambitious concert film, though tinier in scope than his previous rock-film effort, Stop Making Sense(1984), featuring Talking Heads. Setting up a stage in a New York… More Rock-music lover and feature-film director Jonathan Demme takes on eccentric British singer-songwriter, Robyn Hitchcock, in an ambitious concert film, though tinier in scope than his previous rock-film effort, Stop Making Sense(1984), featuring Talking Heads. Setting up a stage in a New York storefront, Hitchcock plays with his back to the glass, while an audience looks on inside and passersby view the action through the window; it's not much different from what happens at a live Hitchcock show, aside from the window. In his clear voice, Hitchcock preambles his songs with explanations so long they are like mini-films themselves; he even rambles about his practice of rambling! Delivered with Hitchcock's unnerving deadpan wit and complex guitarwork, after over an hour of pure music and plenty of close-ups, it's unclear what Demme was after -- to convert the world into Hitchcock fans, or to reveal a man behind the madcap moods and masks he dons throughout his performances? ~ Denise Sullivan, Rovi